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HAPPY NEW YEAR ! I hope you all enjoy a happy and healthy New Year. I’m not big on new year resolutions as I soon forget them but I still aim to use less plastic ( a plan I worked on last year), establish some sort of routine so I get more done and tick off more travel plans. I admire those people who plan to cut out sugar, exercise more and meal plan, and wish them well, but I know from experience that’s not for me!

Exercise is obviously a popular resolution as my inbox is bulging with ads  for athletic clothing, sports gear and offers from gyms. Since 2013 I’ve worn a Fitbit and do 12 000+ steps everyday and consider that my core exercise. I don’t need any lycra, but do need good shoes when I’m specifically walking, not just doing day to days things

READING

The days after Christmas, before the busyness of the New Year are such a great time to sit and relax and read. I’ve always admired Ines De La Fressange’s style of dressing and decorating and was very pleased when I was given “Maison Parisian Chic at Home”. These are real, lived in apartments, with typical Parisian parquetry flooring, and the marble fireplaces you’d expect, the high ceilings and the large windows with glimpses of wrought iron balconies outside, then inside, individual and slightly bohemian decors. These are not the stark, minimalist apartments of decorator magazines, these are charming and individual homes.

Accompanied by water colour paintings by Marin Montagut of the elements which contribute to each decor this is both an inspirational book and an intimate glimpse into life in Paris. It is available from Book Depository and if you buy from the side bar, I get a tiny commission!

“Unimagined ” by Imran Ahmad, my January book club book, is a memoir of his early life in Britain. His Muslim Pakistani family moved to Britain in the 60’s, seeking a better life. His parents prosper through determination and hard work and Ahmad relates his primary, secondary and tertiary educational experiences. His goal is to belong, to become the quintessential Englishman. He relates this journey well. This is a thought provoking and easily read book, but it was his philosophical dilemma between Islamic and Christian beliefs which I found really interesting.

MAKING

I bought this little wooden Village Scene set to make before Christmas but ran out of time, so opened it a few days later, painted the pieces and then put it together the next day when the both sides were dry. I used three paint colours; caramel snap, string and white cotton to create some contrast. The kit shows a snowy winter scene but it was 35 degrees celsius here today, so I’ve used pale, bleached paint colours.

My collection of little houses is made of tin, wood and ceramics. The white ceramic houses can hold tealight candles.

I think my housing estate is full, now!

COOKING

Two ham bones, two large pots and diced onion, carrot, celery and split yellow peas results in three big jars of soup. My mother gave me the clip top jars and they are so useful. It’s too hot here for hearty bowls of thick, luscious Pea and Ham soup so after they cooled, I put the jars in the freezer until it is cooler. Also made a large jar of very meaty chicken stock and froze that, too, for cooler weather eating.

GROWING

Masses of basil in the garden and it is starting to go to seed, so I’ve picked some to make pesto. This keeps in the fridge for about a month but we’ll eat it well before then!

I picked and washed about two cups of basil leaves, patted them dry then grated three quarters of a cup of sheep’s pecorino cheese. Most recipes recommend parmesan, but we really like the sharp taste of pecorino. I added  about four dessert spoons of extra virgin olive oil, quarter of a cup of toasted pine nuts and two cloves of garlic, then processed it until it was well mixed and finely chopped.

Tastes wonderful! Commonly mixed with pasta but our favourite is Jamie’s chicken breast covered in pesto and wrapped in a strip of pastry and then roasted. Great hot or cold.

The 4th of January is World Braille Day highlighting the importance of producing materials in Braille for blind people. In Braille, letters and numbers are represented in a series of six dots paired up in 3 rows.

Incredibly, Braille books must stay in the country where they are published due to restrictive international copyright laws. The Marrakesh Treaty, intended to make distribution easier, if it becomes law, will change this situation

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Western Australia’s wildflowers are amazing. It has the biggest collection of wildflowers in the world. Of more than 12000 species, 60% are endemic to Western Australia.

The wildflower season, which attracts an enormous number of tourists, begins in June and ends almost six months later.

Heavy rainfall this winter has resulted in a bumper season.

Golden Wattle. Australia officially celebrates National Wattle Day on the first of September.  Wattle is our national floral emblem and has been in our Commonwealth Coat of Arms since 1912. It also features in the Order of Australia medal.

Wattle has fluffy flower balls ranging in colour from cream through to deep golden yellow. The bushes regenerate quickly after fires, are drought tolerant and attract bees.

The original Kangaroo Paw, the others below, in various colours, have been hybridised as landscaping flowers. Kangaroo Paw is the common name for a number of species although this one is endemic to the south west of Western Australia

This is the rare and amazing flower Wreath Leschenaultia. They are exquisite rings which only grow on disturbed gravel ground. These hard to find flowers are in abundance this year and are very beautiful.

