What Is Your New Normal?

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Some internal border restrictions within Western Australia were eased last week, creating four regions replacing the previous seven. This weekend almost all borders will be relaxed within WA except the state border. The closed state border between Western Australia and the rest of Australia will still be in place. Cafes and restaurants have mainly re-opened with limits on the number of customers and the time they can stay. Some libraries and swimming pools have re-opened and some gyms. Many people have gone back to work in their offices. Social distancing is still prescriptive but we can move more around our own part of the state.

We live in Perth, the smallest but most densely populated region. My mother also lives in this region, towards Bunbury, also on the coast.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

So how will things be when all restrictions are lifted? Dr Tim Sharp *, founder of the Happiness Institute believes less time commuting and more time at home has resulted in many people re-assessing their lives. Slowing down and more family contact means a clearer idea about what is important. Lots families are living calmer lives without the daily commute, the frantic school drop off and masses of after-school obligations. They enjoying more time together. Many parents have developed a greater appreciation for the job done by teachers after a few weeks of home schooling. People are discovering they not only save time but money, too, not commuting, buying lunch and coffee and being tempted by shops.

Australians work an average of 4.6 hour of unpaid overtime every week.¹ They have 146 million days of annual leave unused at the end of 2019.² Enforced downtime might be the perfect opportunity to assess how you and your family live, to decide what is really important and to consider changes.

Many families, strained by the pressures of work and home life have probably realised that spending more time with their families has brought their household routines into focus. Good relationships with family and friends result in good health, happiness and life satisfaction. Are you happy with how you live?

Life after CV-19 will be different. Many people I know want to continue working from home most of the time, some want to reduce their work hours and several are reconsidering their children’s after school activities. I remember the frantic rush of after school activities when we were both working but the responsibility for arranging and transporting to and from these activities was entirely mine.

We are both retired now and went into self isolation early. I have watched with interest as families go bike riding together, go for long walks with their dogs, just like we do, and also enjoy verge and driveway gatherings with neighbours. A neighbour talks about the new routines she and her family are developing and I can see how that makes them feel connected as a family. I think some good will come out of this terrible pandemic. What do you think?

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF U.N. PEACEKEEPERS 29/05/2020

The focus of the International Day of U.N. Peacekeepers this year is Women in Peacekeeping: A Key To Peace, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Security Council resolution on Women, Peace and Security.

This is an opportunity to recognise and pay tribute to the uniformed and civilian women who make an invaluable contribution to the ongoing work of the United Nations.

* Dr Tim Sharp https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=dr+tim+sharp%2C+the+happiness+institute The Happiness Institute De Tim Sharp writes about being happy, making choices and living the life that really resonates with you.

(¹) https://www.tai.org.au/content/go-home-time-day-2019-australian-employers-pocketing-81-billion-worth-unpaid-overtime-report

(²) http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8221-annual-leave-holidays-december-2019-201912092209

Images and graphic content courtesy Dept Premier and Cabinet, WA and Pixabay

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Do You Have An Iso Job List?

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Reading some blogs I am impressed by the long list of TO DO jobs people are planning from re-arranging all the cupboards to washing the windows to mini-renovations. Yesterday I read a blog listing 64 jobs the blogger was working through. I wish all list makers well and admire their ambitions. My own list is far more modest, leaving plenty of time for reading, walking, painting and pottering.

My Iso Jobs this week were mostly outdoors. After a few days of storms last week, this week we have beautiful crisp mornings and warm, blue sky days. Really chilly by 5pm!

Displaying Model Chairs

The design of chairs has always interested me. In my early 20’s I made a set of four chairs and became really interested in the construction and decisions involved in designing, manufacturing and using chairs. It is rare to find a home without some chairs.

Chairs can be made from wood, steel, iron, plastic, even glass and ceramics or a combination of these materials plus fabrics.

I am intrigued by the artisan who designed and carefully made this little wire chair. So much careful planning and work. I love it!

I am particularly intrigued by model chairs. You can download models, you can get your own designs made and you can mix and match materials and styles.

This collection of model chairs is on a shelf in the kitchen. Some are from China and some from Singapore. I have some other model chairs on display or stored for now.

I have five metal chairs displayed outdoors. They were just sitting on a ledge and not really visible. They were rusted on the joins so I bought a combined rust treating and rust retarding spray paint and painted them.

I decided where to hung these little chairs and set to work. To display the re-painted chairs I hammered rawl plugs into holes drilled in the wall then screws after I’d painted the visible end to blend with the chair frames. Then I hung the chairs on the wall.

