What I have been up to ....

This is in the Dunedin Botanic Gardens on Christmas Day, with a spectacular peony flower.  For the record I am not that tanned, its just I used the "ultra vivd" setting on my camera.  Yes, this is the amazing fabric I purchased at Tessuti, in Melbourne.  

A holiday season would not be normal for me, without a decent movie.  

Can you guess what I watched??

NZ Tui with flax on random t-shirt $1 from Yellow Shop

Giant scarf / wrap, Shoe Warehouse $9

Long double thickness vintage scarf - a bit like a cravat - $1 Box of Birds, Port Chalmers

My family went to Ashvegas and on the way home we stopped in the historical preccint, look at this fabulous car!!  

Oh and look what my fabulous family gave me for Christmas, isn't it just so cute!

 I cooked the Christmas lunch: beef olives with asparagus, kumara mash and carrot dahl.  Followed by my very first Baked Alaska!  I pre-cooked all the veges the day before, only needing to scape and boil the new potatoes my parents brought around to share.  The alaska was also prepared the day before so that it was rock frozen solid.   Here I am in the middle of things wearing a cute apron from Butterflies $2

Recipe for Penny-Roses beef olives: 9 slices of schnitzel stuffed with home-made stuffing from stale bread (on special as New World Port Chalmers), gin soaked craisens, chopped red onion, salt pepper and some fresh home-grown sage.  Mixed together with  some milk.  

For tea, we went to my parents place, and the piece de resistance was her famous chocolate cake in a magnificent three layer coffee cream filled pile of yumminess.  

Oh, and I cut this cool peony, fish and crab patterned fabric to make a dress.  I was planning to sew on Boxing Day but ended up taking my daughter and her BF to Long Beach for a swim in the surf.

Part of our trip to Ashvegas involved an important detour to Pleasant Valley so Dear H could salivate over the cutest little engine, and the big AB (above) 

and then in Oamaru we went down to the Penguin Colony for a ramble on the beach and look what came out to see us...blue like Thomas the Tank Engine!!

Hope you all had a lovely time over Christmas!