Recycled Plastic Labels, Flowers and Books

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RECYCLED PLASTIC BOTTLES

This hard to read label says, “I used to be a plastic bottle. This label is made from 100% recycled plastic.” My new cardigan is made of 100% cotton except the buttons and has a label made from recycled plastic. Good.

West Australian solo sailor Jon Sanders found on his recent world circumnavigation that nearly every 100 litre of seawater sample collected contained around 300 particles per cubic metre of microplastics. Why is this a problem? The chemicals released from plastics contribute to infertility, immunity disorders and abnormal neurological development in children.

FLOWERS IN THE HOUSE

The Phalaenopsis orchids are showering themselves in glory! Very satisfying, very pretty.

Several vases of early ranunculus. I cut them on short stems as the remaining stems have so many buds.

I read on a gardening site that ranunculus have more flowers if the corms are soaked prior to planting. I’d never done this before so tried it this year. I shared the corms with my Mother who lives further south. Unsurprisingly, mine germinated and bloomed before hers did but they also seem to be stronger plants. From now on I will soak the corms before planting.

I love arum lilies. They are a weed in Western Australia but my lilies are contained within an isolated bed. The lush, thick leaves don’t die off totally in summer as they do in the wild. The flowers start appearing at the end of August. I like to put the beautiful lilies in vases indoors.

The last of the Glamis Castle roses. They’ve all been pruned now.

CHOPSTICK STORAGE

We use chopsticks regularly. They’ve been stored in a cardboard tube for the last twenty plus years. The tube they were stored in was getting tatty. I was about to throw this acrylic chocolate box in the recycling bin when I realised it would make a great storage box for the chopsticks!

It had a brand sticker on the lid. I tore it off slowly and carefully but it left a layer of sticky glue. Tried removing it with hand sanitizer which was within reach. Didn’t work. Sprayed the sticker with Isopropyl alcohol and the residual glue just wiped off. Gave the box a wash in hot soapy water, dried it and now it’s a perfect chopstick box.

READING

Dr Norman Swan is a well known Australian broadcaster and physician. When I saw his latest book, So You Think You Know What’s Good For You? on the XPRESS ( seven day limit on borrowing for very popular books) display at the library, I borrowed it. He answers the health questions he’s asked all the time, based on the latest evidence and with good humour. Easy to flick back and forward following items of interest, this book is full of information and sound advice. You can just avoid the bits that make you nervous!

PLANTING OUT HYDRANGEAS

These ‘sticks’ are from pruning existing hydrangeas. Take a piece with two growth buds, push it into soil and come back a few months later. Roots should have appeared. I will plant these new plants in a very shady place where I planted some last year, as a trial. The plants only grew a little bit but each one produced flowers. I hope in time they reach a height where they will get more dappled light and thrive. I really like their glossy leaves and big, blousey blooms.

PRESSING EARLY SPRING FLOWERS

I collected a hat full of early springs flowers to press. I’ll use them to make some gift tags so I snipped their stems short. If I was planning to use them to make a card or a picture for the wall, I’d leave a longer stem and include more foliage.

I’d already cleaned the dusty press and put four layers of lithograph paper ready for the flowers. I don’t use paper towel as delicate petals can end up with the pattern of the paper towel imprinted on them. I also avoid newspaper as the ink can seep through the paper and stain the flowers during the pressing process.

Arranged the flowers then covered them with another four sheets of litho paper. I used a wooden press as I have one, but heavy books are also effective.

Put the top layer of the press in place and screwed on the wing nuts not really tightening any of them until they were all in place. Then I tightened them until there was no more movement.

I’ll put the press somewhere cool and dry for the next month. It needs to be accessible as I’ll continue tightening the nuts every three or four days for about a month.

TRAVEL JOURNAL PAINTING

Visited Rowles Conservation Park near Ora Banda while we were in Kalgoorlie. This lagoon is very beautiful. I have done a quick water colour painting for my journal.

In Australia and New Zealand, Father’s Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of September, so we will be celebrating this Sunday. This is a lovely opportunity to get together with family members but it may not be possible for all families due to ongoing lock downs in New South Wales and Victoria. Wishing all Fathers, where ever they are, a lovely day. Happy Father’s Day!

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Mid Winter Week

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COLOGNE

A few weeks ago I wrote about buying 4711 Acqua Colonia Blood Orange and Basil because my Grandfather used 4711 and I really liked the scent. As a cologne it didn’t last long or overpower but every now and then I’d get a whiff of the fresh citrusy scent. Then I read about a project the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam called ‘In Search Of Lost Scents’. Perfumers were asked to create scents to match works from the Rijksmuseum collection.

The Battle of Waterloo

Jan Willem Pieneman ‘The Battle of Waterloo’, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

One of the scents was created by perfumer Birgit Sijbrands, inspired by Jan Willem Pieneman’s 1824 painting ‘ The Battle of Waterloo’. The scents she selected were intended to reflect Napoleon’s anxiety fleeing the battlefield, plus thousands of horses and the leather of saddles, bridles and boots. Another layer represented the muddy earth as it had been raining for days, and sweat and gunpowder.

www. Pixabay

There was also a surprising layer to the created scent; fresh citrus. The former Emperor and many of the soldiers were fans of 4711 Eau de Cologne, then called ‘Aqua Mirabilis’, miracle water. It was considered a medicine plus a fragrance. 4711 claims to be the oldest cologne still being made in the world. It is produced in Cologne, famous for its colognes, hence the word ‘cologne’. Made by Mäurer & Witz, it is a secret combination of lemon, orange, bergamot, lavender, rosemary, neroli, petitgrain*, roses and sandalwood oil. It still smells wonderful.

