easter fun

                             

Today we had family over and enjoyed some lovely Spring sunshine and home baking in the garden. It's that time of the year, so I thought I would share this easy and super yummy recipe. 

hot cross buns

dough

1 cup               water

1/4 cup             butter                                                                 

1/4 cup             sugar                                                   

1                     egg                                                

1 teaspoon        salt                                                    

3 3/4 cups          strong white bread flour                                                   

1 teaspoon        fast action yeast                                                   

2 teaspoons      cinnamon                                                               

1/4 teaspoon      nutmeg                                                    

1 cup               raisins

                                                  

crosses                                                                                                       

1/2 cup             plain flour                                                             

1/4 cup             water              

                                         

glaze                                       

1 tablespoon    sugar

2 tablespoons    water      

                                                                 

Put all the dough ingredients (except for the raisins) in the mixer, let it knead for a few minutes until the dough stops sticking. Cover and leave it in a warm place to rise. The dough setting on a bread maker would also do the job and it will allow about an hour for the dough to rise in the bread maker.

The dough should take about an hour to double in size. Place the dough on a well floured surface. Mix in the raisins and lightly knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. 

Divide the mixture into 15 pieces. Shape them into round smooth balls and flatten slightly. Cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Prepare the crosses mixture in the mean time. Combine the flour and water, then pipe crosses on top of the buns.

Bake the buns for about 15-18 minutes until they are golden brown. For the glaze, melt the sugar with water over medium heat. Glaze the hot cross buns and enjoy them whilst they are still hot!

beautiful Croatia

We had a camping vacation in Croatia back in Summer 2009 but I somehow never shared the pictures on my blog. The gorgeous warm weather today reminded me the lovely time we had in Croatia. We visited a few cities during the 10 day visit, the trip started at Pula with a hired car. Pula is the biggest town in Istria with the Roman amphitheater, which commonly known as the Roman Arena.  

We only stayed at hotels for the first and final night but camped at some truly beautiful areas we stopped along the way. Croatia's main tourist attraction is its beaches. The Adriatic coast and islands are lined with amazing beaches, with countless bays, ports and marinas. It was there we experienced the naturist beach for the first time. There are normally signs around marked as "FKK". 

The other cities we visited were Split and Zadar. The former is an ancient port city with Roman ruins and where Zadar attracts a large amount of yachting tourism with its charming beaches and promenades. My favourite place was the Plitvice Lakes National Park. It is the oldest national park in Southeast Europe and the largest in Croatia, also well known for its turquoise lakes arranged in cascades. There are apparently 16 lakes can be seen from the surface. I love it simply because it is a paradise for walkers and nature lovers. The lakes are so clean and luminous that you would want to jump right in but unfortunately swimming is strictly forbidden!

It was such a long time ago that we visited Croatia but I do remember the food was rather delicious and I couldn't help visiting the local fruit stall daily. I think early September is the best time to visit as there will be less tourists, temperature is between 25 and 20 degrees Celsius during the day and much cooler in the evening. 

even the ordinary can be extraordinary

even the ordinary can be extraordinary

My husband and I adore our little girl beyond measure. She is capable of giving so much but only ask for very little in return. This month posts will be dedicated to beauty in life, in detail and in the ordinary.

Fe xo

Christmas Shoot 2011

Hello 2012! Hope you all had a nice Crimbo and enjoyed your break over the New Year. December just slipped away under my nose whilst I was busy baking mince pies, buying pressies, decorating the house and preparing a few dishes that I was in charge of for Christmas lunch.

Anyhow, I just wanted to share a few pictures that I picked for our 2011 Christmas cards. I hope you like them as much as we do! P is such a darling on every shoot. Well, there are normally some treats involved afterwards. :)

As you know, James and I got hitched last September but we never had a chance to go on our honeymoon. We took the plunge and booked our dream honeymoon 3 days before we left just before New Year's Eve. I can't wait to share some of the pictures with you!

Stay fabulous till next time! xo

week 12

week 12 | Delicious Autumn!

My apologies for the much neglected project 52. Up until September, my life evolved around our wedding planning and spending time with my family that I don't get to see very often. My camera gear was missing some serious TLC for far too long! 

I couldn't believe my luck when I decided to visit Painshill Park in Cobham on Friday and discovered the very last bit of Autumn colours were still on the trees. I was like a kid just got his sweets and ended up spending 6 hours at the park. By the time I left, the park was already closed. I had to climb over a drawbridge and then found the gate exiting the car park was locked!

