Winter Warmers

It has been such a cold and rainy week, but the perfect weather to cook a real winter warmer.
My family loves this recipe and has become one of our winter favorites.  I thought I would share it with you.

                       

Chicken and Prosciutto Cannelloni.

50g butter  - 1/4 cup plain flour  - 2/3 cup milk - 375ml chicken stock.
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese - 400g fontina cheese grated - 1 tab spoon olive oil.
2 medium onions finely chopped - 3 clove garlic crushed -1kg chicken mince.
2 tab finely chopped fresh sage - 850g canned tomatoes - 125ml dry white wine.
70g tomato paste - 12 fresh lasagne sheets -24 slices prosciutto.

Heat butter in medium saucepan, cook flour, stirring, until four thickens and bubbles. Gradually stir in milk and stock, stirring until sauce boils and thickens.  Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan and a quarter of the fontina.
Heat oil in large saucepan, cook onion and garlic, stirring until onion is soft.  Add chicken, cook until browned.  Stir in sage.  Combine chicken and cheese sauce in large bowl and cool.
Combine undrained tomatoes, wine, paste in large pan, cook and stir for 10 min.Cool then blend or process until smooth.
Cut pasta sheets and prosciutto slices in half.  Place two pieces of prosciutto on each piece of pasta, top with 1/4 cup of chicken mixture and roll to enclose.  Repeat.
Oil 2 ovenproof dishes. Pour a 1/4 of the tomato sauce into each base, place pasta rolls seam side down in each dish.  Pour remaining tomato sauce over rolls and sprinkle each dish with fontina cheese.
Bake in moderate oven for 30 min covered, then uncover, further bake 15 min till brown.

I use Robert Gordon bakeware to cook my cannelloni. I have found the Robert Gordon bakeware absolutely remarkable for baking.  They don't craze and any baked on crusts wash off very easily.

Rapt Up stocks the Robert Gordon range of bakeware which includes varying sizes and colours. The bakeware comes with a 10 year guarantee and that is recommendation enough.

Colours of Autumn

I love all the seasons in the garden, but I especially love Autumn.  The summer heat has gone, which I am sure all the plants appreciate, the roses are still gorgeous and the colours of the deciduous tree are just something else. We have had some Autumn rain that was very welcome which helps with the daily grind of watering.

The capital pear (pyrus calleryana) trees that I have many of in the garden, are the last of the ornamental pear trees to change colour and lose there leaves, along with one of my favorite plants Spirea Cantoniensis ( May Bush ).  In front of these plants I have a prostate Rosemary which falls over a wall and is in constant bloom.  It's a lovely garden bed at any time of the year but especially in the Autumn.

The roses are almost at their end but are still producing blooms that last much longer than in the Summer.  My two favorite David Austin roses are Redoute and Glamis Castle which I couldn't resist photographing.

Our back garden is still very much a work in progress.  Just recently we have added a wooden structure to connect the garden and have a walk way up to very back of the yard.  It now needs to be paved through the middle which is a job for my ever patient husband. Still to be decided what to plant over the top of the structure, but am thinking about an ornamental vine, to give even more Autumn colour to the garden.

The website www. raptup.com.au  has been extremely busy but my garden is my sanctuary and I always make time every week to be out in it. 

Chaos Rules

After the excitement and the hype of a gift fair,then comes the anticipation of the goods arriving. I have not long returned from attending the February gift fair where I had a wonderful time ordering all manner of stock to add to my already bulging website. As the law of averages go stock started to trickle in then on one day I had so many boxes arrive I could barely see the floor. Strangely enough though as I am standing in my own chaos, I seem to work better under pressure, and by days end all boxes had been unpacked, photographed and started to be entered onto the website. I am excited with all the new products and would love all of my customers to have a look online at all the new stock that has been appearing in all the categories. Some of the products that I am pleased with are a range of gorgeous cot quilts with matching cushions, The D Lux brand of baby blankets and wraps are the best on the market and there are some lovely designs amongst those. Some very clever handbag/wallets, which I can't stop talking about. They are genuine leather, small in size but hold everything that you need. I just love mine. Kate Finn dolls are just gorgeous and the Charlie Bears are to die for. This is just a small sample of new stock so best to check out all the categories at www.raptup.com.au For all my Sunraysia customers, I am preparing for my twice yearly open day to display all the new stock. Details are on the website and all email customers will now have received their invitations. My open days are always wonderful, I really enjoy catching up with a lot of my old customers that would come into the retail shop on a regular basis, and it's lovely to be able to display all the wonderful new stock.