HINT Using spray paint still means you can get some paint on your fingers. This will wipe off easily with a high alcohol hand gel. Rub it on, leave it a minute, wipe off with a tissue. Paint all gone!

Washing Cashmere

This cashmere single bed sized rug has been in constant use for over 20 years. I bought it in Hong Kong when we were living in China. We’d take the fast ferry from Panyu Lianhuashan to HK and the air conditioning was always freezing. I bought this cashmere rug to spread across the three of us. Then I discovered it was perfect for long flights, cold nights and as a shawl to read in bed. Now I throw it over our bed every night. Cashmere is extremely comfortable.

It is always in use. In the past I have had it dry cleaned regularly. That is not possible now, so I decided to washed it myself. Read some online hints and then washed and dried it. This is what I did:

Placed the rug in a clean bucket in the trough and soaked it in tepid water.
When it was totally wet I dissolved some mild soap flakes (Lux) into the water and swished it around.
Left it to soak for 20 minutes. then squeezed out as much water as I could without being too aggressive.
Rinsed it in the bucket with clean tepid water, gently agitating. (a bit like kneading bread) Repeated four times until the water was quite clear.
Put it into the washing machine on a slow, gentle spin, then draped it across a drying frame outside in the sunlight There was a light breeze and it dried in two hours. Now fresh and clean.

Some sites recommend using your washing machine but I preferred hand washing.

Gardening

A few weeks ago I planted date expired coriander seeds in little pots. If they germinated I planned to use them as micro greens, little power houses of nutrients and flavour. They did germinate and we have eaten them and they were delicious.

If you want to use leftover seeds, have limited space or just want great flavour sprinkled on your food, try micro greens.

Why: super boost of flavour and nutrition.

How: use little pots or recycled plastic punnets with lids from the supermarket. Keep the planted seeds really moist by shutting the lid until your plants touch it then open the lid and begin harvesting, using scissors. Sprinkle on everything or mix into salads. Enjoy!

Sadly huge grey and brown grasshoppers have attacked the camellia leaves. The bush looks very tatty but is still blooming.

Following the success planting the cut-off end of celery and a little plant with tiny celery stalks growing, I decided to plant the ends I saved off the bok choy when I cooked it. Two days later, little leaves are growing.

Other Things

The regional borders in Western Australia have changed from seven to four. Excitingly this means we can visit my mother next week. She’s in her late 80s and fit and well but I decided to have the CV-19 test before visiting her. All clear! Just as exciting, our son who lives within another region was able to come down for a few days for work purposes and we had a lovely weekend.

Although things are relaxing here, we are still being very careful. I think Australians will live differently even when a vaccine is available. Crowded office spaces, bars, beaches, public transport, gyms and restaurants might be less attractive. Being better prepared in our homes might be more important. Preparing your own food regularly and even growing some of it might become more common. I think lots of us will still be watching Netflix but that might be because so much of our free-to-air TV is dire.

Photo WA State Museum

Did you know May 18th was INTERNATIONAL MUSEUMS DAY?

A museum, according to ICOM ( International Council of Museums) is a permanent, not-for-profit institution which is open to the public. Museums acquire, research, communicate and exhibit the tangible and intangible heritage of its environment.

Museums are fascinating resources. Unfortunately, in Australia we can’t access them currently due to CV-19 restrictions. Western Australia’s new State Museum will open in November 2020. It is three times the size of the previous building. The unique collection will be displayed across eight galleries, showcasing our plants, animals, people and places.

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How To Make Baguettes, Microwave Marmalade, Painting and Using Up Food

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No Waste Cooking

I began to focus on food waste when I read that 25% of the food we buy is thrown away. Usually any leftover vegetables become soup or go into a fritatta. We are having soup regularly because I use chicken carcasses to make stock and we seem to have a chicken every week. The stock becomes the basis for immunity boosting soup. The vegetables are whatever is available and sometimes I add pasta or lentils. I always add ginger and turmeric, sometimes garlic, all good for supporting immunity.

Cauliflower Puree

An assessment of the fridge and pantry revealed some things I needed to use to continue my “no wasted food” plan. I decided to steam the cauliflower to make some vegetable stock for a change. Usually our immunity boosting soup has a chicken stock base but I hadn’t thawed any today. It’s wet and windy, so definitely a soup day.

I’d normally make cauliflower cheese, a favourite of mine, but it seemed a bit heavy, so I made pureed cauliflower instead. It is quick and so easy and tastes great.

