Bordallo Pinheiros, Carton Disposal and Inflation

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bordallo pinheiro

You may not know the name, but you’ll recognise these green ceramics! These pieces were originally designed by the Portuguese ceramics company founded by Raphael Bordallo Pinheiro in 1884. The design I like is based on a cabbage leaf, a metaphor for Portuguese rustic way of life. The brand mark is a frog in a circle with the brand name. There are many other designs but the Cabbage is my favourite.

My Mother gave me a Cabbage salad bowl years ago, probably because I adored hers, which I have now inherited. Over the years, my son has given me two other pieces. Then for my birthday, he surprised me with a box of Cabbage pieces! I now have two small bowls, two medium sized bowls and two larger bowls to add to the collection. It was a lovely surprise!

I’d admired a green leaf vase in Bali earlier this year. I was delighted when my husband bought me a similar vase when we returned home. He then gave me a smaller version of the vase as a birthday gift, too. I will be using all these pieces to create a red, white and green Christmas themed table this year. ( I have just realised Christmas is six weeks way, sorry to mention it, but I got a fright, too.)

Another birthday treat was the delivery of two boxes of macarons. Absolutely delicious and a lovely treat from our son.

The final birthday treat was a tart citron organised by my husband from a French bakery. I really like anything citrus and this was lovely.

recycling Cartons

“Gable” topped cartons generally contain fresh liquids, such as milk or orange juice. The cartons are usually 80% paper and 20% polyethylene. These are found in the chilled section and need to be kept in the fridge. These can be rinsed clean and put in your kerbside recycling bin. (Ours has a yellow lid.)

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Longlife or UHT cartons look like bricks and are made from liquid paperboard with a plastic exterior coating and the inner lining is aluminium (foil). These cartons often contain stock, long-life milk and long-life juice. They do not require refrigeration during transport or storage and are stocked on shelves in the supermarket. They have a long shelf life. They cannot be recycled due to the aluminium lining and go into landfill. (For us, the red lid bin).

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Bottled milk is harder to find and more expensive but the glass bottles can be recycled if you rinse the bottle and return it to where you bought it.

inflation

Interesting news item posted by the Australian Business Network (Dailytelegraph.com.au) revealing that Australians had been hit by creeping inflation since 2021. The Consumer Price Index figures, based on information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, have revealed that healthcare, cigarettes, education and utilities have increased in cost enormously since 1984.

As governments try to persuade people to give up smoking, cigarette prices have increased by 4 200%. This is ten times more than alcohol in the same period.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics, via the Consumer Price index also shows the following increases during the same period.

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Medical and Hospital Services 1 214%

Education 887%

Dental Services 522%

Spirits 416%

Beer 412%

Transport fares 394%

Lamb 387%

Childcare 365%

Fuel 305%

Interestingly, some things haven’t changed significantly over the last 40 years. Both telecommunications and computing costs have dropped, while household appliances and household textiles have hardly changed.

High energy costs and labour shortages create inflationary pressures. The government is attempting to reduce labour shortages by increasing immigration and increasing access to childcare. Unfortunately, all states and territories of Australia are experiencing housing shortages exacerbated by increasing the population.

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As we move towards a federal election, I’m sure we’ll hear numerous plans for improving the economy, but all government spending derives from tax payers money. We need longer term planning which extends beyond the parliamentary election cycle and a focus on obtaining value from money expended.

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Draught Stopper

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How do you keep the cold out in winter? After six months of high temperatures and no rain, Western Australia’s southern areas are making up for lost time! Very cold nights and a lot of rain. It feels like the winters we had as kids. Cold nights, frost on the grass then warming sunshine around mid-morning then more rain. It’s an old fashioned winter.

Our house is pretty draught free, except the door in from the garage rattles in the wind. When I tackled a low shelf in the laundry, untouched since we unpacked our things out of storage, nearly fifteen years ago, I found a thick mattress topper and a polyester filled pillow. No idea where they were used before but I immediately knew how I could used both items. I’d make a draught stopper to put against the garage door. Last year I used a bolster off an upstairs settee, time for a purpose built, recycled material draught stopper. Draught stoppers are also called draft excluders and door snakes.

Folded the topper in half longitudinally and rolled it up after I’d teased the polyester out of the pillow and placed that in the middle. Nice fat sausage. Stitched it up. Knew I had a metre or so of red velvet. Measured out how much I needed and cut. The next drama was finding a zip as long as the sausage.

