Melbourne's Pop Up Restaurant

At the beginning of March a pop up restaurant - 'Greenhouse' appeared on the banks of the River Yarra (in the space of 3 weeks!) in the city of Melbourne as part of this year's Food and Wine festival here. Yesterday I went along as I had heard all about the Greenhouse restaurant in Sydney as it was featured in our Masterchef television programme here in Australia last year. It's a pop up restaurant with a difference though - it has been built using only recycled or sustainable materials. The structure has been formed from mostly old shipping containers stacked four-high, the floor from old conveyor belts, the chairs from disused irrigation pipes and recycled bottles and jars are used as drinking glasses! Amazing...

All the herbs are grown on site in large recycled oil drums.

The roof top bar. More herbs in containers.

Terracotta pots line the facade of the restaurant - all potted up with wild strawberry plants.

Close up of the pots above and below...

And look who my breakfasting companion was!!!

Yup, my daughter is in town - she arrived on Sunday which of course makes me so very, very happy. She's here for 3 weeks on Easter vacation from University in UK.

Our own personal pot of basil on our table, above.

The chairs !

Our food - totally and absolutely delicious - my daughter chose the herb mushrooms on flatbread with curd cheese ....

And I went for the scrambled eggs with mustard cress.

A great start to the day.

So pleased we were able to go along - the pop-up restaurant disappears tomorrow! Really hope that there might be a more permanent one in the city one day.

Dearest Ma

Today, March 15th my glamorous and lovely Mother is 75 years young.


Here she is above in the early 1950's with my father - don't think they were married then, perhaps just courting. Wonder if she actually went into the sea that day with him? Not something that she is all that keen on now I know, especially not swimming whilst my father is something of a 'water baby' !

And here she is in a photograph taken fairly recently in January at my father's birthday celebration in London. Looking good Mother !

Happiest of special birthdays to you and only wish we could be there to share it too.

Wonderful wallpapers

Last weekend we went on a 'jaunt' with MIL and SIL and ended up "noseying" around a couple of show houses in Melbourne.... In one of the houses there was a lovely study area and the walls had this wallpaper on them below... Of course I could not resist whipping out my iphone and taking a quick pic! And then doing some detective work to find out where it had come from.

Have since found out that it is by Deborah Bowness - another image above from her website. Such a talented designer and English too !

From her website : http://www.deborahbowness.com/

Deborah Bowness presents an original style of decorating. Her unique and timeless designs furnish interiors spaces with an extra dimension. A bold statement made quietly. Trompe I'oeil with a twist. Beautiful and functional. Wallpapers by Deborah Bowness are hand made in England. The combination of digital printing, silk screen printed colour and hand painting, makes every drop of wallpaper unique. Working in a small factory in Yorkshire, our expert crew of printers also hand mix our colours, hand cut the paper, hand make our screens and hand package the finished pieces.

And talking of English designers, Andrew Martin is one of my all time favourites... Just look at these images below all from his 'Inventor Collection' of wallpapers.

Multi coloured books wallpaper above

And in the 'stone' (or black and white) colourway above...

And here above in the 'Leather' version. So beautiful.




Also from the same collection this Penny stamps wallpaper... Below in the red...

And here above in the original Penny Black colourway.

For more information about Andrew Martin - website is http://www.andrewmartin.co.uk/

Hopefully one day I will be able to use one of these gorgeous designs.

Hello. I've missed you...

So sorry.
I know I have not posted nor have I been round to 'visit' you all for a while. Truth be known this visitor lark is pretty exhausting to say the least. The MIL and the SIL have been staying with us and I have not really had any time to myself. I have either been working or on the days I have had off I have been tour guiding. Or shopping and planning meals and cooking. And no going off and on to the computer ON MY OWN - have hardly had time to even check my emails ; - "Where's Sarah gone? What's she doing?" Oh dear....

Having said all that I did manage to escape out last weekend when MR SE took over for the tour guiding duties and met my lovely friend Ms. S for a couple of hours. She cheered me no end as only friends can.....

