little lovelies.

every week, i try and share a little list of lovely things that have happened throughout the week in my neck of the woods, to try and keep myself looking on the bright side of things.

a flower almost in bloom.



my onions are starting to look super pretty. as well as coming along in the ground too hopefully!

i cast on a new project on my couple of days off this week.



there's nothing like christmas to get me knitting away at a feverish pace!

this flower, is not almost about to bloom, but is already there!



this beauty was waiting for me on my grandma's bench when i popped in to visit on wednesday. they are my absolute favourites!

and finally, last night, i was lucky to head along to this event.



it was super awesome to put faces to blog names and to catch up with some lovely folks i haven't seen in a while!

what little lovely things have been happening this week for you? anything blooming? are you knitting for christmas? did you get along to the voices of 2013 do last night too?

hello kitty.

last week at work, i drew a 'hello kitty' loving co-worker in our work kris kringle. i wasted NO time, getting some inspiration from ravelry and getting started!

i decided on this pattern and on saturday, pulled almost every ball of wool out of my stash trying to find the perfect colours!



i'm pretty happy with the colours i found... a nice soft cream yarn for the face (leftover from the hexie project, i think), some yellow for the nose and flower (inherited from my nanna), a LOT of purple (originally from spotlight i think, i crocheted it up into a puff-stitch beanie, only to have it be too small for any human head!), a little pink (stolen from my pink heart blankie project) and a bit of grey and black of entirely unknown origin.



i am INCREDIBLY happy with how it turned out! and the fact i managed to get it finished by sunday night... i am LOVING me some quick projects right now!

the only problem with this project was, by tipping all of my wool out of it's home, and onto the bed, i am absolutely itching to start another 21093730984 projects. life is tough i tells ya!

this little project cleared out 3 balls of wool from said stash though, yahoo! stash busting is still happening!

do you like a quick project? or hello kitty? are you stash busting too?

ravelled.

green love.

it's been a few weeks since i posted about what's going on in my garden...

since last time, the little tomato seedlings i shared have grew-some!



they're ALMOST ready to transplant into bigger pots.

while the tomato plants that mum and i transplanted a month or so ago, nearly need bigger pots themselves again!



i think i'm going to try and round up some of those big polystyrene boxes that broccoli gets delivered in from nearby foodie businesses to plant my tomatoes in...
i've never grown them before so i'm thinking that will be the best way to control the soil and such.

meanwhile, outside...



my spinach has gone absolutely crazy!
definitely need to start harvesting some of this for cooking and eating in salads!

and these beauties...



well they must be getting nearly big enough for harvesting too!
roast beetroot and spinach salad, coming up!

what's growing in your garden at the moment? are you starting to harvest some things?

el socko, finito!

yeah, i don't speak spanish...

but i do knit socks!



it wasn't that i was lacking content to blog about last week as i finished these socks the night i flew back from sydney! that would be well over a week ago now!!
no matter, i can share now!

i wasn't sure that i was going to get them back to sew the ends in once i finished them to be quite honest...



thankfully, bb runs hot, and it wasn't too long until he had to pull them off!
i took the opportunity to weave those ends in, and snap a few pictures too!

oh and those dreamy colour changes, just once more...



love them!

not going to lie, while i was knitting these socks, i was dreaming up other projects for the other ball of this wool... i think it would look super lovely knitted up as a milo don't you?

any other project suggestions? do you knit socks?

meal planning monday.

oops! a week between posts! i've been a busy little beaver and have been utterly neglecting this space!
actually, to tell you the truth, i had my final assignment looming over me all last week, and everytime i sat down at my computer, i felt like i should be doing that, so instead of getting on with the assignment and just doing it, i did nothing for the whole week!
terrible!!

it is however done and dusted now, final assignment is completo (with a lot of help and encouragement from bb). now i just have to get pass marks back, and i'll be certified! yeow!

anywho, enough blathering, it's meal planning time!



last week was an utter cooking fail week. i'll blame the aforementioned reason for sapping all of my will power and desire to do anything!
this week is going to look VERY similar to last week's meal plan to be honest.

tonight, i'll cook up a fish curry. i bought all the ingredients last week (don't worry, the fish is frozen!) so i don't even need to go shopping! phew!

tomorrow night, i'll whip up some chicken parmas. i've got the day off from work so will have plenty of time to get some breast flattened and crumbed :D

wednesday, another day off from work, so i'll put together a pork larb (sfi, may '08, pg 55). it's supposed to be a bit warm on wednesday, so a pork larb shouldn't take much cooking, and should be delicious with some rice noodles and cold salad.

