Simple Pleasures

My simple pleasure for this week is reading.  I come from a family of voracious readers and my parents  always encouraged us and, to the best of my recollection, never censored our choices.  One of my earliest memories is going to the library around the corner from where we live now once a week because there wasn't a branch in our suburb.  I loved going up and down the stairs between the fiction and non fiction sections, poking around, and picking up my allocation of books for the week with the librarian stamping the due date slip in the back on the way out.

Today, one of my favourite ways to finish the day is to walk home from the train station via that same library to see what is available or pick up a book on reservation.  In addition to getting maximum use out of the library,  I borrow from family and friends and also buy far too many books from various sources, including op shops.  While I prefer quality literature, I am happy to admit that I love a good trashy read, particularly when on holidays.  While we were building the new STLT HQ, I acquired 5 boxes of books from the Landlady with the result that even with new bookshelves in the house, I still did not have enough room to accommodate them all (the photo below makes my books look far more ordered than the reality).  Even so, I cannot contemplate buying an e-reader - part of the pleasure of reading a book is the feel of it and having that sense of ownership.

Our Creative Spaces

This week was all about getting out of my comfort zone.  For Lisa's Bee Bold Bee Brave Bee Helpful quilting bee block, she chose an eight pointed star, which filled me with dread as it requires precise matching of points to give maximum effect.  This isn't really my thing and I have been procrastinating about attempting this since receiving the fabric in early November.  However, I was determined that I was going to finish this and give it to Lisa at the last Melbourne Modern Quilt Guild sewing day for 2012.  As I spent most of the day talking and eating, this didn't happen, but the last seam was sewn last night and I posted it off today.

I did need to get the seam ripper out a few times but this was mainly due to using the wrong side of the background fabric (it was quite hard to tell the right side at times) and joining the composite pieces into triangles instead of squares.  But in the end, I got through it and while not perfect, I'm pretty happy with the result and hope Lisa is too.

The lesson here is to be confident in your own abilities.  I will promise myself that next time I am set a challenge, I will jump right in fearlessly.  And carry this through in other areas besides sewing.

Simple Pleasures

Looking for unconditional love and affection?  Someone who listens but doesn't answer back? Doesn't care what you look like?  Get a dog or, better still, get two.

Sure, there is a bit of work involved in feeding, walking and cleaning up after them, but the joy they bring to our house is immeasurable.  We love our girls to bits and cannot imagine life without a dog being part of it.

Sunday Snippets

Better late than never!

 All happy at the circus.

 Having a bite with old friends at one of our favourite places.

 Trying to include some healthy treats in the Christmas excesses.

 We don't like the OTT aspect of Christmas but couldn't resist these pretty lanterns.

I raced through this latest 'must read' book and it had me in most of the way, but like most blockbusters, the ending was disappointing.  The plot was a bit too clever for its own good.

Thanks to Tinnie Girl for hosting Sunday Snippets.

Simple Pleasures

This week my simple pleasure is culinary.  Stos and I like to cook and eat and we are fortunate enough to be able to dine at some terrific restaurants, but one thing that we cannot resist is a barbecued sausage.  However, the perfect snag has a few criteria to meet:

- The sausage must be nondescript.  No gourmet morsels here.
- This is one of the few occasions when it is acceptable to serve something in white bread.
- It must be served with bottled tomato sauce (my preference is for White Crow brand).
- Inclusion of barbecued onions is acceptable but adding grated cheese is over the top.

My favourite place to get this delicacy from is from a hardware store or shopping centre where usually a local charity is on duty out front selling snags in bread for around $2.  I have been known to dash across a four lane highway after identifying a barbecue in progress at a Bunnings store.

An example of this treat, cooked at home last Sunday is below but it is not really the perfect version in that it is with wholemeal bread (didn't have any white to hand) and we only had Masterfoods tomato sauce in the cupboard.  But did this stop me tucking in?  No way!

Sunday Snippets

 Having a cool beverage on a scorching day, overlooking the water.

 On the way back from a rare trip over the bridge.

 I do love the modern look of STLT HQ, but sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live in a lovely period house like this.

 After nearly two years of leaves, we now have lilies.

Some new kitchen equipment required to make frozen mango lassis.  With the inclusion of white rum, this might be a new summer favourite.

For more Sunday Snippets, have a look at what is going on over here.