Can a Brown Thumb Turn Green?

We moved house a few months ago.  From a block in a residential street to five acres. Five acres! We didn’t really want that much land, but we loved the house, the outlook and the location.

Five acres is a lot of land. A lot of trees, a lot of green and a lot of maintenance! We’re not gardeners, but my daughter has been busting to garden almost since she was born (as well as camp and fish – her parents are a huge disappointment to her). So, to bring my daughter’s dream of a veggie garden to life, I’m determined to learn how to turn my brown thumb into a version of green.

So, we started. We started by investigating if we had any veggies already in the garden. We discovered tomato plants, basil, a couple of paw paw trees and two lemon trees. But we also found a lot of weeds. We spent two days pulling weeds then mulching around the existing veggies. It all looks amazing. I have to admit, I’m quite proud of myself.

My daughter is now so keen, she wants to enter the Australia Country Style Harvest Table Garden competition.  She has to grow a garden full of vegetables and document it all in a journal. She’s bought a fist full of seed packets and is developing big, big plans. So, wish her luck (and me as I suspect help will be required!).

Sunday Smooch With Amalie Berlin.......

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from  Amalie Berlin, but first 


... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Fedora.....please contact Annie West at Annie (at) annie-west (dot) come to collect your copy of SEDUCING HIS ENEMY'S DAUGHTER  .....




And now for today's Sunday Smooch from  Amalie Berlin........

Falling for a desert prince…

Sleep therapist Dr Adalyn Quinn has had difficult patients before …but gorgeous Prince

Khalil Al-Akkari presents a whole new challenge! Darkly brooding and haunted by the night he failed to save his brother, Khalil is the last man Adalyn should desire…

But as they share long nights under a desert moon, it becomes impossible to deny their sizzling chemistry. Can Adalyn help Prince Khalil recover the peace that eludes him…even if it means unlocking the heart she’s protected for so long?

What reaction did he even want? For her to kiss him back or run for the hills? Theoretically, and for entirely different reasons, either reaction would do. Only now he wasn’t all that certain he could follow through on the idea to kiss her senseless and send her away for the sake of his friendship with her brother.

All the planning didn’t give him what he needed. Curling his hand around that bun her hair had been worked into, he dragged her to meet him, and caught her with her mouth open. That plump little lip that had tormented his palm, that he’d watched her repeatedly dampen with her tongue, he caught it with his lips. A tiny sound of surprise and alarm sounded in her throat, but it took very little for her to relax into his grip. Her head fell back and it took no coaxing at all for him to gain entrance into her mouth.

Suddenly, it was no longer about scaring her away. It was about the feeling that rolled over him as his hand left her hair and he wrapped his arms around her. He’d wanted to taste her since that first night when he’d caught her in her underwear, the first time she’d blushed for him. It was pure. It might be pure lust, but she wouldn’t let him kiss her if she saw him as a monster or a villain.

Small hands fisted the material of his shirt as if she wanted to tear it off him but could only manage to twist and tug, helpless in the face of unexpected need that might ruin them.

Her kisses went from timid and accepting to wanting to ravenous in the space of heartbeats.

Despite the heat, she still smelled sweet. He pressed her back into the blanket, rolling with her until he could feel more of her soft body against his.

He could forget like this. Forget everything—the world, his responsibilities—just revel in what she could give him. Wrap her around every painful part of him.

Except it was a lie. One he wanted more than anything to be real in that moment.

She wasn’t really his. This was a cover story, maybe a dangerous game of chicken…but nothing more. She wasn’t his, she was Jamison’s sister.

He heard a manly throat clearing and reluctantly broke the kiss to look toward the tent flap.

October 1, 2015 release date in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and North America

 

Have you any mild phobias you’ve been forced to deal with? Spiders. Snakes. Flying. Public Speaking. Babies(I’m pretending this one is normal for everyone, not just me.:)

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch from Jennifer St George will be posted!

Amalie's Website       Facebook     Twitter
Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver

Spring is in the Garden

Mid way through spring and the gardens are looking wonderful. A few weeks ago I blogged on Love is the Best Medicine about my husband's vegetable garden and all the goodies I was looking forward to.
What I also get very excited about are the fruit trees.
We have cherries to look forward to.

Plus pears.

Peaches, nectarines, fejoas and plums.

Raspberries, boysenberries and strawberries.

