Happy Ten on Ten!
Finding life and beauty in the ordinary things of our day to day!
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life. Show all posts
Ten on Ten :: October 2013
Apartment Therapy :: Session II
A little Thirty3Gloucester Inspiration for you this morning... Warm
neutrals and a bit of whimsy woven together with simplicity.... as I've noted in the past, I am a girl who adores tons of natural sunlight.... and one who is obsessed with the contrast of wood against bare white walls. Love. I sure am lucky to have a husband who is open to my design tastes and one who is such a skilled woodworker that he can make my ideas a reality. :)
A simple, relaxed retreat to call home. At least, this is the vibe we
hope to create in our new space. One that is soothing and welcoming. What
do you think?
Images:
coat rack: Le Repère des Belettes | French
minimalism art: A Thoughtful Eye | open shelving and décor: Father Rabbit | fairytale and house cut-out: Merchant Design Studio | underwater man sketch:
Refined Vices | bubble
vase: Henhurst Interiors | building: Kerry Murray Photography | stairs:
Vosgesparis 2.0 | chunky
knit and round mirror: Dust Jacket | Audrey Hepburn quote: Pinterest | pallet wood bed: Could I have that? | car
and Roman bridge: Kerry Murray Photography
This Calls For Celebration!
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It started Sunday afternoon when I went out to collect the laundry. Yes, that's right, we don't have a dryer over here on Gloucester street, we drip dry... Drew was wrapping up his tools after spending most of the day out back working away in the warm sunshine, building some shelving for our little kitchen nook and finishing his cut list for the rest of the framing to our loft-bed. He asked if I wanted to hear some good news. "Of course I do"! Apparently, while I was inside he made a phone call to our landlord to let her know that we've been trying to save up for a new stove, but just haven't been able to right now. He let her know that we've been using a hotplate to cook with since we moved into our flat 4 months ago because the stove was so corroded and the burners twisted. (Clearly this stove had been sitting outside for an extended period of time while our flat was being refurbished after the quake - likely in the rain by looks of it!) Drew asked her if we could swap stoves with the apartment downstairs since the tenant was moving. Our landlord apologized and said it would be too much work to swap stoves since they're hardwired in... Sooo, she offered to replace ours! She said she thought this matter was sorted months ago! I'm pretty sure you would have been embarrassed for me (or maybe for Drew) if you heard the squeak and witnessed the little jump and dance I did right there in the yard when he told me... Guarantee Drew was... Embarrassed for at least one of us, I mean. ;)
And that's not all! Earlier that morning, I discovered an email requesting a meeting this week between me and the Director of a company that I've been dying to work for planning artisan food, craft beer and wine festivals across the South Island. I tracked the Director down after attending one of his beer festivals on my husbands birthday last summer. I have been 'courting' this guy for over a month now, bugging him to offer me a job and finally he wants to chat again!! Granted, there was no job that I was actually applying for when we first met, rather initially we chatted because I requested an informational interview with him, which now appears to be unfolding into an awesome opportunity. Hopefully, I will get the chance to participate in planning special events for this region, helping Christchurch regain itself as a desirable place to live and visit! I so hope this door opens... I should know more soon....
And then yesterday, Drew asked me to meet him at the post on his way home from work. Apparently, two boxes had arrived from the US. And guess what - They were stuffed full of kitchen goodies that I have been craving! My sweet mother-in-law put together the cutest care package of kitchen gadgets and tools to help stock our kitchen, which will surely soon be over-worked now that our new stove is on its way!
So while my carne asada marinates for tonight's little Mexican fiesta with Mr. Robinson, and the marinara for later this week simmers away on that can't-be-replaced-soon-enough hotplate, I've decided to pull out and prepare my new copper tun for a little home brew project!
I'm not going to pretend like I'm any kind of expert on home brew. Heck, I wouldn't even call myself experienced, but I thought this week's blessings sure call for a little celebration to punctuate how much these special happenings have meant to this house. So.... I've decided to brew a nice nutty brown ale, or a little Celebration Brown Ale if you will. Of course, our brew won't be ready for a few weeks, but hopefully by then we'll be able to toast to our new, finished loft-bed that Drew has been working away at during his spare time on the weekends and we'll be able to celebrate our upcoming anniversary, marking 6 months of us living in New Zealand! Cheers to that success!
My beer making supplies are a little splurge that I finally indulged in with the birthday money I've been waiting to use. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my birthday was in January.... and yes, by this weekend it will be June. Because Drew had to leave his bikes behind when we moved and because it was important to him to celebrate landing that great engineering job when we arrived in Christchurch by splurging on a new bike, I let him 'borrow' (if you can actually do that as a married couple with a joint account?) my birthday money to help him afford the Felt65 he'd been eying. Months later, it's finally my turn for a little birthday splurge so we wandered out to Your Shout where Jarryd, the really nice and super informed shopkeepers son, hooked me up with all the beer making essentials to get me started! I could tell this was a birthday gift that Drew was really excited about too, so he'll be stoked when he comes home tonight to find out what we have brewing! If it doesn't suck, I'll tell you all about it when its ready to be bottled!
