School Holidays and a Cookie Recipe

A blogging friend of mine recently called herself a very bad blogger. I think I have beaten her in the lack of regularly posting arena by now though.

Monthly trips to Sydney, increased community and family commitments have made my life more crazy than usual and I feel like I just don't have time to stop, otherwise things don't get done. Opportunities to squeeze in some time to indulge in creating seem few and far between, more's the pity.

The children go back to school tomorrow - a few days of relative normality before it all goes pear shaped with yet another trip to Sydney. Since I moved out of Sydney in my 20s, I've never been back there so frequently and I reckon after this year is over I won't be keen to venture forth in that direction for some time.

The first week of the holidays involved a dash to Sydney (see what I mean!), a sleepover upping the normal child tally a bit for a couple of days and a family gathering. I was cooking potato bake and warm vegetable salad for the gathering of 25 people, but had to cook it and get it there warm and ready to eat. I had a slight hiccup or two. The oven decided it was just too full and took forever to cook the vegies. Then I tipped one bowl of the warm vegetable salad over - luckily the foil and tea towel I had covered it with, caught it all and it just looked a little more "tossed" than the other bowl.

The past week however has been blissfully quiet - the girls won't get their heads out of whatever novel they're currently reading so its all quiet there. With the weather so cold, everyone has endeavoured to stay inside near the fire as much as possible but son, at 13, can't help himself and sure enough the delicate household balance goes awry. So there has still been the occasional fight and a definite need to let of steam and energy - followed closely by my declaration to "go outside NOW and run around for at least half an hour"!


I celebrated the end of the holidays today by cooking numerous batches of yummy food. Totally required of course with school due back and a cupboard bare of lunchbox type foods. So I got in and cooked chocolate brownie (above) (I posted the recipe for here it a couple of years ago), a double batch of choc-apricot cookies, a double batch gingernuts (below) and an apple cake. All were made with our own eggs (yay to the chooks finally growing big enough and starting to lay!) and the apple cake was made with Grandma's crisp apples.



In the absence of a piece of jewellery this week, I'm going to share my choc-apricot cookie recipe (pictured at top). I've made these for well over 20 years and they always work out. They were actually tasted by a food editor for an Australian foodie magazine who was visiting my house a few years ago - and she asked for the recipe so they must be good!

CHOC-APRICOT COOKIES

125g butter
1/3 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup plain flour
1 cup coconut - dessicated or shredded
200g chocolate chips
3/4 cup dried apricots, chopped

Beat butter and sugars in bowl with electric mixer till light and fluffy. Beat in egg til just combined. Stir in flours, choc chips, coconut and apricots and mix to a firm dough. (If using your mixer, change the blade to a dough hook, as its a heavy mix).
Please level tablespoons of mixture about an inch apart on lightly greased oven trays and flatten slightly (or just throw them on the trays - they flatten a bit by themselves!). Bake in a moderate oven 20 minutes or till lightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes before removing to racks to cool completely.

Notes: makes about 20-25 biscuits, so make a double batch, otherwise you'll look around and they'll all be gone! Heavenly still warm but watch out for apricot pieces - they retain the heat. The mix is a great basic mix - feel free to swap the choc chips and apricots for something else.

OK, back to the ironing board - I promised myself that I would get it all done these holidays and I've still got a pile to go and only hours left!

Till next :)
Cheers
Annette

A trip to the Sydney Opera House

Last week just whizzed by – nothing new I know, but this time I was actually OUT rather than IN (and just distracted by everything that comes along so that I'm busy!)

The long weekend was very chilly long weekend – which the children and I spent inside the majority of the time, with books, near the fire (actually I seem to recall quite a lot of ironing getting done and not much reading for me).

Hubby had taken off to Qld for an aerobatics competition on Friday and wasn’t due back until late Monday afternoon, so son and I had to round up the cattle that were going to be picked up to go to sale and put them in the yards. Apart from one snorty bull who we managed to go around (he wasn’t supposed to be there!) the cattle were very well behaved and actually followed the fence instead of spearing off into the centre of the paddock as they often do. We got them into the right corner, up the laneway, through the holding pen and into the yards, just as hubby flew over and half an hour before the truck arrived. Son and I were rather chuffed it all went according to plan.

