Choo..... Chooooooooo

We had a Steam train adventure on the weekend

Waiting for the train to leave the station...

We saw some varied scenes of our very diverse country... this is a vegetable lean-to shop in one of the townships we passed (excuse the poor quality, it was taken through the window of the train)

We had so much fun on the train

When we arrived at our destination, we had a lovely walk through the veld to get to our picnic spot

After our picnic we strolled through the streets of the town and visited all the charming little shops and markets

Here are some more scenes of our day:

These awesome works of art was seen at a local arts & crafts shop where they also had the most beautiful renovated antique furniture!

and I'll leave you with the above quote found on our day out.

Hope your weekend was as interesting as ours!

Wonderful Wednesday...

Scenes from Zanzibar taken by my very best friend that lives Island Style in Jambiani, Zanzibar

A look around the web this morning has yielded the following:

• This site made me giggle... quite a different take on photography.. I think I like it
• I adore this coat
• Larissa did a Sterling Job sewing this awesome dress... I want one!
• and finally .... how cute is this dress... I love the embroidery on it!

I hope you are also having a Wonderful Wednesday thus far..

What's Cooking... Creamy Chicken Pasta

I love to cook and bake, well, I probably prefer baking to cooking, but will share some recipes with you in any case. Last week I was in the mood for a lovely creamy pasta, so came up with this recipe:

What you need (enough for a family of 4):

4       Deboned and Skinned Chicken Breasts

A Chicken Rub (mine is made up of ground Garlic, Rosemary, Sage, Mustard Seeds, Chilli, Lemon rind, bellpeppers and Sea Salt)

1       Peeled and Chopped onion

1 - 2 Cloves of Garlic - chopped

4-5   Large Black Mushrooms or any other quantity and variety of Mushrooms you have available

A couple of handfuls of baby tomatoes

1 Tub of Fresh cream (about 200 - 250 ml)

How to:

Rub the Chicken Breasts with your herbs and spices (I used my chicken rub in this case), and sprinkle with a bit of lemon juice to soften the flesh of the chicken.

I let my chicken sit a bit while I fry my onions and garlic in a little olive oil. Be sure not to let the garlic burn as it will make it bitter.

When the onion and garlic has softened, add the chicken bit by bit and fry until brown.

Then add your mushrooms and let it all brown for a few minutes. I usually put the lid of the pot on at this stage, to help soften the mushrooms.

Lastly I added the tomatoes, just to heat them through, and the Cream.

Let it cook on low heat for a few minutes just so the flavours blend.

Add some pasta of your choice and enjoy!

DELICIOUS!

A peep into a little closet

A Navy blue jumpsuit with Cardigan, booties, and fisherman's hat for those chilly mornings out fishing...

The Green dress, with under garment and matching booties, perhaps for a special dinner out.

A Breezy Summer Set for days filled with sunshine and swimming...

and for sleepy nights, a gorgeous Nighty complete with a Pink Gown and Pink slippers.

Jessica's Dollies received this closet filled with clothes sewn and knitted by my very talented Mother-in-law. It has already provided hours of fun dressing and fitting clothes, booties, hats etc.

Isn't it just so beautiful...

A visitor in the garden..

A little friend came to visit the garden this weekend...

"A little tiny ladybug, mommy!"

My granny's Vegetable Garden that Little Miss Ladybug visited

Some garden fresh Radishes from the Veggie patch

and on to other news...

A fabulous bright Orange swing under the lapa at Mom's house

My mom recently renovated her entire house, and and old tub was thrown out in the process. My mom's friend turned it into this awesome Orange Swing chair for the outdoor lapa!

Hope your weekend was as happy as ours..

The Messenger Bag

Yes, I am still posting on Gifts I have made for Christmas...

That's how long it has taken me to get my act together.

I wanted to make my Sweet Sister something really special, something from my heart, something that was thoughtful and would show her how much I love her.

I found such a gift over at Blue Bird Baby's blog (which is possibly the most inspirational day to day blog around). It was the perfect gift, and perfectly suited to her.

I lined the inside of the Messenger bag with a creamy material with a fine flower print to balance the heavy khaki on the outside.

It was a bit of a gamble as my sis wouldn't usually be into flower prints. She loved it though, and it was a good balance so all was good in the end.