This has been a week full of blessings! I
can hardly contain myself!
It started Sunday afternoon when I went out to collect the laundry. Yes, that's right, we don't have a dryer over here on Gloucester street, we drip dry... Drew was wrapping up his tools after spending most of the day out back working away in the warm sunshine, building some shelving for our little kitchen nook and finishing his cut list for the rest of the framing to our loft-bed. He asked if I wanted to hear some good news. "Of course I do"! Apparently, while I was inside he made a phone call to our landlord to let her know that we've been trying to save up for a new stove, but just haven't been able to right now. He let her know that we've been using a hotplate to cook with since we moved into our flat 4 months ago because the stove was so corroded and the burners twisted. (Clearly this stove had been sitting outside for an extended period of time while our flat was being refurbished after the quake - likely in the rain by looks of it!) Drew asked her if we could swap stoves with the apartment downstairs since the tenant was moving. Our landlord apologized and said it would be too much work to swap stoves since they're hardwired in... Sooo, she offered to replace ours! She said she thought this matter was sorted months ago! I'm pretty sure you would have been embarrassed for me (or maybe for Drew) if you heard the squeak and witnessed the little jump and dance I did right there in the yard when he told me... Guarantee Drew was... Embarrassed for at least one of us, I mean. ;)
And that's not all! Earlier that morning, I discovered an email requesting a meeting this week between me and the Director of a company that I've been dying to work for planning artisan food, craft beer and wine festivals across the South Island. I tracked the Director down after attending one of his beer festivals on my husbands birthday last summer. I have been 'courting' this guy for over a month now, bugging him to offer me a job and finally he wants to chat again!! Granted, there was no job that I was actually applying for when we first met, rather initially we chatted because I requested an informational interview with him, which now appears to be unfolding into an awesome opportunity. Hopefully, I will get the chance to participate in planning special events for this region, helping Christchurch regain itself as a desirable place to live and visit! I so hope this door opens... I should know more soon....
And then yesterday, Drew asked me to meet him at the post on his way home from work. Apparently, two boxes had arrived from the US. And guess what - They were stuffed full of kitchen goodies that I have been craving! My sweet mother-in-law put together the cutest care package of kitchen gadgets and tools to help stock our kitchen, which will surely soon be over-worked now that our new stove is on its way!
So while my carne asada marinates for tonight's little Mexican fiesta with Mr. Robinson, and the marinara for later this week simmers away on that can't-be-replaced-soon-enough hotplate, I've decided to pull out and prepare my new copper tun for a little home brew project!
I'm not going to pretend like I'm any kind of expert on home brew. Heck, I wouldn't even call myself experienced, but I thought this week's blessings sure call for a little celebration to punctuate how much these special happenings have meant to this house. So.... I've decided to brew a nice nutty brown ale, or a little Celebration Brown Ale if you will. Of course, our brew won't be ready for a few weeks, but hopefully by then we'll be able to toast to our new, finished loft-bed that Drew has been working away at during his spare time on the weekends and we'll be able to celebrate our upcoming anniversary, marking 6 months of us living in New Zealand! Cheers to that success!
My beer making supplies are a little splurge that I finally indulged in with the birthday money I've been waiting to use. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my birthday was in January.... and yes, by this weekend it will be June. Because Drew had to leave his bikes behind when we moved and because it was important to him to celebrate landing that great engineering job when we arrived in Christchurch by splurging on a new bike, I let him 'borrow' (if you can actually do that as a married couple with a joint account?) my birthday money to help him afford the Felt65 he'd been eying. Months later, it's finally my turn for a little birthday splurge so we wandered out to Your Shout where Jarryd, the really nice and super informed shopkeepers son, hooked me up with all the beer making essentials to get me started! I could tell this was a birthday gift that Drew was really excited about too, so he'll be stoked when he comes home tonight to find out what we have brewing! If it doesn't suck, I'll tell you all about it when its ready to be bottled!
Hope you're having a great week and take a little time to recognize something in your own life to celebrate. May it be big or small, I hope it's something that makes you do a little dance and rejoice in the blessings surrounding you!
Findings of Fall and Spicy Plum Jam
Yesterday started out as one of those total crap days. Sorry to sound like such a downer
right off the bat, but I was really feelin’ the bah-humbug all morning.
