Back to the River

Back to the river ...

... for a dressup picnic of popcorn and cupcakes made by little hands ...

... then hours of dabbling play in the rushing stream for Courtney and Boo.

Cheesemaking

Yesterday Dad and I donned aprons and plastic shower caps, and joined a group of seven other cheese enthusiasts in the kitchen at Seaside Village's Town Hall. During the next six hours we learned to make ricotta, marscapone and fetta cheese, using the vat of fresh cow's milk Beth bought us from the dairy. Together we poured, mixed, sieved and strained, adding cultures, salt and rennet, until magically the milk transformed into curds and whey.
In between bouts of busyness we chatted, shared lunch, ate biscuits and drank tea, and learned more about sustainable living.
Today our marcapone is set, the ricotta is already consumed, and the fetta (shown in the picture above) is steeping in briny water, where it will stay until it has matured -- just in time to become a Greek salad on the Christmas table.

Jacaranda Daze

Despite loud thunder and the threat of rain, this afternon Boo and I took a walk through the village.
We tend to amble down the green hill by the playing fields, then pass by the little river, over the bridge and alongside the tennis courts, then through the skate park to the children's playground. Here we inevitably stop a while, before continuing to the local store to buy our bits and pieces ... then homewards again.

Today we stopped awhile by the river, as the jacaranda trees were laden with sky-blue flowers. I put a blossom on the tip of each finger, and chased Boo with my "fairy hands". He ran squealing away, in delighted terror.

Just as I remember doing when I was a little girl, and my mother put "fairy fingers" on her hands.

Boysenberry Muffins

A treat to eat at a thank-you morning tea for Beth, a friend of my mother's and a local dairy farmer who delivered 12L of unhomogenised, unpasturised fresh milk to our house this morning. Dad and I will need it tomorrow at our cheese-making day.

220g plain flour
150g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup milk
170g frozen boysenberries, crushed (so they break into small pieces)

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Grease or line muffin tin with paper cases.
2. Sift flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a large bowl. Add oil, egg and milk to flour mixture and stir until just mixed. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cases to the top.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until muffin springs back when pressed.

Mailed Today

Dear Santa,
Hello, my name is Boo. It's from me. I hope you are happy. Give all the reindeer a present. I have been a good boy. I help mummy and look after Cottontail. I would like some Policeman's things and armour from the shop we went to when we got Cottontail's clothes.
From Boo.

Kilos of Kipflers

Yesterday Boo and Jumps decided it was time to harvest our potato crop. The tops of the plants were beginning to wilt, and there were some promising knobbly bulges protruding from under the layer of straw and earth.
What a harvest! Together they dug up over 7.5kg (about 17 pounds!) of golden-yellow Kipfler potatoes.

We've found it difficult to get kipflers (which are also known as Austrian Finger Potatoes) locally. These are long, thin, waxy potatoes, with a creamy yellow flesh and buttery taste. Really, there's nothing like a kipfler for boiling and tossing through salads. They also make a dense, creamy mash, although in that case it's a good idea to add some olive oil or butter to keep them moist.
Oh, and by chance it turns out this year is the International Year of the Potato. Lucky, then, that we have several other varieties of potatoes yet to harvest.

Far and Away

Our Tasmanian abode, with hosts Jasmine and Bruce, and fellow traveller Maggie outside ...

... the garden filled with wildflowers and roses, among which the two White Sussex hens, Blanche and Stella, wander.

The conservatory is a suntrap, perfect for drinking cups of tea in pretty porcelain cups, or downing mugs of Bruce's special coffee ...

... or take the lead from gentle Bubba, and laze the morning away ...
... or rouse yourself and take Nicky for a stroll in the brisk air.

We spent a day in Hobart, wandering through the famous Salamanca markets, which sells fresh produce and souvenirs ...

Here Jassie bought two old maps of Tasmania to frame and hang on the walls of the Bank, while Mags and I contented ourselves with buying fresh apples, and I yearned to buy sunset-coloured armfuls of pink and orange tulips.

Then a walk through Battery Point to a perfect little bakery, for a scrumptious lunch for three.

Another day we visited a rose garden just a stone's throw from the Bank, where the David Austen roses were in full, fragrant bloom.

