Hot Cross Buns......

Made my own hot cross buns from scratch....admittedly I used the bread maker to make the dough

....and I still managed to make a big mess when I made the paste for the crosses and the glaze which I managed to flick all over the stovetop....still, you do get a warm fuzzy feeling when you make things yourself instead of buying them from the supermarket....who knows what's in them...I use organic ingredients..same recipe as raisin loaf but added dried apricots......Hope they taste as good as they look and smell.....that's breakfast taken care of....enjoy the Easter break.

Managed to make a mess of the stovetop....ooops !!

An odd assortment of shapes ....but I love that about homemade things...just a little quirky.

Eco Evolution .....

When I made the conscious decision to be responsible for my impact on the planet and started living this warm and wonderful simple life I felt empowered to try to convince others.....I soon realised that the progress to get others on board with simple changes would not be an easy thing.....however I am noticing now that little by little family and friends are starting to get what I am trying to do (instead of just thinking I've turned into an old hippy !!...who I think had it right all along...)  ....they still stir me up relentlessly but I am noticing at gift giving times a lot more thought has gone into the gifts I receive....and recycled wrapping and brown paper packaging is appearing.....gift experience's such as holiday weekends and theatre tickets are arriving...living gifts like native plants, fruit trees and rose bushes....recycled and fair trade gifts ...friends are consciously adding organics to the meals when we visit....they love receiving my home grown veg and eggs....several of them are keen to start growing their own veggies after seeing my garden beds....perhaps its going to be an evolution not a revolution..!!

 

A Burt's Bees gift pack and a fancy eco candle...although way to much packaging ...they are on the right track.

 

Companies sometimes only get it half right....there was a lot of packing containing a beautiful sustainble candle....

I was gifted  2 lovely vintage plates to add to my collection.....I love my mixed up dinner sets.....

  2 beautiful standard roses from my parents....one is called Fathers Love and the other is Grandma's Love....very appropriate I thought....had just the perfect place for them.

A girlfriend knows of my love for organic herbal teas.....handy little gift idea......

It is better to give than receive.....but I am really happy to receive gifts that are not only thoughtful but sustainable and organic....hoping everyone out there gives a thought to not just the gifts they give but also what they receive.

Slow Living Essentials Monthly 9 Linkup .....

March has been a month of re-evaluation for me.  Losing a very close friend has been difficult for everyone concerned.  It's a reminder to make every day matter, enjoy life and prepare the space that you live in with love and creativity. I'm joining in slow living essentials to share a bit of my space.

Nourish: I currently use organic and what I thought were chemical free skin products, it turns out that most of them still use Phenoxyethanol and Ceteareth-20, both of which we would be better off without!  I am going to try making my own nourishing skin care product using this recipe from WellnessMama.  I've bought the organic beeswax chips on line...will give you an update on how I go .

Organic Bees Wax chips...smell amazing...these have not been purified so still smell like honey.



Prepare: I am keeping my eye on the baby capsicums that I am growing.  Am going to have a go at making  Preserved baby bell with feta.  Just need all the little capsicums to ripen. I think these will be a great gift idea.  More next month on this project. Fingers crossed.

Can see  few have gone a gorgeous ripe red.....still waiting on the others....

Reduce:  I run a small business from home and am constantly getting stacks of mail which leads to a very untidy amount of waste paper.  I use only recycled paper products in the office, but what to do with all this excess paper.  Am keeping anything reusable that is not printed on the back to make up scratch pads for scribbling notes in the office. 


Not all of this will find it's way to the worm farm...most would have to go in recycle bin

Made whole sheets and envelopes not printed on both sides into scratch pads....

Green:   How Dirty is Dirty:  "Over the entire lifecycle of clothes, the biggest environmental impact is from the 'use' phase: washing, drying and ironing". (Green Lifestyle Magazine) This article raised my awareness to the fact that when my man and I wore something we put it in the wash....not any more...nothing into the wash until it actually needs to be washed...jeans are fabulous for multiple wears before washing !!...Reducing your weekly washing loads is great for the environment....I don't own a clothes dryer but if you do, try to avoid using it.

Grow:  It's autumn and time for the pumpkins !!  I love pumpkin and a pot of pumpkin soup on a cold day warms the body and soul. Have started to harvest and their are still about 10 more on the vines....leaving these outside under shelter to dry out for about a week.

The pumpkin Harvest....Qld Blue and butternuts.

Create:  As always working on too many projects at the same time...I am doing a block of the month quilt....have had it for a while but March is the target to finish this first block, will then try to stay on track as there are 9 blocks in total...hand stitching takes a long time...




Still a few hours worth of hand stitching before this panel is completed....each panel measures 50cm x 50cm



Discover:  There is always so much to  see and do and find out about.  We had a weekend down at our holiday spot and I love the beautiful native plants that are growing wildly there...  I also discovered that Life is short  and we should all take the time to enjoy beautiful surroundings.

 

Cute native plants in amongst all of the  beachside scrub.....along with the wombats and native birds.

 

Enhance:  I love to look for beautiful ways to make life more joyful.....my sister-in-law who passed away 12 years ago always made the most amazing sponge cakes for family birthdays and I sadly thought the recipe was lost, but my brother tells me he found it....can't wait to get that recipe....would love to try this:

  

Found this amazing cake decoration on pinterest.....sliced almonds with raspberry & blueberry centres..

Would also love to have a go at knitting this gorgeous cushion.....free download from Yarnspirations.

