So happy Sarah is back with the Here and Now link-up. I really enjoy her blog but I’ve just discovered I have left publication too late for this month, so I’ll watch out for next months link-up!
LOVING The gentle change in weather as we move into Autumn. The mornings and evenings are cooler. Very motivated to work in the garden after an afternoon listening to Sophie Thompson, horticulturist, author, ABCTV garden presenter and TEDx speaker.
EATING Easter themed cake and gingerbread rabbits.
DRINKING Forest Fruits with a twist of Apple tea. Warming, tastes good and smells lovely.
FEELING Pleased the roses are still blooming. This red one is Father’s Love and lasts for ages as a cut flower.
MAKING Little muslin pectin bags for jam making. Last year I used a knotted Chux, a kitchen wipe! Very ugly, very efficient, but now I have some little bags which I can wash and re-use. Soon there will be citrus, so I’ll be making marmalade. The pectin, from pips and peel, makes the jam set.
THINKING Time to replant a garden bed which gets good sun but is currently planted with cannas. I’m struggling to get rid of them and have been researching non-chemical ways to deal with them. Digging them out seems to spur any remnant rhizomes to greater vigor. Any ideas?
DREAMING We’re planning trips, first to Bali and then a train trip. These are the things we dreamed about when we were working and had limited time to travel. So many possibilities now!
Tomorrow marks the beginning of EASTER, the Christian festival celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus. Many families will go to Church, eat chocolate eggs and hot cross buns and spend relaxing time together.
The real heat of summer hasn’t really arrived in Western Australia yet and I am already tiring of salad vegetables. Pickled cucumbers add crunch and flavour to salads. These are not sweet pickles but I like the flavour and the crispness they add to salads and sandwiches.
Pickles are recognized for regulating blood sugar and drinking the brine is very fashionable to aid recovery after intense exercise. It is also thought to promote good gut health.
Quick and easy to make, the ingredients in the pickling brine are standard pantry staples and the process is simple.
EASY PICKLES
Ingredients
cup of water
cup of white vinegar ( apple cider tastes good, too)
one teaspoon mustard seeds ( I used yellow seeds) or mixed peppercorns
one bay leaf
a few springs of herbs ( I used rosemary stripped from their stems)
one tablespoon salt
a large cucumber
NOTE You can add a teaspoon of chili flakes if you like)
Place all the ingredients except the cucumber in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Stir and simmer for one minute, turn off heat.
While the pickling brine cools a little, chop a large or two medium cucumbers into slices of regular thickness.
Pack the cucumber slices into an air tight, sterilized jar and then pour the pickling brine over until all the slices are covered. If you run out of the brine, just top the jar up with an equal mix of water and vinegar. Leave it open to cool.
When your pickles are cool, close the lid and store it in the fridge for a few days before opening and using. They will be crisp and refreshing and will add a distinctive flavour to salads.
Apple Cider Vinegar will cause the cucumber to go a darker shade but not effect the flavour.
This pickling method is for quick pickles to be eaten within two months and to be kept in the fridge. Ours are eaten well before their expiry date!
In gardening news, the hydrangeas are surviving the heat and blooming enthusiastically. Lush and cool looking.
The poor tomatoes are all in exclusion bags so we get some. Until I “bagged” them the wildlife were the only ones enjoying them.
The gargoyle and the flowering hibiscus.
The 4th of February, World Cancer Day, is intended to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its detection, treatment and prevention. Many cancers can be treated now days but early detection is important.
Making CARAMELISED RED ONION CHUTNEY. So easy! Fry 1.5kg diced red onions in 3 tablespoons of olive oil until the onion becomes clear, then add 150gm brown sugar and cook for about 10 minutes.
The onions will change colour. Lower the heat, add another 150gm brown sugar, 200ml of red wine vinegar, 3 crushed cloves of garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of paprika and 1 tablespoon of mustard seeds. Simmer on medium-low heat, for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
To test for readiness, drag a wooden spoon across the bottom of the pot. If it’s ready, the juices will take a few seconds to meet again.
Allow to cool slightly then spoon into sterilised jars. Seal when cool and refrigerate for up to three months unopened. Three jars of delicious Caramelised Red Onion Chutney, especially good with cold meat and cheeses.
Making MANGO SORBET using the ice cream maker I was given at Christmas time. It is chilled in the freezer then attached to the mixer to beat the fruit and sugar syrup for 7-12 minutes depending on the volume of sorbet made. Result…. the most luscious, smooth, delicious sorbet.
This sorbet was easy to make, involves only pureed mango and sugar syrup and tasted very good.
Very focused on colour now and doing a painting every day with these water colour pencils my son gave me. It’s taken a few days to master them as they’re neither coloured pencils nor water colours and there’s so many variations in each colour.