We wandered through for ages, then met the owners and had a chat before leaving.

We did more than I can mention in our four days away: drove up Mt Wellington where the view was obscured by flags of mist and icy cold wind; hosted a dinner with friends and sampled Tassie cheeses; shopped for pretty bits and pieces and Christmas gifts in Hobart; slept, ate and chatted.

Just perfect.

Home!

Tassie was marvellous -- Maggie and I had a glorious, restful, grown-up four days, and enjoyed every moment of our holiday.

I arrived home this afternoon, and spent most of the rest of the day playing with Boo, and enjoying seeing the house and garden through refreshed eyes. I'll post some photos of our trip in the next day or two, once I've had time to sort them out and clean them up.

And now to bed!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

~ Do visit Peggy's to see all the Daybook links this week.

~Thursday November 19, 2008 ...

Outside My Window... the night is dark, but I can see the sillhouette of the front steps and railing against the porch light. Jumps is down in the office bottling a case of homemade beer for Papa's birthday gift, which we'll give to him at his special birthday breakfast in the morning. I've also organised the gift of a cheesemaking day which Papa and I will attend in November (we'll learn to make ricotta, fetta and mascarpone) ...

I am thinking... that I need to pick up a suitcase from Grandma in the morning, after I take Jumps to preschool (his first day in the new building). Tomorrow I'm off for an extended 'girls-only' weekend to Hobart with my sister-in-law, where we'll be staying with my best friend until Tuesday...

I am thankful for... a generous and kind husband who has positively encouraged (should I say 'forced'?) me to organise this holiday. Don't get me wrong -- I'm delighted to be going -- but I do find it difficult to spend money and take time off. Jumps has kindly made all this easy for me.

From the kitchen... leftover vegetarian curry, and the remains of a roast-chicken dinner (for which the chicken was ready an hour after the vegetables -- and I had visitors) ...

I am wearing... a black T-shirt, black tracksuit pants and black socks.

I am creating... bright strings of spotted red and ladybird printed bunting for Boo. When presented with it he exclaimed "Yuck! Those are girls colours!" and so it no longer belongs to him but I'm taking it to Hobart to hang in the old bank building.

I am reading... The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon. This book won the Whitbread book of the year award, and was lent to me by a friend who teaches high-school English (it's a text book for Year 8). The prose is hilarious and thought-provoking, as it is written from the perspective of a (high-functioning) autistic boy, and gives great insights into his though processes.

I am hearing... the soft, rhythmic chirrup of crickets calling to eachother in the balmy night air. (Oh, and a small boy chatting to himself as he builds islands from playdoh and populates them with plastic dinosaurs. He had a long sleep in the middle of the day, which means he won't go to bed until about 9pm or he will be up at 3 in the morning) ...

Around the house... things are looking fairly neat, as I've done a quick cleanup in preparation for tomorrow. In the morning I'll make the beds and freshen up the bathroom, then run the vacuum cleaner over the rugs. I've binned all the posies about the place, as I know they won't get any attention when I'm gone, and the boys probably wouldn't miss them anyway!

One of my favorite things... laying a fresh, clean, ironed tablecloth on the dining room table.

Here is picture thought I am sharing ...

'Elf'-ed

Earlier in the week, Boo and I spent an afternoon taking photographs to use on the front of our Christmas cards this year.

This isn't the chosen shot, but isn't it sweet? I'll unveil the winner on Christmas Day.

'Shelf-ed'

I picked up quite a few bargains at the markets on Sunday, including this sweet and useful wooden shelf for $1. It's just large enough to hold two pretty mugs and my tiny collection of jugs, and provides a focal point for the large blank wall above the kitchen counter.

Bunny & Boy

Weekend House Party

This weekend has been two days of enjoyable 'busy-ness', with hosts of visitors arriving and leaving.

My darling Mum-in-law had a nasty fall last week, which luckily left her relatively unharmed, except for a multitude of bruises and an unsightly cut on the forehead and scraped skin from her nose. But the exhaustion and fright turned an existing cold into pneumonia, and she has been staying at the manor for several days to recover, with occasional visits to our cottage for tea and talk.

