Suburban Life – Page 7 – MakeCookGrow.com

Computers in Classrooms, The Most Livable Cities and Reading

Share this post

COMPUTERS IN JUNIOR CLASSROOMS

Image Pexels

Western Australians are currently enjoying two weeks of school holidays. I enjoy the holidays, too, despite not having school aged children because I catch up with several groups of friends I have taught with at four different schools. Three of those groups are involved in primary school education.

There is one constant concern expressed by these teachers; learning is prescriptive, online and difficult to assess. Many learning areas are totally digitalised and children work on their devices alone. It has long been known children develop writing and spelling skills by actually sounding out and writing words. The physical involvement reinforces and embeds the skill. Self correcting digital programs do not require nor develop these cognitive skills.

Image Pexels

So I was interested to read that Sweden’s Minister For Education, Lotta Edholm, has recently announced a plan to reduce the use of computers in primary schools. This follows Sweden’s poor score in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study . This indicates Sweden’s performance has declined from high to intermediate in the past five years. The test measures the reading comprehension of 9 – 10 year olds.

Computers are everywhere and will be part of everyday life in all areas. Children will become adept at using them without missing out on standardised learning objectives, the current trend. The article refers to comments by Isobel Dans, Professor, University of Santiago and researcher in Diadactics and Digital Education. She says “Screens are everywhere. What is a mistake is to link them to more traditional learning without assessing their usefulness.”

Image Pexels

I know many experienced junior primary teachers in Western Australia who would agree!

Further information SOURCE

THE MOST LIVABLE CITIES IN THE WORLD

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Vienna is the most livable city in the world. Vienna has won this award several times in the past five years. The city is recognised for its stability, infrastructure, culture and entertainment and education. Return to order after the covid-19 pandemic was also considered. Improvements made in developing countries were also noted.

Image Pexels VIENNA

The 30 indicators for each of the 175 cities assessed are ranked from 1 ↔100. The indicators are assessed according to ratings of acceptable, uncomfortable, undesirable or intolerable.

The top five most livable cities in the World as rated June 21st, 2023 are

Vienna, Austria
Copenhagen, Denmark
Melbourne, Australia
Sydney, Australia
Vancouver, Canada

READING

STORIES of the SAHARA by Sanmao.

This cover would win the award for the least clear and enticing cover on a book.

My neighbour lent me an unusual book of essays. Originally published in Chinese this translation of Stories of the Sahara into English was published in 2019. The author is described as a writer, novelist and a pioneer. Born in China in 1943, she excelled at school, especially in literature and was offered opportunities to study philosophy. She then continues her studies in Spain.

Widely traveled, she is fascinated by the Sahara Desert. She meets a Spanish diver and underwater engineer, José, who moves to El Aqúin in Spanish Sahara to begin work for a mining company.. Sanmao soon follows and they consequentially marry. Housing is in short supply and expensive, so they move into a small, unfinished derelict home in the cemetery district and settle into desert life.

Image Pexels

The Spanish colonized this area of the Sahara in 1884 to capitalize on the fishing opportunities and ports on the coast. They increased their claim in 1958. They also mined phosphate. The Muslim Sahrawi, the traditional owners, living around the Spanish mining ventures, continued living the way they had for centuries. It is an uneasy arrangment, but ever curious Sanmao goes exploring, often alone, in the desert. She makes friends with some of the locals by getting to know their children.

Sanmao is thrilled by the desert and writes essays about the temperature, sand storms, mirages and the way the light changes at sunset. She describes its vastness as ‘majestic’ and is awed by the changes in colour during the day and the total blackness at night. She has an array of Chinese and Western medicines and despite no medical training, becomes known for helping with aches and pains, infections and other health problems. She holds ‘school’ for the local girls and teaches them to count, a skill previously only known to males.

Unlike other Spanish living in El Aqúin, Sanmao develops friendships with some Sahrawi families. She writes about the planned guerilla led revolution against the Spanish and the occupation by the Moroccans. Although I found her behaviour to be frequently reckless and also dangerous for the Sahrawi involved, she was adventurous and a keen observer of local life. She records and writes about local life in both positive and negative ways.

Map Unsplash

El Aqúin is two thirds down the coast of the yellow part of the map.

What also intrigued me about this book was my ignorance about the Spanish occupation, the bungled decision making about their future in the Sahara, the downfall of the Sahrawi guerillas and the eventual occupation by the Moroccans. Spain began to withdraw due to international pressure, especially from the United Nations. Morocco and Mauritania now preside over different parts of the region. The history of the area, south of Morocco, highlights the problems of colonization, particularly when the colonizing country withdraws.

Sanmao was a free spirit, a skilled writer and she lived an extraordinary life. José died in a diving accident in 1997. Supported by her parents, she returned to Taiwan, where her extended family lived, and continued writing, teaching and traveling before committing suicide in 1991, aged forty seven.

Share this post

Home Ownership, Happiness and Household Things

Share this post

DOES HOME OWNERSHIP MAKE YOU HAPPY?

