Seafood sauce. Quick, easy and oh so yummy!

The food that I can’t live without is..

seafood!

So for my birthday I just had to have some seafood. We had prawns & whole crabs. What better way to enjoy those foods than in a roll with some seafood sauce.

I have been using this seafood sauce recipe for many years & I have it written on a recipe card, That means that I have no idea where I got it from or who’s recipe it is but who ever made this recipe, deserves a medal. Yep, it is that good!

You will need…

1 cup of mayonnaise

1 tablespoon of tomato sauce

1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon of curry powder

1/2 cup of whipped cream

Mix all of the ingredients gently in a bowl until combined.

Cover & leave in the fridge for 1 hour so that the flavours develop.

Serve with fresh seafood of your choice.

This would be a perfect sauce to serve with all of your Christmas seafood.

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Please & thank you

It’s my birthday!

So, today is my birthday!

Happy birthday to me!

I have been moving a little slower today. I don’t know if I should put it down to being older or the fact that I had a rather large night last night.

I was very spoilt!

From my wonderful husband, I got this….

A beautiful Guess Watch that is covered in so much bling that it was hard to take a good picture!

From my eldest chickadee, I got this…

A beautiful toe ring!

And from my youngest chickadee, I got this…..

A Mum & daughter break heart pendant!

Can you sense a theme here?? Yes, I love bling!!

I really have been spoilt!

And my Mum who understands my fabric obsession (I think she may have passed it on to me!) included some beautiful doilies & crochet in my birthday parcel! As well as a fabulous paris notebook & a box full of goodies.......oh & I can not forget that Pa sent me a digiatl camera so hopefully now I can take some much better photo's for my blog!

Thanks Grammy & Pa!!

I will be sharing some of the quick, easy & yummy party food recipes that we ate last night over the next week.

This has been another milestone for our family that has happened over the past week & we have one more left on Wednesday. My eldest chickadee is graduating Primary School & will start her new life as a High School Student.

If you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy doing it, I would love for you to vote for this blog in the Top 25 Aussie Mum Blogs. Any one can vote & there are now forms to fill out, just click on the link & click on the vote symbol.

Please & thank you

11 years ago

11 years ago today,

I married my best friend.

and this is what he gave me today.

He is the only person who can put up with my fabric obsession, my shoe addiction, my desire to have everything bling, my need to constantly redecorate & my general craziness.

Thank you Mr P for being my husband xoxoxox

Festive Friday, Christmas the Aussie way! A free printable gift from me to you

As many of you know, I live in Australia.

Most of the followers of this blog also live in the best country on earth!

I have mentioned several times now that winter ornaments don't "cut the mustard".

(that saying means that it won't do the job!)

This little Christmas song might help you understand why.

In Australia, our kids learn this version of Jingle Bells when they are in grade one.

It is nothing out of the normal for Christmas day to be 40 degrees in the shade.

That is around 104 Fahrenheit, I think.

Here is one for the kids!

So, now you know why winter Christmas ornaments & songs are just confusing for us!

We spend most of the day on  Christmas either in a pool, under a fan or at the beach.

So, I have made my own Australian Christmas Subway art.

I have seen so many of these for the Norther hemisphere but I needed one that is for the land down under.

This pretty much sums up Christmas the Aussie way!

If you want to print this out for your self, click on the picture above, right click & select print.

You can also save it to your computer & print it out to what size you want.

It is my Christmas gift to you!

Take one pattern for many different looks. {part 2}

A week or so ago I posted the first in a series of

Take one pattern for many different looks. {Part 1}

Today is the second post using the same pattern for a completely different look.

I made this dress using a soft floral cotton & added a little layer of  broderie anglaise on the bottom.

This is what it looks like when it is on.

Perfect for those hot summer days when you want to be cool but still feel pretty.

This was the first look. I made this same dress in denim

{take one pattern part one}

Both of these looks were made using the same pattern.

The next post that I do in this series will be a more sophisticated formal look using the same pattern.

If you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy doing it, I would love for you to vote for this blog in the Top 25 Aussie Mum Blogs. Any one can vote & there are now forms to fill out, just click on the link & click on the vote symbol.