Pixabay

*Petitgrain is derived from the bitter orange tree. I’d never heard of it before but apparently is commonly used in medicinal oils.

A NEW LAPTOP

My laptop had been dropped once too often and not always by me! After a discussion with my son, Techno Help, a new one was ordered. Years ago I had a glossy red laptop which was attractive and easy to find in a pile of others things on the table. Now my choices were graphite, graphite or graphite. Bit like slowly replacing all the lovely white electrical appliances in the kitchen with stainless steel. So, I ordered sticker which was a picture of roses. It arrived quickly, was easy to apply and I love it.

What’s in the large envelope? A sticker for my new laptop.

BALD AS A BADGER

Pixabay

My Mother used the expression “As bald as a badger”. We couldn’t visualise a bald badger! Turns out, the expression was “As bald as a badger’s bum”. Badgers were trapped and the coarse, thick hairs from their rear ends were plucked to make shaving brushes. After plucking the bristles the badgers were released. Eventually the hair grew back but it was common to see badgers with bald backsides!Pixabay

There’s a common Australian expression “As blind as a bandicoot” probably because they live underground. There’s a long history of expressions making comparisons with animals, such a ‘ as blind as a bat’, ‘as slow as a snail’ and ‘ slippery as a snake.”

Pixabay

PLASTIC FREE JULY

I was interested to read that pressure from the children of CEOs is resulting in change around the over use of plastics. Many brands admit they are changing their polices and practices due to pressure from their own children.

Unfortunately, birds starving because their stomachs are full of plastics is becoming more common, according to recent research in the UK. WWF also claims we each consume a credit card size amount of plastic every week. Also in the UK The Rivers Trust (www.theriverstrust.org/stop-flushing-wipes) tells us that 93% of sewer blockages are caused by flushing wipes down the toilet. Probably similar statistics in Australia. Let’s focus on cleaner water.

ROSES

My roses are finally recovering from the plague, AKA chili thrip. Healthy green leaves and buds are appearing just in time for pruning. I am hoping they recover fully and return to their vigorous state of well being next season. Meanwhile we took my Mother home this week and her roses are still blooming happily. As a result, I have two vases of beautiful roses, which makes me very happy.

RESTORING

Running up and down the stairs many times a day recently, I saw the frame of one of the mirrors hanging there was chipped. The frames are classic timber with plaster decorative finishes. I’ve repaired chips in the frames before, so set about restoring this one.

I removed the mirror from the wall and dusted and wiped it clean, before mixing a paste of Polyfilla.

Mixed the Polyfilla using an old knife. I’m sure there’s purpose made palette knives for this job but I like the long blade on this old one for applying and smoothing the plaster.

2. Smeared the Polyfilla carefully into the cracked ornate plaster veneer, over filling it slightly.

BEFORE

AFTER

3. After it had cured for two days I used sandpaper to smooth the surface to look like the rest of the frame.

4. Using a small paintbrush, I stippled gold and copper paint onto the repair to imitate the existing old gold until it looked like the original finish. Added some black water colour paint to mimic the frame’s faint black stripe when the gold was dry then re-hung the mirror. Pleased with the repair.

Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, has just won the rights to host the 2032 Olympic Games. By then we should be CV-19 free!

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Making, Cooking, Eating, Reading

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MAKING

I have painted every day for the last two months, sometimes just quick works, sometimes intricate paintings and sometimes following Zoom sessions. During this time I become interested in painting blue and white china. I sorted all my blue paints and tested each to decide which were closest in colour to the blue on my many pieces of blue and white china.

I found making a reference sheet of test colours really useful and did something I should have done years ago: I drew up a grid and painted a rectangle showing the colour of every tube of paint I have and wrote their names, too. I have no idea why I didn’t do this before, but it is very useful!

Then my son gave me a Moleskin Watercolour Album. It is gorgeous and the texture of the cold pressed cotton (25%) blend, acid free pages is very good. The next day I drew up and replicated the colour grid inside the front of the journal. Great reference, just needs some great paintings, now.

COOKING CABBAGE SOUP!

The greengrocer has a range of cabbages. I buy them all, the reds ones, the Savoy ones, the Chinese (wombok), the black and the common green drumhead ones. I had run out of ideas for preparing cabbage! I looked up “cabbage soup” online. A nostalgic moment. You see, the majority of recipes for cabbage soup are for the Cabbage Soup Diet!

When we lived overseas most foreigners lived in a compound. Christmas wasn’t celebrated there and there was no holiday except at the school. Most of the wives and children returned to their home countries for a few weeks to celebrate Christmas and have a holiday. This meant mass dieting for weeks before hand and the diet of choice was the Cabbage Soup Diet. I don’t think it was very successful but seeing so many entries for it online was nostalgic, not necessarily in a good way. Boiled cabbage smells bad.

Next time I’ll grind fresh spices instead of using powdered ones.

Under all that was a recipe from a site called Simply Good for Cabbage Soup, (here). The reviews were enthusiastic and there were lots of them, so I made Cabbage Soup. I had all the ingredients. It was easy, healthy and very good. I will make it again.

EATING AND COLD WEATHER

It’s the middle of winter in the Southern hemisphere. We have had more rain than I remember since I was a child. The dams and even the aquifers must be full by now. Wet and cold days seem to require carbohydrates, so I’m quick to oblige. When our son came down from Kalgoorlie for the weekend, we had bagels and paninis for lunch and a roast beef dinner with roasted vegetables and luscious gravy.

