green love.

looking through my garden beds this morning, and around my neighborhood while i was running, i noticed something, and it put a BIG fat smile on my face.

BLOSSOMS and BUDS!



jasmine budding on my front door step. hopefully it won't take too long to bloom, i LOVE the smell of jasmine flowers :D



this little freesia is budding too! if there's a flower i like the smell of MORE than jasmine, it's freesia.
one of my neighbours has freesias planted all the way along their fence and walking past is heaven.



this daffodil is almost in full bloom. i can't wait til there's lots of these in flower so i can justify picking a couple for inside.



and then there is this beautiful specimen. a late blooming rose in the front garden of the house next door. there's no one living there at the moment but i sure am appreciating it's prettiness.

what's blooming in your garden and neighbourhood at the moment?

ta-da!

you know that cowl i cast on last week?
well, it's done!



it's a LOT narrower than the pattern states as i completely ran out of wool!
and when i googled where i'd be able to find some more, i found out that it was discontinued!
bit of a bummer, but i tried it on last night, and even though it is a bit skinnier, when it's wrapped around twice, it's still super cosy!

i just hope the birthday girl likes it :D

i've almost got july's woodland sampler finished too!
i did a whole lot of tedious white stitching, based on the positioning of some lettering i'd done earlier in the month, only to realise when i was done, the lettering was one stitch to the left of where it should've been!
gah! i must be the worst cross stitcher going round!

what have you finished lately? are you stitching up a sampler too? are you any good at counted cross stitch?

meal planning monday.

another week of monday-friday work for me, so i made sure i got myself all organised for the week ahead yesterday.
last week i managed to be organised enough to not need to go to the supermarket at all during the week! a mighty feat!
also, my mum won a meat pack over the weekend at her local club, and when we were on our way home from a quick visit yesterday, she packed us up with almost all of it! lots of meat pack dinners this week :D



tonight, i'm cooking up some curried sausages. i haven't made them in AGES! nice comfort food using an ingredient i wouldn't otherwise use unless i was cooking up a bbq (and the weather is NOT co-operating for that kind of thing)

tomorrow night, i'll cook up the steaks that came in the meatpack. i might braise some cabbage and bake some crunchy chips. yum!

wednesday night, ncb night, i'll grab some bolognaise out of the freezer and cook up some pasta before i leave. that way i should be hungry enough for cake by the time i get there :D

thursday night, the last thing out of the meat pack, burgers! with some fresh bread rolls and a handful of salad, they should be delish!

friday, i've got the day off from work for a 'study' day. i'm secretly hoping that bb will get off from work early, and we can head off for a little road trip, making the most of my last weekend off for a couple of weeks, and catching up with a good friend in her new house. it should be a good weekend with lots of good food! i can't wait!

what are you eating this week? trying anything new? road-tripping anywhere?

little lovelies.

every weekend, i put together a little list of lovely things that have happened during the week. always looking for the nice side of the week :D



i received this lovely biscuit in the mail from a new mama. it was to say thank-you for a little blankie i knitted up. what a lovely gesture! it's too pretty to eat though!



i cast on a new project during the week on my way to brown owls. a gap-tastic cowl for a friend's upcoming birthday
it's using the yarn that i mentioned last week!



and speaking of yarn, the back-ordered yarn i ordered a few weeks ago for the granny stripe has turned up. so i'm back at work on it! well in between knitting up the above mentioned cowl that is ;)

today, i'm heading off on a little roadtrip to visit my parents. i haven't been to visit them since mothers day! whoops!

what cool things have happened to you this week?

making over the 'case.

a couple of months ago, i foraged this beauty off one of my neighbours front lawn!



it is in desperate need of a lot of tlc!
i spent a little bit of time over the weekend, cleaning the inside and outside, sanding the hinges and thinking about all of the possibilities of what i could do!



the inside lining will need to be replaced i think... time to get the modpodge out!
i'm thinking it would look nice in a vintage printed fabric. might need to go op-shopping for some vintage sheeting!



the outside will need a paint job, as the facade is a little messed up! a lick of mint green paint should do the trick.
oh, and those hinges, they definitely need a bit more work with the steel wool!
as well as a bit of alignment i think.



what do you think? do you have any suggestions for making over a suitcase?

green love.

not much has changed since last week on the edible side of things in the garden, so this week i thought i'd share the floral happenings in the garden!



there are a lot of flowers springing up from bulbs, these grape hyacinths are doing fabulous things, despite that fact that they probably need a good water
these, and others, sit under the eaves of our house, which means they get missed when it rains, and missed by me because i assume that they're been rained on! oops!