Time Fly's...again

I can't believe that is was March last year when I last updated my blog. Personally it has been a wonderful year. We have become grandparents for the first time, to a gorgeous little grandson Nate. Everyone can wax lyrical about the joys of grandparent hood but till you experience it, you then know what all other grandparents are talking about. He is now five months now and he is such a joy. We feel so blessed that he lives near us and that we are so much part of his life. Through this blog I will update his progress as he grows.

What a Difference a Year Makes

It's hard to believe the growth in a year. Our front garden is thriving and is such a source of joy and contentment.



Looking back at January 2011 blog, when planting began, much work has ensured throughout the year with my much loved roses being planted in June. I love David Austin roses and I chose varieties of Evelyn, Graham Thomas, Glamis Castle and Charlotte, creating a colour scheme of cream and old gold. They have all done me proud with gorgeous blooms throughout the year.





I love having fresh flowers inside and yesterday whilst unpacking a box of gorgeous vases from the Savvy group for Rapt Up, and with the roses looking so lovely, it was the perfect opportunity to make an arrangement. I gathered together some Murraya Paniculata leaves and some Glamis Castle blooms. The vase really enhanced the arrangement.

I love this range of vases and the wonderful thing is they look just as gorgeous with or without flowers.



Rapt Up also has had a year of enormous growth and just like my garden is a great source of pride and contentment.
New stock is arriving daily at the moment and I will be sure to make sure you hear of all the wonderful new items as they arrive.

Wedding Sampler and Charm

Prior to Wade and Crystal's wedding I had been keenly stitching them a wedding Sampler, as a memento of the occasion.

I am a real sentimentalist and it means a lot to me to be able to commemorate wonderful occasions in embroidery. I have stitched many such memento's over the years, whether it has been for wedding anniversaries, birth samplers, to celebrate a christening, and many weddings. But none was more special than stitching for our son.

The wedding sampler was a lovely heart in soft muted colours, offset with intricate stitched borders and finished with a soft vine effect. It also had antique gold embellishments added, of which included a heart shaped charm.



On three sides of the embroidery I added the wording that Wade and Crystal had chosen on their wedding invitations which was "On our wedding day a new life has its start, we will share with each other, our love, our dreams, and our hearts." I then added their names and wedding date.

I chose an antique silver frame to complete the cross stitch.

For Crystal's wedding charm I chose an antique cream raw silk material. I cut out a heart shape, attached a full frill around the entire heart and filled the heart with silk roses, embroidery and bead work. The charm was finished with a long silk ribbon for her arm.




Both pieces of embroidery were appreciated by them both, in fact they were quite emotional about them, which I guess is what stitching with love is all about.

Our Sons's Wedding in Western Australia

March the 19th 2011 was the date set for our son Wade's wedding to his lovely fiancee Crystal Baker.

Wade has been living in the gorgeous Margaret River area of Western Australia for the past 8 years and it was inevitable that he would meet the love of his life over in the West.

So it was in March that a large contingent of family and friends travelled over to celebrate this wonderful occasion.

Most of the guests stayed at the Whalers resort in Dunsborough, which was situated in close proximity to the wedding and reception. It was a lovely atmosphere having so many family and friends in the same place and the celebrations well and truly started well before the wedding.

The wedding day dawned to a beautiful balmy 27 with a light wind. All the boys got ready in our villa and even though it was an emotional day it was wonderful camaraderie between all the boys. Wade is the first one of our children to be married so it was bound to be emotional, especially for me being the Mum.


The wedding service was held in a beautiful garden setting called Chandeliers on Abbey, and we couldn't have asked for a better day. Wade and Crystal had organized 2 buses to transport all guests to the venue and then onto the wedding reception afterwards. This in itself was such fun.






Crystal arrived looking absolutely gorgeous in a cream vintage lace dress. She looked so happy and radiant as she walked up to meet her groom, who was also looking very happy and emotional.

