Rural Escape

Digging through my old photo library this morning I found some pictures which I took on Kate's farm near Mount Lindesay in 2006.  Kate's family had owned the farm for many years.  The living room in the house was particularly classic as if unchanged for around fifty years.
threeminorgroove visited on a couple of occasions to let our hair down, jam and write music.  These photos were taken on one such visit.  All were taken on the farm except for the first picture which was taken nearby.

Dinner on Onslow Road

During my trip over to Perth last week I visited Galileo Buona Cucina for dinner one evening with work colleagues from our Perth office.  This is a great little Italian restaurant situated on Onslow Road in Shenton Park.  It has a simple warm decor and serves great food.  I'm also keen to try the much lauded restaurant Star Anise next door when I'm over there again.

Anzac Day at the Beach

Last weekend we visited Geoff and Kate for the first time since the birth of little Aidan six months ago.  It was a great opportunity to catch up following Geoff's recent birthday and also to meet Aidan.  He is a cutie and looks remarkably like Geoff.  We picked up Anton and Oi Lai and made for the Gold Coast, first stopping in at Geoff and Kate's home and then onto Northcliffe Surf Club for lunch.  While there we managed to squeeze in a dip.  With winter approaching the ocean was cool and refreshing, not yet at the point of being too cold for swimming.  It was also Aidan's first sand experience and there was a bit of commotion around his attempts to eat the sand.  Not a pleasant experience I'm sure...

Lemons!

This morning Dad sent me this photo of his new Mandevilla Parfait climber and his fruit bearing lemon tree.  Our lemon tree purchased at the same time is a sorry sight compared with his!

Bangalow Breakfast

I love Bangalow for its cute shops and great little eateries.  We stopped in first thing Easter Sunday for breakfast at Ate.  It's simple wood toned interior littered with my current fave CH24 Wishbone chairs appealed to me immediately and it happened that I had recently read in Map magazine about its highly commended sister restaurant Satiate co-located upstairs.  We only managed to try Ate but it was well worth the early morning queue for the most perfectly poached eggs on sourdough.  James had sausages which sparked a week long craving.

My Val

Currently searching for parts...  These are some more photos (taken a few years back) which really appeal to me.  I like the grit factor.

Up All Night

Today I rediscovered Up All Night,  an album which has sat in my CD stack for six years or so.  I had forgotten how much I really like this album.  A well balanced modern jazz fusion record.  This would have been my first Scofield purchase having been introduced to his music by Dave during our threeminorgroove days.

Simple Pasta

Helen popped down to the Powerhouse markets with Caroline this morning to stock up on some fresh produce.  Meanwhile I caught up on some sleep... We had been out until the wee hours last night to see Andy Cato's DJ set at The Met...  Tonight's dinner featured my favourite fettuccine pasta.  We dressed the pasta with today's basil, tomato, zucchini, red onion, garlic and a touch of cream.

Byron Getaway

Easter long weekend had us planning a quiet few days relaxing at home and catching up with friends.  However, all that went out the window on Saturday when Caroline suggested we catch up in Byron Bay where her and Vini were staying for the duration.  Hence at the last minute we booked in to the Summerhouse and headed off first thing Sunday morning.  Breakfast at Bangalow at Ate and a wander through the cute boutiques was followed by a side trip to Lennox Head for lunch and a walk along the beach.  The afternoon was spent lazing about on the daybed by the pool overlooking the beautiful view across the hinterland and the bay with Easter eggs and bubbly.  Sunday cloudy weather cleared up and  we awoke to perfect beach weather.  We made our way over to Wategos Beach for the day to visit Caroline and Vini at their family beach house and spent the afternoon in the sun and surf.  It's amazing how a couple of days by the ocean is always so invigorating.

Brazilian Chocolates

My favourite Brazilian chocolates!  Caroline and Vini brought us back a large assortment of these on their recent trip to Brazil.  They have praline centres with a wafer shell covered in chocolate and fantastic fun packaging.  Very tasty!