Influenced by another blogger’s goal, I am doing a picture/painting every day. It is good to sit and draw and paint and really focus on the subject and the colours to use. These quick and simple works will keep me drawing and painting until I return to my water colour course in February.
More colours, this time gel pens. Lots of fun, especially writing Christmas cards.
The Children’s House, a beautifully written story by Alice Nelson, is about families and love and the damage caused by neglect. I nearly abandoned this book at the first chapter as I’ve read enough about the Rwanda Genocide, but I am glad I persisted. It was necessary background to this beautifully told story. Nelson writes with such empathy and charm, and shows the kindness of people in unexpected places.
This is a lyrical and heart warming story about families and what makes them warm and loving but also highlights the damage done by institutionalised childcare, dysfunctional mothers and absent fathers.
Thought provoking with wonderfully drawn characters.
Our family like to celebrate birthdays with yum cha brunch. Lots of steamed seafood dumplings and fritters and I had turnip cake, too. Above left, sui- mai, one of my favourites.
Continuing on the colour theme, a bloom in the garden. So pretty, such vibrant colours.
Today is Winnie The Pooh Day, celebrating the author’s birthday. A.A. Milne’s famous bear is everyone’s favourite. Seems a good reason to go on a teddy bears’ picnic. Start by packing the honey……
MAKING These little muslin jam making bags hold the peel and pips of oranges, lemons, grapefruit and kumquats for jam making. Citrus fruit is low in pectin and the pips and skin are high, so including the bag of pips and some skin while the fruit cooks disperses the pectin, which is the setting agent.
These little bags are so easy to make. I cut a rectangle of washed and ironed muslin and sewed a hem along one of the longer edges.
Then I stitched the two open sides together, using zigzag stitch as the weave of the muslin is very loose.
Turned the bag inside out and sewed the two edges again in normal straight stitch. Then stitched cotton ties on the top seam and it’s done. A perfect pectin bag!
COOKING Soaked over a kilo of mixed fruit in sherry and brandy for about six weeks in preparation for the Christmas Cakes.
The first part of making the cakes is to line the cake tins with brown paper and then baking parchment paper. I hold it all together with pegs.
Next all the ingredients are mixed in a big bowl.
Each family member stirred the mixture and made a wish, then I poured it into the tins and decorated the top with almonds and cherries. I used to ice the cakes but not anymore. They cooked for nearly five hours and smelt wonderful the whole time.
GROWING I picked this pretty pink geranium from a friend’s garden to paint. I liked the colour so much I broke a piece off and planted it.
It’s growing well!
READING “Frieda, The Original Lady Chatterley”, Annabel Abb’s carefully researched but partly fictional account of D.H.Lawrence’s muse and wife was a fascinating snapshot of women’s rights and opportunities during the first half of the 20th century. Frieda, a German baroness by birth, marries an English professor of linguistics and moves to Nottingham, an industrial city with strict behavioural expectations which stifled her. She adores her children but feels suffocated by her marriage and lack of intellectual and sexual stimulation and sets out to achieve more.
( The book has a different cover overseas.) Frieda pays a dreadful price for her freedom. She loses contact with her three children until they are adults and lives within a toxic and erratic marriage with Lawrence. Frieda was a woman who refused to conform and was determined to be wholly her own person. A great read.
Also read Arundhati Roy’s “Ministry of Utmost Happiness”. I bought it because I’d really enjoyed her previous book, “The God of Small Things” but I found her new book so long and so distressing I struggled to stay engaged. Her wide ranging collection of characters and locales plus the constant and graphically described violence, all based on historical events, was finally too much for me. No utmost happiness for me!
The 7th of December is Pearl Harbour Remembrance Day. On the 7th of December the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour, the Headquarters of the United States Pacific Fleet in the Hawaiian Island. This attack caused America to enter WW2.
The Japanese also attacked Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore the Dutch East Indies, the Philipines and the International Settlement in Shanghai at the same time, although the date on the other side of the international dateline was December the eighth.
After a week of wonderful day trips around Ipswich we set off for London. When we had dropped off the car we went to our hotel in Cromwell Road. Our room wasn’t ready as we were early so the staff cloaked our bags and suggested we go to an Italian Restaurant a few blocks away. It became our favourite restaurant.
Good, traditional Italian food in a nice environment and great service.
Bought some tulips for our hotel room and borrowed a vase.
Years ago I saw an article about the Garden Museum in a de-consecrated church, St Mary-of-Lambeth near Lambeth Palace and have wanted to visit ever since. When we were in London two years ago the museum was shut for renovations, so on our first full day in London we went to the Garden Museum.
What a disappointment. I expected gardening implements through the ages, home made and rustic, bee keeping artifacts and general garden equipment such as traditional fly traps or papers, wicker tripods or traditional iron garden frames. What was on show was very limited. There were no special exhibitions and no activities in the studios and only the shop seemed alive and cared for in any way. Bemused, we took stock in the cafe and left.
