28/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

We have a protected bush reserve that backs onto farm land not far from our house.  It is becoming a regular stop on the way back from town, a last attempt at tiring the boys out before we head home.  We rug up before we head in as the canopy is dense, so the air is always noticeably cooler.  The light as you reach the edges, where the bush meets farm land is always so beautiful.  There are ferns, palms, fallen trees, holes in tree trunks, ancient roots and fungus galore.  These three love it here.

Bell

Tom
George

Very happy to be joining in with Jodi's "52 project".

 

 

Flatout Frankie giveaway winner!

Hello everyone!

Thank you to Flatout Frankie for the great prize and to all the "old" and new followers for entering. If you are new here, hello and welcome!

Be sure to take a look at the Flatout Frankie website if you have'nt already to see the fun New Zealand designed and made flatpack cardboard toys they have.  And the Flatout Frankie Facebook page will also keep you up to date!

You can read the review for our goodies here.

 

 

 

So congratulations to...............

Carly Speedy

 

Please email me your address details and to alittlebitcountrynz (at) gmail (dot) com and I will organise delivery of your prize. Cool!

There will be another great review and giveaway published here next week. Be sure to stop by.

Have a great week everyone! 

 

Op shop showoff.........midwinter finds

 

Retro Kitchen finds...........

When the boys and I were in town last week we popped into a local op shop for quick look and on leaving I noticed a Retro Kitchen display in the window.  There was an amazing orange pyrex bowl, but it had a huge chip on the rim so I decided to leave it.  But I did come home with some fantastic Retro pottery.

First up are the Midwinter (1960s) Lidded tureen ($9) and soup bowl ($4).  After researching the Midwinter mark on Google the design is Spanish Garden.

The second is a Japanese lidded tureen.  I love the stylised Cherry Blossom lid.  It is the first piece of Japanese pottery that I have bought and was only $3.

 

A bit of Midwinter History............

(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

The Midwinter Pottery was founded in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in 1910 and had become one of England's largest potteries by the late 1930s with more than 700 employees.

In the 1950s, under the leadership of the director Roy Midwinter, the company became one of the leading innovators in British tableware production. A large part of this was due to the noted ceramicists and designers who worked for the pottery.  The Midwinter Pottery was also an innovator in producing 'accessories' to their basic dinner services and tea sets.

In the 1960s, the Spanish Garden design, that was very successful on dinnerware and tea sets, adorned articles such as a bread bin and chopping board.

Many of the pieces produced by Midwinter in the 1950s and 1960s have become highly collectible, being typical of the styles of those eras.

Found anything great lately? Pop over and share it with Max.

 

 

 

 

School holiday slow...........

 

 

First day of the school holidays today.  We have had heavy heavy rain for the past few days.  But............we are hopeful that the weather will clear, fingers crossed.

 

We have no set plans.  No swimming workshops to drive into town for every morning.

 

The kids batteries need recharging to set them up for term 3.  So we will catch up with friends, walk in the vineyard, climb trees, scrape knees and splash in muddy puddles.

 

Today we will be making a hut in the lounge out of old sheets and set up the Thomas train track.

 

We plan to bake and dust of the craft box this week.

 

When the sun shines, we will head out to the beach and pop in to town for hot chocolates.

 

Mr H is taking the second week of the school holidays off.  Maybe a day trip somewhere might come about.

 

Who knows..........it's all about taking each day as it comes.  Staying in PJ's if we feel like it, adventuring, resting, movies on wet days and having fun.

 

 A slow school holiday.  Making childhood memories.  Time spent together.

 

(Fingers crossed that there is not too much fighting!)

 

Are you at the start of school holidays?   What have you planned for the next couple of weeks?

 

Have you just finished yours?  Are you still sane?!

 

 

 

Things I'm loving.........Crochet

Crochet is back in a huge way at the moment.  Amazing crochet craft is popping up all over the place.  I've been trying to teach myself although I have'nt sat down for a while with it.  I recently found my missing in action crochet hook in the vege garden.  And the boys love throwing the wool around.

