Good people make good things happen

Have you heard of the rather awesome Mirabel foundation?

Mirabel assists children who have been orphaned or abandoned due to parental illicit drug use and are now in the care of extended family (kinship care). Mirabel believes that every child deserves a childhood and its mission is to break the destructive cycle of addiction.

Mirabel supports children aged 0-17 years and works at restoring a child’s sense of self-worth, belonging and hope for the future in order for them to reach their full potential as young adults.

Pretty awesome hey? Equally awesome is the Softies for Mirabel campaign organised by the lovely Pip of Meet me at Mikes. You can make a cute softie of your own and it will be donated to a child from Mirabel. I met a couple of women from the Mirabel Foundation last night, amazing work they do! You can find out more info from Pip's website here. I'm thinking I'll make some more duck softies and maybe some dinosaurs!


I went along to the launch of Pip's new book Sew Tea La Do! It was held at the lovely Captains of Industry and was great fun! I think you should buy a copy of this book, it will impress you no end, it's really well made with the most beautiful photographs and projects for everyone. I like people who make things happen. It's very easy to complain rather than do, and I think Pip is a great example of someone who works hard and makes things happen. We should all be inspired by that really.

Have you made something good happen lately? Email me at cate@polkadotrabbit.com so I can share the goodness! xx

Gardening shennigans

I bought these little birds at St Andrews Markets the other week:




Here they are protecting the lettuce and silverbeet:






Pretty flowers grown from seed:


Cabbages, garlic, chives and parsley are all going well:



Celery is ready to harvest!



And to celebrate, I'm making celery soup! We have lots of celery so stay tuned for more celery recipes...

Celery Soup Times Ten Recipe
Ingredients

1 bunch celery (including leaves), chopped
1 large sweet onion, chopped
6 cups vegetable or chicken stock or broth
1 potato, peeled and finely shredded
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
salt and ground white pepper
1/2 cup whipping cream or half and half

Directions

In large saucepan, saute celery and onion in a small amount of olive oil just until vegetables begin to brown.

Stir in stock or broth. Bring to a boil.
Stir in potato, reduce heat and simmer 30 to 45 minutes.
Cool slightly. Puree in food processor or blender.
Return to saucepan. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Stir in cream or half and half.
Ladle into bowls to serve hot, garnished with a celery leaf.
Chill if serving cold. Ladle into bowls and garnish with finely chopped celery and leaves for "crunch".
Enjoy!

I won this little guy from the Softies for Mirabel Auctions. Here he is happy at home:

Virals and vitals!

've been away from work for a couple of days with one of those viruses that seems to strike everyone at once and makes you feel too sick to go to work and infect people but guilty enough about not being at work...
'Anyway, I have picked up a few goodies (mostly on ebay) I wanted to share:

Some Pyrex:






Cute Melmac plates from Savers. Chris says they are too girly- I think he finds most of the house too girly alas!

Cute cups that are aching to be used:



I love the 'wrap n go range', I had a similar dress but lost the pattern a few years ago:

Book for reading in bed (after I finish Bill Bryson)

And lastly, here's proof that I have been working on Softies for Mirabel!

Recent purchases on ebay (how i love thee)....

I'm working on some softies this weekend for the softies for Mirabel appeal and if I get them all done I will work on one of these dolls also!

Food Glorious Food!

Sunday we spent the morning in bed for a change then went for Hot Chocolates and cheessecake at the Hopetoun Tea Room in the city. Yummy food and drink but the ambience was kinda spoilt by the commercial radio playing-surely some old tunes would have been nicer? We also saw some Next Wave art including an exhibition in a stairwell of all the rubbish (painted) that had been found in the stairwell. I really liked the idea and I liked the roof top cafe that was on top of the building. (I'll post some pics shortly).

In the evening I made Spaghetti Marinara for dinner, watched Skins and drank wine and ate lots of chocolate. Nice.

Cate's Easy Sunday Spaghetti Marinara recipe:

You need:

• Seafood of your choice (preferrably fresh but frozen is ok)
• parsley
• white wine
• onion
• chilli
• mushrooms
• capsicum
• Spelt Fettucini

1. Cook Fettucini according to instructions.
2. In the meantime fry onion and chilli in olive oil.
3. Add other veggies and cook until brown
4. Add seafood
5. Once almost cooked add a slurp of white wine.
6. Drain pasta and add to the pan with a handful of fresh parsley.

Serve with wine and parmesan cheese.

This week I'm back on my detox program as i need better health/body/energy/immune system for the oncoming months, particularly as I've gained quite alot of weight since I went to england and was eating meals like this:

So a typical day includes lots of fruit and veg, seeds, and wholefoods. No sugar or wheat. I have been extremely tired with a "stonking" headache (Chris' term) for the last couple of days. Lots of sleep seems to help. I am going to dinner tonight at Borscht, Vodka and Tears
and I think I will be ok food wise but it will be hard to resist the vodka!

I bought some wonderful art yesterday on Etsy from seller Artsy including this piece:

I absolutely adore it and can't wait for it to arrive!

Friday...what can I say....

I picked up a couple of goodies in my lunch break:




I adore all things polka dot and the fabric ($2 dress actually) will come in handy as I want to make some red and blue cushions for my office. I made a rather interesting discovery recently. Apparently the rotary cutter I have been battling with is actually for right handed people! No wonder I can't cut straight with it, even when using a ruler! I'm off to Lincraft tonight to see what my options are...maybe there's a dual one or something. Apparently you can refigure them to be left handed but I don't want to risk cutting myself...

I'm also planning to put together my next Polka Dot Rabbit consignment order and send it off early next week, and finally get stuck into my sketching. Oh, and working on my Softies for Mirabel!We're having people over for a monopoly party on sunday lunch, so I thought I might make spaghetti marinara and green salad and lots of wine (we have two cases under the kitchen table)....

Softies for Mirabel

I just posted my Softies for Mirabel to Meet Me at Mikes. I hope the children like them :-)






The Mirabel Foundation supports children who are affected by parental substance abuse. You can find them at www.mirabelfoundation.com