Roses in the Kitchen

Here are some photos of our kitchen where lots of cooking (and cleaning) takes place everyday.
It's mostly white(with blue), it's simple, but I do like cooking in it.
I also love the fact that it's always bright in my kitchen, even on cloudy days.

These roses are a delight. I smile everytime I pass by them, they smell divine.

These below are not roses, they are a climber, I can't remember their name.

Enjoy the rest of your week, dear friends.

Today I love..............

Hi, dear friends, hope your week has been splendid. The weather here for us has been absolutely fantabulous, Spring has sprung, the birds are singing, the bees are buzzing and soon roses will be a-bloomin. Even though Alyssums are not Queen of Flowers like roses, I love them for their simplicity and loveliness. They look gorgeous (and innocent) casually placed in glass jars. I love the scent of lavender plants wafting in the breeze in my garden, can't get enough of it. Remember this chair? Maybe you don't. I have two of those randomly placed in our home. They were given to us, we use them for extra guests when we need them, or I use them for styling a lot of the times. I painted and upholstered them years ago, but they've started to look a bit tired, so I gave them a makeover, with a coat of new paint. Ta da, here it is........... ............in its grey glory, with navy ticking fabric for its seat. I think it's given it a breath of fresh and smart air, don't you think? I got that blue "Keep Calm and Carry On" tea towel for free........ It came with the latest issue of Country Style magazine, which is full of eye-candies as usual. I also got the Women's Weekly Afternoon Tea cookbook. For someone who loves baking and lovely pictures, it was simply too hard to resist the page after page of loveliness. I've included a few sneak peeks, I'm sure you'll love them. It was not only food for the tummy, It was a feast for the eyes, all the vessels used for the yummies were downright awesome. I was pretty inspired to have an afternoon tea after all that for sure. It was hard to do what the following tea towel says to do. (wink)

Easy Scrummy Orange Cake

I haven't posted any yummy recipes for a while. So I thought you might like this. I've always loved orange cakes, this is an extremely easy-peasy mix-all-in-one-bowl, then beat and bake type recipe. Here's the recipe:
Ingredients:
125g butter, softened
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup orange juice
2 eggs
3/4 cup caster sugar (baker's fine sugar)
1 and 1/2 cups sifted self-raising flour
1 tablespoon finely chopped orange zest a handful orange zest thinly sliced for garnish
Orange Icing
1 cup icing sugar
2-3 tablespoons orange juice (add more if needed, mix to semi-runny consistency)

(1) Combine all cake ingredients and beat thoroughly for 3 minutes.
(2) Pour mixture into a greased 20cmx10cm loaf or 20cm ring tin.
(3) Bake in 180 degrees C oven for 30-40 minutes or until cooked.
(4) Turn onto wire rack and allow to cool.
(5) Ice with Orange Icing. Alternatively, you could ice with Cream Cheese Icing, which I personally like better because of its tang. Simply beat 100g of softened cream cheese with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice until smooth. I even add 2 tablespoons of sour cream sometimes. Now why don't you enjoy a cuppa and some orange cake with me?These flowers are from my garden, they are winter flowering plants and so they give me a lot of joy in winter when my roses are pruned and resting. It's officially Spring here now that it's September, I'm excited and anticipating the coming back of my roses. I'm also amazed by these flowers, they look like they have nature's tassels on them! One of my children has also started a vegie "patch" by using pots, we've been enjoying her labour of love as a result. Everyday we get a beautiful bounty of her harvest, and needless to say, I'm more than happy. Home-grown vegies ARE definitely better and DO taste so much better. She has many things growing, brocolli, choy sum, strawberries, assorted fancy lettuces, spinach and spring onions; just to name a few. She still has carrot seeds she needs to plant out. Okay, I wish you all a great week, eat more vegies.

Being random...............

G'day dear bloggers and readers, hope your week has been great. Today I felt like being random, so I shot a few random photos around our home. This bench is where I love to sit to soak up the precious winter's sun............. The chair is where my feet go. I love topiary plants............... they are the best, these will live forever without any watering! They will always look good without any trimming! Shhhh! Don't tell anyone, they are not alive.............. **wink wink** Strawberries are so juicy and yummy........... Turkish delight is also my favourite............. Just thought to randomly share the lovely day with you, you like? Have a fantabulous weekend, won't you?

Pleasant Surprises

Hiya, hope everyone is enjoying your week. Remember I said in a previous post that all my rose bushes had been pruned and so there would be no roses to harvest till Spring time? Well, sometimes life is full of surprises. I cut some rosebuds and put them in water when I was doing the winter pruning; I really didn't expect much from them, but lo and behold, they bloomed, and they really brightened my day. I have some lavender bushes, some of them were getting big and needed some trimming, so I used some of the leaves and made a wreath; if you know lavender, the foliage is scented as well, I love the scent so much. It will look fresh as a wreath for quite some time too. Roses here are: Gold Bunny (Floribunda, lemon yellow), China Doll (Tree Rose, Hot pink), Perfumed Perfection buds (Floribunda, mauve), Wreath (lavender leaves)

Fun Floral and Herbs Arrangements

I painted this wooden tray a washed robin egg blue by adding water to acrylic paint. It was raw light wood colour. (Sorry I forgot to get a "Before" photo) I got it years ago from a craft store for something like $1. I thought it'd look great with all different jars or bottles in it. I could also use them for flowers and herbs from time to time, and have lots of fun playing with the endless different ways of arrangements.Also I'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Maryjane at The Beehive Cottage for featuring my blog on her blog. I've been able to discover so many other wonderful and beautiful blogs which I'd never have discovered otherwise. Thanks, Maryjane. Note: I keep the glass jars and bottles from food and drinks we've had, it's more like I'm unable to get myself to throw them out, so I have a cupboard full of them; all shapes and sizes; ready for "recycling". I like to use them as vases or for giving roses to my friends in. Jars with reasonably wide "mouths" are great for a decent bunch of roses arranged nicely, I tie a ribbon/bow around the "neck" of the jar to give it a nice little touch.