Life | Anna Buckley's Blog

May 30, 2015

What’s the most surprising birthday gift you’ve received?

This year I had a brilliant birthday and thought I’d share with you some of the treats I received. My friends and family know I love things that are small, practical, can be shared, consumed or are an experience that cannot be wrapped…

I woke up Saturday morning and my husband handed me a little white box. Inside were a pair of gorgeous black teardrop pearl earrings.

Something small.

He’d chosen well, he knows my taste… he knows me better than anybody. Read the rest of this entry »

8 Comments

May 16, 2015

Potato Kibbi and Finding a New Culinary Mojo.

Don’t you get sick of cooking the same old thing? What does it take to get out of your culinary comfort zone? It was a dinner party, one of the guests couldn’t eat dairy and it threw me. Butter, cream, milk and maybe eggs…suddenly all the dishes I’d been thinking about were off the list. Read the rest of this entry »

7 Comments

May 9, 2015

A Letter to my Darling Mum

I was asked to give a talk. Not so much a speech but to read a letter. It was to be a fundraiser afternoon tea hosted by Maree and Sophie at the gorgeous upstairs atelier of Beautiful Room. I was a bit lost for words, what would I write a letter about and to whom? Read the rest of this entry »

28 Comments

April 25, 2015

Top 5 kitchen gadgets.

Mine is a hard working and practical kitchen. My husband calls it my office and I don’t mind because I bloody LOVE to cook. It is a small and highly functional work space that I’m loathe to fill with ornamentation and gadgetry. I have favorite pots, pans, mixing bowls and utensils, but today I thought I’d focus on those CHOPPING and MIXING gadgets that make food preparation SO much quicker and easier.

But before we get started I thought I’d show you a picture of the student house (and kitchen) I lived in when I moved out of home at the tender age of 17…(and what a bloody contrast it is to the home I have now!). Read the rest of this entry »

20 Comments

April 11, 2015

We found an abandoned resort.

Summer in Melbourne this year was almost non-existent. The thought of a long grey winter was depressing…or was it? To cheer things up my husband checked out ticket prices to Cairns, airfares were cheap, he clicked ‘buy’. A cold drab winter seemed so much more do-able knowing it would be broken by two weeks of warm tropical sunshine in far north Queensland. I got out the photo albums, curled up on the couch, pulled over the ruggy and started scrolling through pics of our holiday. And there it was, that strange place we’d found by chance last year, almost forgotten… Read the rest of this entry »

17 Comments

April 4, 2015

The city was pissing me off…

Last Friday I’d woken up in one of those moods, an inexplicable melancholia I just couldn’t shake. A walk to the Victoria Markets, via Smith Street, buy food for the weekend…that should clear my head. Read the rest of this entry »

6 Comments

March 28, 2015

When life imitates art…

Writing is a very solitary pursuit. I needed to get out of my office. Chrissy Butcher (left) of Hair Romance (and Mr and Mrs Romance), Rachel Devine of Sesame Ellis and Carly Jacobs (right) of Smaggle were holding a workshop ‘Little Blog Big’ on how to ramp up your blog. Read the rest of this entry »

14 Comments

March 17, 2015

One Pot Wonder…Spicy Chicken and Chorizo.

I have just finished reading a post by blogger Carly Jacobs at Smaggle about getting organised and getting a routine. This is something I can relate to. As a writer it would be easy to fill my day doing research, emailing, writing my blog, cleaning the house, cooking, etc, etc. All valid things but a complete distraction from the task at hand…writing the next bloody book! Setting a routine is THE most important thing to keep me on track. Read the rest of this entry »

13 Comments

March 9, 2015

Sarah Glossop, Wife, Mum and a little bit more…

One of the very best things about writing the books has been the interesting women I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Sarah Glossop is one of these women….

Sarah, you’re a wife and mum, but there’s something else you do that might be of interest to the readers.

I was looking for something to do in the evenings to keep me busy, perhaps earn a few extra dollars. My son was six months old and I was socialising with a large group of Mum friends. Many of them were also looking at earning a bit extra, thinking about returning to work. Some were doing party plan.

I went to a sex toy party and although apprehensive at first, was really impressed by the quality and range of the products. I started to think it was something I could be interested in. I saw an opportunity to sell something different from the kitchenware, jewelry, cooking appliances and makeup that was already covered. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments

January 16, 2015

Orange Ricotta and Berry Tart

So it was the 23rd of December, nearly Christmas, when I first started this post. My parents had flown in from interstate and the last of the frenzied shopping trips were over. Read the rest of this entry »

10 Comments

Category: Life