Guess What?!

Indigo and Quince has grown up into its own .COM!!! How super is that?!

You will find me here now...

Come over and say hello!

Kx.

5 Great Things for Mother's Day 2014

 

Mother's Day is coming up here in Australia. I kind of dread what that entails. Sweet things I don't want to eat, stinky things from the school Mother's Day stall. All those things given with great love, that you can't hide. The Great White Hunter prefaced the conversation about it with his usual 'Now I don't have anything for you for Mother's Day'.
 
A couple of years ago I got one of these:
 

 
I was very bemused. I mean, even the bloke modelling doesn't look like he wants to be there! I tried it once to satisfy the family and then I let the kids 'play' with it while we were camping. It didn't last long. TGWH was, surprisingly, not angry that it didn't last. Apparently it was in the cheap bin at Autopro. No great loss on his part. Gee, that really makes one feel valued!!
 
So, this year I'm putting together a list of a few things I'd be happy to receive.
 
How about a funky necklace? This one comes from Frank Ideas on etsy.
 

 

 
 I'm liking this new take on teatowels by Small World Dreams.
 

 
 
 
I must admit that it was the flash of green on the cover of Fete magazine that caught my eye when I was away a few weeks ago. I grabbed a copy on a whim and loved it, so a subscription to this magazine would be ace!

For something the kids can say 'Yes, its for Mother's Day' about I'd be happy to get this pack from my fave Kikki K.

 



 
This watercolour set up and some free time would be fabulous for Mother's Day this year! How nice it would be to sit outside and play with some paint? I've wanted to give it a go for a while, so this might be the year.

 

Naturally, I must say that having my family together would be the best present, but knowing I'll still have to cook on Mother's Day, well, a little prezzie would be nice!

 



A treat for a friend

Yesterday I packed up the kids and went off to visit Jellywares for the day. The weather was glorious and I was super keen to have a natter with the lady who first got me blogging. 

The kids played in the Girl's school room. Being so far out of town, Jodie's girls do their schooling by distance education, so having friends come to visit is extra special. 

I'd be the worst sort of visitor if I arrived empty handed, so I made a slice I've loved for many years. This is the last piece being savoured this morning while a read Selvedge, my favourite magazine. 

Hazelnut Blueberry Slice

2 cups self raising flour

2 cups plain flour

3 cups brown sugar

250 grams butter, softened and cubed

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

The finely grated rind of 1 orange

1 tsp cinnamon, or allspice...or no spice!

250g fresh or frozen blueberries

1/2 cup crushed hazelnuts

Preheat your oven to 180C. I make mine in a big baking dish. It measures 24 cm by 32 cm. Its kind of industrial sized! If you don't need quite that much feel free to halve the quantities and make it in a smaller tin. 

Anyhoooo, put the flours, sugar and butter in a food processor and blitz it until it looks kind of like sand. Very yummy sand, of course! Press 4 cups of this mix firmly into the base of your tin. Now add the soda, buttermilk, eggs, rind and spice into the remaining mixture. Blitz, then pour over the base. To this off with the blueberries and hazelnuts. Bake it for about 50 minutes and cool it in the pan. 

Yummy biscuittty base and cakes top. Yummo!

Hey, did you know that you don't really need buttermilk? My Grandmother taught me that if you don't have buttermilk, just add a dash of vinegar to the milk you have and use that. To be honest, this is what I do pretty much all the time when a recipe calls for buttermilk! 

Board on a Tuesday

Do you hang out on Pinterest?

After loosing all my bookmarked online articles and inspirations when my computer died a few years ago, Pinterest came along and answered my prayers. A place for everything! Hooray!

I've since built up quite a few boards covering many of the things that make up my world. Boards for knitting, for my growing interest in crochet, for feeding the clan, ideas for work and things I think are just plain cool.

I've introduced many people to Pinterest too and I love interacting online with them about the things they find.

But what's the point of pinning things if they don't inspire you to act in some way? So, I thought I'd share some of my boards with you each Tuesday and chat about why I've pinned what I've pinned.