I have always been an avid fruit consumer. Growing up my parents owned fifteen acres of land where they had a commercial flower garden. But two acres were covered in fruit trees and coming home from school afternoon tea was basically whatever fruit was in season. Summer made the choices a little difficult as there were so many, but winter meant basically citrus. My brother and I could be found sitting under the trees devouring fruit most days of the year.
I am not much better now, though I don't sit under the trees. I have one of those blitzer machines and every day I make a fruit smoothie or mixed fruit drink. The freezer is currently chocka full of bags of mandarins to put in these drinks.

Living out here, surrounded with the bush, we have to share our fruit with the birds. We do put up netting on some of the bushes, especially the berries, but hey, there's usually  more than enough to go round.

I adore fruit desserts, in salads and plain old whole and fresh. What's your favourite way
to eat fruit?


 Oh, and the glasshouse is looking good.

Special Project: Our Christmas Box Set!

Today we have another sneak peek at the stories that will be in the first ever box set of stories from the LoveCats! 

Last week we posted the blurbs of the stories from Michelle Douglas, Helen Lacey, Stefanie London, and Louisa George. This week are the final three stories from the box set.

Millionaire Under The Mistletoe

Kandy Shepherd

The last thing London-based chef Carly de Luca anticipates on her surprise trip home to Sydney for Christmas is a steamy encounter with gorgeous Dylan Burke. Dylan--her first love, and the man she left behind when she fled Australia. Old feelings reignite but high-flying millionaire Dylan won’t take the risk of further heartbreak with beautiful Carly, the woman he’s never been able to forget. Can Christmas weave its magic to help Carly and Dylan let go of past hurts and take a second chance on love?

Her Small Town Christmas Wish

Jennifer St George

Turtle Beach is the last place international singing sensation Giselle Harrington wants to be for Christmas. But she' determined to sell her mother's estate and finally erase all evidence of her tragic past.

Jake Carlton has never forgotten the girl who skipped town without a word, breaking his heart when he was 16 years old. He's followed Giselle’s illustrious career from afar, convinced she'd never return to Turtle Beach. When he discovers she's home for Christmas, will he have a second chance at love or will a terrible secret tear them apart forever? 


All She Wants For Christmas

Rachel Bailey

Two days before Christmas, a helicopter unexpectedly brings mystery author Samuel Ruxthorne's estranged wife to his island home. When she pulls divorce papers from her bag, he's not surprised. Bitterly disappointed, but not surprised. 

Maddy wants to move on with her life. The first step is to divorce her ruggedly handsome, brooding husband, and since he didn't reply when she posted divorce papers, she decides to do the job in person. But when a tropical storm blows up and there's no safe passage off the island for days, will Maddy find that what she really wants for Christmas is something else entirely?

I don't know about you, but I can't wait for Christmas, despite the stress that it often brings of trying to get everything done for the day. Tell me, what are you most looking forward to about Christmas and what's the one thing you wish you could skip this year?

Vindaloo To Go

I thought I'd share a new favourite recipe!  I've been looking at vegetarian recipes and especially those with chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) because they're full of goodness and they come in convenient, easy to transport, tins!  After a bit of combing through recipes online and in books and then a little adapting I've come up with this chickpea and vegetable semi-vindaloo!

We're on the road at the moment and I've just made this in the caravan.  The great thing about vegetarian cooking is that the clean up is easier.

This is us on the banks of the Lake Cargelligo Weir

So here's the recipe for...

Chickpea and Vegetable Semi-Vindaloo

Ingredients 

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter
• 2 heaped dessert spoons of crushed ginger (or less if you don't want it too hot!)
• 1 heaped teaspoon of crushed garlic
• 3 tablespoons curry powder(again add a little less if you prefer)
• 1 x 140gm tin tomato paste
• 1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
• 1 cup vegetable broth – (a teaspoon of vegemite dissolved in warm water works here too)
• 1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 2 or 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 500gm diced pumpkin
• 2 x 400gm tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 250 gm mushrooms, diced
• Salt and pepper as needed

Prepared vegetables

 

Directions

1. Heat the vegetable oil/butter in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the ginger and garlic. Saute 2 minutes.
2. Stir in the curry powder and heat for about 1 minute
3. Add the vegetable broth/vegemite and stir until any lumps have gone
4. Add tomato paste and again stir until smooth
5. Stir in the coconut milk.
6. Add all the fresh vegetables, mushrooms and chickpeas and stir.
7. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are tender stirring occasionally.  (I like it when the pumpkin is slightly overcooked and it starting to become part of the sauce.)
8. Serve with rice or noodles or on its own as the fancy takes you!

