Making Radish Leaf Pesto

Stumbling upon a post by Amanda Soule,

then some radishes, seemingly out of season, at my market, 

I decided to whip up some fresh pesto - 

Radish Leaf Pesto in the vein of Chocolate and Zucchini.

My baby girl loved helping by picking and placing the leaves and almonds

It tastes delicious and as well as enjoying the pesto as a hot little snack on top of radish slices,

I love my pesto on my new wholemeal spelt bread.

New Year Seeds are Sprouting and Shooting

On New Year's Day my girls and I planted seeds in our new garden.

You can see their homes on the right in the picture above, a little sheltered spot by the Meyer Lemon we believe, planted here by the previous owners.

I just love the way Ess made labels from shells we have collected over the years.

These flower seeds came from a packet named "Rockery Mix".

Lots of alyssum will shoot I suspect.

On 7 January we saw, with great excitement in my little girls, that the seeds were sprouting

Some were clearly enjoying their new home and sprouting forth all their pretty two-leaved goodness.

Then ten days later on 17 January we find that the plants are really shooting up.  Soon the girls should have real flowers to plant around their little cubby house to enjoy before the frosts come again.

Or maybe they'll be big enough to survive some icyness.  I am still learning about gardening in Canberra where there are frosts from Easter to Melbourne Cup Day (first Tues in November).  The weather is amazing here.  This time last week it was 1.6 degC before dawn (a new record).  There was even some snow in the mountains.  It is summer for heavens sake.  Today it is hot again and we enjoyed an afternoon swim in the local pool.

At this stage also, it appears I have some competition - the lettuce has all been eaten.  Pesky snails I'm assuming.

A fitting way to commence the year in our new home don't you think.  Planting seeds, being thrilled and excited as we nurture and care for them and see them sprout and grow.  And all of this happening in our newly purchased own home.  I do love a bit of symbolism.

A Small Planting; A Little Blossom

"Bloom where you are planted."

~The Bishop of Geneva, Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

The camelia I see blooming from my bedroom window inspires me each morning

to see the beauty amidst the twigs and sticks of a wintry phase in our lives.

Since last I wrote, dear friends, we are more settled. After seven moves this year, we are finally a little settled in a home - albeit temporarily.

For a little over a month now we have been living with our own things, our personal belongings, our familiar furniture. It does feel like home here. We have been blessed to have been released from the contract we were in, in order to commence a longer term lease than the six weeks we had when last I wrote. We are now leasing a property for six months with the option to extend as we look around to purchase another home - one which is fully legal, with no 'controlled activity' leading to unapproved structures being undertaken by the builder/owner.

Our current home is filled with natural light in a lovely central location which we enjoy very much. It is smaller than our last home but has lots of under-house storage which we are using to keep all the things we probably won't need for six months.

I love hanging out my washing each morning on a lovely big hills hoist to the sound of magpies carolling and watching the sulphur-crested cockatoos and crimson rosellas fly from tree to tree foraging and feeding. I love the way the sun fills this house and greets us each day no matter how cold it is outside and it has been quite freezing at -6deg the other night.

We are starting to bake again, although the oven in my small kitchen is very very basic. We enjoyed my Zucchini and Sultana Muffins the other day.

I have managed to find my lovely crochet blanket but just haven't found the time to sit down and do it. I have actually forgotten the pattern so will need to take time to learn that again. It is hard to believe this as I didn't need to think twice about it all the time I was crocheting this while I was pregnant. My mind has been filled with so much since our move I simply cannot remember that which was so much part of my life previously.

During May we house-sat for some new friends while they holidayed interstate. We are very grateful for this provision. It was fun to explore the northern parts of town and come to realise how much we appreciate being where we are now which is very close to my Generous Gentleman's work.

We moved to this city for his work which he continues to enjoy. This is yet another blessing I am grateful for each day. There are many days when the girls and I pine for the settled creative life we had in Adelaide yet because his work is good, I am happy and they notice this.

