R O S S A N A     N O V E L L A

      “The camera is an instrument that teaches people to see without a camera.”​ Dorothea Lange.

                           Barbican Centre                           

Yesterday I visited the Barbican's exhibition of Dorothea Lange's photographs. A powerful and impressive collection of 300  images depicting America through the times of the Great Depression and its devastating impact on its migrants searching a better life in California. There is  also a collection of images from the evacuation of Japanese- Americans during Pearl Harbour. Although the images show a part of American history, nevertheless it made me think a lot of a certain similarity with current si...

Having flown from Sydney to  from Brisbane  followed by a two hour car journey to Noosa late in the day it was dark to see the location surroundings. Early on Sunday morning at 6 am, I tipped out of the house to enjoy a little 'me time' and explore the area. After a 10 minute walk looking for the beach I stumbled a crowd of about 20 people  on a bit of greenery on top of a hill facing the Ocean. Some where standing, others sitting on the grass, on their bike or leaning to their parked car having a take away coffee.

I was curious of what might be happening in the sea that I was unaware of as there were only a couple of surfers in sight and not much more going on ..so I asked a lovely old lady that was sitting on the bicycle with her coffee and she said..oh nothing is happ...

                                                         Bondi Iceberg Pool

There is something you might not know about me- my dream "when I grow up " was to be an Olympic Swimmer ! Apart from sitting in front of a Black and White tv box watching Jaques Costeau  documentaries for hours I also used to watch Olympic swimming races non stop on end wishing I was there myself. My family used to say I was like a little fish or mermaid as I was always in the swimming pool on our weekend house outside Barcelona and one of my favourite films is the Big Bleu where I fell in love with the gorgeous French actor Jean Marc Barr ! So as you can see there is a pattern here....

                    Sundowners in Watson bay, as recommended by new Oz residents and UK friends Kevin and

                    Sian. If you happen to be in Bondi a little treat is to do a 5 km coastal walk to Watsons Bay as

                    it boasts of sandstone cliffs and amazing panoramic views of the Tasman Sea along the way -or

                    jump on a bus if time is key. Once there you can contemplate the amazing coastal views

                   surrounded by beautiful colourful singing parrots followed by a stroll down to the the beach ba...

 I love this recipe and I usually make it on a Sunday for the week ahead. I then use a variety of ingredients to top it up such as raspberry compete, coconut yogurt, honey, blue berries...fresh slices of apple or banana, whatever I have in the kitchen really. 

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

• 125ml maple syrup

• 2 tbsp honey

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 300g rolled oats

• 50g sunflower seed

• 4 tbsp sesame seeds

• 50g pumpkin seeds

• 100g flaked almond

• 100g dried berries (find them in the baking aisle)

• 50g coconut flakes or desiccated coconut

  PREP: 10 MINS       COOK: 25 MINS      MAKES 15 SERVINGS

Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2.

 Method

1. Mix the oil, maple syrup, honey and vanilla in a large bowl. Tip in all the remainin...

A couple of months ago I visited Kenya for the first time. Not knowing what to expect prior to my visit to Marathe Slums to document a project by Tushinde I came back totally inspired by the wonderful people I met and shall never forget. Yunita shown in these images is a widow and has also lost her daughter recently leaving her to raise her granddaughter. This is her shop where she makes and sells clothes in Marathe Slum ( 1.5 million live there). We had a lovely afternoon with lots of laugher even if we didn't understand each other as Yunita only speaks in Swahili. Having had my own life tragedies and worries meeting Yunita inspired me to be a stronger person than I am as I left her shop totally in awe of her, pitty she will never know or have any idea!

Ten days ago on a lovely Autumnal Saturday morning I had the pleasure of doing an assignment 

at this gorgeous and contemporary house in Windsor. Sandra Orlando Payne, founder of

inhabitat-architects. had commissioned me to do a series of images for her new upcoming website

and portfolio..

       Loving the open plan kitchen ( decorated with impecable taste by the owners ) and the open doors leading

        onto the dreamy garden.  Having Sandra's delightful daughter on board was a great little improvised 'prop'

        for some lifestyle images in the garden.

Enjoying a tea break and some homemade apple and apricot galette and calling it a wrap after

a lovely and fun work day. For more information on Inh...

           A couple of days ago I went to pick apples from a couple of local trees that tare left in a field on their own.                  Whilst chatting to a lovely older lady as she was collecting some for her horses,  I somehow got a little bit                      carried away as she also got enthusiastic helping me also!  So Apple galettes beaconed when friends popped                  round. - For those that live near me and you know where those trees are, I recommend these little gems as they           are delicious and tons need picking! Have a lovely Autumnal weekend everybody xox...

 If you happen to be strolling in Barcelona and fancy a coffee away from the hustle and bustle from in an independent cafeteria I recommend you pop in to  Maria's unique Primavera Cafe.

A perfect place to tuck in a cozy corner to have breakfast with a a friend, book or laptop to catch up with work whilst fine tunes are playing in the background.  Cafe Primavera is also renowned for its evening cocktails especially Gin & Tonics with delicious tapas to accompany it.

Cozy atmosphere, warm hostess and staff who will make you feel very welcome.

On the menu: Wraps Bagels, Salads, Coffees, a variety of Teas, Muffins, Cookies,..and much more...

For directions and opening times visit here : Primavera Cafe.