A Three Egg Day

Today was a special day - a three egg day.

It doesn't happen very often so I always take it as a good omen.

IKEA Family Live

Look what arrived in my letterbox this week. A new IKEA magazine!

IKEA is definitely one of my guilty pleasures. I may, on occasion, have even referred to it as "my happy place." Especially if there's time to stop for meatballs.

So the day that the annual catalogue arrives is always a good one - but this new lifestyle magazine is a bit of a bonus.

To be honest, there really wasn't anything groundbreaking in it - above are a few sneak peeks at some new products. I don't mind the steel pendant light..

They included a feature on some of the designers that work on their catalogues - this guy totally typifies my mental image of IKEA designers.

With all the gradual changes to our bedroom - I've been mentally replacing our tall boy with this one - though I can't decide if I prefer the pictured grey or the blue version they also stock.

The First Line of Defence Against Possums

Yes - it's come to this. Ridiculous plastic garden statues.

When the first batch of herbs that I planted last year in our newly formed veggie patch got massacred in only 24 hours - I knew I was facing the old enemy - the possum.

Having battled possums at two previous apartments - I didn't want to plant another thing without some kind of defence mechanism. After researching dubious ultra sonic deterrent systems I thought I'd go with the old fashioned method - chicken wire, and lots of it. After all, this would keep the chickens off the plants too.

But I also thought I'd give the googly eyed owl statue a shot - and to be honest I think it's helped a little. The chickens do seem wary of him. But as Mr Tchotchke says, its a slippery slope - next thing I'll be installing a plastic tiger in the backyard.

Gratuitous Chicken Shot

Oh Charlotte - you're such a poser.

Skye Gyngell's Lamb and chickpeas

Sunday nights are a good time to try new recipes - I've got a little more time and a little more patience than I do on weekdays.

I've really enjoyed Skye Gyngell's How I cook - its a lovely collection of simple recipes and the photography is so soft and warm.

Even though the temperature has only dropped a few degrees, I've been yearning to break out the slow cooker. So I chose this delicious recipe for Shoulder of Lamb with Sweet Paprika and Chickpeas.

I didn't have eight hours to let the slow cooker to work its magic, so out came the Le Creuset. It had the advantage of being able to brown the lamb on the cooktop and then go straight into the oven. (I had to replace the lamb shoulder for forequarter chops.)

Only two hours later the meat was coming away from the bones and the kitchen smelled amazing (I'd also replaced sweet paprika with smoked paprika - which I figured was a fair trade despite it being in the title of the recipe..)

I'd also replaced Skye's pretty wilted chard with some cous cous, which I'll admit isn't as aesthetically pleasing but hey a girl needs carbs.

I'm glad it held up to all my tinkering - it was easy enough, only used one pot and even tasted amazing for lunch the next day.

A Day in Byron Bay

Today I headed south of the border to Byron Bay.

Since it was the first Sunday of the month they had their markets on at Butler st reserve - where I spotted this pearler.

Yes that's a bedazzled cape reading Mr Recycle. And his car radio was cranking out Mandy Moore's "Candy". Awesome stuff.

I took the chance to visit some of the great little shops in town.

I've always been impressed by the fit out at Unplugged on Lawson st.

Most menswear shops are pretty uninspiring but I love their little quirky collections and merchandising.

Greenhouse on Fletcher st always deserves a visit too.

I especially liked this chicken mobile.

But I'm trying to resist any more chicken themed items - I have a fear of waking up one morning and discovering I've become a crazy chicken lady.

This never gets old.

Behold the Amazing Mulberry Tree

Check out our fantastic new mulberry tree.

 

       Jan 23rd                                                       Feb 18th                                                          Mar 5th

It's almost doubled in height in a month and a half. I wish all our plants grew this quickly.

We planted it when we decided that we'd add a deck to the back of our house, so we'd need some screening to stop us looking directly into the neighbours yard. At this rate, it'll be 20ft high by the time the deck is completed.