Loving this opportunity to join the “Say! Little Hen” Here and Now link-up again. Although I adore anything hand knitted, I start knitting projects with great, but not long lasting, enthusiasm and then my mother has to finish them so I am full of admiration when I see Sarah’s projects.
LOVING// The crisp, clean appearance of the outside of the house after it has been repaired and repainted. The painters did a great job and we’re really pleased with the outcome.
EATING// Venison is not commonly available in Western Australia but we’d bought some from a venison farm during a trip down south. Browned the meat and added it to an orange juice, Cointreau, treacle, tomato paste, flour and beef stock sauce to make a rich casserole. It was delicious.
FEELING// Pleased to have more household repairs done. Our house is twelve years old and lots of things suddenly need repair, renovation and repainting. The silicone sealant between the bench and splash back behind the tap had developed black, mouldy marks, so we scraped it out and my brother replaced it. Clean and fresh.
DRINKING// More double espressos than I should but I love meeting friends for a chat and a coffee.
MAKING// This slow cooker version of our son’s beef curry, rich with spices resulting in subtle layers of flavours. Gorgeous colours, gorgeous aromas, wonderful taste.
THINKING// I’ve been busy on Pinterest, saving possible Christmas crafts, decorations and food ideas. The cleverness and generosity of all these people sharing their ideas and skills is wonderful and so motivating.
DREAMING// About everything that marks early summer…..watermelon, lighter and less clothes, salads and easy meals, the garden full of flowers, herbs and tomatoes, the long casual evenings when it’s light until late, all without the scorching heat of the later West Australian summer.
Tomorrow is TRAIN YOUR BRAIN DAY, intended to support brain health. Reach for the Sukodu, the crossword, book or online brain training app. Do something to extend your brain power. Did you know Morgan Freeman got his private pilots license when he was 55?
( This novel may have a different cover in some countries.)
READING MEET ME AT THE MUSEUM A first time novel by Anne Youngson about the developing relationship between a woman on a farm in Bury St Edmunds, in the UK and a member of staff at the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark and their shared interest in bog bodies, particularly Tollund Man.
Their letters, then emails, slowly but skillfully tell their stories as they exchange confidences. The book unfolds at a leisurely pace, leading to the predictable but satisfying finale. Gentle and spirited, this story makes us consider the road not taken. This was a very good read.
Also working my way through Janelle McCulloch’s LONDON SECRETS again as I will be in London soon and have an uncommitted day and want to make the most of it! This is a comprehensive selection of addresses focusing on my favourite things: style, design, glamour and gardens with a few cafes and restaurants thrown in. The photographs are also beautiful, so the whole planning process is most enjoyable.
WATCHING The second series of Un Village Francais. I’ve written about the first volume before and this series continues where that last finished. Historically correct and sympathetic to the villagers, it makes engaging but not always comfortable viewing.
GARDENING Spring has arrived in Western Australia and so have the first of the flowers. The tomato and coriander seedlings are doing well and the zinnia and Swan River Daisy seeds have germinated. The roses are all in flower or about to bloom and my alstroemerias, favourite cut flowers, are also about to bloom.
Today is Do Something Nice Day, so that’s easy. Do something nice for other people and yourself where ever you are and enjoy the day.
Kumquats are small, orange oval shaped citrus fruit. The inside is sweet and delicious and is wrapped in a skin that is thin, tart and edible. They are rich in nutrients, the skin is high in antioxidants and they make amazingly delicious marmalade.
I was asked how I made Kumquat Marmalade after I mentioned in a previous post. Try it!
We picked about three kilos of kumquats. Typically the trees are quite small but unless they’re pruned they can become tall and this makes the fruit difficult to harvest.
I washed the fruit in the sink and patted it dry with a towel.
Kumquats are quite small, so I cut off the top and the bottom, then halved the remaining fruit, flicked out the pips and kept them, then cut the halves in half! Preparing the fruit for cooking is a lot of work but worth it.