The next morning we had yum cha, delicious little bites with warming spicy dipping sauces. The yum cha restaurant is always crowded and noisy. There’s large round tables where big groups enjoy the food and company, smaller tables and then tables for four. The servers come past with trolleys you choose from or trays with specialties and you can order your favourites, too.

Small but diabolical chocolate muffins.

I’d made chocolate chip muffins. They have amazing powers to fight cold weather

My Mother has been staying, too, after some surgery for melanomas on her face and hand. She really feels the cold, so has an electric blanket on her bed and now, an electric throw. It was recommended to me by a friend and endorsed enthusiastically by another friend, so off I went to buy her one. The first two shops had sold out, but the third shop had one left. They had unpacked ten that morning and told me I was lucky to get the last one.

She thinks it’s very warm!

READING

I’m a fan of Irish writer Marion Keyes books. She is funny and sharply observant. She writes fiction and nonfiction. I always checked to see if she had for a new book available when we were traveling. Remember plane trips? When I finished the book I’d leave it in the hotel for someone else to enjoy.

Thoroughly enjoyed ” Making It Up As I Go Along”. Published in 2016 this is a collection of columns and articles she wrote for various newspapers, travel magazines and other magazines. We learn about her nail polish museum, her many trips overseas and Himself, her saint like husband plus her passion for rugby.

I borrowed this book from the library to balance out my other selections, serious garden tomes on treating pest invasions naturally, re-espaliering fruit trees ( mine has shot upwards, seeking sunlight as the neighbours’ trees have grown and block the sun) and small garden design requiring little water, except their idea of a small garden is big compared to mine. Interesting and informative, but very serious so some droll observations from Marion Keyes were very welcome.

How are you going with Plastic Free July? Aldi has a set of four fruit and vegetable bags. Two are made of calico, two are woven cotton. Light, easy to wash and reusable. Four less plastic bags every week. You can use the paper bags intended for mushrooms if you forget to take reusable fruit and vegetable bags shopping.

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Some Sewing, Watching, ZOOM Painting and Chilli Thrip

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SEWING

Are you a home sewer? I had my sewing machine serviced this week. It was the first time in 34 years, so I thought it was due. Actually, I’d tried to mend my husband’s pyjamas and the machine made it clear things had to change. Off to the repair shop. Now it hums along happily. Mostly I mend and modify things, so nothing fancy, just practical.

Home sewing is experiencing a huge boom! Last year the UK recorded a 300% increase in sewing machines sales. Thought to be influenced by a program on television called “Great British Sewing Bee” and CV-19 resulting in more time at home, there’s also a move towards greater sustainability in clothing and a continuing reluctance to shop.

Not only has there been an explosion in the popularity of home sewing, but also knitting and crocheting are wildly popular, too. The UK Craft and Hobby Trade Association estimates over one million people have begun sewing for themselves in the past 3 years.

Sewing machine sales in Sweden have also increased more than 10 fold in the past year. A spokesman for Swiss sewing machine manufacturer, Bernina, says sales figures have literally exploded. (The West Australian newspaper 10/05/2021) Sales of knitting and crocheting materials have increased by eightfold. Availability of Australian grown and manufactured wool has increased enormously and can be found online or in craft suppliers. Good. In the past we sent most of it overseas.

So, is overt consumerism declining? Environmental concerns, a focus on individuality and the pleasure of creating all contribute to the increase in sewing, knitting and crocheting. Interestingly, many bloggers comment on the cost of these activities.

Once seen as thrifty, sewing machines and fabrics are quite expensive and mostly imported into Australia. Others suggest that having invested so much time, energy and money into making clothing or household pieces, they will take more care of them and keep them for much longer. It will be interesting to see if sewing clothes at home will continue.

WATCHING

I hate to admit it, but Jeremy Clarkson's farming show is really good TV | Television & radio | The Guardian The Guardian.UK

I enjoyed “Our Yorkshire Farm” and “Escape To The Farm With Katie Humble” but it all became a bit repetitive. Neither of these programs prepared me for ” Clarkson’s Farm”. Jeremy Clarkson has 1 000 acres in Oxfordshire. Fairly clueless, but with great enthusiasm and elan, he farms his 1000 acres. He employs a variety of advisors, farm hands and general contractors in typical Clarkson style.

Of course he buys a huge Lamborghini tractor which doesn’t fit in his shed and really requires an interpreter to keep it working. The pressures of getting jobs done in between rain results in him inventing his own, unsuccessful, methods. Very funny. Especially when his efforts are inspected by 21 year old contractor Kaleb who doesn’t hold back when he critiques Clarkson’s cultivating. The sometimes pointless but remnant EU rules baffle and annoy him, as did six weeks of non-stop rain. More rain than the UK had seen in a century. His farm becomes a quagmire.

So very funny and interesting, peppered with typical Clarkson observations and antics. All accompanied on a cool Saturday morning with a mug of Fridge Soup. In other words, all the vegetables that needed to be used up in the fridge, plus some meaty stock I had and curry paste. Bamixed, pasta added, left to cook some more, then ladled out and enjoyed. There we were, cuddled up with Louis the dog, comfortable and cosy on a cold morning, cackling at Clarkson. (Amazon Prime)

PAINTING

I really enjoy Amy Stewart’s painting tutorials on ZOOM. She delivers one each month. I’d signed up for a session painting monarch butterflies, so a few days before the lesson I found some images, studied the characteristics and painted one on my rose painting.

