Trinny and Susannah

Its hot here in central NSW. Yes, following our coldest February in years, March has been the hottest in years. The result is that I'm feeling a little weary - repeated hot weather has this effect on me...I just wind doooowwwwwnnnn. LOL.

My current tiredness could also stem from falling ill late last week with a nasty cold bug that gave me the sorest throat I can ever remember having, and for the longest time! I didn't want to do anything remotely connected to swallowing, so eating was out of the question (although I did manage to eat a lot of frozen berries as they kind of felt nice sliding down my inflamed throat.) Anyway, all better now.

One good thing that comes out of these types of short term illnesses, we usually lose a couple of pounds, and I am no exception. I feel quite willowy at the moment! But given the amount I have eaten over the last couple of days, I might need some of those you beaut "magic knickers" that the brilliant duo, Trinny and Susannah have recently released. I love watching their show and used to be glued to the tv everytime "What Not To Wear" was on. Then they did some shows on giving couples a makeover, the rules of dressing, revamping uniforms, identifying the main body shapes of men and women and how to dress those shapes. All great viewing and some really great information too. I was reminded that the girls are currently in Australia by Anne at MyDayOff. It's one of those few times that I get frustrated living out here in the country instead of near a great big shopping centre where they might just be!!! Ah well.

Not much on the creation front the last few days, but I have received in some beautiful stones including lemon citrine (in abstract shapes!), some vibrant green hemimorphite, beautiful purple chariote, and some fancy new jade (serpentine) that has been carved into leaves ... I already have something in mind for the latter but it may need some refinement first!! Keep your eyes peeled for the new pieces to come!

A piece pictured for today - matte carnelian which is an unusual finish for this stone, and it gives it a muted cast - with 12ct gold fill. Simple and elegant. Do you like it?

Look out here's 2008!

How was your Christmas? Ours was the usual routine, but the children do make it a special time! They were to bed early on Christmas Eve as they couldn't wait for Santa to come, and as expected, he came sometime through the night as their Santa bags had lots of pressies in them the next morning :)

Then there was usual ripping and tearing of paper frenzy before going to my in-laws mid morning... for more ripping and tearing before lunch! The kids played happily with their gifts all afternoon and in fact the whole time since (although I will not be surprised when the "I'm bored" statement is eventually uttered!).

My girls (the twins) are still on a high, as their birthday is just around the corner - on New Years Day. This of course means a huge bonanza for them at this time of the year, although the rest of the year is a little light in the present department!

It is really hard having children with a birthday on a public holiday so close to Christmas (I feel totally sorry for those who have their birthdays actually on Christmas Day!). You want to do something for them that is special, but in our case, everyone is tired after the festivities of New Years Eve and most of their little friends are involved with family things or away on holidays.

Last year we had a pre-party for them the week before school broke up and that seemed to work well. But you still have to do something for their actual birthday too.

We always have a cake (two actually) and have in the past had a New Years Day brunch or lunch with friends and relatives that happen to be around. This year, we are going out for New Years Eve and the children will be staying with Grandma. So we are proposing a BBQ style lunch at our house with the cake afterwards. (This gives us time to sleep in a little and get everything prepared ;) ). I've been looking at what I can cook and found this scrumptious looking recipe on the My Day Off blog. Perfect for a hot summer day when everyone is a little tired!

I've included a picture of a beautifully bright coin pearl bracelet that would be perfect for New Year's celebrations. The colours in the photo are quite true to life and set off beautifully by the silver.