When we have finished setting up the house and office and workroom entirely I intend to sit in this very comfortable chair and read a book for hours, with many cups of coffee and not a twinge of guilt. Aren't those poppies fantastic? They self-seed in Mereth's garden like a weed, so there are always some to cut for flowers. The blooms are at least 4" across, and a mass of silky soft petals.

The first meal I cooked in my new kitchen was spinach and cheese pie. On our road trip over we stopped for breakfast at a tiny petrol station that advertised home-made pies. The cheese and spinach one was divine, so we recreated here, without the pastry because it's healthier that way. It's simply 6 eggs, a cup of grated cheese, 1/2 cup of cream or milk and a packet of frozen spinach. I cooked it for 25 minutes in a med. oven, then sprinkled on the sesame seeds and flaked almonds and let it finish cooking. It was divine, and there was enough for lunch the next day too.I have always wanted a cellar, and this place has a lovely little space with shelves and a window that lets in a surprising amount of light. It's inviting enough to put a chair down there and read. But I think it's going to fill up rapidly with things that need to be stored out of the way. Very few modern Australian homes have cellars, and not many early homes had them either. Pity, they are a wonderful idea.

When we finished the washing up last night I was so enchanted by the blend of colours and textures on the bench that I took a photo. The roses are Charles Austin and Just Joey, and if I had thought to put some lavender in the vase it would have mimicked the pattern on the plate behind perfectly.
This is photograhic proof that I have sewn recently! It's still hard to get into the sewing room, the space isn't set up properly but I'll just have to deal with that until I can get a couple more cabinets. The Janome is set up and plugged in, the music is on and the projects are waiting.....

It seems we are so fixated on patchwork that we even want a patchwork carpet. These are remnants that will cover the floor in the office/workroom. The carpet salesman thought we were mad to put so many different patterns together, but I think they look great. The space will be divided up into different areas anyway, office, posting, printing, quilting workroom; why not a different carpet for each area?