Off to the fabric shop. A lovely assistant asked me what length I was looking when I was standing in front of the zipper display. I explained the length I needed and she told me zips are not available in that length. She then took a roll to the cutting table and showed me a continuous zipper. Never seen one before. She showed me how they work and cut off the length I needed. Worked like a dream!

Once I’d stitched in the zipper I cut two end pieces using a bread and butter plate as a template. I had some pretty pink piping which I thought would look good at each end but when I was looking at the door where the stopper will be, I realised it is very close to a Burmese red altar table with all the carved details highlighted in gold.

Originally thought I’d use this pretty pink and white piping but realised the light gold and dark gold piping would work beautifully next to the Burmese Red and gold altar table.

Burmese red Chinese altar table.

I had used a gold and cream piping on two tapestry cushions I’d made some years ago. Found the piping and there was just enough! Next challenge was working out how to join the ends. Thank goodness for YouTube. Bit of a faff, but I couldn’t remember how I’d done it before and watching how it was done professionally set me on the right track.

Used some leftover piping from these tapestry decorated cushions I made many years ago.

Not confident to just machine sew both layers of velvet and the piping I pinned then hand tacked it. Much easier to accurately machine sew the two layers of velvet and the piping. Pleased with how it looks. Now in position against the door. Stopped the draught, looks good next to the red altar table.

I have made many draught stoppers, door sausages, whatever you call them. I made four for my Mother who always felt cold and thought the sliding doors let in cold air. I made some for my son. I have made bolsters for our bed and for an upstairs settee. I haven’t ever made them with piping/cording. I wont be doing it again, either, anytime soon. It was fiddly and took ages to get just right. Of course, now it is finished I am pleased with it!

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To Do List, The Federal Budget and Other Things

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TO DO LIST

At the beginning of this year, as usual, I wrote a list of jobs I needed to do, not realising this was to be a year like no other. Most of the jobs I listed involved household or gardening tasks. Some were done quite quickly but others remained undone as life became more and more difficult. Some gardening jobs were done one morning when our son was staying. He did a great job moving enormous pots to new places and helped me fill them but told me gardening was the job he most disliked! I ticked three things off the list that day.

Another time we finally knew we’d be here for about ten days and got a handyman to repair some reticulation, re-lay some paving and repair the edging. Slowly other jobs I could do, such as planting, pruning and potting cuttings from the hydrangeas for two friends got done, too. We also got new cushion inserts for two leather sofas in the family room.

Hydrangea cuttings going well.

These sofas are 24 years old. They have been slept on by dogs and people, they have been played on by children and sat on thousands of times. Every so often I get out my tub of saddle dressing and treat them. Eventually, the finish was getting worn on the edge of some of the cushions and an arm rest. I matched the colour to a bottle of leather dye planning to find time to dye the worn patches back to original colour. Not a chance. So many other things needed my attention. I put the bottle of dye away for a quieter time.

Then late Saturday afternoon my husband was off doing jobs, I’d read the weekend papers and I decided to dye the worn bits of one sofa. Poured some dye into a food container, found a clean paint brush and set to work. The difference is very pleasing. When the dye had time to dry I treated both sofas with saddle dressing. I have some smaller areas to treat on the other sofa and I’ll do that soon. While I’ve got the saddle dressing out I treat my handbag, our watch bands and wallets and some belts. I’d really like a workshop, or a shed but the kitchen bench suffices for now. I hope I remember to put rubber gloves on before I begin dyeing next time.

I use this leather dressing on all leather goods.

renewable energy

The weekend papers are full of political rhetoric following the delivery of the 2024 Federal Budget. The information about renewable energy makes interesting but confusing reading. We are now subsidising coal as well as renewables! Electricity is more expensive because of the subsidies yet renewables are supposed to be the cheapest form of energy. Both Federal and States governments are contributing to this confusion.

To somewhat offset these ever increasing charges the Federal government is giving everyone a $300 rebate and our State Government of Western Australia is giving everyone getting an electricity bill $400 to off set increased energy costs. Of course, when any government says they are giving away money, it’s worth remembering that it is the taxpayers’ money and in both cases mentioned, is not means tested.

other things

I bought a rack to hold the lids off all the glass storage boxes as they were in a dreadful muddle in a drawer. Very satisfying. So then I bought an acrylic box for funnels and graters, with a divider to keep them sorted. So tidy. All this led to rearranging a cupboard with two power points in it. The sandwich press had always been in there, permanently plugged in and ready to use. Now the slow cooker is next to it, also permanently plugged in as I use it frequently in winter.