We still have not had our deposit for "the dodgy house" refunded and this has led us to having to go to court. The hearing is on 29 July which is only a day after my 40th birthday - great birthday present hey!! I do hope it truly will be. Our solicitor is very confident and doesn't understand how the other side thinks they have a case. So hopefully the judge sees things the same way. We have followed God's promptings in this as well as listened to our solicitor's advice so we are anxiously and nervously confident.

One thing is sure - God will continue to provide for us.

A Life on Hold

In the past I have wondered how I would blog if ever a tragedy happened in our lives. Could I share? Would I share? I write to discover the beauty in everything, every circumstance, every aspect of our lives. So I have decided finally to share.

At the moment I am struggling to see the rainbow in each day, indeed it is only through my three beautiful daughters that the sun shines adding colour to the rain that is pouring down in our lives at the moment.

In January we changed our location of residence from Adelaide to come to Canberra for my Generous Gentleman's work. We are still not in residence in Canberra. We found a house quite quickly here but during the course of the contract to purchase the house we have found numerous issues with it. Yes there is very shonky building existing in Canberra. One problem, an unapproved structure, gave us cause to rescind the contract - which is a blessing. Yet it means we are currently without a home and waiting to have our deposit refunded…hopefully.

So the life I share with my precious family is now very different.

I have not baked since last year. My cooking is very basic as my recipe books are stored along with my kitchen appliances. We use what is supplied for us wherever we are staying.

I have not seen our personal belongings since January apart from what we brought in our suitcases.

There has been no sewing, no crochet, no craft of any type really.

We have moved almost every month in order to find a place to live which costs less. We are currently spending way too much to rent a fully furnished home on a short term lease as we are not free of our contract yet to enter into another contract to rent or to buy. We have very poor mobile internet access which contributes to the fact that I really am not blogging as I used to. My apologies that I have not been able to read your blogs and comment as I'd like to.

Most of our free time is spent assessing when we are going to have to move again and how we are going to find a place to move to.

Yet the important things remain:

We are together. We are dealing with this as a family. We are seeing God move in many ways during this time. I do know and feel that peace that passes all understanding.

We have a place to rest our heads each night (even though at excessive cost) and have not been ravaged by flood, tsunami or earthquake.

The people we have met have been absolutely lovely and very supportive in our situation. We have made lovely friends in our work and home education networks. On many occasion, God has provided just the right person at just the right time.

So that's a little about what life has been like for us. Living without a home certainly brings home to us the important things in life. Have you ever lived without a home? I'd love to hear your experiences. Or if you know of a place we could call home for a little while in or around Canberra, we'd love to know about it. Perhaps we could house-sit for you!

There are some exciting possibilities we have explored and I'd love to share more about them - perhaps one day I will. For now however we are still waiting to be out of the legal bind we have become innocent victims within.

Chocolate Carrot Muffins

These muffins were simply made with those things I had in the frig needing to be used up. I read a couple of recipes to inspire me but largely I just used what I had available. Albeit, they turned out deliciously. So much so that I simply have to try to write down some sort of recipe so we can try them again. I have no idea, however, of the quantity of much that I used, so if you are feeling a bit free-spirited this is a great recipe for you.

Chocolate Carrot Muffins

Wet Ingredients

Fill a 2 cup measure to just full with the following:

1 beaten egg

¼ cup honey

natural organic yoghurt

sour cream

oil (I used rice bran oil)

Sift Dry Ingredients

2 cups wholemeal spelt flour (or flour of your choice)

1 tsp bicarb soda

½ tsp cream of tartar

nutmeg

cinnamon

ginger

allspice

2tsp - 2 tabs cocoa (depending on the quality of the cocoa you use)

Add 1-2 grated carrots to the dry mix along with some currants and a few choc chips.

Mix all together till just combined, spoon into muffin tin.

Bake in a moderate oven 180°C for 15-20mins or until done to your liking.

The addition of the moist carrot always works wonders for a cake/muffin in my opinion. It is also a great way for my two little treasures to eat an orange vegetable, something they always refuse and seem to detect everywhere...except in these muffins. Both of them knew they were there, so obviously the chocolate worked its magic and totally obliterated all thoughts of carrots.