Australia is experiencing ever increasing inflation with no end in sight. The cost of food, fuel, insurance, electricity and consumer goods rises every week. Home owners with mortgages are experiencing regular increases in their repayments and most are feeling the pinch. The cost of living continues to rise. ( Mortgage stress is considered to be making repayments greater than 25% of the homeowner’s post tax income. It is estimated more than 30% of West Australians with mortgages are already in this position)

Image Pexels

This poses the question: Does home ownership make you happy? A leading psychologist in New Zealand, Professor Robert MacCullioch, an expert on Money and Well Being refers to the cognitive bias, the ‘Endowment Effect’ which claims human beings place more value on the things they own.

The article also claims that people who own their own homes are richer and this results in greater happiness. This is because people feel they have control of their money. Home ownership also means you move less often and children perform better at school. Other research claims areas where home ownership is high have better schools and children achieve better outcomes. They also have greater access to services within their community. There’s references to higher social status, better mental health, financial security and independence, as well as less crime in areas of high home ownership.

Image Pexels

This is supported by research both internationally and in New Zealand which consistently supports the belief that home owners are more satisfied with their lives. Some studies cite psychological security ( the home is a safe haven), privacy, equity in the home, choice about where you live, a sense of belonging and being part of a community as important components of home ownership.

So what about countries where renting is more common? Countries such as Germany where more than 50% of people rent have laws that protect the renter, obligations about maintaining the properties and long leases. Traditionally most people rented rather than purchasing their own homes as a result of the substantial deposit required to get a mortgage. Culturally, renting was accepted as a way of life. Due to the shortage of housing stock in Germany anyone wanting to buy their own home would more commonly buy land and build a house. Similar situations exist throughout Switzerland and France.

HOUSEHOLD THINGS

Are you building or renovating your kitchen? I’d like to suggest you place the rubbish bin in a pullout ‘drawer’ below the area where most food preparation will occur. Then you can just pull it out and clean the cutting board or bench top by wiping everything straight into the bin.

This terrible photo of the slide out rubbish bin shows how easily I can swipe rubbish into the bin from the bench top where I do most of the food preparation. I know I should make compost from fruit and vegetable scraps but past experiences make it plain compost is not my forté.

I frequently make sourdough bread. This time I added caraway seeds to the dough and sprinkled some on top before the loaf went into the oven. Lovely flavour. I’ll do that again.

Our greengrocer is full of many different types of apples at the moment. I bought too many for us to eat raw so I stewed some and made tarts and an apple pie. Disappeared quickly.

Now that we have two or three different bins for different sorts of rubbish I use spatulas to clean jars and tins as clean as possible before washing them to go into recycling. Some things can be swished out with hot water and added to whatever you’re cooking or the soup pot.

Thought I’d try a supermarket brand of baked beans having read a few articles saying these items are the same as brand name products. I am sure some are, but not the baked beans I bought. Never mind, they went into the pot of minestrone and tasted wonderful after mixing with everything else.

Minestrone with home brand baked beans. I had to dilute it with more stock as it just got thicker and thicker. Three days of slightly different soup depending on what I added to use up or just dilute it!

Made cheese and sweetcorn muffins to have with the soup. The leftover corn went into the soup, too. Recipe I used (here).

Today is WORLD CHOCOLATE DAY. Well, that’s easy to celebrate!

Share this post

How to Sterilise Jars, Preserving Lemons, Pickling Cucumber and Quick Soup

Share this post

STERILISING JARS

Glass jars for storing food can be used and re-used multiple times. They are strong, easy to see the contents and easily cleaned and reused. Of course, they are useful for storing many other things, too, but they are perfect for food. So how do you sterilise a glass jar for food storage?

Image Pexels

For each method you begin by washing the jars in hot soapy water, rinse but don’t towel dry.

1. Set the oven to 110°C, place the jars on an oven tray, place in the oven for 15 minutes, carefully remove and leave to cool.

2.Alternatively if you have a pot deep enough you can set the washed jars in it, cover with water and boil for 10 minutes. Remove carefully and leave to cool.

3. Or you could place washed jars in the microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove carefully and allow to cool.

HOW TO PRESERVE LEMONS

It’s citrus season in Western Australia and I use fresh lemons and limes in so many ways. Nearly every style of cuisine involves citrus.

I like to extend the citrus season by preserving some of the lemons. Preserved lemons are pickled in their own juice and salt for three weeks. Originating in Morocco and Middle Eastern recipes I find a little preserved lemon adds zing to everything from salads to stews. Sterilise the jar you want to use to preserve your lemons. A wide opening makes it easy to insert them. Cut off the tops and bottoms after you have washed and dried them. Then cut your lemons into quarters leaving them joined at the base. Spoon two dessert spoons of salt into the jar and spoon more salt into the first lemon. Place it in the bottom of the jar. Continue adding salted lemons, squashing them down and releasing juice. Finally, when the jar is full of salted lemons top up with extra juice.

I push the lemons down with a round wooden ‘stick’ I’ve had forever. I don’t know what it was originally intended for but it’s great for making sauerkraut. And preserved lemons. An upended wooden spoon would do the same job.

Screw on the lid, put the jar into the fridge. Invert the jar each day for three weeks. Then, uncap and remove a quarter. Scrape off any remaining pulp, thinly slice the skin into strips and add to a salad, a stew, a tagine, anything you like.

