The Block 2012 Week 1

So, I'm obsessed with The Block! It's funny, I was not interested in the first few series from years ago and last year I was very skeptical but it sucked me in, and this year I've been waiting with bated breathe for it to begin.

So week one is done and dusted and the first room has been judged and Dan and Dani's Bedroom/Study reined supreme. However it was a week of low numbers all around and I am with the judges, they all need to step it up and buy some DECENT CURTAINS! So here's my personal judgement on the rooms.

Dan and Dani's - Bedroom/Study 

Walls - Colour! Yay, often the 'blockheads' are so safe sticking to white but I feel it's much more relaxing and luxurious to be in a bedroom with some colour. A subtle grey like this is neutral and calm.
Floors - This dark grey carpet works very well with the softer grey on the walls and white skirting.
Furniture - The bedspread is very busy and looks fuzzy here. It's actually a fine grey chevron but a larger pattern would have looked better as well a throw and a few bigger cushions would have creating the 'display bed' look. I love their use of colour. Bright splashes seem to be their style. The desk is great although the shelves are a bit sparse and I like the mirrored wardrobe but to me the desk is too small to call this room an "office" as such. I LOVE the ghost chair, it has such a lesser impact than a clunky office chair would have. I like the upholstered bedhead but the checkered pattern is a bit much. I do like the Bally poster buuuuut the idea is a bit 'been there, done that' on the block..........

My vote 6.5/10
This couple have a strong style. If you have seen all the episodes you would have seen this style of theirs in both their elimination room and their own apartment. I like it but I don't think they are thinking of the area they're in or the buyers they're looking at. This room is very coherent, smooth and streamline.

Mike and Andrew's - Office/Guest Room

Walls - I can see why they went a stark white when they've chosen such a dark floor but white is so plain.
Floors - They are extremely dark and to me maybe a little overpowering in such a small room.
Furniture - I'm a massive fan of the restored fireplace and love the desk and the chair, this is really an office to me. Also loving that they actually filled the shelves, as the room looks much more lived in. I would have hung the mirror, but I also agree with the judges that the shelf (not seen in this photo) and the mirror should have been reversed. I liked the little reading nook (again not seen in this photo) but the lamp was way too high! The tilt away bed rocks, and they've got great shelving around it. But I agree with the judges the artwork/pull lever looks really out of place. And to finish, cow hide rug......... urgh!!!

My vote 6/10
The guys are seeming to go for the bachelor pad look and it could work in this area. I'm wondering if they will extend this flooring and wall colour throughout the house, I'm thinking yes, I believe though it will be very overpowering without some more colour....

Brad and Lara's - Sitting Room

Walls - White has worked well here as they're keeping the period features and are going for neutral colours in the furnishings.
Floors - Loving, Loving, Loving the red wood polished floor!! I'm assuming they'll extend it throughout the house and it will fit the house perfectly and future buyers will be able to add any style they want to the room.
Furniture - I love and blue chair and ottoman and am so so about the white couch. I love the modern coffee table and modern entertainment features. However the rug does not work for me! White rug, with a white couch and white walls, too much white. A navy and cream stripe or grey chevron would have worked much better. The mirror looks a little odd until you realize it matches the flooring but it took me a minute to find that connection...... The shelving looks cheap with all the resizing holes so visible and I agree with the judges, put the mantle back!!

My vote 6.5/10
I think this couple have done the right thing taking the real estate agents advice. This is a million dollar area and a formal sitting area works much better and I think will match the buyers needs the best. I'm so happy that they're focusing on keeping the period features of the house. I love their frames and skirting!!


Sophie and Dale's - Dining Room

Walls - Again stark white...... Imagine how much cosier this room would have felt in a grey, navy or taupe!! I love the skirting but the contrast they're going for with the coloured skirting has not worked for me and shrinks the room a little... I'm not a fan of the exposed brick work, usually I would like it but in this housing market it looks cheap. I love that they punched through the wall and created a stream line between this and the rest of the living areas.
Floors - Perfect flooring choice to me :-)
Furniture - The table is stunning!!! I love it and the clean and simple look it gives with the steel legs. The light fitting is gorgeous and a brilliant touch. The sign..... OKaaayyyy, but would have looked better on a coloured wall. The chairs are a massive disappointment! This is a terrace house in a multimillion dollar area, not a student share house furnished with op shop finds! And the same goes with the hutch/dresser, there are so many better shelving options or even a side board would have worked better. The mirror collage is a bit amateurish, photos would have fitted much better, or a single large mirror.