You know the secret? I am absolutely convinced that you simply need to add sour cream to a cake to make it absolutely stand out and shine. It gives so much moisture and a rich dense flavour yet still leaving the cake light and delicate. I don't always have it to hand, but when I do, I'll be sure to be adding it to my choc carrot muffins.

Enjoy!

"Yeah they were all Yellow"

Tell me how many beads there are
In a silver chain
Of evening rain,
Unravelled from the tumbling main,
And threading the eye of a yellow star: -
So many times do I love again.
~Thomas Lovell Beddoes

The lovely Nina of Nö's Familie was given the challenge to find seven light blue things around her home which you can see here. She has passed the task on to me to find seven yellow things here. At first I was very challenged at the thought of the colour yellow as it is perhaps my least favourite colour. I do not wear it well at all. Yet as I have been enjoying working with a bit of yellow of late, I knew I'd accept that challenge.

The yellow pansies blooming beneath our budding roses were the first yellow things that came to mind. Nearby I see the bright yellow faces of the Johnny Jump-ups, jumping up year by year and endearing us all to them once again.

While in the garden I also discovered some bright yellow gumboots often worn by the owner of the sweet little yellow watering can as she accompanies me around the garden, now requiring more and more water as the days warm. It is definitely Spring here now.

As soon as Ess came home from school, we were all on the hunt for yellow things. We found this buzzy bee, a recent garage sale purchase made by Ess for little Eee who was in need of a moneybox. She absolutely loves placing money in through the slot, opening the bottom to watch it all fall out and resuming the task of refilling once more.

The bright yellow duckies in our bathtub bring smiles to all. Some were gifts as Ess was born yet the two smallest were kept by my Mum and passed on to me. They were mine as a child, loved especially by Mum as "they float so well and don't have a hole allowing them to fill with water and hence mould", she recalls!! Daddy even found a few more things in our bathroom on his return. Not so pretty to photograph!

I have loved watching Ess wear this sweet little vintage dress with yellow ladybugs all over. The cotton is so soft, no doubt worn thin by the many times I wore it as a child.

The bright yellow ribbons I made for Ess to wear on her Sports Day earlier this year.

A bright bowl of fresh fruit - bananas and lemons from Grandad's tree - sitting on our Spring time table outdoors. Finally it is warm enough for us to dine al fresco (and not yet too hot!)

And a highly coveted mango, fresh from Australia's Northern Territory, much loved by myself and my daughters. Sadly my Generous Gentleman never seems to get a look in when these are around.

I am sure I have found at least seven things!!

All the while I have been singing this Yellow song in my mind. As I reflect, I note that all these yellow items represent the things in our home which are important to me: my family/my children, my garden, wholesome nutritious, fresh food.

Thanks Nina for a lovely challenge. I'd like to pass this challenge on to Diane, alecat and Jackie to find seven red things. Have fun! And of course, if you have a red song, I'd certainly love to hear that as well!)

"Look how they shine for you" ~ ColdPlay

Carrot, Banana and Honey Muffins

A film is just like a muffin. You make it. You put it on the table. One person might say "Oh, I don't like it." Another might say it is the best muffin ever made. One might say it's an awful muffin. It's hard for me to say. It's for me to make the muffin." ~ Denzel Washington

Carrot, Banana and Honey Muffins

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 20 mins

Makes 12

2 cups of Spelt flour with ½ tsp bicarb and 1 tsp cream of tartar (or 2 cups self-raising flour)

½ tsp bicarb soda (yes pop some more in)

2 teaspoons nutmeg

1-2 tablespoons brown sugar (optional)

¾ cup light olive oil

¼ cup honey

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 large banana, mashed

1 small carrot, peeled and grated

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC. Line a 12-hole standard muffin tine with muffin cases. Sift flour, bicarb and nutmeg into a bowl. Add sugar if desired, stir to combine.

2. Put the oil, honey and eggs in a medium jug and whisk with a fork to combine. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Add the banana and carrot, pour in the olive oil mixture and stir with a fork until just combined. Spoon batter into each muffin case, no more than two-thirds full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until well risen, golden and firm to touch. Put on a wire rack to cool, dust with icing sugar before serving for a professional touch.