PICKLED CUCUMBER

The Fruit and Vegetable sections are full of crisp, fresh cucumbers. It’s the coldest and wettest winter we’ve had for years, so salads don’t feature in this house. Raw, cold food doesn’t appeal at all, but the lovely cucumbers do, so I’m pickling them. I still eat them cold but only a little bit at a time.

Pickling cucumbers is easy. Sterilise wide mouthed jars. Make the pickling liquor by putting 2:1 vinegar and water with coriander seeds and mustard seeds in a pot and bring to the boil. Then slice the cucumbers long ways into thin slices. A mandolin would be useful but I don’t have one. Do this while the pickling liquor simmers for about ten minutes. Then leave it to cool.

I added star anise to the pickling liquor because they’re so pretty! Unfortunately, my pickles don’t taste like traditional pickles, which is what I prefer. They taste good, but just not how I usually make them!

Trim the sliced cucumber to fit in your jars. Pack them in closely. When the pickling liquor has cooled pour it carefully into the jars, adding some of the spices. Put the lid on and into the fridge. These are ready to eat the next day.

When I’d filled the two jars I had about a third of a cucumber left. I try very hard not to waste food, so I diced it finely, then gathered yoghurt and garlic. I still had some cut lemons on the bench from earlier so I had lemon juice, too.

I mixed the diced cucumber, a big dollop of Greek yoghurt, a squeeze of lemon juice and some garlic to make tzatziki. Instant afternoon tea. No waste.

TOMATO SOUP

I was asked this week if I had any other suggestions for ‘quick soup’ that doesn’t require lots of chopping or other preparation. It’s good if the ingredients are already in the pantry so you can make it without going shopping. So here is my other speedy, satisfying and very easy soup!

Dice an onion and fry it with two diced cloves of garlic in a big pot. I use diced garlic out of a jar for this (2 tspn) as the juices add to the flavour and it’s all about speed and flavour. Add two cans of crushed/diced tomatoes and three cups of vegetable stock, made from bullion or homemade. Let it bubble away for about 10 minutes, blend, reheat. Serve with a sprig of basil. A little grated cheese on top is nice, too.

This Tomato Soup takes twenty minutes from gathering the ingredients to serving up, including going out the back to pick some basil. I know because I timed it. Serves four big bowls or six smaller bowls or mugs. Delicious. And economical. Let me know if you make it.

Share this post

Rice, Mending and Winter Food

Share this post

RICE

Image Pixabay

Do you eat rice? Rice forms the basis of many diets. It is a tropical crop which can be grown twice a year, in the wet season and in the dry season. It is mostly grown in China, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Japan and Pakistan also grow rice. South America, Europe and Australia grow some rice, too.

So, how healthy is rice? Brown rice, which still has the husk on it, is far more nutritious than white rice. But the question really is SHOULD YOU WASH RICE? Traditionally we were advised to wash rice to make it less sticky. According to Evangeline Mantzioris, Program Director for Nutrition and Food Sciences at the University of South Australia, washing rice before you cook it makes no difference to stickiness.

Images Pixabay

Washing is recommended in some countries to remove dust, insects, little stones and husks left from hulling.

There are good reasons to wash rice anyway. The heavy use of plastics in food production means microplastics are being found in all foods including rice. Washing the rice before cooking it can rove about 20% of plastics regardless of the material used in packaging. Rinsing pre-cooked rice can remove 40% of the microplastics.

Washing rice has no impact on bacteria, although cooking it at high temperatures will kill bacteria. Also avoid cooked rice which has been left at room temperature for long periods as it may develop bacteria producing toxins.

More information www.miragenews.com

MENDING

Bought this merino wool cardigan at the end of winter last year. Seem to remember wearing it twice. Got it out on Saturday and as I put it on I realised the shoulder seam had a hole! This was an expensive cardigan so I imagined it lasting a long time.

Inspected the hole. The trimmer had cut too close to the stitching. Investigated all the other seams. They were fine. I can’t remember where I bought it and obviously have no receipt. So, I mended it, using cotton thread. The hardest part of mending was finding a colour close to the colour of the cardigan. Done and wearing it again. Still cross.

WINTER COOKING

Yesterday was the shortest day of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. Western Australia is in the middle of winter. This has been the coldest and wettest June for twelve years. This winter feels like the winters of long ago when I was a child. Raincoats, flannelette sheets, hot water bottle and roaring fires were common then.

All this cold weather means lots of hot meals. The green grocer was bursting with lush, fresh winter vegetables. We filled our baskets with celery, potatoes, zucchini, onions, cucumber and butternut pumpkin, plus pears, mandarins and apples. We also got a salami and some cheese.

So when we got home and unpacked our shopping I began to chop vegetables. The first thing I made was Ratatouille. Such a satisfying cold weather lunch. I used onions, zucchini, diced tomatoes and par- cooked butternut pumpkin. I know, eggplant/aubergine is the traditional vegetable but we don’t eat it. Sometimes I add sweet potato and sometimes pumpkin because I like the pop of colour and the flavour. Tastes great when it’s cooked but wonderful the next day when the flavours have matured. Delicious.

