Neon! And Succulents!

Awhile back, I came across this great DIY (on a lovely little blog called The Proper Pinwheel) featuring one of my favorite trends right now: neon (my love of which is obviously a holdover from being a child of the 80's...only this time I will not be dressing head to toe in neon yellow). 

 (photo by Lexy of The Proper Pinwheel)

Since I already had the IKEA pots, and succulent trees badly in need of some trimming/transplanting, all the girl and I had to do was make a quick trip for some neon paint (orange and pink for us). She carefully helped me tape off the pots a couple of weeks ago and this past weekend we finally got around to replanting some of our succulents!

I'm quite happy with how they turned out, and they are now living at the front door of our Eichler, looking all happy and neon-y.

And speaking of the house, it looks like we might be able to submit the plans to the city for permits next week!!! I believe that process takes 3-4 weeks, but it's exciting to finally be able to see a bit of forward movement. We are so so ready to move in!!!

Confirmation.

During May, Tom started his confirmation preparation with our parish priest. Tom and I have been for lessons for the last three Thursdays. We are working our way through the book Sacrament of Confirmation Catechetics by Fr. Peter Murphy. It is a great program and is preparing Tom for the sacrament really well.

Today we also watched this video:



For his saint, Tom has chosen St. Dominic Salvio.

This weekend, Tom and I will go to Whyalla to buy fabric for some new pants, a good shirt and jacket to wear. Maybe just this once, I can finish them before the day he is confirmed. It has become tradition for me to be putting finishing touches on outfits just a couple of hours before they are due at the church.

He will be confirmed on the 16th of June by Bishop O'Kelly. Between now and then, we will be praying this prayer each day for Tom.

I have also added the Prayer to the Holy Spirit to my sidebar.

The Weekend.

What has happened at our house in May?

Life has been busy busy busy during May for us and I have been reliant on my diary more so than any other time in my life. June is shaping up to be just as busy but I am feeling pretty confident with my diary usage been much better than it has been at any other time, that it will be manageable.

In May, Amelia turned 11. We had a Saturday afternoon party. She had about 10 friends over. It was a great afternoon.

Brigette also had a birthday. She turned 15. She decided she didn't want to have a party this year because she wants to have a 16th. I hope she doesn't want anything too big.

Joseph has been doing lots of therapy for his leg. We had a trip to Adelaide for him to see the Rehab specialist. Joseph is going to have botox treatment for his left hemiplegia in June. We are having another block of physio with a couple of physio students this month on Fridays.

Christopher has also started speech therapy. There is still a lot of sounds that he doesn't seem to be able to say clearly. At the sessions, it is really obvious that he is progressing well but I still have to remind him often at home when he doesn't say words correctly. If he has a second shot at them, he can usually say them very well.

I have meet a couple of home school families in Port Augusta. We have started to get together fortnightly for the children to socialise and the mums to have a chat. It is great to have some other families here for support. Sometimes home schooling can seem like you are all alone in the world so this group has been a gift from God for me.

Thanks for visiting.

Therese.

I'm back.

Hi Everyone,

Been away for just over a month. I wanted to take a break and pray about social networks and where they all fit into my life.

I love blogging and keeping up with other people's blogs. I think that since Joseph was born though, life just seemed to busy to keep up with all the blogs I was before and I felt a bit torn between not posting enough or not reading other people's blogs enough.

Since I love it so much though, I do want to continue doing it. I also want to have more contact with friends that I have made through blogging and keep up with their news too.

After a month away, I have decided to try and post three times a week. This is not too big a commitment and gives me time to still keep up with other blogs.

I have also started a facebook page for my blog here:

http://www.facebook.com/AussieCoffeeShop

I will post links to all my posts and write updates about our family too.

Therese.

The French Invite!

The French Invite is now available in the shop!

the pursuit - part 2

edinburgh's coffee has improved dramatically over the last 12 months or so and shows no signs of slowing down

for visitors this is great news

for those who live here this is FANTASTIC news!

you'll see from the april 2009 'the pursuit' blog entry that this was not always the case - a frustration that drove the creation of this blog in the first place. many a 'bad' or 'abominable' coffee rating was added to this site in the hope of saving others from making the same mistakes as us

but now more and more great, independent coffee shops/cafes are opening up all over town. the best ones source excellent quality coffee from local and/or independent suppliers because people who are passionate about coffee seek out the best ingredients available. equally important are the skillful baristas who coax out the perfect espresso and, for those who like a longer drink, add beautifully soft, stretched milk to make a lovely, lovely coffee

so now that the balance of good to bad is starting to shift, it's time for a change of policy

we've taken down tens of older posts for bad and worse coffee shops that we don't intend to visit again

reviews we place on the site from now on will be for good or better coffee shops. so if you see it on this site, and you're in harmony with the assessment criteria, you'll find some of the best coffee in edinburgh

happy coffee drinking!