Lids, funnels and graters all under control in this drawer.

This meant sorting that cupboard and discarding things which led to doing another much bigger cupboard, something I’d been putting off for a long time. The outcome is three large bags of discarded things in good condition going to the Salvation Army depot. There’s still many more cupboards to do but they will have to wait.

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Clothing and Natural Fibres plus Decorating Trends

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natural fibres and clothing

According to the calendar, the Southern Hemisphere has entered Autumn. With persistent high temperatures it is hard to get really interested in the pages and pages of winter clothing appearing everywhere now. A walk through the shopping centre shows clothing brands are preparing for cooler weather. A closer look reveals many of these pieces are made from manmade fibres which will not break down once they’re in landfill. Similarly, most donated clothing is not recycled and not suitable for reuse, so it becomes landfill or is sent overseas where it eventually becomes landfill also.

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According to Choice (here), Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group, each Australian buys 27kg of new clothes every year and disposes of 23kg of clothing at the same time. Australians generated 780,000 tonnes of textile waste of which only 7% was recycled, the rest became landfill.

The best outcome is to buy less, buy lasting quality and maintain existing clothes. Look for natural fibres. Channel Yves Saint Laurent who said ‘Fashion fades, style is eternal.’ He wanted his clients to discover their own style and stick with it.

Finding clothing made entirely from natural fibres is difficult and often more expensive. You’ll have to consider the cost against the number of times you’ll wear it. Learn how to launder the fabrics to keep the colour and shape. A quick search online shows many suggestions, plus a lot of information about mending.

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Before you baulk at the cost, consider the longevity of the fabric. For instance, linen has been found dating back 34 000 years in a cave in the Caucasus. Linen is made from flax which takes 100 days to transform from seed to harvesting. It requires less water than cotton, is smooth and lint free, has anti-bacterial properties and is thermo-regulating. The best linens come from France, Belgium and The Netherlands. China and Canada grow flax, but true aficionados only seek out linen from Flanders. The quality is reflected in the price. Linen is popular and easy to find at the moment. Buy the best quality you can and enjoy it forever. Think of French bedlinen, highly sort after in French markets; some sheets are over a hundred years old.

Other sustainable fibres are wool including cashmere, angora, pashmina and mohair, cotton, silk, hemp and jute and the most recent addition, bamboo. Bamboo fabric is created by crushing and submerging the cut bamboo in a solution of sodium hydroxide which dissolves the cellulose. Next carbon disulfide (a highly flammable carcinogen) is added to create a fibre which is then bleached white. The production of the bamboo fabric is probably more chemically intensive than other fabrics. Despite the advertising, bamboo is not a green fabric.

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So buy wisely, maintain your clothes and limit how many pieces you need. There are many online guides to building a capsule wardrobe, based on about 10 main pieces. Easy enough as you’ll probably already have a few base pieces like jeans, trousers or a blazer to build on.

decorating trends

So now you’ve got your wardrobe sorted, lets look at the decorating trends. Unfortunately, I discarded my full length, floral Laura Ashley dresses many years ago. It’s a shame, because looking at the decor trends in Europe I’m pretty sure Laura Ashley-like floral dresses will be the summer fashion here.

I base this on the interior designs in international decorating magazines. In one, it’s all about wallpaper and the wallpaper is Toile de Jouy. Once an Irish decorating favourite from 1760, Toile de Jouy soon swept through France and then everywhere. It was also a favourite during the Laura Ashley era. So a blast from the late 70’s through to the early 90’s. Some of wallpapers included in this article are traditional Toiles, featuring scenic vignettes, such as sprigs of flowers, horses, styles, herds of cows under trees, they’re all there. Some are more modern. Pictorial story telling in one colour on a white or cream background is everywhere. The articles suggests wallpapering one wall, or within painted panels or above the dado in bathrooms or sitting rooms. Exactly as I did in one of our houses, in 1991. Even the same colours.

So, when I turned to the page to the next article,’Heaven Above’ I was almost prepared for the next new thing. It’s wallpapering your ceiling. Not necessarily matching the wallpaper on the walls, although that is recommended but maybe a smaller pattern or even a bigger pattern in similar colours to blend with the wallpaper on the walls. These images remind me of hotels we stayed in the UK during the 80’s and 90’s, sloping wallpapered ceilings and Toile wallpaper, Toile curtains and bed skirts and even a matching Toile skirt on a kidney shaped dressing table. All those swags and ruffles.

