Victoria Sponge

  

Sunday morning after spending some time picking berries I was inspired to bake a cake.

I have enjoyed A Table in the Orchard by Michelle Crawford very much. Hugo and Elsa is Michelle's blog.  So lovely to enjoy her beautiful home and garden.

I had a beautiful bottle of lemon butter in the fridge made by my Mum. Always delicious!

I hardly every make a cake.  But cake it just had to be. 

The recipe for Vicotria Sponge was lovely. Easy to follow and worked out perfectly. 

As I prepared the ingredients and the tins, I caught myself thinking about my Nana and her beautiful sponge cakes she would make. I'm not even brave enough to try her recipe! But as I buttered the tins and dusted them with flour I thought about her and wondered how many sponge tins she had prepared during her many years of baking. 

Now this cake is not a light and airy sponge like my Nana used to make but it is so very delicious.  I filled mine with a layer of lemon butter and freshly whipped cream, topped it with more cream and some beautiful berries.

Mum, Dad and I sat outside under the tree on Sunday afternoon, cups of tea in hand and enjoyed the Victoria Sponge together.

What a lovely end to the weekend.

Lemon Meringue Pie...........

Life is just so busy right now and has been for a long time.  I guess we all are.  The weekends are mostly a blur of cleaning and washing and food for me and I guess most families.  I just want some time to be me.

So today after all the beds had been stripped and all the towels changed and the clothes line full to the brim with probably another full line tomorrow and the bathrooms were cleaned and the house vacumed.........

I made a pie.  A lemon meringue pie with eggs and lemons from my garden.  It was delicious.

This followed some beautiful steak which Mitchell had marinated this afternoon and then cooked on the barbeque.  What a delicious meal to end the day with.



This week Masterchef winner Julie Goodwin came to our town.  Cameron was there to film the story for the news and got to meet her.  Cameron bought her newest cookbook and had it signed for me.  It is a really lovely book.  Cameron was very impressed with what a lovely lady Julie is. 

Thank you to my two lovely boys for a couple of bright spots this week.

Celebration Week........

A very busy but fun week.  I celebrated another birthday this week. Lunch with my Mum the day before my birthday and then  I had the most lovely lunch with two very dear friends who spoilt me rotten on the day of my birthday. 

My very sweet Cameron surprised me at work with beautiful flowers and a Willow Tree "Angel of Caring".

A beautiful Pandora charm and the lovely book French Essence from my dear friends.

Yesterday, I spent a lovely few hours over lunch with another special friend. 

Beautiful flowers and some Michael Buble - spoilt indeed!

Just look at these gorgeous flowers.  A very sweet girl grew these in her very own cutting garden.  Thank you Elizabeth.  They are beautiful.

Today, BJ and I celebrate our 23rd Wedding Anniversay.  Cake and coffee downtown after Church and then a lovely day spent in our garden.  Everything is looking lovely again afer the beautiful rain last week.  There is more forecast for the next few days.  It will be just perfect if we receive it. 

I enjoyed hours in the garden yesterday as well, planting out some new little bits and pieces. Lots of spaces to fill after losing some plants while it was so dry before Christmas.  I really enjoy gardening at this time of the year.  Nearly Autumn.  Beautiful.

So my birthday and the anniversary are all done and dusted for another year!! I really do dislike that.  I think I would prefer to spread the celebrations out a little more throughout the year. It makes for a good week though, especially when my special friends take such good care of me!

Union Jack love.........

I thought last weekend that I would have a little play and get in on the Union Jack love that is sweeping through blogland at the moment.

I had been saving these lovely big pom poms for ages, so it was lovely to put them to use.


I finally ventured to our city library and was delighted to be able to borrow some lovely books. Myer also had 35% off some of their cook books recently, so added some Jamie Oliver and Donna Hay to our collection.



It was Alexandra's school fair today. All of the usual stalls, cake, sweets, produce, plants, books, second hand, jewellry and of course food and more food to consume!

I was really pleased with this beautiful tea cosy. At last a sweet little hand knitted one in very tasteful colours.



The little posy of flowers on top was really what sold it! I think they are just so sweet.

Saturday is slipping by very quickly here, 3.45p.m. and I am still trying to get the washing done! Roast dinner tonight - yum!

A wonderful weekend to everyone!

