Signs of Winter/Summer

Georgia - Frost! We've really had such a mild winter so far, only a few really cold days. It was -5°c this morning though. Brrrrrrr!

Nicole - Blue skies! This is actually a view from my garden with the camera pointing to the sky. Our garden is not too big (because we live in a city) so these aren't even our trees in the photo. These are trees from the neighbours gardens. But this is our little piece of sky. ;) We had 32 degrees last week, enjoying a few cooler days now but from tomorrow the weather will be much warmer again.

What I'm reading

Georgia - A quilt book - looking for some inspiration, loads of house type magazines (spending a fortune on them - eep!), Sandi Henderson's new book, and a good trashy one from the library.

Nicole- I just started reading UnLunDun by China Mieville (marvelous name by the way) so I can't really tell what I think of it yet. So far, I have read 50 pages or something, it's odd and an enjoyable and interesting read. The other book is about Scherenschnitte. Not sure if papercutting is a craft I will take on myself but the examples and photos of Scherenschnitte pieces are very impressive.

My floss collection

Georgia - The two more organised looking boxes are left over from my cross-stitching days. They are sorted by dmc number. The very messy box is the one I use most, full of the colours that I go back to time and time again.

Nicole - Yes, well...this is part of the floss collection. There is some in the cupboard as well, and in my craft room, and in my embroidery basket thingy. I am not a very well organised person and I try to battle the lack of organisation with zip lock bags. They hold current projects (embroidery work + floss) and extra floss etc. The more organised floss is DMC, the shoe box is filled with Anchor Floss (which was an Ebay bargain)

A Recipe (or two!)

Georgia -

Balsamic Glazed Roast Vegetables

(one of our favourites)

• Whatever vegetables you want to roast - potatoes, sweet potato, parsnip, pumpkin carrots etc, peeled and cut into fairly big chunks.
• Balsamic Glaze -
• 2 tablespoons Olive oil
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

Preheat oven to 220°c. Line a large roasting pan with baking paper. Spread vegetables into a single layer in pan.

Glaze - place oil, maple syrup, vinger, garlic, salt and pepper into a jar and shake to combine. heat ina saucepan over medium heat andcook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until hot.

Pour glaze over vegetables and toss to coat. roast vegetables for 1 hour or until tender, turn once during cooking. Season with salt and pepper.

(metric measurements. 1 tablespoon = 20ml)

Nicole- Tomorrow I'm making yummy Cauliflower soup from this recipe on Amy Karol's Angry Chicken blog. There is no meat involved so the worm has to go! ;) The worm is actually called 'Beessie' and I got a couple of these when I did my grocery shopping this morning. Orange is the Dutch National Colour and next week the Football (that is Soccer for the American readers) World Championship starts. Football is an important thing over here!

My next project

Georgia - Fresh into the hoop today. A unicorn pillowcase for a little girl who is having a birthday very soon.
Nicole - Due to illness I'm terribly late with posting so I have it on good authority that this is already finished and turned out very lovely!  ;)

Nicole- No new projects planned as I am still in the middle of so many wip's! But I'm pretty sure that whatever the new project will be it's already here on one of the pages of these sketch books....

Look through my front door

Georgia - Come in, come in... Please excuse the dust on that little table there and don't look too closely at the legs because our dog had a good chew on them when she was a pup. Also please don't look up at that hideous light fitting. When we bought this house 6 years ago we said it would be the first thing we'd get rid of. We've actually sold the house again now, so the light shall remain. ;-) The floor is polished concrete. I love it.

Nicole- This is photo excellently represents the usual state of our hallway: unfinished and messy. Even the front door still isn't finished. We have Marmoleum Flooring throughout most of the house in all kinds of colours: the hallway and the kitchen are red, the living room floor is yellow and the children's bedrooms are green and aqua.

A movie that I love

Georgia - Love Actually. Love it. Have watched it heaps of times. Colin Firth...mmmm. Andrew Thingummy (the one who loves the Keira Knightly character)...mmmm. ;-)

Nicole- this is a movie I recently saw and loved. It's funny, romantic and it has good music in it as well. Another favourite (that I couldn't find in my stack of dvd's) and a must see is Amelie. I also love most Tim Burton movies, movies with Johnny Depp. Ooh and since I caught a glimpse of Russel Crowe in a skirt cool Roman outfit in Gladiator the other day, I can't wait to see him in tights!