A whopper of a week!

Who says knitting is a dyeing craft...Check out this little number for G1. It was a bit fiddly to do the pockets, 'cos I couldn't see how they were meant to come together, but they worked out in the end. The yarn is 85% wool, 10% acrylic, and 5% viscose, so it should wash well. G1 has just gone home;- he looked really cool in it with the zip up front.

 He packed a few adventures into his few days with us;- catching crabs under rocks when the tide was out; rolling his way along the sand at Cowes front beach; feeding wallabies and talking to cockatoos at the park, as well as toasting marshmallows in the fire after dinner. We earned our evening relaxation and glass of wine with Katie!... and yes it is quiet when we are alone again!

curing olives

Rhyll beach is a boating not a swimming place. But it is an acceptable crab and play area...

He even manages a visit to Grannie Margaret every couple of weeks, where he enjoys "riding" up and down the hallway on her walking stick... A sight worth seeing, I imagine.

Last weekend we had Ali, Phil and G2. Here are a few pics of that too...

just chilling...

Famous blue raincoat...

She even let her Mum make my favourite dessert - just for me!
And we managed coffee and almond croissants on  the Saturday...

Creme Caramel

Life is so good with grandchildren in it!

Two years old!

's

Olives. Picked last week. Soaking in salty water for the next four weeks. Then into a good quality oil for few months. Yum!

Birthday boy G1 turned two! Isn't he cute? And how about G2? She 's a princess.

We had the best day. Look at the fun.

A guitar cake tastes particularly good when you are two.

The present I liked best was a digger from Katherine and Mark. And that person in the background is Kerryn who has just been on the most impressive work experience venture you can imagine. Pity you can't see her face.

The sandpit, made by Pops, was a winner at the party.

Mother and son. What a team.

Today's walk was wallaby wonderland. Saw heaps. Many of them only a few metres away.

 

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Shark!

Well look what the tide washed in today!

At six this morning this bull shark was washed in, chased by another shark. That kept people out of the water for a while... We went swimming there in the early afternoon, but we didn't know about the drama. Apparently it was right where the patrolled beach area usually is.

It 's a great swimming beach, so no wonder the sharks like it. I was under the impression that there were effective shark nets though...

Perhaps I'll stick to shopping. It could be safer. Then again....

 

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Happy holiday

Noosa is a great spot to have a holiday. Where else could you see a distended python at the end of the main street that had eaten a possum and is lazing the days away oblivious to the gawking stares of tourists? I'd like a visiting python to come to Rhyll and rid us of some pesky possums... Could be a nice snakeskin bag into the bargain.

Just had a lovely meal at the Sheraton. We have discovered these room cleaning vouchers, and they are making a mission out of Jim's holiday. You get a $20 voucher instead of a room clean, so if u choose to have your room serviced every other day you get a considerable sum to spend in the restaurant or bottle shop or wherever....

These are some unknown ( to me) flowers on the walk we had today. It was about 3 hours, in National Park near Noosa, and just delightful. There was a bit of rain about but it was about 23 degrees, so not cold, and we didn't have to worry about sunscreen.

There were many little beaches- coves really, with sandy spots and little breakers. If I dared, I'd have had a swim, but I'm just a bit scared of rips now- not quite so confident as I once was... So we stick to the patrolled beaches for swimming...mostly anyway.

There were some great little private beaches, with kids enjoying bodyboarding and a few backpackers

( mostly German), swarming around with their designer surfboards and lithe tanned skins.

Then there are the Grannie types in the red, black and white loose tops with white trousers. With wrinkled skins and dangling earrings. I am determined not to join the clan.

Just have to tell you about this book I got here. Many books I have talked about recently have been a hopeless read, but this is GOOD! It's called Marching Powder, and it's about life in a prison in Bolivia. Written by an Australian lawyer, about an English prisoner called Thomas McFadden, it's a corker of a read! Plus I went past the prison in La Paz. And thought it couldn't be a prison 'cos it had no bars.....

Missing our beaut little grandkids. But enjoying the spa bath in the suite, and the cooked breakfasts...envy is wrong...

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The Thirst to Learn

Check out the MOOC information. You can study a vast array of topics, in the form of short courses run by university staff from around the world. It will be interesting to see how these pan out. Are you one of the people who would love to learn more about something, but are put off by the cost? http:/www.coursera.org/

Look at this for an short course:-

 Nutrition, Health and lifestyle: Issues and Insights. Even the course info sounds interesting! This one is a seven week commitment, with 2-4 hrs a week work. The instructor is called Jamie Pope and she's from Vanderbilt University.