All of which did actually prepare me for the next article called ‘Border Control’, suggesting we need definition in our decorating schemes. To do this we need clever borders created with wallpaper, paint, tiles or fabric trim. Another decorating hint in the same magazine was to brighten things up by tacking a pleated fabric skirt to your chairs. I’m experiencing deja vu. Worse still, I remember the dust in all the ruffled pelmets, curtains, Roman blinds and frilled cushions. Never again.

Trends referred to are based on articles and photographs from THE ENGLISH HOME, April 2024, Issue 230, UK Edition.

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Blue Zones and Fashion Trends

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blue zones

The Blue Zone Myth.

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Blue Zone regions are areas where people are claimed to live to a very old age. They have been studied and written about for years. What they eat, how active they are, whether they belong to a religious group and how well they connect within their community have all been documented. A lot of the data is based on government documents.

According to recent analysis, these pockets of extreme longevity seem to occur in areas with greater poverty, higher illiteracy, higher crime rates, and worse population health than the norm. They are found in Sardinia, Okinawa, the Greek island of Ikaria, Loma Linda in California, and Nicoya, a poor province of Costa Rica. The longevity of the “Supercentenarians” is attributed to the consumption of a variety of certain tubers, wholegrains, and fermented foods. A whole “Superfoods and Lifestyle” and publishing industry has grown up around these claims with much capital and employment invested in it.

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A well researched investigation conducted by Oxford University’s Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science tells a different story. Working with the Greek Labour Ministry they found that most of the country’s 9,000 centenarians were actually dead. A similar investigation conducted in Japan discovered that 238,000 people listed as aged 100 or more were unaccounted for. Some had died in the Second World War! The centenarians of Okinawa allegedly living on seaweed and the purple sweet potato, a superfood rich in anthocyanins and phenols, were found to have consumed less sweet potatoes than the rest of the country, less fruit and seafood, and more processed food. Japan has kept nutritional data as far back as the 1970s. It shows that Okinawa had the worst obesity problem even then. What all these regions have in common is dependency on pensions/social security. It’s worth keeping your family member on the books!

Based on an article by Dr Saul Newman The Oxford University Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science

The release of these findings coincides with a extensive British campaign to promote a plant based diet. This is also being pushed by the EU to try to influence climate change. The British model encourages children to eat from the ‘rainbow’ of foods. They’re told to eat 30 plant based foods a week. Four spices equal one plant based food, otherwise it’s fruit and vegetables, plus flour and oatmeal and other plant products and legumes. So, no eggs, meat, fish or chicken. Only plant based oils are acceptable. No butter. Only plant based milks and yoghurts and other non-diary products are allowed. Are plant based milks actually milks?

The UN is also pushing for a shift to a plant based diet, claiming this will reduce the ecological footprint of food production. Interestingly, the UN includes eggs in their list of acceptable foods. Don’t they come from birds?

One of the two major supermarket chains in Australia is also promoting a similar program of eating from the rainbow. Children can collect a chart from the supermarket to record how many plant based foods they eat in a seven day period. They write them in a colour coded column. The chart also features a box where an agreed award is listed if they meet their goal for the week. I’m assuming it’s not a visit to McDonalds.

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The whole issue of Blue Zones obviously needs more research. Some of the concepts attributed to the very old in these regions make nutritional sense, except the research suggests the younger generation eat differently, anyway. So, back to the Mediterranean Diet, which is a great way to eat with easily sourced foods.

clothes, decorating and fashion

When I read about the impact fashion posts on Instagram have, I do wonder about the age of the viewer to actually care or be influenced. Apparently millions of followers on Instagram and Tiktok do care and follow their idols’ examples of clothing and accessories closely, often checking several times a day.

When I think of fashion icons I think of Coco Chanel, who believed in restraint and advised women to take off one thing as they went out the door and the amazing Iris Apfel, who recently died, aged 102. Ms Apfel had no time for beige or the less is more dictate, she preferred a kaleidoscopic approach to dressing. This meant second hand pieces with couture, layers of clanking priceless jewels on her wrists and around her neck mixed with thrift shops pieces and always huge, colourful owl-like glasses. Joyful and expressive. So, I think we should suit ourselves, buy what we really like and keep it for as long as possible. Disposable clothing equals landfill.

