Hints of Winter

When the bold branches

Bid farewell to rainbow leaves -

Welcome wool sweaters.

~B. Cybrill

Almost bare twigs against dull dark skies...

Greening of the Adelaide Hills which remain so brown and dry throughout summer...

The green and gold carpet covering once dirty brown paths...

Lichen-covered tree trunks...

Warm woollen jumpers, little legs clad in warm tights, and my little hooded popkin...

New season oranges, direct from the tree, a little earlier than last year.

Very chilly air, was Ess' contribution, as we discussed this topic as a family.  With temperatures ranging from 6°C min to 13.9°C max on this day, this is very true.

All serving to remind us that winter is just around the corner...

See you then.

On being a Toddler

for little Eee

Some days you just need to be held.

Some days you just need to rest your head against your mother's breast.

Some days you just need to be rocked gently till you fall asleep on your mother's lap while you tickle your lips with the tag of your favourite teddy.

Some days you just need your mother's undivided attention.

So while the market produce remained on the bench and in the esky,  while the half-prepared final meal of the day remained in the frig, while big sister Ess resolutely gathered everything she needed for our afternoon snack (which you refused), your Mummy gave you her undivided attention.  She sang, she hummed, she rested with you.

No more whinges, no more crying, no more angst.

Simply a warm, content little bub, nestled down in Mummy's lap, then cradled in Daddy's arms beneath his jacket, bundled off early to bed.

One Scarf Finito

We used to fly past shoppers in the town centre and especially in the winter, wrapped up in our duffle coats, woolen hats and scarves we used to get so warm that there would soon be coats unbuttoned, scarves trailing behind and rosy cheeks by the time we got to school.  ~Karen Elkins, as posted on iskip.com

It's not yet duffle coat and woollen hats weather but this morning proved a little chilly for us so far at 7.5degC upon my waking.  My little Ess certainly felt it as she prepared for school.  I was very glad I could present her with her new scarf to wear to warm her chilly neck.  She has declared it is a little spiky and I have assured her that the cooler it is, the less she will feel the spikiness of the wool.  However I am not too impressed that an acrylic yarn made for children, which felt soft as a ball, should knit up to feel spiky.  I just hope that Ess enjoys wearing it, that it keeps her warm, that she doesn't lose it at school today.  Yes it remained around her neck even upon arrival at school.  This must be a good sign.  It should return home if lost as I devised a simple way of naming the scarf using some beautiful ribbons as a tag.

This lovely ribbon is designed by Nic in Germany and is available at www.ribbonsgalore.com.au

You can just see Ess' name tag which I have ironed onto the tags on the inside.

Homestay Mama, the first picture is especially for you - the finished scarf.  Trust you enjoy!  Ess is holding a beautiful gum blossom and inspecting it, no doubt to see whether any fairies remain.  We think however that they have departed.  You see their job is over now.  They have tickled the petals of this blossom with the tiniest feather imaginable until they simply burst open into full blossom.  This blossom had even fallen to the ground - no doubt waiting to transform into a fairy drinking cup (after those petals wilt and die).

Sending you chilly greetings from Adelaide.

A Curry from Scratch

Chemicals, n:  Noxious substances from which modern foods are made.  ~Author Unknown

The desire NOT to eat chemicals is one of the main reasons I cook everything we eat from scratch.  Yet for a long time I was unable to find a recipe for a curry which didn't contain some curry paste, spice mix or blend which was not standard in my pantry.  Now, thanks to inspiration from a recipe of Karen Martini's my search is over.  Originally I cooked this as per Karen's recipe as it is simply so delicious.  However as eggplants increased in price I decided to try the vegetables I had on hand.  As the lamb I purchased contained more fat and gristle than our lovely lean kangaroo meat which I have spoken about previously, I now use kangaroo meat almost invariably.  Of course it may not be readily available in your part of the world so use your meat of choice or try no meat at all and add some chick peas, I usually add these also.