My vote 5/10
The table and light fitting are the heroes of this room, everything else is rather disappointing. Where has all the imagination they showed in elimination gone? A rug on the floor would have centred the furniture much better and a set of formal dining chairs would save this room. And just like the judges I say "invest in better curtains!!" Especially in a room with so little furniture in it. Floor length curtains are a must! I'm torn about keeping the second door, I think I'd need to see the house to make a better assumption, however taking it out would have given the room a bit more space.


Ok, so here comes week two. Two rooms! Wow, intense for the second week but I think they can do it. Some people need to think about their health and sleeping patterns a bit better if they want to get through the 10 weeks without a mental breakdown. But I'll be watching every second! (sometimes a day late though as some days I work evenings)

Are you as addicted as I am? xxoo
Roxanne

Cuppa Tea

The older I get the more I love tea. Is it a natural progression that comes with age or is it just I love a hot beverage but the thought of instant coffee makes me gag? Ehhh, who cares I just love starting my day with a big cuppa tea!

Here's a picture of my morning magic. Lipton black tea, Sanitarium So Good soy milk and a good fine bone china cup! Add some boiling water and Tah Da, a perfect morning ;-)

It's gotta be Lipton for me. It's the tea my family always had in the house and I've always bought for myself. I ran out of tea a while back and my Chef bought me some and grabbed a no name el-cheapo brand and urgh! It was not Lipton and the flavour was not right!!

 As a Lactose Intolerant person I struggled giving up my dairy and moving onto soy but Hot Chocolate and Coffee got me there and now I can't even tell the difference. Which can sometimes be a bad thing if a waiter makes a mistake with my drink order and I don't realize I drank milk till I'm running to the loo :-P But after trying a few Soy's I settled on Sanitarium So Good 99.9% fat free. It's nice and light and creamy without being too nutty and I love it in my tea, on cereal and in my mash potato.

I can only drink tea out of fine bone china! It's so delicate and really nice to drink out of. Holding a hot cup of tea on a cold morning is brilliant. These two are my very special first ever Cath Kidston purchases and I use at least one every single day!

Tell me what is your morning magic? Do you like a morning routine? xxoo

Roxanne

This post was not sponsored by any outside source. These opinions are entirely my own. :-)

Buttermilk Scones

Taste.com.au's Buttermilk Scones

I'm a massive fan of scones!! I love them and covering them with jam and cream is amazing!

I used to work with a lady named Janine who made the greatest lemonade  scones I've ever tasted and she used to make them into these great big things that had people coming for miles around. It was funny to see how disappointed people would get when they discovered that she only worked on the weekends and her scones weren't available on other days ;-) She and I got along and she knew my love of them so would always throw the last little bits of batter together to make a smaller scone and would save it for me :-) I loved these days! (for any foreign visitors lemonade does not refer to the yummy lemon and sugar drink often made in the US, it refers to the clear fizzy soda, lemonade)

I also remember when I was very young and my Mum was working nights in a restaurant and whenever we visited her work we'd always get scones with jam and cream and would all sit together (mum, my brother and sister) and eat them. I'm sure this was just a ploy to keep us quiet but it is one of my earliest food memories :-)

So you'd think I would make these every week the way I'm talking but no, as easy as they are, they aren't something I've made that often in the past and only really ever ate them when available outside my home. Then about two year ago I was given a recipe for lemonade scones and my love affair was rekindled! Yet this time I became the baker. I've perfected the lemonade scone recipe however I always need to go buy the ingredients to make them as I don't keep them around regularly. Then one day I had a massive craving for scones but had no lemonade. I did however, due to my baking endeavors, have buttermilk! So a quick search on my go to site http://www.taste.com.au/ and I discovered buttermilk scones!