Adapted from a recipe seen in Better Homes and Gardens magazine years ago

Beachfront Bicycling

Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride. ~John F. Kennedy

On an unseasonably warm and windy day on Saturday we packed up our bicycles and headed to the beach for another dose of beachfront bicycling, something we all love. Although we just happened to hear a little cry from a pink 5 yr old on a pink bicycle about how she needed a rest just as another playground was approaching. There are at least 5 playgrounds within easy cycling distance of each other along the Semaphore Foreshore. We were often stopping :)

Another little lady was keen for some "dig, dig, digging" time so Dad bribed her to get back into her bicycle seat on his bike for a quick ride down the path to where our friends were kite flying. There was sure to be opportunity for sand play and grass tumbling with them.

I meanwhile, enjoying the serenity and solitude the bicycle affords me, rode a little further on towards Largs Bay. Breathing in the salty, seaside air, absorbing the soothing sounds of the gently crashing waves and lapping waters, I took a wee break from my family to nurture myself. My Generous Gentleman bid me take my time as he rode off in the opposite direction with my two little treasures, yet somehow, quite quickly, I was drawn to be right back with them again. Even he commented he was surprised I had ridden all the way up to Largs in the time I had taken. Yes I do need my space, but my sense of obligation to my family as well as my desire to be with them overrides that so often.

I rode past the Semaphore Jetty which still has a big piece broken from the centre of it. The pale sky and rich blue ocean contrasts beautifully with the yellow ocean in the foreground created by the numerous soursobs. Blue, green and yellow blending to create such calm.

I enjoyed the vivid, almost fluroescent yellow of the soursobs (oxalis), a persistent weed which brings such delightful bright colour in the wake of winter. I explored the zoom on my new Pentax Optio X70, belated birthday present, camera and am very pleased with the results. I wonder if Blogger will let you see their best here.

The zoom lens is very effective as well. This sailing ship was but a dot on the horizon to the naked eye. It speaks of such serenity in this image here. I absolutely adore watching a lowering sun over the waters of the Gulf of St Vincent. Growing up on the east coast of Australia meant the sun rose over coastal waters. Seeing the sun setting over the Gulf here is magic.

Simple Sewing: A Child's Fabric Bookmark Tutorial

TV. If kids are entertained by two letters, imagine the fun they'll have with twenty-six. Open your child's imagination. Open a book. ~Author Unknown

To say my daughter is an avid reader I would consider a gross understatement. One must admire her selection of books. We can never leave our library without literally bags full of books. One or two for me, perhaps half a dozen for little Eee, and about 40 for Ess.

She has an interesting way of reading her books. Some are read from cover to cover in one sitting, some are treasured and to be shared with Mum and Dad in the evening. Chapter books are often read as a collection. Ess states she reads chapter one from each book before moving on. Interestingly I recall myself making a decision in my teens that I should really complete reading one book before commencing another and another which interested me. Ess must certainly be "her mother's daughter".

Thus we have a requirement for numerous bookmarks in our house. Often fabric scraps are used. Ess has another of my unfortunate traits and likes to hoard the little pieces of prettyness which appear when I cut fabric for some of my many creations. I notice that some of the blue fabric I used for Zet the Monster has been inserted into some of Ess' books in the above collection. I managed to gather some scraps she had earmarked while I was cutting my Jane Market Bag from Alicia Paulson to sew a prettier bookmark for her. Here is a little tutorial to make it simple for you.

Fabric Bookmark

Gather the materials needed: fabric scraps, scissors, pins, ribbon cut to desired length to decorate, your iron and a sewing machine.

Most of the work in finishing the bookmark is in folding and pressing your fabric so take your time at the ironing board. If you need to join two or more scraps of fabric to make the desired length for your book mark (as in the above picture), sew fabric right sides together with a 5mm seam allowance and iron flat. Iron the bookmark in half lenthways and open out to make it easier to fold in half later. Then mitre your corners, I find it makes a much neater finish and is not too difficult.

Firstly fold in the corner to the centre, ensuring all raw edges are perpendicular, ie standing at right angles.

