Jikana Damaru

Alexander the Great...

Over the course of your life, many people come and go... I've never really been one to hang on to old acquaintances for sentimental sake; I don't need a billion friends on Facebook and I don't feel resentful about losing touch when friends move away on different paths.

There are few people I can truly envisage myself remaining friends with for the rest of my life... but Vanessa is one of those people.

We met at Uni while we studied Communications, and we've shared many years of laughter, tears, share houses, backpacking holidays, the odd triathlon, weddings... and now babies.

Vanessa lives in the UK -- she's been there since 1999 when she arrived on a 1-year working holiday that turned into a 10 year hiatus, working her way from production runner to Director of a successful company. One of those revoltingly over-achieving types, she also managed to conceive an annual film festival in the UK and produce a short film in the time she has spent away.

Despite the great physical distance, Vanessa has been and will always be a rock in my life. That's why I am so thrilled to announce the arrival of her amazing baby boy, Alexander...

Congratulations Van and Haydn, you will make truly amazing parents and I can't wait to share the journey with you... um, do you think you might mean it this time when you say you'll be coming home at the end of the year??

xo

Easter table

Some of the details............

Hand made chocolates

Chocolate bunny heads

I had so much fun putting my Easter table together this year and it all came together in the end! Saturday morning I got up early to get my Easter Topiary tree finished, which is something that I had wanted to blog about but didn't get finished in time. I had bought a small plant pot for the base but it still looked too big, so I dashed out to the garden centre to pick up a smaller one. Whilst I was there I had a quick peek at the Easter decorations and saw the fake grass mats. I instantly fell in love with them and as I have a woodland-themed baby shower coming up I justified their purchase to myself as they would get used more than once!

I painted the plant pot for my Easter tree and whilst it dried I started setting out my Easter table. I laid my Easter table runner down the centre and laid the grass mats on top. I placed my cherry blossom and pussy willow Easter tree at the end of the table with hand painted eggs and bunnies hanging from it. I lined my Easter basket with a pink gingham napkin and filled it with foil wrapped chocolate eggs and placed it at the end of the table with my large bunny. I filled my Easter bunny bowl with pastel-coloured peanut M&M's. I then hid my small white bunnies amongst the grass place mats. I placed white bunny candles in my hand painted egg cups and put them alongside my Easter bunny lollipops. The Easter bird houses I used as place settings. By then my plant pot had dried so I assembled the egg topiary tree together and placed it in the center of the table.

That's when I decided to make banana cupcakes with chocolate buttercream nests that I could sit amongst the grass, so obviously my strawberry cupcakes needed to be decorated with flowers so they could also sit amongst the grass! As time was running out I decided to use coloured M&M's instead of flowers to decorate my cupcakes.

On Sunday afternoon I hid my Easter cupcakes and Easter egg chocolates amongst the grass on my Easter table, filled my wire baskets with all my wrapped handmade chocolates and enjoyed the rest of the day!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Easter Cakes

I have mentioned before that a great place to go for a laugh is cake wrecks, well you just have to go and check out their Easter cake selection - there are pages of them and you need to go through them all - I have laughed so much my back is hurting. There are some nice ones, just after you start but Page 2 just got me past the point of giggling into raucous belly laughing.

That's one way for me to work off all the Easter chocolate.

Let me know what you think. Here is one to wet your appetite.

Easter Wrapup

Each season I come up with ways of making my life just a little more complicated. It's not intentional, but I have been forced to recognise it in myself... this Easter was no exception. I could (should) have raided Woolies like every other human being for my Easter egg supply but nooooooo... I had to complicate my life by making my own. The thing about normal chocolate making is that really, its no more complex than pouring melted chocolate into a mould and leaving it to set. It wasn't until I had already bought my egg moulds (and the colourings, chocolate, ribbon, straw, boxes etc etc) that I remembered I had to make an EGG, that had a shell but was hollow inside and that needed to be somehow joined together. I'll say no more except to say that next year, the fam will be getting Cadburys. Here's the best of the finished product (too embarrassed to show you the worst):

This one was made with white chocolate and pink colouring, and some hundreds and thousands for fun!

Coloured white chocolate bunny with brown chocolate egg. Never again!

The packaging

Up at Nanny's, Fern went on her first Easter egg hunt! She scored herself a cute rabbit soft toy and Easter Egg (nope, we didn't let her eat that particular egg, but her Nan and Pop might have slipped her a few bits of chocolate when I wasn't looking!)

On Easter Monday, we went for a bush hike high up on the mountain, with beautiful views over the Central Coast. Her dad chose her hiking outfit, and they came out of the bedroom grinning from ear to ear dressed in matching green hiking shorts, grey tees, puffy jackets and boots!

Fern LOVED it; she's turning into quite the little outdoors girl (her father wouldn't have it any other way!). She trotted ahead and mostly refused to hold our hand, preferring to stop every 30 seconds to examine a gumnut or but of rock. I am just loving that Fern can walk now and that she takes such pleasure in little things. Children make you re-appreciate the little things you took for granted, don't they?? Here's some pics from our day:

Hope you and your family had a wonderful Easter - what adventures did you get up to??

photo book

here is a photo book I had made up to promote my photography. Seeing the images in print form feels a little more personal.

eggs

a few photos from our egg hunt on Easter morning. I hope you were able to enjoy a few too

the reason for eggs @ Easter

Happy Easter!

This week on Flickr Faves Sunday, I bring you a bright coloured Easter palette with these gorgeous pics. Check back soon for some more of the most inspirational photographers on Flickr.

Some beautiful shots from my Flickr favourites (clockwise from top left):

The fabulous dyed eggs in Easter Colors ... by Ruthalice43
The pretty adorable Chicky ...... by abbietabbie
The yummy Pastel M&Ms by rajmtx
The cute cupcake Ducky ....... by abbietabbie

Have a wonderful Easter!