I personally fancy the Introduction to Psychology, which starts in May.  There could be a huge benefit in this kind of learning for people wanting to get into a career, but not yet ready to enrol in a degree course. Then again, it could be equally useful to tackle a completely new topic.

There exists the capacity to start levelling the playing field - giving a helping hand to people who would otherwise be unable to access the information because of lack of funds. It also offers a concise listing of topics, which means people can find what they are looking for.

If education is more to your liking try the one on Children Acquiring Literacy with a research professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

What do you think? Mike Boxall from PA Consulting wrote a letter to the Guardian Newspaper on 14th March claiming that moocs will not threaten Universities because the workskills University attendance develops will still be required for successful job performance. But could we not mooc those skills, too?

If education is more to your liking try the one on Children Acquiring Literacy with a research professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

What do you think? Mike Boxall from PA Consulting wrote a letter to the Guardian Newspaper on 14th March claiming that moocs will not threaten Universities because the workskills University attendance develops will still be required for successful job performance. But could we not mooc those skills, too?

Holiday weekend

It's Labour Day weekend. Good old stonemasons who gave us the 8 hr day... So we celebrate with a day off on Monday. And Cowes is buzzing. The coffee shops are crowded, and the Newsagent's is stocked with items to tempt doting grandmas and their heirs... So are the kids' shops, where I picked this up.

Of course, I am not immune from being sucked into purchasing...But I am sensible, I think. This is for G2. It's one of those lined raincoats that is not too hot. It is rarely bitterly cold here in winter. So it's waterproof, and cosy but not stifling. A bit like my black Lulu Lemon one really...

Another good swimming day today- not sure what made me think of rainwear, other than I saw the ones I liked, and thought they might be gone if I hesitate. Also I have checked with the mothers involved re sizes. Always wise,as kids sizes are fairly arbitrary, I find.

I also made some good purchases for adult prezzies. Like this made in India fair trade necklace which is hand crocheted, but not one of those items you would buy out of pity. Or bury in a drawer 'cos you wouldn't be seen dead in it.

It is just one string, and the colors go well together, I think. A thing of beauty...

G1 made bread with me today, using the sourdough mix that has been on the go for about a month now. He rolled and shaped the dough, and we baked it just as he did it, not "fixed up" . He ate the finished product with relish (not literally...).

Mum was well this week. She asked where her tv went. (One of my brothers took it when she was finding her room too cramped). She has suddenly remembered that it is missing, after about 6 months. She was hazy about who I was, and who Katie was, but she at least knew we were family, which is a huge improvement. She has been asking for about a month now if we can take her shopping. I have sidestepped the conversation, as she doesn't need to buy any more "stuff"' because the staff are frequently asking me to clear away some of her clutter so they can find the clothes,etc. Somehow, not sure how, she went to a fashion show, and bought a powder blue dressing gown. Her third such item. No drama, in the scheme of things. Her other spare clothes are hung in one of our wardrobes, along with sundry baby clothes that somehow got stored here against my better judgement. I don't hoard. I think it is morally wrong to hang on to things I have no intention of using, when someone else could get wear or use out of them. So buying new things is fine, if you have the money, and need them, but throw out the old ones you are replacing. Or give the items to someone who can use them.

Do you have guilt feelings if you cut off nice buttons from an item you no longer wear? It's about weighing up the likelihood of using the buttons in the near future, as opposed to the likelihood of someone in genuine need wanting the whole item (before you chopped off the buttons).

Aren't they cute? They seem to be wooden, which may mean they render the items hand washable only. Bummer.

And a final piece of trivia gleaned from The Age, I think;-

Do you know that 15% of people fed at Salvos' vans in Melbourne are backpackers...? Needy, eh?

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So you're not doing the digital detox?

24 hours without checking your device. Too hard? Or is my blog too strong a craving?

Here is someone not yet enslaved by the digital world. Oh to be blissfully unconscious of social mores. Or is she already a dedicated follower...

