Peanut Butter and Orange bird Feeders...




The orange tree at Mia Bella Gardens is bulging at the seams!
In fact all the citrus trees are loaded with fruit...
And every season...
we eat it, bake with it, Juice it, gift it, 
and share it with the birds...


And that's what this post is all about...
Nutty orange bird feeders!
They are pretty simple to make...
In a bowl combine:
softened peanut butter, rolled oats, crushed cornflakes
or whatever you have on hand:
chopped nuts, sunflower seeds, wild bird seed.
Basically the more dry ingredients you use, the more peanut butter you need.
I also added some of the diced pulp of the scooped out oranges,
and some of the juice too,
mainly because the waxeye birds I am making these for...
 LOVE oranges!


Then all you do is stuff the scooped out orange skins with the mixture...


And there you have it.  


This would be a great activity for the kids....
Kids love mixing messy stuff!
Messy play was always a favourite of my children when they were little,
so keep this one in mind as a perfect activity 
to break the boredom of the summer holidays.


Once you have created these bird delicious treats,
 pop them out on your feeding table...
or you could attach string to the orange skins before filling
with the mixture so you can hang in the branches of a tree.


Believe me - it will not be long and the neighbourhood birds 
will be converging on these with complete delight!
These wee cuties are called 'waxeyes'
 or for those of you who are interested in the tech stuff:
 The Silvereye or Waxeye (zosterops lateralis) is a very small omnivorous 
passerine bird of the south-west Pacific.
It is found in Australia and New Zealand.


My little feathered friends just went crazy over these Nutty Orange feeders....
I get the feeling I'll be making another batch next week,
 and the next week,
and the next week....




New Laundry Picture....

I stumbled across these FREE printables the other day 
while looking for graphics for my laundry makeover.
The laundry decor is tired...
Time to change the beach cottage styling
and create a little touch of French Country!
The first step was a new piece of artwork.
And boy was I excited to come across a blog called
'Dorothy Sue and Millie B's too'
The Queen Bee Printable was perfect!
Available with a white or blue background...
(I chose white)
Or reversible graphic.
Pop along to
and have a look.
All I needed to do was print it, trim to size, and frame it!
And here it is.
 And here it is again on the laundry wall...
Doesn't it look cute against the blue?
Thank you http://dorothysueandmillieb.blogspot.co.nz/ !





Strawberry Buttercream Frosting....

Oh my goodness...
This frosting is divine!
There's no artificial food colouring in it at all...
Only pure delicious strawberries!

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

With beaters - whip together 1 cup of soft butter 
3 and a half cups of icing (confectioners) sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
and 3-4 tablespoons of strawberry syrup.
 I made my own strawberry syrup which is simply 1 cup frozen strawberries 
that is simmered over heat until soft,
 mushed with a bit of help from my potato masher, 
and strained through a sieve...
(Blend the left over pulp for a fab smoothie 
with a scoop or two of icecream, 
a tablespoon of sugar and milk.  
YUM!)

So all you do is beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and syrup...
It looks a bit greyish to start with...
but just beat it...
 and beat it some more...
and a wee bit more..
Until it is thick, fluffy and the palest pink!

I baked a simple butter cake to test this frosting on, and it was perfect!
It would work well as a piped frosting, but I didn't have time to do this...

Basic Butter Cake:

125 grams soft butter, 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
3/4 cup superfine caster sugar
2 eggs
BEAT until creamy...
then add...
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour 
and 1/2 cup milk.
Place in a greased 19 cm cake pan. 
Bake at 180 Celsius for 20 minutes 
or until cake skewer comes out clean.
Cool, then frost.

(Note: this recipe makes a small cake 
so increase quantities if large cake is desired.)



Birthday Cupcake...

Delicious passion-fruit cupcake
Iced with passion-fruit butter cream icing...
Decorated...
with sweet fondant  and sugar pearls! 
Who needs a cake when you can have a birthday cupcake?
Blue fondant butterflies...
Gorgeous paper case...
 On a beautiful antique plate...

This plate is 'Paragon'
Pretty, don't you think?
Fine bone china, made in England.
Birthdays are a time to celebrate...
With a cupcake made with LOVE!

Pink flowers....

In love with pink?
Mia Bella Gardens has gorgeous pink blooms...


Papery pink cornflowers...


A lovely contrast with the grey foliage...


Shocking pink fuchsia buds...


Pink orchids...


Sweet pink camellias...




More buds of pink...


With gorgeous green... 


Morning dew drops...


Asters in pink!


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