Cute Overload Part Two

Good Morning dear Friends. The broodiness continues as does the cute overload. Last week I got tripped up by beautiful images that I found and it took me completely off course, but I am not complaining as I am enjoying the fantasy ride immensely!

Remember my post on kids rooms that beguiled me into submission to post something that I hadn't planned on. If you missed it have a peek HERE. And remember this fantasy image...

A very clever interpretation of a tree stump cot....

Look from the other side...complete with fungi steps up to the soft landing...

 And then I found a close up of the flower lamps...just enchanting...

...and look now...

You simply have to see the rest of it! Please click HERE to be enchanted by the rest of the details...

Wasn't that awesome? I just had to share that link with you!

 Isn't it gorgeous? You can just imagine your little princess in there.....we are now all wishing our girls were tots again...

 I think it is high time that I start a intense campaign for grand children...lol!

I have a few more fantasy rooms to share in the next week or two.

Wishing you all a great week.

Veronica

xxxx

Images from Kidropolis and Pinterest

I will be joining these friends:

SJ  at Homemaker on a Dime

Savvy Home Blog Party at Home Savvy

The Newbie Party at Debbiedoo's

Mary for Mosaic Monday at Little Red House
Amaze me Monday at Dittle Dattle
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Please join us for a load of fun not to mention eye candy and tutorials on various amazing things and of course some recipes!

xxx

Kids Rooms

Hi Friends! I think that I am officially broody...Yes you heard me! Broody...At this age!!! Either that or I have a bad dose of missing my kids and have decided that after two years an empty nest doesn't suite me at all! (Probably will regret that statement at some point in the future....) But maybe it was just that Pinterest was to blame!


I was looking for something else and then I came across this image...

Isn't it just gorgeous? The colour combination is delightful as is the design.

 and then I found this one...

Isn't it just darling? I absolutely can't stop looking at it... It is just cute overload....imagine all the bed time stories you can make up in there....

Queen of her very own Castle!!! Have  a look at madams pink telly!

A little lady at play and at sleep! Plumed and feathered, mirrored and quaintly feminine ...

Very stylish chandelier! Teaching them from a young age to adore the decor...I am not into green at all but I love the colour here and the combinations...

A very neutral monochrome palette and yet  so appealing with loads of interest!

A vibrant indoor tree house!

Starting the day with a fun slide down to terra firma! I can do that...great wake up call!

Everything a little lady of the world needs...neatly contained.

Gasping with pastel delight....

Going to bed here is just going to be a nightly adventure....

It seems that the sky's the limit or should it be the ocean.....

 

How cool is this for storing toys!

Perfectly contained!!!

The boys would be in pirate heaven!!! How cool is this?

A happy space with great colours....

The world is your oyster..my son would have loved this room. He has a thing for maps and globes!

What a grand idea for budding Picasso's...

Whimsical and a bit of magic....

See how a girl can get sidetracked.....

Anyway, I need to carry on researching the post I was busy with!

It was all Pinterest's fault...where I found all the gorgeous images....

By the way, it is a while before I can bet on any grand children....

But a gal can dream...can't I?

Happy dreaming to the empty nesters...tweet, tweet

Veronica

xxxx

Joining Bunny Jean's Wednesday Bunny Hop Party

Leave me your tweet below.... in the comment box....and I have more magical rooms to share for mini people...

Pear...fection! ~ A few fruity dishes..

Good Morning Monday and good morning friends! I hope you all had a peaceful weekend. It finally rained for us in Cape Town and we are thrilled. Spring is in the air and wild flowers are popping up all over the place and adorning the hillsides.

Today I continue with a recipes that includes fruit in the main meal. I love cooking with fruit especially during summer when it makes for a lighter alternative for the hot weather.


So, with spring and summer in sight I will share a typical weeks menu with you.

Monday: Pan Fried Salmon served with Raspberry Coleslaw.

Please click HERE for the post and the recipe which also includes an Avocado Soup that is quick and easy.

Tuesday: Smoked Pork Kasseler Chops with Paprika Pears.

