Getting the little jobs done

Have you seen the quadrant management tool? Where tasks fit into categories of:
Important and Urgent
Important and Not Urgent
Not Important and Urgent
Not Important and Not Urgent

It is one of those devices that you get taught in productivity courses and where you inevitably find that too much time is wasted on not important but urgent tasks and the important but not urgent tasks get neglected.

The principles can be applied to nearly any part of life and so over my break I've been trying to address some of the important but not urgent issues around our house. We have finally fixed the disintegrating fence and peeling paint on the outside of the house.

I've got up and checked the gutters, got rid of the wasp nests and we have finally fixed our screen door.

About 4 years ago my sister's little dog, excited to see our Mum her "Nana" in the house, leaped through our screen door. It looked hilarious, like one of those circus acts where an animal jumps through a hoop covered with paper. But of course the result was a rather large dog shaped whole in our screen door.

Well this week we finally got around to fixing it. All it took was a five minute trip to Bunnings and about 30 minutes of work and we can once again have our sliding door open without letting in all the bugs. And as it is right near the entrance to the house it makes the whole place look that much better.

It really is amazing the difference it makes when those jobs are done. Our whole house looks so much neater and fresher. It is protected from the weather which will save money in the long run and of course we can enjoy fresh air at night without mosquitoes!  This year I really do resolve to do my best to make sure that those important aspects of life be they urgent or not don't get neglected.

Do you have any important but not urgent tasks you have been neglecting? And what are your new year's resolutions.

New Year and a recipe

Happy New Year! Have you recovered from New Year's Eve yet? After a late night and a fair bit of cocktail consumption we had a very quiet start to 2014. Even the day seemed a bit hungover, the sky was a pale grey, the air cooler, everything just that bit quieter.

The tradition with my group of friends is for a fancy dress party each year. The venue has changed over time but fancy dress continues and people make a HUGE effort. This year's theme was Fairytales so S and I went as Hansel and Gretel. We looked pretty awesome if I do say so myself, but there were amazing costumes from the frog prince, to Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, the Beast, Alice and the Mad Hatter, a complete set of Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and Hook (Peter was taking being young to the extreme at 8 months) and so many more. As always I'm in awe of the effort my friends put in to such things.

As with many such parties, the invitation asked us to please bring a plate. I was tempted to make a gingerbread house but I doubted it would be eaten. I considered a basket of bread (you know to leave a trail home) but that would have involved leaving the house on NYE. So I went with my go to party snack, savoury pinwheels.

These pinwheels are so easy to make, take next to no time and I usually have all the ingredients on hand in the fridge, freezer and cupboard. Best of all they are really yummy. In fact the plate full of them disappeared within minutes of me setting it down.

All in all it has been a great start to 2014. I hope this year brings you joy, laughter and great happiness.

Savoury Pinwheels
makes about 24
2 sheets of puff pastry
sun-dried tomato pesto
3 rashers bacon - finely chopped
1 small onion - finely diced
Approx. 200g grated mozerella cheese
Approx. 20g grated parmesan cheese
olive oil spray

Heat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (fan forced)

Place the sheets of puff pastry, still on their protective plastic sheets, on the kitchen bench.

Spread all over with the sun-dried tomato pesto, leaving a 1cm border on one side. For two sheets I generally use about half a jar.

Sprinkle all over with the chopped bacon and onion and grated cheeses (you can use spring onion too which looks great with the colour contrast). Make sure you go right to the edges, just leaving the 1cm clear border on just one side. Lightly spray the clear border with olive oil.

Using the protective plastic sheet, roll up the pastry, ending with the clear side. The oil will help the pastry stick together. Try to roll it as tightly as possible and press the clear pastry boarder into the roll to secure it.

Use a sharp non-serrated knife to cut each roll into 1cm slices and place on a baking paper lined oven tray. you should get about 12 from each roll.  Leave a fair bit of space between them as they will puff up and out. They squish a bit when you cut them so just re-form them and put any filling that has fallen out on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes till golden brown then cool on trays (if you can resist them!).

Bliss

A deep feeling of peace and calm. The slightest of tans. Feet polished by sand. Pure, utter relaxation.

S and I have spent the last week with my family at the beach. We drank champagne and ate oysters watching the sun set. We took long, leisurely walks on the beach. We ate a massive feast for Christmas Eve, then did it again on Christmas Day and not to be put off, had a whole second Christmas on the 28th. I read 4 books, probably as many as I had managed to read all year. It was bliss.