Eucalyptus leaves. So pretty and fashionable in floral arrangements. In some species only the juvenile leaves are round in shape. As they mature the leaves become longer and thinner.

Eucalyptus trees dominate the Australian landscape from streetscapes, to parks, bush land and paddocks.

Eucalyptus  or gumnuts.

The nut pops open and a beautiful flower appears.

Grevillea. This is a diverse genus of about 360 species which grow as ground cover, lower shrubs and some reach tree size. Grevilleas are hardy and requiring little water, they are now popular as landscaping plants.

Bottlebrush, endemic to Australia but has been widely cultivated and naturalised in other regions. The long, tubular flower is very attractive to wildlife, especially birds.

Everlastings, pretty bright yellow centered flowers which can be dark pink, pale pink and white and last for a long time. Known as everlasting or paper daisies, they make a stunning display in massed groups. They are particularly prolific this year because we have had a very wet winter.

This boab tree was brought down to Perth from the north-west. The trees are recognised for their large, swollen base. They are found in remote areas of the Kimberley, a northern region of W.A.

Banksias, named after Sir Joseph Banks who came to Australia on Captain Cook’s ship “Endeavour” in 1770, have long flower spikes and serrated leaves.

As the banksia flower ages, it dries and darkens, transforming into a grey, woody “cone”.

Geraldton Wax, a gorgeous tree with this pretty, waxy little flower. They last for a long time and flowers can be white, pale pink or purple.

This is a tiny selection of the wildflowers blooming now.

Today is the International Day of peace, begun in 1982 with the ringing of the Peace Bell at the United Nations Head Quarters in New York. Probably not a lot you can do to achieve world peace in one day but there is a lot you can do to have a peaceful day yourself. Enjoy it!

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Today I am joining the Here and Now link up with Sarah from Say! Little Hen. I really enjoy her blog and have discovered some other blogs I really like reading, too, through the link up.

LOVING//  The newly pruned roses are already showing regrowth, so spring is coming! The arum lilies are lush and  blooming, too. I know they’re classified as weeds in Australia but I love the shape and contrast of striking green and pure white. I have done some water colour paintings of them over the years.

EATING//  I make a loaf of sourdough bread every few days. I like the rustic, imperfect shape and it tastes so good.

DRINKING//  Although I’m careful about how many coffees I have each day, I start every day with a double espresso.

FEELING//  Surprised at how quickly my retirement date has arrived. I officially retire tomorrow after 41 years as a teacher with the Department of Education. A difficult decision but now I’m filled with plans for traveling, craft and gardening and so many other things.

THINKING//  How interesting it is to be home at this time of the year and see how the sun reaches into the house and warms the tiled floor.

DREAMING//  Spring in the garden. We’re re-doing a garden bed which has always struggled. So, new soil and then I can plant out the cream clivias I have grown from seeds.

Did you know today is Emoji Day? Emojis have become fully fledged animated faces and symbols. These textual expressions evolved from early Japanese phones which then captivated the world market. Emoji is E, Japanese for a picture and MOJI, for a character. Once only on phones, emojis are now found on every device. Have fun with emojis today!

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I started the process to make sourdough today but it’s a long business. This involves re-activating the “mother”, the starter, by feeding it some flour and water and leaving it until it froths and bubbles. While that was happening I began making pasties.

To make very easy pasties brown two medium onions then add one kilo (2lb) of grass fed lean mince and break it up and brown that, too. Add a one kilo (2lb)  bag of diced frozen mixed vegetables, thawed and mix the meat and vegetables. When it’s all cooked add vegetable stock or water to just cover the meat and vegetables and let it cook until the vegetables are ready, then thicken it with plain flour and water and let it cook for 5 minutes.  I add some salt and ground pepper and cook it for about 10 minutes longer before  turning off the heat and leaving it to cool. Most of the liquid should be cooked off by now. I forgot to take a photo of this stage and also of cutting bread and butter plate sized circles from bought sheets of pastry, putting filling in the middle and folding the ends and then the top and pinching the top seam. Brush with milk wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake until golden brown. No photos, sorry!

While the filling was cooking for the pasties I made a pasta sauce browning  a chopped onion and then adding and browning 500gm (1 lb) grass fed lean mince, then some more diced vegetables, a chopped tomato, some dried basil and a 500ml jar of passata and let it cook for about 45 minutes on low heat.  Left it to cool before freezing.

Meanwhile I prepared this cinnamon and pear teacake. The pears sank into the mixture but it still tasted wonderful served with icecream and sprinkled with icing sugar.

I also prepared and cooked these Apple Rose Cakes and they look funny but they taste very good! These are my first attempt and I slowly got the hang of placing the apple and rolling the pastry.

