A few of my favourite things…

Gnome in a pot

Rainbow rag rug

Baked claypot chicken rice

A smiley Babushka lamp

What are you loving this weekend?

Heya! I thought I’d write one last post and share with you my first roll of film from my Diana Mini before we leave for our trip!

I was a bit nervous when I collected my film because I’ve heard of horror stories from other lomo photographers about their first roll being a total disaster! But wow, I was pleasantly surprised to find how much I loved my photos for all its quirks and imperfections. I was lucky that most of my photos turned out well (thanks to my film enthusiast husband).

The first few photos I took overlapped or overexposed too much because I didn’t realise that I had to wind the counter all the way till it stopped, before taking my next shot. But some of the accidental exposed shots came out lovelier than I expected! The beauty of the Diana Mini is you can take endless multiple exposures, usually 2 or 3 is good enough. This one had 5 images overlapped! So do it at your own risk!

After I realised my mistake, I started winding the counter properly! Here are a few of my favourites.

Nothing beats a blue blue sky

On a good day during my lunch break, I like to take my packed lunch and sit out at the park or by the beach. I think this is the best view to look at when I eat my sandwich!

My first long exposure shot with the train and cars passing by. All I remember is shouting “one alligator…two alligator” while holding the shutter open.

With me that night was a very hungry and cold husband who modeled in for me while I played with my camera!

Last weekend we celebrated my birthday early and I requested a massively candle-lit cake

Niina brought back a suitcase full of toys from her recent Hong Kong trip

It was a great night!

Film stock used: Fujicolour Superia 200

Today my day with Autumn started out like this…

I took out Olivier’s moleskine and worked on my last contribution for his book. I painted a blustery scene amidst the blue sky since we’ve been having some of those lately.

I used my new watercolour brush pen and watercolour kit. I think it’s one of the best things I ever purchased…besides my Diana mini and imac:)

Then I walked to the post office to mail off Olivier’s book.

And on the way home, Autumn wished me goodbye through the trees.

My Diana Mini is here! Oh the torture I tell you!

I waited and waited for 2 weeks for the postman to bring my new camera, but he never showed up. Then today Richard collected it from the post office and called to let me know. I raced home after work, and rushed through the front door (unashamedly) to open my package! I’m almost embaressed to even blog about this!

It’s so pink! And so cute! And so tiny! I’m utterly and romantically head over heels with my Diana Mini Rose!

For those who haven’t got a clue on what I’m blabbering on about, the Diana Mini is an analogue toy camera from the Lomo camera family. It’s the ‘mini’ version of the normal Diana camera. Unlike the Diana, the Diana Mini shoots on 35mm film only and can take half frame shots and square frame shots. It’s very cute and gimmicky, almost like a fashion accessory really! And like all the Lomo cameras, the photos come out in an explosion of high saturated colours, dark vignette edges and lots of exposed and experimental shots in between. All part of the fun and charm of the Lomo experience!

I can’t wait to start taking photos with it…expect to see a lot of random shots on my blog as I test out my new camera:)

We went to the Kozyndan Opening Show at Outre Gallery. They are a husband and wife team, and are one of my all time favourite artists. Like me, they are also quite bunny obsessed! Their new works had an ocean theme and was simply magical and delightful to see in person!

Rich bought me one of their colouring books and got Kozyndan to sign it. I was super stoked and couldn’t stop smiling the entire night.

If you’re in town, you can catch their ‘Washed Away’ exhibition running from
7 May – 29 May at Outre Gallery, 260 William Street, Northbridge.

Update:
A few months later we went back to Outre Gallery and purchased Kozyndan’s ‘Best Sushi In Town’. It’s the piece which we are standing in front of in the pictures above. We loved it when we first saw it and it always makes a great conversational piece at our dining table!

Some polaroids from our Easter break. It was a good one. Niina and I were a bit obsessed with flying on that day!

Today on my playlist I am listening to Iron and Wine.

I’ve discovered that my husband has a hidden talent in the kitchen! He has strong hands. Good, strong, baker hands! It all started with the pancake batter, I noticed that he could whisk it quite fast into a smooth batter.

So I put him onto the task of making simple flat bread. In the past whenever we made bread, I would either under-knead or over-knead the dough and the bread would end up a little too tough and chewy. But my husband, seems to have mastered the technique of kneading the dough in a quick, strong and efficient manner.

Last night we cooked dhal for dinner and rich made some naan bread for dipping. He made the bread all by himself. This is coming from my klutz of a husband who can’t tell the difference between light soy sauce and dark soy sauce, or sesame oil and olive oil, or name all the herbs correctly in our garden.

