Things I'm Loving - The Grand Return!

"Every week may not be good but there is something good in every week."

It has been a long time coming but I am determined to get back into the habit of at least having this post every week. I just read through my older 'Things I'm loving" posts and they just give me the warm fuzzies, as well as being a great little recollection of my weeks.

So for my grand return, I recollect a somethings from the past little while - weeks, months I've missed and even bring you a new button. Pink and black, very Kate. Here we go...

I'm loving Harty Nails who have been providing me with gorgeous and affordable nail art for a few months now. The best thing about Sally Ann is that she'll give your ideas a go. After seeing so many sweet ideas on pinterest (and knowing that I would cock it up if I had a go at doing it myself), it was so cool to find someone who would try some cool designs. Here a a few I've had over the past few months.

Loving haircuts on a very well behaved girl. Leah has a whinge at the sight of a hairbrush, so I wasn't looking forward to first haircut time. Turns out I was worried about nothing. She was spectacular. Cute fringe too!

Here is the transformation! Fringe!

Loving having time to bake and having a very diligent helper.

Loving etsy.com still. I love that you can get unique things from there for (usually) quite a cheap price. I love my phone covers from the states and my materials from Japan, my pac man ring from Malaysia and my newest bunting necklace. How cute is the colourfulness?

Love that even in June it's still sunny enough to play happily in our sandpit on a bright weekend's morning.

Loving getting that nesting feeling early. So far I've organised and labeled the linen closet and master bedroom cupboard, made a set of drawers pretty, created the baby's nursary and kids playroom, got a whole lot of rubbish out of the garage, and organised the garage and tidied two pantries in the kitchen, complete with labels. It's pretty intense! Lol, but looking good.

And love my two little helpers that put up shelving for me in the garage. Thanks bestest people in the world!

What's got your love this week?

"I guess you don't really own a dog, you rent them, and you have to be thankful that you had a long lease."

During the weekend a lovely friend of mine lost a furry friend who was very special. So I hope you don't mind Lynn, but seeing we had been through a very similar journey a few years ago I thought a quick blog post about the beautiful Hugo would be fitting.

TRIBUTE TO A BEST FRIEND

Sunlight streams through window pane onto a spot on the floor.....
then I remember,
it's where you used to lie, but now you are no more.

Our feet walk down a hall of carpet, and muted echoes sound.....
then I remember,
it's where your paws would joyously abound.

A voice is heard along the road, and up beyond the hill,
then I remember,
it can't be yours..... your golden voice is still.

But I'll take that vacant spot of floor and empty muted hall,
and lay them with the absent voice and unused dish along the wall.

I'll wrap these treasured memories in a blanket of my love,
and keep them for my best friend until we meet above.

        ~Author Unknown


I will remember all the lovely cuddles and attention that was poured over me whenever I came to visit, the mischievous nudges of the nose to entice pats and how absolutely beautiful and stunning looking you were Hugo (even though you're not a real dog...more of a glorified cat really, lol right Lynn? <3).

Jake meeting Hugo. Jake as a puppy... Hugo does not look pleased.....

 

 

......understandably.

I'm not sure if this is Hugo or Stirling but it shows the lovely nature of Lynn's dogs... as well as their cute little noses.

Sticky Chicken Nibbles

Sticky Chicken Nibbles

3/4 cup tomato sauce
1/3 cup sweet chilli sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2t Grated ginger
1T Sesame oil
2kg Chicken Nibbles
Optional: 2t Sesame seeds

 
 1. Preheat over to 200 degrees celcius. Combine sauces, garlic, ginger and sesame seed oil. Reserve 1/3 cup  and add the rest to the chicken to marinade in a bowl for 30 mins while chilled.

2. Line a large roasting pan with baking paper. Place chickn in a single layer. Bake, basting with the reserved marinade and turning occasionally for 35-40 minutes or until glazed and cooked. Remove from oven.

3. Sprinkle over sesame seeds and serve.

Getting organised

When we moved house almost a year ago (!!!) I was excited at the prospect of having a playroom for Leah, and anyone else who might come along. As I spoke about in this post it was very easy in a bigger house to stick everything in a place and just forget about it, because the house was so much bigger than our first little home. Of course, without proper organisation, I just wasn't happy with the state of affairs around here, so have begun doing bits and pieces here and there that are making me far too happy (Read: OCD nerd).

So far I've done:
The linen closet
The ensuite walk in wardrobe
and I even beautified a set of plastic drawers.

With our impending arrival (T minus less than three months GULP!) we needed to make a space for the cot and changing table etc, and in addition to this it was high time our 'spare room' was utilised for us, rather than just waiting for a guest to come and stay (as nice as having a space for this is). I'd been pinning up a storm of ideas for play rooms for ages, and with fixing up the garage (post to come tomorrow), it was the perfect time to get some things into storage

, have a bit of a shift around, and some organisation.