So on Friday Margaret and her family, as well as Boo's Aunty Fiddy, all arrived to check up on Phyllis and spend the weekend here.

Saturday was spent in the pool, making a short trip to the fabric store in the search for upholstery material for my new (second-hand) family-room suite, hanging curtains in Phyllis' lounge room, and celebrating Dad's birthday.

In the evening my parents, Jumps, the older boy cousins, and I went to a barbecue party to watch Andre Rieu's first Australian concert in Melbourne. What fun! An over-the-top, enchanting spectacle, with incredible music and marvellous singers. The babies stayed with Aunty Margaret and did little-person things.

This morning we trooped off en masse to the markets for treasure seeking, then home to a sausage sizzle and salad lunch.

Later we played a rousing game of Bocce on the field, then Tim, beautiful pregnant Tara, Trinny and Cecily Cheeseman arrived for afternoon tea, pansy-studded cupcakes and a chat.

Then dinner together with the family, leave-taking, popping my tired baby to bed, and a few moments to start sewing a string of bright bunting for Boo's room.

It's been a marvellous weekend, but tomorrow Boo and I plan to stay home and do very little. Some cleaning, ironing, and maybe a little gardening are all that's on our agenda. We'll enjoy a day to unwind, quiet our minds and potter about.

Celebrating Papa's Birthday

Granny baked a delicious chocolate butter cake ...


... we watched the single sparkler burn like a star, then sang "Happy Birthday" and Papa opened his cards and gifts.

... then Nicki and Jumps provided the entertainment!

Days of Tea and Roses

The world is so ridiculously beautiful at the moment -- I can't help but invite friends over to share in the prettiness. The garden is bursting with colour: an emerald green lawn and leaves; pink, yellow and magenta roses; dusky purple spires of lavender; and the speckled pink and white throats of tall foxgloves.
Today I made a tower of profiteroles, sliced red watermelon into chunky wedges, and sat these beside a bowl of fresh popcorn and plates of vegetable crudites and oozing warm camembert.
Nat and her lovely girls and little Oscar, Betty and baby Tom made up the party, and we drank tea before wandering through the garden to fetch eggs and admire the flowers, while planning to hold Christmas picnics and make gingerbread-houses in the near future.

Christmas is Coming!

When friends from Mother's Group visited, Boo and I enticed several of the little cherubs in to view the Christmas tree and taste their first candycane of the season ...

... although this little one preferred to eat the baubles!

What We've Been Up To ...

Boo and Courtney are splashing in the pool with Jumps while I type this. It's a glorious blue-sky-and-sunshine kind of day, and we've spent the afternoon playing in tents on the verandah, and making cream cupcakes.
I'm feeling rather 'gruntled' (a word which should be real -- as a complete opposite to 'disgruntled' -- and which perfectly describes a warm, sleepy, contented and full-of-cupcakes mummy), since a group of photos I submitted to a stock photo-library have been accepted for sale (not they have sold yet -- a very different thing indeed). Which means I've learnt a lot, and come a long way from happy snaps. And of course at the same time makes me feel that I know almost nothing -- the kind of overwhelmed feeling that too often leads me to apathy.
We had a marvellous weekend with Mark and Rach, and spent our time wandering through garage sales and fetes (at one of which Boo found a Batman costume -- oh joy of joys!), dining at the German Club, and sorting through Boo's baby things to see what Rach would find useful. She's 25 weeks along with a much-longed-for baby, and looking divinely lovely and content.

Pink Roses

Having a Ball

We have friends down for the weekend and are having a ball -- will catch up with you all next week.

Rose Garlands

Garlands of climbing roses adorn the pillars at the entrance to 'the manor'. These climbers are only four years old, but make a gorgeous display.

Lily

Pals on a Picnic

Boo and Courtney set out for a picnic in the garden ...

... the wicker basket is unpacked, and lunch devoured (except the apples, as expected -- but you have to bring apples on a picnic, if only for the look of it) ...

... one baby bunny left alone on the rug as the children dig for 'treasure' in the sandpit.

Happy in Hammocks

First there was one to share ...

... then a little hanging house each ...

... perfect for neighbourly visiting.