Then I processed the cut up fruit in three batches to ensure the skin was finely chopped then put it all in a microwave proof bowl to cook.
I couldn’t find any muslin, so I tied the pips and cut off tops and bottoms in a Chux (a kitchen wiping cloth), securing it with kitchen string and added it to the flesh while it was cooking. This provided the pectin, the natural setting agent to the jam. It looks very unattractive!
You need to weigh the fruit at this stage and measure out 75% of its total weight in sugar to add during cooking.
I cooked the fruit on HIGH for eight minutes, stirring it once during the process.
Add the sugar and stir before microwaving for ten minutes, stirring, microwaving again for ten minutes and stirring. Be sure to mix in all the sugar from the edges. So, eight minutes, then add sugar, then ten minutes and then another ten minutes and then test for readiness for bottling.
I dropped a teaspoon of the hot jam onto a saucer and let it cool before running my finger across it to check if it was ready to bottle. The skin wrinkled and held its shape, so I poured the marmalade into sterilized jars. If it wasn’t ready I would have cooked it in five minute bursts until the saucer test worked.
I wash the jars in the dishwasher then just before I’m ready to pour in the marmalade I pour boiling water into then and pour it out using tongs. They dry out almost instantly. I also pour boiling water over the lids before I use them.
Kumquat marmalade, made from fruit and sugar and nothing else! It smells wonderful and tastes delicious and I know I will be making more very soon.
Today is Good Neighbour Day, so say hello to your neighbours, ask them in for a chat or just give them a wave.
Western Australia’s wildflowers are amazing. It has the biggest collection of wildflowers in the world. Of more than 12000 species, 60% are endemic to Western Australia.
The wildflower season, which attracts an enormous number of tourists, begins in June and ends almost six months later.
Heavy rainfall this winter has resulted in a bumper season.
Golden Wattle. Australia officially celebrates National Wattle Day on the first of September. Wattle is our national floral emblem and has been in our Commonwealth Coat of Arms since 1912. It also features in the Order of Australia medal.
Wattle has fluffy flower balls ranging in colour from cream through to deep golden yellow. The bushes regenerate quickly after fires, are drought tolerant and attract bees.
The original Kangaroo Paw, the others below, in various colours, have been hybridised as landscaping flowers. Kangaroo Paw is the common name for a number of species although this one is endemic to the south west of Western Australia
This is the rare and amazing flower Wreath Leschenaultia. They are exquisite rings which only grow on disturbed gravel ground. These hard to find flowers are in abundance this year and are very beautiful.
Eucalyptus leaves. So pretty and fashionable in floral arrangements. In some species only the juvenile leaves are round in shape. As they mature the leaves become longer and thinner.
Eucalyptus trees dominate the Australian landscape from streetscapes, to parks, bush land and paddocks.
Eucalyptus or gumnuts.
The nut pops open and a beautiful flower appears.
Grevillea. This is a diverse genus of about 360 species which grow as ground cover, lower shrubs and some reach tree size. Grevilleas are hardy and requiring little water, they are now popular as landscaping plants.
Bottlebrush, endemic to Australia but has been widely cultivated and naturalised in other regions. The long, tubular flower is very attractive to wildlife, especially birds.
Everlastings, pretty bright yellow centered flowers which can be dark pink, pale pink and white and last for a long time. Known as everlasting or paper daisies, they make a stunning display in massed groups. They are particularly prolific this year because we have had a very wet winter.
This boab tree was brought down to Perth from the north-west. The trees are recognised for their large, swollen base. They are found in remote areas of the Kimberley, a northern region of W.A.
Banksias, named after Sir Joseph Banks who came to Australia on Captain Cook’s ship “Endeavour” in 1770, have long flower spikes and serrated leaves.
As the banksia flower ages, it dries and darkens, transforming into a grey, woody “cone”.
Geraldton Wax, a gorgeous tree with this pretty, waxy little flower. They last for a long time and flowers can be white, pale pink or purple.
