Heart Felt

Assisi Gardens

Just a few pictures of our visit to Assisi Gardens today.  

The view of the valley was just incredible!

Homemade pasta

Homemade pasta is something Ian and I use to make regularly when we first met.  I haven't made it in such a long time, but tonight I dusted off the pasta machine and made some pasta for dinner.  It's very easy, satisfying and delicious!

Work on one egg per person.  For every egg you use, mix 100 grams of flour, mix in the kitchen processor until it looks like bread crumbs.

Tip out onto a floured bench and squeeze the crumbs into one big ball.

Put it through the pasta machine 5-6 times on the largest setting until it has a silky texture.

 

Keeping the pasta floured, put it through each of the settings until you have reached the last one and the pasta in long and thin.

You can either put it through the machine to cut it into spaghetti or fettuccine, but I like to hand cut my own tagliatelle.

Cook your pasta into a large pot of salted boiling water for just over a minute.  

Done....serve with your favorite pasta sauce and enjoy!

Old School 'paint by numbers'

I'm so happy that these came our way this week.  They were painted by my father-in-law when he was about 8 years old.  His mother had great aspirations that he and his brother would become artists and they were sent to art school as children in the 30s.  

They were actually drawn by the art teacher and the students were told what colors to paint them, so they were an early style of 'paint by numbers' in a way.  Noel told me that his artistic flare got the better of him and he painted the pants on a certain character a different color! Heaven forbid! He was scorned and the art teacher spent all afternoon trying to correct the 'mistake'.  Needless to say that being a bound artist didn't really appeal to him, so he became a teacher instead!

They have been painted onto wood, varnished over and framed, so they were quite hard to photograph, but they take pride of place in the children's bedrooms.

I have some new "Heart Felt" knits ready to list onto Trade Me tonight.  I have a Kowhai design, a couple of Quirky bird designs and a Oak leaf beanie with cute pompom.

A quick note:  My blog has nearly reached to it's 1000 comment!  If you are lucky enough to be the 1000 person to leave me a comment, I will send you a set a three patches similar to these ones (designs may differ.)  So this is your chance if you haven't already to leave a comment! xx

The Hype in Town

The big hype in town this week has been the announcement of the 'Flight of the Conchords' to play a charity concert here in my own home town of Masterton.  Jemaine Clement is a fellow Mastertonian and the charity concert is in aid of his his old high school, which last year was in threat of closure. Tickets went on sale on Thursday and sadly yours truly missed out, the tickets sold out within 91 minutes.  Feeling slightly 'gutted' I'm praying to the big Conchord in the sky that a ticket may yet come my way before next Tuesday.

A parcel arrived this morning that cheered me up incredibly.  I might be unlucky in Conchord love, but I am lucky in Little Grub crafty love.  This lovely crocheted Easter egg bunting is just delightful, thanks so much!  Sadie had an impulse to run up and down the hall with it before I got to hang it up.

 

We are also praying to the God of hot air balloons for fine weather this weekend so we can see more of these.

This was the view down our street this afternoon.  Every year we celebrate Balloons over the Wairarapa.It's an exciting event for people of all ages.  Hope you all have a lovely weekend. xx

All the little things...

Sorry to bore you with more fungi photographs, but I am finding them so fascinating.  I was excited to find these samples today at our local park, they make such interesting photographic studies.

If you are interested in identifying any mushrooms or toadstools in your area I recommend these two books.

"Mushroom and Toadstools in New Zealand" by Marie Taylor

and

"A photographic guide to mushrooms and other fungi of New Zealand" by Geoff Ridley.

they should be available at your local library.

I have also been enjoying the blog "...All the little things" put together by "Imagine Childhood". I love their philosophy on childhood and nature.  I've especially been interested in the segment on their readers weekly nature walks.  A few weeks back I submitted photographs of our Tora trip.   They were pleased to feature a reader from the South Pacific.  If you have a series of photographs from your own nature walks, they would love to hear from you! 

  

Where fairies live...

Autumn is such a magical time of the year!

Worm farming update

A few months back we set up our own little worm farm.  It has been going quite well.  We had a small hiccup at one point where the soil turned 'sour', but a handful of lime cured that.....

Here you can see how the worms are eating through Sadie's biodegradable nappies.

 

The worms have become unusual pets for the children, fondly known as the 'wiggly worms'.

The second layer contains a nutrient rich soil.

Today I bottled all the 'worm juice' in old wine bottles.

Making labels for the 'worm juice' bottles in case Daddy comes home late from work one night looking for a glass of wine!

Upcycling - Green, Red and Black

Erika was keen to see the results of my 'green dying' from this post.  Thankfully they turned out really well and I think this is one of most favorite pieces that I have done yet.  Sadie thought she looked very pretty.

Forest Nymph "Heart Felt" upcycled wool dress.

This little cardigan was added to the same pot of dye, it came out a vibrant apple green which has been accentuated by a bright red heart.

Charlie is becoming accustomed to being "Mama's model" (I just have to bribe him with a treat)

And a little something for myself.  I have added a felt Tui to a plain black wool skirt.

The dress, cardigan and the red short sleeve Tui top are available on my Trade Me site. x

Waiting

Sadie waiting patiently outside a 2nd Hand Shop.....I've trained her well! xx

 

A perfect Heart Felt day

Today our day consisted of 

Foraging.....

Charlie has started his Autumn nature collection, acorns have been a good start.

Observing.....

While on our walk we found this beautiful cobweb on a wrought iron gate,

 we loved the dandelion seeds that had been trapped.

Discovering.....

We discovered a tree with Poplar Toadstools growing on it.

Gathering.....

don't let the name put you off, not all toadstools are poisonous.

Cooking...

These were delicious in our risotto

Dying....

Woolens being dyed green for some 'Heart Felt' knits.

Drawing.....

I sketched some 'helicopters' that Charlie found from a Maple tree...

Sewing.....

I then sewed a version onto felt for a 'Heart Felt' cardigan.

Hope your day has treated you well. xx