While I was chopping the vegetables I diced onions and carrots. I also chopped the top off the celery stalks where the line is on the stalk. The thinner stalks and even some of the crisp lime green leaves, finely diced, taste good in soup. I added stock, this time made from bouillon as I forgot to thaw some stock from the freezer. There’s no way it would have thawed in a few hours in this weather .

I added some curry paste and left it all to bubble for about 25 minutes. Used the stab blender until it was smooth, then added some broken spaghetti. Actually, rice would probably have been a more likely addition, but I’m not a big fan of rice despite living and still frequently visiting Asian countries where rice is served every meal.

This was served over two days and was very good.

We like toast with soup. Actually, the soup was so thick and filling it was all we had for dinner one night, plus some toast. These two loaves look very rustic! I’ve begun adding more rye to the mix. I also sprinkled poppy seeds on one loaf and caraway on the other. I’ll add caraway seeds to the mix next time. They taste so good!

Winter also means citrus fruit. I love all forms of citrus! I made this lemon cake with lots of lemon juice and then used more juice and zest in the icing.

My ‘go to’ winter citrus cake is a Lemon Drizzle Cake but I didn’t have any mild Greek yoghurt, only sheeps’ yoghurt, so I made this loaf cake.

No risk of scurvy in this house!

We’ve picked many lemons and limes so they will be featuring in our cooking for some time, yet.

Keep warm if you’re in W.A.!

Share this post

Easy Dinner and Other Domestic Business

Share this post

SALMON PATTIES

The overdue pantry clean and sort produced a tin of pink salmon. Probably bought during one of the pandemic lockdowns, along with a 10 kg bag of rice, baked beans and cans of chickpeas. I don’t think we’ll ever get through the bag of rice. Determined to use the salmon, I searched online and found many recipes for Salmon Patties.

The recipe I chose for Salmon Patties required six ingredients, all to hand. So, I tidied up the weather beaten spring onions when I went out to get two for the recipe, boiled about a cup of potato, took out the jar of breadcrumbs and finally, an egg. All the ingredients went into the food processors and quickly amalgamated into a mixture I could spoon into my hand and shape into patties.

Next time I’d season with salt. According to the recipe, the mix would make eight patties, I made twelve, so make them bigger than mine!

In the evening, I took the plate of Salmon Patties out of the fridge, heated the oil, cooked them until they were golden on both sides and served them with steamed vegetables and wedges of lemon. Very tasty, quick to make and everything to hand. We enjoyed them! Recipe here.

https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/salmon-patties/c5b04490-0973-4042-b77d-3c6b3504d141

KITCHEN SCISSORS

I have a rack of knives and a pair of scissors just next to the workbench I use for food preparation. Why scissors? Because they are so useful! From opening packets to snipping herbs and vegetables and even cutting up cold chocolate which refuses to snap, I use scissors. I wash them along with the knives. I also have a pair of scissors in a drawer I use for snipping the stems clean on cut flowers, something I do every few days to prolong their freshness. They get washed in hot, soapy water, too.

ALOE VERA

Twelve months ago a dear friend gave me an aloe vera plant. It is very attractive but also has magic powers! I burnt my hand on a hotplate two weeks ago. It was quite a deep burn. Ran my throbbing hand under cold water for a very long time; every time I took it away from the water it hurt! Our son was staying with us and he cut a piece off the aloe vera plant. I put it on the burn. Relief! When the aloe vera got hot and dry, I cut a little piece off and applied it again. And again, along with a cold compress.

Aloe vera is a cactus like plant which grows well in most climates. Its uses listed online are surprising, but most commonly, it’s recommended for treating sunburn, burns and radiation toxicity. There’s a surprising number of other uses which made me consider this attractive plant in another light!

The aloe vera soothed the pain and limited the swelling. By the next day the burnt area was very stiff and tight and puffy. It slowly settled into a long, hard strip of wrinkled skin. Over the next two weeks the wound cracked and I picked pieces off! Still a bit tight but now there’s just a strip of new pink skin.

PERSIMMON

A favourite in South East Asia, persimmons are in season now. Apparently, once common in Australian gardens, they’re now out of fashion. They are very attractive. My husband brought three home when he’d been shopping so we could try them. I cut one into quarters, removed the core and skin and then cut another in half to scoop the flesh out, like it was a cup.

Easy to prepare and tasty, plus very pretty but I probably wouldn’t buy them again.

BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING

You know I try to avoid food waste! So, leftover bread, buttered and spread with jam, some milk and eggs became pudding one night and breakfast the next day.

The dried cranberries plumped up into delicious taste surprises through the pudding. I added nutmeg and cinnamon to the top before putting it in the oven. Just add cream or icecream.

SHAKING BEEF

Cold and very wet. We’ve had more rain in five days than Perth usually gets in the month of June. So dinner needs to be hot with strong flavours to satisfy the taste buds. Cubed beef is marinated in garlic and sugar plus oyster, soy, sesame and fish sauce then cooked in a hot wok. Some vinaigrette, made from rice wine vinegar, sugar, salt and some thinly sliced red onion is poured over the meat when it is cooked and the rest, with squeezed lime, when it is served. Full of flavour and warmth, we really liked it! This was very good served on rice with beans topped with coriander.

I’ll be making this again!

