Merry Christmas!

wishing you all a...

blessed & merry

christmas!

whether you pop in occasionally or often...

thank you!

i haven't got my own computer back yet,

won't have it replaced or fixed until the end of january

after i get back from no. 1 son's wedding in taiwan,

so 

i wish you all a very merry christmas

from the bottom of my heart!

i will pop in and cruise around the blogosphere when i can this week

and may comment at random...

but am signing out here for a month...

i love your friendship

so i'll be around 

and see you back here

in the new year!

happy new year...

naturally Carol xox

Borrowed Time!

good morning!

it feels so good to be able to say that

&

to know that at least in this session

the computer won't crash

'cos i'm on my daughter in law's one as a guest..hehe

well guess where i've popped up this morning...

here i am on kamana's blog'

answering a few questions.

it's the first time i've done an interview for someone else

so now i've done it for kamana

i think i may approach a few of you

in the new year...

if you wouldn't mind!

kamana is an inspirational poet and photographer

&

these often feature the tropical paradise

she lives in...

so do pop in and get to know her

and be inspired by her art!

{the photo above is of noosa, qld..taken on a weekend away a few months ago..'cos none of my photos are available to  me on this computer and i can't download any either.}

afternoon edit:

i've just enjoyed lunch out with mr m,
we don't get to lunch together very often,
especially to lunch out
and munch on open grilled turkish sandwiches
and the best cappucinos in town!

i hope you've enjoyed a meal lately with someone special too...

naturally Carol xox

Chilli for Dinner...

good evening!

due to my computer growing a mind of it's own

&

being extremely non-conformist

i've been relegated to noncomputerlike tasks

for the last few days...

sorry.

one of those glitches

includes not being able to upload many photos

so dinner was the picture of the moment tonight.

i'm thinking,

at least it was a delicious

chilli con carne

with a few bits of salad,

put together by mr m

&

i got to enjoy a night off!

cucumber is actually delicious with chilli..who knew?

the chilli was left over from last night...

but i don't mind having it twice

'cos it's always even better the second day

...don't you find?

we have a fair bit on our plates at the moment...

we're trying to get things together for our trip to taiwan

in only two and a bit weeks,

&

there are some family matters to sort throught as well...

having kids, there is never a dull moment.

well, i'm back again

after another 'crash dump' and restart...

frustrating!

i wanted to take a couple of pics

of some little bits of sewing

but ran out of daylight

so hopefully...computer withstanding...

i'll get it together tomorrow.

meanwhile

have a lovely day or evening!

naturally Carol xox

Hot Fresh Scones!

good evening!

today was fun.

i got an order for a cushion

so packaged it up prettily and included a little extra heart

'cos it's Christmas.

then a friend called

and i went out to chatz cafe for a

'see you later' send off as another friend is leaving here

to go to bundaberg...a couple of hours up the road.

she wants to swim in the sea

and be reunited with her eldest daughter.

good on her!

so after having a delicious salmon portion

baked in pastry with a creamy dreamy dill sauce

accompanied by

roast veges

with dessert being a muggacino

with extra froth...

i decided that a simple dinner

of a couple of freshly baked scones

would do the job.

these quick scones

are made from a recipe off a flour packet

&

i make them much more than the traditional recipe now.

all you need is

3 cups of self raising flour

and

2/3 cup of icing sugar

to which you add

300 mls of pouring cream

and

100 mls of water.

stir quickly until in a lump,

put on a floured surface,

knead a couple of times to bring the mixture together.

pat out into a flattened lump..about 2 cms high,

carve up into even pieces

and put into an oven, 180 degrees centigrade.

{scone recipes always say a hot oven..220 degrees..i never do}

bake for exactly 12 minutes...