A Curry from Scratch

2½ teaspoons chickpea flour (besan)

600ml water

300ml plain yoghurt

2 heaped teaspoons (tsp) cumin seeds

2 heaped tsp fennel seeds

2 heaped tsp fenugreek seeds

2 tablespoons mustard seeds

2 onions, sliced, lengthways

5 garlic cloves, sliced

3 long red chillies, sliced on the angle

a thumb of fresh ginger, finely sliced

1 heaped tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground turmeric

1½ tsp chilli powder (or to taste)

2 tsp salt flakes

1kg kangaroo, beef, lamb or other meat

vegetables ie 3 potatoes, 1 sweet potato, 1 wedge of pumpkin, 3 carrots (anything you desire)

1 cup diced canned tomatoes

20 curry leaves, optional

chick peas to add bulk, optional

Tomato and Lime Chutney

4 large tomatoes, diced

juice of 2 limes

½ tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tablespoon brown sugar

3 tsp salt flakes

½ tsp celery seeds

1 large red onion finely diced

4cm piece fresh ginger, finely diced

2 tablespoons nigella seeds

1.  Put flour and water in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add yoghurt and whisk until smooth. Set aside. 

2. Heat a large pot and toss in seeds and cook for 1½ minutes or until fragrant.  Add onion, garlic, chilli and ginger with a splash of oil and cook until translucent.  Stir in spices and salt and cook for a minute or until fragrant. Add meat, then vegetables, stir for 2 minutes, reduce heat to low and cook covered, for 10 minutes. 

3. Add tomato and yoghurt mixture and bring to a simmer. Add curry leaves, then reduce heat to low and cook, half-covered, for 55 minutes or until meat is tender.  I am sure this would cook easily in a pressure cooker.  I use my Nutrimax pots for this.  They cook quickly and seal in all the good juices of the meat and veg.

To make the chutney: 

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and leave to stand at room temperature for 10 minutes. Serve curry with chutney and basmati rice.

The chutney really adds to the delicious flavours of the curry with its fresh pungent flavour yet I do not always have the necessary ingredients (ie tomatoes). I have made it with tinned tomatoes which is OK.  Sometimes I simply don't have the time to prepare it and noone complains.

Another great addition would be Julie's Breadmaker Naan.  I will certainly try this with my current batch of curry sitting in the frig to feed us for the next few meals.  This curry definitely improves with age so make it a day, or a few, ahead.

One final word.  This recipe is an absolute hit with my young girls.  Ess likes to eat the meat and rice but not the veges therein, so I cook the corn and greens for her especially.  Little Eee, now a very fussy toddler eater, has not eaten tea for weeks I swear, but devotedly devoured three or four bowls full of carrot last night (thinking it was pumpkin no matter how hard I tried to tell her how yummy the carrot was).  Prior to those "bowls-full" she had downed some kangaroo meat before I had even sat down to eat myself.  Now that is impressive.

Now over to you, let me know of your successes, or otherwise. 

Washing Woes

What do nudists wear on casual Fridays?  ~A.J. Esther

We might know by the end of this week!

Washing machines are a wonderful thing aren't they.  When you can put the clothes in, walk away, carry out other pressing tasks and walk back to it to hang the washing to dry.  A great time saver! 

I have huge lamentations about mine at the moment.  It is certainly giving me grief.  Rather than freeing my time, it is taking it in its entirety.  (Sigh)  Each load requires checking once started to ensure the old Simpson is actually agitating.  When I return from my school walk to hang the clothes I am finding a load only half spun out, if that.  Yesterday it took until lunch time to actually spin my second load and by then so much drying time had simply evaporated.   Oh the woes of a house managing mother!

More time is consumed researching the apparent minefield of new washers, contemplating whether to give away top loaders and move to a front loader, deciding whether it is worth spending an extra grand on a good machine or sticking to about one grand for a middle of the range brand.  Choice reports are usually great for me and I buy what they recommend but currently there are so many conflicting reviews.  What Choice recommends others have found to be totally unreliable.  Finally, I decided on a Bosch (a highly reliable brand) only to read Choice's test scored it at only 59% for dirt removal.  Now excuse me, but isn't dirt removal exactly what I want my machine to do??  Oh yes, but I do want it to be gentle on my clothing, to be efficient in water and energy use, to rinse effectively, to not cost a fortune.  On and on it goes.

