The beautiful view from my bedroom window....today was hot and we had old friends over for the day.

 Old..... as in dear old friends who I have know for what feels like a lifetime. We had so much fun chatting and catching up, so I forgot to really capture the lovely moments. And the one's I took of the boys playing in the water, under the hose and in the sandpit are a little to bare for display!

These photos captured late in the afternoon....just the two of us playing with water and trying to keep a very tired little boy awake until dinner.

Adding to our collection...

Busy little hands washing, sorting and spontaneously we started

 counting and grouping the shells by size and colour.

I purchased this little wooden caddy from Spotlight awhile back...we painted it white and glued on a couple of shells and a piece of coral from our beach collection. I use the caddy to store and display our new discoveries.

A coffee jar holding shells  from our weekend at the beach....the twine holds in place a small piece of coral found in one of the rock pools. 

I have lots of activities up my sleeve for this week....a shell mobile for the garden is the

 first one on my list. 

Have a beautiful week wherever you may be...

Wordless Wednesday...




We received some beautiful flowers from a special friend...a gift for our garden.
More special photographs here.

A beautiful day...

 

We are old friends...school friends from way back, excited about the arrival of our friend's beautiful baby to love and hold. We enjoyed setting up, baking and celebrating with her...boy or girl ? it does not matter - we all can't wait to meet your little one. x

A Spring Breakfast...



Today I did one of those HUGE grocery shops...My little one and I filled the trolley with ample amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables, assorted nuts, dried fruits, pumpkin bread, organic eggs, free range chicken, meat and of course much more. I was on a bit of a mission to come up with some new homemade snack ideas for the little one and we are all defiantly in need of a change at breakfast.

Breakfast is a very important meal in our house...the three of us always eat breakfast together at the table and for months now we have enjoyed streaming hot bowls of porridge. We like to mix the porridge up a little by adding banana, sultana's and a sprinkle of Cinnamon...or fresh strawberries/blueberries with a dollop of creamy Greek yogurt. It's been yummy and filling for all three of us, but I am in need of a major change. I was reading through my cookbooks over the weekend and found a recipe for homemade Bircher Muesli...I am really looking forward to giving this recipe ago:

Bircher Muesli

250g rolled oats
2 cups of milk
125ml cream
100ml orange juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
90ml honey
2 grated apples
2 diced oranges
80g sultanas
50g slivered almonds
125g natural yogurt

Just soak the oats in all liquids. Add the rest of the ingredients and leave overnight in the fridge before use. Top with with melons or berries.

I have also started making my own yogurt again with a yogurt maker. I use the Easiyo maker and the little yogurt packets are sooo easy to use and contain no artificial colours or preservatives are gluten free and contain billions of live cultures.
I am looking forward discovering some new healthy Spring recipes to enjoy with the family over the next couple of weeks. Anyone got any old favorite or new that they would like to share? to me Spring food seems so healthy and fresh don't you think!

Happy breakfast eating!
* this recipe was found in my Bathers Pavilion Cookbook on page 29.

At my house...





Spring really has SPRUNG...we had fun yesterday playing and exploring in the garden. Collecting beautiful flowers to display around the house in little bottles and odd jam jars. We have flowers in the kitchen, bathroom, my bedroom on the dining table ~ even in the laundry!!!
YAY for spring! oh how I am excited about spring flowers, spring recipes, mornings in the park without jumpers and jeans and evening walks with my boys.
Yep...spring has SPRUNG at our house and we have a spring in our step.

Pop on over to Buttons by Lou Lou and join in the fun.