Article
November 2, 2011
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by alysha

iPhoneography

I love taking photos with my iPhone, especially since the newest iPhone came out – the camera is amazing! Better than my little compact digital camera and smaller. Plus there are all the fun photo apps available. My favourite of these is Instagram, with which I took the photos below.

From the top left:

  • 1. Some of the random items on my desk
  • 2. Cute little Pippin!
  • 3. Pippin and Merry, geeking out on my desk
  • 4. Some of my retro cookbooks
  • 5. Cat vs Human book – so funny!
  • 6. Apple Pie Cookies, recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Delicious!
  • 7. Churros, mmmm yum!
  • 8. Merry, all sleepy and cute!
  • 9. Action figure of the Eleventh Doctor.

And yes, I totally failed with Blogtoberfest. Two posts in October, oops! Here’s hoping that I manage more posts in November!

Article
May 3, 2011
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by alysha

Cooking for the Queen!

Okay, not really! But it makes for a fun title, dontcha think?

While I did not actually cook for any members of the Royal family, I did cook a British meal for MY family for us to enjoy as we watched the Royal Wedding. We had Coronation Chicken & Potato Salad, Eton Mess and to follow, Lemon (and Lime) Squares Cake with Matcha/Green Tea Frosting. I wanted to choose classic British recipes and was excited to try Coronation Chicken for the first time! Very delicious and I shall make it again. I was very naughty in taking the photo below; I did not notice that I had inadvertently messed up the lovely table setting that my Mum made! Very bad Lysh! ;)

Baking & Coronation Chicken Salad and our pretty table!

Thank you to those who sent messages after my last post; your warmth is muchly appreciated. I am still very much missing my lovely Max, and I always will. I am emerging from my cave though, and trying to get back into things – including this much neglected blog! Cooking has been one of my mercies (as well as craft) and has helped me to return to my old self. I really enjoyed making my Royal menu, even with it taking most of the day! It was quite fun. If you’d like the recipes, see below the photograph of my yummy cake; which just had to have hearts!

Citrus Matcha Cake

  • Coronation Chicken & Potato Salad
  • Eton Mess
  • Lemon Squares Cake. I used lime zest & did not use their icing. I found that the cake did not rise as high as expected, but was very tasty. The lack of rising could be due to my using an oven that is quite old and in Fahrenheit rather than Celsius, so could be my error in getting used to the oven.
  • Matcha Icing. Icing recipe near the bottom.


So, those of you who watched and enjoyed the Royal Wedding, what did you think? Didn’t Catherine and Prince William look wonderful? I watched the whole thing wearing my tiara. A common girl gets so few chances to wear a tiara – why not grab the chance when one can?!

Although, I am sorry to report that when I put on my lovely tiara (from my Husbitect and I’s combined Hen’s Bucks night) I found that one stone had fallen out. *sob*. I’m hoping it is safe within a draw or bag and I shall find it soon. It may only be glass, but I love it all the same!

Article
January 26, 2011
8 comments
by alysha

A Photo Post



A photo taken with my iPhone of the nighttime. Not perfect, but relaxing somehow.


Our older tea strainers. Cute, but not so usable.


A yummy seafood risotto, I had with my love. During Christmas shopping; a welcome treat!

 

Article
October 31, 2010
2 comments
by alysha

Last day of Blogtoberfest

The last day of Blogtoberfest, and October! Not doing any Halloween things here; very over all the gory images and decorations now. Looking forward to more Christmas decorations and sparkly, glittery things! Another happening around this time of year is the appearance of the first Cicadas. The Greengrocer Cicada below was the first this year. Cute, huh?

We went out for breakfast with family this morning and had very delicious Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon. Mmm. The poached eggs were perfect, cutting into them released the yummy golden yolks. Delish! After breakfast, the husbitect and and I indulged in some book shopping. Now that I am really into embroidery, I wanted a good stitch guide, found a perfect one plus another book on shading techniques. I also got the latest Connie Willis novel which I am really looking forward to getting stuck into. It is a sequel, so I have been awaiting this book for a few months.

Now it is time to go make some delicious dal. Yum, I can taste it already. I just hope the storm passing over doesn’t cause a blackout before I have finished making dinner!

Article
October 12, 2010
1 comment
by alysha

Springing Forward. Blogtoberfest Day 12.

This afternoon I had a lovely time playing with my photos in Photoshop. The Lily above being one such photo. After titling it ‘Spring’. I thought about what I want to change and learn in this season of growth and freshness. There are too many things to list that I would like to change and learn to list them all, so I will stick to ones that more obtainable and immediate. I can always do another list!

  • I want to learn to be more accepting, more comfortable with what I do and where I am in life. No more holding back because I am scared of what other people think, or worse, that I could never be as good as others so why start in the first place. Very self-defeating.

  • I want to finally get more serious about photography and try selling prints of of my photos. I’ve held back till now because of fear of failure and also, not wanting to have someone steal my work or claim it as their own. But if no one ever sees the photos that I take, they lose their value.

  • I would like to learn how to draw, both with paints and canvas as well as digital illustration. I have plenty of paints, watercolour crayons and ideas; I just need to start.

  • I have dabbled with the older version of Terragen in the past and really enjoyed it. Now that there is a much newer, more advanced version, I want to learn how to use it in more depth. One of my images from Terragen is at the end of this post.

  • When I was much younger, in my late teens and early twenties, I used to enjoy writing and coming up with short stories. As I got older, I lost my confidence (I can see a pattern developing) and stopped writing. Time to dig out those old stories and get back into writing.

  • I would be over the moon if I could stop being so disorganized. Not to mention scattered in my approach to things. I know I will never be one of those perfectly organized people, but I would like to be better at it than I am. Being able to find things easily would be so wonderful! To start, I should create a filing system for myself.

I think that is enough to be getting on with for now, don’t you?! Writing that list highlighted just how much my confidence in my abilities (or lack of) has affected my life, particularly in terms of creativity. I want to go back to having that wild, carefree abandon in creativity that I used to possess. Deep down, I know I still have faith in myself somewhere, I just need to nurture that tiny flame and help it become a fire once again.


An ocean scene that I created a few years ago in Terragen.

Article
June 26, 2010
3 comments
by alysha

A Photo Essay (of sorts)




1. My darling, handsome Husbitect last night as we enjoyed the delicious mushroom soup that he made. My Dad is visible, too. :)

2. Mushroom soup! Very, very yummy. Flaked almonds & nutmeg on top. Om nom nom.

3. The moon tonight, well before the eclipse.

4. I’ve been practicing crochet & focusing on the first round of a granny square. I think I am getting better & my stitches are getting loser. Yay!

Article
June 16, 2010
2 comments
by alysha

Photo Fun

I’ve been going through some of my old files and found a couple of photos to share. The first is of some damper that I made once. The slice I photographed reminded me of the shape of Australia. Pretty fitting for damper! The second photo is of a teensy tiny snowman I made a couple of years ago while living in the Blue Mountains. Ah, snow. I do so love your prettiness.


Article
May 27, 2010
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by alysha

Playing with Hipstamatic

I recently found some old scrapbook stickers or stencils that I bought in the late 80s. I’m not totally sure what they were called, if they have a proper name. They are a sheet of images that you cut out and then glue to your scrapbook or letters.

Spying them on my desk I took some photos and played with one of my favourite apps, Hipstamatic. Love, love this app, you can get some really fun photo affects with it. It really is worth the money if you like taking photos with your iPhone.