But as you can see, bless him…he makes good bread! It was baked golden brown on the outside and when you pulled it apart, it was all soft, light and fluffy in the inside!

Richard’s homemade Naan

Makes about 6-8 medium naan
300g plain flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
4 tbsp milk
4 tbsp plain yogurt
15g butter

- Place a baking sheet on the tray and preheat the oven to its highest setting.
- Mix together all of the dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle and add wet ingredients with 85-90ml of water. Combine by hand and knead quickly until smooth.
- Pinch off small handful of dough and roll into a teardrop shape. Place onto the hot baking sheet and cook for two to four minutes until spots of brown appear on the surface.
- Brush the surface with butter and serve hot.

I took out this Eco Lifestyle Handbook from the local library a few days ago. It’s quite an interesting read with lots of eco tips for your home, garden, business and well being.

Here are some of my favourites:

- Use fresh herbs or flowers ideally cut from your own garden to fragrance your home than synthetic air fresherners. Indoor plants act as natural air conditioners and can remove up to 87% of indoor pollution in 24 hours.

- Wash your fruit and vegetable in a bowl rather than under a running tap. Re-use the bowl of water on your garden plants.

- Once a week have a candlelit dinner to save energy. Use vegetable-based candles.

- Grow mint in pots around windows. Mint is a natural insect repellent. Make a package of cloves, eucalyptus and peppermint to hang in kitchen cupboards and drawers as a deterrent.

- Every time you boil an egg, make sure you save the leftover for your house plants. The nutrients released from the shell of the eggs during cooking are particularly beneficial. Let water cool before using.

- Bake your own bread. Go back to a simpler time when bread was made of flour, salt, water and yeast. You will be able to avoid additives and preservatives found in shop-brought bread.

- Substitute pulses (legumes) for meat. Add them to stew, casseroles, soups and sauces. They are high in fibre, helps to lower blood cholesterol and is a good source of iron.

- Buy free-range, organically raised meat and poultry products. The animals will have been raised humanely and on untreated feeds, resulting in chemical-free food. You can also be assured that the soil from these farms is treated well, reducing the impact on wildlife habitats.

- Avoid products with “meat protein” in the ingredient list, it means you’re buying heavily processed food.

- Water is the best toner for your skin.

- Buy local and handmade.

- Plan a green picnic or a healthy and green holiday. Enjoy nature!

I’ve been admiring the works of Indigenous artist Jeannie Mills Pwerl for some time, especially her Anaty collection or also known as the Desert Yam.

I love Jeannie’s bold and colourful strokes of the Bush Yam. Every artwork is a different variation of colours, from earthy tones to pink and purple hues. It was love at first sight when I saw this piece.

We had the canvas stretched before we decided to hang it up by the dining corner.

I find that the problem with me marrying a tall husband (or him marrying a short Asian wife) is that we can never agree on the perfect height to hang anything. What may be the perfect height for him, always seems so high up for me. This problem is of course bugging me slightly…so if anyone has any tips and advice on how to hang a picture up at a “reasonable” height, please let me know.

But still…the painting is very sweet, yes? I would like to hang a cuckoo clock somewhere near the painting and bookcase. I hope we can find one during our Euro trip. I also hope that Rich will hang it up for me a tad lower this time!

There is little sign of Autumn in Perth as it’s still unbelievably hot over here! On hot days I’m always clueless on what to make for dinner, though we try to cook something light and simple.

A few days ago, I sampled some rice paper rolls from a local cafe and tried not to balk at the price. If my mother had been there she would have been adamant at making our own rolls instead.

So I did that today…mostly with ingredients from the fridge.

Ingredients for filling:
1 cup of cooked shredded chicken
1/2 cup of thinly sliced capsicum
A handful of fresh mint leaves
A handful of fresh coriander
2 tablespoon of fish sauce
2 tablespoon of lime juice

A packet of Vietnamese rice paper rolls.

Other optional ingredients that you can use or add:
Thinly sliced carrots, chinese cabbage, beansprouts, tofu, prawns, chopped nuts or vermicelli noodles to fill up your rolls.

Mix the ingredients well.

Fill a tray or shallow pan with warm water. You don’t have to use too much water, just enough to submerge the rice sheets.

Place one rice sheet in the water for 20 seconds, then gently lift the sheet out and place onto a tea towel. The tea towel helps to absorb the extra moisture. Be careful not to oversoak your rice sheet in the water for too long, as it will get soggy and difficult to handle.

Top your ingredients onto the rice sheet. Make sure the tea towel is laid on a flat surface which helps with rolling your rolls.

Serve with your favourite dipping sauce.