It was a very good cherry pie, perfect for a hot Saturday afternoon especially after Christmas shopping in the morning. (It was madness, to say the least.) Tomorrow, we will buy some vanilla ice-cream and make this treat even more indulgent than it already is.

I hope your weekend was lovely.

Friday afternoons hold so much possibility. The local radio station just played Rain by Madonna, which brings back so many memories. I am currently reading Isabel’s Daughter by Judi Hendricks, which i haven’t been able to concentrate on because the sound of the windchimes keep on distracting me (in the best way possible).

This morning, i made the crust for a cherry pie that i plan to bake tomorrow, because you know, there’s nothing like a cherry pie to usher in summer.

As i was having my afternoon tea of honeydew melon and apricots with yoghurt and a cup of my favourite English Breakfast tea, i looked through some cupcake recipes to gift to my new neighbours upstairs. I think i have settled on chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing. You can never go wrong with chocolate, i reckon.

Right now, i am craving some rich fruitcake. My auntie bakes the best fruitcake every year for Christmas but we only get to taste it on Christmas day so i may have to look around for a small piece elsewhere. Oh, how i love the Christmas season.

summer is here
the sun, unyielding
the wind, hot and fierce
why do i always forget your harshness?

a dip in the ocean offers some comfort
the walk home drying my salty sun-kissed brown skin
i take the clothes down from the washing line
inhaling their sweet scent that evokes memories of yesteryear

i sit at the kitchen table
a magazine spread out before me
roasted hazelnut coffee brewing loudly
the flowers dancing madly in the wind

simple things delight me
little girls in white and pale pink sundresses
curtains billowing in the breeze
sunshowers
smoothies
cherries

Words are not flowing today and i’m feeling a little mellow but here are some things that are inspiring me and making me happy:

This video of Alanis Morisette’s Not as we. Just beautiful.

Eating well- homemade beetroot dip with carrot and celery sticks, chickpea and zuchinni fritters with a spinach and tomato salad, oatmeal and raisin cookies with a cup of coffee.

Pilates.

Date night at David Jones, where we are perched on stools, drinking our coffees and milkshakes and maybe having a slice of carrot cake.

Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth. She never disappoints.

This blog.

Peonies.

This local magazine.

My new white summery top.

Summer in 4 days.

Walnut and raisin sourdough from Sonoma, toasted with butter and honey. Is there anything more satisfying than good bread?

Dreaming of a sweet, charming and welcoming home for our future.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating. We don’t celebrate thanksgiving in Australia but i know we all have something we can be grateful for at this very moment.

I am addicted to a lemon, honey and ginger tea concoction that Kristy made for us last week. I’ve been having at least a glass a day. It is wonderfully light and refreshing and it seems to be helping Jonathan’s recovery from the flu as well. It is cool and rainy today and i am looking forward to a glass of this healing drink soon.

It’s my birthday next Friday and i am so excited! I love birthdays! Jonathan has bought a dress from me from one of our local shops, Elodie on Bronte. I know this because i am apparently very good at extracting secret plans from my husband. He actually brought one of my dresses to the shop and asked the lady there to recommend something that was similar in taste to what i had. Full marks for thinking ahead! Now the dress, wrapped up in black tissue and in a white paper bag, is sitting in the bedroom and i am not allowed to have a peek/accidentally rip it open until my birthday. This is torture for me.

I believe in birthday weeks so the whole of next week will be rather nice for me. I have a very full week of work but we are watching Interplay at the Sydney Opera House on Thursday night, i’m having afternoon tea with my girlfriends at Bills Woollahra on Friday afternoon and then walking over to Bronte Road Bistro for dinner with Jonathan. On Saturday, we will be at Good Food Affare at Castle Hill. The advertisement for it has been absolutely beautiful and i cannot wait to see it in real life.

I love how this week holds so much anticipation.

This is my view right now. It’s quite extraordinary, really.