What’s in the Box, The Winter Garden, Mussels and a Book Review

Share this post

MATTRESS IN A BOX

We needed a new mattress and went to the bed shop to start looking at what was available. We’d done some online research and knew the level of support we’d prefer. The sales lady was lovely and showed us two suitable mattresses and we lay on both. They were very comfortable.

We went away to consider our options. Both mattresses recommended were expensive, but really about the price we’d expected from our research. Later that evening my husband was looking at information about the two recommended brands and came across a Choice ( consumer testing and recommendation publication) site which had assessed a range of Mattress in a Box products.

They rated very well. He looked at user reviews, most of which were very good, too. We started looking at what was available and decided we would try one! The obvious advantage was the price difference for a mattress with similar springs, latex, memory foam and other features. We’d been looking at the mattresses with bases costing $1800 and $2500. The boxed mattress delivered was a fifth of the cost of most expensive mattress.

The box finally arrived. We expected it to come within five days. We ordered 3rd of July, it arrived 24th of July after many, many texts and phone calls.

The compressed mattress is well protected and was clean and fresh. We rolled it out on the floor and left it to settle.

Wheezing and sighing, the mattress quickly decompressed and puffed up into a proper shape.

The literature which came with the mattress recommended leaving it 24 hours to fully expand. We have been unable to register the mattress to activate the warranty as the site doesn’t work. I’ll try scanning the Q code and see what happens.

After 24 hours it looked like a regular mattress. We re-used our previous base. The mattresses we looked at in the bed shop were pairs, that is a base and mattress.

The first tester is still assessing the comfort and suitability of the mattress. We will sleep on it tonight.

General Comments.

This is a very economical mattress by comparison but we could find no reviews from people who had slept on them for more than four years. We are happy to wait and see.

We ordered online and could only text the company representative. This became very frustrating as delivery was such a problem. Expected within days it actually took 21 days and that eventually involved daily texts and promises about delivery on Monday 13th, then Tuesday 14th, then “later in the week” so stayed at home Thursday and Friday. No mattress. Started texting again on Monday, then Tuesday 21st at which point we were sent a tracking number. The freight company didn’t recognise the number and it took A LOT of time and effort for them to find the box. It sat at their depot until Friday 24th July when it was delivered mid-morning. We were enormously inconvenienced by staying home waiting for delivery which failed to eventuate, day after day.

The mattresses we looked at in the bed shop were made in Australia. The mattress we bought gave no country of origin information online but is made in China.

CV-19 is very well controlled in Western Australia but we didn’t want to go into the bed shop and lie on mattresses. The pillows supplied were covered in protective sheets for our use but we’d rather avoid doing this again at this time.

THE WINTER GARDEN

The self seeded tomato was covered in flowers and I was very pleased to see some grow into fruit. I don’t know if they will mature into red tomatoes, but I have my fingers crossed.

The arum lily has begun to bloom, too. These are considered a weed in Western Australia but I really like the large, lush green leaves and the beautiful white bloom. I grow them in a garden bed where they can’t escape! I really like to cut them and bring them indoors, too, but also enjoy looking at them out of the window.

WINTER EATING: MUSSELS

Fresh and available here in winter, these are local Leeuwin Coast mussels. I prefer to eat them at home because I always make such a mess prising those tiny delicious morsels of meat from the shell. The little bowls of lemon scented water accompanying mussels in restaurants can’t compete with the mess I make enjoying my seasonal feast, so I eat them in the privacy of my own home!

I make simple sauces to enjoy with the mussels. This year I made a cooking broth from onion, garlic, tomato, white wine, parsley and tinned tomatoes.

Cook the mussels until the bivalve pops open. That means they are cooked. Discard any shells that don’t open, ladle some into a bowl, add a few slices of toasted sourdough ( or any other bread) and another sprinkle of parsley and enjoy.

The recipe is available here. https://www.google.co/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=delish+recipe+mussels+in+tomato+and+garlic

READING

I know botanical art is not of interest to everyone and hesitated to review this book which I enjoyed so much. Ellis Rowan was a successful, fearless and very talented artist who thrived during a period when most respected artist were male. She lived her life on her own terms and created accurate paintings of botanical subjects from many countries but particularly Australia. Her works are still recognised as accurate representations of Australia’s flora in the 1800s. Strong and determined, she succeeded against the odds.

Christine Norton-Evans book about the Australian botanical painter, Ellis Rowan called ELLIS ROWAN: A LIFE IN PICTURES is an amazing account of a remarkable botanical artist and her astounding 50 years of adventure and achievement. This resulted in more than 3 000 works now in private collections and the National Library.

Rowan traveled the world, painting and exploring, often alone, and becoming engaged in 1873 didn’t slow her down. She was known for her glamorous and immaculate grooming but mostly for her botanically accurate representations. Her works depict accurate plants and colours. She generally painted water colours but in later years also used oils.

Cluster fig (Ficus racemosa )

This is the story of an energetic, gifted and determined artist who thrived in a time when males dominated the artistic world. I bought it after reading a review and began flicking through, really enjoying the paintings but then went back and read it properly. It is a great read!

Plastic Free July RECYCLE/REDUCE/REUSE

The old mattress was picked up by a company who recycle all the components. It cost $50 and all work is done in a sheltered workshop. Check options online.

Coffee pods can be recycled by the company who manufactures them. Nespresso have their own collection points and other brands have similar arrangements. Look online for options near you. Percolators, plungers and cafeteria coffee makers (pots used on a hotplate) result in grounds which can be disposed of in the garden or bin.

Please let me know if you have any clever tips.

Share this post

Making, Cooking, Growing and Reading

Share this post

MAKING

SUPER EASY, SUPER FAST BOOKMARKS. I read a lot and I’m often searching for a bookmark. I have so many but I still misplace them. I read mostly books from the library and the one I’m reading at the moment suggests bookmarks were few and few between in the previous readers life, too, as annoyingly, every 40 or so pages, the edge of the page has been folded over!

So I was thinking about bookmarks. I wanted something bright so it’s easily found, cheap so it’s not too sad if it goes missing, quick to make and clearly visible in the book. These book marks also have the advantage of being stored on the book, for instance slipped over the back cover, while you’re reading, so less chance of it being lost.

I save the coloured envelopes birthday cards come in as they’re such pretty colours. Of course, I don’t really have a use for them, so I had lots to choose from when I decided to make these bookmarks.

You need

coloured envelopes or paper to fold and glue like the corner of envelope
glue
pencil and eraser
scissors
feltpen, Sharpie or similar if you’re making the slice of watermelon

For sheer simplicity I chose to make hearts and slices of watermelon. I’m planning to make these as little treats for the members of my bookclub and will use similar designs.