Remnants of its previous incarnation as a church have been incorporated into an atrium garden, Sackler Garden, designed by Dan Pearson.
Pretty garden but not the amazing or innovate plantings I expected at all. The front garden was designed by Christopher Bradley-Hole.
The National Gallery was as always, wonderful. There was an Impressionist Exhibition charting the development from Impressionism to Post Impressionism. We enjoyed the Turners so much we were there again early the next morning and when the gallery opened we went straight to room 41 where they were and had them to ourselves for about ten minutes before anyone else got down that far. Then to the National Portrait Gallery. Also wonderful.
Eventually, the sheer number of amazing artworks became a bit overwhelming and if I was going again I think I’d divide each site into four days and spend an hour or so a day there and then do something else such as a garden, walking around Westminster Bridge or shopping!
Lunch in the Crypt of St Martin in the Fields. Very atmospheric and good to sit down and people watch for a while.
The courtyard at the Victoria and Albert Museum. This is an enormous collection of treasures and I decided to be selective about where I spent the most time.
Really loved the Architecture Exhibition. This is a model of The Tempietto, featuring the balanced proportions and pure volumes of Renaissance architecture.
A model of a courtyard in the Alhambra Palace. There was so much to see at the Victoria and Albert Museum and I really enjoyed it all but especially the Architecture Exhibition. It was half term in the UK and the museum was packed!
London, near Victoria Station.
Modern Art in the Underground.
Enjoyed visiting Liberty. I bought my first pieces of Emma Bridgewater crockery here 25 years ago and have collected it ever since. Nostalgic shopping trip.
More treasures at Liberty.
Spent a morning in the Silver Vaults looking for a silver water jug. I’d admired one 25 years ago but didn’t want to spend the money. Still didn’t want to spend the money!
Pretty window boxes near our hotel.
Streets of London.
Traffic, statues, red buses and crowds….very London.
The entrance to the Gloucester Road Underground near our hotel.
Armistice Day services. We also went to a piano performance at this Church one night and really enjoyed it. They have regular performances and almost daily Church services.
How to dine outside when the climate doesn’t really accommodate outdoor dining!
Our first meal in London was at this restaurant and so was our last. Will miss eating there!
Adored by children and adults, the famous British novelist, poet, screen writer and fighter pilot Roald Dahl died on this day in 1990. His books sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Labelled the most popular writer of childrens’ books since Enid Blyton, his “Revolting Rhymes” delighted children and adults alike.
Enjoying the opportunity to be part of this link-up and especially enjoying reading Sarah’s blog and the other blogs featured.
LOVING// Being home after a month of traveling overseas. Going downstairs or out for every meal or making little picnics in the hotel room, because we had a big lunch, and going on day trips every day is exciting but a bit tiring after a few weeks. Great for a month but I was ready to come home.
EATING// My homemade sourdough. I missed it and fed the mother/starter to get it going when we arrived home from the airport, even though it was very late.
FEELING// Pretty pleased with the spring garden. Gorgeous flowers, herbs and masses of spinach and the birds have left me some blueberries, too.
DRINKING// Spring weather and drinks outside. Rose and some tidbits. Very relaxing.
MAKING// The first of the Christmas Lists…To Do, To Buy, To Make… Christmas seems to have come about so fast this year and I feel really unprepared.
THINKING// Reflecting on the Centenary of the Armistice. Remembrance day services advertised outside churches and museums in the UK and this clever garden in Colchester.
In France, as well as commemorating the Armistice, it’s the Year of Clemenceau, who was the President at the time. Claude Monet, whose sons fought in WW1, promised the first two panels of his magnum opus, Les Nympheas ( the Water Lilies cycle) to the French State on the day the Armistice was signed, November 11th, 1918. He was eventually persuaded by his close friend Clemenceau, to bequeath all 22 panels.
Although this lily pond is in a hotel garden in Singapore it reminded me of Monet’s Garden in Giverny.
DREAMING// Spent a morning in the Silver Vaults in London and saw many covetable pieces, but particularly this silver water jug. Lovely shapes and sizes and we really liked everything about this one….except the price. It is still in the vaults and I’m still dreaming about it.
12/11 is Chicken Soup For The Soul Day. The title comes from a book of the same name published in 1993 by two motivational speakers who shared stories they had collected from their audience members. The stories were uplifting and enlightening and demonstrated that despite being bombarded by bad news there’s good in everyone. The title reflects the traditional Jewish belief in the healing powers of chicken soup, since proven to be true!
I grew up on a farm some distance from the nearest town and the family shopping was done once a week. My mother tended a large vegetable garden and there were so many fruit trees. We had apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, figs, mulberries, oranges, pears, grapes and also almonds.
Surplus fruit was preserved and used later in the year and surplus tomatoes were cooked and frozen as ready made sauces. Huge pots of marmalade, jams and jellies were bottled. Nothing was wasted.
