~Surprise flowers for Mother's Day this Morning~

This morning when walking out the front door Mr Armchair saw these gorgeous flowers at the front door........a surprise for me for Mother's Day (although they should have arrived yesterday)

How beautiful are they........lovely Paeonies and Pink Carnations

Thank You so very, very much Darling Girl

And when speaking to her later on she said I could enjoy Mother's Day all over again so I think I just might do that!!!

JoJo chose a lovely beaded necklace for me with a shell butterfly and she also made a lovely velvety card 

Mr Armchair gave me some new Body Lotion, Aerin by Estee Lauder

A little reading material here

I've been staring at this boxed set of Game of Thrones since Christmas

Obviously I stared hard enough and they are here lol

Also a lovely book by local Author Susan Southam the same Author of Velvet Pears

These beautiful books tell the story of Foxglove Spires at Tilba......

Last year my Son (who is back safely now from trekking) gave me some Champagne that we had for lunch yesterday set up by Mr Armchair

We also went and saw the 50 year celebration  of Sound of Music.......at JoJo's request!!!

Meanwhile my Sister Brigita sent me a lovely pic of her together with my Mum

so I sent one back to her of one of me and JoJo

A lovely Mother's Day and a lovely day

Hope all you Mums out there also enjoyed your Mother's Day

Till next time......Dzintra

~Happy Birthday JoJo~

A couple of weeks ago JoJo celebrated her birthday.......the event of the year in this house!!!

We celebrated with a Wiggles Birthday Cake

The day started off cold for coastal style......8 degrees centigrade

raining.......bleak........blowy......boats bobbing up and down but a calmness at the same time 

Sometimes I just love these sort of days!!!

Perhaps the boat in the foreground 'Crazy Diamond' is a Pink Floyd fan

JoJo is a Floyd fan as well, as we all are!!!

Pancakes for breakfast

At JoJo's request she wanted to go to her favourite Restaurant in Canberra......La Scala

Mind you she requested this back in February so we thought why not......lots of time to get ready for it!!!

Pasta for lunch for JoJo

And gluten free for me......Salad plus Fat Chips

Check out the size of these chips!!!

We happened upon a Hospitality Shop and JoJo saw the biggest potato masher ever!!!

Back to La Scala for dinner

and Dessert

Plus we saw a huge bottle of wine also

Must be the day for Big Stuff!!!

We also took her to see The Phantom of the Opera which opened the night we went to see it at the Canberra Theatre

What a brilliant show this was......we just loved it

Free-Rain Theatre has successfully won the rights to stage the premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera in Canberra and negotiated with two nationally and internationally recognised, musical theatre stars for the lead roles and the services of one of Australia’s most accomplished young theatre directors.

The role of the Phantom will be played by Michael Cormick who has won international and national acclaim for lead roles in The Phantom of the Opera, Romeo & Juliet, Chess, Evita, and most recently; End of the Rainbow for the Edinburgh Festival and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s West End production of The Woman in White.

Julie Lea Goodwin who will play the role of Christine has appeared in the role in 200 performances opposite Anthony Warlow on the Australasian tour and also starred as Maria in West Side Story. 

text from the theatre's site

There was enough Wiggles Cake left

for JoJo to take a small portion in to her Day Programme!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GORGEOUS GIRL JOJO

with lots of love xoxoxo

~Lunch with Adriano Zumbo at Rick Stein at Bannisters~~

We are back at Rick Stein at Bannister's again this year...

we were there earlier this year to celebrate Mr Armchair's special birthday....

(read about it over here)

This time for Lunch and a Book Signing with none other than the one and only Adriano Zumbo

The table

The Menu

The view

The wine

A Salad of Lobster, Avocado, Green Beans and Foie-Gras

Grilled Fillet of Barramundi with Clams, Peas, Asparagus and Parsley

Nothing is too much trouble at this Restaurant......my version is a gluten free one......the difference between this and others is the Sauce

Often I have experienced gluten free version meals at other places......yep, all without the sauce

I even had gluten free bread as opposed to other places......they just leave you with an empty plate

The Macaron Master himself......Zumbo giving us Question and Answer time

Signing his books 

Even got a pic of him and me

Amaretto Creme Brulee with New Season's Berries

The Macarons for our table

and here they are with his book as a backdrop

Turning the yellow one over it was all golden......how beautiful I thought

We had a lovely lunch......met other Zumbo fans......JoJo was cared for by Respite Care......what a great  day to kick back and be fussed over

Thank you so much Rick Stein at Bannister's......you've done it again

Howcome everytime we go there I get addicted to seafood all over again!!!

Bon Appetit......Dzintra

Shattered 9 Patch...New Project and Lunch with Theodora Cleave!!!

Wow was all that I could say when I saw these quilts...

especially the ones above and below...made by Debbie at my Needlework Group...

Called the Shattered 9 Patch and done in Japanese fabrics!!!

Simply stunning!!!

And lucky us...Debbie is going to be running a workshop on this quilt...

what a good test that will be for Nina (my new machine)!!!

same quilt using different fabrics!!!

More quilts using totally different fabrics!!!

They are just beautiful...good job girls!!!

A new little project for us by Fiona which I'm keen to do...
I haven't done many felt projects but do so enjoy them!!!

And one can never have enough pin cushions right...I find them addictive, just like bags!!!

And on the same day I met up with Barb of Theodora Cleave...new to town here

Both being gluten free we headed off to North Street Cafe and Bar which specializes in the most delicious gluten free food...
Here's Barb's choice...an Asparagus Bruschetta...

Home made beef sausages...crispy roast potato and a salad for me...
Can't get much better than that...lunch after sewing and planning new projects!!!

And a surprise gift from Barb...these gorgeous buttons!!!
Thank you so much Barb...

if you're interested to see more of what Barb has been up to visit her blog over here...

The weather here is absolutely beautiful...took a beach walk yesterday...

now I'm just waiting for Summer and more Salty Blue Days!!!

Time for the Armchair Queen to get out and about...

Now...I'm really getting out of my Armchair, getting out and about and went to TAFE (have pulled out of the practical side for the rest of the year due to surgery) to hand in my long, drawn out assignment. To be handed in was...a cover letter for my own Restaurant (make believe, Dzintra's by the Sea)...7 entrees, 7 mains, 7 desserts PLUS a wedding menu for 50 guests and all costed!!! This sure took up this Armchair Queen's time...of course blogging in between.......so today after handing it in I thought I deserved to shout myself lunch at..... this cute little cottage...
side view...I sat just behind the second umbrella on the little verandah...

...my little table overlooking the courtyard...

...my lunch, roasted pumpkin and spinach frittata and salad...soy latte and I was tempted... and had a toblerone cheesecake....with ice cream, and read magazines on offer!!! A beautiful sunny day to top it all off, a well deserved lunch ...what more does one need after all this hard work!!! Well...maybe a glass of pink bubbly at home...