Ready to serve

I'll have mine with noodles, thanks!

And a slice of freshly baked bread!

Got any favourite spicy dishes or meals cooked with chickpeas you'd like to share?

Sunday Smooch - 'Seducing His Enemy's Daughter' by Annie West

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from Annie West but first 


... the winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is Sharlene.


Can you please contact amy(at)amyandrews(dot)com(dot)au to receive your copy of 'Some Girls Do'.


And now for today's Sunday Smooch from SEDUCING HIS ENEMY'S DAUGHTER.


Just a pawn in Salazar’s game?  

Donato Salazar can’t forget his tragic past and he has no intention of forgiving the man responsible. Jilting his enemy’s daughter will be the icing on the cake of his revenge, and beautiful Ella Sanderson is certainly sweet enough.
Except Ella isn’t the vacuous socialite he expected and she refuses to marry him! Her rebelliousness only makes Donato want her more, so he’ll have to persuade her…touch by breathtaking touch. But soon Donato finds himself enthralled by their magnetic connection.
As their fake wedding day approaches, one question weighs heavily on Donato’s mind: to love, honor…and betray?

 

Scene set-up
Ella and Donato have been resisting the sizzling attraction between them for a long time (or so it feels). Ostensibly they're enemies but behind the fighting words there's a lot more going on. Donato has just challenged Ella to admit the attraction and act on it.

Smooch  -

 

The moment of silence grew to two pulse beats, three, four, more. His nerves and his patience stretched. He forced himself to stand unmoving, as if he wasn’t strung out.

Then with what sounded like a muffled oath, Ella launched herself forward. She cannoned into him, soft and curvaceous, warm and delectably feminine. Automatically he grabbed her to him, catching her in a tight hold. Her arms looped up over his shoulders, her hands burrowing up through his hair, pulling his head down.

He had a moment to register that fresh-as-a-garden-after-rain scent then their mouths collided and his brain shorted.

So good. She felt even better than he’d expected. And she tasted—

Donato plunged deep into her mouth, forcing her head back, swallowing her sigh of response. Ribbons of heat unfurled through him as he savoured Ella, so delicious, so right. Her soft lips, her demanding tongue, the way she melted into him even as she challenged him to give more. He angled his head, hauling her even closer, lost in a kiss that was so much more than he’d expected, despite his anticipation.

He couldn’t get enough. Her lush body cushioning his instant erection. Her hot, eager mouth that tasted of peach nectar. Her thigh, sliding restlessly against his leg as their tongues tangled and lips fused.

Donato grabbed her thigh and hauled it up, swallowing her gasp of shocked approval. There. He wanted her there. He bent his knees, angling his hips so he rubbed against the softest, most secret part of her.

To his delight Ella’s hands tightened against his scalp, not pushing him away but clutching as if she couldn’t get close enough.

Dimly he wondered what had happened to slow seduction. To years of expertise at pleasing a woman. To caution and taking things one step at a time.

With Ella there were no steps. There was just a headlong plunge into riotous need.

Now, I'm giving away a copy of 'Seducing His Enemy's Daughter' (International) to someone who leaves a comment. To get you started, and because the lovely, lush cover of this one features the Sydney Opera House, tell me what performance you'd like to attend live there. A favourite opera? A play? A particular rock band in concert? A musical? A one man/woman show? Or something completely different.

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch from Helen Lacey will be posted!

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver

TA DA!!!

I know it seems like only two months since I posted about my house renovations but it was actually two lifetimes, three tonnes of dust, four unnecessary fights with my beloved and a few lunches that Cosmo stole off the workmen ago.

While there are a few final tweaks to be finished such as a new window seat and my 1960s chairs to be recovered (in the most beautiful turquoise wool fabric) for the most part it's finished and I'mso pleased with it. Wanna peek?

Here is:

Before:

  

During:

After!!

Now that all that excitement is over I'm tempted to read a renovation romance! Do you have one you could recommend? Or would you rather keep your renovating and romancing very separate ;-)