Well, as Melbourne looks back on the hottest summer on record (average temps in Jan and Feb about 28 degrees), we regret not putting in our solar panels earlier. For though the panels are connected and the solar is running, the inverter (I think that's its name), is not yet connected, which means that solar electricity is not being stored. So what we use is "free", but we cannot store any for later use. In order for that to happen we are at the mercy of our electricity provider, who has to come and ok the work done. A short procedure, but one they have put off for 4 weeks so far. Why would they hurry to cut their own money chain? Husband enjoys prodding with his apple device, so far unsuccessfully. Next Wed is the deadline by which we requested all work be completed, so either they are planning a last minute flurry of paperwork and a ten minute visit for which they will cream an ample profit, or they will be late, in which case we have no comeback.

The possums or the parrots got my only 2 pears. The trees are young, so the crop is just starting, but there were two crisp tennis ball sized pears. I looked, and decided to leave them to ripen in brown paper bags for one more day... Gone. Bags and all. Hope whatever got them choked on the clothes peg.

The apples survived and are now largely on the freezer. They were netted Colditz style, over 4 trees.

And yesterday I went to hear a converted Muslim woman talk about living in Southern Lebanon as an Australian, during the period in the 90's when Israelis were leveling the Palestinian refugee camps. She told this true story.

She lived in Sidon, in the South, and travelled N once a month to get mail and essential supplies. It was fraught with danger, because suicide bombers were common, and Israeli soldiers were trigger happy. On the way back, she was in a taxi with 7 men, when they were stopped at an Israeli checkpoint. She, as a foreigner and a woman was asked to get out and open her bag. She was made to stand encircled by armed soldiers pointing their rifles at her and ordering her to open a package that was in the mail sack. She opened the package. Inside was a smaller package. The circle widened as the soldiers stood back a bit more. She opened the inner package to reveal a glass container. She was ordered, again at gunpoint, to open it. She screwed off the lid, put her finger in, and licked it. Vegemite. A soldier stuck his bayonet in and stirred it to check for foreign matter. Tension eased and they were allowed to continue their journey.

She also talked about the major difference she saw between Islam and Christianity. Islam has 99 words for God, but none of them is Love. We say God is love, but often fail to show that love to our neighbours as required by a follower. . .

Tried to captureG1's mischievous look but the photo quality was poor. He has a wicked sense of humor. Apparently he likes to rise early on Fridays. Garbage truck day, and there are always more than one of them to check out in his one way street. So he gets up to wave to the men. I wonder if he goes back to sleep afterwards? No, I don't wonder actually...

And now for a little Jim style humor. Look at the third line and read "n" instead of " p "... Sounds a fun trip to Seal Rocks...

 

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Dried apples and last days of Summer

Parrots got some of the apples, so I picked the rest. Some are delicious, so I thought the nicest ones could be dried in the dehydrator with some cinnamon. Yum.

It takes about 20 hours to dry the apple pieces. Then they are cooled, and bagged. No need to peel the apples- just core them. Pears are good too, but they take longer to process.

I got some good spices in Carlton on the weekend. Ras el Hanut from Morocco, and another blend, from Saudi Arabia, called Saudi Barahat, which smells just like the Souq in Jeddah. Experimenting with spices is fun, and can completely change a dish. Given that J is not supposed to eat eggs or cheese it enables us to have tasty dishes, and plenty of variety.

We have still not had any rain. Apart from a short storm last week, I can hardly remember our last wet day. The poor animals are getting bolder and bolder about coming in to gardens, as they have no water in the bush. I saw a wallaby tonight about 50 metres from our front door, just hopping along...

Had Sunday lunch at The Tavern today. Lamb salad with feta, pumpkin and pine nuts. Then home for a swim before a quick burst of housework, and a bit of knitting. Grannie stuff!!!

Mum was well on Friday. She has had a change in medication and the improvement was marked. We took her out for an ice-cream, but didn't walk much as it was about 30 degrees. She laughed and chatted like old times, which was great to see. She seems to be steadier on her feet, and odd though it seems, can hear better on her good days!

Which reminds me. I have her Toyota sewing machine, and was about to give it to the local sewing shop to give to some needy soul. But if you know of someone who would appreciate a near new, basic machine I can hold off for a few weeks... It would be good to give it a good home. It has a cover and instruction book.

 

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Life, truth and the way

Someone phoned up to ask me to an underwear party. She's a sweetie, but...How truthful should I be, I wondered. The idea of browsing onesies and bloomers with women I don't know, at prices even I can buy an outfit for, (pardon the preposition), leads me to one level of honesty... "I usually buy my undies on special, and by myself now", which came out as " I usually buy my underwear on special, so I will probably not be a big spender". "No worries, just come for the chat." she responded. Then she added;- "The profits are going to help support our local .....(worthy cause)". I made enthusiastic noises and added the out, that I might have something on that day.... Yeah. Underwear...