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International taste in interiors has taken an about turn in the last 18 months judging by the magazines I read. Gone is white everything. Now the focus is on patterns and colours, open bookshelves displaying your treasures and lots of texture. Adding inherited pieces or second hand finds is essential and there’s colour everywhere. This looks nice and cosy in a European climate, but those intense colours and metres of curtains and ruffles might bring you out in hives on a hot summer’s day here. We are still having 30ºC (86ºF) days in Perth. Just remember, you can’t actually get personal taste wrong!

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Treats and Home Maintenance

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treats

It was our son’s birthday on Friday and he’d flown in Thursday night to spend a long weekend with us. We spent Friday in Bunbury, where my Mother lives. Although we managed to squeeze in lunch at our favourite Italian restaurant, the rest of the day was spent on Mother Business. She has moved into care and is slowly settling. It was never her plan to leave her house and garden but she has become frail. She’ll be 93 this year.

Knowing we’d be home on Saturday we arranged birthday treats to be delivered. Delicious bags and boxes arrived quite early. The box contained six authentic croissants, the long paper bag contained a baguette and the wonderfully presented cylinder was packed with macarons. Luckily, he shared, so a special start to the day. We settled to the weekend papers, online news and treats. Later (much later) we went out for sushi.

What’s in the box?

Macarons!

Our son lives in Kalgoorlie and he misses some favourite food places so his visits usually feature trips to our favourite yum cha restaurant, but not this time as it is Chinese New Year and the yum cha restaurant will be packed! Sushi is popular from two different places, and Vietnamese cuisine, too, except our favourite cafe is closed for renovations. When he lived in Adelaide he shared a unit and worked with boys from India, so curries feature, too. He also makes good curries.

home maintenance

During the two years of Covid lockdowns, closed borders and limited social contact, we took over cleaning the house as the cleaner was prevented from visiting. It took two of us almost all day once a week to do the whole house. This was because we tidied things away, did repairs, put things in better places and sorted things that could be discarded. Coffee breaks featured, too.

Now we are doing the cleaning ourselves again. We’ve removed the fabric cover from a sofa and all the cushions, plus two antimacassars and washed them. It looks so fresh and crisp again. We also got two leather cushions on another sofa refilled and I have used leather dye to repair worn areas on one of the arms. As soon as I have the time I will treat both leather sofas with saddle dressing.

I sanded and repainted all the chips in the door frames (so many!) and removed four pictures from a wall so had to repair the plaster, sand, plaster again, sand again and then paint. I like less on the wall, highlighting a Margaret Preston print already hanging there. Also treated a metal door frame outside which was rusted. Annoying as I’ve treated it twice before but this time I sanded, treated, primed twice then painted. Everything dried quickly in the 40ºC heat but the primer required 16 hours drying and curing time before the next coat. Finished off with white paint. Finger crossed. Later I repaired a few chips in the floor tiles using a two part resin mix. A friend then told me she scrubbed all the grout throughout her house with a toothbrush and then she sealed it. I know when to stop!

There’s some tricky bits to clean, such as the corners where skirting boards meet, the shutter frames and an intricate sculpture. Found an effective and easy to use solution! A long handled artists’ paint brush with firm bristles. Works so well on picture and mirror frames, too.

The advantage of doing these jobs ourselves is we have made decisions about decluttering, repairing and rearranging. I have also repaired paintwork and brick paving outside but there’s so much more to do. Too hot to garden but some other jobs can be tackled in the evening. We have a ‘handyman’ list and hope we’ve found the person to do those jobs. I think this frenzy of activity indicates how often we were in Bunbury, staying with my Mother and things became quite neglected. Now we need to catch up.

Meanwhile, I’m back reading all those posts online about keeping your house clean in 30 minutes a day, how to develop a routine for the immaculate house and even studying the spreadsheets of the immensely organised. Doesn’t seem to work for us.

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Christmas Countdown and Prawn Stock

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christmas countdown

The cakes are cooked, the cards are sent, most of the gift shopping and wrapping is done but despite my determination to be super organised this year, I still have a TO DO list. We’ll be having two Christmas Dinners, the first when our son arrives late Christmas Day and the second when we go and spend a day with my Mother. Tidied up the fridge and freezer to accommodate the Christmas food and drinks.

The whole TO DO list thing is a bit controversial. Some people feel writing down their tasks to be done is really efficient. They tick off the jobs as they are completed and focus on the next one. Other people say they don’t remember to look at the lists, struggle to make lists to cover everything that needs to be done or the length of the lists makes them anxious. I lived by lists when I was working, running the house, walking the dog, establishing the garden, doing the shopping and cooking and trying to maintain friendships. Then life relaxed a bit and so did the list. Lots of things slipped by so I went back to making lists, especially for shopping. Works for me.