This recipe, for those who asked, is not a substitute for the fig salad but an entirely different invention that I happened upon long before the fig phenomena was discovered. Pears can be tricky as fresh fruit, because they are only at their very best for about five minutes. They are either to hard or to soft or to this or that! So, if they are not quite ripe and your patience is wearing thin , this is a good way to use them. It happens to be one of my laziest one pan suppers and looks and tastes like work but hardly is.

Smoked Pork Kasslers Chops with Paprika Pears

1 Smoked Pork Kasseler Chop per person (or two depending on appetite!)
1 Pear per person or per chop
1 Large onion, peeled and sliced
Brown Sugar
Paprika
Balsamic Vinegar
Blue Cheese or your best Gorgonzola
Rocket Leaves or baby spinach
Dried Cranberries

In a large pan splash a little Olive oil and saute the onions adding a teaspoon of brown sugar until smoky brown and caramelised. please stir frequently over low heat, patience please! Remove to a plate.


To the same pan add the chops and fry gently.

Wash and slice the pears into quarters (or thinner if you prefer) and sprinkle with paprika.


Add to the pan and fry along with the chops taking care not to mush them ( they must look luscious!) if they are ripe. Add a splash of good  balsamic vinegar towards the end of cooking and return the onions to the pan.

I can do some odd things whilst cooking, and one day I  made this dish and came across some day old ciabatta bread, which I cubed and tossed into the pan after the balsamic vinegar went in! I regretted it the instant I did it but left it and yum it worked, as it soaked up the juices and crisped adding a nice crunch. Some madness clearly pays off on occasion!

To Serve. I add some baby spinach to a plate and then a chop and then pile the onions and pears on top of the chop.

Crumble over some blue cheese and you can add a dried cranberry or two if you feel inclined.


Any juices left in the pan can just be poured over the top.

I also use this as a salad to serve with spare ribs on the braai (BBQ) of course then minus the Kasseler Chops. They look amazing on a large flat white platter  strewn with baby spinach and the pears nestled into the leaves with the onions scattered about and topped off with a crumbling of blue cheese.

This dish goes particularly well (as far as my tatebuds goes anyway) with a chardonnay like Fat Bastard and I particularly enjoyed Kanu's Chardonnay which for some reason is off the market. The colour was amazing and charmed the pears to pear...fection!



Wednesday: Choritzo Dish served with Avo Salad click HERE for the recipe.

Thursday: And, of course the piece de Resistance, for me anyway... Fig Salad. Find the recipe HERE

Friday: BBQ Ribs with Watermelon Salad. Click HERE for that post.

That concludes all the fruity recipes and I do hope you have found one to try for those hot days of summer when you and the kitchen are not the best of friends and  you need something quick and light before you plunge into the pool!

I will be joining:

Carrie for Amaze me Monday Here

Yvonne for On The Menu Monday at Stone Gable Here 

Erin for Savvy HomeMade Monday Blog Party Here

SJ for Creative Bloggers at Homemaker on a Dime Here

Debbie Doo's blogging and Blabbing for the Newbie Party Here

Susan for Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch Here

Foody Friday at Designs by Gollam  HERE

Happy Living

Veronica

xxx

images: my own and pintrest.

Thanks for stopping by! Now, lets have a chat in the comment box below! Your comments and ideas make my day and I love the input.

Liebster Blog Award

Hi friends. I opened my email after a tumultuous two weeks where we had to deal with  the death of a wonderful young man who was a close friend of my son and a heart attack in the family. Needles to say that email was the last thing on my mind. So, I was completely surprised and humbled to find that  Dee from A Lapin Life had nominated me for an award!


Please pay Dee a Visit and see the other blogs that she nominated as well.

 THANK YOU DEE!

THIS AWARD STARTED IN GERMANY. IT'S TO HIGHLIGHT BLOGS YOU ENJOY THAT HAVE LESS THAN 300 FOLLOWERS.

I accept this award and now need to tell you 7 things about me...

1) I am a magazine addict and I do not part with my treasures! I store them in a cupboard and use them like most people would use the library. They get stored in seasons. Winter, spring , summer and autumn. Currently the winter magazines are dotted all over the house in piles, baskets and magazine racks in my favourite hang out spots!