I drew half a heart shape on a folded piece of scrap paper and cut it out. Flattened it and traced it onto the corner of an envelope. Make sure it’s on the glued up corner, not the flap for sealing!

Cut on your pencil line, slip over the page of your book, close the book. Page saved by a secure and attractive bookmark.

To make the slice of watermelon, cut a curved piece the size of your completed bookmark from scrap paper. Trace the curve onto the envelope and cut. Use the same scrap piece to cut a white piece and glue it onto the green base. Use the curved scrap again to cut a red piece and glue it on. I used a Sharpie to draw seeds randomly on the red part. Done!

COOKING

After a brief but happy dalliance with bought rye bread, I “woke” up my starter/mother and made my own loaf. Not rye this time, apart from the starter. I used Premium White Bread Making flour simply because it was easier to get out of the cupboard where the bulk flours are stored!

It was so cold the morning I began this process I knew the starter wouldn’t get bubbly and look puffy without artificial warmth. Usually I put it on the table and the sun coming through the French doors is enough to get it started. Not this morning! It was cold and bleak and there was no warmth in the sun. This is the first time I have used the PROVING setting on the oven. I was really pleased with how well the starter and then later the dough reacted to this setting.

This is the white sourdough loaf I made and we enjoyed.

Also made an Egg and Bacon Pie. So easy and delicious. Brown 250gm of bacon in a pan with a splash of oil. Remove to a plate then brown a finely chopped leek. I had to add some extra oil to cook the leek. Spread this in a glass dish lined with baking paper. (So much easier to clean up!) Then whisk six large eggs until frothy, add 1/4 cup of water, or milk, whisk again. Pour over the bacon and leek. Grind some pepper over it. Put in 165° fan forced oven for 35 minutes, or until the middle is set. Serves 4-6. We like to eat it cold.

I have made this with bacon and mushroom and it is lovely, too. If I’m cutting it up for a picnic or sharing as part of a spread, I bake it in a square or rectangular dish.

GROWING

The white camellia suffered enormous damage three weeks ago when we had storms and heavy rain. The white flowers had brown marks around the edges of the petals and didn’t really open properly. Luckily, it’s blooming happily again. As a little boost I had watered a tray of ash in around the roots.

Each year my mother and I order tulips from the same grower. These are the last of my crop.

My Mother lives further south than us and her tulips are only just beginning to bloom.

READING

A Theatre for Dreamers

A THEATRE FOR DREAMERS by Polly Samson

This is the imagined life of Australian author and columnist Charmain Clift and her husband, George Johnston during the time they spent living on Hydra during 1955-1964. They settled in cheap and sunny Hydra with their three children, where Clift scandalised the locals by wearing trousers and drinking in bars.

On the surface, they live an idyllic life. They attract other creative types, such as Canadian Leonard Cohen, who soon partners with the abandoned Norwegian, Marianne Ihlen. Racked with artistic doubts, rejections or requests for editing from publishers and criticism from other authors, this is a tense society.

Clift is the centre of the cosmopolitan society of international bohemians in Hydra, helping and compassionate and always resentful of time stolen from her own writing career, especially by her ill, heavy drinking husband, a once famous war correspondent. He later was best known for his book, My Brother Jack.

Focusing on the days before serious drug use was the norm in Hydra, this small community buzzed with sexual jealousies, alcohol and creative souls who often didn’t meet their own expectations. We learn a little about the extremely tolerant Greek population around them, but mostly, this story is told by a minor player, Erica, the daughter of Clift’s neighbour when she lived in London. She sets off for Hydra with her brother and her boyfriend when her mother dies and she receives a copy of Clift’s book, The Lotus Eaters.

This well researched book is an imagined account of the halcyon days in Hydra and I found it fascinating. It was from a time I didn’t really know, but about characters I did know of, and the descriptions of Hydra were enticing. I thought this was a great read and would recommend it.

The other book I have been reading is THE GIRL WHO READS ON THE METRO by Christine Foret-Fleury.

Reviews describe this book as a “gem”, a “joy” and a “delight”. Juliette, our main protagonist, leaves her dull job in a real estate agency and takes over the book business of a mysterious character. Her job is to follow strangers and observe their behaviour to decide the perfect book for them. Juliette believes in the power of books to change peoples’ live.

This whimsical book, part literary reference and part fairy tale was a quick and easy read and really didn’t have much of a story! I think the whole point was showing the power of the written word to change how people feel. The online reviews are mixed, but the book has been translated into English due to its popularity in France. You decide! I’ve gone back to reading an Australian murder series.

We’re still in PLASTIC FREE JULY so please consider ways you can reduce your use of plastics. Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, founder of Plastic Free July reminds us that only 9% of all plastics are recycled and only 0.9% are recycled more than once. Plastics don’t actually break down completely, they simply become smaller and smaller, but never disappear.

Share this post

How to Keep White Bed Linen White, Cooking, Growing and a Book Review

Share this post

I really like white bed linen. It always feels fresh and clean, both cool in summer and cocooning in winter. I buy white, cotton, good quality sheet sets. So far both sets we use have lasted over 12 years, although I have had to mend the lace edging on one set.

Love the embroidered bees on these white sheets.

This beautiful set of sheets needs occasional mending to maintain the lace edging. As a new puppy, Louis somehow got onto the bed and chewed about 30cm of the lace edging. He found it very satisfying, I didn’t find mending it very satisfying at all.

We also have a white quilt cover. I throw a cream wool blanket over the quilt cover during the day. The sunlight and the dog have slowly caused the cover to become more cream than white, despite the protective cover.

Time for a whitening treatment. I didn’t want to use bleach because the chlorine component in bleach reacts with protein stains and causes discolouring. Protein stains are typically sweat, blood, vomit, egg and other foods. The chlorine causes these stains to yellow. After lots of research I settled on using Borax. I bought some at the supermarket.

HOW TO WHITEN BED LINEN

I wiped the laundry trough to ensure it was clean. Then I dissolved ½ a cup of Borax in very hot water before adding the quilt cover. I used a copper stick to agitate the cover and returned to do this every now and then. After four hours I put the wrung out cover in the washing machine with a scoop of my usual washing machine powder and put it on a long, hot wash.

This is the copper stick or washing dolly. It was originally used to agitate washing in the copper, a big copper tub over a fire. Then the stick would be used to “hook” the washing out to put through the wringer/mangle to remove as much water as possible, before rinsing or hanging to dry. We didn’t have electricity until I was 12 and my mother relied on the copper to do the laundry. My copper stick is actually a cut down broom handle with the ends slightly rounded. I am surprised how often I use it to stir things soaking in the trough.

