Exterior Colours I'm Loving Right Now

I've never been one to shy away from colour and, as you will see, these ones are no exception;) It's not that I don't appreciate neutrals and white - I do. I LOVE Tracy Lorna Nors' use of white walls as a backdrop for colour in the feathering - painted furniture, vibrant fabrics, licks of accent colour here and there. The use of colour in the feathering rather than in the walls is a popular interior design choice over the ages. I really, really like it a lot. Woah, we've slipped into interior discussion now...woops...where was I? OK, that's right...exterior colour.

Of course it's not a crime to like colour but it can sure put you out on a limb in conservative company. One local house painter, who I really like and often recommend, has referred to me as "the Kim of many colours." I don't know if that's a compliment or an insult or abit of both but it is true. I do like colour...and not just subtle colour (though I love those too!). I love red and green and blue and dark purple and ....dare I say it........BLACK! Argh! OK so now it's out. Stone me if you want to but black is a great colour, not only on exteriors but on interiors too.  I might just have to do another post on black interiors just so you can see what I mean;)

So, if you can handle abit of colour in your day, take a look at some exterior paint colours I'm loving at the moment. If you're a white and beige kind of person, that's OK, they look fantastic too, but this post is probably not going to be one you'll be pondering for long. Or you never know,  you may just be pleasantly surprised.

OK, are you ready...

Get your funky glare-blocking glasses on...

Set...

Here they are!

 

This is the Bodalla Bakery. Have you been passed it on your way up or down the south coast? I LOVE it! The raspberry red colour reminds me of a luscious summer berry. The fresh, clean white trims remind me of thickened cream. Yum! Berry-delicious!

Photo from: http://www.upload.wikimedia.org/

Photo:www.travelplan.com

These are similar to the Bodalla Bakery but not quite the same. This is a typical Swedish red used widely in the colder European countries and also in Canada and parts of the US. I think of US barns on 'ranches' when I see these colours. I love this colour used on simplistic building designs like the ones shown here.

Well of course I'm going to love this colour combo...I chose it. Well, sort of. Actually Sue Southam from Foxglove Spires in Tilba chose it for her lovely nest and kindly gave me the names of the colours so I could use them on my nest. I know purple is not usually a colour you would associate with a house exterior but...in my humble opinion...it works really well in a country , garden-abundant setting.

Here are the same colours again but on Sue's house.

   

Ooh I love this! The photo here isn't very clear, I'm sorry. But trust me, in the Country Style mag that this page was pulled out of (no, it wasn't my magazine it was a friend's before she was getting rid of it...I don't pull my pages out...to the annoyance of many who know me. I don't put coffee cups on them nor do I dog tag the pages. Argh! NEVER!!!! OCD?) I think these are the colours I would paint my next nest (if I ever was to have another one). I really, really love this raspberry-pink colour with cobalt blue and grey-blue. Only an older style nest can handle these colours. This building was a former church and it can certainly pull off these very bold tones.

Porter's Paints have some lovely colours out. Their colour swatches are so tactile...they're real. Again, and I know I've brought this up before but I'm so annoyed with the paint companies who are changing their colour charting formats and introducing the paper on paper colour samples in place of the 'semi' real ones they have offered in the past.. They are not realistic in any way and are very difficult to pick colours from. I can't imagine Porter's ever stooping to this.

 
Berry reds and restful blues...beautiful!
  
Pretty greens and reds look gorgeous and edible. BUT...it has to be the right green and the right red to work well. No one wants their house to look like a giant Christmas bauble!


Photo: www. lh3.ggpht.comred_school_thumb

What about this? Too bright for you? Be daring!!!!

 

These blues are lovely, aren't they? I love blue, white and red. The right shade or blue with the right shade of red works so well. It can be beachy looking but it also goes really well with heritage houses. Aren't red doors inviting? :)

   


I love the grey-blue of Dad and Joanne's little shop. It's so soft and gentle.



Well, I told you I like black! I love this combo - very striking and sophisticated. this colour combo is daring and could look fantastic on the right nest.


Same combo of black, white and red used in a different way. This really suits old, English pubs in a quaint villages.