This is a tiny selection of the wildflowers blooming now.
Today is the International Day of peace, begun in 1982 with the ringing of the Peace Bell at the United Nations Head Quarters in New York. Probably not a lot you can do to achieve world peace in one day but there is a lot you can do to have a peaceful day yourself. Enjoy it!
I have really enjoyed this opportunity to be part of the Here & Now link-up. It’s really interesting reading other blogs focusing on the similar themes.
LOVING// The beautiful sunrises at the moment. The first is out our back door, the second over an inlet from a balcony.
EATING// Yum cha. We have a favourite yum cha restaurant and we go there regularly for brunch. Yum cha is Cantonese for “drink tea” and consists of small bite size treats eaten with green tea. All delicious.
DRINKING// Orange and cinnamon tea. I should make it myself but instead I use a teabag! Refreshing and warming during cold weather.
FEELING// Really enjoying the first signs of spring. We have had the wettest winter in years and it has been so good for Western Australia but spring is invigorating and exciting.
MAKING// Kumquat marmalade. The tart tasting peel and the sweet flesh boiled and mixed together makes delicious marmalade.
THINKING// I need to establish a post-work routine which feels calmer and more predictable. Louis really enjoys us both being at home more often. I don’t know how I ever had time to go to work!
DREAMING// We have a holiday booked and it’s fun planning what we will do and dreaming about the places we will visit. What are your holiday plans?
Today is Coeliac Awareness Day. Bread is a basic food in many cultures, but eating gluten, a component of wheat, barley and rye, can be harrowing for people with coeliac disease. Cœliac Awareness Day is intended to make everyone aware and informed about the disease. There is no known cure and the only treatment is to avoid foods containing gluten.
Did you know lavender has been valued as a plant for centuries? Lavender is visually beautiful, smells wonderful and attracts bees to the garden. As spring approaches in the Southern Hemisphere the scent fills the air. The delicate clusters of blooms can be blue, white, violet or lilac and the foliage can be lime green through to grey green.
Lavender is the common name of Lavandula, a genus of flowering plants in the mint family. The name derives from the Latin “lavare” to wash, as the Romans scented their clothes and baths with the flower. The plant has been cultivated for ornamental use in the garden, as a culinary herb and as an essential oil.
The calming properties of lavender means it is thought to be the most used essential oil in the world. It is also claimed to alleviate stress and anxiety and is often recommended to treat insomnia. Try a drop on a tissue near your pillow and see if it works.
The lavender fields of Provence bloom in the Northern Hemisphere summer, June to August, and have inspired authors, painters and tourists for centuries.
Lavender tea. I didn’t buy it as I’m going to try making my own. Being non-toxic, lavender is perfect for cooking, sprays and potpourri. Lavender bags in drawers create a sweet scent and bags on clothes hangers will make clothes smell lovely.
Caring for lavender bushes is easy. They like full sun, deep and infrequent watering and light pruning when necessary. French lavender, Lavandula dentara is less aromatic than English lavender, Lavandula angustfolia, which can withstand colder temperatures.
Lavender can be grown from cuttings, layering and seeds. As they often self-seed, try looking under an established plant for seedlings.
Today is Buy a Book Day, so very easy and pleasurable to celebrate, especially when you can browse online, order and have books delivered quickly and safely from my favourite, Book Depository. (see side bar for more information)
READING Chalcot Crescent, by Fay Weldon, English author, essayist, feminist and playwright. Written in 2009, Weldon imagines the life that might have been lived by her stillborn younger sister whom she envisaged as a once famous author, a national treasure and a fierce feminist. The younger sister steals Weldon’s life. It’s 2013, Communism has failed, Capitalism is abandoned except by the public servants of the people, who like the best of everything, and frugality has ruined the economy. Centralized government rules. This take on Britain in 2013 is astute, funny and thought provoking. Sounds a bit grim but was a good read.