Borax from Woolworths 500gm $4.10. The tub has a list of instructions and cautions to follow when using this product.

When the cycle finished I hung the cover on the line. Line drying, if the weather permits, always smells fresher. I like ironed pillow cases and the decorative edges on the top sheet but didn’t bother ironing the cover. Back on the bed. White, fresh and crisp. Covered with a wool blanket to protect the cover from the wet weather dog. A good result.

This treatment would work equally well on stained white shirts, sporting uniforms, other bed linen, tea towels and bath towels. I wish I’d known how easy it is to restore stained white fabrics when I was washing and ironing so many business shirts and school shirts every week. I think almost anything white would respond well.

cooking

Last week I made slow cooker beef bourguignon as a way of using some tough pieces of steak. This week I found we still had three pieces of that tough steak which was not quite enough for two meals, so when I made it I added a tin of cannellini beans. They bulked up the stew and tasted very good. Perfect dinner for wet and windy nights.

growing

These are vegetables grown from scraps. When I cut off the end of the celery and bok choy to use them I put the bases in water until they developed roots and then planted them. They are growing well. Something else likes them, too, and has nibbled at the leaves of the bok choy. A neighbour simply puts the ends in soil and her celery plants are impressive. I’ll try this next time.

At least 13 years ago I planted the ends of spring onions in a pot and they have thrived ever since. I have a year round supply of spring onions just outside the laundry door. Spring onions are used frequently in Asian cooking, but I add then to so many things. A quick favourite is an omelette with eggs, spring onions and a grating of strong cheese. Add a chopped tomato if I’ve got one. Almost instant food.

Versatile spring onions.

And the first of the tulips.

reading

This is another library book I reserved during isolation and now it has arrived. It is wonderful to have access to the library again.

Anne Tyler writes about the ordinary, the everyday. She manages to portray those same characters with depth and compassion.

Micah never really understands or connects with any of his girlfriends, although at 44 he feels too old to call them girlfriends. He works, he occasionally visits his large, chaotic family but mostly he lives a simple life, following his own strict schedule. He’s puzzled by how things have turned out, but an encounter with an old girlfriend makes him think, then act. Love a happy ending!

A beautifully told story from this brilliant story teller. Really enjoyed it.

The title refers to Micah refusing to wear his glasses on his morning runs and mistaking an advertising sign on the footpath for a redhead at the side of the road. This hints at how he often sees things a bit differently.

The beginning of July marks PLASTIC FREE JULY. The tagline this year is CHOOSE TO REFUSE SINGLE USE PLASTIC. Lots more information at PLASTICFREEJULY.ORG. You are encouraged to avoid waste, protect the ocean and sign up to be part of the solution.

Share this post

Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon, Date Loaf and Two Book Reviews

Share this post

Slow Cooker Beef dinner with fall apart delicious chunks of beef and perfectly cooked potatoes and carrots in a rich sauce of bacon, tomato, red wine ( I used shiraz), soy sauce and beef stock, thickened with a little flour.

My husband likes to buy big pieces of grass fed beef and butcher it himself. We sort it into meal size pieces and freeze it. He selects and buys very, very good meat, until last time. The last lot was tough. We could not eat it as grilled steak. I thawed all of those pieces and planned to make something requiring a long cooking process.

I decided to make Slow Cooker Beef Bourguinon as I had all the ingredients available. Although I go out shopping each week now, I don’t want to go out for “top up” shops. I based this recipe on a slow cooker Beef Bourguinon recipe on Therecipecritic.com but made several changes to suit our taste. It made a delicious dinner for two nights.

This is far less complex than an authentic Bœuf Bourguignon, a French beef stew, but achieves the rich gravy and fall apart loveliness of the classic recipe. I have made this on the stove top in a Dutch oven but prefer the slow cooker result as all the flavours mix and mingle. It only requires a few steps and then everything is in the slow cooker and only requires stirring occasionally. I think this tastes as good as the stove top, four hour, attention intensive Julia Child recipe I used to make. The set and forget method is very attractive, too. Traditionally, the stew would include pearl onions but I didn’t have any on this occasion. I love the addition of soy sauce, too.

SLOW COOKER BEEF BOURGUIGNON

INGREDIENTS

750 gm beef, cubed ( stewing steak or any tough beef )

375gm packet bacon

1 cp red wine, traditionally burgundy, I used shiraz

2 cps beef stock

3 cloves diced garlic

2 tbspn tomato paste

¼ cp low salt soy sauce

¼ cp plain flour

5 carrots peeled and cut into chunks

750gm unpeeled potato, cut into chunks

METHOD

Cook the diced bacon until lightly coloured in a little oil. Scrape into the slow cooker set on HIGH.

2. Sear the meat in the same pan, add to the slow cooker.

3. Add the chopped vegetables. Make the sauce by pouring the wine into the pan used for searing the meat, when it’s bubbling add the stock, tomato paste, garlic and soy sauce. Mix the flour with enough water to make a watery paste and whisk into the other liquid and keep stirring. Let cook for a few minutes.

4. Add the sauce to the slow cooker, give everything a good stir, put on the lid. Give it a stir every hour or so. Inhale and enjoy the process. Cook for 5 hours, test the meat.

5. Serve scattered with parsley, which I forgot. Enjoy!

I like to make recipes to serve four or more, giving me leftovers to freeze. This means I can take these out of the freezer to thaw then heat while green vegetables steam if we’ve been out all day.

In fact, we enjoyed this for dinner again the next night. SO good on a very cold night after a busy day. This time I remembered the parsley.

Date Loaf

Do you like old fashion loaf pan cakes? I was going to meet a friend at a cafe this week when suddenly a gale blew up with very heavy rain. A quick phone call and we decided she’d come here, instead. There was no cake, no fresh biscuits but I knew I had fresh dates, flour, brown sugar, bicarb soda and butter. Decided to make a Date Loaf. Chop, chop dates in the melted butter and brown sugar, add the bicarb and the flour and into a baking paper lined loaf dish and into the oven.

By the time my visitor arrived, dried off and had a coffee set in front of her the loaf was done. Let it cool a little on a rack, then sliced and served. Later we ate more slices, this time adding butter, the usual way to eat date loaf. The rest went rather quickly the next morning when we were playing mahjong.

Interesting how popular these all fashioned cakes are and how quick and easy they are to make.