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Wow! How time flies!

A lot of anniversaries, birthdays & even a graduation have either happened in the past week or are about to happen next week for my family.

To start off with, we have just passed the 9 year anniversary of moving into our home. We had always planned to buy a bigger home after 5 years but we still have not finished this one & I have become very attached!

Apart from the shell of the house & the carpet in the lounge & hallway, we have replaced, repainted & restored every square inch of this house that I love so much.

A new kitchen

 

We have rendered the house, ripped up the backyard & put in a new shed.

We have repainted the bedrooms numerous times.

Remodelled the bathroom

And I think I have repainted the inside of the house around 5 times.

Numerous feature walls have been painted.

And to top it all off, I have made & replaced all the curtains at least 4 times.

As you can see, I get bored & like to redo the house for fun!

Now, while it is only a little 3 bed, 1 bath house……but I love it!

We still have a couple of things left to do but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I am thinking that maybe the 10 year mark might be when I am ready to move on & start all over again.

Over the next week I will share some more milestones in our life. They will include a wedding anniversary, a birthday & a graduation.

This will all happen within the next 7 days & I think that it will be the last & final event that will leave me in tears & moving on to a new phase in the life of this family.

If you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy doing it, I would love for you to vote for this blog in the Top 25 Aussie Mum Blogs. Any one can vote & there are now forms to fill out, just click on the link & click on the vote symbol.

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Hippie Chick. A charm square patchwork skirt

Check out my little hippie chick!

I think that this little hippie chick should have been born in the 60’s or 70’s. She loves old music (& new stuff so go figure!) She loves retro clothing & loves shopping at op shops. When I saw this

Late Bloomers Charm Squares By Moda

I knew straight away that it would make a perfect Hippie Chick skirt.

I used all of the charm squares except for 2 to make this size skirt which fits a size 10-12 girls.

It is very easy to do a basic patchwork. You just lay out the squares in the pattern you like. I made a front & back for the skirt so I made to pieces.

Sew the strips in lengths.

Then sew the strips together.

Sew the 2 large rectangles together at the sides. Add a waist band & you are done!

That was so simple!

I think that this skirt would also look fabulous in some of these other charm square packs that you can find at

If you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy doing it, I would love for you to vote for this blog in the Top 25 Aussie Mum Blogs. Any one can vote & there are now forms to fill out, just click on the link & click on the vote symbol.

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Chocolate freckle bouquet, a nostalgic birthday treat

One of my favourite treats as a kid, was chocolate freckles.

When we were invited to a 40th birthday recently, I decided to make this as a gift

The pic isn’t as clear as I would have liked because it was a boiling hot day & it had to be put straight in the fridge once it was assembled.

{joys of living in Australia, chocolate must live in the fridge!}

This is really very easy to make.

Just melt a packet of milk chocolate cooking chocolate in the microwave. Place the chocolate in a microwave proof bowl & cook on high in bursts of 30 seconds until it is all melted.

Place some baking paper on a baking tray & pour the chocolate over the paper & smooth with a spatula.

(oh that looks so yummy!)

Sprinkle 100’s & 1000’s over the top so you can no longer see the chocolate.

Gently press the 100’s & 1000’s down.

Place in the fridge for 10 minute or until set.

Do the same with white chocolate.

  

When the chocolate has set, flip it over & using a sharp knife, cut into circles. You can use a cup or cookie cutter as a guide.

 

Make the same size circles with the white chocolate.

Place the white chocolate circles on a lined tray, place a paddle pop stick or skewer on top of each chocolate circle. Use a little extra melted choc to sandwich the white choc & the freckle cho together with the stick in-between.

Using the same idea as the Cake pop holder

Place the sticks into some florist foam that is the bottom of a metal bucket. Wrap the whole arrangement in clear cellophane & tie with some curling ribbon.

And there you have one very unique present!

This would also make a terrific centrepiece for your Christmas table!

If you enjoy reading my blog as much as I enjoy doing it, I would love for you to vote for this blog in the Top 25 Aussie Mum Blogs. Any one can vote & there are now forms to fill out, just click on the link & click on the vote symbol.

Please & thank you