In the past, I used to really enjoy linking to a blog which has gone in a different direction now. Reading that blog and the similar blogs which all linked up was really fun and interesting.
The headings I have used today in this blog are copied from Fiona’s blog “Stay Home Instead” but with some modifications so they are more closely matched to what’s happening in my life! I hope you enjoy these little snippets.
Looking Around the House
We’ve been down to my Mother’s in Australind, so returned with lovely things. These roses are from her garden. They are bravely holding up in this dreadful humidity and heat, but only just!
Also from her garden the sweetest, prettiest grapes. My husband had to climb up on the tank stand and them onto a retaining wall to snip these off the vine, but what a luscious bounty. We shared them amongst three people and my Mother had enough to do the same.
Also remnant fabrics. I have a friend who makes quilts for a charity so my family and friends often get me to pass on fabrics for her to make quilts.
On the Breakfast Plate
This delicious loaf of bread came home swathed in layers of white tissue paper. As a child our bread come home wrapped the same way. I usually eat fruit and yoghurt for breakfast but couldn’t resist the crust off this loaf. Added butter and Vegemite…wonderful.
An important part of breakfast every day is a double espresso.
On My Mind
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Like everyone else, I am concerned about the coronavirus. We’re taking precautions but there seems to be so much we don’t know about the transmission, treatment and limiting the spread of it, so it’s on my mind. I am so glad our government has declared it a pandemic and is taking appropriate steps to limit the impact on all Australians.
On My Reading Pile
I really like mushrooms but I’m the only one in the family who eats them. I tried growing them last year using a boxed kit I bought. Not very impressive yield, so the kit became soil for a new, potted rose. (It is thriving)
I’d like to try again so have been reading Milkwood, Real skills for down-to-earth living, by Kirsten Bradley and Nick Ritar, as a guide. There’s five sections in the book; how to grow tomatoes and mushrooms, beekeeping, collecting and using seaweed and wild food. The mushroom section is easy to follow and very motivational. I’ve just been told this morning about a local farmers’ market where there’s a mushroom grower who sells inoculated substrate, so we’ll go hunting Saturday morning.
On My TV
This heading is a bit difficult as we aren’t watching much television at all. We watch The Repair Shop (ABCtv), the news and weather and The Little Drummer Girl on SBStv, but not much else. We have so many channels but we’re not really interested in most of the programs at the moment.
The Repair Shop is a fascinating program where artisans repair antique or special artifacts which are damaged. These very talented restorers repair everything from clocks, paintings, ceramics, textiles and furniture. Owners take their specials pieces to the Repair Shop and the craftmen and women show us the process of repairing and restoring their treasures. Intriguing stories and wonderful artifacts.
On The Menu This Week
I love reading about people who plan their menu for every week and shop based on those plans. I’ve tried to do it, I’ve printed off beautifully coloured planning sheets and I’ve shopped according to those plans. Something always happens and I’ve realized it just doesn’t work for me.
Salmon with Mediterranean Spices, cauliflower, broccoli and green beans plus a squeeze of lime and a grind of black pepper.
I hate wasting food and somehow everything gets eaten. I’d like to say I make double every time and freeze half, but I rarely do that, either. We tend to eat seasonal food and what is available dictates what we eat. The green grocer we go to has amazing fruit and vegetables and the rest just seems to happen.
So, the photo above shows our dinner last night!
A Chore I’m Not Looking Forward To This Week
After I’d photographed and written about removing or at least taming this bougainvillea the enormity of the task hit me and I’ve rung a gardener to do it, instead! It was carefully kept under control until some birds ate the middle section out of it and the top just shot away. It needs to go before it engulfs our house and the neighbour.
Sir John Tenniel, the principal political cartoonist for Punch magazine for over fifty years, died on February 25th, 1914. He was most famously known for illustrating both Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass.
Tenniel drew the 92 illustrations for the book, which were then engraved in wood and these woodblocks were then used as masters for the electrotype copies printed in the books.