I always remembered the little quote that some of my friends wrote in my autograph book when I was back at primary school
The Rose is red
The violets blue
Sugar is sweet and so are you.
Friendship is one of the best kind of love we can share.
Thank you for being such sweet friends and happy to have made so many wonderful friends here and just want to say I am grateful.
Do you do have plans or anything special for Valentines Day, ....go out to dinner or cook a meal at home?
We will cook a meal together, DH will barbecue a fillet of beef and I will roast potato with garlic and rosemary with fresh green beans and peas out of the pod.
Also as there is an abundance of fresh fruit in season will do this very simple, but delicious dessert.
Roasted Fresh Fruit
1 cup blueberries
1 cup strawberries halves
Cherries, or plums pitted and in half
2 Nectarines
3 tablespoons castor sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup of white wine
vanilla icecream to serve.
Preheat oven to 180oC. Place fruit in a baking dish.
Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon then pour over the wine.
Bake for about 45 minutes to an hour until the fruit is tender
Cool slightly and serve with vanilla icecream or softly whipped cream and fresh mint sprigs to garnish.
Enjoy the rest of the week
Sending you my love
Carolyn x
Arrived back home to see the pretty magnolia blooming in the garden ~ Joy!
Brixton Belle is such a gorgeous shade of bright pink and has large saucer sized flowers, with creamy inners.
It is so great to be safely home, had a wonderful time but I am always happy to be back.
We arrived in Auckland at the unearthly hour of 4 am on Sunday morning and that was a little bit of a shocker after leaving Charles De Gaulle airport from Paris, on Friday morning and having a lengthy stopover in Doha of over 8 hours. We flew Qatar Airlines and must say that we had a really good flight, lovely cabin crew and the flight was over 17 hours from Doha to NZ, watched a few movies to pass the time and ate some good food, a few glasses of champagne and happy to say I managed to get some sleep.
We caught a cab into the City and then had to wait for our first ferry which wasn't until 7am.
To fill in some time my husband went over the road for an egg and bacon muffin and coffee and tired and bleary-eyed, we watched the sun coming up for the new day.
Freesias are the perfect flower to give fragrance to the home, can't get enough of them and especially when I can pick them from the roadside, on my walks
Bluebells and violets, also love them
Hope you are having a lovely weekend dear friends and look forward to coming to visit you and see what you are up to.
Lastly my white camellia is blooming again, so good to come back and see what is in the garden
Life gives us a fresh bouquet of happy moments every day
Will share a few snapshots with you soon of the holiday
hugs
Carolyn
Where does it go?...
Here we are into August and the days and weeks are rushing by.
Will share a few photos from last week and what I have been up to.
My lovely daughter brought over this gorgeous bunch of freesias, they are so pretty and even with a slight cold can smell their gorgeous fragrance.
Out on my early morning walk, looking down over Palm Beach, the sea looked so calm and peaceful
Friday family lunch at a little Japanese Restaurant and the food is always delicious and a great way to lead up to the weekend.
Also that my visit to the dentist was all finished and now have the new crown in place
Love how the free range eggs from the market were packaged in a little cardboard box
Lastly my favourite, sweet violets I picked from the garden, the fragrance is gorgeous and standing at the kitchen sink, just got a lot better.
Feel grateful for what we have now and if you want more, you have to be focused and work on it
I hope you are all having a happy weekend
hugs
Carolyn
This is really my favourite time of the year, with all the spring flowers blooming.
Every morning I go out for my walk, I love smelling the gorgeous scents around - jasmine and freesias and always pick a little bunch for the vase which makes the house smells gorgeous.
Sorry I have not been around much as I have been trying to get our kitchen back together.
A layer of dust from the tiler and plasterer is everywhere, so have had to clean everything. It is like Christmas opening boxes to put the kitchen things away. Will share some photos soon.
Look forward to coming over to visit you.
Have a happy week
hugs
Carolyn
I know I say this so often, but every day, just seems to go by faster and faster!
Seeing the 2013 diaries and calendars appearing in the book shops it has dawned on me, before we know it, we will be needing them.
The clocks here in New Zealand went forward at the weekend and daylight saving has started.
Always takes a little adjusting, we still seem to be going to bed the usual time, but it is in the morning when the alarm clock goes off, that is the hard part.
Note to self, go to bed earlier.
I am making the most of the pretty Spring flowers that are still about, the white camellia, lavender and violets are still looking pretty in the garden.
Wish you could smell the intoxicating scent of the bunch of freesias I picked, ... beautiful.
The weather was perfect on Sunday morning so we ate breakfast out on the deck. With a clear blue sky, the sun was shinning, birds were tweeting in the trees, the air was pure and fresh and it was one of those days that I was thankful for everything.
Find a positive phrase to say every morning and everyday like...
"Life is beautiful"
Do hope that you have a beautiful week
Hugs
Carolyn