Spoiled by the Husband.

Last week, Herman was in Paris and London for business (rough, right?). The girl and I were originally supposed to tag along, but seeing as we made a recent rather large purchase, we had to live out our Paris and London dreams through Herman. He sent us videos every day, took lots of photos, and brought us back some amazing goodies.

Bernachon Kalouga Bars. Last year, when we were planning our trip to London and Paris, Herman and I spent a lot of time reading David Lebovitz's blog for food tips. One thing he talks a lot about is the Bernachon Kalouga bar that you can only get in one shop outside of Lyon: A l'Etoile d'Or in Paris. He RAVES about this salty caramel chocolate bar and being a salty caramel chocolate lover...I needed to get my hands on one. So we made the trek up to the store (in the northern part of Paris) only to find that David Lebovitz himself had been in just the day before with a group of tourists and cleaned out their entire supply! Talk about disappointing!

Herman was only in Paris for two nights, but he still made the trek up to A l'Etoile d'Or and came home with a stack of Kalouga bars for me. It's taken a lot of self control, but I haven't torn into one yet. This is special chocolate that I've waited over a year for, so I'm waiting for the right moment. I don't want to be too full or too hungry. I want to be in the right mood. I want to enjoy it 100%. I know it'll be amazing. 
 

Monmouth Coffee. When we still thought Emilia and I were going with Herman, I found this great book called The London Coffee Guide. Part of the plan for us (while Herman was in meetings) was to go to a different coffee shop each day while we were out exploring the city. So I picked out a few of the best sounding ones, made a coffee map for Herman, and he came home with 2 bags of beans from Monmouth Coffee. They've built relationships with different coffee growers around the world and know exactly where the beans are from and how they are grown. The roasts that Herman brought home were suggested because they cold brew well, which is my favorite way to drink coffee. I'm currently sipping the Organic Finca Las Lajas from Costa Rica and it's yummy!
 

Crabbie's Ginger Beer. When we were in London last year, we went to a great little pub for dinner, and while the fish and chips were great, it was the Crabbie's that I fell in love with. Unfortunately, you can't find it in the states, but Herman did manage to bring home 3 bottles for me. It's SO good. You have no idea. 
 

Smythson of Bond Street. I have a great love of pretty notebooks. Herman surprised me with this beautiful little one from Smythson of Bond Street. Now I know how the Queen feels (seriously. They are the Royal Stationers)!
 

Orla Kiely. Naturally. Herman FaceTimed with me while in front of her gorgeous store. I want to live in there. Or at least in a house surrounded by her beautiful patterns! The mug and notebook are a perfect start. 
 

London Graphic Centre. My husband knows me so well. He found this art supply store (I could easily spend hours in here) while walking around Covent Garden and grabbed me yet another beautiful notebook. A pantone one for my geeky graphic designer self.

And of course he didn't forget the girl. He brought her back a number of lovely little things (Paddington Bear!), but by far her favorite is this snow globe from Paris. And it's blue! That's her favorite color you know (as she tells us every time she hears the word "blue"). Dexter didn't get anything. He's just happy to oversee the gift giving and have everyone home together.

nobles bar

nobles bar, at 44a constitution street in leith, is a large, high-ceiling-ed, bar with an emphasis very much on good quality ingredients, not just 'bar' food and alcohol.

we visited by day and enjoyed their brunch menu, greeted by friendly attentive staff and a good choice of options.

this is a very relaxed place where you could while away the hours over a paper/i-device, a meal, coffee or a beer - rain, hail or shine.

they use matthew algie coffee and took care in preparing the flat white we tried. it was very nice, a little on the weak side but still had good rounded flavour. the milk texture was also soft.

good coffee and a great vibe

- coffee: matthew algie

- coolness: stained glass windows meets pub

- website: www.noblesbarleith.co.uk

- dog-friendly

view the larger edinburgh coffee shop map

papii

papii at 101 hanover street in the new town has a welcoming crisp white frontage and almost summery feel inside with friendly, welcoming staff

it's relatively small with mostly white tables and chairs of various shapes and sizes and counters against both front windows so you can sit on stools to watch the world go by. they're kid friendly with baby changing facilities in the loo

as the blackboard below shows, they've a variety of wholesome looking food to choose from. the pasta and potato bakes looked particularly good but smoothies, breakfast, soups and cakes were also available. as the blackboard also proudly states, papii use artisan roast coffee

we tried the double shot flat white which was a joy. the milk was lovely and velvety allowing the rich, sweet, coffee to shine

these guys are clearly passionate about their coffee so we'll be back to try them again soon.

- coffee: artisan roast
- coolness: sunny feel even when it's not
- website: papii facebook
- child-friendly

view the larger edinburgh coffee shop map

Happy Friday!