The monarch butterflies we painted were based on very quick, directed drawings. The focus was on impressions of butterflies, not so much on accuracy. After we’d drawn the shapes we applied a lot of water to each shape and then dropped paint into it. Unpredictable but colourful results. When the paint was dry we used felt and paint pens to add definition and detail. Very different from how I usually paint, but a wonderful opportunity to try other techniques.

Influenced by Amy Stewart’s use of felt pen to add definition and clarity, I completed this poppy painting by adding some pen drawing, too.

CHILLI THRIP

Continuing the war against chilli thrip. Some roses have responded well, others still look dire.

Some of the roses in the back garden have responded well to bi-weekly sprays, plant oil and Seasol. I have been picking the last flush of roses and there’s no sign of chilli thrip. At the end of July all the roses will be pruned right back. I hope they will be healthy next year! I will replace the top layer of soil where the thrip apparently breed with a fresh mix.

Roses out the front have not recovered at all. They had the same treatment as those in the back garden. Less sunlight?

The lime tree, on the other hand, next to the roses out the front, is covered in healthy, delicious fruit!

It’s International Men’s Health week focusing on the well being of all men. For more information www.menshealthweek.org.au/

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Flowers, Cavolo Nero, Painting and Reading

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CHANGE OF PLANS

I have been working on this blog well ahead of intended publication day as I was going to Canberra for two days and then Melbourne for three days. I’d done lots of research about the three exhibitions we’d booked tickets to see and had a list of other things I planned doing while I was in both Canberra and Melbourne. Then an outbreak of CV-19 changed our plans! Melbourne is in lockdown again. This must be very difficult for them. Anyway, I’m staying safely in Western Australia, at home and my son, who I was travelling East with is going to Darwin for four days instead. Bit sad about missing Botticelli to Van Gogh in Canberra and She-Oak and Sunlight, Australian Impressionism plus French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, in Melbourne.

FLOWERS

Do you like fresh flowers in the house? Me, too. Not surprising, really, as my Grandmother always had flowers on the table and my Mother has at least one vase of flowers on her table, too. I like to grow most of our cut flowers. It’s hard to find out where bought flowers come from but apparently most roses come from overseas. I enjoy gardening and these flowers are so freshly cut they last longer.

The roses above are mostly from my Mother’s garden. The entire area around where we live has a terrible infestation of chili thrip* which is decimating the roses. The recommended treatments are making very little difference. It’s early to prune the bushes but I’m considering it to try and nurture healthy roses in spring. Any advice about successful treatments would be very welcome!

*Chilli thrip (Scirtothrips dorsalis) feed on roses, all citrus as well as a range of fruit and vegetable hosts. Originally from Asia, chilli thrip is gradually achieving global distribution.

CAVOLO NERO

Common in Italian cuisine, cavolo nero is a blackish cabbage, very similar to kale. I bought it because it looked so interesting. I combined a Maggie Beer recipe with some other general directions and made this BRAISED CAVOLO NERO, which we ate with squid and potatoes.

Rinse the cavolo nero leaves and dry them. I used a bunch to make dinner for two but it would feed four if you were serving other vegetables, too. It tastes better than it looks!

The ingredients are simple. Gather the washed cavolo nero, two cloves of garlic, a lemon ( usually, but I only had fresh limes so that’s what I used and they tasted very good) about five anchovies, because I like the salty, surprising taste when they break up amongst the vegetable. You also need some olive oil for cooking and about half a cup of water.

Fold the cavolo nero leaf in half longways and slice out the stem. I kept the stems to make minestrone! Apparently that’s the typical thing to do in Italy. Then cut the leaves sideways into slices. Put the oil in a heavy based pan and when it’s hot add the garlic and anchovies. The anchovies disintegrate a bit during cooking. Add the leaves, squeeze on the citrus juice and stir them about. The leaves shrink quite a lot. After about five minutes add the water and let it cook until the water has evaporated.

Served with some flash fried squid, a potato and another squeeze of lime. Healthy and fast, although preparing the leaves is a bit of a faff.

I made a very traditional minestrone, including the stems from the cavolo nero this time, but I didn’t add the pasta when I was cooking it. As the soup lasts two of us about three days the pasta becomes mushy after the first day. So I cook a little fresh al dente pasta and put it into the minestrone just before I serve it each day.

PAINTING

I’ve discovered ZOOM painting sessions and have really enjoyed them. I did an Amy Stewart session and painted four birds. This led to me painting a fairy wren, too.

Later I did a session with Marietta Cohen. It began with a guided sketching and painting lesson of cherry blossom, based on a traditional Japanese painting “Fukurokuju Cherry Blossom” created by K Tsunoi, in 1921. Later I sourced the original piece of art and did a full sized painting.

Also did a couple of travel diary paintings on our time down south. I love seeing other peoples sketches and paintings from their trips and am working on doing the same thing. Needs more work!

For some years I have painted botanical paintings. I wanted to try more relaxed casual paintings of flowers. Just realised most of the flowers I’ve painted are pink!

READING

I’ve just read “The Only Street In Paris” written by Elaine Sciolino. First saw this author referred to a on a blog reviewing “Emily In Paris”, then she was mentioned in another review. So I bought the book and I’m so glad I did, too. Of course, I bought it through Book Depository, using the link on the blog side bar! The author, Elaine Sciolino is a contributing writer and former Paris bureau chief for the New York Times. She has lived in Paris with her husband and two daughters since 2002.