INGREDIENTS

2 cps steamed cauliflower
1/2 cp grated hard cheese. I used Parmigiano Reggiano as it was in my collection of things to use now.
1/3 cp of pepitas/pumpkin seeds. Optional but I like a little crunch. Pinenuts are good, too, but I wanted to use the pumpkin seeds as the packet was already open.
3 cloves of garlic. I used some from a jar
40ml of olive oil to make your puree creamy
salt and grated black pepper to taste

METHOD

Puree the cauliflower using a stick blender or whatever you have available. Slightly break up the pumpkin seeds with the blender, add the garlic and grated cheese then the cauliflower, blend until mixed. Then drizzle the oil into the mixture and amalgamate. It should look smooth but not runny. Serve with grated black pepper. Serves 4 as a side dish.

Making Baguettes

This recipe takes more than 24 hours from beginning to end but the resulting loaves taste almost like traditional baguettes. Most of the time is actually taken letting the dough rise for 12 hours in a warm place and then 12 hours in the fridge.

Rolling out the dough after fermentation.

Divided the risen dough into three loaves and left to rise again.

This is a great recipe and although it takes longer than usual I am used to bread taking two days from start to finish as I have been making sourdough regularly for a few years. My loaves are more dense and smaller than a classic baguette but the flavour was certainly worth the time and effort. Find the recipe and instructions at

https://www.bakingsteel.com/blog/24-hr-baguettehttp:

Also baked a loaf of rye sourdough, a dense well flavoured bread.

Microwave Marmalade

Regular readers know how much I enjoy the citrus season. Lemons and limes add zing and zest to so many things we like to eat and my husband really likes marmalade. So, as soon as I had oranges, limes and lemons I made a few jars of marmalade for him. I am also eyeing off the kumquats, so they will be next!

The fruit I’d chosen weighted just over a kilo. There’s oranges, lemons and limes. I added just under 2 cups of sugar. Usually marmalade has an equal weight of fruit and sugar but I like tart marmalade so use less sugar.

I put some of the skins and the pips in this little muslin bag and then put it in the bowl while the marmalade was cooking. This usually infuses enough natural pectin for the marmalade to set but this time I had to add 10gm of powdered pectin. Later I realised I was just impatient. It has set to a very firm consistency and wouldn’t have needed the added pectin..

Thinly chopped some peel from the oranges, lemons and limes and added the peel to the cut up fruit. Also mixed some cut up peel which had been sitting in a jar of brandy since Christmas time.

Thick, slightly tart marmalade.

www.makecookgrow.com/2018/08/how-to-make-grapefruit-marmalade-in-the-microwave/

Painting

The art supply shop is open again so I set off for some new green paints. Some of my existing collection are so old I had to replace them. So lovely to wander around the art shop. Bought three new shades of green then did two paintings. The first is the lily when the flowers are still buds, the second is when they opened. These are fragrance free Asiatic lilies. Really enjoyed using my three new shades of green.

Reading

Hamnet by Maggie Farrell is set in the 16th and century. Laden with the emotions experienced by all people throughout time, love, loss, desire, greed and grief, it is a gripping story. Supposedly based on the tragic tale of William Shakespeare’s son, Hamlet, it is also the story of a woman and her life with her three children.

The story is based on these facts. A couple lived in Stratford in the 1580s with their three children, Susanna, Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet, a twin, died when he was eleven. About four years later his father, a playwright, wrote a play called “Hamlet”.

Detailed descriptions and terrible grief contribute to a sense of gloom throughout and yet, it is strangely uplifting. Described by Marion Keyes as “O’Farrell’s best book yet” it was long listed for the Women’s Prize. A very good read.

Tuesday 12th May was INTERNATIONAL NURSES DAY.

International Nurses’ Day is celebrated around the world on the 12th of May, the birth date of Florence Nightingale, to acknowledge and thank nurses worldwide for the contributions they make to society. This is the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingales birth date and significant for all nurses.

This year, along with all frontline service providers, we are in awe of their hard work, compassion and bravery in the face of C-V 19. We appreciate their ongoing care. People in many countries are expressing their gratitude by clapping outside their houses one night a week. Thankyou to all nurses!

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How Are You Keeping Busy?

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I know so many of you are juggling working from home, supervising homeschooling, trying to share technology and keeping fit and well and the house reasonably neat and organized. It is hard.

Keeping fit is probably difficult for so many of us as access to our usual routines or classes has been cancelled. Thank goodness for YouTube! I regularly do a yoga class online and have begun some resistance training, too, adding to some exercises I do at home anyway. And I walk a lot everyday. I hope you are finding some ways to remain fit and strong during this difficult period.

