How much sugar?

This is what I've been grappling with for the last little while.

I've worked very hard to ensure that I nurture my family with food which nourishes them.  I've educated myself according to our specific needs.  I've read widely and listened to health practitioners advice.  I think I could consider myself I bit of a nutritionist and have considered that if I chose to study something at this stage of my life it would be Nutrition.  I was encouraged last week in my small home group when a friend spoke up and said, "You should be a Nutritionist Cathy!".  It was very encouraging considering she doesn't know me well yet and would not know my past and desires in relation to nurture and nourishment.

All appears to well on the homefront, however herein lies my struggle:

As we leave our home and participate in the community more and more, as we are doing in Canberra, we are being confronted by a culture of food sharing and eating which is substantially different from our own.  At least it appears that way on the surface.  When I speak to many mothers about my struggle we seem to share similar concerns.  The main one of which is the amount of sugar which is consumed in everything we eat.  Mothers are trying to bake with half the amount of sugar, struggling to find healthy options to fill a lunchbox, to share with friends.  They are trying to find something on a table of food which is nourishing rather than simply pleasing when we share food.

I am committed to making a concerted effort to stop eating sugar in our household. Fortunately I have some friends who are doing the same.  And by sugar I mean fructose as well as sucrose.  We are now only eating fructose as a whole fruit with all the fibre surrounding aiding the digestion of the fructose.

I'm enjoying the fact that my appetite control mehcanism is now clearly working.  I feel full regularly and rarely have that sense that I need to eat something - just to satisfy.  I'm enjoying lots of different foods with my girls including savoury toppings for toast, treats which aren't full of sugar ie profiteroles and some little chocolate almond cakes we recently baked.  There are more: we are on a journey and will discover as we go.  No doubt I'll share some of our new recipes here to share with you.  Are you already on this ride?  Are you ready to join us?

I'm delighted that my husband is keen to join us for the ride and that we now have a reason not to spend our money at the ice cream shop.

It's taken me a while to really get onboard with this notion.  I was first introduced to this research when my 21 month old baby J was just born by our neighbour.  Now I feel it is time for us.

I'm still struggling with the fact that my children will choose to eat sugary foods when they are offered, however like many other things 'I will let that go'.  I will continue to nourish them at home with quality foods, guided by information that comes to hand and trust that as role models, my husband and I will be remembered as parents who led our children towards paths of good health and responsible eating.

Great Uncle Steve, we are so proud!

I'm sharing this news a little late, however I am so proud of my great Uncle Steve that I wanted to share this news article.  I am so thrilled that finally, in his later years he has been able to make this trip to London to see the Lancaster again, to witness the opening of a controversial memorial, to be with fellow veterans who perhaps have not spoken of their horrific ordeals until recent years.

Surprisingly I grew up thinking that there was noone in our family who fought in the wars. Yet my grandmother's brother was there serving with the Bomber Command.  He has only spoken of his experiences in the last decade and I am only really just coming to understand what he was actually involved in.

It is sad I did not know until now, but I am so very grateful that now I do know.

Tearful trip to UK for Bomber Command vets

• by:From correspondents in London 
• From:AAP 
• June 27, 2012 5:03AM

During a special Australian service at an Air Forces memorial on the outskirts of London overnight tears flowed among an aged gathering as thoughts turned to thousands of fallen comrades.

About 10,000 Australians served with Bomber Command, with 3486 killed in battle, while a further 650 died in training accidents in the United Kingdom.

"In lonely cockpits at dizzy altitudes ... in fog, in deadly cold, in storms, on fire, in prison camps, in skin grafting hospitals, there are none deserving more honour. Today we remember their selfless sacrifice," Major General Mark Kelly told the gathering of about 100 veterans.

The veterans from across Australia are in London for the dedication of a memorial to Bomber Command by the Queen on Friday. It commemorates the 55,573 Bomber Command aircrew killed during the war.

RELATED COVERAGE

• Happy snap of war history The Daily Telegraph, 4 hours ago
• Honouring bravest of the brave Adelaide Now, 2 days ago
• Memorial remembers brothers in arms Courier Mail, 2 days ago
• Queen unveils WWII airmen memorial Courier Mail, 3 days ago
• Bomber Command honoured at last The Australian, 3 days ago

"This is a very emotional day," Adelaide veteran David Leicester, 88, said.

"It really gets to me and I will find I have tears in my eyes for the whole week of celebrations. The playing of the Last Post and the national anthem of both countries gets right into my heart.