“The Only Street In Paris, Life on the Rue des Martyrs” refers to the street in Paris where Sciolino and her family live in an apartment. Published in 2016, this book is the result of detailed research. Located in the ninth arrondissement, Sciolino introduces us to a rich collection of characters in her street. We meet the green grocer, the butcher, the baker, the cheese man, the knife sharpener and even a repairer of antique barometers. There’s a Synagogue, and a famous old church in dire need of restoration, so devout Catholic Sciolino writes to the Pope for assistance. There’s no reply.

There’s cafes, restaurants, bars and night clubs. She writes about famous people who have lived in the street and about the history of the street going back centuries. The buildings in many cases are untouched by progress and many shelter unseen gardens behind their remaining courtyard doors.

The survival of traditional specialist shops in Paris is made possible by legislation protecting them from multi-national and chain stores moving into some of these streets.Sciolino’s acute observations and mulinational cast of shopkeepers, mixed with the history of the area, makes this a compelling read.

Hello WINTER in the Southern Hemisphere, hello SUMMER in the Northern Hemisphere!

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How to Print Rose Pattern Giftwrap and a New Teapot

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PRINTING ROSES

Mother’s Day is only days away so I’m printing some gift wrap with a rose pattern. This could be the easiest craft project you ever attempt! The roses will be pink to go with the pink carnation card I have already painted for my Mother.

You need a bunch of celery, a knife for cutting the celery, a palette or plate for paint, sheets of brown paper or any colour you prefer and acrylic paint for printing. I also used some paper towel for dabbing off excess paint from the celery before printing. If you’re mixing paint colours, as I did, you’ll need something to blend the desired colour. I prefer a stiff paint brush as the bristles really massage the paint and combine the colours.

Cut the base from the bunch of celery. (Wash and store the sticks to eat later) Leave the base to dry overnight. When I looked at it in the morning I needed to cut the top flat again.

Prepare your work surface and gather your materials. When I looked closely at the base I thought the four outer remnant sticks were not adding to the rose shape of the others, so I cut them off. You could use a rubber band to secure the cut off sticks and print using them if they look more like roses.

Mix your preferred colour. I wanted pink to go with the pink carnation card I had painted for my Mother. I made a pale pink and a darker pink. Don’t worry if you haven’t mixed enough paint for your sheet of paper. The paint colour is easily matched to what remains on your palette/plate.

Lay you paper for printing on a protected work surface. Squeeze the paint onto the plate or palette, mixing colours if you want a different shade. I used acrylic paints. Dab the celery in the paint. Tap onto paper towel if you need to, then place on the paper. Press firmly. Repeat, creating a pattern.

Then I experimented with pale pink over printed with darker pink and also did some darker pink roses. Taking the cue from the black outline I added to the carnations on the card I also did black pen outlines on the printed roses. I used a Sharpie. Prefer the paler prints when they’re outlined in black.

When your prints are dry it’s easy to add leaves if you like, using green paint, felt pen, coloured pencils or even glitter pen. I didn’t but if I was doing this super easy activity with children I’d let them decide if they wanted to add leaves.

I printed on brown paper. I salvaged it at Christmas time. It was the packing paper around a large gift. Later I ironed it to make it smoother but didn’t bother making it perfect as I liked the slightly rumpled look! The paper grips the paint well. I have printed on tissue paper but it’s tricky as the paper sticks to the celery and butchers paper, which works well. I think it would look interesting to print the roses on sheets of newspaper, too.

MY NEW TEAPOT

I don’t drink tea although I love the smell of it! I just don’t like the taste. I drink coffee but try to limit the number of cups I have each day. Looking through the drinks menu at a cafe one afternoon I saw a list of Fruit Infusions and ordered a pot of Cranberry Vanilla. Really liked it and ordered it again a few days later then went hunting for it to have at home. It is sold as a loose mix in a packet.

Initially I made it in a cup using an infuser spoon basket. It was fine but bits of the mix escaped the basket and it took a lot of mix to make each cup of tea.

So when I saw this teapot I bought it as it was similar to the teapot used at the cafe. It’s a saucer, cup, pot, stainless steel infusion basket and a lid. And it’s pretty.

Pour the hot water over the infusion basket full of the loose fruit mix, put on the lid, leave a five minutes. Pour into the cup. No floating bits, full flavour and two cups of tea. The second cup stays hot in the pot for ages.

The same amount of tea used in the infusion spoon put in the stainless steel infusion basket makes twice as much tea!

IN THE GARDEN

The hippiastra continue to bloom. These are in flower almost all the time. I have had them for many years. The ranunculus corms I soaked before planting have all germinated as have most of the poppy seeds. Unfortunately, the roses are all under attack from chilli thrip and despite spraying them as recommended all except the icebergs look miserable. Too early to prune so I’ll continue to cut back the affected leaves and flowers and spray regularly. Any clever ways to solve this problem?

Did you know milk cartons take about five years to compost?

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What I Cooked, Ate, Baked and in the Garden

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cooking

Beef Bourguignon

Certainly not the usual weather for making slow cooker Beef Bourguignon but we bought fillet steak which was tough! We buy whole pieces of meat and my husband butchers and packs them himself. We found we had a lot of tough, expensive fillet steak. Despite the heat, I knew I’d be turning it into one of our favourite slow cooker recipes, Beef Bourguignon (here)

While my husband turned the steaks into cubes, I cut up red and white potatoes and carrots and put them in the slow cooker. Collected the ingredients for the sauce.

Seared the steak in several batches.

Whisked the sauce ingredients, brought them to the boil then simmered for a few minutes before pouring over the ingredients in the slow cooker, putting on the lid and setting it to HIGH for four hours.