I don't really have the words to say how after a hectic, draining year, the last week has replenished my soul - so here are some photos. I hope your Christmas has been as truly wonderful as mine.

Sparkle all the way

How is everyone's Christmas preparation going? I have to admit that December is flying by at a real rate of knots. Just one week of work left till my Christmas break and it is feeling very festive.

In the spirit of festivities I've been sharing one of my ornaments each day on Instagram. Here are a few of the gorgeous decorations that make me smile every day.

You can see more by following me @lisablithemoments.

I hope you are having a sparkly festive season too!

Christmas Baking

There are many things I enjoy about Christmas but one of them is that it gives me so many opportunities to cook for others. Taking full advantage of the season, I spent much of this weekend baking up a storm for my colleagues.

After a couple of years working in very small offices, I now work in an office with about 30 staff. It is a fun and friendly place and people often bring in things they have made. Last week a delicious Christmas cake was demolished in about half a day and so I felt inspired to join in.  Tomorrow I will be taking my colleagues a platter of festive biscuits. They will be getting:

Lemon scented shortbread stars

Shortbread is just one of those great Christmas traditions. This is a traditional recipe, I just add quite a lot of lemon zest when creaming the butter and sugar together and sprinkle the stars with raw sugar before baking. In the past I've made little cellophane bags of these tied up with tinsel. It is just one of those perfect tastes of the season.

Gluten (and diary) free Gingerbread

I know a huge number of people with issues with gluten, so when I discovered this gluten free gingerbread recipe I had to give it a go. I added quite a bit more spice than the recipe asks for, probably twice as much ginger and half again as much cinnamon and nutmeg. I also made 1.5 the quantity but doubled the egg so it was a bit less crumbly. It isn't quite your traditional gingerbread but it is yummy and perfect if you or your crew have allergies.

Vanillekipferl

I've written about these hazelnut delights before. They almost didn't happen this year though, as ground hazelnuts, in fact hazelnuts full stop, seemed impossible to find. Luckily the 4th supermarket I tried (Coles if you want them) had them in stock and now I have a whole tray ready for the office. We will see how many we still have by tomorrow, they are very moorish!

Have you been enjoying Christmas treats in your office?

A little pampering

As someone who likes to do what she can for the community, I've attended many fundraising balls over the years. And as a keen shopper I have been caught up in the excitement of the accompanying charity auctions on more than one occasion. However the thing with those charity auctions is that you rarely actually get time to properly look at the item you are buying prior to bidding on it which can lead to some surprises. Many years ago one of those surprises was when I bought what I thought was gift voucher for a massage and discovered I had actually bought a four hour deluxe pampering package at the gorgeous Endota Day spa. Needless to say I was quite happy with that purchase!

Since then the Endota Day Spa has been my go to option when I need a bit of me time. Everyone in my family knows that it is a great birthday option and I receive their specials by email each month. So when an email from them arrived with their November special of a combo pedicure and facial, I knew I had found the perfect way to unwind after the conference I had been working on.

I headed over on Friday afternoon. It has been a recovery / clean up week, but I was still feeling quite worn out. The spa is hidden away in the basement of a city building, which may not sound glamorous, but as you descend the stairs it is like entering a hidden oasis of tranquility.

I was a little early, so I was given a cup of soothing lemongrass tea and settled into their peaceful lounge area where I was confronted with the task of choosing a nail polish colour. After much deliberation I went with "Mildura" a pinky orange colour which seemed to fit with the light summery weather.

A few minutes later I headed on in to the treatment room where for an hour and a half I was pampered to the point where I nearly fell asleep on the table!

It is a real luxury being able to be pampered like that and I absolutely adore it. I came out with pretty nails, a slightly shiny but glowing face and a deep sense of relaxation. What a delicious way to spend a Friday afternoon.

Still Alive!

Yup, still alive - just. We have had our national conference at work, the largest thing I work on each year and while a huge success it was exhausting. Half a week later and my body is still aching and my bed is my favourite place to be. But I will be back blogging soon and in the meantime I'm happily playing away with instagram, so feel free to pop over and see what I'm smiling at in photographs. http://instagram.com/lisablithemoments

Back soon!