In the middle of the Christmas preparations and fuss, I discovered one of the downsides of having very good eyesight again. I noticed most of the door frames have chips in them! I pondered on this for a while and finally realised, looking at the height of the chips, most of them are probably from mopping and vacuuming.

It’s a very hot day and I knew I’d need to do two coats to restore the frames. I started by sanding them back, then wiping the dust off and working out which paint ( I have lots of tins of white paint) matched the best. The best match turned out to be a spray paint, so I used a piece of cardboard to protect the walls and got spraying. Two coats did a good job. Then I washed and wiped all the doors. I noticed a chip in the plaster near the front door but that will be a job for after Christmas!

A sheet of cardboard to protect the walls, a can of spray paint and some sand paper, too, and the job was done. Really pleased with the outcome.

prawn risotto

We get wonderful prawns from along the coast of Western Australia. Many people associate prawns with summer eating and particularly at Christmas time. I had a pile of them to peel to make a stock for a Prawn Risotto. My traditional way of peeling prawns seemed to be taking so long! I usually cut the body from the head, slit down the underside and peel off the shells with the legs, then a small cut along the back to remove the digestive tract. This method was taking so long!

Wondered how restaurants dealt with shelling prawns. They’d need a faster system than mine. So I looked up Gordon Ramsay’s method but it almost what I was already doing and after looking at a few more entries, finally accepted I’d be shelling prawns for quite a while, get on with it. Then all the shells went into a pot to make stock with water, tomato paste, sweated onions and garlic. ( Someone told me later that many restaurants buy prawns which have already been mechanically peeled.)

Asked my husband to help but that wasn’t a success. He doesn’t really eat prawns or crabs. When we talked about it he said he never ate them as a child. I grew up at the head of an estuary and ate a lot of crabs as a child and still eat then whenever possible. Some years ago, when I returned from Milan with a broken wrist, we were at a crab party and he was preparing crabs and handing them to me. I’d eaten quite a few and suddenly realised he wasn’t eating any. ( Lucky me)

Made the prawn risotto. Forgot to photograph it. I’m not a big fan of rice (which was awkward living in China for a few years and visiting frequently for many years) but the packet of Arborio Risotto Rice was in a gift pack and I don’t like wasting food.

Back to Christmas preparations, about to check Spotify for some old fashioned carols to add a bit singing and dancing to the kitchen routine as there’s many jobs on the TO DO list!

WISHING YOU A MERRY

CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY

NEW YEAR!

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Cherries and Other Christmas Things

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TECHNOLOGY and ME

I have no idea what kept going wrong with last week’s blog, nor why it published itself (obviously not, but I’m accepting no responsibility). I eventually just gave up! Pondered giving up entirely, but decided to try once more. Fingers crossed this week’s blog is a success.

CHERRIES

The countdown to Christmas no longer features Advent Calendars in our house, although I’ve seen some very lush adult calendars online. Instead, it starts with cherries. As soon as I know cherries are available, I want some! Just before my first eye surgery I bought an art and craft materials Advent Calendar and every so often open a window and enjoy using the paint, clay, pencils and pens and other little treats. So not a countdown to Christmas calendar, more a move towards being able to do the things I used to do before my eyesight deteriorated.

This bowl of cherries didn’t last long!

The fountain in the portico is decorated.

So is the front door. Since added more baubles to jazz the laurel up a bit!

This dear little Christmas cake, a gift, arrived in a clear bauble and was delicious!

RUMBALLS

For years I’ve used the same recipe to make rumballs. They can be made a week before Christmas and are very popular. Our son was here on the weekend and wanted me to wait until he was back before I made this year’s rumballs ‘ because you don’t add enough rum.’ Well, some of the consumers of our rumballs then have drive home, so I think I’ll be sticking to the usual amount of rum in this year’s mix!

Every year at Christmas time I cook multiple trays of shortbread biscuits and give them as gifts. No fancy homemade boxes this year but I have decorated each gift with a heart and added a bauble, too.

Shortbread biscuits in cellophane bags with air dried hearts and baubles decorated using paper napkins/serviettes. (here)

TOMATOES

These tomatoes all germinated from two tiny cherry tomatoes from my Mother’s plant. I squeezed the seeds from the tomatoes onto a paper towel, spread them out and let them dry. Cut the towel into six squares and planted each square in a small pot. I planted them about six weeks ago. About 50 plants germinated.

