How to get a mess look nice

I am a bit slow blogging at the moment because our house is a big fat MESS. All the boys stuff is in the garage as we put new carpet in their rooms and I have to sort through their junk  precious things before bringing them back into the house into new bookcases. It is taking a while as I am painting some of the bookcases.

The lounge has no carpet (until 20th Dec), The dining area is being packed ready to get wood put on the floor - ditto the kitchen and laundry. I will have no stove for 8 days up to Xmas so no baking etc for camping and Christmas.

Last night I took photos to show the mess and why I am not blogging. Today I decided that we could make a mess look good. So it is in the small things that are lovely that I can take pleasure and just ignore the rest.

Aaron looked like this (just how I feel)

The dining room looks like this

The lounge looks like this

Our bedroom looks like this

The dog has had enough and looks like this

Jakobs room looks like this

The lounge can be made pretty with these

The bedroom smells gorgeous with these

The kitchen looks awesome with this just picke

Guerrilla knitting and some stitching

Trying to get it finished

The last couple of days we have been in Palmerston North celebrating Aaron's graduation. A double major degree in Information Systems and Computer Science.

While we watched kids in playing or while waiting in airports I almost finished the stitching I need to get done for Xmas. Linking to "finish it up friday" and others here.


We went to the NZ Rugby Museum and the statue was covered in Guerrilla knitting and crotchet. Took me a minute to realise what it was.

The boys having breakfast in bed in the motel

Yes that is some clothing on the statue

Sorbet - Annabel Langbein style

 Berry Sorbet and real fruit ice cream

Well I decided to try making Annabel Langbein's sorbet that was on her current TV programme "The Free Range Cook, Simple Pleasures". It is so much easier to make than normal sorbet where you have to make a sugar syrup. But it left it a lot grittier and the berries have little pip bits that gave it a sort of crunch. It is nice, it is super easy and also is egg, gluten, fat and dairy free. But the boys did not like it. So I also made some real fruit icecream for them. Putting them both together in the same dish worked well as the smooth icecream meant the crunchy sorbet was not overpowering.


Annabel Langbein Berry Sorbet
I did 1/2 recipe and that was a lot.
500g frozen berries into the food processor, add 1 cup castor (or superfine) sugar and 1 tablespoon of alcohol (I used creme de cassis from Barkers). Process till smooth (this took a wee while) Put in the freezer for at least two hours before serving.

My real fruit icecream
Put frozen berries into foodprocesser, add icing sugar to taste - blend. Then put in some vanilla icecream and  whizz until it is all well mixed. Yummy on the spot and refreezes well.

Frozen berries into food processor

Add icing sugar

Whizz

Whizz till smooth with icecream in it

Or just eat it as it is.

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Crisis Averted

My gorgeous husband has spent hours resolving the loss of this blog. He got it back!!! I had resigned myself to a new life without blogger. Think of all the housework I could do, think of all the gardening!! But no I am saved from a life of drudgery and can now be a internet freak again.

Isn't he gorgeous!!

To celebrate we had a yummy dessert (well that was my excuse, it was actually a failed lot of mini pavlova). I put layers of Chantilly cream, strawberries from the garden and disastrous pavlova into gorgeous glasses. A sort of Eton Mess.

An awesome baby shower

I have just come home from a fantastic baby shower for my cousin Alison. It was held at The Make Cafe in Riccarton, Christchurch. Wow did they pull out all the stops. Decorated beautifully with so many things I just cannot mention them all. Then as an activity we all made a bib. They supplied bibs and material and a cutter and we cut out various pattern, used vliesofix to iron them on and if you felt like it there was thread etc to stitch something.

Gorgeous china and three pots of different tea, coffee, slices........ What a great way to celebrate.

I scooter-ed 10km!!

We were in Dunedin for the weekend staying with my sister. The Dunedin City Council have slowly been making a bike, walk, run path around the harbour from the city out towards Port Chalmers. This path is at the bottom of the hill where my sister lives.

Eli and I on scooters at St Leonards.

The boys exploring

Aaron was going to run it, the boys had scooters to scoot along and so Warren (my brother in law) found an old scooter in their garage for me to use.

To start with Aaron's first comment was "you are not wearing that scooting are you?" Sorry what is the problem, I had a merino jersey over the top of a cotton shirt and 3/4 length jeans with sneakers. "It's gingham" - what? Then I asked what did he think I should wear, a skirt? "Shorts". What! in public! is he nuts?!

So off we go. Oh my goodness. Each way turned out to be 4km not 5km (whew). I had to keep changing legs as my gluteous maximus were getting very sore!! Aaron then started pushing me up the hills (what a gorgeous macho man). Then the scooter dropped something through its main section and that acted as a very sudden brake! Used some tape from another bit of the scooter to hold that up.

Our lovely 90 year old 

Whew rest time. The boys looked at the water - climbed up banks into hidey holes. It was great. I went to stand and my legs quivered!!!!! They felt like you do when you get off a trampoline that you have been on too long.

It was gorgeous, it was certainly fun, but my scooter slowly started the braking thing again. The boys saw me getting pushes so Eli said he would give me his better MGP to use if Dad would push him on my old crappy thing. They had great fun whizzing past me.

At the end we came across a man and woman who talked about scootering. The man had thought of buying one, so I got him to try mine. It then turned out that they were out for a walk on the same path and she was 90!!! (She was so gorgeous but said "I am not going to try that, I am 90 you know). I had to get a photo of him on the scooter (he was VERY wobbly)

Aaron and I resting while the boys explored

The hero pushing Jakob on the old scooter

In the end I only did 4km as Aaron ran back to get the car because my scooter just was falling apart. Great intentions, great fun.

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Super Easy Rhubarb Dessert

This dessert is sooo simple and easy. Tasty tasty and healthy. Egg, Dairy, Gluten, Fat free (fantastic for you Kerryn).

Take 500g rhubarb stalks and wash and cut them to the length of the container you are going to bake them in.

Lay them in rows (putting the little bits in the bottom so they can't be seen

Grate on the zest of two oranges

Squeeze the juice from the oranges onto the rhubarb

Add 5 teaspoons of honey (I have used the honey from the hives of our friend Dirk)

Put into the oven at 180oC for 20-30 minutes until the stalks seem soft to touch. Turn oven off and allow to cool. Serve as is - Gorgeous

If you want you can make some nut brittle and sprinkle on top. Or this is gorgeous for breakfast with some homemade muesli sprinked on and a bit of Greek Yogurt (so long as you can eat dairy!)