these lovelies are almost in full flower, in my front yard, in my neighbours front yard, and all over the neighbourhood!



bb and i bought this hydrangea a few weeks ago on clearance. i've been trying to keep the water up to it (it too, sits under the eaves) but all the leaves have fallen off and i'm a bit worried that it's not long for this world.
keep your fingers crossed for me?



and finally, my rose.
i pruned the living daylights out of it a few months ago, for the very first time.
pruning my rose bush is one of those things i always mean to do, but never quite get around to... which normally results in a ridiculous looking plant come spring time.
it must've really enjoyed the pruning though because the buds i pruned back to (and one's further down) have already started to grow! huzzah!

is much happening in your garden at the moment? how are you flowers growing?

polishin' up.

as i mentioned on saturday, i picked up a gel polish kit last week.
on my morning off on friday, i had a bit of a play...



the instructions that come with the kit are quite straight forward.
i'm sure i would've been ok without them though, due to my experience in receiving gel polish manicures in the past.
in fact, the reason i stopped getting them, was that i'd had so many, i knew exactly what needed doing, and when the 'professionals' missed a step, the $35 manicure would barely last a week, let alone the 'up to 3 weeks' that is advertised.
super frustrating!!



the pack that i picked up (from hairhouse warehouse fyi, the special is on until the 28th of july) allowed you to pick two colours yourself.
i chose passion and seafoam. (full colour list here
i applied the seafoam on friday when i was having a play. because it was a very light pastel, i actually did 3 coats to make sure there was a nice even colour.



the finish came up quite well! i was really proud of myself!
it's not the best my nails have ever looked (with a professional job, tha is), but it's not the worst either!

the worst thing i found with this kit was the amount of time it took me!
i'm used to being able to cure one hand, while the other hand is painted (by someone else) but obviously, only having two hands, i couldn't do that myself!
also, the lamp is a bit smaller than the professional ones you come across in salons, so you have to cure your 4 long fingers first, and then the thumb. took a little longer but so far, the finish is worth the time!

the real test will be to see how long they last!

do you get gel polish manicures? have you ever tried it yourself?

meal planning monday.

hello again monday. i'm starting two weeks of monday through friday work weeks so i don't think monday will be my favourite day in weeks to come...
anywho, onto the meal plan!
last week's meal plan worked really well! delicious, healthy-ish food, with lots of leftovers for me (and a couple of days for bb too!) to take to work for lunch! i made myself up some salads to have with my leftovers and they were pretty great little meals!



tonight, i'll put together a quick beef massaman. quick because i made a big batch of curry paste a couple of weeks ago, just add beef and potatoes! too easy!

tomorrow night, i'm off to brown owls, again! i've really been rocking the crafty group thing the last couple of weeks. i love a crafty get together :D i won't be making dinner as this particular group meets at 6:30... i'll jump on the train straight from work and bb can fend for himself!

wednesday night, i'll make up some meatballs and cook them in a tomato-ey sauce. spaghetti and some greens. yum!

thursday, i might pop the slow cooker on in the morning and try out the drunken pork again. this time i'll cut the pork up, instead of throwing the chops in whole. oh and i might choose a nicer beer out of bb's collection too (the leftover carlton cold i used last time was a little bit bleurgh!)

friday night, i've got a catch up organised with some friends from uni. i literally can NOT wait to catch up with them all and find out what everyone's doing, it's been too long! naturally, we'll grab some delicious food too :D

saturday night, we've got a lovely couple coming over for dinner and i think i'm going to have to make something slow cooked and delicious. maybe lamb shanks? that sounds good :D they'll go well with a nice red OR white, keeping the options open.

sunday night, i'll leave up to bb to decide. last weekend, he made the most delicious steak sandwiches so i'll be interested to see what he comes up with!

what are you eating this week? are you meal planning too? pop over and visit pink patent mary janes for more meal planning inspiration.

little lovelies.

a little list of lovely things that have happened during the week. no matter what crappy things happen, there are always some cool things that get you through :D

i bought myself a new purse! my old one has been looking a little too loved for a while now but i hadn't seen one i really liked, until thursday that is!



i've been falling more and more in love with the tooled leather look and when i saw this, i swooned a little. then i realised it was on sale and i swooned a little more!

this guy was feeling super snuggly on my day off on monday.



sometimes he can be an absolute little jerk, and then he does something like this, curl up, virtually ON my arm, with his little paw curled around my arm. it just melts your heart ha ha!