Much of this week was spent finishing up a custom letterpress job...I made the dye a bit more vibrant than I did with my original mini cards and I'm really liking how it turned out!

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

Herman.

Yesterday marked one year since Herman had an aneurysm rupture in his brain. And while physically, Herman is completely back to himself with absolutely no physical sign of everything he endured (you can't even see the massive 9 inch scar on his head)...emotionally he and I are still quite raw from it all. I cry quite easily whenever I talk about him. I get scared that he's going to have another aneurysm. The thought of how close Emilia and were to losing him still takes my breath away. 

Herman is without a doubt, the best man that I know. We were 20 and 21 when we met. We were 23 and 24 when we got married. We were babies who had no idea what we were doing or what our future would hold. 14 years after first meeting, we're still best friends. We laugh together. A lot. He's taught me how to live our lives as adventurers. He's pushed me to follow my dreams and gives me freedom to be who I am. We've grown up together and I am the person I am today because he's been by my side for the last 14 years. He is my rock. He is the love of my life and every single day of the past year I've thanked God that I get to continue to live life with him.

And Herman as a daddy? It's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. He and Emilia are such good buddies. Do you know that even though he's the CEO of a start up in the Silicon Valley, every Tuesday he takes off work early so that he can be at her gymnastics class then take her for dinner and "Baba night"? Every single week. He'll come home from work in time to give her a bath and so the three of us can do her bedtime routine together, then he goes back downstairs to finish work. He bought her her first bouquet of flowers because he just couldn't resist. He knows her. Really knows her because he spends a lot of time with her. And he goes out of his way to make sure she knows how much he loves her. And someday, when a boy comes along...she's going to demand to be treated the way her daddy treats her. There are no words for how thankful I am that she gets to be raised by him.

We are so amazingly thankful.   

 

Mom's Day

Herman left for a week long business trip Saturday, so we celebrated Mother's day on Friday by heading to Santa Cruz (oddly enough, something we've never done together). It was so cold, but we had a great time doing all the normal boardwalk things (carousel, junk food, silly games) and playing in the water. Last time we went to the beach (Half Moon Bay), Emilia was too scared to get close to the water. But this time? Full on love fest. We're going to have to do this more.

House Update.

Are we moved in? you ask. Um. No. Unfortunately not. 

As I mentioned before, we love the house as is, and quite frankly, I'd move in tonight if we could. But it is a 54 year old house that has had no updates. And if we're going to tackle one big thing, we might as well try to tackle as many as we can at one time. 

Big Thing #1: Removing the floors. Yes, I really do like the original tiles, however, as with a lot of construction during that time, the glue they used to stick the tiles down contains asbestos. Yup. We've been told repeatedly that we can just leave it and as long as it's not disturbed, it'll be fine. But my response is, "Didn't we find out that it's not great to live with asbestos?" Especially with a child! Also, we're trenching through the floors for a gas stove and other electric/plumbing needs...which I consider disturbing the asbestos. So yeah, it's going.

Big Thing #2: The kitchen with the amazing mid-century cabinets. Oh how I love you...but you gotta go. We're taking both of the kitchen walls out to completely open up the space. The current living room (where the fireplace is) will become the dining area, there will be 2 long islands in the kitchen (with the fridge, etc recessed into the utility room wall), and this area you're looking at will become the living room.

Big Thing # 3: Again, while we love the original wood panels, there's no insulation behind them. Anywhere. Even the exterior walls. Which, I know we live in California, but we'd still be bleeding money trying to keep the house either cool or warm. So down come the panels (don't worry, we'll put some of them back up) and up goes the sheet rock, insulation, and of course, earthquake retrofitting. While they're in there, we'll also be upgrading all the electrical, as well as installing split AC units. Yay!

 

Right now our architect is finishing up the drawings (for the kitchen area and for a laundry/mudroom area) and then we'll be able to get permits and get to work! We're hoping to be in the house by late summer. Fingers crossed. 

A few years back, when this Eichler dream started forming in our minds, Herman came across this Eichler in San Rafael. Now, while there are some things I don't like about it (why oh why would you cover up the post and beam ceiling?! Why?), we LOVED the openness of it and how the long islands didn't have any uppers. After we purchased our place, we revisited that photo and realized it's the exact same floorplan as our house. So basically we took this photo to our architect and said, "We love this. Can we do it?" And that was that.  

There are a few things we wanted to do that we just aren't able to at this time. We really wanted to add more windows in the atrium/hallway, but it got way to complicated and expensive so we axed it. Hopefully at a later date, but you know we'll be happy with it as is. And I'm sure our daughter will be forever grateful that she can exit her bedroom and bathroom without looking into the atrium.

The Weekend.