Painshill Park is absolutely gorgeous and I imagine it is stunning all year round. I was really inspired by the exotic trees and scrubs in their different forms and colours. I am planning to visit again as soon as our first dump of snow! 

The garden covers 160 acres and it's staged around a large serpentine lake. There are surprises at every turn as the walk proceeds. There are a few spectacular sights such as the Gothic Temple, Chinese Bridge, Ruined Abbey, Grotto, a Turkish Tent, Gothic Tower and impressive giant waterwheel that made up the Hamilton landscapes.

They are currently offer free entry every Wednesday for the month of November, otherwise it is £6.60 per person. It is very easy to get to by either car, train or bus. Here's the link for some travel information. 

Hope you all had a lovely and cosy weekend. Will post more pictures from my little visit to Painshill Park soon.

let's do it...let's fall in love

Two months ago today, I married my handsome husband! 

We were very blessed to have some beautiful and awesome friends and family to share the day with us. It was a small gathering over a long weekend, where everyone got to enjoy each other's company.

A few of you might already know that I actually picked our photographer long before James proposed last December! Here is the link to the gorgeous work by the very talented Tec Petaja. Thank you for making us look good!

Thank you so much to those who made it and of course all your wonderful wishes from around the world. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

PS: In case you haven't seen it, here's the website that I built to share the news of our engagement and details related to the day.

Photo courtesy of my amazing friend, Gillian.

TAOP submission - colour

Happy Monday to you all! 

Hope you had a lovely weekend. I started a marathon training schedule and detoxing a week ago, I am already feeling healthier and more positive. We managed to get a lot of wedding stuff done on Saturday, rewarded ourselves with a yummy dim sum lunch after a long hard week, attended a combined birthday of our niece and nephew and finally finished the Sunday with a barbie at ours.

You have probably seen my previous post about my portfolio submission for The Art of Photography at the Open College of the Arts. Here is assignment 2 and it is all about colour. The aim of this assignment is to show my command of colour in photography, being able to find and use different colours in deliberate relationships.

Enjoy browsing through the set and have a fantastic week. Catch up soon! 

COMPLEMENTARY COLOURS

SIMILAR COLOURS

CONTRASTING COLOURS

COLOUR ACCENT

TAOP submission - contrast

Hello lovelies!

It's been far too long since my last post. June seem to have disappeared very quickly when I spent most my time and energy in getting my portfolio, 5 assignments and 60+ projects ready for the The Art of Photography assessment submission. It is a long distance course through the Open College of the Arts that I just completed.

Here are some of the pictures that I would like to share with you. The objective of this assignment is to pair up 8 photographs that best demonstrate contrasting concepts; furthermore a final one that shows contrast in one single photograph.

I will upload rest of the portfolio in 4 parts in the next few days. Please check back in!

Fe xo

SWEET

SOUR

ROUNDED

DIAGONAL

MOVING

STILL

STRAIGHT

CURVED

LIQUID

SOLID

STRONG

WEAK

BROAD

NARROW

HARD

SOFT

LARGE/ SMALL

Rickmansworth Festival

Hello there! Hope you all had a lovely and relaxing weekend.

We went to the Rickmansworth Festival for the very first time last weekend. It normally takes place on the third weekend of May every year at the Aquadrome Local Nature Reserve, which is about 5 minutes walk from our house.  We made an extra effort to go this time since we missed it for the last couple of years we have been here. 

The usually tranquil Aquadrome was turned into a vibrant and buzzing funfair, filled with food and trade stalls, live music plus many more fun activities to keep visitors of all ages entertained.  The festival has been going for over 15 years to celebrate canals, the local community and the environment. 

I was most interested in the farm section where children were allowed to cuddle some of the cutest animals including the gorgeous piglet in the above picture! This piglet was only 3 weeks old and it was the sweetest thing ever. I know some of you might be tempted to get one but this lil piglet would not be suitable as a house pet since he can grow up to 130 kg!

an afternoon in Cookham

J + P patiently waited for me whilst I took picture of someone's lost shoe

I can't believe we are nearly half way through May already! James recently got this new app ~ The Most Amazing Places to Walk in Britain by Reader's Digest on his phone. We found this track not far from us in Cookham and we gave it a go last Sunday. There is a car park just past the Crown pub at the end of the village. We started off along the Thames, where there were many people taking advantage of the weather out on their sailing boats. It was so fascinating to watch and frightening at times when the sailors were caught off guard with the tremendous strong wind and their boats capsized. P kept herself busy and amused herself by getting tickles from every person she met along the way. Have I told you she is a sucker for attention?