Fold in the edges, top and side to make a neat sharp point on the corner.

Press your corners and pin them securely. Then fold your bookmark in half and pin all the way around.

Insert a couple of pieces of ribbon at the top of your bookmark for some pretty decoration, any decoration along the length of it is likely to create too much bulk, even for a child's book.


Now sew all the way around the outside edge of your bookmark and you will have a very professional finish.


There. So easy, even your daughter could sew it.

Enjoy your reading...and hers as well!

Shell Treasures

Bashams Beach offered us many delights as we watched whales frolicking out to sea.

Glimpses of light just above the horizon as a misty cloudy sky turned to dusk.

Stray pieces of driftwood now resting calmly on the sand.

Beckoning rocks inlaid with shiny silver puddles of water, reflecting light, containing creatures to be discovered.

And shells...oh the shells...

Myriads of sea shells lying around the water's edge. Little Eee and I immediately sat down to explore such beauty, while Ess and Dad climbed rocks and found sea stars in rock pools. We sorted, sifted, shared with each in amazement, pocketing some to bring home for our collection.

The colours and patterns are so vivid, so striking. Each shell resembling its mate yet each one's pattern being unique, its own fingerprint.

These ones we dubbed toffee apple shells. Can you see the green hue on the parts of shell where the vivid red has worn away?

I can tell you these little shells have been sorted and rearranged by little fingers (and big ones as well) over and over.

Such simple discoveries serving to delight and nourish our soul and bring fond memories of wonderful times shared.

Wee Whale Watchers

Okay, he either said, "move to the back of the throat," or he "wants a root beer float"." ~ Dory, Finding Nemo

Seaweed ball on Bashams Beach, South Australia

Nearly 13 years ago my sister and I packed up our camping gear and drove.  We headed north from Brisbane to Hervey Bay, Queensland's whale watching mecca.  We drove for 5 hours, endured an overnight storm (yes in our tent!), paid for a boat to take us out into the bay to enjoy whale watching.  All to no avail.  The company even offered us a credit for a return journey.  We never made it back!

Today we drove a couple of hours south of Adelaide to Basham's Beach and spent most of the day enjoying watching a mother whale gracefully swim up and down the beach caring for her playful calf.

The Southern Right Whales have been sighted each day over the last week so if you are in Adelaide, head down to take a peek.  You will be well rewarded.  The SA Whale Centre has a useful resource tracking daily sightings.

Look at that enormous rounded body, such gentle graceful curves.

Photos just cannot do justice to the experience we shared.  The whales were very close to shore, perhaps 100m away, just past the breakers and easily visible from where we played on the beach.  It was absolutely awe-inspiring to be observers of these magnificent creatures of the deep.

Little Eee loved to sit and dig in the sand, not yet understanding the enormity of what she was seeing - both in the size of the whale and calf and in the experience of being able to spend some time with them.

Ess however, is now old enough to love and appreciate the whales and sat for many moments on the dunes watching the mother and her calf, seeing them pec and tail slapping, spyhopping, playing and swimming up and down the beach.

There were more whales further out to see.  In the above picture you can see its waterspout.

After all these years, I've been whale watching for free with such little effort.  Indeed so many beautiful things in South Australia are quite understated, perhaps one could say underrated, and have not yet been capitalised upon.  I do find it very easy to live simply in this lovely state which I have come to adore.

Bashams Beach is a beautiful place to explore in itself.

Indeed it is a shell-lover's haven.

I confess, I collected a few shells too and have brought them home and sorted and arranged them on little Eee's windowsill.  Showing you can wait until another day if you are interested.  Oh there are so many that are just so pretty, so colourful, so unique.

A wonderful day drew to a beautiful close with a very pretty rainbow stretching out across the Southern Ocean.

A very fitting way to celebrate the birthday of my very dear husband, and my own as well as Tuesday was a very busy day here.

Happy Birthday my dear Generous Gentleman.

Oh and when we finally arrived home after 7pm, would you believe they were screening Finding Nemo.  We all got a big laugh out of the scene where Dory imitates whale :)