Don't you just LOVE this era of design? The graphic art, the furniture, the architecture... just so uber-cool.  My mum has a lounge suite that we've been coveting for a while now. It just needs recovering in some funky-ass fabric then it would be sooo great at our place!  However, she's not parting with it any time soon so we'll just have to wait... (not in a creepy way).

All beautiful lines, sexy curves and gorgeous colours (particularly oranges, browns and greens - my all-time faves).

Timeless design which fits with ease into a modern context.

And lastly, but most certainly, by no means least. My architecture hero - Frank Lloyd Wright. Just plain bloody awesome.

I made my first Casserole of the winter on Saturday night. I had some chuck steak (from my favourite bovine beasts - the Highland Cow - shame to eat them as I do adore them). Anyway, it was given to us as a thank you by some farming friends around this time last year, so it would be rude not to. It's been lurking in the freezer for so long I thought I'd better use it or lose it. It was *delish* and was followed by an old-school Edmonds Cookbook self-saucing Chocolate pud with vanilla iceream. Let me hear you say "YEAH"! 

So what's all that 'cupcake' business going on in your image?  I hear you say.

MINI PIES. That's what!

Here's the guff. Make a casserole with too much for your family to possibly eat in one sitting (that's easy for us with 2 small skinny children - more difficult, if not impossible, for families with teenagers). Anyway, save what you can or make up some tasty mince, and, on a Monday when you really don't feel much like cooking, take a couple of sheets of puff-pastry from the freezer and cut them into 4's (squares) and push them into an oiled cupcake tin. Take your leftover meaty goodness (could be done with a vego casserole too of course!) and plop into pastry cases, blend up some wholemeal bread crusts with parmesan cheese and fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary and/or parsley), salt & pepper. Tip a pile of this on top of each little pie and push down a bit, then top that with grated Colby cheese to hold it all together. Bake in a medium oven for 20-30 mins. 

And voila!  Mini pies. Go on!!  Then stand back and watch the love from your husband grow... ha!

One of the many wonderful things about living here in Rotorua is that we have a crazy-good selection of options for a good old fashioned walk in the woods. Through forest, around lakes, up to springs, over hills... everywhere you look there's a wonderful walking track to explore amongst the woods - pine, fir, beech, gum, and probably the most iconic here - the Redwoods. 

So instead of going for my usual Friday morning mountain bike ride yesterday, since I was full of (lowers voice) *snot* I went for a walk with the dawgs in the Redwoods. There's a great walk up some big steps to the top of an old quarry with a view out over the forest towards Lake Rotorua. 

That's Pepper on the left and Koko on the right. English Pointers are lovely little beasties. They're bird dogs so they love to watch, point at and chase birds, and have absolutely no desire to kill. And unless you're traipsing about in the snow (which they wouldn't like much since they're really soft) they're generally in complete contrast to their surroundings so are easy to spot racing around amongst the trees.

The view from the top of the quarry out over the lake.

And for a wee treat a coffee at the end of the walk from this cool little coffee cart outside the Redwoods visitor centre. Are they as obsessed about coffee in other countries as much as we are here?

Right now I'm feeling the love! My super sweet husband Harm just delivered this coffee to me. He cut out the heart shape from a bit of paper and sprinkled the chocolate through it. Simple, and effective! He received a kiss in appreciation :)

So, anyway, when you work from home and are pretty much in charge of, well, everything you do... it takes some kind of behemoth effort to keep on track and not allow yourself to be toooo distracted by all the seriously distracting things one finds online. I'm a bit of a shocker and keep telling myself to get back on track and stick with the program!  Which is quite funny coz I'm doing it right now whilst writing this post. What I should be doing is working through my ever-long "To Do" list.

Okay, okay, back to it then!

So if you've been following any of my recent posts on Facebook you would have seen a myriad of really interesting and beautiful objects made from my favourite material. Yup, wood. They just keep turning up. I think that as people start to re-appreciate the simple things in life, wood is having a absolute renaissance and is being used more and more for everyday and simply just-plain-lovely-to-own objects. I mean just look at these totally gorgeous and clever things. Pretty darn classy and quite fun at the same time. And made using the very old skool method of wood turning in their creation.

I heard about them over here on the very cool Studio Home blog which I've been oggling and salivating over for a while now.

See what I mean, there's just so much great stuff happening out there, it's impossible not to feel inspired every single day.

OK so here's the thing. I've known for a looong time now that in order to engage with people, grow your brand, and keep things interesting, you really outta keep a regular Blog. And I've done n.o.t.h.i.n.g about it. Until now. This is the first official blog post (as opposed to just putting stuff on Facebook) of what will become a regular sharing of what's taking my fancy at the time - clever people doing inventive things, inspiring stuff, adventures, family… who knows where it'll go... there's just so much out there that I love and want to share, and this will help keep me inspired along the way :)

So, to start with just look at this STUNNING range by Ann-Karin Wiktorsson from Sweden (of course).  With her passion for food, she's created several well-known products for the kitchen and she also designs textiles for homes and public spaces. Finding inspiration and motivation in everyday situations, Ann-Karin works with designs that bring together functional, tactile and visual elements - much to the delight of those who use the products.  I'm just so in love with these!  If you have a few spare minutes, take a browse through the Sagaform Catalogue and be blown away by their range of top of the line Scandanavian design. My oh my.