Tuesday morning involved heavy monitoring of the children cleaning the car (I seem to remember being able to wash and vacuum a car, why can’t they?) and getting ready for a drive to Sydney leaving lunchtime. Hubby was off checking cattle and of course arrived back earlier than expected (it’s always either early or late… never as expected) and was ready to go before anyone else in the house. Typical. But we all managed to get dressed up and ready for our outing.

Five hours later we arrive in Sydney, looking only slightly rumpled, at my sister-in-law’s house. A quick spruce up and bite to eat and we were off again to our final destination of the evening – the Sydney Opera House! (Thus the photo at the top of the post!)

As the children study classical piano with their concert-pianist-trained teacher, we decided an evening of listening to one of the world’s best pianists was in order. After huge sums of money were sent to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, we obtained tickets to hear the renowned Lang Lang play at the Opera House. The whole experience was marvelous. We found our way to the northern foyer, listened to a talk on the music that we were going to here then found our seats in the magnificent Main Concert Hall. Hubby and I recall going there as a child but only for a tour, so this was a first for us too. This was the main concert hall (it looks like we're wayyyy up the back, but we could see everything quite clearly - close enough to see smiles on performer's faces) :



The Sydney Symphony played the first two pieces (Mendelssohn and Sibelius) and then Lang Lang came on and with a flourish began to play Tchaikovsky’s with the Orchestra. It was all wonderful! Even the children enjoyed it although one of the girls said she was too tired and just wanted to go to bed! I gave her a look that said “not on your nelly, girly” and she sat there, waking up sufficiently to enjoy it.

Unbeknown to us, it was Lang Lang’s birthday and the orchestra had organized a birthday cake after the concert – at 29 years old, this young man has the classical music world at his feet and he hammed it up on stage whilst the Sydney Symphony played and the audience sang “Happy Birthday”. One wag in the audience called out ‘speech’… and Lang Lang obliged! After an encore performance, he was presented with bouquets of flowers, one of which he pulled apart, presenting a flower to each female member of the orchestra. Lang Lang taking a bow :



Post concert the parking station was at gridlock, so instead we went for hot chocolate and a selection of treats (huge jam biscuits and incredibly rich chocolate pots!) at the Lower Concourse which houses bars and cafes with a magnificent view of the harbour bridge.



A photo opportunity or two was snapped (the above one blurry, but courtesy of the waiter in the cafe!) before wending our way back to sister-in-law’s house and a well earned rest.

More things to do in Sydney on Wednesday, including a visit to the orthodontist for the children and then the long drive home.

A day off on Thursday (well, housework and associated timewasters) and then Friday was the Zone Cross Country held in town where I worked all day for the P&C on the cappuccino stall. End result – very tired and windburned.

I finally made it to my bench this past weekend to do some orders and I'm hoping for some creative 'me' time there soon!


Till next :)
Annette

Mice, sparkling gems and an award!

Yet again, I continue with my very poor blogging habits. I seem to remember blogging each week up until recently – how did I find the time!? I must be lacking in organization at the moment…

I thought about posting about the mice we have here on the farm. There is one in particular that consistently steals food out of the cat’s bowl. A fat, glossy little mouse he is ... and very careful to come out ONLY when the cats aren’t around. And when there is only one, a mouse can be pretty darn cute.

But some mouse stories aren’t so nice when they’re at, whilst not quite plague proportions, at least far too many of them. And the rats! Luckily we have bush rats, which I’ve found, at first hand, look just like massive mice. (And along with huge Bogong moths last month, I secretly started to wonder if something very strange was going on that was growing monster wildlife!)

So instead, I thought I’d stick to the jewellery front and what I’ve been up to.

I’ve been busy recently with a show and orders, but have also been sidetracked into my box of special gems. "The box" is getting so full that I decided I either needed a bigger box or had to create some jewellery to share these beauties around. Since shops are few and far between out here to find a larger box, I went with the latter choice and made some pieces with the sparklies!

Th pink amethyst, pink topaz and rock crystal quartz sterling silver necklace at the top of the post is one. Scrumptious, isn’t it? Rather springlike considering we’re in full winter here, but that’s the muse for you – she takes you where she will!

I made a wintry necklace too – with smoky quartz, petro tourmaline and vermeil. Rich and luxurious.



Then I got started on earrings ….

With everything from muted shades of pink and blue with rose quartz, pink topaz, pink tourmaline and iolite...



To rich red garnets and pink topaz reminding me of cool days and warm fires...



To colourful amethyst, peridot and blue topaz ...