So, want to check out a board?

Let's start with my board Wrapping it. (Have you noticed that I'm quite fond of puns yet?)

I'm going for a very grown up and girly sleep over at a friend's property this weekend. She's a super classy gal, so I was looking for a great way to wrap the little gift I've bought to thank her for having us all.

I really love 'brown paper packages tied up with string'. I find that its always handy to have a roll of brown paper around the house, especially when a gift has to be wrapped and all the shops are shut. Great for any age or gender!

Aren't the doilies on the top present sweet?

 

 

I've not tried it yet, but using cut outs from collected paint chips would add some colour and really allow for some great creativity. A nice way to get the kids involved to as they punch away!

 

 

 

Heaven knows I've got lots of yarn that would be great for wrapping gifts this way. I'm thinking a garland of tiny pom poms would be awesome on The Enforcer's 13 birthday present. Then she could use it as a decoration afterwards. Win/win!

If I'm after something colourful I like to use tissue paper. I love the feel of it, and think it looks especially sweet when used in pastel colours. I'm really like the way the little green feather is held on with the Dymo label. A great idea!

Pop over to my Wrapping it board and if you like any of the ideas there add them to your own board.

What's that you say? You don't know about Pinterest? Go over and check it out and let me know what you think. I think its fasntastic!

So, what have you been doing lately?

                                             

I've been a bit quiet on the blog front...AGAIN! 

Thanks to the lovely folks who sent me little message making sure things were OK with me and mine. Let me assure you that things are just fine! I've had a hectic return to work and I'm studying again, so while there was lots to tell you, there always seemed to be other things to do. I often wonder what is going on behind the scenes when a blogger doesn't post very often. I'm hoping nothing terrible or tragic. Life just speeds up sometimes and other things take priority. 

Have you seen the changes around here? Its been a slow process, but hopefully its nearly finished. Let me know what you think! 

I think I might have a little party when it's all done! 

A Cup of Tea with Me

I wrote about my Blog with Pip experience yesterday. Actually I only wrote a little bit about what a wonderful experience it has been, there is so much to tell!

Pip has asked us all to Link up with a little chat, so make a cuppa and find out more about us. 

Image found on pinterest

1. I'm Kylie Harvey, I live in remote New South Wales and I work as a teacher to get money to fund my creative obsessions! My family have finally accepted that the house will have 'works in progress' on every flat surface of the house! In 2014 I'm teaching knitting at one of my favourite shops, The Home Patch!

2. I love nothing more than sitting down with some knitting and losing an hour or two, having a cuppa and indulging in my magazine obsession. Working up a sweat to counteract the sittin' knittn' is great too!

3. My favourite place to be would be somewhere with a breeze. I can't stand stuffy rooms! And hanging out with people who are creative and kind, in real life or in the virtual world. Its the best!

4. I've loved Indian food forever. I tackled making my own Biryani the other day and it was amazing! I'm adventurous when it comes to food. Fried lambs brains anyone? I love drinking black tea and all sorts of fruit tisanes, though my day always starts with a milky Moccona! A single malt whisky is a treat. 

5. I'm a moderator for the Skein Yarn group on Ravelry. There are so many inspiring people there, some I've had the chance to meet in person. I'm endlessly inspired by the creativity of making your own clothing and Kristen creates the most gorgeous colours on her yarn. Pinterest is great for sparking some inspiration too. 

6. After doing Blog with Pip, there is lots more I'd like to know about all this computer stuff! I'm slowly changing things on this blog and trying to get it looking just so. This year I'm going to tackle double knitting too!

7. Kate Davies is a Scottish knitwear designer, who writes really interesting articles and has a great knowledge of the history of knitting. 

   A Beautiful Mess always has something interesting going on!

  I really am inspired by the concept behind 3191. These friends have a whole lot of creativity going on!

There are so many great blogs out there! 

Enjoy looking around here at Indigo and Quince! I'm off on a little jaunt of a musical nature. It should be a blast! 

Kx.