The blue sea

A weekend away

Melbourne's weather has been slightly disappointing so far this summer. We've had extremes - hailstorms and the occasional crazy hot day, but balmy evenings have been few and far between. The weather gods seemed to smile favorably and last night ended up being the perfect evening for a late summer wedding. There was plenty of dancing, delicious wood fired pizza, friends, happy tears and blissful smiles from the bride and groom. I took my time getting home today, driving through beautiful bush land. I love a sun dappled highway, but I'm always quite surprised by how brown the countryside really is. Back in Melbourne I wandered through the garden, picking basil for my dinner, tomatoes for a salad, and roses for the table - all while admiring these delicate zucchini flowers. I believe they are on the menu for tomorrow night.   

Saan's birthday

Jenny and Jade made Saan the prettiest birthday wreath, I only wish I had taken a better photograph. Five birthday's all in the same week - surely that must be some sort of record. Happy birthday to the most wonderful friends and family; Monique, Gina, Saan, Helen and finally to my amazing mum. Melbourne has that wonderful summer day feel to it today. Enjoy!

From a hillside

A peaceful, joyous and adventure filled 2012 for all... bring it on. 

It's been a while

So yes, it has been a while since I've been around, but work has gotten the better of me and I've been making clay samples, instead of getting stuck into my weaving. The balance between my day job and producing my own work has been really difficult to master. Instead of feeling guilty about it, I've cut myself some slack and decided that holidays is when I get creative. Baking has also taken a back seat, but I have had some time to experiment with vanilla custard filled eclairs, and yesterday I made a yogurt and lemon cake for afternoon tea. A disaster in the kitchen ensued - it had had sunk to a very thick pancake and I had friends coming round in an hour. There wasn't nearly enough time to hide the cake and make something else. Fortunately, it was still delicious served with whipped cream and berries. In the mean time, I must remember that chefs with pony tails cannot be trusted. I hear you saying there might have been something in the way I whipped the egg whites, or opened the oven a few too many times to check it wasn't burning. It's always difficult getting it right the first time you make a cake, but nah, it was the recipe. Which reminds me, there are so many great blogs out there, and if you're into food, then Island Menu is super. Beautiful photographs, great styling and food that makes your mouth water - perfection really. Anyhow, these are a few knitted samples I made on my break that will hopefully turn into something over the coming months.

Drawing

These past few weeks, I've managed to fit in some drawing and baking. I dusted off my blow torch and made Crema Catalana for the first time. Practice is needed to perfect that one. I also have my eyes on an eclair recipe I want to try. I'm ready for a choux pastry challenge, but that will have to wait until next weekend. Back to drawing for now.  

This month

Madeleines for Hayley

I've had a hankering to try these for quite some time, and Saan reminded me of this Saint John's recipe yesterday. These madeleines remind me of all those times I've made honey joys. Perhaps this is the much more grown up adult version. In any case, they were delicious. Happy birthday Hayley, sending you madeleine love from Melbourne.

A black and white photograph

A black and white sample

One of black and white samples I wove over the past two weeks. I ended up running out of time to do more than three warps. So my coloured silk warp will have to wait. For now, holidays are over and it's back to work. This is for Jessie.