And more ... like my favourites - these one made with swiss blue topaz, peridot, pink topaz, green topaz and apatite ...




See why I like my “special box”!? And, it’s a much nicer post than one about mice!

In other news, I was recently honoured to receive The Versatile Blogghttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifers Award from the wonderful Kelly of Vital Traditions all the way over in Washington State. I had the pleasure of being the roomie of Kelly at a conference a couple of years ago in Queensland, and she is honestly one of the very nicest people you could ever meet! Oh, and her all natural body products are THE BEST!



As part of receiving this award I need to pass this on and I've selected some of my daily reads for the award (check them out, you may find a new favourite!):

BushBelles
Gifts of Serendipity
Write Expressions
The Laurel Hedge
Cattle, Kids & Chaos

And, lastly before I sign off, I want to give a shout-out to Paula K and her new Smart Woman venture. Paula started the amazing and popular Connect2Mums site a couple of years ago and I've known her since those early days - she's a fantastic mentor and businesswoman, so if you're in small business (or thinking about it), pop over to her Facebook page and say hello!

The Jewels from Cannes

The 64th International Cannes Film Festival has been on this month and as it is heavily sponsored by Chopard, the couture jewels on the red carpet have definitely been worth watching!

It was nice to see it wasn’t just diamonds at this event – coloured gems definitely made their presence known and it was a lovely change from white diamonds.

Uma Thurman (at top), on this year’s jury, wore these chandelier earrings set with 34 pear-shaped emeralds for a total of 54cts together along with a more understated emerald bracelet. The emeralds just glowed even from a distance and gave some colour to her all white ensemble. Another day, she wore this little diamond cuff. (I’m not jealous, really, I’m not… much!)


Model Bianca Balti went the green route as well, wearing this amazing De Grisogono emerald necklace. I adore the intense colour - she carries it well.


In the sapphire brigade were Fan Bing Bing wearing Cartier and Jane Fonda wearing Chopard.



Rosario Dawson had a showstopper necklace by Faraone Mennella of aquamarine and diamonds and look at the size of those rocks!


The co-president of Chopard, Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele wore a peacock bracelet set with diamonds, emeralds, tsavorite garnets and sapphires with matching earrings. I’m not a fan of this ensemble, but to each their own!


Former Miss World, Aishwarya Rai wore Chopard diamonds - 12cts of pink diamonds in her ears and a whopping 53ct emerald cut diamond on her hand.


Linn Ullmann, Norwegian writer and critic wore a more low key Chopard oval diamond necklace totaling of 46cts. A nice little row of sparkles :)


Penelope Cruz showed great taste wearing these rubelite and diamond earrings. Gorgeous.


Salma Hayek wore pearls with her diamonds in a cuff bangle and earrings.


Although hardly well known in Australia, Italian fashion blogger, Chiara Ferragni wore this Chopard mixed gemstone bracelet and earrings. I love the delicate colour of the gems yet the overall substantial size – I think this might be one of my favourite jewellery sets seen on the red carpet this year.


Till next :)
Annette

Busy Days, Olive Picking and Olive Oil

I know, I’ve been a VERY bad blogger. I’ve posted very sporadically and I can’t seem to get back into the ‘groove’.

We had a very social April with lots of family coming and going and even some non-family social occasions. I’ve had two shows on since my last post … and only someone else who does shows can appreciate how much work and time they take up beforehand! I’ve also been busy running children around – to Sydney, to piano lessons, to school events. Hubby has been no better, he’s been to travelling off to seminars and meetings, having teleconferences at home (which I somehow ended up taking minutes for!?), attending the National Aerobatics Comp (he came second in Advanced) and the rest of the time busy on the farm.


The latest in the long line of things to do was to pick our olives. We have a few hundred olive trees planted on the property. Some are dryland and planted in tree lines (above), some are irrigated in the house yard (water makes SUCH a difference, the latter are huge). The photo below is post-harvest, we obviously missed a few but they are up high and we forgot the step ladder (oops).


There are some jobs you can automate, but olive picking isn’t one of them. So yesterday, hubby and I picked, by hand, our 6 heavily laden mature trees, in about 5 hours, stripping them fairly well to a height we could reach, onto sheets spread out on the ground. After tipping the sheets into tubs, we spent another hour or so picking through the 50 odd kilograms of olives and removing the branches and leaves. They looked so pretty in their tubs – a lovely mix of green and black (deep purple really) ovals.