BOOK REVIEWS

THE SHIFTING LANDSCAPE

During hibernation I read lots of book reviews. I went online and reserved anything that appealed from the library. The first of these reserved books to arrive when things began to return to normal was Katherine Kovacic’s ” The Shifting Landscape”

Alex Clayton, an art dealer, is employed to travel to a farm in the Victorian Western Districts to value the family’s art collection. The rest of this thriller involves murder, art theft and kidnapping. Traveling with her always is her wolfhound Hogarth.

Involved in the drama, especially after valuing one of the paintings at more than a million dollars, is Alex’s art restorer friend who helps her solve the mystery.

I really enjoyed the reference to many painters and paintings, her description of the old farmhouse which had been in the family for several generations, the small local town and the well written story, full of mystery. I really enjoyed this fast moving, easy to read book. Great on a wet day.

THE HIDDEN

Written by Mary Chamberlain, this book club book is set during the Nazi occupation on the Channel Islands. It is inspired by two women, a German Jewish refuge, who is betrayed and murdered and another woman who had been earmarked for Himmler’s Lebensborn¹ breeding program. Himmler planned to breed typical Aryan children to develop the master race.

The hideous crimes against the main characters are all based on fact and are extremely distressing. This fictional account is based on the war crimes committed at SS run labour camps, in particular Sylt, on occupied Guernsey

This was a difficult book to read at times, but it was also something I knew very little about, so I am glad I persisted.

¹ Founded in 1935, Lebensborn was a SS Nazi association in Germany with the goal of raising the birth rate of Aryan children born of people classified as ‘racially pure” and “healthy” based in Nazi ideology.

After that book review I’d like to tell you that on this day in 1945, in San Francisco, the United Nations Charter was signed by 50 nations.

Share this post

How I Roast Chicken, a Book Review and White Bean Dip

Share this post

ROAST CHICKEN

Do you find it difficult to roast a moist, tasty chicken? We eat chicken quite often and one roasted chicken makes two meals plus chicken stock and thick soup for the two of us. Over the years I’ve tried so many recipes but none were fantastic, until I found this one. I have modified it to suit our tastes and this is my preferred way to roast a chicken now. It’s not bland and the chicken flavour shines through, rather than the spices I’ve added, which was the problem with other recipes.

To begin, heat the oven to 175° C fan forced (345 ° F) Pat dry a 1.5kg (3½ lb) chicken, after checking the cavity is empty. The drier the skin, the crisper it roasts. Quarter a lemon and push it into the cavity with a generous sprig or two of rosemary. Tie the legs together with kitchen string.

I add some potatoes and carrots and sometimes onions at this point because they taste so good when they’re basted with the chicken juices. Next, melt 40gm butter with 4 diced cloves of garlic. ( I melt the butter in the microwave with the chopped up garlic as it enriches the flavour)

Drizzle some oil in the roasting pan, then season with ground black pepper and salt. Place the chicken in the middle of the pan surrounded by vegetables if you’re adding them. Baste everything with the melted garlic butter, put it in the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes. When the timer goes off, baste again (using pan juices or leftover garlic butter) rotate the pan 90° then set the timer for another 20 minutes. Continue basting and rotating until the chicken has been roasting for about one hour and 40 minutes. Test the temperature of the breast flesh. If it is 75°C (165°F) leave the chicken to rest under a loose foil cover for 10 minutes then carve. Different sized chickens will cook at different rates and ovens can vary in temperature so I rely on the temperature of the breast meat, not touching the bone, to decide if it is cooked.

The pan juices make very good gravy but this time I added them to the carcass to make stock.

I roasted the Brussels sprouts in another pan for 15 minutes, then another 15 minutes after I’d drizzled sweet chili sauce on them. This caramelizes and adds a wonderful flavour to the roasted sprouts. Delicious. Serve with a wedge of lemon.

Glass dishes are my preferred roasting pans as they wash clean easily. Several of them have lids, too, so once the leftovers are cool, I can put the lid on and store them in the fridge until I need them.

It’s winter in Western Australia so I add lemons to almost everything along with making marmalade, lemon zest shortbread and lemon drizzle cake.

Winter also means it’s almost time to prune the roses. These are the last of them, I think, plus a pink lissianthus. Well, they are the last of my roses but I went to visit my Mother on Monday and gathered a vase of roses from her garden!

My Mother’s roses.

Book Review

There’s nothing better than going to bed on a cold night and settling into a good read. The Good Turn is the third book by Irish born but Fremantle residing Dervla McTiernan. I really enjoyed her previous two books, The Ruin and The Scholar. I am really enjoying this one, too. This cleverly crafted detective story focuses on police corruption and the impact of this on the police involved.

McTiernan is well placed to write these stories. She was born in County Cork and her stories are set on Ireland. She practiced there as a lawyer for twelve years before moving to Western Australia with her family. Her stories are fast moving without too much gore but always involve unexpected twists and turns. As usual, I try and get my books from the library. This one was a great read.

White Bean dip

First made this dip when I found a can of cannellini beans in the cupboard and thought I should use them. It is so easy to make and only requires things you probably already have on hand. I really like it as a change from hommus. I also like that it is dairy free, unlike so many dips.

You need 1 can drained and rinsed cannellini beans, about 310gms, (11-12oz) plus 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, ¼ cup of olive oil, ¼ cup of fresh oregano or parsley, salt and black pepper. I didn’t have any fresh oregano so used 1 heaped teaspoon of dried.

Put everything in a jug and coarsely mixed using a stab blender. Taste and add seasoning. I found I needed lots of salt. I think I bought “no added salt” beans.

Scrape into a serving bowl and chill. To serve, drizzle a little olive oil on top and some chopped parsley. Eat with baked pita bread, crackers, crudites or on toast.

Did you know 21st of June is International Yoga Day, intended to raise awareness about including yoga in our daily lives? There are many benefits from practicing yoga. As a keen participant, I’ll be doing my usual YouTube practise on Tuesday 21st, but I’m really looking forward to our sessions beginning again, probably next month.

If you are interested in trying some yoga or just reading about the benefits, Nicola Jane Hobb’s ‘Stay Young With Yoga’ is a great resource. If you’d like to learn more, YouTube has a huge range of videos, from beginners to achieving specific strengths or treating specific problems.

Nicola Jane Hobbs, Stay Young With Yoga, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020

Share this post

The New Fridge and “Exciting Times”, a Book Review

Share this post

THE NEW FRIDGE DRAMA

Do you feel your electrical goods don’t last very long? I am convinced now that our electrical appliances are designed to stop working after about ten years. Why? When our oven was about eleven years old it stopped functioning. The electrician came and showed us the damage, quoted for replacement parts and then explained the oven was so old that new parts would take months to arrive. We use the oven almost every day and not having a working one for three months would be difficult.