I'm pretty happy with the result. Here are the before pics.

And as we were in the midst of it.

And here are the pics I took this morning with everything finished up. The only thing I'd like to add is a bit of bunting here and there.

This last photo shows an image of Leah's craft table in her room, which has now been moved into her craft nook in the play room (pics two and three). She loves it. Just looking into getting some more light in there!

Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Lamb Shanks - Slow Cooker

Rosemary and Garlic Roasted Lamb Shanks - Slow Cooker

4 large potatoes, peeled, cut into slices
2 lamb shanks
1t salt
1/2t black pepper
6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
4 sprigs rosemary
2T olive oil
1/2 cup white wine

1. Layer potatoes in the bottom of the slow cooker.

2. In a small bowl, mash the salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary together with a fork to form a paste. Rub all over the lamp. Heat the oil oil in a pan and brown the lamb on all sides. Put lamb shanks into the slow cooker on top of the potatoes. Pour the white wine in the pan and bring to the boil, scrap the pan to get off any pieces of meat from the bottom and pour over the meat and potatoes.

3. Cook approximately 8 hours on low.

Because I had a bit of time when I got home from work, I threw the potatoes and lamp shanks into the over at 200 degrees celcius for a half hour or so to crispen everything up too. Was a nice addition, especially for the potatoes. :)

 

“The Internet is the Petri dish of humanity. We can't control what grows in it, but we don't have to watch either.”

I try not to get too serious on my blog. I mostly write about recipes, ventures with crafts and DIY, outings and a proverbial shitload of photos of my kid and dog...but in the last week, I have had enough of online bickering and wanted somewhere to express  my loathing for keyboard warriors and late night facebook lurkers everywhere. More and more often I am disgusted by the human race in general, one only has to watch the news to see why. The online environment seems to amplify this much more. I guess people forget their manners? Either that, or there are a lot more assholes out there than I was banking on.

I watched a video over the weekend of Russel Brand talking about his beliefs on life. I'm not a spiritual person by any stretch (or at least I don't think I am), but on the most part, what he stands for here speaks to me. Be kind, speak love, give, be happy. Not much different from Ellen's beliefs on the subject, someone I also wholeheartedly agree with in principle - "be kind to one another". I wonder why people can't just do this. I love a good debate as much as the next person (probably more) but I don't want to personally attack someone's ideas or beliefs...especially online where it's there for the whole world to see, forever.

We teach our children to 'say something nice or say nothing at all', but we can't do it ourselves? Online, people seem to forget this altogether. Earlier this week, I was reading this article about a woman who has spent a lot of money making sure her rottweiler gets the healthcare it needs and some of the struggles she's going through to make it happen. It was written from the woman's perspective and not subjective at all - she wasn't calling attention to the fact the vet bills are huge, she wasn't asking for money to help her with the debt she'd put herself in when paying for the bills, it was just simply her story. After reading the story and thinking about what I would do in the same situation - I'm telling you now, there'd be huge arguments between Mr. Man and I about what 'the limit' on money would be to save our Jake.

I foolishly decided to keep scrolling down and have a read through the comments, perhaps other people had been through the same thing and had some advice, or at least some words of love and encouragement. But boy was I wrong. Although many of the comments were love and support on what a lovely person she was for doing this for her dog, the vast majority were not. Ranging from slagging off the vets for charging so much to condemning her spending 12k on a dog when there are starving children in the world. How irrelevant!

So now,  here I am ranting. Forgive me! It's only once in a while.

My advice? Be nice to people, face-to-face as well as online. Heck, especially online. What you say and do tells us more about the person you are than anything else. Make 'em good things. Oh, and especially when you're commenting on my blog. Lol

xox

Cheese and Onion Rolls

From what I'm told, these are Kiwi as in the South Island. Up here in Auckland I'd never heard from them, but, after having just devoured my spoils I'd have to say that they're pretty good.

Cheese and Onion Rolls

Packet of Maggi onion soup
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup grated cheese
10- 12 slices of sandwich bread
2T butter

In a saucepan, stir together the soup mix and milk. Cook over a low heat, stirring constantly until thick.

Stir in the cheese. Do no return to the heat once cheese has been added as, if it boils the cheese will go stringy. Allow the mix to cool a little.

Butter one side of each slice of bread. Turn over and place, butter-side-down, preferably on a board. Spread about 2 tablespoons cooled cheese-and-onion mix on the unbuttered side.

Roll up and secure with a toothpick. Place on a baking paper lined try. Bake in an oven preheated to 200 degree celcius for 10-12 minutes or until golden and hot.

Enjoy!

Variations - you could add a slice of ham or chopped, cooked bacon to the spread prior to rolling. Scattering chopped olives or tomatoes would also be yummy!