"When the Queen unveils the memorial on Thursday (local time), I can't even begin to think how I will react, with so much emotion."

Mr Leicester flew 68 missions with Bomber Command, mostly night-time bombing operations over German cities in aircraft including the Halifax, and Pathfinder Lancasters.

"One of the worst nights for me was March 30/31 1944 when 96 aircraft were shot down and a further number crash landed," Mr Leicester said.

"It was the worst night for Bomber Command casualties and we had a particularly bad time, returning on three engines and severe damage to the aircraft.

"It was a very rough landing, but we were the lucky ones."

Steve Flood, 88, from Stanthorpe in Queensland, flew as a air gunner in 30 Bomber Command operations for 467 Squadron over enemy territory in 1944.

"One was a raid to Revigny (France) which was only a small raid of 106 aircraft and altogether 24 were lost. (Squadron) 467 had six aircraft on the raid that night and only four came back."

While Mr Flood is looking forward to Friday's Bomber Command memorial dedication as a "fitting" tribute, the highlight of his trip to England will be a war museum visit where he will be reunited with the Lancaster aircraft affectionately called S Is For Sugar.

"It will be the first time since 1945 that I've seen her," Mr Flood said of the Lancaster.

"I was on board her one night when she lost 120 rivets out of her wing. I remember the pilot saying `we've been hit', but we still got back okay."

My Unintentional Break

It's been a while hasn't it!  Don't think I haven't longed to be able to pop in to say Hi!, to share our life's adventures.  I have missed being able to be here, missed you.  Yet life has changed so much since I started blogging and I just don't seem to have the time, space, words and mental energy to be here as often as I'd like.  There are many days I have had words forming in my head, a post ready to share, yet not the moments to sit and type before I fall in a heap in the evenings.  There have also been many days when I seem to have lost my words.

When I started my blog almost 5 years ago I had just had my second baby - by precious little Eee.  We were very settled in our home in Adelaide and I needed something new to stimulate and inspire me.  It was the inspiration of Ess Cox which gave me that final jolt to start my own.  As you can see, she has found busyness in other areas of her life as well.  Little Eee was a delightful sleeping baby.  She would sleep three times a day and all through the night.   I needed to be home with her to let her sleep. I was at home with her asleep, with my Ess at Kindy, I also had a bright and rested mind which allowed me to think and reflect and share easily.

Things are different now...

Now my third baby J is 20 months old.  She has been a delightful little one to care for but is very much more hands on than my Eee was as a baby.  She has not liked to sleep ever since we moved when she was 3 months old and just starting to sleep 12 hours overnight.  She catnaps during the day  and is very wakeful at night.  It has not been uncommon for my husband and I to be up every two hours and more to attend to her.  We started to take it in shifts to nurture her as I slept early in the evening and he in the early hours of the morning.  It was how we could cope with all that was happening alongside the other issues of moving and having to go to court to resolve our house matter last year.  Thus I have not had a rested mind.  I've been sleep-deprived with more demands meaning I needed to focus on my family first.  Now Ess is at home being educated as an 8 year old and my little Eee is enjoying emerging literacy - a crucial stage of her literacy development I must be mindful of.

It is only just now that it seems baby J is able to sleep for most of the night, only waking us once or twice for a few nights a week, other nights she still wakes numerous times.  So we are starting to be able to sleep when we need to and stay asleep.  I am noticing that perhaps I do have a little more inspiration to write.  My mind is perhaps a little more rested.

As well as that, I am not at home as much as I used to be with my baby Eee in the early days.  We have connected with two very interesting and functioning networks of home educators here in the capital and we always have things to go out and do.  I am home on Mondays and every second Friday but I have to work very hard to keep those days free of outings.  We are home on the odd Thursday as well but most weeks we are out over lunch time then.  When I am out socialising I lack the energy to do so again on my blog, such a serious introvert am I. ;)

Baby J exploring autumn leaves
Honourable Mention

I've also found another online community of people I really enjoy.  When my niece was born in Belfast last year I joined Instagram so I could see pictures of her as she grew.  I subsequently found a group of people sharing photos of great quality, photos which inspired me. I found my photos were enjoyed and I became part of a couple of groups and participated in challenges. I was delighted to receive an Honourable Mention recently after entering the Autumnal_Shades_in_the_Capital competition.  So I will continue to show my pics there.  Follow along if you'd like to see a pic or two everyday.  I'm @CeeLew. :)

So that is some of the change that has happened for me in recent times.  A little of the reasoning I give myself when trying to explain why this place I have so enjoyed remains vacant for many days in a row.