thursday night, i'm working late. i'll grab some beef ribs out of the freezer and throw them in the slow cooker.

friday night, i'm off to the voices of 2013 gala event! i'm super excited to frock up and meet some awesome people :D

saturday night, i'm batching it up! bb is off on a roadtrip to help get his brother settled into college for the summer so i'm on my own!

i think i might make myself a big batch of broccolini pad thai (sfi september '13, pg. 42) as it's not bb's favourite thing to eat, but i love it!

and finally sunday night, i might throw a roast chicken in the oven. if i put it on after work, it'll give me some potter around the house time, something i'll be desperate for after a weekend of work! AND i'll have time to make some stock with the carcass as i've got the following day off from work!

phew! a massive week ahead!

what are you up to this week? are you heading to the voices of 2013 gala event? what's on your menu for the week?

meal planning monday.

i took a week off meal planning last week while i was in sydney but i'm back this week, ready to get my plan on!



tonight, i'm going to whip up a thai fish curry. we've had some whiting in the freezer that's been there for a while, and i've been craving a curry :D

tomorrow night, i think i'll pull some bolognaise out of the freezer and cook up some pasta. lazy dinner is lazy. and easy.

wednesday night is ncb night! it never ended up eventuating last fortnight so i'm excited to catch up with my favourite crafty ladies!

thursday night, i'll grab some chicken breasts out of the freezer, and whip up some chicken parmas! there's heaps of salad stuff in the fridge, and lotsa potatoes in the pantry, so chips and salad will be perfect to go with them! yum!

friday night, i'm working late. osso bucco will be a-cooking in the slow cooker for when bb and i get home :D

i'm heading down to my parent's place on saturday to get in some farm time. i'll definitely be grabbing something with them, i'd say we'll head out for dinner! can't wait!

sunday will be a big day! bb and i are going clay target shooting in the morning with some friends from his work. it should be super fun and we'll be having a bbq afterwards for lunch. i'd imagine we'll probably only really want something light for dinner... maybe i'll whip up a risotto with whatever's left in the fridge from the week!

sounds good.

what are you eating this week?

sydney.

phew! what a week!
i am allllllmost home... sitting in a bar at the airport, watching the luggage get loaded off a plane.

it's been a BIG week! chock full of assessment tasks. i've completed assignments, sat written tests, and successfully completed the barrage of practical tests that i needed to pass to finish my course!
i'm coming home, almost a free woman. there's just one lingering assignment left to finish... but i'm hoping with bb's help, it'll be done and dusted before the end of the weekend. fingers crossed!

i've had a pretty great week other than the infernal study though...
i looked at lots of cool buildings while walking around the neighborhood where i was staying,



i shared dinner and drinks with school friends to celebrate us all passing our practical test,



ate muesli and yoghurt and berries EVERY day for breakfast,



and just generally had a pretty good time despite all of the icky study and having to be away from bb and sampson and home.

how's your week been this week?

my creative space.

even though the official 'my creative space' isn't happening any more, sometimes on thursdays i just get a little my creative space craving...
i just have to share what's happening in my creative space ha ha!

i've made some more progress on bb's socks



i've got the heels all done and i'm just starting the long and arduous knitting of the top... it'll take me a while!

i'm still loving the colour changes, with the exception of here...



after working up the heel, i'm stuck with this dramatic colour change line on the front of the sock! oh well, i guess you win some and you lose some.

one of my november goals was to knit up some dishcloths, so i've been knitting a row, here and there, on occasions where my brain just can't deal with sock knitting.



i've managed one and a bit so far, and i dare say i'll get quite a few more knitted up while i'm away next week, in between studying of course...
speaking of which, i'd best get back to it! two tests tomorrow morning and i can't remember how to compound prisms mathematically! study time!

what are you creating at the moment?

green love.

i feel like there's heaps happening in the garden this week, even if i haven't had much of a chance to get out and get things happening myself!
the onions in my front garden are chugging along nicely.



i do need to make sure i keep the water up to these guys... the front garden tends to get super dry as it catches all of the afternoon sun.

the berries are coming along nicely too



blueberries and strawberries. soon to be ripe and soon to be eaten for breakfast :D

the carrots i thought the cat had destroyed have made a comeback.



hopefully he'll leave them be a while and they can get themselves nice and established.

oh, and i planted more tomato seeds on the windowsill.



these ones are cherry tomatoes. can't wait until they're big and strong!

what's growing in your garden this week?

