tesselaar tulip festival

Even though it’s spring, the weather has been fluctuating and has been somewhat erratic over the past few days. We’ve had cool mornings, rain, warm winds and apparently, in some areas hail. Today though, thankfully, was probably the very first ‘proper’ day of spring. The sun was out, temperatures soared past the mid 20’s and there was no need for a cardigan!

The day couldn’t have been better for a trip out to the Tesselaar Tulip Festival where they brought Turkey to Melbourne (the country and its culture, not the food).

We were greeted at the gate by people in costume (that looked alarmingly like traditional Dutch costumes) and were amazed at the vast fields of tulips. Before we roamed the tulips we decided to visit the alpacas – a little family of mum, dad and baby. Very cute!

For those that know me well, I can never go anywhere without eating or drinking. Nothing new to report, as soon as I saw an ice cream stand I knew I had to try it. This time though, I wasn’t on my own – if anything my cousin had a strong influence on me so we decided to eat ice cream then and there. For me, Turkish Delight (delicious by the way) and for Melissa; choc-mint.

Most of the grounds were filled with rows and rows of tulips. There were some other flowers like daffodils but the tulip is the hero of the grounds (hence the name Tulip Festival...) and the different types and colours on display were certainly impressive.

So, no need to travel to Holland folks to sit amongst a field of tulips and experience its beauty and vivid colours... you can easily do it within an hour’s drive from Melbourne!

why hello spring!

Finally! It's here! What I hear you say?! Spring! That's what!

What better way to welcome spring than take a day trip around Victoria? Now I don't normally take day trips around Victoria, on Fridays no less but I had an RDO and my parents and sister were in town visiting. So with that in mind, I capitalised on the beautiful weather and pleasant company. Off we trekked to Ballarat... after a few wrong turns here and there on the Western Ring Road we finally got there.

Ah Ballarat, aren't you a sleepy little town. To be fair to Ballarat, we probably should have stayed longer in the town and visited Sovereign Hill but after I baulked at the amount of time needed, at a minimum, to explore it, I made the executive decision to quickly say goodbye and start the trek to Daylesford. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have the time to spend 3-4 hours in Sovereign Hill. Instead we dropped into the art gallery for a quick squiz, takeaway coffees and organic sweet potato chips (which were delish by the way and were gobbled up very quickly) and headed to the lake. Good thing Ballarat is only an hour's drive from Melbourne so I'm sure I'll make the trek again (so I keep telling myself).



Onwards and upwards (literally) to Daylesford. We drove through Hepburn Springs before arriving at Lavandula Lavender Farm, a lovely quaint place that is all things lavender. As the name suggests, they harvest lavender (and lots of other beautiful flowers dot the farm) but also harvest olives, and an array of animals call it home too. We were lucky enough to have arrived at just the right time for a tour of the house on the farm, recreated to replicate the home that was lived in so many years ago. A two bedroom home for, if I remember correctly 13 kids?! The guys on the farm have done a fantastic job restoring the home – it really takes you back on a journey of a time that is so foreign to me. No electricity?! Unheard of!












Still no lavender – it gets harvested in January apparently but still, a beautiful day to enjoy the grounds and a lovely lavender lemonade and scones or in my dad’s case, a lavender champagne.

new lens

Just before the end of the Financial year (2010-2011) I bought a prime lens. I did what I thought was the pragmatic thing to do - I bought it second hand. I must say, I am extremely chuffed with my purchase. Not only is the lens made in Japan (no offense China or Thailand but I still associate Japan with quality goods) it was worth the investment.

What lens did I buy? I bought a 50mm f1.4. I cannot stop raving about this lens. It is seriously fast, fabulous in low light and the bokeh effect is amazing. The depth of field you can achieve with this lens is out of this world. Seriously.

Here are a couple of shots I took over the weekend to tide you over until I take more adventurous shots with my parents in town this weekend.

it's time to get thrifty...