I planted them out at different times to have a good supply of tomatoes throughout summer.

I have given away about fifteen plants as we’ll have enough for the two of us and these are delicious little tomatoes.

This lot are in a raised bed, sharing with the chive forest.

The last lot to be planted out. I’ll transfer them to bigger pots in a week or so.

MENDING

These light woven baskets with a drawstring lining are ideal for so many jobs. I have several.

When the handle stitching came undone I repaired it using linen thread and a big blunt needle.

I share all this with you because it is SO exciting to be able to thread the needle myself! I have also threaded and used the sewing machine. So exciting, so satisfying. Up there with being able to drive again and read easily.

SQUEEZING LEMONS

My husband, the preferred citrus squeezer in this household, saw Jamie Oliver using one of these citrus squeezers on a cooking program and wanted one. Two days later we saw one in an Italian food shop and we bought it.

He is very pleased with it.

BEFORE, the old way.

NOW, the new way!

I hope all your plans for the holiday season are going well.

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It’s December!

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And just like that, it’s the first of December and I’m not really ready!

Luckily, I began soaking the fruit for the two Christmas cakes we make each year ages ago, so when the opportunity arose to mix and cook the cakes, I was ready. Ably assisted by my husband, both cakes were in the oven and the kitchen was cleaned within two hours. Smells very good.

Every so often I’m tempted by a Christmas Cake recipe described as ‘fabulous’,’ quick’, ‘ready in no time’ and we’re always disappointed. The recipe I use came from my Aunt via my Mother and the photocopy is stained and showing signs of being folded year after year. It is still the best cake! The list of ingredients is long and converted from Imperial to metric measurements. I assemble everything on the kitchen bench before I begin, streamlining the actual mixing time. Who doesn’t enjoy the distinct aromas of cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, a splash of almond essence and vanilla? And the mixed dried fruit has been soaking in port for about two months and smells pretty good, too.

So, I line the tins with brown paper, then parchment paper, holding the layers in place with pegs! It works. I remove them before the cake tins are really full. Once the cakes are cooked, which takes about four hours, they’re left to cool in the tins in the oven. Some days later, my husband begins dosing them with the port drained from the mixed fruit and kept in a jar. Using a skewer, he pokes the cakes then drizzles them with the port. These are rich and beautifully moist cakes by the time we start eating them!

Ready for the oven. I simply decorate the top of the cakes with cherries and almonds. I am the only one who likes the traditional layer of marzipan and icing, so I don’t bother anymore.

CRAFT

My other Christmas occupation has always been craft. Inspired by a lovely gift from a friend, I have made air dried hearts. My dear friend gave us the blue and white porcelain heart when our adored dog Louis left us suddenly on the 9th of March.

I rolled the air dry clay on a bread board and used a cookie cutter to cut the heart shapes. Previously, I’d made holes in ornaments I intend to hang using a straw. No plastic straws in this house anymore! Resorted to the sharp end of a temperature probe. Not perfect.

Left the hearts to dry for a few days, turning them regularly. I think I should have made them thicker as these needed flattening as they curled a little on the edges.

The process is similar to covering the baubles. ( here) Using the same 3 ply patterned paper napkins/serviettes, I separated the layers. I glued the blue and white patterned paper onto the now dry hearts. I used a UHU glue stick. ( I use a lot of this glue on all sorts of projects, so I look for the multiple packs on sale before school goes back. Buying three at a time can be very economical!)

Needed small, very sharp scissors to trim the paper in line with the edges. Then I realised it was far easier to trim the overhanging paper, leaving enough to glue onto the sides. Quicker, easier. Then I poked the hole through the paper napkin layer and added a ribbon to hang the hearts or tie them to gifts. I’ll be making more of these!

This flurry of activity has been prompted not only by Christmas approaching but also because I had my second eye surgery last week. I had very poor eyesight, now I am really pleased by my restored vision. It is life changing. I will start driving again this week, I can read easily without holding the text right up to my eye, watching the television is amazing and I can see faces.

The first surgery was perfect, the second not so easy. By the time I was discharged from hospital my eye was really uncomfortable. Eventually needed pain relief, at which point we discovered we had an almost empty packet of Panadol. Had no impact at all. Another search revealed some codeine. Slight reduction of pain but the codeine did let me sleep for a few hours. It was an extremely long, painful night. Saw the surgeon early the next morning and he told me the cornea had been injured. Anaesthetic eye drops helped but I was also sent off to get better pain relief. We’ll be prepared in future for treating any sort of pain with a supply of effective pain relief.