on wednesday night, i was lucky enough to be the recipient of some lovely wool that someone was destashing, via cam!



it kind of goes against my whole stash-busting that i had planned, but it's ok to accept new wool if you know exactly what you've got planned for it right? right?

i also picked myself up a gel polish kit!



i used to get shellac manicures done far too often, wasting far too many $$$! when i saw this kit on sale, i knew i should give it a try. i'll put together a little review sometime next week...

and lastly, the view this afternoon.
bb and i popped in to visit his mum after pax and as we were sitting, having a warming glass of red, the sun came out and lit up the city.



what cool things have you been up to this week? feel free to share!

getting a move on.

monday, i started running again.
tuesday, i could barely walk.
wednesday, i found this to read and it made me laugh and realise a little why i too love to run.
tomorrow, i'll run again.



one of my july goals was to get my butt moving again. for many months, i was a little running machine, and then i stopped. i don't remember exactly why, but i did and i've pretty much been missing it ever since...

do you run? do you find it therapeutic?

green love.

i love that even though it's winter, things are still happening out in my garden. growing and changing, but at a much slower pace than in spring and summer...



the coriander and rocket are liking their sunnier spot in the front yard. slow and steady growth.



the bok choy i planted a while ago has sprouted now. though it might need a little thinning out if all of these seedlings take.



the carrot seeds i planted have sprouted too, at the rate they're going though, i might not get carrots until this time next year!



the garlic is the only thing that seems to be growing at any decent pace. both the pot in the backyard, and the one in the front yard are growing at a rate of knots!

gardening at this time of the year is certainly a test of patience, but helps me to be incredibly grateful for the sunshine when we get it :D
but seriously, how long til spring?

how is you garden growing at the moment? is there much going on?

snail mail.

a few months ago, i signed up to receive a creative pen pal over on the craft revival.
i sent off my first letter as soon as i received my penpal's information (magdalena did an amazing job, painstakingly matching up the almost 200 people who signed up) and i wrote another today.



i pulled out my papers and washi tape and my new favourite pen and set to writing. and then... i was out of letter paper!
i was having such fun, writing and writing, that i nearly ran out of room to sign my name!



as i was packing everything away, i pulled out my 'letter' box. the place i store a lot of the handwritten letters and postcards i've received in my lifetime and had a good old read.

it made me realise how much i love writing letters and receiving mail.

do you love writing and receiving letters too? would you like to be penpals? send me an email (dabblingalldayatgmaildotcom) with your address if you would, i'd love to write a letter to you!

meal planning monday.

monday morning, and i'm absolutely ready to meal plan this week.
the last few weeks, i've let all of my organisation-ing (apart from meal planning) fall by the wayside and it's been stressing me out.
this week, i'm kicking my own butt back into organisational shape!



tonight, i've got some chicken in the fridge i need to use (last week's kung po chicken never eventuated...) so i'll grab some parmesan and prosciutto and cook up some parmesan chicken. there's heaps of rocket in the fridge, so we'll have some greens and maybe some chips...

for tomorrow night, there's some lamb in the freezer that i've been hanging out to eat. more salad i think, and maybe some couscous. yum!

wednesday night is ncb night. i think i'll cook up some pasta and grab some bolognaise out of the freezer. dinner on the run!

thursday night, i'll whip up some chicken parmas. more salad and parmas definitely need to be served with some chippies :D

friday night = working late for me. osso bucco in the slow cooker with some spiral pasta. i'm already drooling ha ha!

this weekend i FINALLY have a weekend off from work! it feels like forever!
bb has bought us tickets to pax which he will LOVE, and i will find interesting, hopefully...
i'm hoping that we can go out somewhere amazing in the city for dinner. fingers are crossed.
oh my parents are coming up too, for my mum's birthday. so we'll head out for dinner sunday too which will be great!

think i might spend a bit of time looking forward to the weekend this weekend ha ha!

what are you cooking up this week? do you have weekend plans to look forward too?

little lovelies

sharing some lovely little things that happened to me this week. keeping me looking on the positive side of things :D



last weekend, bb and i caught a double feature at the movies, the great gatsby AND man of steel. both in la premiere thanks to a RIDICULOUS promotion hoyts were having, it was a dollar more expensive to go to la premiere over the normal cinema, why wouldn't you?
we grabbed some pancakes for dinner in between.
it was an utterly decadent and relaxing night.



with two days off during the week this week, this guy and i had lots of hang time together. it's always interesting to see what he does all day... it's mostly sleeping to be honest!



