Melodies...

I had terrible taste in music.

Thankfully, my good man gently guided me in the right direction.  My goodness, there's some amazing music out there.

A few of my favourites:

City and Colour
Daughter
Gin Wigmore
James Vincent McMorrow

A new one in my collection - Birdy. So young, completely amazing!


Check it...

...and no, I won't be divulging the monstrosities I used to listen to.


P.S.  If your so inclined, my Spotify list - 'Lee-Anne's Playlist'

Weekday Wowzers...

Check out this inspired coat rack from Weekday Carnival!

And for some seriously drool worthy shoes, visit The Beetle Shack for this fab Sole Society giveaway! I'm gunning for the Mary May Mint and Hugo Boot...

Project Update #1...

Here it is!
As promised in this post, here is the #1 update of my current projects.

1/3 - Bathroom Renovation:

It's a small update for the bathroom as there isn't much I can do other than plan at this stage. We have organised with my very talented Father and Brother to do most of the labour.  This will happen in the January holidays. We plan to knock out the wall between the toilet and the bathroom to make it larger. So even though the toilet will be in the bathroom, I think it will make the house more valuable to any future buyers. Dad will be coming round in the next few weeks to measure and then draw up some plans.

This bathroom would be ideal:

Thanks my scandinavian home

However, I think that something a little more simple will be more appropriate for the future...and our pockets. Especially if we decide to go through with this.

2/3 - Veggie Garden:

Thankfully, I've made some serious progress. (In the midst of rescuing Nora from sitting in idle dog poo and stopping Digby, our dog, lick my feet..ew!)

It's more fruit related than veggie but still in the garden.  Here is our new strawberry plants from Perry's Nursery, which I've planted in a bargain pot we bought from the Willunga Lions Auction. 

We also purchased a dwarf granny smith tree to cross-pollenate with our other apple tree. Advice received from our friend over at One Small Orchard.

It's been refreshing to get outside a bit more!

3/3 - Creative Projects:

Two little newborn beanies to get my juices flowing. I've just learnt how to change colours while knitting...WOOT!

Now for the next creative project.

Knitting Beauty...

My project updates are on their way. This has been a great motivation and I'm looking forward to sharing with you where I'm up to.

For update #2, hopefully one of these will be included. Thank you Purl Bee:

Just beautiful, right?!

Itchy Feet...

There's no denying it. It's in my blood. The irrefutable feeling of 'where to next?'.

My husband and I have lived in 5 different houses since we've been married (that's 5 years). Obviously, the changes have occurred due to circumstances but I think secretly (or not so secretly) we like new spaces, new scenery and for me, somewhere new to decorate.

My current destination craving is for Scotland. Joel and I were considering moving there before we bought our current house. We have family in the UK whom I'd love to be closer to for some part of our children's lives. Every now and then I think 'what if?'.

Photo:  http://remodelista.com/posts/a-remote-scottish-bolt-hole

Photo: http://www.bestourism.com

Photo:  http://revprs.blogspot.com.au/2009/08/late-summer-bank-holiday.html

I can just imagine eating here, running through this field, and hopefully, casually bumping into this man!

Lovely days...

What a weekend!
Thank goodness, it was filled with family, friends and gosh darn whiz bang kitchen appliances.

A friend held a thermomix party (incredible and incredibly expensive). The host was bubbly, full of food admiration, and we ate throughout the entire presentation. Bread, lime butter, risotto, a beetroot salad*, sorbet, a herby dip with crackers - YUM!

Joel and I made it to the movies, read the paper over breakfast, watched this little one strut around in her beads...

and filled my pantry with some deliciousness!

* Beetroot, carrot, apple and lemon juice, process into small chunks and serve.
**Check out Merle's Kitchen for some lovely baked goods.

Projects - 3/3...

After my post last week about never having enough time (and some lovely support), I decided to get my groove on and start some projects.

I have three things in mind...

Our bathroom renovation:

Our current tiny, pink bathroom

The veggie garden:

The weedy, soon-to-be veggie garden

And some creative knitting/crocheting projects like these:

I"ll focus on completing some angle of these projects, however small, and will keep you in the loop about where I'm up to each week.  Hopefully, my interweb peeps will be the motivation I need to keep going...

...even when my floors are crying out to be scrubbed!

Pumpkin Soup or Stew...

My poor little Nora fell and hurt her tooth on Tuesday and so that night we were awake...a LOT. At 3am, when I had resigned myself to the fact that it was now the start of my day, I made some coffee and toast, bundled Nora onto my lap, turned on ABC iview and started watching my new favourite cooking show Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers. It was the 'Hot and Cold' episode, which includes lamb and natural yoghurt, caramel apples with apple ice cream, hot porridge with cold milk and a lovely pumpkin dish with sour cream.

With a giant pumpkin sitting in my fridge I knew the soup/stew was a great idea for tonights dinner. The recipe is simple and can be done while doing other things:

Ingredients
40g butter 
2 onions, chopped 
1 carrot, chopped
1 stick celery, chopped (I didn't have any celery so added some red onion and capsicum)
3 sprigs rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 clove garlic, chopped
400g lentils 
1.2 litres vegetable stock
600g assorted pumpkin (total chopped weight) (I also added some sweet potato)
small bunch parsley, chopped
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp sour cream

Bubbling...

Preparation method

In a large pan melt the butter and then add chopped onions, carrot and celery. Add rosemary and bay leaves and after a few minutes add the chopped garlic. When softened, add lentils and pour over a litre of veggie stock. Bring to the boil and then leave to simmer.

Peel assorted pumpkin into large chunks.  Add to the stew, season and then pour over enough water to just cover all the ingredients. Put a lid on the pan and leave to simmer for 30-40 minutes.

When the stew is almost ready, add the chopped parsley.

To make the stew creamier, remove a small bowlful to a food processor and blitz it with 200ml of stock. Pour it back in and the stew becomes instantly more velvety. (I didn't do this as my pumpkin/sweet potato was so soft it turned into a soup just by stirring).

Serve the stew in bowls adding a spoonful of sour cream to each. 

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I also made up a batch of Jamie Oliver's Pizza Dough and later added some tomato relish and danish feta for a cheats pizza:

DELISH!