2)I have an ongoing love affair with the beautiful city that I have the privilege of staying in, namely Cape Town! It inspired me to start a blog about my favourite places in the city and the surrounding winelands, named Mother City Magic where I hope to promote this amazing place and people to the world!

3)I have a huge fear of water and at this ripe old age can not even hold my breath under water! However, in summer I swim almost every day and my favourite holiday is going down the Orange River in a canoe! It took quite a lot to overcome the fear and obviously I kept a life jacket on all the time. I coped fairly well with the rapids (but they are tiny rapids anyway) and loved sleeping under the stars and living close to nature. Very close, believe me! I have been down the river five times in total now and have only once fallen out the canoe!

4)I detest any form of discrimination due to race, religion or any other grounds and I feel that every single person deserves to be treated with respect no matter what, for you do not know their circumstances and should not judge.

5)I veer between being a girly girl and a tom boy! I can just as happily  play in the mud and garden as I can put on my stilettos and shop. The only draw back is that my nails never look good!

6)I love music, ballet and theatre and am able to listen to any kind of music from rap to classical.

7)I spend hours trying out plant combinations in my head and "planting" various gardens in my favourite regions of the world that I have travelled to. Ditto with decorating rooms in famous homes and ditto with food and wine combinations!!

I AM PAYING FORWARD THE BLOG LOVE BY NOMINATING THE FOLLOWING BLOGS FOR THE LIEBSTER BLOG AWARD.

Chateau de Lille

Fiona

Casa-Dolce-Casa

Kathy

La Brocanteuse 

Colette

That was a difficult choice! Phew, there are so many lovely blogs. I do hope you will accept ladies and look forward to hearing from you.

Please visit their blogs and enjoy all the gorgeousness and tell them I sent you please!

Have a great weekend and what ever you are doing I do hope that you are making memories.

Veronica

xxx

PS: Both Dee and Colette are recovering from illness so we wish them both a speedy recovery and sending blog love your way!

Fragrant White

Hello dear friends. Welcome  to all the lovely new faces in my sidebar keeping me company in the wee hours of the blogging night! Forgive me if I utter some mumblings as I wrestle with blogger's temperamental traits. I would also like to thank all the kind souls who migrated to the new facebook page and "Liked" it again!


As I write this I am hot as can be and should not be complaining but honestly, there has been very little rain here and today there is a warm wind blowing and driving us crazy. This in mid winter...The garden is completely confused as to what season it is currently dealing with...And 1600 kilometers to the north in Johannesburg they are astounded by a carpet of snow!! The last time it snowed up there I was a girl of 19 and that is 30+ years back. Now, now age is secret...

Never the less, Spring has Sprung forth and burst into Song...A whale or two has put in an appearance in the bay and the migrating birds have noisily announced their return in a "Happy to still find you here kinda way"!!

The Jasmine is in full bud and looking promising....

Can you smell it?

A gardening friend says that the Jasmine makes one big brief show and then disappears and he prefers to plant the indigenous variety Jasminum Multipartitum. Also very pretty but not as vigorous. But me...I 'm hooked on this one and love the smell. I break of sprigs and dot them around the house not even putting them in water.

A few days later...

There is a singular bloom on the Moonflower dangling in the breeze...

Oddly enough I prefer the single variety but this one does look like an artful creation...Flamboyant actually!

It too exudes a heady fragrance at night and is most prominent at dusk.

The Nicotiana has been standing erect and stout not needing to be staked at all, and flowered all through the winter!

Off course the fragrance is most prominent in the dead of the night and the blooms make a wonderful show. The nicotiana has colonised this corner of the garden and self seeds every year prolifically.

I will be joining Faded Charm for White Wednesday for the first time today. So hop along for a visit please!
as well as
Bunny Jean's Bunny hop on Wednesday. Thank you so much for the invite and the blog love!!

I hope you are all enjoying a great day. Now lets have a chat below in the comment box. I am still visiting everyone who has left some wonderful comments on my previous posts and thank you for all the chatty emails! Loving them to bits.


Veronica
xxx


all images are my own