Here are some of the things we've been enjoying recently:

:: Finally getting to explore Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.  On our first visit with the Discovery Club (our home education friends) we walked the Birrigai Time Trail to view a Rock Shelter used by our indigenous people.  It has been dated to 40000 years ago (although indigenous people were here prior to then).  We then found the Discovery Playground which we returned to recently to share with Dad over a BBQ lunch.

:: Completing a couple of yarn projects.  An owlet knitted for my baby J and a capelet for my eldest, Ess.  She chose the pattern herself and loves it so.  I've really enjoyed sitting down to some crochet these past days.  My ripple blanket is still in progress, waiting its turn.  It'll be there a while longer. I can't bear to finish it.  I love the process so much.

:: Making plans for changes to our garden.  My Generous Gentleman would love to get his hands into some dirty work and has some great ideas to make our lovely new backyard with beautiful well established cold-climate plants into something more useable for our family.  Let's just say lots of digging and water seems to be involved.

:: Enjoying visits from both my Mum and my Dad over Easter and beyond.  They are both 70 years old this year.  They are both wonderful with my girls and enjoy their company.

:: Reading Stradbroke Dreaming as we journey around Australia on the Australian Book Traveller.

:: Spending many days out at excursions and picnics with our home educated friends.  There is so much to do in Canberra.  So much to do that we cannot do everything and have to choose regularly what we will participate in and enjoy.  We love Questacon and the National Botanic Gardens, the National Museum and Lake Burley Griffin.  There are always extra programs on for us to attend.

:: Enjoying a new church family and small group.  My big girls love going along to their kids program.

:: Having new friends over to lunch to enjoy a Roast Vegetable Minestrone with husband-home-baked spelt bread followed by home crumbed fish and oven-baked chips on a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

:: Exploring Lanyon Homestead with Mum who found it just like being back in the home of her youth.

:: Today we enjoyed holding a 1 day old chick, a little Chinese Silky.  See its little fluffy, feathery feet.

So do tell.  Have you missed my presence here in blogland? Would you like to hear from me more often?  What would you like to hear about?  I'd love to know, as I do so value your comments in this space.

By Broulee Beach

We spent the day by Broulee Beach yesterday,

soaking in the sand and the sun,  

sights and sounds, 

the colours and textures.

There were sand pies to be mixed, 

time for solitary exploration 

sandcastles bedecked with star-shaped shells

rock pools to paddle and wade in

fish to attempt to catch in our bucket

sand angels to make

and vistas to enjoy

Lamingtons: Butter or Sponge?

Fresh Butter Cake squares waiting to be made into lamingtons,
 if they aren't consumed first.

There are some times when you just wish you still had your Granny around to ask a few questions.

Do you find that?  As I'm getting older and have a more mature perspective of the world, shall we say, I find myself wanting to ask my Granny a few more questions than I had thought to before she died when I was about 20.

Creaming the butter

When growing up I took for granted the fabulous lamingtons my Granny made for the family to share on picnics out on the farm.  I just devoured them.  We all did.  They were fabulous.

Little Eee loving helping with creaming the butter and sugar 

As I grew older I realised there were other sorts of lamingtons you could buy from bakeries and also supermarkets.  I never really took to those at all.  I have however come across a few and eaten a few as they are a favourite sweet of my dear Generous Gentleman's.  They always left a metallic taste in my mouth, and still do.

Ess helping sift flour into our bowl

So when the opportunity arose to take the family to the Great National Lamington Bake Off in order to celebrate Australia Day we all jumped at the chance.  I was curious to see what it was all about and how a chef might interpret the lamington these days.  My girls love baking (and tasting of course) and my lovely husband just loves eating lamingtons.  So it was a match made perfectly.

Fresh golden butter cake with the recipe I transcribed
at the age of about 10 years

When it was discovered that two out of the three chefs were baking a sponge cake for their lamington a question arose concerning the original and authentic lamington.  Would it have also been a sponge cake or would it have been a butter cake?  Granny always made a butter cake for her lamingtons and I have assumed that the spongey light and fluffy cake was made by the bakeries and supermarkets.  However it seems that some others consider the sponge base is a more authentic lamington.  Or perhaps they prefer the light and fluffy sponge cake?  It seems that the CWA baked a butter cake for their lamingtons as well.  I am yet to find an example of the sponge cake being used for lamingtons by the older generation, apart from mass production for school fetes and the like.  What is your preference?  

For the results of the bake-off take a read of the Canberra Times article.