Some Favourite Things.....

What a lovely weekend at the beach. The weather was perfect. We walked and walked and sat and read - just delightful. Alexandra even swam in the rockpools. I just sat on the beach and enjoyed doing absolutely nothing.

There was an Antiques and Collectibles Fair on in Caloundra over the weekend. I picked up these lovely little embroidered doileys and this cute little book on making flowers from crepe paper. It was published in 1922. My favourite little piece was this little pocket for keeping your hankerchiefs in. Very sweet.

I even read a whole book - I read many, many magazines ( shhhh, our secret - I think I am addicted) but haven't read a book as such for so long - too long in fact. It's the autobiography of Mary Moody, a lady who the year she is turning 50 decides to run away to France for six months. Maybe it has just filled my head with wild ideas! Enjoyable none the less.

On my way through Brisbane on Thursday evening, I stopped off at a lovely shopping centre that I enjoy visiting when I can, even though it is usually with the whole family in tow!! There are two of my favourite shops there - Wheel and Barrow and also a Borders bookstore. I came across Mary Moody's newest book - The Long Table. It is a lovely combination of more of her life story combined with beautiful recipes. I haven't read too much of it yet, but I am really looking forward to reading it from front to back!!

With the dollar so high at the moment, I am afraid I wasn't able to resist the temptation of an Amazon order. Last week some lovelies arrived including a copy of Vintage Vavoom - a quick look through promises to be another lovely read indeed.

Just so grateful for a lovely little break away and some favourite things to enjoy along with it.

P.S. Just discovered www.marymoody.com.au . Her holidays in France look wonderful!! I must have been living under a rock as I haven't heard of this lady before, either that or I haven't watched the ABC television very much!!!

Studio Love........

Well, my family laugh when I call it a "Studio" - I guess sewing room sounds more normal to them. I wonder though at what point a sewing room becomes a studio - maybe when one uses the space to make a living? Not sure - but I love my space!!

I planned this space just for me throughout the planning of the building of our home. Maybe a little selfish, but I so need to escape to this place even just for a little while. I had the table and freestanding hutch built to order. I am really pleased how it turned out.

The daybed is a favourite - I had one on order for weeks and weeks and it just never turned up - you know - that slow boat that never shows!! I was so pleased when I walked into another furniture store in town and could have it delivered the next day.

I love the crystal door and cupboard knobs. Alexandra and I both have them in our rooms - the builder couldn't quite get his head around that one. I lost count of the number of times he told me things I wanted weren't "the usual". I think when you dream of something for so long it is worth doing it the way you want it.

The bottles I collect from the shop - cherries come in them and they are just perfect for storing all my bits and bobs. I love my stacks of books and cherish them, can you see the Crabtree and Evelyn room spray - just beautiful.






I enjoyed making my sewing machine cover - so much nicer than the plastic one that came with it!



These old boxes I came across at the thrift shop one day - what a great day that was - I store my vintage lace in them.

I love to just look at this roll of monograms I found in my dear Nana's things. "E" for Eleanor - I wonder what she stitched them onto as a girl.

I hope you enjoyed a visit into my "Studio". Now just to spend more time in there!!

A Sack at my front door....

"Nice" mail is always so exciting to receive. I arrived home this morning to find a sack at the front door. I love beautiful books and I love Amazon!!! My wish list goes over two pages at least and I have been sooooo good and not ordered anything for quite a long time. But, I couldn't go any longer without giving in to the "need" for some new lovliness!!, and so the sack above.

I am a little amused by the method of their packing, but mostly the books arrive in good condition despite the lack of packing in the box. I think I have only received one book slightly damaged (only a little tear on the jacket). These thankfully are fine. I feel a little guilty though (just a bit!) having not supported local book stores, but these come at around half the price through Amazon compared to paying local prices! Of course, some of these we don't see readily in the book shops anyway.

I have just leafed through these pages of lovliness and I am not disappointed. It's always a little bit of a gamble to buy a book this way. Mostly though I have read about these in other publications and of course on others blogs.

Now to find a moment to enjoy the inspiration and beauty contained in these lovely books.

My "baby" is turning ten early next week and we have afternoon tea planned with a few little friends on Saturday. So best get organised now for her special day. Hopefully I will have some pics to show of her afternoon.