Saturday afternoon at The Castle

Dishes on the bench (last nights),

rubbish that needs emptying,

bestest most expensive hardened paintbrush soaking in hot water and vinegar, in the kitchen sink,

laundry waiting to be folded,

 the Princess's unmade bed,

my unmade bed with the Princess in it,

cos I am busy!

Rachael xo

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Making the bed

My Cowboy man is very helpful when he stays over,

he makes the bed,

he draws a line down the middle,

and makes his side,

only,

as clearly seen here by my unmade side!

This morning he must have been feeling peace and goodwill towards...

me, 

because he made both sides!

Rachael xo

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Flippety Flop

 went my heart when I spied this....

hanging in the display window of an op shop, with a sign saying "display items will not be sold until Thursday". It was Saturday and I was not risking waiting until Thursday...

so what's a girl to do?

this naughty girl lent over and whipped it off the window display, and grabbed two pieces of vintage linen to take the focus of the round white thing at the counter!

I happily paid my $18 all up, while my heart went thumpty, thump, thump in case my crime was outed at the counter,

and scarpered, super quick!

Naughty I know!

But, but, but.....

Rachael xo

I ♥ Amazon

Amazon! seriously they are amazing!

My Cowboy man and I did on-line shopping last Monday night and our shopping arrived at his work on Thursday! 

That's 3 days people, 3 days from America, 'all the way from America...' - Amazon are AMAZing!

My Cowboy man got the Menu wine aerator carafe, if you are a wine buff you need one of these, Here's how it works...

Uncork or unscrew your wine bottle,

fit the carafe to it and turn upside down,

watch the lovely red wine flow down the sides of the carafe,

once emptied turn the carafe upside down pouring the wine back into the bottle,

and when finished pour into glasses and drink!

We did taste tests of before and after aerating and truly it makes quite a difference to the wine, particularly in depth and fullness of flavour! If you love drinking good wine you NEED one of these!

And it is a very elegant looking carafe to serve from!

Look what I got!

Lucky lucky me!

Rachael xo

Dinner at the Castle

I did dinner for family and friends Saturday night just gone!

Was fun and a unique combination of people, Me and my Cowboy man, my Wasband and his partner, Mum and her partner, my sister in law Lysia  and my university friend Jenna, plus the Princess, my twin nephews and Jenna's adorable little girl.

I wanted to dress my newish dining room table all nice but don't have enough things to do matchy matchy so put my creativity to the test, it turned out rather well I thought,

even if my Cowboy man and my Wasband said it looked very ...'green' men, what do they know!

I bought the dining room suite about 4 months ago, very, very different for me as it is brand spanking NEW! That's right NEW as in NEW, not as in vintage! Amazing I know! And I love it, smurf it, and it inspires me to entertain because I can fit 8 people comfortably around it.

I set it for dinner using my vintage unmatchy matchy cake plate collection and a mix of new and vintage napkins which I tied brown wrapping paper around in lieu of napkin rings!

My centre piece was geraniums in terracotta pots, a vintage flower trough filled with tea-light candles and taper candles, all surrounded by piles of lush green foliage from the tree to the side of the castles front door. I think it looks stunning and so did my Mummy!

photo credit & recipe from Lake Lure Cottage
http://lakelurecottagekitchen.blogspot.co.nz/

The actual meal was a breeze, Mum brought nibbles and I did Teriyaki Chicken in the slow cooker, recipe came from here and is seriously yum. Served simply with white rice, a leafy green salad (Lysia), breads (Wasband). Jenna did dessert, the most divine mini cheesecakes which I should have photographed and didn't!

Was a fun, fun night!

Rachael xo

p.s my Cowboy man took the table photo's - he's good!

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Flowers

we pick them and bring them in,

we also pick weeds and bring them in,

we arrange them in vases and bottles and jars and glasses and bowls and old ink wells...

on top of our mantle piece.

So pretty!

Rachael xo

Hi!

Left on my laptop,

by the Princess!

too cute,

smurfing it!

Rachael xo

A cake decorator I am not!

nope, I'm not!

However I like to make and decorate the Princess's birthday cake every year because it is done with love.

Here is this years cake...

Plain old buttercake, good old Edmonds  Cookbook icing and ready made icing in tubes for decorating and Smarties for embellishment and yumminess!

