“There is a little secret something so amazing, so miraculous and so wonderful that we should share it with everyone we know once we learn it. The secret is that there is nothing that others can do to really hurt us from the outside when we do not allow our own thoughts to hurt us on the inside. Once we take care of what is going on inside of our minds and our hearts and our souls, anything that tries to come at us from the outside simply can have no influence on our life.”
Bravegirls Club
I’m not sure where the week has gone, but it’s flying by…
What better way than to stay focused on one day at a time and start each day with a new long list of gratitude’s and bucket list of wishes…
This macro shot is one I see everyday (screensaver), it helps me to remember my theme word for twentytwelve of FOCUS…and its beautiful sunlit petals expresses my take on this weeks photo challenge theme of light with Kim Klassen, with only a subtle texture enhancement with kkplastersquared.
Have a wonderful day, my friends
Yvette,,,x
Who can say no if you’re in the know of this one…
I’ve never actually made this delight before and wanted to try it, Sunday afternoon, time to relax after a morning of teaching and where do I head, but for the kitchen. Fresh cherries are not in season so the best next thing is canned pitted cherries and mixed berries in their natural juices,
…I love making pastry, but just wasn’t up to waiting an hour for it to rest in the fridge so opted for the ready made pastry sheets. No rocket science here…my friends..just making good use of pre-canned, pre-cut, pre-made…and the test kitchen is in business.
And as you can see, the results were fantastic, a beautiful crusty rustic pastry, with the glorious ‘beefy’ plump taste of cherries and mixed sweet fruits.
Read on for the recipe…
Roses, Roses, beautiful roses….
I don’t know whether you’ve seen roses like these before, aren’t they just beautiful…each petal is individually shaped and curled, craftsmanship, patience, creativity.
Shiny, smooth, glossy…read on for a surprise…
With all these wonderful warm colours of Autumn, there’s nothing better than sitting by a sunlit window, sipping a cup of warm tea and eating a piece of Banana Nutmeg Cake.
Sharing with you my new Royal Albert – Country Roses serving plate. A lovely oval design with cross-hatching embossing,filigree and gold trim, with handles of beautiful cut-out hearts. A beautiful addition to my china collection.
For afternoon tea, there’s a serving of freshly homemade Banana Nutmeg Cake, served in petite paper doilies, and Royal Albert – Country Roses serviettes.
Welcome to all those lovely ladies, who are joining me for tea, and a chat in the afternoon sunlight. Wish you were all here, relaxing with me, just a little time for you and me, and see the beautiful hues of Autumn in our garden.
Piping hot tea served in Royal Albert, bone china petite Val d’or tea cups, and beautiful paper filigree heart – place cards. Can you see your name?
Here’s my quick recipe for Banana Nutmeg Cake
1/2 cup sugar
125grams butter
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup self raising flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 ripe bananas
juice 1/2 lemon
Method: Mash bananas with lemon juice. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Stir dry ingredients and add alternately with milk. Gently stir in the mashed banana. Turn into greased tin and bake in moderate oven for 30-35 minutes. Ice with lemon icing and a sprinkling of nutmeg, or leave sliced and spread with butter swirls.
Linking to
TeaTime Tuesday
Simply Sweet
A Return to Loveliness
Table Top Tuesday
Teacup Tuesday
Teacup Tuesday
Tea in the Garden
Teacup Thursday
Design Etchings – The Graphics Fairy
Have a great day, and enjoy the sunshine!
Yvette…x
This weeks Texture Tuesday with Kim Klassen was a challenge all up to us, using one of Kim’s textures and subject matter, anything we desire.
I wanted to capture the wonderful Autumn hues,earthy and natural of the season.
original photo: twistedvines + kkfriday texture + adjustments of colour and light saturation
Have a great week, friends
Yvette…x
A beautiful Sunday, and Happy Mothers Day.
I made a special cake for my sister today to celebrate Mother’s Day with the family. A Vanilla Strawberry Buttercake.
Its the first time I’ve used this giant cupcake tin, so a little trial and error, but some great results. And some wonderful ideas for future baking were discussed by us girls….
A Mothers Blessing
Thank you, Holy Father,
for Your special gift of mothers;
for the example of Your unconditional love they share with their children.
Thank You for the mother who lets her child know without doubt he or she is loved,
and for the child who returns that love.
Lord, today we pray You will protect and guide mothers everywhere;
that You will grant them Your wisdom in loving and teaching their children.
Today, may children everywhere remember the warm caresses and whispers in the night;
the tears dried and Band-Aids, the peach cobbler, the laughter;
and the blood curdling scream, ‘No!’ at the brink of danger.