The Dog Park

Luckily we have been able continue going to the dog park. Not only does Louis get a good run but the park is large and we can all spread out. It is right next to the river and it’s restful and lovely just being there. We see people we know and can have conversations maintaining social distancing. But most of all, Louis gets to really run. He also needs to monitor all the trees around the perimeter of the park. He checks all the peemails and sends immediate replies!

Louis has had his end of summer grooming session and is ready for winter.

Sometimes it is just good to run and run.

This old peppermint tree has a Moreton Bay fig growing from one of it’s hollows.

Taking Louis to the dog park is a great opportunity for us to walk, too.

Growing Celery From Kitchen Scraps

I’ve seen instructions for growing vegetables from kitchen scraps in childrens’ gardening books and online, but only thought to try it recently. We actually find it hard to use a whole bunch of celery before I think it is too old. When I was washing and trimming the celery last week I kept the base, thinking I’d try it. It would be quite handy to have a crisp stalk or two regularly.

Put the cut off base in water and place it somewhere sunny outside. I put fresh water every second day. Day 5 and there appears to be some growth in the centre. When some roots appear I will plant it in a pot.

By day 8 it’s growing well. Time will tell.

If you are interested in knowing more about growing vegetables from scraps, you might like to watch this brief video on YouTube “Growing Vegetables From Kitchen Scraps” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uROpaU5mknw There are many informative videos on this topic so scroll through until you find one that suits you.

Garden News

The chilies are going wild so I think I’ll make some chili jam.

Our neighbour has had her magnolia and pomegranate trees heavily pruned. Our courtyard is awash with sunlight again in the afternoon. The roses and lime tree are particularly thriving. The light comes into our sitting room too which will be lovely during winter. I suspect some of the foliage will grow back before the piercing summer light returns.

Also re-potted a lucky bamboo which was not thriving. It used to be in my classroom and obviously missed the constant attention of little hands and enthusiastic over watering. It is no longer healthy. At the same time I added some fertiliser and fresh potting mix to this bonsai. It has thrived on our dining room table for about seven years with little attention, so today it got the works!

The bamboo is sending out a new leaf,so that’s promising!

If you enjoy looking at gardens the National Garden Scheme (UK) has gorgeous virtual garden visits. https://ngs.org.uk/virtual-garden-visits/

Ratatouille

Yesterday was so hot and sunny the back of my neck got burnt while I was gardening, despite a big hat. Today it is raining and cold. So suddenly the salad vegetables didn’t look so attractive. Time to turn them into a pot of hot, delicious, filling ratatouille. The weather really dictates what we eat and I find myself watching the citrus ripen or the melons appearing at the grocer and I start looking forward to changing what we eat.

This recipe could accompany any protein for four people. I served it with some flash fried prawns. We have well priced prawns (what you call shrimps in the USA) as export markets for local seafood have shrunk enormously. We have also eaten it as a light lunch with a thick piece of toasted bread.

RATATOUIILE

INGREDIENTS

1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 large zucchini/courgettes, sliced
6 tomatoes sliced ( I used Roma, any sort will do
1 x 400gm tin of tomatoes. I used diced because that’s what I had, but if you use tinned whole tomatoes, mashed them up with the back of a spoon while they’re cooking
1 tbspn Balsamic vinegar plus salt and pepper

METHOD

Peel and chop the onions and slice the zucchinis Heat 2 tbspns olive oil or butter is a heavy based pan and gently fry the zucchini. After about 5 minutes remove the zucchini and transfer to a bowl.

Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Cook about 10 minutes until the onion is looking clear and slightly browned.

Put everything back in the pan, plus the tomatoes and the tin of tomatoes and the balsamic vinegar and let it simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with torn basil leaves and enjoy!

It is autumn (fall) in the Southern Hemisphere so this will be the last of the rockmelons (cantaloupe). The bananas and tomatoes are grown in our tropical north and are available all year round. The other things are all winter fruit and veggies.

This weekend many countries will celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday. Usually this is an opportunity to spend time with your mother and acknowledge the warmth and gratitude you feel. This year will be very different for me. Internal border restrictions mean I can’t visit my Mother and our son can’t visit us, either. We will Skype and have exchanged cards and gifts via mail, but it is very different this year. I hope you are able to celebrate this very special day in a safe way.

