Tea and French pastries with Mum

After the wettest May day for 18 years, and the coldest for 4, I went to visit Mum for the afternoon. She is usually at her best then. After viewing lots of family photos on the ipad she started asking the questions that had been niggling her. It became apparent that she has a gap in memory of nearly all of the time when her 4 children were growing up. She couldn't recall family holidays, or our childhood milestones. She also has some facts mixed up - just everyday things, but she gets really annoyed if I tell her for example that she is 81, not 82! I suppose it would be irritating if you were sure something was right and someone tells you different. So I have to sift through some of the "facts". She's usually right where food is concerned ... She said the cook made a horrible meal the other day. She said she went to the hatch to let them know that she found it inedible. It must have been bad, because she has never told them she disliked anything before. I'd love to know what it was:- she said it was like lizard skins in sauce. Yum!

At least we had a tasty French vanilla slice in a little cafe in the village. It was almost like old times, with a pot of tea and a few laughs. Precious times!

Here is Mum's Dad, Harry Smyth, with his new pony. He had a milk round, in Ireland, before he emigrated to Melbourne. I think the photo would have been taken around 1920.

On to happier themes. The tamarillo chutney is good! Surprisingly good, considering the fruit was soggy after all the rain we've been having.

Here it is, boiling away in the preserving pot.

And the finished article, complete with recipe in case you feel inspired to try!

I adapted a recipe I got online...

If you have anything to do with little children you may know G1's favorite song- it's Rhys Muldoon's "I am a little crab". Tried to get some pics today of a crab under a rock. Trouble is, they scuttle off so quickly, and they are have such good camouflage they are hard to pick out in a little photo. Here are some mud crabs. They were all over a patch of wet sand today.

 

And to finish off, the best breakfast in the world. Fresh garden pomegranate and natural yoghurt. The pomegranate seeds are like a burst of sweetness in your mouth. Unbeatable!