After the ceremony the wedding party went off to have photographs around the Yallingup area, while the guest enjoyed canapes in the garden before we hopped on the bus over to Wills Domain where the reception was held.

Wills Domain is a boutique winery in the Yallingup area that boasts gorgeous views and a reputation of wonderful gourmet food and wine.

The winery certainly upheld its reputation with a wonderful menu that was enjoyed by all. Fabulous music, wonderful food and wine and just a wonderful atmosphere that ensured that a wonderful time was had by all.

Wade and Crystal (Mr and Mrs Leng) partied the night away with all their friends and family before leaving on a honeymoon to Bali.

We certainly haven't lost a son, but what we have gained is a much loved new daughter.

Where Does the Time Go

It has been awhile since I have posted a blog. I have all great intentions, and even though writing doesn't come naturally to me, I have enjoyed writing the blogs and usually don't go out of my way to make excuses for not keeping the blog site up to date.

Since February, life just seems to be so busy. Rapt Up online business has been very busy with lots of new stock and all the extra things that new stock entails, to present it onto the website. Every time I thought today is the day I am going to write a blog, another delivery of stock arrives and then I am back to unpacking, taking photo's and entering the product onto the website.

And now it is late May and I look back at all the things that have stopped me. Our son's wedding, and we included a holiday in there as well. I organized an open house for Rapt Up, then it was Easter and Mothers Day, all very busy times for retail.

In between all of this this. I have still been cycling, gardening and cooking.

No more excuses from now on I am going to continue blogging regularly and continue to keeping you all up to date on Rapt Up and all of my other pastimes.

Sydney Gift Trade Fair

I have just returned from a wonderful few days at the annual Sydney February gift trade fair.

I just love these events, and after 22 years I never tire of them, only I seem to be more tired when I get home.

There are three trade fairs to attend. The first is Life in Style which is held a few days earlier that the other two. I just love this fair. It's a fairly new fair compared to the other two, and showcases a lot of the new and upcoming young designers. I always find something new and interesting, and this year was no exception. I have picked up several new companies, which will be showcased on raptup.com.au over the next few weeks.

The other two fairs are the Reed gift fair which is held at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour and the Home and Giving Fair held at Sydney Showgrounds at Homebush.



These two companies run complimentary ferry and bus services between the fairs, making it very easy for us buyers to complete our buying without having to worry about trying to negotiate Sydney traffic.

I spend considerable time at all of these fairs, sourcing new products which is a very integral part of keeping the website as fresh and up to date as possible.

Of course it's not all business and after the fairs finish each day we take in the wonderful restaurants of Darling Harbour and the Rocks district.



There is nothing more relaxing after a day of buying, sitting beside Darling Harbour. watching the water craft and the twinkling lights of the city with a glass of wine.

I am very excited with my buying choices. I will be adding several new companies to the website and I will be sure to let you all know when new stock has arrived.

Sunraysia's Big Wet - February 2011

I have lived in the Sunraysia district all my life and I have never seen the amount of rain that happened here on Friday 5th February.

The morning was very humid due to the tropical cyclone Yasi that had crossed the Queensland coast several days before. I went cycling with a friend and by the time I got home a storm was brewing.



Late afternoon the heavens opened up and dumped 150ml of rain over Mildura and surrounding areas. Houses and streets were flooded over the district and worst affected areas of Irymple and Red Cliffs had in excess of 200ml. The rain was so heavy at times you couldn't see across the street and reminded me very much of a tropical thunderstorm.

It continued to rain all night and all of Saturday when it finally ceased. The official rain total was 189ml but some areas measured 250 to 300ml.

Sunraysia had its yearly rainfall in 2 days.

Sunday dawned and was clear and cool and we went on our usual Sunday morning cycle ride.
It was amazing to see all the water lying around. The Murray river that is very swollen at the moment, had risen about 8 inches. Mildura's Apex Park which has a lovely sandbar has been underwater for many weeks now, the water there is very close to going over the road and inundating the park, and could still do that with a lot more flood waters to come down the Murray yet. Many parts of our cycling track are under water and huge holes have appeared.



