tiny happy

garden paintbox

I've been inspired to dig out my set of watercolour paints lately. Keira is especially keen on drawing and painting, and makes time to do some everyday. I love it too, but never really make the time. Recently we had a quiet morning at home together, so I made us cups of tea and brought some cuttings in from the garden to draw. 

My rose painting became a card for a friend's birthday, and the other paintings (hellebores, daphne, etc) are in the sketchbook awaiting more work. 

I hope you've had a lovely weekend too, with time for one of your favourite activities. Are you a watercolour-dabbler or birthday-card-maker yourself?

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Some current favourites of mine include:

This delicious butter chicken recipe, which is the kids' favourite thing to have for dinner. Because they are both vegetarian, I make it with paneer instead of chicken (adding the cubes of paneer about 5-10 mins before serving) and served with rice, green vegetables and fresh coriander from the garden, it has become a bit of 'special' meal at our place.

Midnattsol (Midnight Sun) - a rather grim and thrilling TV series Tom and I are watching late at night - it's a Swedish/French production and focuses on dark happenings in a small Arctic mining town. 

This newish album Life Will See You Now by Swedish folk/pop musician Jens Lekman. It's a real beauty. There's an interview on Radio NZ here you might like if (like me) you are a fan of Jens' existentialist and happy/sad music.

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chocolate biscuit weather

Hello! 

This has been a week of extreme weather - four seasons in one day, some days...
I did bring in some lovely little blooms today after spending an hour or two in the garden. Daphne, freesias and hellebores. Winter flowers seem extra-sweet.

It's also been a day for baking - Keira and I made these chocolate biscuits for her to take to a friend's house. I first typed out the recipe here back in (gulp) 2007... my blog really is getting quite old isn't it? I still make these cookies in the same way, but use a little less butter and sugar these days. In the photo above you can see I'm also about halfway through knitting a sock... my goal is to finish that this week. I feel as though I've been working on that pair all year!

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I like this list, and think it's perfect for this time of year (and this time in the world, come to that): Ten nice things to do for the favourite people in your life, put together by the clever Pip. 

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Here's a song I've been listening to through my headphones this week: Fruit flies by Gabriel Garzón-Montano.

Hope your week is a good one.

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weekending

Hello! I hope you've had a good week, whatever you happened to be doing.

Mine started well, because I bought a big bunch of daphne from my favourite shop and it's been filling the house with its beauty ever since. I love the scent, and for me it's a sign that the coldest and darkest part of winter is over. Before buying the daphne, I had been to the dentist and the mechanic, so it was perfectly timed for maximum cheering effect.

I've also been working on a new knitting project, helped along by Bonnie who kindly shared some of her beautiful possum yarn and pattern tips with me - and a decent afternoon knit session yesterday allowed me to do most of the raglan neck shaping on my in-progress jumper. I really hope this knit won't take me too long - I'd love to be able to wear it before summer arrives. (I'm a very slow knitter).

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Through my workplace, I was given some tickets to see the NZ Symphony Orchestra last night - violinist Karen Gomyo played the first Bruch violin concerto and it was pretty divine. Even the kids, who brought their books along to the concert, promptly shut them once she started playing. This is another performance of the same piece - by Janine Jansen.

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And one more thing - if you have Netflix you might like the Norwegian 'slow TV' programmes that are available on there - some are about the art of firewood, some are scenic travel trips, and one is about knitting. I only watched some of it but will definitely go back and see more... I really loved it. Topics explored include: a yarn store in the Far North run by a motorbike-loving knitter, old Norwegian hand-knits and how they have been mended, knitting techniques/tutorials, the stories behind the different traditional colourwork sweaters and trying to set a world record in knitting a jumper from pre-shearing to the finished piece, to name only a few.

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scone story

Confession: I love cheese scones. I don't know how popular they are in other countries, but savoury scones appear in most cafes in NZ, and i'll usually order one to have with my coffee. Plain and date scones are usually on offer as well, and sometimes you find 'savoury' scones filled with random bits of cooked vegetables, which have their place I guess. But I think well-made, plain cheese scones (still slightly warm and spread with some butter) reign supreme.

For a while now I've been trying to perfect my scone-making skills, and that has meant experimenting on the family and my workmates. I'm happy with my current recipe and method, so I thought I'd share it here. If you don't like the idea of cheese in your scones, just omit it, along with the seasonings, and be sure to serve your plain scones with jam and cream.

My idea of the perfect cheese scone is something that's well-cooked but not at all stodgy or dry, well-seasoned and almost flaky in texture, and not too big (it shouldn't be a task to eat). You could cut them into rounds but I just cut the dough into rectangles for ease and speed. It's also important to use really flavoursome cheddar cheese if you can.

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CHEESE SCONES

In a large bowl, sift in 3 cups plain flour, 4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp mustard powder, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp cayenne powder. Crack in some black pepper and mix well.

Cut 75 grams cold butter into cubes. Rub into flour mixture with your fingers or a pastry cutter, until the butter is the consistency of breadcrumbs. You could also use a food processor for this bit.

Line a metal tray with baking paper and preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius.

Grate cheese- I use 1 cup of cheddar (usually 'Mainland Tasty' because I love the texture and flavour but you could use any type) and a little parmesan cheese as well if you have it. Stir the grated cheeses into the flour mixture. Then tip in 1 1/4 cup of plain milk. Stir lightly. Tip the dough onto a board and knead lightly (try not to overwork it). Add a little more flour or milk if needed.

Shape into a rounded rectangle (about 1.5 - 2" high). Cut lengthwise, then into 5 pieces width-wise. Top with extra grated cheese.

Transfer to the papered tray then bake for 10-15 minutes, or until just cooked. Cool for a while before slicing in half and buttering.

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midas hat

Hello! I hope your week is going well. 

It's been a properly wintry one here, although the mornings are getting a little bit lighter every day. This morning I had to take a photo when I pulled the curtains open - look at how the mountains are edged so beautifully in light!

Last week I finished knitting a hat for a friend who is having a hard time with his health at the moment. I asked him to choose a pattern on Ravelry and a colour, and I thought possum-blend yarn would be a good bet for maximum warmth and softness.

The pattern is called Midas Hat (free on Rav) and I used Zealana yarns, which are produced locally. The cool thing about the pattern is that you cast on provisionally and then knit a brim that is then folded inside the hat like a lining. I used a silk-possum-merino blend for that part for extra warmth. Here are my notes in case they're helpful.

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The last photo you see above is a quick snap I took in the City Gallery over the weekend - my third visit to the Colin McCahon exhibition On Going Out with the Tide, which has just finished. This was my favourite piece in the exhibition - Ahipara, painted on 5 pieces of canvas in 1973. Grey skies, land-forms and the call of seabirds.

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