I had to dash off into town then so hubby took them down to a neighbour who has an olive press to extract the oil. He then took cattle to the saleyards in Mudgee and returned via the neighbour with 4 very large (2-3 litres each) jars of olive oil. Its the first time we've made oil, usually I just pickle the crop for eating.


Considering the amount we use, I reckon these jars could do us for a couple of years. Note that these are almost opaque as they are unfiltered. They need to be stored for a while to let the sediment drop and then the oil is decanted from the top down. The green colour is a also a sign of fresh, first press, virgin olive oil.

To say yesterday was tiring would be an understatement. I’m so pleased to have the next couple of days at home, even though I have a ‘to do’ list that seems a mile long.

Taking off my farming hat, today’s picture is of a pair of limited edition freshwater cultured ‘keshi’ pearls, garnet and 12ct gold fill earrings.

To celebrate autumn (my favourite season of the year), I’ve decided that every purchase made up until 30 May 2011 will go in a draw to win a pair of these. What’s even better is that I will customize them completely to your preferences – peacock or white keshi pearls, a selection of coloured gems to chose from, and either sterling silver or gold fill.

So, if you’ve been thinking about a pre-winter jewellery purchase, now might be a good time and perhaps you will win a pair of earrings too!

Right, now back to that list….

Till next :)
Annette

A Glimpse into a Country Show

I recently attended the local agricultural show which is about 45 minutes drive from my home and thought some of you (particularly those who don't live in a rural area - or even Australia) might like a peek into my day.

An "ag show" here has horse events, cattle and sheep showing, competitions in poultry, wool and produce, art, cooking, handicrafts and flowers. And probably more that I didn't see!

I attend up to four ag shows a year with my jewellery and at Dunedoo I had an area in the ladies pavillion. Needing to be there from 8am on the last day of daylight savings (which is at least 6 weeks too long at either end) meant that the sun still wasn’t up when I left home. The sun did come up on my journey there though


and the countryside looked lovely bathed in the early dawn.



While I was waiting for the steward to arrive I had time for a quick look around some of the pavillion’s exhibits before it opened to the public.







There was a constant stream of people through the pavillion all day, admiring all the talented ladies (and some men's) work … and a bit of my jewellery too! (I was wedged between the flowers and the photography).



It quietened down a bit over lunch so I took some shots from the pavillion entrance. Here is a glimpse towards the carnival side of things … go a bit further down here and you would arrive in side show alley.



Some weary looking competitors in a horse event - they look like they need lunch and a shady tree don't you think?



Children find out some of the perils of the pet show - so exciting for the competitors at one end of the leads I think.



But a lot of the show is about catching up with friends, whether you're young, or not.





The show went on til evening when the pavillion turned into a frenzy of people packing up (including me) and collecting their items and prizes. As I wearily headed home into the dark night, my rear view mirror caught a few fireworks lighting up the sky.



A lovely end to the day - hope you enjoyed your outing to the show!

Till next
Annette

PS I will be in Mudgee next week, Easter Saturday at the Makers Market in the grounds of St. Mary's, pop in and say hello if you're in town!

Vale Elizabeth Taylor - a life of jewels.

Elizabeth Taylor has passed away at the age of 79. It is the passing of an extraordinary and passionate woman who had many husbands and philanthropic interests. She happily admitted to her love of jewellery, feeling herself the custodian of some fabulous pieces and even designing a line of fine jewellery sold through Christie's. She once said, "my mother says I didn't open my eyes for eight days after I was born, but when I did, the first thing I saw was an engagement ring. I was hooked."

Here are some of the fabulous gems she owned and a little about them:

A diamond and ruby suite by Cartier, given to Elizabeth by her third husband Mike Todd for swimming laps in the pool. Mike showered Elizabeth in gifts and fine jewellery. A favourite pair of earrings with paste stones he replaced with diamonds as a surprise (photo above). Amongst his many gifts he also gave her a 29 and 7/8 carat diamond engagement ring, as to quote Elizabeth, “Mike insisted I say 29 and 7/8, because 30 would have been vulgar.”





The Grand Duchess Vladimir Suite, by Bulgari was given to Elizabeth by Richard Burton. Comprised of diamonds and emeralds it contains a brooch (Richard’s engagement gift to Elizabeth), ear pendants, a necklace, and a bracelet. The suite was worn at her 1964 wedding to Richard at the Ritz-Carlton in Montréal.



