Kitchen Chaos

My husband and I recently renovated our home which included a new kitchen fitout and removing and relaying new tiles. It was such a learning experience for both of us and as we discovered a renovation can be a nightmare. We encountered numerous hiccups, three of which I could declare as major. Not only this we also welcomed the arrival of our newborn Monty in the midst of it all adding a whole other dimension to the mix of things. Thankfully there were no issues with his arrival.

The experience was character building to be polite and I secretly shed some tears along the way as a means of ventilation and frustration. The outrageous levels of hormones circualting in my body probably didn't help the cause however I think I did okay.

We are really happy with the final outcome and still have some finishing touches yet to make but I think we achieved what we wanted to achieve - an open and caual space that was practical and functional. We really wanted to make the kitchen a central point to gather in our home so the incorporation of an island bench with an open space to casually dine, laugh and chat around was how I thought I could do this.

One thing I did learn about this experience is that what makes a home or space beautiful is not acutally what material things are in it but the experiences and people that fill it and that is why I cannot wait to sit around our island bench as a family with our two beautiful boys and hear about their tales of adventure over a beautiful meal. That in combination with our beautiful qld climate and the beautiful sunshine that filters through the bifold window on a cold winters morning is something we are enjoying very much.

Fruit Platter

Well the Xmas celebrations have commenced and already I am starting to wish they were over. It has been so humid here in Queensland of late that the ability to consume food is a little off putting especially when you have to share you abdominal region with someone else. So today after a light lunch of chicken and salad we followed through with the good old fruit platter. Such a nice way to finish the meal and with no guilty conscience either.

Whole Food

My interest in nutrition and what we consume in our daily diet has always been of interest to me so when I stumbled across this book at my local fruit shop/deli yesterday I couldn't help but buy it.

It is called "Whole Food" and is simply about eating good food the natural way. Authors Gavin Pitt and Rachel Thomsom have interesting backgrounds and have observed how people feel and look better if they eat healthier and more nutritious meals. I am definately looking forward to trying out some of the recipes - blueberry truffles and coconut and lime tartlets. It all sounds to good to be true. I will deliver my experience once I have made them to see if they are as good as they sound.

And speaking of looking and feeling better - now that I am pregnant with my second child I have made a concious effort to be extra vigilant with what I consume and put in and on my body. So I have been researching some more natural alternatives to my chemical laden face cream that mind you cost a packet (more fool me right) and does absolutely nothing for my skin and probably never will.

So two products that I have found that are definately worthy of a mention and I am sure there are zillions more are:

Joliv offers an exquisite range of chemical-free, environmentally friendly and entirely natural beauty products and comes with a unique guarantee that they contain absolutely no harmful or artificial ingredients. Better still every product is freshly hand made, from scratch, to order. They even do cleaning products which is great too!

Another to consider is Simplicite. Experienced Naturopath David Lyons has turned his 2o years of experience in naturopathy and herbal medicine toward a range of skin care which is made uses natures purest plant, flower, aromatherapy and Australian bush-flower extracts. It sounds delicious!

They both sound good enough to eat!