Thank You for the mothers who played with us, taught us, nurtured us,
fed us, listened to us and tried to understand us.
Today, may we remember Mum’s beauty when we were young;
and her loveliness discovered as we aged.
Lord, today draw especially close the mothers who are alone,
for whatever reason;
and grant them Your comfort, Your pleasure, Your peace,
And, Lord, for children who are alone, because of distance, death, or indifference,
may good memories flood their minds.
And if there is not a good memory,
may forgiveness burst forth from their hearts
and revive in them long lost joy.
Thank you particularly for phone calls today,
and for a shared ‘I Love You’.
Today as we honour, celebrate, or simply reflect on the woman who gave us birth,
or who adopted us into her heart.
We thank You, Lord, for life,
and for Mum!
I thought I’d share this beautiful Mothers Blessing poem that we gave to our Mum’s today from our children in our Liturgy class.
Read on for the recipe and decorating tips…
The crisp cool mornings have arrived with the changing colours of our trees, and the early evening smoke clouds from chimney tops from warm lit fires. Autumn is here, and with it beautiful Autumn vegetables. Pumpkins, Squash, Parsnips and beautiful, beautiful Beetroot.
I bought this beautiful bunch of beetroot from our local Organic Grocer, such wonderful fresh produce, this bunch cost AUS $3.50, and I used it for a couple of dishes. My first idea was to make that gorgeous magenta rich Bosch soup, but I didn’t have too many green flags on that one..so I thought I might be a little sneaky and make a chocolate fudge cake..everyone loves chocolate! I had seen red velvet cupcakes before made with beetroot, lower in calories and beetroot gives the mixture a smoother, moist texture.
Scouting through many wonderful new and exciting beetroot dishes, I found this one from the ‘girls’ from the BBC program ‘Cook yourself Thin’, I have adapted it due to the amount of coffee in it, not good for the smaller generation.
It is however a beautiful moist textured cake, and no one would ever know that there’s beetroot in the recipe.
Continue reading for this delicious recipe…
Vintage Roses
This weeks challenge, was even more a challenge for myself, I was determined to sit down and learn something new in Photoshop Elements, instead of my usual fly through with Picasa 3.
What better way then to sit down with Kim Klassens, Beyond Layers and her Photoshop Test Kitchen – Elements The Essentials. Headphones, coffee and a learning will to ensure a new direction to textures and my photos.
original photo + kk_mustardseed + kk_dream, mixing both blend modes and opacities.
‘We are born at a given moment, in a given place and, like vintage years of wine,we have the qualities of the year and of the season of which we are born. Astrology does not lay claim to anything more’ Carl Gustav Jung
Have a wonderful week, my friends
Yvette…x
Another challenge with Kim Klassen’s ‘Beyond Layers’. Bit by bit, layer by layer, finding the true inner self and capturing those wonderful moments, and times that I as a person grab onto the ‘me’ time. Last weeks self portrait challenge, wasn’t easy for myself and some other members of the group, but hey! it was a release to confront the self image, the reflection of the ‘true’ me and with Kim’s encouragement continue on this self discovery journey. So what better way to continue but ‘take the time’, embrace the ah ha moments that I can truly say, I’m doing this for me, I’m taking some time (and not feeling guilty) to do the things I love.
I grabbed the moment of spending a few days with a wonderful friend, who was on her mission to excel in her new years resolution, of making time to visit family more often Family not at her doorstep, travelling to the ‘bush’ some kilometers away from her home. I too, was on a mission, find time to do the things I love doing. Spending time with ‘true’ friends and you guessed it, just taking shots, of natures beauty. No props, no controlled lighting, just beautiful scenery. Capturing the raw Australia.
Rusty Bits
Old farm machinery in the early morning light of sunrise.
Morning Haze
An early morning crispness in the air with morning misty haze.
Rusty Wire
Feeding Trough
Old Skull
Pickets
White Gum
Knotted White Gum
Textured White Gum I
Textured White Gum II
Memoirs
Skull I
I can honestly say, seeing the parting tears of a mother, the hand shake of a brother, and the caressing hug of family, my friend accomplished her mission. An inspirational journey of taking a couple of days off work, from the every day routine, and although thinking initially how about some quality time for me, a couple of days resulted in seeing the love of giving, the love of sharing, and friendship ,what taking a few moments to talk face to face with someone can truly make some ones heart swell with gratitude, eyes sparkle with love and learn the lesson of what we give out, will truly come come back, a thousand times over.
Have a wonderful Sunday, friends
Yvette…x
Yvette's Twistedvines 