For the month of June, I set myself a challenge where I am not to spend any money on shoes or clothes until the next pay day. Well, I wasn't even past day one of the challenge and I failed. I went to a scarf sale in East Malvern and bought some beautiful wool scarves in bright colours. Can I say though, in my defence,I bought one for my mum. Ok, and the rest were for me... but they were 50% off the reduced price, so I got them at bargain-basement prices.

I then headed to a shopping centre, only because I wanted to get some ramekins so I could start experimenting with souffles, individual self-saucing puddings, etc. I came back home with 8 ramekins. Whilst not shoes or clothes, I was still spending money. Whoops. You know what I've done - I've transferred my spending on to something else! How terrible.

Right, that was yesterday. Today is a brand new day. I stayed in bed for as long as I could (it was a cold morning and I figured the longer I stay in bed, the longer I can fight temptation). I couldn't lie in bed all day so I got up and thought right, I still have about $30 on a David Jones gift card, why don't I use that up? It's like I'm spending money but money I already have. Plus, it's a shame and waste to not spend / use it. Off I went to the City in search for something worthy to spend my gift card on. I had already bought ramekins yesterday and was thinking I wouldn't mind some nice servingware. Off I trudged to David Jones. What a mistake. I pretty much fell in love with all things homewares.

There is something whimsical about homewares displayed in large groups, particularly when they are grouped by colour. I instantly fell in love with the Ecoya Metro candle jars and reed diffusers. Not only are the candles natural and made of soy, they smell divine! Unfortunately, I just couldn't justify spending my voucher on something that would melt. I wanted to buy something that I could keep and would last. I decided to head over to the cook books - I've been keeping my eye out on a couple of books (namely Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals) and wanted to see if they were in stock.

Today, there truly is a plethora of cooking books. I sometimes think to myself and wonder who isn't putting out a cook book these days? Gwenyth Paltrow, Olivia Newton John, Lisa McCune, Sophie Dahl, Masterchef winners, actors, chefs, home cooks - it seems everyone has put out at least one cook book. It's quite inspiring actually. I must admit, quite a few cook books caught my eye - I am very much drawn in by rich vibrant visuals. Not wanting to make a hasty decision giving that I'm pretty much cutting off my right arm by vowing to limit my spending, I wanted to make the right choice. I kept ploughing through book after book.

I continued to wander around the floor and found myself in the servingware / dinnerware section and lo and behold I found a book by Bill Granger - bills sydney food. The book is beautifully presented in hardback and comes in a hardback sleeve. I opened it to the page that contained the recipe for his ricotta hotcakes. It was a sign - I tried the hotcakes not long ago when I went to bills earlier this year. I knew it - I had to get the book. This was the one. I remember coming out of bills thinking how wonderfully fresh and clean the place was. It would be silly of me to not buy the book. Off I went to the register. No cognitive dissonance here! I plan to make everything in the book and I promise to blog about it (eventually!)

So happy with my purchase, I decided to go for a bit of a wander into Myer, mainly I wanted to go through the gorgeous Perfume hall. I love looking at all the different shapes and colours of perfume bottles. On my way I got distracted and decided to have a quick look at the homewares section. Funny isn't it, I don't have a home to furnish with homewares yet I just love browsing through the section. I love how homeware displays have been put together. I always feel the stylist has put so much time and effort into putting different elements together.

I found the different products and colour / shape combinations put together quite inspiring and of course, pretty to look at. Hey, if I can't have the displays in my home, I might as well appreciate the installation display somewhere else.

After providing a feast for my eyes, I knew it was time to head home (plus, heading home meant that I wouldn't be spending any more money for the rest of the day!). I took a little detour and went through the back of Myer when my eyes caught a glimpse of the flower shop. Wow. Such beautiful flower installations on display! Such a foray of flowers in vibrant colours, shapes and types. It felt like being in an art exhibition of flowers.

And with that I leave you with a feast of flowers.