Rustic Supper

I made wholemeal bread today and we had it with pea, broccoli and asparagus soup.  It's amazing what you can whip up even with nothing apparently in the pantry...  frozen peas.... how often have they saved the day!  And unusually Willow will eat green soup, but not touch a green veg in it's natural state.  

Nerja Weekend

Last weekend we visited friends Nikki, Guy and Monica in Nerja.  Fulvia, J.M. and Bianca came too.  We had fun.  It was extremely windy.  I made strawberry daquiris and passed out.  Was very sick.  How embarrassing!  Anyway, Willow had a ball with the girls.  She has grown up so much so quickly.  She's a little girl now , very independent and full of life.  And can she talk!

Willow and Monica

The girls hangin out in Nerja

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you are all happy, healthy and enjoying some family LEISURE time! I know I have been off the radar for a long time but I am so pleased to be back in blogland! If you don't know, I have been travelling in Australia, Malaysia and the UK since before Christmas. I enjoyed a fabulous family reunion in Melbourne which happens every 2 years and lasted for 3 weeks. As you can imagine it was all too short and sweet. Then I moved on to an island in Malaysia called Langkawi. It was amazing. I have to say that the Malaysian people in general are the the nicest, kindest and most pleasant people I have ever met. Then I spent over a month in the UK where I (underwent) a cycle of IVF treatment. The treatment unfortunately was unsuccessful which came as a big shock to my husband and I as the first time we did it resulted in our beautiful daughter Willow. We assumed it would happen for us again so we were very upset and disappointed. However it didn't last long as we realised how fortunate and happy we already are. Que sera sera.... etc.. etc...

Homemade hot cross buns..... delicious!

Willow's nursery had a gallery of decorated eggs. We had a go but unfortunately Willow was too sick with a bad cold on Wednesday to be there for the prizegiving. Somehow I don't think we were in the running. You should have seen some of the pieces the children/parents displayed! Works of art!!

This photo was taken by Willow, and she decorated the cupcakes too. I was trying to tell her that less is more, but at Easter time I guess it doesn't matter!

The weather has been glorious! Thankyou Mother Nature! x

The Hello Kitty Birthday cake and cupcakes I made for Bianca's 5th birthday party. Happy Birthday Bianca! She had a wonderful kitty cat birthday party.

I took the time to swap Willow's bedroom into the spare room so now she has a full on playroom/bedroom. It's so much better as now there are no toys in the loungeroom

She really loves her new bedroom/playroom

You know they are up to something when it goes very quiet for at least a few minutes...

This is a photo that Willow took of one of her paintings. I love it!

Easter (Semana Santa) in Spain is such an important religious and family time. Marbella goes from being basically a sleepy village to a bustling international town. Fortunately the weather gods shone down upon us and gifted us with sunshine and warmth. It has been a very pleasant holiday period. Willow is now in bed asleep, which is a blessing in itself considering the amount of chocolate she has eaten. We are not long home from a wonderful lunch which turned into dinner.... the best ones do don't they..... We dined at Fulvia and JM's apartment, overlooking the sea, on the terrace, in the sunshine.... delicious Italian food, fresh, tasty ingredients and amazing flavours.... Burato mozzarella, tomatoes and pesto, Saltimbocca, pasta, plenty of white wine, coffee and chocolate. Willow and Bianca played together nicely, mostly...

Good Night and Sweet dreams... xxx

Getting very excited about our trip. Can't sleep, got so much to do and organise and remember... We leave next Saturday for UK, then to Australia on Christmas Eve! Not too busy to fit in some pre-xmas parties and lunches though... had a brilliant time at the Fashion TV party at Bono's Beach last Thursday. Free champs! Left at a respectable 1.30am so was fine next day (bit dehydrated!) Caught up with Simon and Emily and Ela at Shiraz on the port for Sunday lunch. Good fun. Willow had a ball....

Cute Pics...

Benahavis Sunday Car Boot Sale

Fiesta Fiesta Kids Art and Craft Workshop

de Pola family antix

Willow's Weekend Antics

We all know Willow loves a party frock, well this one we bought from the Lindsay at Box Rooms and Frocks. She has a stall at the Benahavis Market on Sundays. This will be Willow's Boxing Day Lunch dress in Melbourne. We had to fight her to get it off!

She loves to help me cook. Here she is making her own spaghetti sauce.

Gosh it has been a busy old time. I apologise for my part-time blogging! First we had Vanessa and John to stay which was so fantastic. They are our very good friends who live in Newcastle in New South Wales and even though it's been a few years since we saw each other it was just like it was yesterday. We went to meet them off the ferry in Tarifa (they had been in Marrakech) then we all stayed in Tarifa a couple of days at the Posada La Sacristia, a gorgeous boutique hotel that has been there a while but is still very stylish. http://www.lasacristia.net/

Willow with John and Ness

After they left I had to quickly organise a kid's Halloween party for 12 in Sierra Blanca. It was a lot of fun. As it was also my birthday on Halloween, I had to race home and change into my Mortisha outfit and head off to our adult's Halloween/birthday dinner party, held at Evita for Buenos Aires, in Nueva Andalucia. This was a brilliant night with a great group of friends. We then went out to Studio 10 for a boogie and ended up at home at 5am! Poor Maria from La Latina was babysitting Willow and I think she was hoping to go out after herself!

Willow dressed as a Ladybird to go to her nursery Halloween party

Willow and Dahlia, one of her teachers at La Latina

Willow and Gaby

Tanc or should I say Drac and Nicola ....

Mortisha and Witchie

Cruella, Monk and Tony Montana...

Then last Saturday I had a 9 year old girls party to host in Hacienda Las Chapas. They were a gorgeous bunch of girls and it was lots of fun playing games then dressing them up for dinner with hair and makeup. They were served Babysham by a black tie french waiter (her dad) before sitting down to spaghetti dinner. Very cute.

We are also organising/designing our ensuite bathroom at the moment. This has moved up a step as we are hoping to have it done while we are in Australia.

Off to clean up the organised chaos (i wish) in which we are living right now...

The good news is Willow is toilet trained successfully. The bad news is she is hitting people (including her friends) a lot...

Checking out the latest Agent Provocateur catalogue!!!

Making a train out of the box that my birthday flowers arrived in.... thanks Mum and Dad!!!