This unctuous, richly flavoured Beef Bourguignon was served the first night with steamed beans. The second night I just made toast to dip into the sauce. Just as good!

Tarte Tatin

Also made tarte tatin. I’ve never made this before but I couldn’t resist some new seasons apples at the grocer so had to use up the six apples I already had. These were pink ladies, not the recommended Granny Smiths. The recipe I used is here.

Made the caramel syrup by dissolving sugar in water over heat then adding butter and cooking until it was slightly caramel in colour. While this was happening I peeled, de-cored and quartered the apples. When the caramel was ready I added the apples and stirred them around in the thick liquid for 10 minutes.

I had already thawed a sheet of pastry. Cut it the size of the pie dish I was using, then adding the apple quarters in a concentric pattern. Poured the left over caramel over the apples and put it in the oven for 50 minutes.

Left it an hour to cool before serving. Absolutely delicious! We only had left over cassata to serve with our tarte tatin but it was wonderful.

EATING

The week after Chinese New Year seemed a good time for us to go to our favourite yum cha restaurant. We arrived before it opened and lined up. When the restaurant doors opened we all scanned our Safe WA Q codes ( so we can be quickly notified if we’ve come into contact with anyone diagnosed with CV-19) and were shown to tables. The restaurant was totally full within minutes and there were still people queued and waiting. The yum cha is very good!

We ate all our favourites, including the black egg pie. All washed down with a few pots of tea. Such a good way to start the day.

Baking

I made sourdough bread for some years and then began making rye sourdough. It is a dense, strongly flavoured bread which I really enjoy. Then I began buying some rye breads and enjoyed the lighter texture of loaves combining rye and white flour. The Germans call this blend of rye flour and white flour a mischbrot, a mixed bread and it makes a lovely loaf.

So I went looking for a recipe to try and settled on this recipe here. I already had a rye mother/starter so simply followed the steps to create an active ‘sponge’, which is not as runny as the usual starter but not as firm as bread dough. This took 20 hours to develop.

Kneaded the dough until it was elastic and smooth then left it to rise until it had increased in size. Then kneaded and folded it again, creating a boule or ball. Left it to rise while the oven heated. Added a bowl of water to the oven to make a crunchy crust. Baked the bread for 35 minutes. Smelt very good.

Cut into the loaf when it was cool. The texture was light and even and the flavour was great! This will be my new bread recipe. It makes a smaller loaf than my previous recipe but I will make two loaves next time as I slice and freeze the bread, removing a few slices every day for breakfast toast.

The Garden

Autumn has arrived with heavy rain and high humidity. The limes are already developing and will be very welcome. Lurking amongst the limes is the household gargoyle.

This alien looking plant is a haemanthus or blood lily. This is a plant originally from South Africa. When the orange bloom and spotty stems disappear thick, leathery leaves will appear.

The amaryllis belladonna lily or Easter lily is a tough but pretty bulb. Also originally from South Africa, this lily thrives in our harsh climate. Traveling in the country side you can often see where a house used to be by the clump of belladonna lilies growing in the middle of no where.

Did you know the first Thursday in March is World Book Day? We are a family of serious readers and happy to celebrate this event by settling down for a good, long read! Both sides of our family are committed readers and have been for several generations. How will you celebrate?

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How To Store Food

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Do you know the best ways to store the food you buy? Planning what you’ll make with what you’ve bought reduces food waste. Appropriate storage is part of this, too. I didn’t really know which fruit and vegetables went into the fridge or not so years ago I researched the best way to store food.

Here’s the basic food storage list. We live in a country with very hot, dry summers, so our storage needs will be different from cooler areas. Consider your climate and make adjustments according to the seasons, too.
Onions shouldn’t be stored in the fridge, nor should avocados, peaches and other stonefruit and melons until they ripen. Once I’ve cut an avocado I wrap the remaining half with the stone still in it in a large silicone wrapper. There’s some clever reusable capsules available for storing cut avocados but I haven’t tried them .

Eggs, carrots, apples and oranges should go in the fridge. The problem here for me is I like the apples and oranges in a fruit bowl where I can see them. I only buy a few at a time so they’re eaten fresh. Garlic should also be kept in the fridge. All berries go in the fridge, too.

Once you’ve opened tomato sauce it should also be stored in the fridge to limit bacteria and mold developing. Same with opened jams, chutneys, mustards and tomato paste. Leftover tomato paste can be frozen in icecube trays then popped into containers and the individual cubes can be quickly thawed when required.
Bread is one of the most wasted foods in many houses. It should be stored in the fridge. It is easy to remove as much as you’ll use in a day and store the rest in the freezer. It takes us ages to use a loaf, so I freeze it and remove a few slices when needed. The more you put in your freezer the more effectively it keeps things frozen. Before you throw leftover bread in the bin, consider making breadcrumbs or croutons which will keep for ages, or a bread and butter pudding.

Leafy greens ( lettuce, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, celery, spinach) should go in the fridge. Years ago I bought (from Tupperware) a celery keeper and a lettuce keeper. Both work really well. Fresh peas and beans, in the fridge too, and beetroot. None of these should be kept for more than a few days. Leftovers make great vegetable soup, risotto or fritattas. Add leftover herbs, too.

Fresh herbs are tricky to keep fresh! Most can be stored in the fridge for two days but you can also put them in a glass of water and they stay fresher long. If you have room, pot up the herbs you use most often and they’ll always be fresh.

Potatoes should be stored in cardboard boxes, wicker trays, or lined drawers, not in plastic and not in the fridge.