Here is my set of gorgeous Vietri China - a modest 'breakfast set' (for Mr SE and myself) - 2 plates and there were also 2 mugs to match but a while back I dropped and broke one . She knew how sad I was about this and ..... Tah Dah ! Look what she gave me ....... another matching mug!

Here it is, close up. Lovely hand made Italian china. So pretty and tactile.

She made my day.

My Mother in Law and Sister in Law are off back to UK towards the end of the week and so you can rest assured that I will be round to your blogs to 'see' you all again very soon. Meanwhile, thanks for understanding.

In which we do a 30 minute Jamie "spesh"

Mr SE and I are quite fond of watching the Jamie Oliver programmes that are on TV here in Australia at the moment.... They are his 30 minute special suppers and to quote Mr. O are prepared and served in "Well undah firty minites"
They are on fairly early each evening at 6.30pm so we record them and then watch them in a batch and last week we had a go at the Pizza served with a trio of salads - a mozzarella and pesto one , tomatoes with basil and balsamic dressing and rocket and lemon salad... Here above are the fruits of our labour all together...

And here the focus on the main dish the PIZZA. Have to say this is the first time I have made one completely from scratch including the base and we were impressed - it was so easy and also very quick too.

If you want to have a go at Jamie's pizza here is the recipe :

PIZZA
1½ mugs of self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting
½ mug of tepid water

TOPPING
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
A few sprigs of fresh basil
½ a clove of garlic
Red wine vinegar
½ a 125g (4½oz) ball of buffalo mozzarella
Parmesan cheese, for grating over
8 slices of salami
1tsp fennel seeds
½ a fresh red chilli
PIZZA: Turn the heat under the frying pan up to high and dust a clean surface with flour. Put 1½ mugs' worth of flour into a food processor, then half-fill the same mug with tepid water and add to the flour with a pinch of salt and a glug of olive oil.
Whizz until smooth, then tip on to the floured board. Sprinkle the top of the dough and the rolling pin with flour (the dough will be quite wet, so be generous with the flour).
Roll the dough to a 1cm (½in) thickness. Drizzle olive oil into the pan, then dust the dough with flour again and very lightly fold it over into a halfmoon shape.
Lightly fold the half-moon in half, then move the dough to the pan and unfold it, pushing it down into the sides of the pan. If you don't have a pan this big, don't cook all of the dough at once, halve it and make two pizzas.
TOPPING: Put a third of the tinned tomatoes into a liquidiser with a few sprigs of basil, ½ a peeled clove of garlic, a splash of red wine vinegar, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt. Whizz until smooth. Pour over the middle of the pizza base and spread out evenly.
Tear ½ a mozzarella ball into small pieces and dot around the base. Finely grate a layer of Parmesan over, then top with the salami slices. I like to bash the fennel seeds in a pestle and mortar and finely chop the chilli, then scatter them over the pizza.
Put the pan under the hot grill for 4 or 5 minutes, until golden and cooked through.

Quite DELISH and if you wanted the rest of the bits that went with the pizza -click on this link :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-1316918/Jamie-Olivers-30-minute-meals-Cheats-pizza-delish-salads-squashed-cherries-vanilla-mascarpone-cream.html

On other notes to tell you. As I type my MOTHER IN LAW is winging her way over the skies to Australia to stay for a few weeks... (No, no I did not say on a broomstick!) . Those long time readers of the blog will know that she (the MIL) is rather a force to be reckoned with and is a little outspoken to say the least. Will keep you updated as we go!

Hope you all had (or are having) a wonderful weekend.

Parka Perfection

I have totally fallen for this parka - pictured here on the right.... It looks just wonderful. Love the colour, the shape, the furry (fake I hasten to add) trim around the hood, and, - oh I could go on and on.



It's just come out in UK - and they are saying it can be worn there now (it's still pretty chilly over in England) with lots of layers. Later on when it gets a bit warmer perhaps just thrown over a dress or jeans and a tee.