WATCHING The first series of Un Village Francais, the story of a fictional French village near the French/Swiss border and it’s inhabitants and their lives during the German Occupation from 1940 -1945. It highlights the challenges and dilemmas of surviving as families are shattered, people disappear and food becomes scarce. It shows the repression and fear during occupation, the disparate French Resistance groups all interspersed with individual loyalties and antisemitism. We borrowed it from the library. Can’t wait for the next series.
MAKING Spanakopita, feta and spinach pie. This is my recipe so I don’t know how true it is to the original Greek recipe but it tastes very good, hot or cold. It makes four generous serves or six light serves. Dice one medium sized onion and cook it in a dessert spoon of butter in a bowl in the microwave until the onion becomes opaque. Add it to 250gm ( 0.55lb ) broken up goat feta and one thawed packet of spinach (200gm/0.44lb) squeezed dry. I’ve tried making it with fresh spinach from the garden but can’t cut it finely enough to get the same results. Stir in two beaten eggs and a teaspoon of nutmeg. Of course, you can use any good feta, not just goat.
Line a medium sized casserole dish or similar with two sheets of filo, draping about a third over the edge to make the top, spread melted butter with a pastry bush on the sheets and add two more. Add the feta/spinach mix, smooth off, then fold remainder of the sheet over the top of the dish and smooth it down before brushing with melted butter. Put in 175 C (350 F) degrees fan forced oven and check after 35 minutes. The top needs to be golden and crisp.
Serve with roasted or steamed vegetables. Enjoy!
Our son wears sober suits or standard chinos and shirts to work. His socks are a different matter.
Our weekend treat from our favourite macaron shop Cafe des Delices in Dalkeith. They lasted three days.
Made bread and discovered the new oven is hotter than the old oven, so will modify the temperature next time.
This Sunday 2nd September is Father’s Day in Australia. The gifts are bought and wrapped for my husband and we will cook a roast lunch, open some wine and enjoy family time, remembering our treasured fathers, too.
Look at these beautiful winter foods! We’ve had a lot of rain this winter and citrus fruit has been plentiful. I’ve made jams, lemon meringue pie, lemon drizzle cakes and all sorts of salads, sauces and marinades with limes, pink grapefruit and lemons. My husband says the mandarins are the best. I gave up on my mushroom farm and bought these luscious, big brown mushrooms. I am the only one who eats them….lucky me!
The last of the passion fruit. They were heavy and full of pulp and I was going to make passion fruit butter, but we just ate them instead.
Lovely lemons made a lovely lemon meringue pie.
Put leftover bread in the oven while the spinakopita, a fetta and spinach pie, cooked and then processed the toasted pieces to make breadcrumbs. I’ve made chicken, beef and turkey rissoles almost every week this winter and they all call for breadcrumbs.
Spinakopita. I used to make this years ago and made it again for a vegetarian friend and have kept making it. Really enjoying the contrast of flavours. Delicious hot or cold.
A busy day and sushi for dinner. We really enjoy sushi and there’s leftovers for lunch the next day. We always order from the same place.
Fresh mussels were $4 a kilo at The Boatshed so I cooked them in white wine until the shells popped open, then sprinkled them with parsley and poured them into bowls with crusty bread. So fresh and so tasty.
Made a big pot of soup using carrots, cauliflower, celery, a swede, a parsnip, an onion and some potato plus homemade stock. I fried the onions first in a splash of olive oil then added the other vegetables and the stock and let it boil until it was soft, then used a Bamix to puree it all. Forgot to take a photo as we were too busy eating it!
This Kleenmaid Brandt double oven is nearly twelve years old and has been used almost every day. It has been very good, until it wasn’t; the ON/OFF dial stopped working. The electrician came and the replacement part was going to take three months to arrive, cost a frightening amount of money and then needed to be installed. By the time he’d had shown me another problem he’d have to fix, I knew the answer was a new oven.
Set off intending to get another white oven but that wasn’t possible. Oven shopping isn’t fun and when we found a stainless steel double oven with the qualities we wanted we bought it.