i popped along to the hottie exhibition and had a great time! you can read more about it here, here and here



towards the end of the week, bb informed me of the second version coming out of one of my favourite games, and i haven't gotten much done since! i'm obsessed! and also have the guilts something shocking...

what cool things have you been up to this week? feel free to share!

milo-ing.

i cast on a milo for the first time on the train on the way to the masterclass a few weeks ago.
i'd read through the pattern, and from looking at the pictures, i was under the impression this was going to be a tricky knit to get my head around.
my mind boggled at the 'simple seamless vest, knit in the round from the top down' description. what's simple about that?
well the pattern makes it simple, that's for sure!



i knit this up in a ball i bought from the back room at bendigo. i can't seem to find the tag (despite specifically reminding myself not to lose it) but i think it was an alpaca blend. it wasn't bad to work with albeit a little fluffy.
and although the photo above has this looking a little pink, it's definitely more of a red...



i'm super proud of myself for knitting a cable for the first time, it was HEAPS easier than i expected. i have a feeling i'm going to be all about the cables in future knits...
i think bb would look super cute in a cabled jumper, pity he doesn't think so ha ha!



look at that glorious cable!

because this ball was from bendigo, it came in their signature massive ball size. i think i'll definitely have enough to make another, in a smaller size though... oh, and definitely with a different cable style :D

what have you been creating lately?

meal planning monday.

oh hello monday! you're here again then? must be time for a meal plan!



tonight, i've got a work meeting, after work, so when i get home i'll cook up fennel and chorizo casarecce. i made it a couple of weeks ago and it was delicious! hopefully it's a hit again!

tomorrow, i have the day off from work! i think i might cook up that roast lamb i've been talking about for weeks.

wednesday night, i'll cook up a curry. i've got the day off from work again so i might go and get some fresh chillies and stuff and make up a paste.

thursday night, i might pop along to brown owls, so i'll whip up a chicken pad thai before hand.

friday night means a late night at work, so the slow-cooker will be busy while i'm working! and it'll be cooking general tso's chicken. hopefully it works out ok, the drunken pork i cooked last week wasn't as tender as i was hoping. not sure if my cooker is on the way out or the meat wasn't quite the right cut...

saturday and sunday i'll leave up to bb to organise. i'm working all weekend! very much looking forward to a couple of weekends off coming up! phew!

what are you cooking this weekend? pop over to pink patent mary janes' blog for more meal planning inspiration!

a hottie afternoon.

this afternoon was the gala opening of the hottie exhibition at open drawer.
bb and i popped along for an hour or so. we caught up with some lovely people, sampled some delicious food and most importantly, had a look at some awesome hottie covers!



i took pictures of some of my favourites, but there were so many cool ones around! every cover had little nuances and it was really great to listen in to some of the conversations that they started!
the exhibition raises money for the margaret pratt foundation, by selling the covers for $40 each and a voting system whereby you pop coins into a cup that matches your favourite hottie! very cool!

the exhibition is running from now until the 28th july! you should pop in and have a look if you're passing through camberwell!

what have you been up to today? did you submit a hottie?

little lovelies

i thought i'd try and start writing a list of some little lovely things that had happened to me during the week, once a week.
i figure it's nice, to document nice things. and it'll also help shine a light through the ins and outs of a dull week.
here goes...



this morning, i had breakfast with a friend from uni. we chatted about life and books and boys and pets and food and it was a pretty awesome way to start a friday.



a couple of weeks ago, bb and i bought this bookshelf. we had a fairly big discussion about where to put it, i wanted it in the study, bb wanted it in the lounge room. he won and that's ok because our lounge room actually feels bigger with it in there. strange huh?



the lovely sally made this for me. i signed up to her pay it forward post and she sent me this.



there is a little notebook in there. i think i'll keep it in my handbag and use it to write to-do lists. i could definitely use more to-do lists in my life. top of the list, finish MY pay it forward gifts. oops!



this gnocchi definitely made the list. after the masterclass last saturday, i wandered into the city and found a favourite italian restaurant that i haven't been to in years. i sat by myself and ordered my favourite meal. i dream about this gnocchi.



and lastly, this yarn. i'd never seen it before it was gifted to me last week (though apparently it's around in lots of places). bb's mum brought it back from the uk for me. even though it's a bit strange to knit with, the fact that she saw it and thought of me when she was halfway around the world is pretty special. it put a big smile on my face.

what cool things have happened to you lately? would you like to join in with a 'cool things' list?