I’m trying to be more frugal and use up everything, too, motivated by the amazing hints shared online. I’d like to use less and spend less. I try to avoid single use plastics; look for loose rather than packaged fruit and vegetables and recycle/upcycle as much as possible. I draw the line at compost as I only create evil smelling, horrible muck but do feed the worm farm fruit and veg scraps.
My frugal successes are mostly about food and the garden. I admire all the clever people who download coloured and decorated meal plans, fill them in and shop based on their plan and use almost everything.
I’ve tried different systems and none have worked for more than a few weeks at best. So, I use up all the leftovers I can in frittatas, soups and pastry or potato topped pies. Sometimes I add homemade curry paste or chickpeas or even baked beans. I try hard to not throw away food.
Growing herbs just outside the back door means I have easy access to a wide range of flavours to add more depth to whatever I’m making. Most frequently used are chives, spring onions, mint, rosemary and parsley which just keep growing . Seasonal herbs, in Western Australia, are basil and coriander. I have blueberries which I share with the birds, likewise the apricot tree. They seem to get more than us. I also grow chilies and lemon grass for particular things we make but the most important is probably tomatoes, which I grow in pots. They taste so much better than bought tomatoes and it’s so easy to pick some when I need them. Another constant is silverbeet which I grow in three pots. I pick enough for the three of us, rotating which pot I use and within about ten days the leaves are back to picking size again. Small, fresh leaves are delicious.
Flowers in the house have always been important to me so I mostly grow my own. They are so pretty but I rarely buy them. I usually have roses and for several months of the year, alstroemerias. Now I have sweet peas and soon I’ll have an orchid which will flower indoors for a few weeks. I love fresh flowers but not the cost. Also, the cut flowers at my local supermarket all seem to be imported.
FRUGAL FAIL
I had a frugal fail recently, too. A well known coupon site was advertising oven cleaning at a very tempting price. Effective oven cleaning products give me a headache, so I clicked “buy”, imaging my oven beings fresh and clean.
Booked the date and time online and had a response confirming the appointment, rang the day before they were due just to be sure and that’s when my great plan fell apart. Mr Unbelievably Rude had obviously over booked and had no intention of cleaning my oven. Although I was refunded the cost immediately by the coupon company, the whole experience was very off-putting. I will look more closely at the reviews next time.
So, I’m interested in your frugal things. What do you do to use less and save more?
Yesterday was INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS DAY. The records of the world began with illustrations on cave walls and our joy in art continues. Get yourself to an exhibition or do something artistic yourself.
Time to pull the ivy out of the street tree and cut it off to the ground. Can’t totally remove it as it makes good ground cover on the verge. It is tough and green and survives with irregular watering.
The ivy, planted as ground cover, has spread up the verge tree and needs cutting and pulling out of the tree. Dusty work and frequent showers of bark when we pulled out the long, cut off pieces of ivy.
I made a pile of the thinnest most pliable lengths of ivy to use to make the wreath. The pieces need to be “strappy” so they can be formed into a circle.
Stripped the leaves from the long pieces of ivy.
Make a circle with a long piece, joining and twisting any extra length into the circle. Hold the end in place with a peg. Take another piece, tuck the end between the two pieces and then weave it in and out around the circle, tucking the end between the original pieces and holding it with a peg. It becomes stronger and more secure as more pieces are added and the pegs can be removed.
The wreath becomes a more regular shape as more pieces are woven into place. The wreath can be as thick or thin as desired but about eight long pieces are needed to make a sturdy base.
When the wreath is strong, add pieces of ivy without stripping the leaves. Start by holding the piece in the middle and weave it one way up to the end, tuck it between base pieces then twist the other half going the other way, tucking that end in, too. Just keep adding pieces until you are happy with the look of your wreath.
Keep adding lengths until the wreath looks finished.
At this stage you can hang it or add more elements to the leaves, such as baubles or bows if you want a Christmas theme. The leaves will droop and die in five days in Western Australia’s heat. Then the leaves can be pulled off or the pieces with leaves can be unraveled back to the bare wreath to add other decorations.
Leave some pieces unwoven and hanging for a really rustic looking wreath.
The hanger which I add at the end is a bent piece of craft wire. I hook it over several pieces of the wreath then squeeze the ends in to make the hanger secure.
This creates a secure way to hang the wreath. Usually it is covered by the ivy leaves.
After I’d removed the leafy ivy strands I twisted fairy lights around the wreath. They look very pretty.
The bare wreath can be stored for using later and added to if you want a sturdier circle. Just lay it flat until you need it again.
Today is EVALUATE YOUR LIFE DAY. Is it time to step back and look at your life? Are you happy, healthy and achieving your goals? Today is the day to evaluate your progress and make new plans.
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.