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Cooking, Cleaning, Making and Other Occupations

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A Quickish Fish Dinner

Been baking luscious cakes and biscuits and need something easy to make and digest for dinner? This fish dinner is quick and easy to prepare. Then simply put everything in the oven and let it cook. I’ve added pan fried zucchini because it was just picked and looked so fresh and green.

Place 180gm white fish fillets per person in an oiled baking dish and squeeze two lemons or limes over. I was preparing dinner for two people.

To get the maximum juice from your citrus, microwave them for 30 seconds, let them cool slightly then cut and squeeze. Lots of juice. And your hands will smell so good, especially after handling the fish.

Then, for two people, prepare three carrots and two potatoes, cut to equal sizes and place into an oiled roasting dish. Drizzle some more olive oil, then add sea salt. Microwave for 5 minutes. Meanwhile prepare ten Brussel’s sprouts and place in an oiled dish, too. Drizzle with more olive oil.

Heat the oven to 200C. Sprinkle finely chopped rosemary over the microwaved carrots and potatoes and put them in the oven. Twenty minutes later add the Brussel’s sprouts and five minutes after that, add the fish, putting it on the lower shelf. Fifteen minutes more and it’s all done!

While everything was roasting, I flash fried a sliced zucchini. It was so fresh and crisp I just sliced it and fried it and served the slices with everything else. I thought the zucchini was delicious…..my husband was not so thrilled.

Cleaning A Baking Tray

So many hints online at the moment about the magic cleaning powers of dishwasher tablets. Our baking tray was pretty grim so I decided to try and clean it with one of the tablets.

So, wearing rubber gloves I rubbed the moistened partially unwrapped tablet on the wet baking tray as instructed online and then I rubbed some more and finally scrubbed it. Total failure.

Not much difference at this point.

Then I tried cloudy ammonia, equal fail. Finally tried a cream cleanser. Scrubbed and scrubbed. Not very impressive.

So, if a dishwasher tablet is supposed to be so good, what if I put it in the dishwasher? No change at all. This tray is such a useful size I don’t want to discard it, but it is pretty awful. Any hints, please?

Renovating Worn Coasters

These once mismatched coasters live on a side table in our family room. We have sets of coasters but these two don’t belong to any of them. They are in constant use. My mother likes to sit in the chair next to the table they are on and uses one of them for her coffee cup. The other one has always sat under a vase. They were worn and the surface on one was no longer smooth. Time for a renovation.

Sanded the surface of both coasters until they were smooth.

Glued the images on the old coasters after I’d traced around them and cut carefully. I used a standard glue stick. Smoothed the images using my fingers to work from the centre out. I sourced both pictures from Dream Factory, a wonderfully inspirational site. https://bydreamsfactory.com

Trimmed around the edges with a sharp craft knife.

The white of the photocopy paper looked too stark, so I made a bowl of tea and dipped both coasters, image side down, to stain them.

Prefer the darker, older look after the tea bath!

Originally I dabbed little touches of gold around the edges but I didn’t like how that looked when they were in place, so I used a black Sharpie to create a new border. Then I coated both coasters in Gel Medium (Mod Podge) and let them dry. Really happy with how they look now and have already used them.

Other Occupations

Also made rye sourdough. The weather is a little cooler, in fact we have had some rain, so it was a drier dough than usual. Tastes very good.

red petaled flowers

Commemorated the ANZAC day Dawn Service on our driveway at 6AM. After a Missing Man formation ( one plane missing) of Tiger Moths flew over, we heard the bugler play the Last Post. This was followed by a minutes silence and then we heard the Reveille. After this we joined some neighbours on their driveway for coffee. Observed social distancing. A very memorable and moving morning, so different from the service we usually attend.

Poppies are a significant symbol on ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day (11th November) as the Flanders poppy was amongst the first plants to spring up on the devastated battlefields in northern France and Belgium . It is thought that the churning of the soil by the soldiers and their horses encouraged amazing fields of the poppies, never seen before.

We had a new car delivered yesterday. It was very strange learning the special features of the car and observing social distancing! I’ve had my previous car since 2007 so things have changed. Alot. I might have to read the instruction book!

Reading Min Kym’s autobiographical book, GONE. A Korean child prodigy, her life is turned upside down when her 1696 Stradivarious violin is stolen. Only just begun but it has very impressive reviews.

I’ve had an email from the (closed) library saying I could nominate five books or DVDs or indicate a particular genre of books I’d like and they will deliver them. Wonderful idea!

Did you know The World Wide Web (www) was first launched into the public domain by scientist Tim Berners-Lee on 30th April, 1989? Hard to remember life without the instant access provided by the World Wide Web.

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