Some detail I added to her bag. Antique cotton lace. Her name embroidered on a scrap of fabric and stitched to the body of her bag.

(This is a pretty poor shot - something to do with the light-I think, but you get the idea)

A close-up of the Queen Anne's lace on the flap of the bag. I found the pattern here.

Moving in a different direction…

This post is a little more serious than what I would usually post about, but it is something that has such a profound impact on our lives, that I feel compelled to ad my voice to the growing number of people who are trying to live a simpler life…

In a world engulfed by shops in every direction, selling everything you can imagine and a lot of objects you probably could never imagine, a lot of people are starting to feel the pressures of living a consumer based life. A life filled with earning and spending in a cycle that leaves us breathless and frantically trying to balance our finances at the end of the month (or the money as it is). It leaves you with the question of wants vs. needs. How much of what we spend on a daily base are truly because we need it and because it is essential to our existence as opposed to things we feel a need to have, purely based on what we are bombarded with in glossy magazines, catalogues, TV ad’s etc, etc, etc… you get the picture.

The point I want to get to is this:

I stumbled upon an article written by “ Megan” from Simplekids. (It is a wonderful website filled with articles on "uncomplicated parenting in a complicated world".)
The article focuses on resisting consumerism and gives some pointers on how to defend your life from being swallowed up by consumerism.
It really is a fantastic read and it's worth spending a few minutes on. You can find it here.

I am making it my goal to live with more substance and less stuff this year....

Dotty Dress

I love this material.

I made this dress using a polka dot material and pairing it with a wide dark brown ribbon. The colour combination worked really well (here are some previous ones).

It was a gift for a friend at work's little girl for their beach holiday. Megan is fair skinned and these colours worked so well on her.

I finished the hem with white ricrac, and it finished this simple dress off beautifully.

Our holiday through a lens....

I have been meaning to tell you all about our Christmas break (which already seem so far away), but instead I will just let the pictures speak for themselves...

There was a dress-up for a Christmas party...

There was drumming during said Christmas party (on her cousin's brand new set of drums)

(Has she got the rock-chic pose down, or what?)

Playing with her best friend in her princess get-up!

Long days at home filled with crafty projects....

homemade play dough and cookie shapes

and off to our spot at the dam...where we all got in on the action

her cousin taught her to fish

her daddy showed her how to paddle (the right way)..

early morning walks, while the air was still cool... picking flowers

other bits we collected on our morning walks.

Jessie practising what her daddy taught her

...and a late afternoon sail to finish the holidays off on a high note...

A softy that goes by the name of .... Sally Rabbit

It was the day before Christmas, and all the gifts were happily wrapped sitting under the tree... but there was something missing... or at least, I felt like there was something missing...

I wanted to make my Jellibell something for Christmas, yes, make... I had already made her a new pillowcase dress and matching purse (which I will share in the weeks to come), but I wanted to try something new.

I had printed out this fantastic free pattern from mmmcrafts ages ago (I fell in love with Molly monkey). It had been sitting next to my  sewing machine for a good while, patiently waiting for me to get it together. Now, being a beginner sewer I did not even read through it, because I expected it to be way above my level of expertise.

But, with a burning desire to make my girl something to cherish and hold onto, I pulled out the Molly Monkey pattern. As it was, I did not have enough felt to make Molly's adorable little face, and so had to improvise a little.

I decided she just wouldn't be the same without her felt face, so I decided to make her bunny ears and lo and behold.... a little Rabbit was born.

I loved every single bit of making her (and it was surprisingly quick and easy).

When I look at her, there are bits of so many people I love in her. Her socks are bits of material my darling sister gave me. The material for her flannel body comes from my granny, and her flower print body was left over from a special gift made for my sister (which will also be shared soon). Even her skirt comes from material given to me by my great mom-in-law.

She truly represents a love of sewing from so many different woman in my family!

For all the centiment, I am, of course, not the only one who loves her. My girl loved her from the minute she saw her, and she has been honoured with a space on her bed... that's when she is not being dragged around the house by her arm...

I wouldn't want it any other way!

P.S. - If you where wondering about her name, it was hubby's contribution to the making of this beautiful softy for our beautiful girl!