meal planning monday.

monday again! today feels a bit weird though, being the middle of the long weekend here in melbourne. not that it's a long weekend for me though... and long weekend of work maybe!!
thankfully, i've got today off from work which is giving me some time at home with bb, i've got lots of spring cleaning type plans for us today, much to his dismay ha ha!

anywho, meal plan, let's do it!





tonight, i'm going to cook up some beer beef ribs (sfi august '07, pg. 67) using some beef spare ribs from the freezer. they'll slow braise for a bit and then i'll serve them up with some mash and the GORGEOUS looking broad beans i found at the green grocer the other day.

tomorrow night, i'm hoping bb might whip up a batch of his bolognaise (his is always more delicious than mine...) which should be perfect to come home to after a big day at work.

wednesday night is ncb night! hopefully i can find something delicious there. or do what i did last fortnight and grab a food truck burger beforehand... it was delicious!!

thursday night, i'll whip up the meatballs that i wanted to last week... didn't quite get around to them because i forgot to get the meat out of the freezer!

friday night, imma be working late! i think i'll leave ben to fend for himself as i'm going to have a massive day, i'm heading into work head office to get some tests done for my course, before starting work at 1! phew, i'm exhausted just thinking about it!

saturday, i've convinced bb to make an asian roast chicken recipe that one of my co-workers was raving about to me last week. hopefully it's delicious!

and as for sunday, i'm not sure what i'll be having for dinner as i'm off on a jet plane to sydney! i've got my final practical session for my cert iv and i'm super excited to get it done. i'll hopefully be 280309237 steps closer to being done by the time i get back home!

what are you eating this week?

socksing along.

while at the craft sessions over the weekend, the unthinkable happened...



i ran out of the grey wool for my heart blankie! as i don't like to waste money on things like postage, (bendigo orders need to be a minimum of $50 for free postage, and i'm on a self-imposed wool buying ban...), i thought i'd start another project.



i decided on socks of course!
these ones are for bb and i am LOVING the way the colours change through this yarn as it knits up. it's called murano from bendigo woollen mills in the blue colourway (CK38).
if i didn't already have 2 balls of this stuff, it would be hard to stop myself acquiring more... especially in that dreamy green colourway!

i can't help but think how lovely a milo would be knitted up with these lovely colour changes...
that might not be far off with how quickly socks knit up in an 8 ply...

what have you cast on recently? do you knit with variegated yarns? what's your favourite?

little lovelies.

every week, i try and share a little list of lovely things that have happened throughout the week in my neck of the woods, to try and keep myself looking on the bright side of things.

a cute little bag, full of goodies, to start off the craft sessions.



the awesome businesses sponsoring the weekend were so generous, i felt so spoilt! and i can't wait to get creating with all of these materials!

during the week, i spent a fair chunk of time creating this meal,



biking around to source the ingredients, slow cooking them to make a delicious ragu, making pasta and bread from scratch. it totally paid off though, it was DELICIOUS! and also made me feel like i'd done great things with my day off :D
more importantly, there were leftovers for the freezer. now on a busy day, when i feel like i've achieved nothing tangible, i can come home with little effort and relive the experience! excellent!

a quick trip BACK to the yarra vallery earlier in the week to retrieve something left behind after the weekend, yielded a sweet discovery.



the yarra valley chocolaterie is DEFINITELY somewhere i'll be going again!

and finally, a parting gift from last weekend.



"i craft for joy"
i most certainly do.
i'm hoping to pick up a frame for this beautiful print, and get it hanging on my bedroom wall asap!

what has been putting a smile on your dial this past week?

november.

i am in a total state of shock that it is november right now... where exactly did this year go??

while i get over my state of shock, how about an october review?
i almost blogged every day, i FINISHED de-stashing my cooking magazines (though my mum DID offer to give me another stack from HER stash), i've mostly kept on track with my studying (except for my management assignments, they're hell), got lots of stuff growing and made some more de-stash plans.
i also started some more socks (which i'll show you over the weekend...), got my cross-stitch done and started clearing out my unused pantry items (there was a giant box of weetbix in there... which we don't eat, so i've started eating them!).
i didn't TOUCH my hexies OR finish decorating my crafty boxes (though i did get a few few finished) but that just gives me something to do this month ;)



i've spent the morning finalising some paperwork to get some tests done to finish up my cert iv and getting the remaining crafty boxes primed and ready for pretty-ing!
it is NOVEMBER and i'm ready to roll!

what are your plans for the month? are you in shock that it's NOVEMBER too?