A very trans-seasonal piece and also I feel, very 'trans-hemisphere' too....

Now, I could definitely see this working here in Australia too. It would fit right into my winter wardrobe in Melbourne so easily.

Here's the official 'blurb' :

Dark olive green parka featuring a concealed zip fastening under press-stud flap, two flap top and two zipped pockets on front, press-studded epaulettes, gun flaps and storm flap, a drawstring at waist and hem, underarm eyelets for ventilation and a hood with press-stud tab fastening to front, drawstring and a detachable faux racoon fur trim. Burberry Brit parka has a vent at the back, press-studs to cuffs and a button detachable quilted lining.

One small problem. It's a little pricey to say the least.

Now, what can I sell on ebay? Or maybe I might win the lottery (if I did it!) or perhaps my number will come up on the UK's premium bonds? I can but hope. I love it that much.

Any new pieces from the new season (whichever hemisphere you live in) that you've fallen for? And, will you indulge?!

Tripette to Tasmania Part II - The Hotel. Shops and purchases!

So, better late than never. Sorry I have procrastinated about getting this post out; so many photographs to sort out!! Here is a little more about our stay in Hobart, Tasmania. As I mentioned before, the hotel we stayed in was The Henry Jones Art Hotel. It is Australia's first dedicated Art Hotel and the site on which it is located dates back to 1804. A former jam factory has been transformed into this hotel but it has been converted in such a way as to keep the original features of the building.

Henry Jones logo.

Reception above and below.

The hotel houses over 300 pieces of art work from Tasmanian artists - all presented like a gallery and all for sale. It means you can experience the art in a completely new and unique way. Obviously it also means that the 'exhibitions' are continually changing as pieces are sold.

These two above are going to a house in Surry Hills, Sydney we were told. They were sold a month or so back.

In contrast to all the modern art the actual building has been preserved as much as possible within the conversion. I loved seeing the original beams etc. Right up my street. as they say.

These two machines I think were the actual 'clocking on' machines from the factory floor.

Exposed brickwork and very Australian, - the good old tin roof!

The whole hotel is so different - it's an unexpected combination of the antique and the ultra modern in every room.

Our bedroom.

And the lovely bathroom.

One of the original stones of the building. These stones have a dark past - see the little marks on them? The buildings were in part constructed by convicts and each convict had their own pattern on 'their' stones so at the end of the day the foreman could see how many had been laid by each convict.

I have to say I have never enjoyed a hotel so much. Each Friday evening there is a completely free tour of the hotel which gives an insight as to how it was converted as well as about the art in the hotel and a little about Tasmania too. And you don't have to be staying at the hotel to go on the tours. Highly recommended.

Go to
http://www.thehenryjones.com/ for more information about the hotel if you'd like. It's fascinating.

Now for the shops.

Tasmania is full of craft and artists. This shop above caught my eye.

I bought these silver earrings above. A bit unique and they appealed greatly.


The next two shops we went to were recommended by Janelle McCulloch who has a wonderful blog Library of Design. If you have not yet visited the library I highly recommend it... Click HERE.

A fabulous garden shop in Hobart called Karen Wagner Garden and Design.

And then joy of joys we drove about 25 minutes from Hobart to this GORGEOUS place... Again recommended by Janelle.

The Drill Hall Emporium in New Norfolk, Tasmania.

Just feast your eyes on the next few photographs.

I was excited just to see the outside of the shop!

And when I got inside I didn't know where to look first - it was filled with gorgeousness of the kind I LOVE.

I was fairly controlled (!) and managed to constrain myself coming away with 3 purchases only....

A gorgeous thick linen French red and white table cloth, a French white china heart shaped cheese mould and 3 old terracotta flowerpots. Am going to plant these 3 up with little rosemary plants.

And I leave you with another look at the goodies.

For more information about this wonderful antique store (and they have a blog) the link is :

http://www.thedrillhall.com.au/

It was such a fabulous tripette to Tasmania... I want to return again, and soon!