The next problem was finding a double oven which would fit the existing cavity. We’d recently had the kitchen cupboard doors replaced and I didn’t want to have to get a carpenter to modify the oven space so we were limited to only a few models which would fit. We bought a stainless steel Smeg double oven and we have been very happy with it. The big issue for me was the stainless steel finish in my all white kitchen. I got used to it and eventually didn’t notice it every time I walked in there.

About eighteen months later the dishwasher also stopped working. This was during the early days of isolation and it was worrying having an appliance repair man come into the house. He arrived gloved and masked and after inspecting the machine, shared the news; our Bosch dishwasher had died.

His company was able to supply and install another dishwasher and remove the old one. We weren’t keen on shopping in a huge electrical shop so took his advice and bought the dishwasher he recommended, a Siemens. We are pleased with it but the only one available at the time had a stainless steel finish. Not my preferred finish but I felt we had a solution which meant we stayed isolated and had a functioning dishwasher.

Then a week ago we came inside from gardening. I turned the coffee machine on, my husband turned on his laptop. Coffee machine worked, no internet connection on his laptop. Modem not working. Investigating the meter box revealed we had a problem. Called the electrician. He diagnosed a dead fridge. It wasn’t the compressor or the fan belt and probably couldn’t be repaired and anyway, parts would take months to come. The fridge, despite looking very new and modern was actually about twelve years old.

So, Friday mid afternoon we go to a big electrical goods supplier as we have to find a fridge which will fit the existing cavity. The salesman wanted to know what we were looking for in a fridge, which I hadn’t given any thought, but told him the size was actually the most important factor. That limited us to very few options and we selected the one from a brand we knew. The salesman thought it was available in white and tapped away on his computer. Tap, tap, tap, yes, available in white, tap,tap, tap, delivery in ten weeks! Only stainless steel or graphite finish available now. We bought stainless steel. It matches the oven, dishwasher and hot plate.

We keep a lot of food in the freezer. We buy locally caught fish and prawns (shrimps) which are very affordable this year as the traditional export markets are limited. My husband buys big pieces of meat and butchers them to suit our needs. There was a lot of meat in the freezer. Luckily, a neighbour (we have great neighbours) offered us several shelves in her freezer.

The next afternoon the new fridge arrived. It was very difficult to get through the portico and front door to the kitchen. I was really impressed by the two young men and their determination, care and problem solving skills. Eventually the new fridge was in place, the old one was gone and my once white kitchen now has all stainless steel appliances. I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

Relating this drama to my mother she referred to the fridge she has in the garage and the one in her kitchen, telling me they are really old! Both are over 30 years old and no problems. Fridge design didn’t change very much for years so despite their age, her fridges look fine and do the job well.

Pondering inbuilt obsolescence led me to Buy Me Once, a business promoting long lasting products. Tara Button created a website featuring products which do last. She considers

1. Do the materials used result in a durable product?

2. Do customers and independent reviews confirm the product’s longevity?

3. Is the product manufactured from ethically and sustainable materials?

4. Is exceptional aftercare offered?

5. Is the design timeless?

I like the concept of buying the best and buying less. Sometimes the best will have already proven its durability, such as an antique or second hand product and sometimes the brand is well established and recognised for its quality. As consumers we all have the power to buy thoughtfully.

More information, mainly focusing on UK products from www.buymeonce.com

Bought 38 years ago in still in frequent use.

EXCITING TIMES by Naoise Dolan A BOOK REVIEW

I hesitated to review this book as I was always told,”If you cant find anything nice to say don’t say anything at all”. The nice thing; this story is set in Hong Kong and I really enjoyed the author’s references to places I know well. Many of the streets, MTR stations and routes and even some restaurants were familiar and I enjoyed the nostalgic journey, but not much else.

This is a book about millennials. I know a few things about millennials; I grew one myself. He is thoughtful, funny, focused and hardworking, as are many of his cohort. The angst, self obsession, ennui and ability to ignore her core values in favour of free rent in a lovely flat (without the cockroaches in her paid accommodation) in exchange for sex and occasional company, seems at odds with our protagonist’s communist leanings and constant sneering at those who house, feed and entertain her.

Ava has finished university with a degree in English Literature and uses her “abortion” money to leave her home in Ireland to teach “rich children” English in Hong Kong. She doesn’t like them or the job but has no plans for the future. Ava actually scorns the job and her colleagues, scorns the children she teaches, scorns her sex partner but allows him to pay for everything. She is shallow and self obsessed.

This tale, a quick read, is full of clever quips about the use of language. These fill in the gaps between Ava leaving her rich, Oxford University educated male sex partner and going to her rich, Cambridge University educated female sex partner. Her parasitic behaviour was at odds with the irony and feminist views so important to our main character.

The author, Naoise Dolan , herself a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and Oxford University, obviously hated her university years and everyone she met. She has been compared to Sally Rooney, author of ‘Normal People’. This is another book I found frustrating but I must be out of sync with young readers. It has been made into a series of 12 episodes currently airing.

Finally, I headed to online reviews and discovered many readers who reacted the same way I did to this book. Reviewers don’t publish their age but I would like to know if this tale resonates more with young people. I could not recommend it.

Did you know?

June 10th marked the 99th birthday of Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, the Duke of Edinburgh. He is the longest serving consort in British history. Born to both Greek and Danish royalty he has been married to Queen Elizabeth 11 since 1947.

He is best known for the Duke of Edinburgh Award, developing competitive carriage driving and his sharp wit and occasional gaffe.

Many happy returns!

Share this post

How To Make Baguettes, Microwave Marmalade, Painting and Using Up Food

Share this post

No Waste Cooking

I began to focus on food waste when I read that 25% of the food we buy is thrown away. Usually any leftover vegetables become soup or go into a fritatta. We are having soup regularly because I use chicken carcasses to make stock and we seem to have a chicken every week. The stock becomes the basis for immunity boosting soup. The vegetables are whatever is available and sometimes I add pasta or lentils. I always add ginger and turmeric, sometimes garlic, all good for supporting immunity.

Cauliflower Puree

An assessment of the fridge and pantry revealed some things I needed to use to continue my “no wasted food” plan. I decided to steam the cauliflower to make some vegetable stock for a change. Usually our immunity boosting soup has a chicken stock base but I hadn’t thawed any today. It’s wet and windy, so definitely a soup day.

I’d normally make cauliflower cheese, a favourite of mine, but it seemed a bit heavy, so I made pureed cauliflower instead. It is quick and so easy and tastes great.

