Thought for Thursday ~ Marriage

A quote from my friend's wedding

Happily Forever After

On Saturday our family enjoyed the most wonderful day! 

(Click on any of the photos to see an enlarged image)

My best friend Martine married the love of her life, Peter SangHeon Jeon

It was so nice to speak with Martine and her parents before the wedding ceremony. I was bursting with excitement! I couldn't wait for the ceremony to begin. Martine's beauty was a ray of sunshine. She was glowing. I was so happy to see my best friend's dream about to be fulfilled

Martine and Peter were married in the Brisbane Australia Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at Kangaroo Point. The ceremony was so beautifully worded. Very special for everyone who attended

Mr and Mrs Jeon

With our religious beliefs we are married in the temple for time and eternity, not 'til death do you part. We believe our lives do not end when we die that we live on in the eternities and what better way to enjoy this than with the ones we love

Martine's family

The inscription on the Temple reads

'Holiness to the Lord . House of the Lord'

My husband David and I with Peter and Martine

I surprised them by wearing my Hanbok (traditional Korean clothing)

Peter is originally from South Korea

In the afternoon a beautiful reception was held at a relatives home with the Glasshouse Mountains as a backdrop

The bride and groom arriving at the reception

The weather was perfect and there were lovely people to chat with

My Auntie Cathy made the beautiful wedding cake

The lace work was Exquisite! A scrumptious mud cake

Mr and Mrs Jeon were so happy

I embroidered this keepsake piece as part of Martine and Peter's wedding gift

Wishing Peter and Martine the most wonderful life together

I'm so happy as their eternity has just begun~^^


Julia xx

Friday Find ~ Fiona Hill Art

I am starting a 'Friday Find' for my blog. To introduce you to artisans and their beautiful handmade gorgeousness. There is so much character, uniqueness and love in every handmade piece whether it is a painting, cuddly toy, or jewellery. . . to name a few!

Do you love texture? Do you love colour? I would like to introduce you to Fiona Hill. A mixed media artist from New South Wales, Australia

Her cards, prints and original paintings are colourful and brighten your soul

I particularly admire the textures in Fiona's paintings. Click on each photo to see the detail

Mixed media painting Love comes to me  <-- link

Original painting Separate Worlds  <-- link

Quote by Fiona ~ 'I delight in the discovery of new textures and mixed media processes. I believe that our thoughts create our lives and often look to combine my art with inspiration'

A piece of art for children

Acrylic painting Follow Your Dreams  <-- link

Fiona's artwork is handmade using various materials, such as ~ acrylic, water soluble and spray paints, pens, crayons, gel medium, newspaper, and clear vanish

Visit Fiona's shop and her blog to find out more about her artwork. Also creative pursuits with her beautiful daughter



Sophie bunny was made using an adorable woodland themed fabric. She has a sweet crochet tail

I'm going to my best friend's wedding tomorrow! 

Hope you have a lovely weekend, 

Julia xx

Chicken Ginger Congee

Hubby found a Chicken Ginger Congee recipe in The Courier Mail and asked if I could make it some time. I made it last weekend. It was yummy. Good winter food!

Did I hear you say "What is congee?"

Congee or conjee is a type of rice porridge or gruel popular in many Asian countries

In Korea, it is known as Juk. It is considered the ideal choice of food for babies, the ill or elderly, as it is easily eaten and digested

I have made a Korean Juk before ~ 소고기 야채죽 ( SoGoGi YaChaeJuk )

Translation is 'Beef Porridge with Vegetables'

It was very tasty!

I'll do a post on this recipe another time

Chicken Ginger Congee

Serves 4

1 litre chicken stock

500ml water

4 slices fresh young ginger (I used minced ginger)

1/2 cup long grain rice (we prefer the texture of medium grain rice)

200g chicken, diced into 1cm pieces

1 tsp Chinese rice wine (I had rice wine vinegar in the pantry)

Salt and ground white pepper

2 tbsp spring onion, finely sliced

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp fried shallots

2 tsp fried garlic

Soy sauce, to serve 

Bring the chicken stock, water and ginger to the boil in a large heavy-based saucepan over a hight heat. Add rice and reduce the heat to medium-low

Simmer for 1 hour, covered, stirring occasionally to prevent the rice from catching until thickened and most of the liquid has been absorbed

Add chicken to the congee, cover and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Add rice wine to congee and season to taste with salt and pepper

* I added the spring onion, sesame oil, shallots and garlic during the cooking process 

Serve congee in bowls, sprinkle with spring onion, drizzle with sesame oil and top with fried shallots and garlic

Serve with soy sauce on the side

Recipe by Michelle Noerianto  

If I have the ingredients I'll be making Beef Vegetable Juk (Beef Porridge with Vegetables) today. Our baby boy (9yrs old) was picked up early from school yesterday. He has had temps and felt rather horrible. I'm sure it will help the healing process

If you try this recipe I hope you enjoy it!

Big day at the Ekka

On Monday August 12 we took our children to the Ekka for the first time

They were so excited to go! 

We went with our friends. It was great to share the experience

Here's our son with the kissing fish

How adorable are these ducklings?

The animal nursery was a hit

Love the detail on this chooks feathers

Beautiful calf

Sideshow alley

It was a busy day at the Ekka

One of my favourite games when I was a child

If I was on this ride I would have the same facial expressions as the lady on the left

The show bag pavilion was packed

By late afternoon it was time to rest our sore feet

At the center arena we saw horse jumping

Wood chopping

Extremely loud Devil's Taxi 

The Rooftop Express Show was good

During the singing of the Australian anthem

These guys were very talented

You could feel the heat 

During the fireworks display there was a guy flying with a jetpack, quad bikes with kites flying behind them and fireworks attached to it, laser light show, and Ironman dropped by

One of the fireworks entertainers

On the way home our children said they had fun and we couldn't wait to climb into our comfy beds

Hope you've had a great day, Julia 

Some exciting news... and Banana Cake

First I would like to share some exciting news with you!

On August 5, my Pear Pincushion made from vintage fabric 

was featured on the front page of Etsy.

My Etsy shop closed a while ago

Last Saturday I baked Banana Cake and watched a movie with our children

Served with ice cream and strawberries. Yummo!

Our eldest son said 'I don't like the cake. I love it!' 

It was time well spent, to see how much they were enjoying it

Who doesn't like fresh baked goodies straight from the oven?

This recipe is from my beautiful Mum

Banana Cake

1 cup raw sugar

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp bi-carb soda, dissolved in 2 tbsp milk

4 or 5 mashed bananas

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups SR flour

1 tsp vanilla 

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven at 200 oC 

Prepare cake tin ~ lightly spray with oil and line with baking paper

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and bananas

Add dry ingredients, then milk and bi-carb soda mixture

Mix for 2 minutes until well combined

Pour mixture into cake tin

Bake in oven for 30 minutes

Have a great weekend with your loved ones

Navy Ship and Fish & Chips

Yesterday afternoon we took the kids for a drive to see USS George Washington while it is docked in Brisbane. We thought the boys, in particular, would have thought it was cool however they didn't. One comment was 'Where's the fun stuff?'

Click on image to zoom in

It was nice to get out of the house, do something spontaneous and have some family time together. The fish and chips we bought on the way home were yummy

Have you done anything spontaneous recently?