This recipe has been a favourite ever since, though now I am torn.......... Lemonade or Buttermilk - Buttermilk or Lemonade? I cannot make up my mind and decided I would write a blog on each to compare and contrast and give me a chance to eat a lot of scones!! However since there's only two of us living here making two batches of scones in one day is a liiiiiittle extreme so I'm going to do it one at a time. So here's my buttermilk scones!

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/19423/buttermilk+scones

 Sift the flour and add the sugar.

 Weigh and soften the butter - my measurement was slightly over but oh well :-P

Add the butter and rub in with your fingers until mixture 'resembles fine breadcrumbs'. I've never actually understood this instructions as flour and butter has never to me resembled fine breadcrumbs but I say just make sure there's no lumps of butter and it's all combined.

Next make a well, pour in buttermilk and stir to combine :-)

Now for the REALLY messy part! Knead dough on a floured surface and cut into any size you like and place in a square baking tray.

 It's oven time!!

And 15 - 17 mins it is!!

 I take this time to clean up...... Dishes!! Gaaahhh!

 All done in record time, though with a bit of a mess on the floor! I am not the most skilled at keeping all the water in the sink buuuuut, we can't all be perfect :-P

 And it's cream whipping time! Out comes the trusty Kenwood tri blade with the whisk attachment.

 And for easy cleaning I pop off the attachment and give it a quick wash and away the Kenwood goes!

 My most favourite part, the non slip base on the beaker comes off and fits on as a perfect sized lid.

 Mmmmmmm, fresh from the oven!

 I couldn't wait so I popped some out and served them with the whipped cream and a yummy blood plum jam I bought in Cobram late last year.

You can't see but there was steam coming off them at this stage. I could barely wait to eat them!!!

Mmmm, so I was eating my last scone when I remembered I should probably grab a snap of one smothered with toppings! Mmm, I would eat another right now if I wasn't totally full from the first round :-)





They are so fluffy and moist and I pull them out before they all brown so they don't get too crispy as a prefer them soft! They really are yum and with the sugar are just subtly sweet unto themselves. They are great and very easy, so if you have the stuff in the fridge and the cupboard give them a go and let me know what you think! As I said I'm torn........

Happy cooking xxoo
Roxanne

First Post!

Well hello and welcome to my blog....... As an initial post I'll introduce you to me and what I hope this blog will become.

My name is Roxanne and basically I have a butt load of opinions and want to share them. Just like you I have opinions on every aspect of life and often share them, I tend to be stubborn but will freely admit that I have had my mind changed on occasion, so don't give up on me just yet. ;-) However this blog is not going to be me just spouting crap (although some may question the validity of my content :-P). Mostly I'm going to be offering reviews on products, books, magazines, foods, movies and general news.

I have friends who run the most wonderful blogs and I love getting those special emails telling me that a new blog has been posted! It's exciting and has got me thinking, I have a fair few opinions and like to try out new things, maybe it's my turn.

I'm a self confessed social media addict. I love how Facebook has changed my world and brought back friends into my life who I'd probably never have seen or spoken to again. I am yet to venture into Twitter. I'll probably get there eventually buuuuut I was a late comer to facebook so I'm sure I'll get there one day. Pinterest is my current vice. I joined earlier this year and got a little bored of it for a minute but am back with a vengeance and with almost 2000 pins currently I think you can say I am on there a liiiiiittle too much..... :-)

I'm a dance teacher and own my own dance school. We are a very small school and are growing slowly but surely. You'll be amazed the things this career will lead me into discussing. But around concert time (November) expect me to be a wild haired freak who discusses sewing incessantly and you just want to grab hold of and shake, whilst yelling "CALM DOWN!" in an entirely un-calm manner.

I also work in a wonderful kitchenware shop that will open up opportunities to review and discuss the products we all dream of owning due to their prestige yet don't actually know all the details and functions of. Which of-course leads me to my love of cooking. Namely baking. I am a cake lover and with my job offering me the option of expanding my decorating skills, I've become quite the little baker. Buuuut with a partner and a brother who are chef's I do tend to get a little shown up every now and then.........

So here goes nothing, I hope you like it....
P.s. being a dancer I feed off constructive criticism. So if you have any advice or ideas to offer I'll never turn down an offer of help :-)

Thanks for reading xxoo
Roxanne