Old oven out, new oven in. So glad the cavity was a standard size and the new oven slipped in and was screwed into place. Then we had to run it for 30 minutes. It smelt awful but has been fine ever since. I baked a loaf of sourdough the next morning. The new oven has the ability to be set at 40 degrees to prove bread dough, one of 50 cooking programs and is pyrolytic, or self cleaning. Steep learning curve!
Recently we visited a cousin’s farm and lunch ended with cheese, crackers and quince paste. Delicious. I had three quinces so made some paste myself. Quinces are unfashionable and hard to get and not very attractive. They cannot be eaten raw and need to be cooked for a long time with sugar. They go from white fresh to a gorgeous pink when they’re boiled or baked and taste great.
To make QUINCE PASTE, peel, core and cut up 2 kilos of quince. Bring to the boil with half a cup of water (125ml) in a heavy based pan, reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. It should now be a thick pulp.
Puree in a blender or with a stick blender then weigh the puree and add 250gm sugar for every 500gm of puree. ( I reduced the sugar by 50gm and it is still very sweet ) Return to saucepan, simmer for 45 minutes uncovered, stirring regularly then pour the mixture into a baking dish, about 2.5 cm deep, lined with parchment paper and allow to cool.
The paste was still runny, so I put it in a moderate oven for 35 minutes, then allowed it to cool and it was glossy and firm. I cut it into rectangles and wrapped it in parchment paper.
The paste needed to be stirred regularly while it simmered for 45 minutes so I made crepes, too, using batter made of the “discard” from the sourdough mother/starter I use for sourdough bread, with an egg and almond milk added. So, pour crepe batter into pan and swirl to spread, stir paste, walk from one end of the house to the other ( 75 steps) flip the crepe, stir the paste and walk. Repeat until all the batter was cooked and the paste was ready to pour into a dish.
Quince paste, or Dulce de Membrillo in Spanish, is a delicacy eaten with cheese and crackers.
Served the crepes with strawberries seeped in kirsch and icing sugar, plus lemons and sugar. Very nice weekend lunch.
PLUTO. On the 24th of August, 2009, following intense debate, astronomers decided to demote Pluto from being a planet, so, officially, there are now eight planets in the solar system. Pluto is now a dwarf planet.
Sun, surf, sand. That is the image I get when I think of Mandurah. I grew up further down the coast and we passed through Mandurah regularly en route to Perth. Lots of beach shacks for summer holidays and also retirees, often farmers from inland. Mandurah was particularly famous for it’s crabs. There was also a fishing industry and not much else.
That has all changed! Mandurah, about 80 km from Perth, is a huge, sprawling area of housing estates, apartments, beaches, cafes and restaurants and shops, the newest a redevelopment of the shopping centre. It is now very big and there’s so many shops. We also enjoyed eating lunch at the shopping centre.
The two photographs above show where the Dawesville Channel, also known as The Cut, meets the Indian Ocean. This man made channel connecting the Peel-Harvey Inlet to the Ocean was designed to regularly flush clean the Estuary which was marred by the build up algae and has been very successful.
This is the view from our hotel room. It was mesmerizing, day and night. To the left is a cinema, a theater, then some restaurants. It’s a lovely walk around the bay, when it’s not raining.
Our balcony with more of the great view. Just sat and watched the Canal and Dolphin Cruise boats, people walking around the inlet and the birds. Calm and restful.
Quite luscious smelling toiletries in a good sized bathroom.
Comfortable reading corner. Our room was large, comfortable and had a great view. When we checked in the lady told us that as we were only staying two nights they wouldn’t service the room. I asked what this meant and she offered to let housekeeping know we’d like the bed to be made and it was, but I expect that at a hotel!
These artificially created canals with their luxurious homes and apartments with their own moorings have also attracted many dolphins.
Canals joined by walkways. These bridges reminded me of Venice.
More canals. It is very easy to walk around this lovely area.