Share this post

Sweet Chili Chicken Balls, Potato Salad and Garden Trends

Share this post

SWEET CHILI CHICKEN BALLS

It’s suddenly quite chilly by dinnertime in our part of Western Australia, so my thoughts turn to hot, tasty dinners. This time I made Sweet Chili Chicken Balls. Try them, they’re quick and easy and taste great.

INGREDIENTS

To make 16 balls, you need

500g chicken mince

2 finely chopped cloves of garlic

I tspn ground ginger

1/4 tspn of each salt and ground pepper

4 tbspn chopped spring ( green ) onion and some more to serve

1/3 cup breadcrumbs

1/4 cup sweet chili sauce.

METHOD

Mix all the ingredients together until well combined. The chicken mince I used must have been very moist as I eventually added half a cup of breadcrumbs to get a good, firm consistency. Roll to the size of golf balls and cook in 160°C F/F for 20 minutes. Pour 1/2 cup of sweet chili sauce over the chicken balls and return to the oven for 5 minutes.

I served the chicken balls with roasted potato cooked in duck fat with rosemary and sea salt plus cauliflower and beans. Very nice dinner.

I microwaved the potato wedges for 6 minutes, added a little more melted duck fat, rosemary and sea salt then roasted them in the oven.

NOTE I used spring onion in this recipes as they are growing enthusiastically, but chives would be nice, too.

POTATO SALAD

This easy potato salad can be served warm or cold but I like to leave it to cool so the potatoes really absorb the flavours. Potato salads made with mayonnaise always seem more appropriate for warm weather meals. I’ll serve this tonight, slightly warmed, with German sausages and fried cabbage. It is a cold night dinner.

To make this Potato Salad boil about a 1.5 kg (3lbs) of any potato cut into biggish cubes. Add a generous teaspoon of salt to the cooking water once it is boiling. After about 10 minutes cooking, insert a knife to test if the potatoes are slightly soft, but not mushy! While they’re boiling gather a handful of herbs. I used basil, chives and a small leaf parsley, but just finely chop whatever you have on hand. Dice half a red onion ( I store the remaining half in the fridge in a glass jar)

Marinate the potatoes in 3 tablespoons of vinegar, stirring every now and then for about half an hour. The potatoes absorb most of the vinegar and this adds to the clean flavour of the dish. Then pour half a cup of extra virgin olive oil into a jar, add 3 tablespoons of Dijon mustard and 2 tablespoons of vinegar, screw the lid on and shake until the dressing is amalgamated. Strain off any remaining vinegar. Pour the dressing over the potatoes, stir in the onion and herbs and let it sit for a while before serving.

Heat slightly in the microwave before adding the dressing if you prefer to serve the salad warm.

NOTE. I used 25 %food grade acetic acid, known as essig essenz, to marinate the potatoes, which is what would be used in Germany. It breaks down the cell walls and is absorbed effectively into the potatoes. Readily available overseas, harder to access in Australia. This recipe works with ordinary white vinegar too.

Delicious!

CHELSEA GARDEN WEEK NEWS

Image PEXELS

The main message from the Chelsea Garden show this year seems to be WEEDS are good! Yes, I reeled in shock, too, especially as I had a massive weeding session planned for the weekend. We’ve been away for two weeks and returned to a tsunami of weeds. Apparently, bees love weeds, they are an important source of nectar. I think it will take me a while to digest this news!

Image PEXELS

Another feature noticeable in many gardens is the inclusion of dead wood. Pieces of dead wood, normally tidied up and burnt, should be left to create insect habitats. Insects are key species in healthy ecosystems and need our support to thrive. They are threatened by the removal of trees around houses which are bulldozed to allow high rise apartments. This is particularly relevant in Perth where multiple old houses on big blocks are being bulldozed along with every feature of the landscape. These are replaced by huge blocks of apartments with no gardens.

Image PEXELS

The plot-to-plate theme continues to gain popularity. Many of the gardens incorporated herbs and other edibles in their designs. These edible ornamentals even have a name; they are called edimentals. This trend is easy to achieve, too, and the benefits are enormous. Fresh herbs and vegetables are delicious. I also have a couple of quite compact blueberry bushes, too, along with lots of herbs. Nasturtiums as edimentals were big too. I have lot of orange and yellow nasturtiums but have never eaten them. Have you?

Image PEXELS

Another trend is growing your own mushrooms. I have done this a few times in the past and not been overly impressed by the harvest. Also, I am the only one in the family who eats mushrooms but I think I’ll try it again this year. My favourite self grown mushrooms were oyster mushrooms. They look like baby aliens when they first germinated but they taste great.

Image PEXELS

Do you have any special gardening plans?

Share this post

Shopping in Bali and Good Books

Share this post

After two weeks in Bali we are back in Perth and back to our old routines. We left Bali on a sunny 30C° day and arrived back in Perth to overcast skies and 20°C. So getting all the washing dry has been challenging. The garden has obviously enjoyed the rain and will need attention later.

I’ve been asked about shopping in Bali. There’s everything from open fronted stalls to grand new malls. We went back to a shopping centre in Kuta where my husband bought quality boat shoes four years ago and were pleased to find they still have that brand, so he bought another pair! He wears size 46 (12) shoes and they had his size.

A bit squashed straight from the suitcase.