Photo: beehivestudio.typepad
Black again, this time with a green door. I think it would look even nicer with a red one...don't you?
 

 Photo: beehivestudio.typepad
Black and white is striking and teamed with old brickwork, it looks gorgeous.


This is very different but I like it a lot.  Black and orange. Not sure if Bega could handle this little zing of colour. Maybe one of you might be brave enough to be the first to try it out....?
 

Photo: http://www.thecraftbegins.com/
Don't you just love black with natural timber? This looks soooo good on modern designs and the barn style nests that I love right now. How cool is this lane way?


 Photo: http://www.littleblackjournal.com/

  Photo: http://www.lh4.ggpht/

And this...I've saved  the best until last. This is the 'tomorrow' of colour design. The blends of taupe with smatterings of red and blue and green and grey and orange...absolutely gorgeous! Don't you just want to dash to Watkins paint store and stock up with your choice of 15 colours, grab the kids and a few paint brushes...quite a few, and just go for it?

Aren't you glad you got the up on what's in before everyone else?

You really should be thanking me.










Got you!!! Ha ha! Did you really think I'd like that last one? You did, didn't you???? I'm not sure what was going on here but it's definitely what NOT to do on your nest exteriors.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this little splash of exterior colour. I know that these colours are not what you see on every second house in the neighbourhood but then that, for me, makes them all the more appealing.
I will not in the least be offended if you tell me you're quite happy with your beige and cream house with white trim, thank you very much. I'll totally understand....but please, whatever you do,  do not try that last multicoloured number...I know it's tempting...the council will not be happy with me!

Time for A Recipe..or Two...

Well, my lovely sister, Sarah, is supposed to be blogging about all things cooking over at http://sweettreats-sarah.blogspot.com/ but she hasn't been as diligent as I'd hoped...I suppose having a 4 year old and a 7 month old baby could have something to do with her lack of time?? Anyway, I've decided to put some recipes up myself as cooking  is a passion of mine too. This recipe, the first, of I hope, many, is one I made last night. Sarah gave me this recipe and Trish (her partner's mum)gave it to her. I find these are the best sorts of recipes. You know that if they are getting passed down they must be tried and true. This one is no exception. It's yum, big time!

So, Sarah, if you don't want me to steal the limelight on the cooking front  then get posting! LOL Hey, and Rosie, if you're reading, when are you going to start blogging about food? Josh, you too?

Actually, Josh and I  were only chatting the other day about how interesting it is that all of us (siblings) have a passion for food and cooking. Even Breasy, the youngest Houso, is into it. It's such a lovely thing to share food with family and friends. I love it when we get to cook together. My siblings (and other family members) probably think  I don't enjoy cooking with them as I have a reputation for being controlling and stressful in the kitchen when there's more than just me in it, but...deep down, I do really treasure that time together and as long as they keep cleaning up as they go and get right out of my way, all is well:)

My Nan is a great cook. She passed that down to my mum who  was also a wonderful cook. My childhood memories are filled with the smells of cookies and cakes baking in the oven or cooling on a rack waiting for us to arrive home from school and devour the yummy morsels.
I remember all the diets I used to go on when I was a teenager. You know, those stupid ones where you can't eat anything and you're starving hungry all day long. I don't know why I even bothered trying those diets. I could hold out on the food intake all through my school day...maybe an apple and a couple of vegemite kavlis would just keep me going. But, by the time I arrived home, off the school bus, I was always weak and famished and those kitchen aromas would break me every single time. Then I'd pig out until I was nearly sick. Chewie choc-bit oaties, wholemeal (yep, and it was yum!)  chocolate cake, caramel fingers, sultana cake, chocolate slice...YUM!

I'd always promise myself that tomorrow would be a better day. I wouldn't cave in tomorrow. I'd be strong. But alas, that was not meant to be. I continued to cave.

So, thanks mum, for those extra rolls during my teenage years (well, what I thought were rolls through the eyes of a teenager turned out to not really be rolls....now I REALLY know what rolls are!). They held me in good stead for my later adult years where they exist once more, bulging out and over material and things...oh well...tomorrow's another day....maybe I'll cave but one thing's for sure, I won't be starving myself!

