More ice

It's still icy outside - this morning we woke up to fog and heavy frost everywhere. It's unbelievable to have snow still on the ground - completely unmelted - for a sixth day running! (the 5 bottle-brush plants I have growing in pots on the patio seem to have survived the frost - they're now in their third year and this is their first winter being left outside)

Ikea fabrics

Yesterday I found these gorgeous fabrics in Ikea. They would look great made into curtains or cushion covers.

Hallways and more snow

I had blogged about our need to get some new furniture for our front hall a while back... well, it still hasn't happened yet, so I have improvised with odd bits of stuff from around the house. It looks lovely in the morning with the sun flooding in through the glass front door, but this photo was taken today with snow still on the ground, reflecting a cooler light - beautiful, wintry, northern hemisphere! I love it!

more wintry landscapes and trees over our snowy garden office rooftop

evening sunset (well about 3.30pm) in our winter garden, complete with eucalyptus tree (please excuse my exceedingly ugly washing line)

Snow!

Today we woke up to snow! This is about as heavy as London snow gets, and it will all be gone by lunch time, but nevertheless, it is snow!

Chai

so I am making some chai to keep warm... here's the recipe for 2 mugs of chai:

Add one mug-full of water to a saucepan. Throw in half a teaspoon of bruised green cardamom seeds, a teaspoon of fennel seeds, half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon and a dash of ground black pepper.

Grate some fresh ginger into the saucepan.

Add 1 teaspoon of loose tea (preferably an Indian brand) per cup and sugar to taste (usually requires more sugar than a normal cup of tea).

Add one mug-full of milk and bring to the boil. You need to reboil it about 3 times to get 'the taste'.

Pour through strainer into 2 mugs and enjoy!

yum!



More Snow

I just took some more photos (not so good quality from my mobile phone) of snowy fields near my son's school - absolutely beautiful!

and coming out of the house we saw some fox footprints in the snow - how cute!

Gina and Matt

This creative couple probably should be featured on my art blog for their wonderful design and illustration work (which I will do one day), but here are some lovely photos from Philadelphia Home Magazine of their pretty home and studio. The article was also illustrated by Gina and Matt. (click on the images to see enlarged view)

images from Gina and Matt

Bjorn Wiinblad

Bjorn Wiinblad is yet another influential and original designer of the 20th Century. Born in Denmark, his ceramic designs and illustrations have been shown around the world. I think they are gorgeous.

And his annual Christmas plate designs for the Rosenthal porcelain company are highly collectible pieces.

Stig Lindberg

Over the weekend I was overwhelmed by the beauty of scandinavian-retro-vintage style. I was inspired by my post on tableware - particularly Figgjo Flint - to search for more designs of a retro style. I even started searching for retro mugs on ebay...

One such designer is Stig Lindberg (1916–1982), who was a Swedish ceramic designer, glass designer, textile designer, industrial designer, painter, and illustrator. He was one of Sweden's most popular designers, creating imaginative and unusual organic shapes which form the basis of his designs and make his strong recognisable style.

some images scanned from books, some from flickr

Beautiful tableware

I love the idea of highly decorated and patterned tableware, whether hand-painted or transfer-printed. And gorgeous mugs to drink tea from... as long as it's bright and colourful and full of pattern!

anne jochum

emma bridgewater

lotte by figgjo flint

kim parker

thomas paul

sue fisher king

Anzac biscuits

Yesterday I baked Anzac biscuits. This recipe is from the Australian Women's Weekly and is brilliant.

Anzac Biscuits

1 cup (90g) rolled oats

1 cup (150g) plain flour

1 cup (220g) sugar

3/4 cup (65g) desiccated coconut

125g butter

1 tbsp golden syrup

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 tbsp boiling water

Combine oats, flour, sugar and coconut in a large bowl. Combine butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan, stir over heat until butter is melted. Combine soda and water, add to butter mixture; stir into dry ingredients while mixture is still warm.

Place 3 heaped teaspoons of mixture about 4cm apart on greased oven trays, press down lightly. Bake at 150°C/300°F/Gas mark 2 for about 20 minutes (my fan oven did them in 20 minutes at 140°C). Stand for 5 minutes, loosen and cool on trays.

image citrusandcandy (flickr) - was too lazy to take my own photo

Rooms with great art

The thing that first attracts me to a room is the art on display... particularly large colourful paintings!

bella dia

oregon live

house beautiful

house beautiful

source unknown

gaita interiors

architectural digest

an indian summer

source unknown

Montana log home

One of my obsessions is log homes with all the usual rusticity and comforts - tartan blankets, log fires, exposed brick (or stone) chimney breast, old sofa.... you get the picture. I found this amazing house on loghome.com. I think I could be persuaded to live there!

thanks loghome.com!