At this exasperated moment I feel my time and money might be better spent simply purchasing one of the above delightful vintage machines.  They sell at auction for about $50 it seems.  I do love living simply.  I love cooking everything we eat, I love drying my clothes in the sunshine, walking rather than driving, growing veges where I can, making toys and playthings for my daughters.  But could I really be happy day after day facing the prospect of washing my family's clothing in such a laborious and time consuming way?  I love the freedom a washing machine usually gives me, the ability to multitask, to have time and the ability to research on the internet and also blog to share.  I'd much rather be sitting here typing and reflecting than trying to wring my clothes piece by piece only to discover there was no remaining drying time as the cooler, shorter days contain less and less sunshine and less and less time to dry my clothes.   Yes a washing machine must be part of my modern simple life.

I am grateful for modern technology.  Lots of good has been brought to my household, lots of other still remains outside our doors.  I know that once I finally complete my research I will have a machine which frees my time and cleans my clothes satisfactorily.  We are spoilt for choice, aren't we, so much choice the freedom to choose becomes a chore.  I do love the research though.  I like to do it thoroughly. I won't risk grabbing a lemon quickly from the shelf.

Any comments welcome from those who are also in the washing machine market.  Please tell me you have just bought a machine which you absolutely love!  And of course - all the details.

Sharing My Musical Heritage - Part Two

If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.  ~Gustav Mahler

Once again my lovely brother, David has posted some music and written about the musical heritage we share.  So I thought I should let you, my devoted readers, know again in order for you to feast your ears.  [Oh, I should tell you, David thought that you might prefer to listen to his own song Unchangeable Truth rather than his Awesomesauce after my last musical post.  I think I agree!]

The first piece in David's new post, Past Life Melodies, is very evocative of the Australian Outback and uses wonderful vocal techniques to carry you there.  Sarah Hopkins is renowned for delving into the world of harmonics in her compositions.  I think I agree with David about the title of the work however.

Go, have a listen!  Take some time and space with you, let the music surround you, immerse yourself, be renewed, energised, feel the music, the goosebumps.  Feast yourself on the lovely harmonic singing at the end of the piece - created purely with voice.  Enjoy the music!

The next track is Great Southern Spirits which takes you right to the heart of our nation, to Uluru.  Once again you will hear some wonderful harmonic singing.

Meanwhile I am off to my nappy change:

After my nap and before I can play

A nappy change is always well on its way.

It's the rhythm, the rhythm, the rhythm of my day.

No, not mine, my darling little Eee's.

A happy musical sunshiny weekend to you all.

Native Autumn Blossom

Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words.  They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning.  ~Lydia M. Child

One could be forgiven for thinking there are no flowers blossoming in Autumn along our pathway whether walked upon or driven along.  Where leaves remain on the evergreen, it all does look so very green.  While some may spot the yellow wattle it certainly does not spring out from its hiding place to greet us with bright blossoming smiles.

Until you look closely...

Hidden away, amongst the lovely green leaves, is such beauty.  Some rarely seen, even in Australia where these flowers are native.

The pincushion flower, the Hakea Laurina, holds a special place in my heart.  My mother planted a hakea tree right outside my window and it grew in place for many years.  I think I cried when she cut it down, at least inside if not seen.  You see as a child it had taken a place in my heart I never thought could become void.  I assumed the blossom would always remain.  We do that as children, don't we.  We love something without realising there is a chance it might ever be lost, thus not celebrating its presence, its rarity, its beauty.  We take it for granted with wonderfully innocent, gay abandonment.

Now the Hakea has resumed a special place in my life, in this location.  I delight in sharing it with my girls.  I wonder what the fairies might be creating today with this lovely collection of very soft pins?

As a child my mother told me of the fairies who drank from gumnut fairy cups at toadstool tables at the bottom of my garden.  Yet they were not these delightful pink gum blossoms so prolific here in South Australia.  Gum blossoms of my childhood were cream and white.  (A little like this one.) I still marvel at this bright pink colour and wonder if my girls feel the same sense of wonder as we collect them as gifts for friends, for new fairy hats before they become fairy cups after the petals wilt, for looking for tiny fairies within, for counting the ants which crawl out, for tickling.

Now here, the grevillea, such beauty hidden amongst the bushy leaves. Yet its location is known exactly by the bees and the honeyeaters who gather and nourish themselves.  Some might consider the bush quite scraggly (I think that is perhaps why there were none in the garden of my childhood) yet its simple beauty is stunning.  It's hard to look closely as the bees are prolific yet its delicate shapely form of lines and of curves, so graceful, so feminine, so pretty.

There are certainly more...perhaps for another day.

Oh that I might always see Your beauty.