Turning 2

This is my nephew Noa's 2nd birthday shindig - isn't it cute? He loves the minions from the Despicable Me movie and my sis pulled this little setting together. She made minions from Kinder surprise eggs and I made the little felt ball ones with googly eyes.

Spectrum

Well, with the freezing windy wet weather on the weekend, Stitchy and I spent some time together and came up with this Spectrum garland. What do you think?

Garagistes

This is Gargistes (origins here). Very cool warehouse feel, communal tables, Matt Preston at the next table....We found ourselves there on their last opening day before they took a 4 week break and we had a 4 course you-get-what-you're-given lunch. Amazing. My Hobart guide is here.

Hey MONA

In Hobart (or just outside actually) we stayed at the architecturally stunning Moorilla Estate which neighbours the new world class MONA - Museum of Old & New Art which is just mind blowing. That river view is what we had from the sunken spa bath in our pavilion. So relaxing.

Inspirational Ethos

Please excuse the graininess of the photos - they were taken with Mr's (flashless) iPhone at night. Through beautiful gates, past a wooden wheelbarrow herb garden and through a beautifully lit raw brick corridor you arrive in the courtyard of Ethos. The food is served on handmade glazed pottery (as was a lot of the food from Agrarian Kitchen to Ethos and Gargistes in Hobart).

That's a duck egg boiled over a few few hours which we cracked into the the little mound of spinach and parmesan - amazing. The tea was served on a board with silk bags stitched closed with wood and stamped tags and chai and milk and hot water all served in amber medicine type bottles which also housed the little bunch of native flowers on our table. It really was beautifully and thoughtfully done. Low-emissions tapas they call it. The menu was pinned into the cover of old books lined with maps - ours was 'The Family Crotchet book'. The bill was delivered in another. Inspirational.

Wandering in Launceston

In Launceston we came were thrilled to have visited the Tasmanian Design Centre which was just beautiful and there was a stunning park right next door with a gorgeous conservatory in it filled with orchids and plants and quite randomly a Macaque enclosure in another corner of the park. We foiund some really beautiful shops too - Vintage Rose, Homebody, Cocoon.

Agrarian Kitchen

After brownies and lattes we had a wander around the Agrarian Kitchen's farm in our gumboots with our French market baskets and a pair of secateurs. After patting the pig and collecting eggs, we cut ourselves some mint, silverbeet and English spinach from the garden beds and dug down into the little mounds to find white asparagus before forking out bunches of fragrant parsnips.

We split into pairs and cooked away and sat down to our meal of melt-in-your-mouth gnocchi with spinach, white asparagus & mint (topped with crunchy breadcrumbs and lashings of parmesan), followed by braised wagyu agrodolce (made by Mr & I) which fell apart with the touch of the fork served (phew!) with lard roast potatoes, parsnips and artichokes and a silverbeet gratin - all with matching Tasmanian wines. Only to finish with honey poached apple and wild damson jam steamed puddings with cinnamon custard. Ah very full we were.

Brownie

Wandering in Launceston & brownies and lattes to start the day of cooking at Agrarian Kitchen.

Hobart

Bonjour - We had a really beautiful time in Tasmania. The Islington Hotel (pictured here) was our final stop in Hobart.

Ta

This is my niece's (baby Sage) beautiful thank you card - made by Sugarcoated.

Let There Be Light

Work has beena bit full on for Mr and I of late and a holiday is way overdue - we are finally off to Tasmania for a break I booked back in March and it couldn't come soon enough.