21 Days!!! I am so excited!!

I am so excited!! Rhonna Farrers 21 Day challenge is starting again! I took this challenge in 2007, it was such great fun! I am definitely doing it again, starting today!

I have already got out my paints and brushes, and goodies and started!! Will post my pages as I do them.


I just wanted to show you this beautiful clock I bought for my studio..it is so pretty...
And since I am feeling all arty and inspired today, I made you this little word art. Please do not claim as your own. Copyrighted. I just love this quote and it sets the scene for me today.

Enjoy!!

new stuff on Etsy!

I have some new stuff for sale on my Etsy!
I had fun making tags...lot's of them yesterday!




I am so excited too cos tomorrow we are taking our kids to go and play in the snow!!! My husband has never been in or felt snow (I have) and my kids have never either. We can see it when it is very cold, like today, on the highest peak of my mountains..but that is as close as it gets. So tomorrow we are driving two hours to get to it! It is a surprise for them!!! *squeal*

Enjoy your weekend!!

Renovations and decor

If you are wondering why I have been so quiet, it is because I have been very busy with home renovations and decorating! I painted my dd's room purple -she is 5 and this was her color choice....love how it came out. Then the brown wooden desk and chair (which I have had since I was a little girl) didn't quite match or fit in anymore, so I painted them white.



Then I though, seeing as though I am painting, I might as well carry on and I bought paint for my study and redid that. A french style blue which is gorgeous. I also then painted my brown bookshelves white and it is amazing what a lick of paint does to the place-freshens it up and adds life and space and everything seems bigger and brighter!





This weekend my husband started in my daughters room, during the week I unpacked her entire room and basicaly moved it lock, stock and barrel into my room, and then he ripped out her carpets and skirting boards and we layed bamboo flooring. We finished on Sunday night. It is gorgeous. We have put the prima and sealant, varnish on and now we have to wait for a few days to allow the floor to "cure". And then this weekend we are tackling my son's room and the weekend after that my bedroom! And then it will all be done.

Flooring makes a huge difference, I don't know about you, but with carpets in the kids rooms, they don't last. My kids are not allowed to eat or drink in their rooms, but even so, all kinds of stuff ends up squished into the carpets and you end up steam cleaning a few times a year which here in SA can be quite a costly business.

I took some cute photos of my cat on the weekend, I swear she knew I was photographing her and began to "pose" for me! And played aroudn with a mini Paris souvenir I got while there!

Joyful altered Journal by Bonniemommy on Etsy

Joyful altered Journal by Bonniemommy on Etsy
Now for sale.
A one of a kind altered journal handmade by me. Follow the link!

Photos, dresser and recipe for you

Just wanted to share some fun things today.
First of all a few weeks ago I went to my favorite little town , Stellenbosch. And I took these photos. Stellenbosch is one of South Africa's oldest town's. The French hugenots or settlers came and so Stellenbosch has a lot of french influence-to the street names, decor and even the feel of the town. You will find little bistro's with table and chairs on the sidewalks. Walking along the cobbled streets, you will find many beautiful decor, art and gift shops. Having been in Paris, I can definately feel the similarities! I love the quote on this sign board, it says " Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow."


A view from a little cafe we sat in and drank coffee.
Over the weekend I bought this gorgeous Welsh dresser from one of my favorite shops-Tutta Bella. I don't think they have a website, but you can see them on flickr here. They are a gift and decor store but specialize in cupcakes for all kinds of events and functions. Gorgeous cup cakes and they taste delicious too! The other day I had a triple chocolate cupcake and I am sure it had a spot of liquer in the icing sugar-was too delicious!

So this is the dresser I bought. I am in love with it.



Taken at night with a candle lit.
Now the recipe...
This is an origial South African recipe called Bobotie. It is really easy to make and totally delicious. You serve it with rice.

Mince mixture:
2 onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons oil
half tablespoon butter
500g mince
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup grated carrots or apple (optional)
1 cup raisins (optional -I alwasy add this as it makes it extra yummy)
half a cup of chicken stock

spices:
1 teaspoon of EACH of the following:
coriander
tumeric
sugar
half a teaspoon of ginger
half a teaspoon of cinnamon
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons garlic and herb seasoning

optional:
1 tablespoon lemon juice,
2 slices white bread soaked in chicken stock, lightly squeezed and mashed with a fork.
(I personally leave the bread part out as I cannot eat bread)


Topping:
3 eggs beated with half a cup of milk
bayleaves to decorate

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees c.
stir-fry the onion in the oil and butter
Add the mince and stir fry until crumbly and browned.
Add the garlic, carrot/apple or raisins, spices and sugar.
optional: add the bread and lemon juice
simmer on low heat for a few minutes after adding the stock. Don't
make it too runny. If it appears to be runny and not "saucy" add a tablespoon
of flour you have premixed in a little water to the mixture to thicken it up.
pour the mixture into a oven proof dish and then pour over the eggand milk mixture
and decorate with the floating bay leaves.
cook in the oven at 180c for 35 minutes.
Serve with rice.