Eight days later, my right eye is still extremely bloodshot, with occasional pain, but remarkable vision, too. I wander around, looking at the house, at the garden, just taking everything in. Really photophobic, so only going outside without sunglasses in the evening, but it’s early days. I feel very lucky.

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Kitchen Devices and Blue and White Baubles

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kitchen devices

I needed to use up some mince in the fridge. I looked up Nagi’s Recipe Tin Eats site to see how she makes rissoles as a change from the usual way I make them. Her recipe included grated zucchini, grated carrot and grated onion. Bit off putting as I typically hand grate using either an old fashioned box grater or a grater resting over a bowl. and it takes ages. Our son, who is a keen cook and was staying with us, said, ‘Use the grating device on the processor.’

The processor is older than him and regularly makes superb shortbread dough, mixes great pastry, purees and other things requiring the normal mixing blade. He rummaged around in the appliance cupboard and found a grating disk, the frame it sat on, the lid with a chute and a thing to poke the vegetables down the chute. Within seconds I had a mound of finely grated carrot, zucchini and onion.

One kilo of mince and a mound of grated vegetables made a lot of rissoles. I used an icecream scoop to scoop out the mixture from the bowl to make the round shape.

Still had more zucchini so once I’d mixed the rissoles I put the whole thing together again and grated the zucchini to make a zucchini slice. It’s fair to say this grating plate is my new interest. We will be eating lots of things with grated vegetables and cheese. The zucchini slice, a blast from the past, will also make three dinners with added vegetables.

The rissoles were cooked on the barbecue. The best part? Two more dinners of rissoles now labeled and in the freezer.

CHRISTMAS BAUBLES

English, Japanese, Korean, German and Chinese blue and white plates on a bathroom wall.

Are you a fan of blue and white Chinoiserie decorated china? I’ve always loved the various blue and white patterns and have some of my Grandmother’s very old pieces, some from my Mother and a lot I have bought for myself. When we lived in China I bought pieces made in Japan and Korea and a lot made in China. Some pieces were bought from shops, some from roadside stalls and a few pieces came from antique markets.

Many of these blue and white pieces are now around our home. Earlier this year I bought some plain white Christmas baubles intending to decorate them with blue and white patterned paper, in this case, deconstructed three ply paper napkins. We don’t put up a massive amount of Christmas decorations anymore, so I decided on a simple theme, featuring blue and white pieces.

I carefully peeled the printed sheet from the two other layers of these paper napkins. I’ve seen both three ply and two for sale locally. I cut small images from the decorated sheet and glued them to the bauble until the entire surface was covered in blue and white paper. I’ve seen other people posting about decorating Christmas baubles and they simply cut or tear the printed sheet into small pieces and glue them on. Each way seems to work well.

I think blue and white baubles will feature a lot this Christmas.

When the entire surface of the bauble was covered I hung it to dry and began another one. I bought the baubles well after Christmas and was limited to plain ones and a few with a textured surface. I was going to leave the textured ones but decided to try gluing the paper on, anyway, and it worked perfectly.

When they were dry I sealed them with a craft sealant. When I make more I will spray a glossy enamel finish on them as the first batch look a bit dull. And I will make more because it was fun and they look very pretty.

So. if you’re inspired to try this, you need some white Christmas baubles, paper napkins with colours and images you like, scissors and a glue stick or Mod Podge and sealing spray if you’re not finishing off with Mod Podge. (I used some of the removed white paper layers to rest the drying baubles and to wipe my hands. Later I used the leftovers to clean up.)

To decorate a bauble remove the hanging attachment (the silver or gold coloured clip at the top). I couldn’t remove them from the baubles I used so I just made sure the paper sat cleanly around the base. Most commonly, people use Mod Podge to glue then seal the papers. I just used a glue stick and it worked really well. (My Mod Podge is very old and has gone thick and attempts to dilute it weren’t successful)

I cut out images from the patterned paper. It isn’t necessary but I like the clean cut edge. You can tear the paper, too. I just glued the images onto the bauble until the entire surface was covered. I washed my gluing hand when it got sticky and kept going. Left the baubles to dry. So satisfying. When they were all dry I sealed them with craft sealer but will spray them later with gloss enamel.

Can’t stop making baubles! Off to hunt down more plain white baubles to decorate. The collection has doubled and I’ve seen more white baubles in the shops now that Christmas decorations are for sale.

Please let me know if you try this project. I’d love to see your finished product!

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