There’s so much information online about safe food storage which will help reduce food wastage.

Apart from fresh produce most of us have an array of dried produce stored. I like clear containers so I can see what I have and what needs topping up. For years my favourite canisters have been recycled glass jars. They are a good size, I can see what’s in them and they fit and stack well on the shelf in the pantry. I can wash them in the dishwasher and they’re not so heavy I can’t grab one in one hand in a hurry.

After many years of constant use the labels have become tatty. Went searching for new labels online. I wanted an attractively shaped label with an outline. The design needed to be editable so I could add my own ingredient list as so many of the ones I saw listed things I’d never need.

My first choice was just written food names with no borders. Not what I thought I wanted but they do look fresh and clean. Printed them off and set about transferring them to packing tape to transfer onto the glass. I taped each onto packing tape, burnished each with a soup spoon and dropped them into the water bath, just as directed.

That’s when things went wrong. Was I using the wrong sort of packing tape, didn’t I leave the labels in water long enough? Instead of print staying on the tape when I rubbed off the wet paper, everything came off! After many attempts I accepted the stickers weren’t working, so just wrote the ingredients on tape and stuck it on the jar.

Problem number two: I couldn’t read the label on the jar once I put something dark, like peppercorns or brown lentils, in it! New plan involved printing a new set of labels and photocopying a drawing which I cut in half. Then I glued the food label in the middle. Looked too big, trimmed some off the top and bottom of the image then it looked fine.

Floral image from Shutterstock.

Fiddled about for ages trying to decide on the size I wanted and whether they should have a border.

Meanwhile, I emptied the jars and washed and dried them in the dishwasher. The lids went outside on a tray. It was 38ºC so they dried quickly. Then, labels attached with a rectangle of Contact, ingredients poured in and all back on the shelves in the pantry. Not what I imagined but they do look fresh and clean.

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8 Things About Summer

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It is the middle of summer in the Southern Hemisphere and Western Australia is at the end of a heatwave. It has been very hot and unusually humid. Summer brings its own activities and for many Australians, a ten day break between Christmas and the New Year. The school year finishes before Christmas and goes back at the beginning of February.

What does summer mean to you? What are the seasonal foods and recipes, the daily occupations, the things you do that are particularly related to the long, hot summer days?

FOODS

Stone fruit, watermelon and rock melon (cantaloupe), cherries, grapes, figs and so many salad vegetables. Masses of different tomatoes, sweet corn, cucumbers. They’re all in the shops in an array of amazing colours and aromas. We shop at a greengrocer who only has seasonal fruit, vegetables and herbs. All delicious.

Luscious seedless grapes.

2. SUMMER FLOWERS

pink roses in close up photography

Masses of roses, lilies, hydrangeas and agapanthus, but almost nothing in my garden! A recent heatwave has decimated everything except the hydrangeas although the roses are beginning to bloom again.

3. SUMMER ACTIVITIES

River picnics, going to the beach, barbecues and eating outdoors when the sea breeze comes in (aka the Fremantle Doctor) and watching the cricket. Lots of time spent reading. Walking the dog after dinner; it is still light and much cooler. Jugs of iced water with lemon or lime and maybe mint. Anything to stay cool. Many of my friends are teachers and still working. It is the Summer Holidays for them, nearly six weeks off, so lots of lunches and catching up, which I really enjoy.

4. SUMMER ENTERTAINMENT

The Fringe Festival in Perth, running from 15th January until 14th February, has attracted over 500 local and Australian acts, but travel between the states is limited due to CV-19 hot spots in other states. Some overseas acts were already here and have stayed. I’ve been to two shows so far. I’m off to another comedian this evening. Enjoy a good laugh!

The first was a British standup comedian, Gordon Southern, who was working on a cruise ship which terminated in Sydney due to CV-19 cases, so he stayed. A comedian for over 23 years, ‘Nicolation’ (pronounced Nice-o-lation) was Southern’s fast paced commentary about making the most of his year ‘stuck’ in Australia. Had a good laugh!

This was followed by ‘Brassy Broads’ which pays homage to some legendary jazz and cabaret singers. Some of the amazing women featured were Eartha Kitt, Edith Piaf, Dinah Washington and Ella Fitzgerald. Energetic, loud and very entertaining.

5. SUMMER SHOES

This summer means espadrilles, old ones and new ones. The espadrille fashion first occurred for me when I was at university and involved lacing long cotton tapes around and around our ankles and partially up our legs. The next time the fashion came around I had a beautiful pair with soft leather ties. I loved them! They were cream and went with the floaty, pale clothes of that summer. I wore them all the time and eventually the rope soles began to disintegrate so off they went!

I have bought two pairs this season, mainly because I’ve bought dresses this year. I haven’t really worn dresses for so long but bought one for a wedding. Then I bought another one and since then two more. They are cool and easy to wear. So are espadrilles.

6. SUMMER HOLIDAYS

Western Australia’s hard border fluctuates depending on CV-19 cases in the eastern states. This makes any travel plans outside W.A. risky. Australians can’t plan overseas trips either. When we return from anywhere outside our state, we need to quarantine for two weeks.

Perth across the Swan River.

This has resulted in a boom in travel within W.A. We have no travel plans for a few months but many West Australians have flocked to coastal resorts. Cafes and restaurants are full. We’re able to freely visit the cinema, Fringe Festival events and shopping centres. Social distancing is evident but not always enforced as in W.A. we have been Covid free for over 200 days.

Rottnest Island, everyones’ favourite island holiday destination.