This cable knitted cushion in boucle....I have some boucle wool I pulled down from a half knitted
jumper.....long story...wool bought from US on line...$45 postage for one more ball...didn't happen.

Enjoy:  I do try and enjoy simple things everyday.  A walk along the beach with my two fluffy girls....they love to run and chase birds and paddle at the water's edge....trying to take their photo is always difficult...after several failed attempts, the magic word was smacko...they looked at the camera with big smiles on their faces....shame about my man's hairy legs in the photo !!

After a long walk on the beach......happy snap....enjoy !!

Mid Morning Musings.....

 

Camelia's from the garden...reflected by two of my paintings...need to get back to the easel

Spring is just around the corner.....daphne and daffodils are out..

Beauty everywhere you look.....you just have to take the time to look

Even a few hyacinths popping their head up......my favourite flower

Not much happening in the garden.....but the beetroots are doing really well....yum

Book club book for July........I loved it

Winter is hanging on and giving us a very chilly blast before it hopefully heads off and allows Spring to burst forth and shower us with glorious Spring sunshine and warmer days.......can't wait to get into the garden and do my Spring planting....my first Winter of trying to grow vegies has not been very successful, but Spring brings great hope with it....time of renewal and splendour...........I love the seasons as the chill of winter makes you appreciate the warmth of summer....autumn leaves signal the start of winter......it all highlights the importance of seasonal eating....eating what you have in the garden....although if I had to rely on this Winter,I think we would have gone very hungry.....we try to eat seasonal foods and local, organic foods whenever we can....avoiding processed and chemically contaminated foods at all costs......a little self sufficiency is very rewarding.....stay warm and healthy .

Perfect Poached Eggs......

Thanks to Gary on Masterchef I have mastered the art of the perfect poached egg....he made it look so easy that I just had to give it a try.....never been able to manage it in the past.  Simply bring your pot of water to a rapid boil, add good amount of vinegar and a pinch of salt.....bring back to the boil.....drop your eggs in and gently move the water so that the egg rolls over on itself.....cook for 3 minutes...and voila !! ....perfect poached eggs.

Beautiful colour yolks on home grown, free range eggs...

Tip:...eggs need to be very fresh....

When the Country is in chaos...make cheese !!

Wow what a political nightmare we Australians are facing.....don't really want to get into politics here....hopefully our wonderful country will survive the dills that we have put in charge and the other dills who want to take over....it just seems like chaos and I don't think anyone is really running the country....they are just fighting to see who can take over....hopefully our economy, environment and communities will survive their poor behaviour, and when the dust settles and whoever wins gets into power, things can hopefully settle down and they can all get back into the business of taking care of this beautiful place that we call home ..........my heart goes out to the people of Egypt whose Political woes are a million times worse...I hope the unrest settles down before any more lives are lost....peace to all.

Feta curds in the baskets....separated from the whey.....curds settle down into blocks of feta

Meanwhile amid the chaos....I thought it was time to try my hand at making feta (which I have learnt recently at a cheesemaking course)......with the help of my friend who also attended we set about making the cheese.....warmed the 8 litres of organic milk ...into our sterilised container...added the starter, renet and lipase mixes, gently stirred, waited for the curds...90 mins....then cubed them, rested the curds, seperated the feta curds from the whey....into the feta baskets ....flip them a couple of times and there you have feta...into the brine solution and into the fridge.....perfect, delicious and creamy feta....next we are learning Camembert......can't wait for that one......!

Homemade, Healthy and the girls are Happy .........

My first batch of homemade yoghurt.....huge success...didn't know that making yoghurt was this simple...Just boiled up the 7 little jars in the boiler......mixed the organic long life milk (must be long life as this has been heat treated to 91c)........with Acidophilus Biphidus culture.....added a few tablespoons of full cream milk powder...only added if you like thick yoghurt.....mix and pour into the sterilised jars...into the yoghurt maker for 6 hours and voila.....beautiful creamy pot set yoghurt...easy and economical.....

Boil jars to sterilise, mix milk and culture

Into the jars and then into the yoghurt maker for 6 hours.

 Have also been into the juicing.......so far only doing carrot, apple and a bit of kale.....tastes great but need to get a bit more adventurous with the ingredients....would like to do all green juices but they take a bit of getting used to .....will continue bit by bit and see how it goes....good news is the girls love the scraps that are left behind in the juicer......they peck away happily, so it's a win win.....everybody's happy


Prepare vegies and  fruit and into the juicer....goodness in a glass...

The chooks love the remains from the juicer......the girls eat it all ....no waste...fantastic

The joy I get from making things myself, trying to avoid waste, and making healthy and nutritious things to eat and drink is amazing.....it really is the simple things that make life great.....it inspires me to think there is so much more I can do.....Life is what you make it....and I am determined to do whatever I can to reduce my impact on the planet, cook from scratch, live well and laugh often....PS: happy birthday to my man.

Nourishing body and soul...

Healthy snacking ....all organic - grapes, mandarine, almonds and macadamia nuts

Having spent so much time and energy in the garden and other pursuits, I feel I have been neglecting my body and my health.....my general fitness is not good and also I haven't been eating as well as I would like too......today I have started to once again focus on my health and wellbeing, including mind and soul.....haven't done yoga in ages and was very out of practice this morning....but will persevere and try to do a daily practice in the morning, including meditation. .....also pay attention to everything that I eat....mindful eating is important...if it doesn't nourish my body or offer any health benefits, I will try not to eat it...I do love wine and cheese though....hhhmmmmm.....