meal planning monday.

a little late tonight... i've spent all day planning my meals for the week! just kidding, i've spent all day washing :| 5 loads and my wash basket isn't even empty darn it!

anywho...




tonight, we had eye-fillet on a bed of braised cabbage and sprouts with bacon and onion and some crunchy chippies! i waited until bb had eaten a few bites and declared the 'cabbage thing' delicious before i let him know it was full of brussel sprouts, he was not 100% impressed!

tomorrow night is date night :D no plans as yet but i'm hoping to have something delicious!

wednesday night is ncb night. i'm working all day so the slow cooker will be in charge! i'm thinking i might whip up some slow cooked chilli con carne. i'm going to substitute some round steak for the mince though because that's what i've got in the freezer!

thursday, another day at work, another day for the slow cooker. i've got some pork belly in the fridge, i'll be making this one again. so delicious!

friday is late night shopping day, so it'll be a late night for me. i'll probably end up having some toast. the last couple of weeks i've organised dinner in the slow cooker when i've been working late, but i've gotten home and not been hungry!

i actually have a weekend off this week and i have a few plans, but none for dinner at this stage... i'm rolling with the punches this weekend!

what are your meal plans for the week? or even just plans in general?

happy monday!

saturday night.

tonight...
i've hung some pictures!



and by pictures, i mean mainly photos. and a print. and a needlework.



oh and some diplomas... just ignore how completely crooked they are ok?
i'm happy with them at the moment, give me a month or two and i'll rip them off the wall and straighten them up :D




i've just cast on another beanie too!

what are you up to this saturday night?

beanie bonanza!

as promised yesterday, a little show and tell of the beanies i've been working on over the last few months...

a bundle of beanies knitted in the moda vera 'tammy' wool. i've made many beanies in this wool before and i love it because it is the ultimate cheat wool! every skein comes in a certain colour scheme and has a variety of textures of yarn, linked together for beanie-knitting ease :D
i got these skeins on super spotlight discount, they normally retail for about $15 and i bought them for under $2!!

and as for these two...

these were knitted from bits and pieces from my stash...

the large majority of the hexagon beanie was directly left over from brianna's blankie.
the rainbow beanie was heavily inspired by kate's, though instead of following the pattern that she used, i just made it up as i went, not because i thought i could, just because i couldn't be bothered getting my laptop at the time. sheer laziness!

and finally, the beanie i was working on yesterday...


this fiery number was again, made entirely from my stash wool. i managed to use up 2 complete scrappy balls! yippee!

my plan is to make my final two beanies to send to the beanie festival in the same manner. maybe different colour schemes though :D

happy friday all!!

my creative space

today, i'm working on a little beanie!

i'm about two thirds the way through this little fiery number and i managed to get two finished up on tuesday while i was nesting. with this one i'm working on, the my beanie total comes up to eight! only two to go before festival time!

maybe i'll have a bit of a show and tell tomorrow :D

what creative things have you been up to?
join in here!

nesting.

today, i have a day off from work and boy do i have plans for today!
and for once, my day off plans DON'T involve copious amounts of housework and running around like a mad woman!

today, if you need me, i'll be here...




in my craft nest.

i set all this stuff up on sunday night. bb came into the lounge room and made a noise. i said, 'oops, sorry, i made a mess.'
he replied with, 'you've made a nest'
and i didn't disagree!
today the heater will be turned on too, melbourne is turning out some frightful weather this morning!

now i'm off to make myself a giant mug of tea and a steamy bowl of porridge and to catch up on episodes of my new favourite show.
hope your tuesday is fabulous!

meal planning monday.

gosh it's monday again?!? these weeks keep zooming past, one quicker than the next!
but what's on the menu for this week?



tonight, i've got a nice piece of beef to go in the slow cooker, with some red wine and peppercorns. should be delish and fabulous on sandwiches tomorrow for lunch too!

tomorrow night is date night. last week, we tried something different and went out for korean bbq. it was super fun :D but what to do this week...?

wednesday, anzac day, bb and i have the day off together... i think i might try something a little tricky. maybe some rice paper rolls! i've never tried them but they should be something fun that we can do together! maybe i'll try a recipe or two from here.

thursday, working til late at work :| definitely need something for the slow cooker... maybe a beef and carrot ragout. yep, that'll work!

friday, another big ol' day at work means that the slow cooker will be in charge again. moroccan lamb shanks will do. they'll work a treat to perk me up and get me through another weekend of work.

saturday, i'll leave bb in charge again. hopefully he'll organise something delicious. and healthy. this past weekend we had kfc :| not exactly the healthy dinner i'd been hoping for all day at work!

and sunday, i'm thinking a roast. in the oven (as opposed to the slow cooker!), i'll leave bb in charge of the cooking, and choosing what variety too i think...

yum!

how's your week looking so far?

my (late) creative space.

yesterday was a little bit busy, getting housework done, catching up on blog posts, getting dinner ready, and then working, phew! no time for a blog post getting written ha ha!
so what have i been up to over here? apart from working some more rows on this lovely thing, i've been working on my bamcal squares...


two down, one to go. oh and there's the blocking and joining to do too... the end of this month is coming up fast, i'd best get on to them quick sticks!