Anyway, enough nostalgia...here are the recipes. Doesn't this cooler weather beg for soup, soup and more soup?

Meat Ball Soup

500 gms of mince                                                                    

 2 cloves of garlic                                                                      

1 onion                                                                                 1egg                                                                                         

2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs

Mix all of these together in a ball and roll into small meat balls. Cook in a shallow pan.

2 tsp sugar                                                                               

2 carrots diced                                                                 

celery diced                                                                  

cabbage sliced                                                                    pasta                                                                                     

beef stock                                                                        

canned tomatoes                                                                     salt                                                                                              

pepper

Put all of these ingredients, except for the pasta, into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 mins. Then add the pasta and cook for a further 15 mins. Add cooked meat balls to the soup and heat for a few mins. Serve and enjoy!

** Sorry, the amounts are a little bit vague but I used about a cup of small shaped pasta, a half a cabbage, a lot of stock and 2 400gm cans of tomatoes.

This is such a yummy, hearty, Italiany soup. It's my favourite at the moment. Everyone else in the family likes it too, thankfully.

Here's another soup recipe. This one is a quicky - consider it when you're contemplating take away. You'll have no regrets;)

Asian Style Chicken, Corn and Noodle Soup

1.5 litres of chicken stock                                                                                             

3 cups of shredded cooked chicken                                

420 gm can of corn kernels, drained                                     

2 tablespoons of soy or tamari sauce                                   

3 teaspoons of brown sugar                                                                               

200 gms thin hokkien noodles                                           
good amount of English spinach shredded                          

Combine stock, chicken, corn, soy sauce and brown sugar in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil over medium heat. Add noodles. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 mins or until noodles are tender. Stir through spinach. Cook until just wilted. Spoon into soup bowls and enjoy the quickest soup you've ever made!

Bon appétit...(said with a Julia Child's quirky voice).

Lark

Lark is a beautiful shop nestled in the cosy town of Daylesford. Although I've never physically been inside it...yet....I have perused it's lovely shelves and pondered it's delightful wares in a cybery kind of way.

Lark is owned by Allison Jones and first began, in England, as an online store. She then bought a home in Daylesford, back here in Australia and decided to move her family (her  husband and 2 boys) and shop permanently. The house consisted of  two semi-detached dwellings so they renovated one part for Lark  and the other for themselves to live in. Lark was based there until last September. It was then that Allison moved the business into an old building in the town centre. That's when she opened the shop, in front of their studio and office.

Lark products are not only beautiful. they are also home made, ethical and fair trade.

I have known about Lark for awhile now but my excitement was heightened in October last year when I eagerly flicked through the pages of my latest Country Style magazine and found, to my overwhelming joy, a feature story on Allison, her home and her business.

Allison is a woman after my own heart. Country Style magazine, October 2009 issue describes Allison as:

"A self-confessed 'thrift-a-holic' , recycler, collector of domestic linen, eiderdowns, vintage pictures, posters and advertising signs, Allison has raided op shops, car-boot sales and junk stores for furnishings..." And, I bet she's been to a few garage sales in her time too;)

You can view the entire article on Allison and her lovely home here or grab yourself a copy of the October, 2009 issue of Australian Country Style magazine (my favourite mag!):

 

Now's the fun part....perusing the lovely Lark store online! Go here and have a look. You'll love it all! http://larkmade.com.au

Then, when you've finished shopping take a look at Allison's blog here www.the-lark.blogspot.com

I love all of Allison's beautiful wares. I especially love the knitted teapot and cups and saucers. Who wouldn't love a tea party with that gorgeous set? I also love Kath Kidson's stuff and all of the vintage/retro bits and pieces (that pretty much covers everything in the shop!). Here's a taste of Lark:

 

 

This is the shop front. So cute!

Here are some pictures of the inside.

    

Here are some lovely Lark wares. I LOVE this tea set:)

 

Wish boats.

Pretty in pink...cupcake holders and vintage china.

Some of the lovely cushions at Lark.

Beautiful bunting.

How cute! A retro caravan toy!

Cute felt cosy.

Knitted cupcake.

 

 

Cute knitted ware based on vintage knitting patterns.

Let me know what you think...