Drew and I
have been irritable with each other for the past couple days. Not arguing, but
both in our own place. I haven’t been sleeping very well and yesterday,
morning specifically, the sky was as grumpy as I was feeling. The wind was howling and the
rain was pouring…. Hmmph. This was really the first blustery fall morning we’ve
had since we’ve been in New Zealand. We’ve experienced some interesting weather along
the road, but this particular morning I just wasn’t feelin’ it.
Honestly,
I’ve really been looking forward to fall here on the South Island. Back in
November of last year, when we were getting all packed up, I was so ready to
leave Portland and the wet fall weather that was just getting into full swing.
We were heading to the southern hemisphere where we could enjoy spring roll
into summer. I couldn’t wait! And it was great. But it was also surreal
experiencing the drastic change of seasons and scenery.
At first,
it was so exciting. Being that we had just wrapped up a full and gorgeous summer in the northwest and were heading into another one, we were about to experience nearly SIX full months of beautiful summer weather! Yes, please, I will have
another! However, I was never able to wrap my brain around the holidays that came and
passed. My birthday was spent for the very first time laying in the sun and
playing in the surf – in the middle of January! As great as that seemed at the
time, it has become obvious to Drew and I that we’ve really missed the holiday
traditions of home. Now that fall is here in Christchurch and we’re heading
into an empty holiday winter season, I’m just not sure how to handle it. There
are pumpkins at the market! Apple pie. Cider! But no NFL, Macy’s parades, Christmas carols, or holiday lights in our near future!
It’s like a weird dream… I’m beginning to think that the anticipation of this
‘holiday-less’ winter may be contributing to my bah-humbug and keeping me from
enjoying the beauty of God’s creation as it prepares itself for winters sleep
so naturally and beautifully.
We have
the 4th of July to look forward to, our country’s Independence Day,
but there will be no fireworks. No BBQ. No camping or beers at the beach with a
handful of our favorite people. …. Yep, the more I contemplated it over that second cup of coffee it became quite evident to me that the
anticipation of this ‘holiday-less’ winter (and the missing out on the upcoming
traditions of an American summer) is what’s really been bothering me.
So, I
forced myself to bundle-up and go for a walk (luckily the rain died back at
this point. Otherwise, I surely wouldn't have been brave enough to venture
out). As I crankily kicked rocks through the park and sulked by myself, I
realized I was really just letting this day slip away and was wasting an
opportunity to enjoy something that I love doing most on crabby weather days -
Cook!
I am so blessed
right now to have the opportunity to be at home while Drew goes to work
everyday. Who knows how long this lifestyle will last, but for now I am absolutely
loving having the chance to be home and nest…. I’ve never had the time to do this
before. I felt the responsibility and demands of my last job so deeply that I barely had enough energy to make dinner
when I got home let alone have any remaining energy to be creative and make our
home stylish and more livable. So, I decided to stop sulking, embrace the day,
and go home to be creative doing something I love with this time I’ve been
given.
As I
walked home, I remembered that my new friend Shannon, also a recent transplant
from the northwest, had given me a lovely box of plums several months ago
during the peak of their season! I had cut them up and stored them in the
freezer ‘til I figured out just what I was going to make with them. Now I know - Spiced Plum Jam! Perfect for such a blustery fall day.
It sure didn't solve the matters of my heart right right now, but at least for the time
being I’m able to embrace where I am and concentrate on these gifts instead –
new friends and their generosity, the time God has given me to slow down, nest in my new home,
and enjoy every moment of the day, being creative, and making sure I spend at least a little time each day doing something I absolutely love!
This jam is delicious, tangy, and rich with the
goodness of fall! I will definitely be making
more for the cupboard and gifts!... although next time I may try orange instead of lemon for a little added sweet over tart... xo
Enjoy!
Spiced Plum Jam
- 5 cups chopped and pitted plums
- 1 cups white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoons fresh ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (preferably fresh)
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- zest and juice of half a small lemon
- 20-25 cracks of your black pepper mill
- a good size knob of butter
Add the plums and sugar to a medium-sized pot, stirring until the plums begin to break down and release their juices. Bring to a slow boil and let cook for about 20 minutes stirring frequently to be sure the fruit does not stick to the bottom of the pot. Then add the lemon and ginger, continuing to stir with a long handled wooden spoon, breaking up the plums against the side of the pot. Add the butter, reduce the heat to a simmer and allow to cook down until the plum mixture is thick, about another 15 minutes. Add your spices near the end, after about another 10 minutes. After the spices are added, allow to slowly simmer for another 10-20 minutes.
You'll know your jam is done when it passes the 'wrinkle' test. This can be achieved by placing a small dish in the freezer for a couple minutes. Once chilled, place a dollup of jam on the plate. Slide your finger through the jam. If a path remains where your finger passed through then your jam is ready.
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