The Krupp Diamond was given to Elizabeth by Richard Burton in 1968. The Krupps were a German family that supplied munitions to the Nazis and "helped knock off millions of Jews", Taylor wrote in her book "Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry". "How perfect it would be if a nice Jewish girl like me were to own it. In truth, though, there's nothing funny about the Krupp. When I look into it, the deep Asscher cuts—which are so complete and ravishing—are like steps that lead into eternity and beyond. With its sparks of red and white and blue and purple, and on and on, really, it sort of hums with its own beatific life. To me, the Krupp says, 'I want to share my chemistry—my magic—with you.'" At 33.19-carats, it was a favourite jewel that Elizabeth wore in a ring.



Not limiting herself to diamonds alone, another gift from Richard was the La Peregrina Pearl. Found by an African slave at Pearl Islands in the Gulf of Panama in the mid 16th Century (who was rewarded with freedom for the find), it was given to Phillip II of Spain who presented it to his English bride, Queen Mary I. After her death the pearl returned to Spain where it remained a part of the crown jewels until Joseph Bonaparte, one time king of Spain, fled the country taking the pearl with him. It passed from the Bonaparte family to the Duke of Abercorn who purchased it for his wife, Louisa Hamilton.





A heavy pearl, it apparently fell out of its setting twice once in a sofa in Windsor Castle and the next time during a ball at Buckingham Palace. Luckily it was recovered both times! It stayed in the Hamilton family until sold in 1969 to Richard Burton for $37,000 who gave it to Elizabeth for Valentine's Day. It continued its disappearing tricks and went missing in their Suite at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. After a thorough search by Elizabeth, she saw one of their puppies chewing - opening their mouth, there was the pearl, unhurt! It was later redesigned by Cartier into a necklace with more pearls, diamonds and rubies. La Peregrina remains one of the largest perfectly symmetrical pear-shaped natural pearls in the world.

Richard Burton once said, "The only word Elizabeth knows in Italian is Bulgari." He gifted her with a diamond-and-sapphire sautoir necklace featuring a 321-carat Burmese sapphire pendant in 1969.



Probably the most well known gem owned by Elizabeth was the Taylor-Burton diamond. Found in 1966 in the Premier Mine, the 240.80ct rough was cut down into two stones, under TV spotlights, by a diamond cutter in the employ of Harry Winston, who had studied the stone for six months deciding on the best way to cleave the stone. The larger stone was cut into pear shape eventually weighing 69.42ct.



Sold initially to Mrs. Harriet Annenberg Ames, the sister of the American ambassador in London during the Richard Nixon administration. Two years later, she sent the diamond to Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York to be auctioned stating she just couldn't wear it and rather than languish it a bank vault it should be sold. After furious bidding it was bought by Cartier for $1,050,000, the highest price ever paid for a diamond at auction at the time (1969). The losing bidder was a representative of Richard Burton. The diamond was quickly named "The Cartier".



Determined to obtain it however, Richard got on the payphone in a well-known hotel in southern England, and spoke to Cartier's agent. Richard negotiated for the gem while continually dropping coins into the phone and patrons would have heard the actor exclaiming "I don't care how much it is; go and buy it." He was successful and it became the "Taylor-Burton". Elizabeth wore it for the first time in November of that year to Princess Grace of Monaco's 40th birthday celebration.



Following her divorce from Richard in 1978, Elizabeth sold the Taylor-Burton for $5,000,000, the proceeds of which went to build a hospital in Botswana. It was purchased Henry Lambert, a New York-based jeweler and is now owned by Robert Mouawad.

The Taj Mahal Diamond also given to her by Richard Burton on the occasion of her 40th birthday in 1972. A flat, heart shaped stone it has an Arabic inscription that says "Love is Everlasting". The original silk cord was replaced and it was set with rubies and diamonds in a yellow gold rope-pattern necklace.



"I would have liked to buy her the Taj-Mahal," Richard remarked, "but it would cost too much to transport. This diamond has so many carats, its almost a turnip." Then he added, "Diamonds are an investment. When people no longer want to see Liz and I on the screen, then we can sell off a few baubles."

This gem was owned by Shah Jahan, who was given the diamond by his father. Jehan then gave it to the woman who was the favourite of his wives, Queen Mumtāz in 1621.

Vale Elizabeth Taylor, a true ambassador of fine jewels!