Along the track, there are plenty of mega bucks houses on the other side of the river whilst some more humble and sweet cottages on the side we were walking along. There is a pub named the Bounty about 45 minutes from the car park. It was very busy and it looked like the only access was on foot or by boat.

After walking past a farm, we had to take a left turn towards a golf course up on the hill. There are 3 options when you get to the junction; to the right it would take you around the golf course or left towards the car park or up the hill where you have an amazing view of the Thames valley and its surroundings.

All in all, the walk took just under one and half hour at a leisurely pace with plenty of time for pictures of course! According to the app, the route around the golf course is about two and half hours. We rewarded ourselves with some delicious lunch at the Crown pub down the road. They pride themselves in using local produce and offer a great selection of food but no Sunday roast? I must admit the scampi and chips I had tasted very fresh and yummy! We were both impressed our pint of beer stayed chilled until the very last drop. One last note, do bring some cash with you on the walk as we were gutted to watch everyone else enjoying their ice cream on the benches.

Fingers crossed for some gorgeous weather again this weekend so you can maybe give this track a go. James, P and I definitely want to venture on another track around the area.

week 11

week 11 | The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet ~ Lao Zi
千里之行, 始于足下 ~ 老子

My day normally begins with a cup of goji berry tea, a fresh grapefruit then either some porridge or cereal with banana or strawberries. I struggle to function without a decent breakfast. This morning, I came across the above quote from the great ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Zi on the Times newspaper.

Lao Zi's philosophy was introduced to me at the Chinese history class at school. That was like nearly 2 decades ago! I believe the little things we do or the ways we treat each other on a daily basis will gradually lead up to something tremendous one day. 

I often bite off more than I can chew and putting myself in a great deal of pressure. I should really stop to think about it first before I get myself into a pickle again. Another note to myself is to accommodate daily life ups and downs with grace; don't sweat the small stuff!

Here is a little recipe that I want to share with you. Goji berries are believed to benefit the immune system function, protect the liver and improve circulation. 

GOJI TEA

• a handful of Goji berries (soaked, keep and use soak water)
• grated fresh Ginger
• honey

week 10

week 10 | simple things in life

As the weather warms up, the local parks are getting busier and our daily walk with P is also getting longer. We were all rather spoilt with the gorgeous weather in April and it seems May is off to a good start! I spotted this little beauty a few days ago at a common not far from where we live. How often do you slow down and take a notice what is around you? You will be surprised what you find sometimes. 

Happy hunting! xo

week 09

week 09 | Easter fun

According to the Sunday Times, this Easter is the hottest ever! It reached about 27°C where we live. I am not a fan of hot weather but do enjoy a bit of sunshine. The garden has been our permanent hang out place this weekend. We have had neighbours over for a late evening gathering, meals and enjoyed reading the Sunday papers. 

Every year, James and I celebrate Easter by the mean of over indulging in giant chocolate eggs. I wanted to be slightly healthier this year and attempted in making hot cross buns. The buns might not have been pretty but they were definitely tasty!

As you can see, I couldn't help putting up a picture inspired by Easter. Some of you might wonder what kind of egg this is. Well, it's a Chinese Century egg! Hope you are all having a great weekend with your friends and family.

birthday tradition

12th birthday
ps: my hairstyle's definitely improved since then! :)

Every family has their own tradition way in celebrating birthdays. What is yours? 

Growing up, my family was not big on birthday presents but mum always made sure everyone had a birthday cake on their special day. There would also be some red tinted hard boiled eggs, coconut flavoured agar-agar (a vegetarian alternative to gelatine) and mum's yummy cooking. 

It was my birthday yesterday and I realised I have only celebrated my birthday with mum twice in nearly 20 years! I really miss her and the sweet little things she does for us. My fiancé has finally taken on the tradition and did a wonderful job in making my day extra special. (Yes, darling. 10 out of 10!) I will definitely carry on this little tradition in our family.

Once again, thank you all for the lovely gifts and messages. I had a smashing time!

Fe xo