 

The following blogs have some great Crochet inspiration:

 

Vintage Sheet Addict

Catalinas Cottage

Lazy Daisy Jones

Crafted by Carly

 

Such clever ladies!

 

I scored this granny square blanket yesterday.  Love it.  I have it slung over a chair in our bedroom although Bell is eyeing it up.  It is a small single size with lots of pretty colour.

 

 

And this is another op shop find.  You may have seen this is previous posts.  This one is in George's bedroom and lives on an old retro chair.

 

If I could learn to make a simple cloth, I would be content with just that.

My new scrubbies from here. 

My hands hate the cold. I get awful dry skin. These are my new best friends. I bought these from Amanda's Felt shop here.
 

Can anyone recommend a good hand creme, suitable for VERY sensitive skin?


Happy weekending lovelies!

"I wholeheartedly believe that no matter what is happening in your life, there is always something you can be thankful for..no matter how simple it is."

Joining in here

 

Raw lemon and coconut truffles

*gluten free

*wheat free

*grain free

*dairy free

*refined sugar free

You must action these!  Amazeballs.......

They are not sickly sweet like a lot of truffles are and in my quest to find sugar free sweet treats these have no refined sugar in them either.  You will secretly hope that the kids won't like them so you can have them all to yourself.
 

 Raw lemon and coconut truffles

1 1/2 cups unsweetened desiccated coconut
Plus 1/2 cup for coating
1 cup ground almonds
4 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
4 tbsp honey

Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon1 tsp pure vanilla extract
A pinch of sea salt

In a food processor, add all of the ingredients. Blend for 1-2 minutes, or until the mixture starts to mix together like a dough.

Use your hands to form small balls.

In a separate bowl, add the extra coconut. Roll the balls in the coconut until well coated then transfer to a plate. Place in the fridge for at least half an hour to set.

The truffles can be kept at room temperature, but are best kept in the fridge - that way they hold their shape really well.

Makes around 25 truffles. Will keep for 3-4 days.

Enjoy!

 

Recipe from Petite Kitchen

 


 

Flatout Frankie review and giveaway!

 

 

We have been really lucky to have been sent some goodies from Flatout Frankie.  New Zealand designed and made flatpack cardboard toys.  Such a great concept.

 

We were sent the Little Cook oven and Little Roar head.  They were really easy to put together with straight forward instructions on the packaging.  I'm not great at following instructions but managed both toys without the helping hand of Mr H!

 

With the Little Roar head you can slot it on a broom handle or run around with it on your head as demonstrated above by Tom.

 

The Little Cook oven was a HUGE hit.  A great size for little ones and easy to carry around if you want a change of scene.  Tom and George baked up a storm on the stove top and in the oven.  Hours of fun to be had here.  It's super sturdy too.

 

You also have the option of painting or decorating them.  The choice is totally up to you.

 

Below are a few of the other Flatout Frankie items available.

 

 

Cool huh?!

 

Now for the giveaway part.................

 

The awesome people at Flatout Frankie will send one lucky winner a Roar Box Set which contains 6 flat pack toys.  Plain white and free from graphics you can decorate them as you wish.

 

To enter the Flatout Frankie giveaway all you need to do is:

First and mandatory entry: 

 

Visit the Flatout Frankie website here and tell me which product you love!

 

For bonus entries (leave a comment for each):

Bonus entry #1 "Like" Flatout Frankie on Facebook.

 

Bonus entry #2  Be a follower of "A little bit country" via Google Friends Connect.

 

Bonus entry #3 Follow "A little bit country" via Blog lovin.

Bonus entry #4  Share this giveaway via Social media (Facebook, Twitter, blog).

So that is a possible 5 chances to enter.

Open to New Zealand and Australian residents only.

(One Roar box set to be won)

Giveaway closes on Tuesday 16th July at 8:00pm (NZ Time) - Winner will be announced the following day. Winner will have 1 week to get in touch or a new winner will be drawn.
This giveaway is now closed.