INGREDIENTS

2 cps steamed cauliflower
1/2 cp grated hard cheese. I used Parmigiano Reggiano as it was in my collection of things to use now.
1/3 cp of pepitas/pumpkin seeds. Optional but I like a little crunch. Pinenuts are good, too, but I wanted to use the pumpkin seeds as the packet was already open.
3 cloves of garlic. I used some from a jar
40ml of olive oil to make your puree creamy
salt and grated black pepper to taste

METHOD

Puree the cauliflower using a stick blender or whatever you have available. Slightly break up the pumpkin seeds with the blender, add the garlic and grated cheese then the cauliflower, blend until mixed. Then drizzle the oil into the mixture and amalgamate. It should look smooth but not runny. Serve with grated black pepper. Serves 4 as a side dish.

Making Baguettes

This recipe takes more than 24 hours from beginning to end but the resulting loaves taste almost like traditional baguettes. Most of the time is actually taken letting the dough rise for 12 hours in a warm place and then 12 hours in the fridge.

Rolling out the dough after fermentation.

Divided the risen dough into three loaves and left to rise again.

This is a great recipe and although it takes longer than usual I am used to bread taking two days from start to finish as I have been making sourdough regularly for a few years. My loaves are more dense and smaller than a classic baguette but the flavour was certainly worth the time and effort. Find the recipe and instructions at

https://www.bakingsteel.com/blog/24-hr-baguettehttp:

Also baked a loaf of rye sourdough, a dense well flavoured bread.

Microwave Marmalade

Regular readers know how much I enjoy the citrus season. Lemons and limes add zing and zest to so many things we like to eat and my husband really likes marmalade. So, as soon as I had oranges, limes and lemons I made a few jars of marmalade for him. I am also eyeing off the kumquats, so they will be next!

The fruit I’d chosen weighted just over a kilo. There’s oranges, lemons and limes. I added just under 2 cups of sugar. Usually marmalade has an equal weight of fruit and sugar but I like tart marmalade so use less sugar.

I put some of the skins and the pips in this little muslin bag and then put it in the bowl while the marmalade was cooking. This usually infuses enough natural pectin for the marmalade to set but this time I had to add 10gm of powdered pectin. Later I realised I was just impatient. It has set to a very firm consistency and wouldn’t have needed the added pectin..

Thinly chopped some peel from the oranges, lemons and limes and added the peel to the cut up fruit. Also mixed some cut up peel which had been sitting in a jar of brandy since Christmas time.

Thick, slightly tart marmalade.

www.makecookgrow.com/2018/08/how-to-make-grapefruit-marmalade-in-the-microwave/

Painting

The art supply shop is open again so I set off for some new green paints. Some of my existing collection are so old I had to replace them. So lovely to wander around the art shop. Bought three new shades of green then did two paintings. The first is the lily when the flowers are still buds, the second is when they opened. These are fragrance free Asiatic lilies. Really enjoyed using my three new shades of green.

Reading

Hamnet by Maggie Farrell is set in the 16th and century. Laden with the emotions experienced by all people throughout time, love, loss, desire, greed and grief, it is a gripping story. Supposedly based on the tragic tale of William Shakespeare’s son, Hamlet, it is also the story of a woman and her life with her three children.

The story is based on these facts. A couple lived in Stratford in the 1580s with their three children, Susanna, Hamnet and Judith. Hamnet, a twin, died when he was eleven. About four years later his father, a playwright, wrote a play called “Hamlet”.

Detailed descriptions and terrible grief contribute to a sense of gloom throughout and yet, it is strangely uplifting. Described by Marion Keyes as “O’Farrell’s best book yet” it was long listed for the Women’s Prize. A very good read.

Tuesday 12th May was INTERNATIONAL NURSES DAY.

International Nurses’ Day is celebrated around the world on the 12th of May, the birth date of Florence Nightingale, to acknowledge and thank nurses worldwide for the contributions they make to society. This is the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingales birth date and significant for all nurses.

This year, along with all frontline service providers, we are in awe of their hard work, compassion and bravery in the face of C-V 19. We appreciate their ongoing care. People in many countries are expressing their gratitude by clapping outside their houses one night a week. Thankyou to all nurses!

Share this post

5 Covid-19 Occupations and Interests

Share this post

1. Slow Cooker Bread

Are you baking bread? There was such a shortage of flour and yeast until recently I wondered if everyone was making their own bread.

When I saw this Slow Cooker Bread recipe from Jack Monroe I knew I’d be trying it! Pragmatic and practical, Jack’s recipes are always good. The ultimate frugal cook, Jack utilises every day, affordable pantry staples to create tasty, nutritious and interesting food. Great recipes and some droll comments at http://www.cookingonabootstrap.com

Using only 260gm of flour ( I used strong bread making flour, but Jack makes it clear any flour or combination of flours would do), yeast, water, salt and a little oil on your hands to knead the dough, this is a simple and great tasting bread.

Delicious!

2. Autumn in the Garden

Big Red geranium and red violas. Still some colour in the garden.

Brushing against this spearmint scented lavender releases the loveliest smell.

The umbrella stand petunias continue to thrive.

Arum lilies under planted with violets. The lilies are lush, green and they bloom for months. We can see them from our bedroom window. These lilies are considered a weed in Western Australia but I really like the elegant, white bloom with its egg yolk yellow stamen and the large, green leaves. They are planted in a separate bed and cannot escape. Originally found in marshy areas of South Africa, these plants have adapted too well to Australian conditions.

3. Walking

Out walking before Easter and saw this bird’s nest on the ground. No sign of birds. Used it in an Easter decoration now just enjoying it for the clever construction. Can you see the layers of soft leaves lining the bottom of the nest?

I walk alone, then with a neighbour and later, with my husband and the dog. One of the many pleasure of walking is looking into the neighbourhood gardens, watching the birds in all the trees and watching the sky change. These days there are so many people in isolation at home and I often chat to them in their gardens or when they are also walking. Our other walk is taking the dog to the dog park where he has a wonderful time and we walk too with views of trees, the river and boats. It’s lovely.

4. Reading and Watching

More sitting time than usual in this household! I’ve read my haul of magazines including Country Style, UK Country Living and Australian Country, so a bit of a theme there, all topped off by The English Home. And some essential nutrition.

Also read Caroline Baum’s ” Only, A Singular Memoir”, an Australian journalist’s account of a rather unusual childhood in London. Her adult relationship with her parents reflects her need for independence and her need for approval. Hard path to follow! Interesting book.

<i>Only: A Singular Memoir</i> by Caroline Baum.

Currently reading Ian McEwan’s “Amsterdam” and enjoying it. Other books of his I’ve read are “Atonement” made into a film with Keira Knightley,”On Chisel Beach” and “The Children Act” also turned into a film with Emma Thompson. Great book, great film. Also reading favourite gardening books, gathering ideas and shortcuts.