Easter Treats

Ange popped in this morning for another of our delectable morning teas.  Today's treats included hot crossed buns, easter themed cupcakes, rocky road, chocolate eclairs, easter eggs and easter bunnies accompanied by stockholm blend tea.  Although we didn't get a chance to touch the bunnies for having sampled all of the other delicious items.  Catching up with an overly indulgent morning tea has become a bit of a tradition with Ange over the past year.  Hopefully a tradition that will continue!

Design Classics

High on my design classics wish list at the moment would have to be the Warren Platner designed dining table and the Hans Wegner CH24 Wishbone chair.  I love the chair for it's classic mid-century Danish design inspired from traditional Chinese Ming chairs. The Bertoia chairs are also hard to go past.  So many chairs, so little time!

image source:

http://furniture-bagus.blogspot.com

http://blueantstudio.blogspot.com

Ivy Birdcage

I have yet to find the perfect vintage Chinese bamboo birdcage but in my searching I came across this brass one.  It has a lovely simple shape with some nice details.  We picked up some ivy last weekend on a wander through a bayside nursery and wound the foliage around the birdcage to green it over.

Mocha Jaffa Cupcakes

I made these chocolate coffee cupcakes to take to Caroline and Vinnie's Brazilian barbeque this weekend.  The barbeque is being held to celebrate Vinnie's birthday so these were made to match Caroline's blue and red picnic theme.  They're not particularly Brazilian but hopefully they will be a hit!  Pale blue vanilla buttercream icing topped with Jaffas.  I photographed them on a lovely cake platter Leonie gave me last Christmas.

Tea and Roses

Dad and Leonie popped in yesterday for a brief catchup over carrot cake and tea.  This arrangement of red, pink and pale yellow roses was perfect accompaniment.  They brightened up our apartment on a squally afternoon.  Dad brought us another little plant for our balcony. This one is a miniature jade plant which looks very happy in its little pot.  No doubt I will be showing it off soon!

Tracy Glover Lamps

               

I first came across Tracy Glover's blown glass lamps on Anthropologie.  The artist utilises Venetian glass blowing techniques.  The array of delicate jewel like colours inject a wonderful vibrancy to interior spaces.  I would love to eventually acquire a few from Glover's collection.

Bawa Landscapes and Courtyards

Ever since discovering Geoffrey Bawa's work I have found his architecture, interiors and landscapes continually fascinating.  Bawa was not only an architect of enormous talent and insight working in the tropical Asian context, but also meticulously designed the extensive landscapes and gardens surrounding his buildings down to the placement of every exact type of plant. The courtyard houses Bawa is most well known for continue to be relevant in the contemporary context of our desire to merge the line between the internal and external.  Bawa's interiors were no less meticulous with every item envisaged down to the last detail.  His drawings are artworks in themselves and a testament to his attention to detail as well as his grand vision and love for the Ceylonese landscape.


Image source: 
www.geoffreybawa.com

Music Matters

Again this duo features on my current listening list...  Music Matters is far more pop than previous dZihan & Kamien records.  Without having seen their name on the cover I wouldn't have recognised it as being d&K.  Having said that, it is still crafted with the same goodness.  dZihan & Kamien have successfully crossed into the mainstream pop song realm and for me this album will stay fresh for a long while.  Thanks Anton.

New Lamps

I came across these lamps while having a wander through Teneriffe on Sunday.  We hadn't managed to find any vintage lamps that were suitable after looking for several months and I finally resigned myself to purchasing new ones as I just miss reading in bed too much!  These have a combination of solid wooden cylindrical base segments with discs of clear perspex interspersed on a brushed stainless steel post.  I love the burnt red colour of the fabric shade.  They are larger than I originally envisaged for the room but they've proven to cast an excellent quality of ambient light in the room and light up the wallpaper beautifully.  I'm looking forwards to snuggling up in bed with a book more and more as the weather hopefully cools.