Wandered around the same department store and found cashmere scarves. Obviously not big sellers in Bali, they were being offered at 50% off the original price. We have two new scarves. We have found unexpected things to buy in Bali each visit.

Cashmere scarves found in Bali.

The next day we went to one of the newer, big shopping malls. I don’t normally shop at H&M and there isn’t one close to us in Perth but there was one at this shopping mall. I have a new shirt. The tag says it is made from 95% organic cotton and it replaces a very old striped T-shirt I have worn for many, many years. There were a few other clothing shops, lots of optical shops, Watsons pharmacy, tech shops and so many food outlets. (The entrance to many new shopping centres is off the main road. You’ll probably need to ask the person at the valet parking desk at the entrance to phone for a taxi unless someone is dropped off in one and you can grab it)

The price and information tags are attached by cotton threads, not strips of plastic.

So many shops everywhere selling clothes in every price range, shoes, too, and lots of decor shops but the most surprising thing was the number of tattoo shops! So many. Lots of lovely woven baskets with and without linings but I have so many baskets already. Some gorgeous jewelry, too, and other small items.

Food to prepare at your villa or room is available at various shops. Although we buy crackers and cheese, icecream and punnets of strawberries I haven’t bought things to cook or prepare. If we are hungry we order in or wander down the road. I cook all the time here but not in Bali. I am on holidays!

READING

We are keen readers and take books when we travel we’ll both read. The Ann Cleeves thriller The Heron’s Cry was in this category. Cleeves is probably best known for her Vera and Shetland detective series. Interestingly, Ann Cleeves’ first name is actually VERA. This book is one of her new Two Rivers series featuring Detective Matthew Venn and is the second one I’ve read.

Cleeves weaves clever tales with many twists and turns. This is a story about current issues in society, such as struggling small towns in the UK, suicide and the inability of health services to provide necessary services and the impact on families when one member is involved in a long running and complex murder enquiry.

It’s a great thriller and we both enjoyed it. We leave the books we have finished in the office for other guests to read. I like to borrow books from the library when we’re not traveling as we have so many, already, but take paperbacks on holidays.

Are you a fan of Redoutè’s gorgeous floral engravings and paintings? You’ll recognize his paintings everywhere, especially on gift cards, notebooks and address books because they are so beautiful. A lovely Mother’s Day gift, I am reading Pierre Joseph Redouté The Book of Flowers published by Taschen. Redouté, is referred to as the ‘Raphael of flowers’ for his exquisite, naturalistic paintings and engravings. This book features engravings from his Roses, Selection of the Most Beautiful Flowers and Lilies collections.

The works featured in this 500 page book are all amazingly accurate and very beautiful but just as interesting is the historical information about the time and the focus on gardens, herbariums and horticulture generally. The advancement in printing the engravings and watercolours, plus the developments in mass publications are all addressed, too.

Included is Redoutè original index of plants, plus a modern index reflecting reclassifications. A hefty tome, overflowing with glorious paintings and masses of information. An excellent reference book for gardeners, artists and historians. Redouté paintings feature on my address book, a notebook , an old diary I’ve kept for the beautiful pictures and several postcards so a very welcome gift!

Image Depositphotos

Lucky Bay, a West Australian Beach at Esperance, named by the explorer Matthew Flinders, is named the Most Beautiful Beach In The World.

So as the Southern hemisphere heads into winter the Northern Hemisphere heads into summer. Enjoy the special aspects of each seasons where ever you are in the World!

Share this post

Eating, Reading and Stealth Wealth

Share this post

EATING

Made a Spanish Tortilla to share at a neighbourhood breakfast. It takes quite a while to ‘construct’ but tastes very good, hot or cold and has no meat or dairy products so good if you don’t know your guests’ dietary regimes. A Spanish Tortilla is not related to a Mexican tortilla; they are flour based flatbreads intended to hold meat or vegetables.

A kilo (2.2lbs) of thinly sliced potatoes, two onions, six eggs, some salt and olive oil becomes a delicious tortilla, wonderful hot or cold.

The Spanish Tortilla, also known as Tortilla de Patatas or Tortilla de Papas is a mix of potatoes, onions, salt and eggs, cooked in olive oil. It is most like an omelette or a quiche filling without the pastry.

Still eating salads and enjoying local prawns (shrimp). Actually, the weather is finally cooling down. Now the rain has come. This usually means soups or stews and casseroles bubbling away in the slow cooker. I only buy seasonal fruit and vegetables so that dictates the soup flavours I make.

READING

Have you read any of Elizabeth Strout’s books? Probably the best known are the Olive Kitteridge stories, Olive Kitteridge and Olive Again. Then I read My Name Is Lucy Barton, Oh William and I’ve just finished Lucy By The Sea. The characters in many of the books slightly overlap which adds depth to these stories.

As usual, a library book. The EXPRESS stickers means it is a popular book so you can only borrow it for a week.

Lucy By The Sea is a Covid story which makes it very different from the other books I mentioned. Lucy, now widowed, is persuaded by her ex-husband William to leave New York and isolate in a house on the coast of Maine with him. Lucy is still feeling fragile and a bit lost after the death of her next husband. She takes a long time to settle in Maine, in isolation.

