In the Garden

The Daphne's out at Number 10...

... and it's making that little section of the garden smell heavenly!

I can't believe the perfume from these little guys.

Can't wait for the lilac and roses to start blooming now...won't be long before it's Spring and the entire garden will be in full bloom.

Truly heaven!

We have our winners!

OK, so here are the winners of my little giveaways...

Teresa from Journaling Woman is the winner of the CSN $50 voucher from one of their 200+ online stores. Congrats Teresa...send me your email address and I'll pass it on to CSN so they can get your voucher to you.

and........ the winner of the Marley and Lockyer clay gift tags/discs is.... Amanda from Homely One

Congrats Amanda....please email me with your address etc so I can post the goodies to you.

Thanks for taking part everyone....I love giving things away!

In the kitchen

I've been on a bit of a baking craze lately....Cakes, biscuits, sausage rolls...even an egg and bacon pie to put in MONT's lunchbox.

This is my latest creation...a Raspberry upside down cake. It's an adaptation of a recipe I posted here at my little cooking blog.

That one had cherries and raspberries, but I'd used up all the cherries, so instead opened a pack of frozen raspberries and also found a few frozen mixed berries in the fridge. That's what I love about baking, as long as you have the basics: sugar, butter, eggs and flour, you can do just about anything.

This ruby red beauty is really luscious and light...not too sweet, with just a hint of tartness.

You can see the full recipe here.

Hope you enjoy it...

Don't forget my giveaways this week...get commenting!

IT'S IN ! !

The new Heat and Glo gas log fire was installed yesterday and I have to say it looks great and makes the house very toasty.

....and it's now eliminated the problem of it being warmer outside the house than in!

Pic by MONT

MONT took a couple of photos while the installer was here, but they all turned out like this or worse. Unfortunately, he hasn't quite mastered the art of staying still while taking a photograph yet.

Nevertheless, the heater's in and it looks rather nice....but more importantly, it's making the house extremely comfy and cosy.

Don't forget the giveaways I have for you this week...for my readers from the US and Canada, a $50 gift voucher from one of CSN's 200 plus online stores...and for everyone else, the gorgeous Marley and Lockyer clay gift tags...

All you have to do is leave a comment on any post this week...and your name will go into the draw...

Things I Love...

Well, there are a lot of things I love... like these beautiful little clay gift tags that I received from Ness at Marley and Lockyer this week.

Apart from her Blog, Ness also has an Etsy shop and that's where I ordered these gorgeous gift tags from

When I saw them I knew I had to have some to accompany the Christmas gifts I'll be buying over the next few months...and I ordered a couple of extras so I could offer them to one of my lovely Aussie readers...seeing the CSN Giveaway is only on offer to US and Canadian readers.

See, I told you I'd have something for my Aussie visitors!

If you'd like to be eligible to win them, just leave a comment (as many as you like) on any post over the next week. I'll draw the winner on Wednesday, 28th July.

Get to it

Progress Report - Fireplace

So we've gone from this....

To this...

Notice the empty wine glass on what was once the mantle? That's mine.

...and now to this.... in preparation for the new Heat and Glo gas log fire to be installed on Wednesday morning.

I gave the blueboard its first undercoat this afternoon and will give it one top-coat tomorrow. The final coat will be done after everything's finished...just in case the wall gets marked... The entire room needs a freshen up, but I won't be doing that until it gets a bit warmer.

We're counting down the hours until the house is toasty again.

Giveaway Time... Again

Hello me hearties....how's your week been?

Mine has been terrific because I've been offered a giveaway for you. It's again from CSN Stores in the US, and it's for all of my American and Canadian readers. They have over 200 websites that offer everything from cookware to dining room sets , so now is your chance to win a $50 gift voucher to go towards anything of your choice.

Unfortunately, it's not available to my Aussie readers, but don't worry. I will have something for you real soon....as soon as it arrives.

Just leave a comment any day this week on any post and as many times as you like and you'll go into the draw for the CSN voucher. Tell your friends, tell everyone. I love giving things away!

Get to it...

The other thing that made us happy this week was hearing that our heater's being installed next Wednesday! Woo Hoo.

The one we've chosen is the Heat and Glo AT-Supreme. It's a balanced flue gas log fire and it looks pretty darn good...and we got a good deal on it too.

I can't tell how just how relieved we are here at Number 10. All of us, dogs and cat included.

So, no more freezing nights and mornings. No more dogs trying to crowd onto the couch with us to keep warm. I think we're going to be very toasty!

Gone to the Dogs

OK, it's recipe time gals...but not necessarily for human consumption. This is for critters.

Some years back I had the good fortune to come across a blog called "What I Cooked Last Night" written by Kitchen Hand. I found his wonderful blog by way of an article about food blogs in the Age Newspaper.

Kitchen Hand is located in Melbourne and at one time, took in greyhounds, sort of like a foster parent, before a full time carer/owner could be found.

Anyway, he posted a recipe for dog food, which I tried and have been making ever since for my critters.