 

Well the sourdough making is going splendidly. Here is today's batch, ready to roll into breadsticks. One thing I have noticed is that they needs to be eaten the day they are made, as they go quite hard the next day. Grissini- like, I suppose. So hard that even the ducks at the park had to let the bits soak in the water for a few minutes before they could swallow them, when G1 went yesterday.

I've been making 2 lumps of dough (one piece is too big for the dough hook to work with), and letting that prove in the bowl for about 3 hours. Then it gets punched down, rolled into sticks or left as loaves, and then baked. Easy! As long as you are around to check how fast the dough is rising.

At the gardens near his home, G1 experimented with my camera, and I think he got this shot of Jim at the rotunda. He and I were grappling for control of the camera, and he took several interesting shots. The rotunda has beautiful tessellated tiles, and iron lacework. Just behind where this was taken was a park bench, with a breadboard and table cloth on it, and a note saying " Reserved for a special birthday at 12." We were there at about 11 am, so missed the event...

 

Of course, G2 is not able to be at our Thursday jaunts, so we remember her in other ways. I couldn't resist this little number for next year...

Here they were exchanging secrets at Christmas

 

I love children. They have a level of honesty we must lose as we grow. But get them in the right mood, and they adore a story. It reminds me of Dad reading Coral Island to us when we were kids. Lynley Dodd's tale about the possum and the apple tree is a delight for children who have seen a possum near the fruit trees...

I heard a conversation the other day about teenagers who have " done everything " by the time they are 13 or so. How their lives seem to lack the wonder of a more innocent upbringing . The innocence of little children is precious....

 

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Alzheimer's update, solar electricity, and food

 

Here is Mum. Taken today at Mt. Eliza Village. She was a sweetie today. No throwing shoes at staff when they tried to make her wear something she didn't want to put on. I took her out for a walk. She was quite steady on her feet, and reasonably lucid, once she clarified who I was. She told me today that her parents had been good to her, on the whole. She particularly loved her father, she said. I know that is true- he was good fun and not bossy. Other memories were hazy though- like the fact that I was born in an ambulance (true). She asked what was wrong with me that they knew to get an ambulance even before I arrived. I asked her about that time but she didn't remember Dad, or those years in Scotland. She talks a lot about Rod, and how good he is to her.

We planned to buy an ice-cream, but the store was closed, and she was quite dismayed. Apparently that particular milkbar also sells good chocolate, which she asked for several times, but it was still closed when we were walking back. I took a couple of photos, and suggested I put them on an Internet dating site, but she thought that was silly, 'cos she's only got a single bed now. (I don't think I'd cope with another wedding just now...).

Here are the breadsticks, which are made with wild yeast starter, the dough being kneaded in the kitchenaid, to give a decent texture. A bit of experimenting seems to indicate that a tray of water on the bottom shelf of the oven gives a crunchy crust, but it is easy to overcook the sticks, and then they become too hard.

And while the creative streak continued I made sweet potato chips, some with sumac sprinkled over them. This was taken before cooking. They curl up a bit and go a beautiful orangey colour when ready. Yum!

We have taken the plunge. We have installed 16 solar panels to supply enough electricity for our home. It will take 3 years to break even if projections are reasonably accurate. Electricity has become too expensive to ignore such options... So our roofline has changed. I don't love it- but the savings will be welcome. Hopefully the price we can sell our excess back to the grid will increase in time.

 

 

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Sourdough bread and grandchildren

Here is an attempt to make sourdough bread. The recipe below is from takebackthebread.com., and I am using it because it means you can make bread on a normal working day, and keep the starter in the fridge.

"

Ingredients:

2 cups of starter

1 cup warm water

2 tsp of salt

2 tsp sugar

4-5 cups of white flour

2 tbsps of vegetable oil

As soon as you get up, take the starter out of the fridge. Open it, and add one cup of white flour. Give it a stir, and then leave it for an hour. This stage is important - you're feeding the yeast with some fresh food, so the yeast will be more active when you make the bread.