I am sure it will take several weeks to clean up the streets and houses that were flooded. The effects of this rain will be felt around the district with devastating results for our grape industry. Many fruit properties were almost completely underwater and many growers were already dealing with the worst outback of Downy Mildew in the area for many years, and I am sure this rain will be the last straw. Tropical cyclone Yasi didn't just affect Queensland, it's affects were felt all over Australia.



2011 has certainly been the year for amazing weather events.

The photo's that I have included are of Apex Park and the bike track that follows the Murray around to the Marina. If you look back at some of my older blogs on cycling, you can see the difference in the river.

Family Wedding.

We are all very excited as a family, as we have our first wedding.

Our eldest child and son is tying the knot in March in Margaret River area of W.A.

He has been living and working in the area for many years and that is where he has met his future wife.

To mark the occasion, I have got my embroidery skills into action and I am stitching them a wedding sampler. I am using a Shepherds Bush kit called "Mothers Heart". It's a beautiful sampler with lovely wording pertaining to Mothers, obviously the wording is inappropriate but I will change the wording to be more appropriate for a wedding. I will then add there names and marriage date.

The sampler is stitched on 32count white linen and uses very soft colours in pinks, mauve's and cream. It is quite pretty, and it has some embellishments on it to enhance the stitching.

I am still several weeks away from completing it, and so every spare minute is spent adding a few more stitches.

Our sewing bee recommences next week after a break over the Christmas period. The girls will really get me motivated to finish it. It's lovely stitching in a group as they keep you to task, especially when you have a deadline.

I will keep updating you on the progress of the sampler over the coming weeks.

Front Garden Transformation.

With great excitement all the plants arrived in cupboard boxes ready for me to plant.

And then down came the rain. We had 88ml over a 24hr period, I am sure that it wasn't welcome by all, but it was great for my little patch. It made digging very easy, and in fact at one stage I was out in the weather trying to finish putting in all the plants.




The front garden is a very formal garden, and follows the Paul Bangay's style of garden. All the plants have been chosen for their drought tolerance. Even though we are having a lot of rain at the moment, after coming out of a long drought, and Sunraysia is well known for our long hot summers. I think all gardeners now garden more wisely.



All the borders have a hedge of Japanese Box which when fully grown will be kept clipped at 60cm high x 45cm wide. Inside the borders in the corners are Cypress.



The boundaries boarding both neighbours I have planted Murraya Paniculata, which well be kept clipped at 1200 high by 600cm wide. In the raised garden bed I have chosen white convolvulus which will spill over the brick wall and should look lovely with their grey leaf and white flowers.

On the nature strip, where there would usually be lawn, I have chosen a ground cover of Myoporum Parvifolium. It has compact low growth with small white flowers. It will cover the area very effectively in a short amount of time and is water efficient.

It was a huge effort to plant around 300 plants in a few days, but I just took it slowly and some family and friends gave me a helping hand over the weekend. David has gone back to work, he will really notice a difference when he is home next.



The last task was to complete the watering system, which all the plants are on automatic drippers which are set to come on overnight. I haven't applied mulch yet, but I have it and will do that task over the next few days.

All the garden beds still need a lot more planting, and as the weeks go on I will add some more. There are quite a lot of roses to be included but I will wait for the cooler months and buy them bare rooted. This will also give me time to decide what ones to plant. I have lots of favourites but as this is a much smaller garden that my last, I will have to think carefully before I order them.

Return to the Gardening.

It seems so long since I have been able to recommence the gardening project.

With the Great Vic Bike ride, then busy times with Rapt Up prior to Christmas and of course Christmas and extra visitors it has been many weeks.

Husband David works away, but has a few weeks holiday over the Christmas/New Year period. With all the visitors gone, and the fact that David's time is short, it was the perfect opportunity to try and finish the front garden.

The front garden is a very formal design. David first installed borders to divide garden from paths. We then went and ordered sandstone pavers and a load of river pebbles and the paths started to take shape.




A load of cow manure was ordered and it was my job to distribute it among the garden beds. Not my ideal job, especially on the hot days that we were enduring, but the paver were too heavy for me to handle. By the end of the day though, we had both worked hard and the paths were finished and so were the garden beds.