Amsterdam by Ian McEwan (9780099272779) - PaperBack - Crime Mystery & Thriller

Watching “Escape To The Country” on YouTube. These are more recent episodes rather than the older ones on free to air TV. Part tourism, part real estate curiosity, always interesting and in my case, part envy, this program is “before going to bed” relaxation after the murder, trial and retribution series we have been watching.

Decided not to watch every news program or online account of the spread and destruction of C-V 19 as it is exhausting and we are doing everything possible to stay well and safe. Initially grateful when the country closed down, I now think we need to be more moderate and build up some immunity as a vaccine is a long way off being available. Should the vulnerable be careful and the rest get on with it? Seems to have worked well in Sweden. I wonder if more people die of the flu each year in Australia than will die of C-V 19? Should we all be tested to determine asymptomatic carriers and existing immunity then make a decision? This is a rapidly evolving situation, requiring some long term strategies.

5. ANZAC DAY

On April 25th Australians and New Zealanders commemorate ANZAC Day. We remember those who have participated in all armed conflicts and peace keeping missions since WW1.

Traditionally, there were dawn services and later in the morning, parades, often followed by community breakfasts. This year everything will be different. We are being encouraged to stand at the top of our driveways at 6AM with a candle, a torch or a phone light and with our neighbours, observe one minute of silence, broken by random buglers playing the Last Post.

Snipped long but not too stiff rosemary pieces from the bush. Bent and tied the base circle with green gardening wire, then wove extra pieces in the make a stronger wreath.

I have made a rosemary wreath to hang on the fence. Rosemary is the plant of remembrance. If I make this again I will make a smaller wreath based on a deformed wire clothes hanger. I cannot go to the floral supplier for a round base for the wreath but it still looks fine. I cut pieces of rosemary which are still whippy, not too long and hard and using green garden wire, joined them at regular intervals to make a circle. Added two poppies, symbols of the red poppies growing on Flanders Field and a red bow.

I have also made boxes of ANZAC biscuits to give to our close neighbours. The recipe is derived from the recipe used to make long lasting and nutritious biscuits to send to the troops in the Middle East and France, a months sea voyage from Australia, beginning during WW1. ( Lots of recipes online if you’d like to try these delicious biscuits )

Trays of cooked and waiting to be cooked ANZAC biscuits.

Printed labels, cut and glued to tags, punched holes, filled the boxes and added labels and rosemary. Off to distribute them soon.

ANZAC the acronym for AUSTRALIAN and NEW ZEALAND ARMY CORPS

Searching through the pantry for biscuit making ingredients I came across this forgotten Christmas Pudding. Only seemed right to heat it and eat it. Glad we did, it was very good.

EARTH DAY

Earth Day was first celebrated fifty years ago. The focus is on reducing your environmental impact. For me, this particularly means using less plastic!

The reduction in pollution since the onset of CV-19 is sobering. I think the message is use less, buy once and buy the best and always consider the place of origin of everything you buy.

Share this post

What Are You Reading, Watching and Doing?

Share this post

Apologies

I have been experiencing technical difficulties publishing the blog and it took a while to realise there was a problem and to rectify it. Well, I couldn’t rectify it but thanks to the techo-maestro in Kalgoorlie, our son, all is well again. I am sorry if this caused you any frustration and thank you for persisting.

It would be lovely to know what you are reading, watching and the jobs you are doing, so please comment. We’ve done home maintenance, gardening, read books and online watched “Unorthodox” and “Traitor” on Netflix. Both beautifully filmed and thought provoking. Also watched some very funny old Rowan Atkinson performances and the Mr Bean series. Our favourite serial now is “La Forêt”, “The Forest”, in French with subtitles. If you loved “Broadchurch” you’ll love this thriller, too.

Coco Chanel Photographs

Just before we pulled up the drawbridge and lowered the portcullis we really enjoyed this exhibition of Coco Chanel photographs taken over a period of three weeks in July 1962 by Douglas Kirkland. Now 85, Kirkland is famous for photographing famous people. He was sent to Paris to interview Coco Chanel after Jacqueline Kennedy appeared wearing Chanel suits in the White house.

Kirkland was 27, Chanel was 79. They developed a wonderful relationship, the respect and mutual admiration apparent in these photographs. Chanel was not known for being easy to work with, but these two gifted people obviously enjoyed working together and this exhibition displayed the resulting photographs from his book.

The very stylish Coco Chanel learnt to sew in an orphanage, before a short career in cabaret performance and training as a milliner. As a designer she modernised women’s clothing, using simple shapes, low heels and focusing on comfort and style. She championed trousers for women, swimsuits and bobbed hair. No more corsets and feathers.

Chanel also popularised “junk” jewellery and wore lots of it, layered with real gems. She is probably best known for the first couture perfume, Chanel No.5 which is the most popular perfume ever made.

These photographs reveal a different side of Coco Chanel. She is beautifully captured by Douglas Kirkland, surrounded by her designs and models. Fabulous exhibition.

And Also Sculptures By The Sea

Already being careful and mindful of social distancing, we wandered around this annual exhibition of sculptures, arranged on the beach and grasslands above the beach at Cottesloe.

My apologies to the creators of these interesting works, but crowding, including masses of school groups, prevented me from safely reading or photographing the titles of theses sculptures or their creators. Looking forward to next years’ exhibition being back to normal.

A New Sphere For The Renovated Garden

I like spheres as decoration in the garden. This is a buoy, washed up years ago on the coast near our farm. I had already painted it pink about ten years ago, but wanted something more vibrant for this area under the clothesline.

Buoys are designed to float on water or just below, to mark a location. Traditionally made from iron they are now made of polyethylene.

The existing base was pale pink. It was bleached yellow when it was found. I drizzled it, a la Jackson Pollock, with four colours, using recycled chopsticks and paint sample pots. I placed it in a pot on an old tablecloth, my painting protective sheet and covered it all over by painting an area, letting it dry and then rotating it.

The colours remind me of my parents’ old atlas, which I poured over as a child. I’d love to sit on their bed, looking at the map of the world and then particular countries, many which I have now visited.

It adds a bit of colour to this reduced collection.

Random Jobs

Across the bottom of our steep drive there is a stormwater drain covered by a grate. It was full of compacted leaf litter. This meant rain coming down the drive was not running into the drain and going off to the soak well but actually going into the garage at the bottom of the drive. Not anymore! The grating was removed, the leaf litter dug out, the drain washed and the grating put back in place. Now we need rain to soak our sandy soil and start the seasonal growth cycle again.