I made some this weekend and it's easy and CHEAP...much cheaper than canned or packet muck....and did I mention they LOVE it!

Here's the recipe for canine stew:

1 kilo pet mince, he buys chicken mince for a couple of dollars a kilo, I also get minced ox cheeks for a bit of variety

1 carrot, grated

1 stalk celery chopped finely

2 cloves of garlic

half a cup of rice

half a cup of pasta shapes (or however much you like)

a glob of Vegemite

enough water to cover the meat

Put the meat, vegetables, Vegemite, garlic and water in a pot and let it simmer for a couple of minutes, then add the rice and the pasta shapes. Let them cook until done.

That's it! The dogs love it, even the cat has munched in for her share as well.

OK, so it doesn't look all that appetising, but hey, just think of it as savoury mince. For Dogs.

He also suggests some raw bones, like chicken frames, for them to chew on, a can or two of home brand sardines and a marrow bone each week to clean their teeth.

Pretty good diet huh?

Advice and help please...

MONT and I will be renovating our bedroom soon and part of that will involve relocating the built in robes.

At the moment our old robes are very dark and consist of four doors (2 on either side) and drawers in the middle with a mirror, making up a sort of dresser. They were in the house when I bought it 12 years ago and all I did was have new doors made as the old ones didn't fit after I had the house re-stumped.

Old robes at Number 10

The advice and help I need is: What sort of configuration is best?

Have you ever built new robes and if so, how did you work out what best suited your needs?

Did you include certain features, like wire basket drawers and different hanging areas for shirts and dresses etc, but found they weren't as functional as you first thought... or did you forget something you wish you had included?

All I know is the new robes will have swinging doors, (not sliding) they'll be painted white and they'll go right up to the ceiling to accommodate all that "stuff" that is usually left sitting on the floor next to MONT's side of the bed. They'll go all along one wall and will have hanging and drawer space included. Apart from that, who knows.

Any suggestions/advice?

Image: The Wardrobe Guy

This doesn't look too bad...a design by The Wardrobe Guy.

I have a question...

Why are IKEA beds not standard Australian sizes?

Did you know that if you buy a double bed from the Swedish furniture giant, your standard double bed mattress won't fit it?

That's because the standard double bed mattress is 138cm wide and an IKEA double bed is only 135cm

The reason, and I'm speculating here, is so you'll be encouraged to buy an IKEA mattress, which will fit. I'm guessing they also want you to buy IKEA sheets, doona covers and pillow slips as well.

I only found this out today, when a (very angry and disappointed) friend purchased a new IKEA bed for their daughters birthday and discovered the new mattress they bought from another store didn't fit.

It wouldn't be so bad, except IKEA doesn't advertise or notify customers their beds are a different size, they just expect you to know what the measurements are.

Also, if you do buy a bed from IKEA, make sure you pick up the timber slats (at extra cost) as well, because they aren't included in the cost of the bed either.

I love IKEA. I have quite a few pieces of furniture from there and love wandering around the store when I have a spare hour or so to see what ideas they can give me. Love it! But I won't be buying a bed from them anytime soon

Come on in...

To the old Glandore Cemetery


This is the little gate that leads you into the cemetery which MONT and I wandered through early one morning. The stone work was amazing!

...and this is where the original Church once stood, but when it started crumbling and was no longer able to be used for worship, the locals decided it was a pretty good place for their loved ones to rest in peace.

This is the view from the back yard of the Bay View B&B where he stayed. The water was so blue and the sky so clear we felt like we were in a postcard. In fact many people couldn't believe just how warm (hot) and clear it was. In Ireland, 19-22 degrees celsius is considered hot.

Also early one morning, MONT and I took a little drive across the bridge to Union Hall.

I just couldn't get over the beauty and quirkiness of the place, although I'm sure the residents don't consider it quirky, it's just normal, run o' the mill stuff to them.

So there you have it. Glandore. A place well worth visiting if you're ever in Ireland. In fact all of the places we saw in West Cork were worth a visit.

Introducing...

Glandore in West Cork.

Glandore is a small fishing village and this is a photo of the B&B we stayed in. It was the Bay View B&B and as you can see, it lived up to its name. Phil, who looked after us, couldn't have been a better hostess. Nothing was too much trouble and her breakfasts were delish! I can highly recommend the Bay View if you ever head to Glandore.

This is another view of the little bay...it was warm and sunny during our stay getting to around 21 or 22 degrees each day

We had a wonderful time in Ireland and the wedding was just terrific...all 48 hours of it.

Yep, the Irish (and the Aussie contingent) really know how to celebrate....I think Glandore and it's residents will take some time to recover though....

We touched down in Dublin after a what could be described as a very ugly flight from Melbourne, via KL and Heathrow. Five hours waiting at Heathrow for a 50 minute flight to Dublin is not something we will do again.

No.

I will be making our travel arrangements in future and not relying on a travel agent. In fact we had a couple of stopovers like that. It was such a waste of time and so very tiring just sitting around waiting.

Anyway, it's good to be home and back into a routine...sort of. I'll have some more photos through the week and promise not to bore you with too many.