{this recipe said 15 mins or more..i always cook scones for exactly 12 mins and they turn out perfectly every time}

this is how they turned out...

and this is how they looked

on the plate...

they were nice and light

&

delicious.

more rustic than fancy!

what wonders do you intend to bake over the weekend?

or not?

naturally Carol xox

 

Christmas Hearts!

it's nearly bed time here...

i had a slow start to the day,

you know how it is

when it's a little cold

and sleep is interrupted,

then in the morning

it's just hard to get started.

then this afternoon

i went out for coffee with a friend, crystal,

it was a bit warmer

and the coffee perked me up.

then in the early evening mr m and i did a bit of grocery shopping.

of course it is getting late now,

but after my slow start

i'm fully awake now and don't need to sleep!

still...

in a few minutes

i will drag this body to bed

so that tomorrow

i am not even more perversely affected

and end up staying up all night????

i recently thought

that instead of sending my local friends cards,

i would make hearts for them...

christmassy ones

that they could hang on their trees

or their door handles

or on their walls...

what ever.

these are quick and easy to make...

several can be made in a couple of hours

and are lots of fun too.

fussy cut the fronts...

you don't have to be as precise with the backs...

&

add a couple of vintage buttons to the centre,

they will disguise where the ribbon goes into the heart

where sometimes there will be

a little pucker

where the ribbon doesn't sit quite straight.

using zig zag stitching

around the outside of the heart

just gives it a bit of a tweaky look

&

finishes the edges nicely.

i've attempted a couple of mug rugs too

but i'm a bit of a novice

when it comes to the borders

&

i'm not entirely happy with the ones i've completed so far.

practice makes perfect

so they say...

if kootoyoo will have me

i'm joining in,

so come 'n see

what others are doing

and have a lovely day!

naturally Carol xox

The Fern Grows!

hi there...

i've turned the christmas tree lights on this morning

for a bit of sparkle arkle

'cos it's kinda dark inside

with all the rain and gloomy weather outside.

i took this pic

to show you how much those little ferny fronds

have grown in a couple of weeks...



this fern is amazing.

it grows on the stump of an old mango tree

that we had to cut down to make way for a driveway

just after we moved into this house.

on one side of the stump is the fern

and on the other side is a flourishing staghorn..

they both just live off the decaying stump

which is sitting underneath the poinciana tree in the front yard.

this is what the fern looked like

just a few weeks prior to these new photos...

with the winter

and probably a lack of water

they had died right down

and in the pic above had just begun to sprout new growth.

those young fronds are just unfurling.

you can even see a little of the staghorn in amongst them.

i was only thinking this morning

that nature is just full of the miraculous...

and i think seeds are one of them.

what do you consider

as a miracle of nature?

mr t is off to get mr m from brisbane,

he's coming home for a while...

kara is outside at the moment,

unaware of the surprise that awaits her doggy psyche.

she'll be wagging her tail with delight

later today.



by the way...

now we are having problems

with the internet connection

and can't seem to access certain blogsites...

maybe it's the weather???

hopefully it will right itself.

i've got a little christmas crafting to share tomorrow,

nothing very earth shaking

but hopefully i can access my editing stuff

and trim a few dead corners off the photos!

another cosy day...

perfect for a bit of sewing!

i hope your day is perfect for doing what you want to too.

naturally Carol xox

Finding My Feet...

good morning!

last week's postings

came to an abrupt end

with the arrival of a box of computer parts from my son in taiwan.

mr s sent a whole heap of computer bits

which were intended for this computer and others in the household.

of course,

as soon as possible this computer was dismantled,

new hard drives and programmes were installed

and a whole host of other features were put in and taken out.

i feel i am no longer in familiar territory

and will have to relearn my way around here!

i can't find my photo editor...

so this pic of a poinciana that lives just across from me,

is totally unedited...

isn't this tree spectacular?

all over the city there are splashes of bright red

from these gorgeous poincianas,

most of them planted years and years ago.

some, like this one, take up the whole front or back yard.

as you can see

a misty rain has settled here

and temperatures are cool and wonderful,

very refreshing.

when i wrote last,

i had just applied for my passport

and mr p had just applied for his.

all of them have come back, mr w's, mine and mr p's...

i just have to find out how to retrieve my emails

and print out the e-tickets now!

i have no idea where they've got to...

so please excuse me while i go and look.

have a wonderful tuesday,

it's just the type of day here to visit blogs,

find my emails and go and get a dvd on dollar tuesday!

naturally Carol xox

ps..i've missed you all and can't wait to poke my nose in and find out what you've all been up to!