My husband likes white bread so I decided to try making this French Loaf after reading about it on a blog. It was so easy to mix in the Kitchenaid and I could have done the second knead in the machine, too, but I wanted to feel the elasticity of the mix so I’d know when it was ready. This recipe made two lovely loaves of bread.

Always have chicken stock, now called bone broth, so made more immunity boosting chicken, vegetable, ginger and turmeric soup. This one has a lot of chicken in it, too, as I’d bought a big one and after three meals still had some meat, so added it to the soup.

Following the success of white bread made in the Kichenaid I mixed my normal 100% rye bread mix in it, too. I added some plain white flour to increase the gluten and expected it to rise more. It was a bigger loaf than my usual rye sourdough. Still quite dense but tastes very good, so I’ll continue using this method.

Always trying to avoid waste, so used leftover bread (bought, not bread I’d made!) for Bread and Butter pudding. Very nice.

Apples lost their crunch? Don’t throw them away! Use a core remover to de-core the apples, cut them in half then put them cut side down on the cutting board and lightly cut them closely but not all the way through. Place them cut flesh side down in a lightly oiled baking dish. Microwave 60gm brown sugar or caster sugar, 60gm butter and 1 tspn cinnamon for 25 seconds, mix, pour over the apples. Bake in a 200 degree C oven for about 30 minutes. Serve with icecream, yoghurt or just as they are and enjoy.

Pruned the hydrangeas and planted cuttings to propagate and then bulk up the existing bed. These are semi-sun tolerant hydrangeas and they also bloom for an extended period.

Set up my paints on the table and really enjoyed painting these flowers. Top one finished, lower one a work in progress.

Alternate Entertainments

As our lives change completely and movement outside the house becomes difficult each of us misses different aspects of our previous lives. For some it is eating out or visiting their favourite cafe, for others it is going to work, theatres, cinemas and beaches. Some people are missing shopping. I miss being able to visit my mother and seeing friends. I continue to paint at home and have found a yoga session on YouTube which leaves me feeling stretched and well. I am so impressed by the many online entertainments people have posted or watched! I hope you are comfortable and well in isolation.

Enjoy Easter whatever you have planned. It will be very different for many people this year. HAPPY EASTER!

Share this post

12 Things I Like About Getting Older

Share this post

ABOUT GETTING OLDER

1. My husband and I are both retired and spend more time together. We led busy working lives and my husband was often overseas, so this is a change. We enjoy doing things together and this is balanced by our individual interests which we now have time to pursue. Lying in bed reading in the morning is such a leisurely start to the day.

2. We can have people to lunch during the week as generally our friends are retired, too. Long, lazy, luxurious lunches with some feisty discussions suit us well and leave Saturday free to read the papers with coffee and breakfast and Sunday free for more of the same!

3. I go to a yoga class at 10am on a weekday. Many of the people are older than me and not in full time work. There’s not a lot of lycra. Focusing on flexibility and balance plus lots of relaxation, this class really suits me.

three woman doing yoga inside room

4. We go on holidays when children are in school. As a school teacher for 41 years, my long holidays coincided with families holidaying, too, and often we paid a premium. Not anymore!

boat on body of water during daytime

5. The house is full and we are beginning to declutter. We have everything we want and more, so no expensive purchases. Now we want less, not more. Not everyone in the house agrees with getting rid of stuff, but it is a work in progress!

6. Age has resulted in more personal time. No children at home, no work rush and pressure, so time to garden, paint, read, walk and all the other things I never really had time to do before. The sense of urgency about getting things done has gone although I still have a TO DO list. Often I ignore it.

color palette

7. Many of our friends are a similar age and don’t need more ornaments as gifts, either, so it’s fun thinking of edible or similar gifts. I have time to look for ideas ( hello Pinterest) and time to make things, too. I enjoy creative activities and giving meaningful or edible gifts. And I enjoy making the giftboxes and the cards and sometimes even printing the gift wrap!

8. Issues matter less. I’m more relaxed about political issues and more empathetic about the ideas and passions of others…or I’ve learnt to keep my thoughts to myself!

magazines displayed on a rack

9. I used to walk later in the evening when dinner was finished and cleaned up, watering the garden and preparing food for the next day was under control and the neighbours were in their homes. Now I walk whenever suits me and chat regularly to people up and down the street. I enjoy this greater sense of community. I also enjoy a gentle meander around the dog park in the cool of the evening, not carefully timetabled in between getting home from work and serving dinner. The dog enjoys it, too!

10. Fashions and fads generally pass me by. I know which colours and styles suit me, so I wear what works. I like a low maintenance hairstyle and eschew very high heels. I’ll try new food ideas but stick with old favourites, too. Instagram is good for following friends on holiday but the faux lifestyle photos have no impact. The confidence of being older, and maybe wiser, is a good thing.

women wearing yellow cap during daytiem

11. We have just become empty nesters for the third time. It was very special having the adult child living with us for the past three years but now he is gone. This is the third time he’s left. The first was to go to the School of Mines in Kalgoorlie when he did Mining Engineering, the second when his company transferred him to Adelaide and now he is off to Kalgoorlie again in his new job.

brown nest on tree

So, we eat dinner when it suits us and we eat less. Our bigger meal is in the middle of the day, now. We don’t do the same amount of food shopping and what we buy for ourselves is different. Although we miss the energy of him arriving home for dinner weekdays with his news of his day, the time is right for him to move on.

12. Somewhere along the way you get to know what really matters and what doesn’t and who is important and which people will slowly appear less in your life. I have also made new friends through painting, mahjong and book club. I have developed new interests from spending more relaxed time with people. I have learnt to relax and zone out, things I could never master in the past as I was so busy. I think the very best thing about getting older is having time to do what you want.

aerial photography of blue body of water under white and blue sky

I wrote this blog two weeks ago. China and Italy were struggling with Covid-19 but Australia was still to develop the same problems and risks. That has all changed in 14 days and will continue to evolve daily. So, like many of you, our day to day engagements are seriously curtailed. There’s no yoga, mahjong, book club or visits to cafes or restaurants. I will stop going to my painting class next week. We go to the dog park and stand well apart from other people and have stocked up on food ( toilet paper, not so much) in case we have to go into quarantine.

The post-CV 19 world will be different from the world we knew before the onset. Financially this is a difficult time for so many people. Emotionally, most people will be focused on who and what really matters in their lives. Keep an eye on elderly or single neighbours and friends.

During these uncertain times take care, wash your hands frequently and don’t expect me to elbow bump as a greeting; you can’t sneeze into your elbow then expect me to touch it! Keep well, be careful and if you’re not in quarantine, go for long walks in the fresh air.

Share this post