New book out now!

Hello chic friends,

My new book is out now! You can read about it (and my other news) on my weekly newsletter here.

Or go straight to Amazon (affiliate link).

I hope you love it!

x Fiona

 

Seasonal planning, and a new book out soon!

 

Read this week's newsletter here, out now :)

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New post out now!

 Read my newest post here on Substack :)

 

Enjoying a simple life

 Hello friends!

My friend Tanya and I meet for lunch every month, and we take turns going to each other's house. Whoever is driving picks up sushi on the way there.

And the person whose house it's at gets to provide the sweet. This was at my house, and I made peanut butter cookies. They are so easy and so good!

The recipe is so simple I can remember it (I've made them three times so far).

1 cup of peanut butter
1 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Preheat oven to moderate (180/350) and line a baking tray with baking paper. I give it a quick spray with olive oil from a can too.

Mix all ingredients together and spoon out/roll into small balls (maybe the size of a walnut) and then flatten them on the lined tray with a fork.

I play around with the sugar quantity, using less sometimes than others (about 1/4 to a 1/3 less), and also different types of sugar to use bits and pieces up. This batch had raw sugar, brown sugar, and normal sugar!

I've also done slightly bigger cookies sometimes and smaller others - all up this recipe makes 16-20 cookies I've found.

Bake for ten minutes for lovely chewy cookies that are caramelised around the edges.

No they're not healthy, but they are delicious. I only bake for guests, it's not a rule but just the way things turn out. That way it's a treat for me as well as nice to provide home baking.

Also, I like to give them away fresh on the day or the day after. I gave my mum a little bag of them and thankfully my husband Paul helped consume them too!

If you try making them, let me know!

The day Tanya came around it was sunny and warm, a beautiful autumn day. So sunny that we had to pull the shade down a little. Which is a good problem to have when it's this close to winter!

 

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I love going for my walks each morning once it's warm enough. I usually go about 8am. First Paul and I take the doggies for a walk, then I go for a walk by myself with an audiobook playing on my excellent AliExpress headphone headband which is still going strong at least a year later.

I have three pairs of leggings and four tops so I always have fresh walking gear available. And I bought a pair of leather New Balance shoes just for my walking. Fabric sneakers, no matter how fancy, just get so wet in the grass and I'd get back home with damp socks!

If it's not cool enough for my sleeveless jacket, I take my belt bag to put my phone in.

It is SUCH a nice part of my day and if I don't go for a walk I really miss it. It's only about 30-40 minutes long, depending on how fast I walk.

At this time of year I get to admire the late autumn beauty around me, and it's lovely and fresh being outside. Plus, the sunlight is meant to be very helpful to your brain happiness early in the day. Or helps you sleep better at night. Something good anyway! I choose to believe it all 😊

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Late autumn goodness in our fruit bowl 😋

 

Persimmons, oranges, mandarins, feijoas and gold kiwifruit. All except the kiwifruit are homegrown (some given to me and some grown here).

Each day for our lunch ‘pudding’ I put together fresh fruit, plain Greek yoghurt, and a sprinkled topping of sliced almonds and shredded/roasted coconut.

It’s such a delicious sweet to round out lunch!

When we don’t have such a free bounty I love a crispy apple chopped up with the yoghurt and almonds.

~~ 

I’m wishing you a lovely week. It’s Monday here, King’s Birthday, so it’s a public holiday. Today’s plan is to clean the house this morning, and have a lovely relaxing afternoon, enjoying our refreshed abode!

See you next time 😊

xx Fiona

 

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