This story reminded me of how protected we were from the horrors of Covid. She writes about freezer trucks in the streets storing the deceased, mass graves and friends dying . But the story is also about her relationship with her beloved daughters, who are also experiencing all sorts of problems living in isolation. Their daughters are shocked by her reconciling with her ex-husband, their father, as they’d be shaken and hurt by his infidelity and had helped her through the trauma.

This is a thoughtful book about childhood experiences, the power of education, marriage and families and unpredictable circumstances changing everything. Another great book from Elizabeth Strout.

STEALTH WEALTH

Apparently gathering momentum for some time but I have only just become aware of this world wide movement. Stealth Wealth, also known as Quiet Luxury, is about being discreetly wealthy, so no flashy cars, no clothes with logos or distinctive, bright patterns. Some define the movement as protecting yourself from scams when all your information is on line and easy to hack. It is also a reaction to constant consumerism.

It’s all about pared back investment pieces you’ll wear forever and no logos! I see it as a way to buy fewer things by choosing good quality purchases and taking care of them.

There’s lots of reasons stated for following this lifestyle. The main aim is to function below the radar, to not draw attention to yourself. This is to do with your security. Living below your means so you don’t attract burglars and scammers. I’d like to think you’d also consume less, too.

Image Dreamstime.

There’s suggestions about jewellery, clothing, housing, entertaining and even hairstyles. Comfortable, classic furniture features which makes sense if you’re keeping it for years. Other articles talk about the reduction in stress as you’re not competing. Living below your means apparently is very relaxing.

The other thing about quality clothing in classic styles is less landfill. Australians are amongst the highest consumers of fast fashion, most of which becomes landfill after being worn a few times. Clothing made from wool, cotton, linen and other natural fibres last and last and will eventually disintegrate. No plastic microbeads are released into the water system with each wash, either.

Another interesting sign of Stealth Wealth is buying designer handbags without evident branding. These are made from the best quality materials and designed to last. Carefully chosen, they will last years. I know because 25 years ago my husband gave me a handbag which I still use most days of the week. The only branding is stamped into the leather and only on one side and on the padlock. The zip still works, there’s no scuffing, the stitching is even and strong and the lining is perfect. I rub R. M. Williams Leather Dressing into it about once a year and it looks great. Per use it has been extraordinarily economical.

The article I read about keeping your cars for years and buying mid-range new cars mentioned how the aristocracy in the UK get around in old Land Rovers. I immediately thought of Vera, the main character in a UK detective series of the same name, who has recently upgraded her inherited Land Rover to a newer model, but probably wouldn’t like to be thought of as a trend setter! Neither would my husband whose very comfortable and reliable car was made in 2007. He has no intention of trading it for something newer.

So the message seems to be buy less but buy long lasting quality items and live below your means. Easy, relaxing and sustainable!

Share this post

The Eclipse, ANZAC Day and Vermeer

Share this post

THE TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE SUN

Now you see it and then you don’t! Did you see the images of the eclipse of the sun on 20th April? We live in Perth, about 1 300km (808 miles) south of Exmouth, the ultimate place to view this eclipse. For a second or so the sky darkened a little in Perth as if a cloud passed the sun, but the effect was spectacular in Exmouth.

Image PIXABAY

The actual movement of the moon passing across the face of the sun takes about three hours. During this time, the sun is completely obscured (eclipsed) by the moon for about a minute.This was seen most completely in Exmouth and was witnessed by people from all over the World who traveled there to view the event.

Actually, total solar eclipses happen about every 18 months but are usually only visible at sea. This one on April 20th, was clearly visible from the coast, at Exmouth. Normally a township of about 2 800 people the population swelled by more than 20 000 visitors. Best known for fishing and the North West Cape Naval Communications Base, Exmouth is also the northern gateway to the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Park.

Beach at Cape range national park in Australia royalty free stock photos

The beach at Exmouth. Image DreamstimeANZAC DAY

Anzac Day, celebrated on the 25th of April, commemorates the Australian and New Zealand involvement in all wars and conflicts. (ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Historically we have tended to fight and drink together.) It is a public holiday in Australia. Traditionally we gathered at local memorials for a formal service of remembrance but Covid changed how we commemorate Anzac Day. These services acknowledge the bravery and sacrifices of all servicemen and women in all countries and all conflicts.

Image IStock

During Covid we were unable to attend the usual service at our local war memorial. The compromise was for people to stand at the end of their driveway with candles, listen to the Last Post being played on the radio then stand in silence for one minute. We did this along with our neighbours.

A new way of remembrance was established. Afterwards one neighbour brought out coffee, we all brought fold up chairs and sat on the verge chatting and sharing Anzac biscuits, made to celebrate on the day. The next year we met on someone’s driveway, commemorated with the Last Post and a minutes silence then shared breakfast with my husband acting as the barista. He makes the best coffee!

Image iStock

Actually, the same group of neighbours host evening get togethers every few months and they are such lovely evenings, sharing food and news. We are very lucky!

JOHANNES VERMEER (1632 -1675)

This year the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam presented the largest Vermeer exhibition ever seen. Many of the paintings were loaned to the museum from private collections and have not been seen by the general public for many years. Unable to visit this amazing exhibition, we went to the cinema to see ‘Vermeer: The Greatest Exhibition’ a film showing the exhibition with the director of the Rijksmuseum and the curators involved in presenting the exhibition providing the commentary.