i've also been playing around with some more dishcloths.



crocheting this time though... i made this one up as i went, crocheting single crocheting into the front loop only to make up the body of the cloth. i think it needs a nice frilly edge though, don't you?

what have you been up to in your creative space?
check out more creative peeps over here!

it's growing...

tonight, i'm heading off to ncb, which is the third consecutive day i've headed to a crafty session (with lovely people too :D).
as a result of these many crafty sessions, the little project i'd started here, has done quite a bit of growing...




what do you think?
i'm loving the back and forth of the stripes :D very soothing, oh and i'm quite partial to the colour combinations too! i loooooove me some green, and i find that the grey breaks it up quite nicely!

sucked in.

a little secret about me, i LOVE me some terribly cheesy reality tv.
however, after vocal talent show-ing myself out over the years with australian idol... there was no way i was intending to go anywhere near the voice!

but then, flicking channels while waiting for the biggest loser to start (i did mention i'm a reality tv tragic...), this happened.......




that cute dress, the song (one of my absolute favourites!), oh, and her VOICE!

absolutely sucked in!

are you a reality tv tragic too? please tell me yes ha ha!!

meal planning monday.

oops, it seems i forgot about blogging for a little while again. well it would seem anyway... i never forget, i just feel too tired and brain dead to write posts that anyone would actually want to read...

image source

but i'm back today, with some delicious meal plans for the week! last week was a bit of a disaster in terms of meal planning, and cooking in general as it was the first weekend in a long time that i wasn't able to visit a farmer's market and find some inspiring produce. it's really amazing the effect that delicious, fresh produce has on my cooking mojo!
anywho, i'm making do with what i can find at my local fresh-food outlets this week, as i've just had a big weekend of work, and have another next weekend too.

so what's for dinner tonight? tonight, i'm FINALLY going to get to making this recipe, as written by this lovely lady. i've got the afternoon free so i've got lots of delicious prep time :D

tomorrow night, date night! i'll have to find somewhere amazing to go out for dinner.

on wednesday, i've got work all day, so i'll be throwing some pork in the slow cooker for some thit heo kho tieu. i've never made it before but it sounds DELICIOUS!

thursday, i'll be working again, big surprise there ha ha! so a slow cooked chicken curry it is!

friday night, another late night at work, i think i might try a bolognaise in the slow cooker... i can only imagine how delicious it will be!

bb will be home all day on saturday, whereas i'll be at work, so he can organise dinner. yes indeedy!

and i feel that sunday is just that little bit too far away to worry about, don't you think?
i can't plan too far ahead ha ha!

what are your dinner plans for the week? or even just your general plans?

my creative space.

today, i'm working on some easter treats for my lovely co-workers!

i started by knitting up a whole bunch of dishcloths, i did already have a few made, but i've been knitting up a storm this past week :D




i then threaded some ribbon through the holes in the edges, don't you love when a pattern has everything you need?! this ribbon is from my nanna's stash, i wondered when i inherited it, what on earth i would use plain white ribbon for, as i normally use thick and colourful stuff but it was absolutely perfect for this!




enter stage left, bowl of delicously tempting, foil-wrapped chocolate. the amount of hand swatting, 'stay away from the chocolate' that was going on last night!




one of each type, collected on top of the dishcloth. i bet you know where this is going now right?



and then pull the ribbon tight! make a pretty bow, and voila!




pretty little easter treats :D



i think these would work great for any time of year really... in fact, i gave one to a lovely lady the other night...
i also had the thought last night, while threading ribbon into the dishcloths, they would be quite lovely for bonbonniere, you could pop something sweet inside for the guests to enjoy, and there would be something practical for them to take home and use :D

what creativity have you been getting up to lately?
have a peek and see what other creative peeps are up to over here!

rainbow toes.

rainbow solidarity. for annie, for hope and a cure.



read why here.
and join in here.

april.

it took me a little while to figure out exactly what my goals were for this coming month...

first and foremost, i want to get some sweet easter treats made up. i've got an idea brewing for some little gift bags for my work colleagues :D i'll be sharing those soon i think!

i'd also like to get this big pile of pictures, hung up on the wall.


there's not much point having them sitting here next to my dresser, getting under my feet and collecting dust!

i'm going to keep working on getting my kitchen cupboards painted. last month i managed to get the above-microwave cupboard painted, and also the cupboard under the sink and i'm LOVING the results. not only did i paint the insides, making them look fresh and clean and lovely, i also went through the contents of the cupboard like a dose of salts. i said goodbye to anything that we hadn't touched in the three years since we moved into this place. let's just say the local op-shops are loving me at the moment :D
it's amazing how liberating de-cluttering is for me!

i also have grand intentions to get started on a quilt. i've had a pattern in my head for months and i definitely want to get started on making it! if i can make a dress in a day, i can definitely make a start on a quilt!

oh and i've got the april bamcal squares to do too!

what are you up to this month?

march, a month in photos.

in march, i decided to play along with fatmumslim. i didn't necessarily get all of the photos done on the correct days... but come midnight on the 31st of march, they were all posted to instagram (i posted about 7 last night :S)




i'm now contemplating whether to play along in april...

have you taken part in a picture a day challenge?

are you on instagram? i'm @misscoleyann over there :D