Author: almondberry

kids play kitchen

Play kitchen

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I made this when Jack was 18mths old and I saw other people had play kitchens in their homes. I didn’t want to commit to having extra furniture cluttering up the space so I created this cover for our dining table chairs.  It was sewn out of leftover fabric so it’s washable and is stored in a kitchen drawer. I didn’t want to have a whole collection of kid size kitchen things so I made slots to fit our kitchen utensils. When he’s “cooking” he uses real pots and food from the fridge this means any food that’s past its prime gets used for Jacks cooking before it goes in the bin. It is working better than I expected. Recently we needed to include his ikea stool to the kitchen set up so he could have some “bench space” for his food preparations. Next step is to get him making stuff we want to eat!

dining study

Home office

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We work from home and have had different versions of an home office over the years. Last year we changed to Xero software so are mostly paperless and working off laptops so a traditional office isn’t required anymore. We were also finding having a toddler and an office space weren’t working becuase he needs to be right near you “ helping”.  Then with the arrival of a new baby we were forced to make a choice about the use of rooms in our house. We decided to move the office into our dining area. We put the wireless printer in a cupboard upstairs and created a servery style office with space for each family members “office” supplies and two desks.   We added extra powerpoints and lighting above the desk. To avoid over filling the space with chairs the kids Ikea stools became the desk chairs. We still have to centre the light having the new table. But loving the space and its working really well. As I often do art projects we decided this was the …

hallway

Hallway

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Australia summer your door way becomes a dumping ground for sun hats, sun screen and beach gear. My Great Grandma’s singer sewing machine is used as a hall table. I originally had a hat stand next to it but it wasn’t strong enough for all the stuff we needed to store there. So we got this kitchen rail with hooks from Ikea and added 3M hooks for hats above. Now it means we have to buy fancy hats…..excellent.

caravan

ultimate camping set up

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After a series of tent breakages and a year of deliberation and research about the ultimate camping set up we picked up a second hand 2007 Jayco Hawk. After a quick weekend camp we wrote an extensive list of modifications to make while keeping it a simple as possible to set up. The aim was it should only take us 40mins to set up a full campsite. It turned out great and being self sufficient with luxuries has  opened up so many more camping sites to us…..especially with two small kids in tow. Storage Added drawers in the poky cupboards inside and large drawers to the outdoor cupboard to create an outdoor kitchen. We bought Ikea wire drawers that fit on the floor when the caravan is packed down. When we arrive at destination they fit on the bench secured with small wing nuts to store our clothes. I recommend Kathmandu tanker cargo bags as they compress small bags when you have unpacked. More gas and gas points Added an extra 5kg bottle and got …

propel y culture grants - ru cercle

Panel Member – Arts Grants

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It was an honour to sit on the assessment panel for theDrug Aware YCulture grants. Administered by Propel Youth Arts these $3k grants offer young people funding to get their arts idea off the ground.  It was fantastic to see the process that young people are going through to develop their arts practice and the quality of the projects funded is impressive.  Here is a clip from one of my favourite projects Ru (//) Cercle Image credit: Ru (//) Cercle via Propel youth arts

Curious program

Curious

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Curious was a major project for the community development unit. This project united all the learning programs under one umbrella. Previously the library, meeting place, youth, positive aging, aboriginal engagement and sport created and marketed their own programs individually. This encompassed developing a new name, brand, enrolment, evaluation and workflow management systems……..all meeting accessibility design requirements. It was a fantastic project working with an amazing team of people. Keep up to date with the latest program at fremantle.wa.gov.au/curious or book tickets via Eventbrite.

Cook-a-thon

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We’ve been doing the bulk cook strategy for a couple of months now. It’s saving me! Saturday nights we put the toddler and the baby to bed crack out the wine, cheese and spotify while we prep food for the week. (we make bigger serves so we can add to our collection of frozen meals). Hardest thing I found was finding vegetarian recipes and selecting a variety of flavours and textures that would freeze well. So here are my favourite picks so far! Dinner recipes that freeze well: http://hostthetoast.com/thai-cashew-coconut-rice-ginger-peanut-sauce/ http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-kung-pao-cauliflower-243625 http://www.chefdehome.com/Recipes/717/laksa-soup http://www.aberdeenskitchen.com/2015/07/vegetarian-black-bean-enchilada-casserole/ pasta shell lasagne https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/527484175098340555/ https://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/easy-mushroom-risotto risotto and paella freezes well just add more stock before freezing. Soups http://thewanderlustkitchen.com/easy-tuscan-bean-soup/ https://www.acedarspoon.com/moroccan-carrot-red-lentil-soup/ Sauces Pasta sauce Serve with goats cheese and cashews. http://bbritnell.com/butternut-squash-pasta-sauce/ http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/linguine-porcini-vegetable-bolognese/6de6cad3-a997-4052-864f-a272d6f7183b Serve with ravoli http://www.primaverakitchen.com/how-to-make-basic-tomato-sauce/ Yellow curry paste bulk make the paste or make curry with coconut milk, sweet potato, broccoli, red capsicum and fried paneer. It freezes great! sever with naan or rice. https://pinchofyum.com/easy-homemade-yellow-curry-paste Dinner recipes to cook fresh  These require minimal attention but I’d probably still make this earlier in the day…..  anything can happen …

hospital

Hospital Life

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I lived in hospital for 5 weeks. I wasn’t confined to bed but I mostly hung out in my room, I was allowed to walk to the downstairs café each day and could go on outings if someone took me in a wheelchair. After a week I realised I was in for the long haul so I came up with a plan to embrace my new life. Follow the links below for more details. Fashion and style for hospital life Interior decorating for the hospital room Masterchef with a cheese knife and a hospital menu Supplies from the outside In the end, I was extremely lucky and in an amazing turn of events I was home earlier than I expected. It was actually hard to leave…… so here’s to you Ward 4. Dear Ward 4 Well this is it …..the last night. I feel weird packing my room up. I think I’m going to miss the quiet nights and the city lights. I don’t really know how to say thank you. You’ve seen me desperately …

Gift bags

Supplies from the outside

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Gifts and visits. What do you really want when you’re stuck in a micro environment for months? How much do your friends really like you? I rated them, introduced requested tasks and graphed the outcome. After all the energy to collect this stuff and when I had to move out I made up gift bags to share with the other inmates.