January and February are very hot months here. Activities centre around the river, pool and the beach. Light food and casual clothes rule. Thongs (flip-flops) are popular!

AUSTRALIA DAY

Australia Day is celebrated on the 26th January every year marking the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British ships to arrive at Port Jackson in New South Wales. It’s a public holiday in Australia. Four out of five Australians consider this an important day of celebration, not just a ‘day off’. Over 16 000 immigrants choose to become new citizens on this day every year.

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How To Avoid Food Wastage

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Wasting food is throwing out food. Apparently, in Australia, it is estimated 330 kg per person is thrown out every year. (here) This creates two problems: firstly the wasted resources in producing the food ( water, labour picking, packing, transporting the produce, marketing and advertising, selling, money used buying it ) and secondly, landfill and the resulting methane.

About a third of all food produced in the world gets thrown out. This results in 8% of global greenhouse gases and costs our economy $20 million a year. We throw out 7.3 million tonnes of food a year or one in five bags of groceries. So every fifth dollar spent on food goes into the bin.

www.environment.gov.au

How do we avoid over buying food? Generally food planning or menu planning is recommended. The internet is awash with lovely looking meal planning pages and clever tips on using everything. I’ve tried to use them.They tend to be very attractive. It just doesn’t work for me. I am the planner in this household. I know what is to be used and when it needs to be used. We rarely throw out food and usually shop once a week.

My own system works because we have a stock of salmon, white fish, chicken and beef in the freezer and rotate as the mood takes us. We talk about what we’re cooking for dinner then put that to thaw in the fridge, if needed. This is supported by a weekly purchase of fruit and vegetables plus frozen vegetables, too. We go to a green grocer who only sells seasonal produce so it is well priced and fresh. We regularly eat the same sort of things for breakfast, such as fruit, yoghurt and toast, and the same sort of things for lunch, too, as well as leftovers.

We share the cooking. My husband prefers cooking steak or fish and adding vegetables. I usually get inspired after I’ve checked what needs to be used or what is available. We have a well stocked pantry and buy fresh bread every two days. I make my own rye sourdough.

I really dislike wasted food. I can turn leftovers into frittatas, souffles, pies, pasta sauces, fritters and soups. We always have eggs and stock, both frozen homemade and bought. Having fresh herbs growing in the garden adds flavour and interest. Neighbours happily share fruit from their lemon and kumquat trees and we have a lime tree.

Today I wanted to use some chicken from the freezer. I have had a post-Christmas clean out of the fridge. I like to make recipes which result in two or three meals for two people. The recipe I’ve made is loosely based on Jamie Oliver’s CHICKEN CACCIATORE. I used

2 small brown onions
1 tbspn crushed garlic
250gm smoky bacon
large sprig rosemary
650gm butternut pumpkin/squash
1 jar tomato pasta sauce
4 large chicken breasts
8 large olives

Normally I would add mushrooms but I didn’t have any. I also added 4 anchovy fillets because I usually do, but this recipe did not include them.)

METHOD

Preheat oven to 170°C/375°F. Peel the onions and cut into eight segments. Put into a hot, oven proof pan with a splash of olive oil. Add the garlic and the chopped bacon (pancetta is better, but I wanted to use up the bacon) and the chopped rosemary plus the bay leaves. Cook for about 10 minutes. Stir regularly.

Meanwhile, peel and chop the pumpkin/squash into bite sized pieces. Add the chicken to the pan and brown , turning it regularly. Add the pumpkin and the sauce. Fill the tomato pasta sauce jar ¾ with water, shake with the lid on, add to the mixture. Add more liquid (water, wine,tomato juice) if necessary. Toss in the olives.

Bring to a simmer, put the lid on and put it in the oven for an hour. Season. Remove bay leaves. Serve with vegetables, rice or bread. SERVES 6.

I’ll freeze a third of it and we’ll eat the rest for two dinners, once with bread and once with vegetables.

Some food scraps can be regrown, such as celery and bok choy, or fed to worms or the compost pile. I do not make compost, I make evil smelling muck, so sympathize if this is a problem for you, too. I do not dig scraps into the garden beds either, as this would encourage the river rats who need no encouragement.

Effectively storing all food requires preparation and organization. There’s plenty of information online about what should go in the fridge and what should go in the pantry. If it seems you wont be using what you’ve bought, freeze it or cook it and freeze it. Having a stock of frozen ready to thaw, heat and eat food is very handy for busy days. Or days when you just want to sit and read.

Avoiding single use plastics can also require some planning. Glass dishes with rubber or plastic multiple use lids are good. Some people rave about bees wax wraps. They can be added to the compost when they reach the end of their lives. I just don’t like them! The ones I tried come off in the fridge regardless of how carefully I wrapped and folded and tucked the edges under the container. I use silicone multi-use covers. I’ve been using the same ones for over two years, but they cannot be recycled. I also use hotel shower caps for bigger bowls! Just rinse and hang over a tap to dry, reuse. I like being able to easily see what is in the container.

We use this size glass dish often for cooking. Leave the leftovers to cool then add the lid and put the dish in the fridge, easy.

Silicone, stretch and seal wrappers, work really well for us. These are about two years old.

Storing leftovers so they are immediately visible when you look in the fridge is a good reminder. I know someone who has a special shelf where only leftovers can be placed. Someone else puts things needing to be used on the shelf at her eye height, right in the middle.

Fittingly, January 13th is Organise Your Home Day. How you do that is your own business! January 15 th is Strawberry Icecream Day, so that might be easier to celebrate.

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