After an hour, the starter should be bubbly on top.This means it has woken up and is ready. Measure two cups of the starter, and pour it into a large bowl. If the starter liquid seems really thick, add one cup of warm water ( hot enough so that it just starts to hurt your finger). Add the salt and sugar followed by one cup of flour at a time. Once it gets too hard to stir, put the spoon aside, put some flour on your hands, and place them in the bowl to start kneading. Push the dough down flat at the bottom of the bowl; fold it over on itself, press flat again. Do this for a minute or two, adding a bit of flour as you go, until the dough is tacky on the outside, but not wet.

Now, using your hands, form the dough into a ball, squeezing it and folding it over a few times, then make into a ball one last time. Take the dough ball out of the bowl. Clean the remaining flour in the bowl, scraping it off the sides. Place in a cup or smaller bowl - you'll need it in a minute.

Put one tablespoon of oil in the bowl, spread it around, then place the dough ball in the bowl. Flip it over twice so it gets coated with oil. Make sure the seam side is down. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel. The first rise has begun. Let it rise until you come home from work ( assuming that's 8 or nine hours later).

There's one last step before you leave, though: put one cup of flour and one cup of water into the starter, to replenish what you took out. You can use the flour you scraped out of the bowl for this, as well as regular flour to make one cup. The water can be cold or warm, just not hotter than your finger can stand.

Give the starter a stir, put the lid on, and place it back in the fridge. Now you can go to work and let the yeast do its work.

After the first rise.

It's now eight or nine hours later, and the sourdough ball should have doubled in size. This won't look huge. To test if it is ready, poke it with your finger. If the indentation stays, it's good.

While you've been at work, the yeast has been eating the flour and expelling carbon dioxide, making the bread expand. For the next step you need to deflate this balloon, so punch it down a few times. Take the dough in your hands and knead it for a minute or two. Now, place it in a small oiled bread pan, and put a damp tea towel on top. Now you can go away for three hours as the yeast gets back to work.

Get ready to bake

The bread should have risen again, clearing the top of the bread pan, or at least looking obviously bigger than when you left it. ( It all depends on what size of bread pan you used). Don't worry if it doesn't look too big - it will rise some more in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 370 degrees F. Also, place a pan of water on the bottom rack of the oven. This will help with the crust.

When the oven is ready, take the tea towel off gently. (If it sticks and deflates a bit, just give it another 15 minutes to rise again). Place the bread in the oven, and set the timer to 30 minutes.

The bread is done when it is golden brown, and sounds hollow when you knock it on top. Let it cool for ten minutes before taking it out of the pan. Doing this too early can cause it to rip. Congratulations, you have made a sourdough bread, joining a tradition that is many hundreds of years old! "

This is taken more or less verbatim from the website, so you need to change to Celsius, and I made breadsticks for dips ( a bit thicker than a pencil). I put them in the fridge to prove overnight and cooked them just before lunch to serve with dips and a cool Sav Blanc... We enjoyed that last Sunday with friends from Ireland.

Grandchildren added interest to the holidays...G1 went home to his great sandpit that Pops made for him. It has a swing up lid to keep the cats out.

 

G2 is here at the moment. Totally relaxed!

And just to prove that I occasionally get to the garden, here are some pomegranate cuttings ready to go into the ground anytime from now on:-

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Summer

Just when you thought there would never be any more posts to brighten your day - I make an attempt to start a regular post.

Possums....

And rats and birds ....they eat the best of my garden produce. A paper bag over the figs deterred the animals but rotted the figs! And netting looks so ugly, as well as not being very effective unless it is very thorough. The pic above is a scarf for G1 who has been to stay for a few days. He saw a possum in the trap on Christmas morning and has been obsessed ever since. He is particularly fond of the possum story by Linley Dodd, called The Apple Tree.

 

Pomegranates are my fruit of choice at the moment. From cuttings,which are easy to strike- to little trees which have a lovely bright foliage as well as cute little fruit that look like Christmas baubles. It seems remarkably pest free which is a huge bonus.

The apple crop is varied. Birds got some, through the netting, and we caught about a dozen possums and rats near the trees. I have 5 varieties of apple, 4 of which have fruited. The best basil I got this year was from a hydroponic pot I bought at the supermarket, and then planted out!

G2 is beginning to show her little personality. She is calm and enjoys playing by herself on the floor.

Here is a shot of her falling asleep during lunch! She is hopefully coming to stay for a few days soon.

Today we are minding G1 while Mum and Dad go to a wedding. He is asleep after a full on morning. We have plans for the park when he wakens. Here is his cool sandpit- courtesy of Pops, who made it when he was here on a short break.

Holidays are good. I'm enjoying the slow pace!

 

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