The traffic bridge was illuminated at night with blue lights morphing into violet and back to blue. Very pretty, especially with headlights moving across it.
Our new favourite, a shared tasting plate.
Enjoyed some street art along the foreshore.
Daybreak on our last morning in Mandurah. Lovely clear day, no rain and much warmer. We are experiencing a very wet winter, so good for the environment, but I don’t have appropriate clothes to be outdoors in rain, wind and hail so I’ve been very cold and wet, sometimes. It has been a welcome change from our usual mild winters.
Fruit from the buffet.
Yesterday this table was laden with the buffet breakfast, today a leaf in a vase. We enjoyed our breakfasts at The Sebel which were part buffet complimented by ordering from the cooked menu. First morning this worked well, overseen by the waitress, but the second morning was different as they are trialing a new system. It didn’t work well!
Today is Vanilla Custard Day. Vanilla Custard is thought to originate in Ancient Rome and is still popular, unlike the fish and meat custards popular in the Middle Ages.
Denmark, on the south coast in the heart of the Great Southern region of Western Australia is about a five hour drive from our home in Perth. We stopped for a treat at the Mount Baker Bakery. It was very good.
White settlement was established in 1895 when a mill town was built by the Millar brothers, later Millars Timber and Trading Company. They operated in Denmark until 1905. Other important industries since then include fishing, farming, dairying, vegetable and fruit growing, all still evident, along with tourism and viticulture.
Silver Road leading to our chalet. Apart from being surrounded by amazing forests, Denmark township offers some historical buildings, lots of interesting food and usually, art and craft galleries but these were all closed when we were there.
My grandfather was born in Denmark in 1895.
Redgum, our chalet at Karrak Ridge, chosen because it has beautiful views, clever design elements and we could take Louis, our dog! Behind Redgum is 50 acres of karri forest and in front, never ending views over the tanks, dams, alpacas, sheep and cattle, then valleys and green hilltops in the distance. It was very quiet and restful here.
The chalets are elevated, maximizing the views, but also very private.
This is the bedroom and like all the floors in the chalet it has timber boards with under floorboard insulation to retain winter warmth and prevent draughts. ( Previous three photographs used by permission of Karrak Reach)
The clerestory windows capture the winter sun so less energy is required to heat the chalet. There is also a biolytix recycling system, a method of treating wastewater.
I sometimes get hay fever from dust so when we’re booking accommodation I look for tiles and floorboards, blinds and shutters and leather furniture as they are less dusty.
The meet and greet committee at the front door.
We visited relatives on their farm and had a lovely day. This is the wonderful terrine we enjoyed for lunch. The photos of their crops ….not so good!
More of the karri forest.
A lot of the food we ate featured locally produced vegetables and protein. It is easy to find out where the food is sourced.
We enjoyed eating out in Denmark. Despite many places being shut for winter we found a range of food options.
Two views of Wilson Inlet, the largest inlet on the southern coastline. Wilson Inlet is part of a really pretty body of water but on a freezing cold, wet and gloomy day it was hard to capture how lovely this area is as photos were taken quickly between rain and hail. Not ideal holidaying conditions but we enjoyed driving around the coastline, visiting relatives, eating in cafes, restaurants and a brewery and relaxing in our cosy chalet.
These little blue wrens darted around in the restaurant. We also saw small birds with bright red breasts just like robin red breasts but I’m not sure what they were, apart from gorgeous!
Louis lurked quietly under tables in outdoor areas when we ate. We cannot take our dogs into restaurants in Australia.
Ten years ago we were in the same area for a wedding and bought Ugg boots for my husband which he has worn every winter since. They were beginning to look a bit forlorn so we went back to the leather shop near Nornalup and bought a new pair. The next night we enjoyed dinner with the couple whose wedding we attended ten years ago. They now have two gorgeous little boys!
Today is WORLD LION DAY intended to pay tribute to this beautiful and fearsome animal. Lion numbers have dramatically declined to the point where the species is being considered endangered.
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