Image Wikimedia Commons

Vermeer was a Dutch Baroque painter known for his paintings of middle class domestic interiors. His first paintings were based on Bible stories and mythology but he soon specialized in paintings of interiors. Generally, the paintings feature light coming from a window, seen or not seen, on the left of the room and usually the subject is a female. For example ‘The Milkmaid’, ‘The Music Lesson” and many other works.

Image Wikimedia Commons

Within the close Calvinistic society of the time, it would have been difficult for Vermeer to find female models so historians assume he relied on his wife and eight daughters to sit for him .His wife was a Catholic. Unlike so many other famous artists, we know very little about Vermeer’s life as he didn’t keep a journal nor are there recorded any letters by him.

Image Wikimedia Commons

His works are significant also because there are no apparent brushstrokes. He developed a style which create smooth finishes. He is also known for using white dots to create highlights. Probably his most famous painting “Girl With The Pearl Earring” demonstrates this technique at its best.

Ninety minutes packed with information and beautiful pictures. I really enjoyed it!

We’d also gone to the cinema recently to see Living starring Bill Nighy. I’d read rave revues and the lines went out the door when we were at the cinema to see the film about the Mary Cassatt paintings. So we went one night. Neither of us enjoyed it. The acting was good, the close, intimate settings, such as a train carriage, an office, a cafe or dining room were well done, the acting convincing but the story? So predictable and tedious and obvious. Nothing was left unsaid. It has many five star reviews but not from me.

Share this post

Surprising New Packaging, Ripening Fruit and Growing Bay Trees

Share this post

REDUCING PLASTIC PACKAGING

I’m a big fan of grazing platters as there’s always something to appeal to everyone. There’s so many flavours and colours and textures. Cheese, crackers, nuts, grapes and strawberries, cold meat and of course, dips! Dips are packed with flavour but usually they are packed in plastic, too. I’ve made dip using fresh ingredients and cream cheese packaged in foil wrap, but I really like the variety of dips you can buy so easily but not the plastic packaging.

So a big surprise for me at the supermarket this morning. A good surprise, too. I found a dip called NUFFIN Chive & Onion Dip made from natural ingredients and packed in a biodegradable and compostable tub with a kraft paper label. It’s made in Australia from 99% Australian ingredients, so ticking all the boxes. Pretty keen to try it. It was really good. So good it was all gone by evening.

Just fresh ingredients.

Dip is really versatile, too. Not just on crackers but also in baked potatoes, on toast and even stirred through pasta. I’ll be looking to see if this product comes in other flavours, too.

Rinsed out the tub the dip came when it was empty and poked holes in the base using a skewer. Why? Instant seed planter.

Filled it with potting mix. added stock seeds, covered the seeds with more soil then watered them in.

Added a label using a recycled bamboo fork. Eventually the tub will end up in the compost.

RIPENING ORANGES

A few weeks ago I tried ripening not quite ripe lemons by putting them in a bowl next to a window so they got the morning sun. The lemons with yellow on them ripened, the two which were mostly green didn’t change at all. So I picked two nearly ripe oranges and put them in a bowl in the sun, too. I picked them because a cyclone was forecast and the orange skins split in heavy rain. We had massively heavy rain!

After two weeks both oranges looked ripe, so I made an orange cake. Like the window ripened lemons, I felt there was less juice, but enough to make the cake and icing. I also grated peel to add to both.

The peel felt quite thin when I was trying to grate it to put on the top of the cake so I grated leftover Crunchie solid Easter eggs and scattered that on the icing. I only thought to take an ‘after’ photo of the cake when I was cutting it! It tasted very good.

Lovely orange cake with orange flavoured icing and grated leftover Crunchie Easter eggs.

PROPAGATING BAY TREES

My son wants a bay tree so when a friend mentioned she grown one for her son I decided to try it, too. I snapped five small branches from a tree. I prepared them by stripping off all but three or four leaves, cut the ends and squashed them before putting them into rooting powder.

Then I poked them into well drained soil, watered them and covered them in a little greenhouse. Actually, the greenhouse is a thick plastic bag held up on recycled chopsticks which needed further tethering when the cyclone came down the coast. No signs of growth but the cuttings are still green and healthy.

Bay leaves feature in so many recipes from all over the world. To dry them, pick leaves in summer and discard any with holes in them. Choose the best then wash them in running water. I dry them on baking trays lined with paper towel left somewhere well ventilated for about seven days then turned over and repeat the process. When they are dry the colour will be faded and the leaves feel brittle.

The leaves can also be dried in the oven. Place them in a single layer on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and put in a slow oven. Turn them over after about 20 minutes and check again after 20 minutes. They may take longer, just keep checking until they are brittle and fragrant.

Although I have only ever air dried bay leaves they can also be dried in a microwave oven. Place them in a single layer and cook for two minutes, then turn them over and cook again in 30 second bursts until they are brittle. Store the dried leaves in an airtight jar.

In other gardening news, the gardenias are beautiful. I have several gardenia bushes and they are covered in blooms. What’s blooming in your garden?

Share this post