I had to make the icing twice, couldn't understand why it tasted so salty, I added a cup of baking powder instead of icing sugar! Lucky I taste tested before I iced the cake! lol

Have a good day!

Rachael xo

As you do...

on the morning of your Princesses partay,

you prepare for it in bed, while watching the 'Come Dine With Me' omnibus,

and then two hours before the partay, with the help of your man, change the living room area of your apartment around!

The piles of books are evidence that I am well and truly into my university year lol

Still a work in progress, but slowly, slowly!

Take Care
Rachael xo

The Princess is One Year Older!

She turned 9 on the 8th March, 9!!!

That means next year she will be 10, double digits!

Her birthday celebrations as always were massive,

breakfast before school at Dunkin Donuts with Mummy and Daddy,

dinner out with all her Auckland family

and then on Saturday a party for friends, a sleepover, 8 girls sleepover, I did think I was crazy but in fact it was awesome:

• they crafted,
• treasure hunted,
• ate yummy food and drunk yummy fizzy drinks,
• put on a show for us adults,
• played dress up in my clothes, shoes and accessories,
• watched 2 movies and slept on the living room floor,
• had pancakes and chocolate fondue for breakfast,
• and went home!

She is 9!

She is gorgeous!

Rachael xo

What makes my heart go flippety flop!

I've lost my vintage mojo somewhere on the way, not much I see out there makes my heart go flippety flop anymore, you know the kind of flippety flop when you stumble across a treasure that you absolutely smurf (love).

But the other day I am wandering about the castle lands and propped up against the wall down the side of the castle below my very own side balcony was this!

A bit dirtier, with grass hanging off it but just propped up there! Strange because I had been down through the  castle lands two days before picking flowers to put in my apartment and it was not there, and I have lived here for 18 months and have never seen it before!

All I can think of is the castle gardener (employed by the castle owner, not me!) has been doing extensive ground work to prepare the castle for sale (another story) and unearthed it!

Anyway, let me tell you I hauled that piece of wrought iron up to my apartment pronto and excitedly showed my dinner guests later that night...

who really did not get my excitement!

I know you will though!

p.s. It is the last night my Princess is 8 years old!

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Smurfing

I have replaced the Valentines Day 'LOVE banner strung across my fireplace with a new banner that says 'SMURF'.

A lot of  Smurfing goes on in this castle we live in!

The Princess and I are always telling each other how much we smurf  the other one and who smurfs the most!

I even told my man that I smurf him!

I  smurf  that there is a lot of  smurf  in my life!

Rachael xo

p.s. you need to have watched the Smurf  movie where at the end of the movie the human man tells the human woman that he 'smurfs'  (loves) her!  ;-)

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Gin Wigmore - The Winery Tour

Oh My... Click Here

my man and I went to a concert yesterday afternoon/night at the Villa Maria Vineyard,
we sat on a picnic blanket on the grass,

photo taken by...my man (not my back view - thanks ;-))

in the hot afternoon SUN - I know a miracle for us in NZ right now,
and snuggled under the stars and the chilly night air,

photo taken by...my man 

we drunk red wine, ate fresh snapper burgers and hot fries,
while listening to talented New Zealand music artists,

photo taken by...my man 

Annah Mac, Avalance City, The Muttonbirds and....

the truly amazing Gin Wigmore,

photo stolen from Gin's website

finishing the evening off with a mad sprint through Auckland city to catch a bus home!

Awesome!

Rachael xo

p.s. if you like Amy Winehouse and Macy Gray you will LOVE Gin Wigmore!

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Happy me!

I'm so happy!

I had another CT scan on Wednesday, my surgeon phoned me that evening to tell me that miraculously 11 of my 13 rib fractures now show signs of healing.

I don't have to see him now until May by which time hopefully the other 2 fractures have started to heal. If not I still have to have surgery but it would be a walk in the park compared to what I was facing!

Happy, happy, happy ME!!!

 :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Rachael xo

p.s. prayers work - thank you to so many of you who have prayed for me xo

p.p.s. the vintage baby image is from a baby card given to my parents when I was born, it is 47 years old!

Does that mean I am vintage? lol

p.p.p.s . watch this space cos I am going to show that image in another form very soon ;-)

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