Waiting for icing and coconut

Now I'm on a mission to bake lamingtons with my family in the fashion of my Granny's, to share with them the tradition I hold such fond and vivid memories of.  I'll ask them which cake they choose as their cake of preference: butter or sponge?  I already know my choice.

Ess is Eight!

As has become tradition for our Ess' birthday, we found a beach to explore.  This one is on the South Coast of NSW.  I really do miss having easy and convenient access to the beach as we did in South Australia.  Indeed I miss South Australian beaches and seaside towns - they are just less developed, less commercial and more rustic.  Nevertheless the girls had fun playing in sand and water.  It was a lovely time.  (I shouldn't be so critical should I after my first trip down this way.  Forgive my pining heart for the home that was :))

First of course, we had to bake, decorate and eat cake.

For as long as I can remember Ess has wanted to have this octopus for her eighth birthday.

Apparently she has "wanted the octopus for ages but it only looked good as an eight".

Indeed it does, I'm sure you'll agree.

I used to bake and decorate for my girl - now Ess is very much involved in the whole process.  I think she really baked the chocolate cake quite independently, now that I think back on it.  She made the icing, coloured it to her liking, and is really keen to learn how to spread it.  It's a tricky job but she'll get there as Mum learns to let go more and let her just try!

This is Broulee Beach.

South Coast, New South Wales.

A nice spot for some beach fun...

and creating a new beach fan in our little baby.

iPhone brings us together

“I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.” ~ Steve Jobs, Apple CEO [NBC Nightly News, May 2006]

Bird on the Wire
at our home

I've been thinking about writing this post for such a long time and with the very sad loss of Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, this week.  I thought I should make the time to write again.  

Since my life became transient this year and with a need to purchase a new mobile phone I decided I could go with nothing less than the iPhone.  I found the deal with Virgin to be very good and suitable for our needs costing just $49 per month.  Allowing us internet access on the go as well as $300 worth of phone calls each month.

Peace and Serenity at Lake Burley Griffin

A greater pull towards the iPhone however was the fact that my brother and sister-in-law in Belfast have iPhones, along with my sister and brother-in-law in country NSW.  I knew they were texting each other for free and phoning for free and I really wanted to be part of their lives in this way.

Reflections at Floriade

Is there a more beautiful flower than the Tulip?
Floriade

And so while my life has been turbulent this year, I have found that connections with my family have been much greater.  Connections via iPhone have been enhanced and time taken to enjoy them has been to the detriment of this blog and for that I am sad.  So I would like to ask you to follow me, if you will.  I twitter more these days, search for me @ceelewis if you twitter also.  I'd love to follow you and connect with you there.

Silver Birch leaves as lacework
at Commonwealth Park

I am also an avid Instagramer.  Do you Instagram?  Search for me there if you do, I'm @ceelew.

Tulips of Floriade

Nerang Pool, Commonwealth Park

All the photos you see here in this blog post have been well liked on Instagram and I very much enjoy sharing and connecting with that community. It consists both of family members and other great photographers.

Nerang Pool, Commonwealth Park

So enjoy this little glimpse of Canberra and pop over and join me at Twitter and Instagram.

Thankyou to Steve Jobs for his wonderful creativity and inventions which serve to connect us in new ways.

You know I really am just a bit lazy, or tired with my young family.  Call it what you will! Using my iPhone I can lie down on the lounge and relax while I twitter and instagram, in order to write my blog posts and share photos here, I need to get up to the iMac.  It's a great machine - but it feels like work ;)

So my dear friends and followers, please continue to follow me and connect.

Our First Family Snow Trip

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. ~John Ruskin

We took our first family trip to the snow on Sunday. It has been the one thing Ess wanted to do in and around Canberra and one motivator for her leaving Adelaide. It has been hard leaving the familiar places and friends we had grown to love, yet we have made some lovely new friends here in Canberra. We were fortunate to meet up with some of them at Mt Selwyn, simply by chance. All the girls had fabulous fun together.

The icy snowballs weren't quite the same as the soft bubbles in the bath our bub is used to, yet she approached them for exploration in the same manner.

And here he is:

Our very first snowman!

It was a long and lovely day, reminding me of our many beach trips and leaving me longing for another. The similarities were many - packing extra clothes, extra food, building, getting wet, fun and laughter.

So lovely to have a day out together not thinking about the fact that we are waiting for the Master of the Court to hand down his finding. Yes the case was heard a fortnight ago and he is taking his time in writing everything up properly. It's hard times!