Would love to know if you try this and what you think!
It's always fun to try other cultures food! This is what it looks like, I made it last night!

Photos

We have two new additions to our family...
Meet Nibbles...our little hamster...we actually had two, but unfortunately my cat got hold of one quite by accident as the kids didn't close the cage properly....

And this is sparky! Our little bunny who is very sweet.
This pretty pink spider is in our garden...fascinating, I have never seen a pink spider before!On the weekend we went to Simons Town, a town along our coast and we found this gorgeous shop. It is called "The Meeting place" and is actually a decor shop, deli and restaurant all rolled into one. The restaurant is upstairs.

They have gorgeous decor there.

Upstairs was this beautiful restaurant. When we first got there, we were the only ones there! We sat in front of the fire and had our meal. Click on the photos to view them larger..this place is spectacular, we will definitely be going back!





That's it from me, off to bed, it's too cold to hang around any colder! G'night!

oh one more thing...I got a new hair do....had it layered...what do you think?
(excuse the pose...hubby took this one, it was for his benefit!)

Paris!

I am finally getting around to showing off my Paris photos!
It was so surreal being there, for months before, I would look at postcards or browse through flickr and look at photos of Paris and wonder if it was really as wonderful as it seemed and looked. I even had dreams about being in Paris...for a while I thought I wasn't going to go...nearly didn't get my schengan visa in time...but I made it!
I went with two of my best friends-we took a few trains at 5 in the morning to get to London St.Pancras station to be there by the time our Eurostar left, which was at 8:30 I think. We almost didn't make it in time!!! I have never run to hard or fast in my life from one train to another!!
Talk about Panic!! I was with the friend I was staying with and the friend I stayed with the first week I got there, was meeting us there, so she had gone through to board already and was panicking because we hadn't arrived and was sending us frantic text messages to "run dammit, run!!! beg them to let you on!!! " ha ha. it was so funny.

We made it and sat down in a jumbled heap of nerves!! We had some guy sitting opposite us that fell asleep and proceeded to droll the whole way there and snore....lovely!

Anyway my day in Paris was wonderful..too short but fantastic. It IS like the photos, it is like everyone says it is!! It is romantic and charming and full of a special kind of feeling which I still can't put my figure on. The Parisians definitely have a different way of life than for instance we do here in SA. The traffic seems insane...I even saw a women driving with her top of her car down and she was DRIVING and READING a magazine at the same time!! no lies!! I have a photo to prove it!!

The french men (generalization here!) were very friendly and we got many whistles and smiles whilst we sat in the top part of the bus looking down on the city! ha ha. Stopping at traffic lights were more opportunities and this one was funny....this guy was waving frantically at us and blowing kisses so i got out my camera and made a gesture (since I cannot speak French) as in "do you mind" and he smiled and shrugged and posed for this photo!! haha. he looks like that guy from "French kiss"!! *not my cup of tea by the way* (and I am happily married-ha ha!!)
The food there is really good, we had some puddings and bagels, crepes, etc....expensive but tasty. I just love the way they give so much attention to detail with their cake and tart decoration.What I love about Paris is the architecture and attention to detail -even the scrolls and iron balustrades...so much detail and pretty handiwork. I love the flower boxes-a splash of color here and there.



The Arc de Trioumph is amazing too. The detail and intricate designs awed me! I stood for ages underneath gazing up!!

The Eiffel tower is amazing. I couldn't believe the size when I was standing right under it. The color also amazed me, as in photos it looks like a silver color, but up close it is like a brown/bronze color. Very pretty. I took so many photos, just can't show them all!



i
This one is one of my favorites, I took it through the water fountation, in black and white-otherwise no touching up afterwards, and it came out looking like an old postcard!!


This guy came up to me and said "Sawbona, bafana bafana" ha ha!! "Sawbona" is zulu for "hello" and he mentioned a soccer team here-bafana bafana, do I look south africa or something? ha ha.
Anyway typically, he tried to con me by saying I could get 3 eiffel tower key rings for 1 euro and then proceeded to give me 6 key rings and ask for 2 euro! so I said "no, I only wanted the 3 for 1 euro dude" and he was not impressed...ha ha...my friend took this one of me "haggling" ha ha.
And of course we took up a walk up the montmarte steps (what a killer!!) and walked around a bit up top, I bought a beautiful painting! I just love these photos I took there, definately needed more time!!



Fantastic and unforgettable experience!!