I’ll make these again as they were very popular.

These pasties smelt wonderful cooking and we’re really looking forward to eating them.

By now the “mother” was ready and I began the sourdough. It is still doubling in size and I will cook it in the morning.

Freezing the surplus pastie filling as I ran out of pastry and froze the pasta sauce to use later. The freezer is almost full so I transferred the filling and sauce into ziplock bags so I can stack them.

The dough had more than doubled in size by morning so I shaped it and put it to cook in a Dutch Oven. The surface looks funny because it expanded so much during the night it stuck to the cling wrap.

The dough has rested again and it’s time to put it in the oven to cook.

Slashed and ready to bake.

Beautiful sourdough, always worth the effort.

Today is Camera Day. Instead of putting film in your camera, taking your photos, taking them in to be developed and then possibly discarding some of the processed photographs which you don’t like, now you can aim and click, then review and discard or keep. Do you print your photos or just share on social media?

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Every couple of days I make fresh bread and had no good way to store it. I wanted a breathable container which would look attractive on the kitchen bench and be easy to keep clean. I realized a drawstring bag would work well.

Wanting the bag to be 100% cotton I looked online as we have very few fabric shops in Perth but then I remembered a set of tea towels I’d been given as a gift. I washed the black waffle and the patterned black and white tea towels. So glad I did as they both shrank, particularly the black one. Next job, a label.

Printed the word BREAD on paper then carefully glued a blank sheet of A4 paper to a piece of white fabric and trimmed the fabric to be an exact fit and put it through the printer on the COPY setting. I ironed the inkjet print to set the image and trimmed the fabric to the size rectangle to suit the bag. Then I turned the edges under and tacked it onto a larger rectangle of red gingham, ironed the edges under and tacked that, too.

To make the bag I trimmed the hems off each tea towel, which determined the size of the drawstring bag. The black tea towel was noticeably smaller. I pinned, then sewed the bottom and side, leaving the top open.  This is the liner for the bag.

This meant I could estimate the finished size and enabled me to pin and sew the BREAD label on the front.

Next, I sewed the printed fabric slightly bigger than the black liner, leaving 5cm at the top to turn over to make the channel for the drawstring. I turned this the right side out and ironed it. Next, I inserted the liner and turned the patterned edge over the raw edge of the black waffle liner. Then I stitched the edges of the drawstring channel and finally, sewed the channel.

The sewn edges of the channel.

Attached a safety pin to the tape which I cut three times longer than one side of the top then fed the pin through the channel.

Fed each end of the tape through wooden beads then knotted the raw edge of the tape. Ironed the finished bag and put a fresh loaf of bread in it.

Looks good, works well and follows the red, black and white theme on the kitchen bench. Last week I blogged about making the tissue box cover, also in black and white.

The sourdough fresh from the oven and about to go in the drawstring bread bag. I followed the recipe for sourdough from The Clever Carrot blog. It was cooked in a Dutch Oven. The strange hole on the left side of the loaf was made by using the thermometer to test the temperature to ensure it was properly cooked.

When I was feeding the “mother”, the starter for the sourdough, the directions advised to keep a cup and discard the rest. To avoid such waste, I added an egg and some more flour and water, let the batter rest and made a delicious pile of pancakes. They were very good.

Tomorrow is Fresh Veggie Day, so you can plant a winter crop or eat some fresh veggies, raw, steamed, boiled or roasted. Enjoy!

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The Australian urban landscape is rapidly changing as more and more people move into  high rise apartments without traditional front and back gardens. In fact, the number of people living in apartments seems to double every decade. There are good reasons to consider indoor plants.

1. Our houses are polluted by volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These are released from plastics, synthetics, carpets, glue and paint. Indoor plants remove these VOCs from the air and produce oxygen, too.

2. Green plants project a healthy, calm environment. Plants make you feel well and in a small way, connected to  nature.

You can also have fun selecting pots for your plants which can be ceramic, metal or plastic. There’s other ways of decorating your pots, too, such as wrapping them in hessian or cache pots but be sure there’s good drainage.

3. Plants have been shown to make positive changes to the brains electrical activity, muscle  tension and heart activity.

4. Some plants, such as lavender, are thought to induce better sleep. Have two potted  lavender plants, one by your bed and one resting outside and swap them regularly. It’s easy to  bring pots of rosemary indoors, too, and enjoy the lovely smell.

5. Indoor plants are inexpensive and  easy to maintain. Spray them occasionally to create humidity, don’t over water them and dust them regularly. Read their labels to find out how to feed them and enjoy!

This Sunday, 13th of May is Mother’s Day in many countries. Enjoy this special day however you like to celebrate. Happy Mother’s Day, Mum!

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