Next job for David was the watering system, which he had mostly set up last time he was out in the garden so the job was completed.



The infrastructure is now complete and now the fun part of planting will commence. The plants are ordered and I will have great enjoyment in this task.

The Great Victorian Bike Ride - Day 9

Day 9 - Eildon to Marysville - 48km.

We were awoken by the sounds of a family of kookaburra's and our last day began.

It was a beautiful fine morning, slight breeze and the riding was easy. We had a couple of hills but with what we have had to challenge ourselves with over the past few days, they were easy.




The scenery was beautiful. At one point all riders had to dismount and walk across a very narrow wooden bridge, it was a real sight to see 1500 riders strung out, waiting to cross.

The Cathedral Ranges came into our view, with the poignant reminder of the tragedy of the bush fires, but nature is wonderful and the regrowth was amazing.



As we rode closer to Marysville the hills all around were covered with the burnt trees that haven't recovered, and they really did surround the small communities. It must have been such a horrific experience.



We arrived at Marysville at lunchtime to much fanfare, most of that provided by my sister and brother in law who came up to meet us. The community of Marysville has started the rebuilding, but has a long way to go, and by finishing the bike ride there, I hope it encourages people to come up and visit this most enchanting place.



It was great to reach the finish, and it gave us all a great sense of achievement. It was an experience that certainly challenged the mind and body. We had some really tough days but I was surprised that each day we recovered well and seemed to ride stronger the next day. I would certainly encourage anybody to give it a go. It was a fun and enjoyable "week in another world"

Would I do it again.

I most certainly would.

The Great Victorian Bike Ride - Day 8

Day 8 - Yea - Eildon - 64km.

Much warmer riding conditions today and a slight wind. It was a bit hard to get out of bed this morning, although none of us were sore after yesterday. Only 64kms today.

We have now realized why it is only 64kms today. We started climbing straight away with gradual hills to the gorgeous small town of Alexandra, where we had our lunch stop. Alexandra is nestled in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range and for us to arrive at Eildon we have to negotiate some of the Great Dividing Range. Why did we think 64kms was going to be a quick ride?

The pain started very soon after leaving Alexandra as we climbed up and up. I can assure you that a reasonable amount of walking was needed, even by our boys in the group. Once again the sag wagon was working overtime, but once again none of us succumbed.



The warbies ( we are right behind you) were also busy helping out with jammed brakes and just moral support with handing out jelly beans for extra energy, anything for a distraction from the screaming leg muscles.



At last we reached the top and the views of Lake Eildon were magnificent. It was worth it ( I think )



Then the wonderful downhill run into Eildan. We crossed the Lake Wall and into the very pretty campsite around the Lake. Would you believe no rain in sight.



It was our last night on the ride and we decided we needed to celebrate. We all went into the village of Eildon for a meal and sat around and enjoyed the entertainment that was provided.

It is hard to believe that we have been riding for 8 days, you forget about all what is happening in the outside world. For me I have just about forgotten that I own an online business that is very busy with the Christmas rush. Thank heavens for my girls that have taken control for me, I know Raptup is in good hands.

The Great Victorian Bike Ride. - Day 7

Day 7 - Seymour - Yea - 85km.

Another day on the road and we were all pretty pleased with how we were feeling after yesterdays long ride.

We left Seymour and had a gentle climb to our first rest area at Broadford before climbing the Murchison Spur to lunch at Strath Creek. The going was very tough and at times we seemed to be going so slow we wondered if we were ever going to get there. At the top of the spur magnificent views and the climb was certainly worth it. The downhill was scary but good, although there were a few casualties, but not in our group.



We rode on through some lovely countryside, a lot of it had been devastated in the bushfires. especially around the Flowerdale area,but new growth was very evident. If we thought it was tough riding before lunch we were unprepared for what was to come. The last 20kms before our afternoon rest area was extremely hard, in fact we had to walk a couple of sections. The sag wagon was very busy in the afternoon, picking up riders that just couldn't go any further. None our group surrendered to the sag wagon though and it was with great relief that we arrived at the rest area with the knowledge that we had a 15km downhill into Yea.



Lovely campsite at Yea and the night entertainment was great. It made you forget what a tough day we had just had.

Of course another night of rain.