Making

Lino Printing, New Journals and Cooking

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lino printing

Really enjoyed a lino cut printing course. I haven’t done any printing for years. Our first activity involved our drawing our chosen image onto paper which transferred onto a polystyrene type of block. We then printed this image (the fish) onto paper. This allowed us to learn how to apply the ink all over the image and place it on the paper.

Next, we transferred our image for the lino cut onto the lino block, ready to cut. This was not old fashioned stiff lino which required heating but a far softer product. It all would have gone well, except I forgot to take my glasses and had pre-drawn a complex image for printing.

Never mind! I’d made several copies of my image and we left with some extra lino, so I’ll cut it and print the bird image again. I have (somewhere) a set of cutting tools. And I’ll wear my glasses.

journals

For years I have written in a journal everyday. I used to be able to buy them at Chinese supermarkets in Northbridge and some newsagents. They were easy to find. Post Covid they are hard to find. I ordered ten from an online auction site.

What I hadn’t anticipated was that these journals would be a little bit bigger than the ones I’ve used for over thirty years. The photocopied images I cover the books with are fine, the marbled pages I glue in as end papers are too small. A morning of marbling coming up. Bit tricky, though, as it has started to rain and the rain is forecast to continue for a week. I print the in the laundry then lay the prints to dry on the paving just outside the door. Need fine weather but we’re so pleased with the rain.

Apart from the larger format, these journals have traditional embossing on the corners and binding. I hope the printed covers will cover the embossing smoothly. Don’t really like it!

cooking

Our son was here for four days and I had most of the meals prepared. I had to make dinner for one night. Checked what was in the fridge. Found eggs, bacon and cheese so the die was cast. Snipped some spring onions from out the back. Cooked up a chopped onion and the bacon, whipped up the eggs, added some yoghurt and spring onions, grated cheese , and wilted spinach and then grind of black pepper. Into the oven.

While the egg and bacon pie cooked I prepared and cooked some vegetables. Leftover apple crumble followed.

My husband can taste a range of flavours now, but curry still dominates our soups and meat dishes. This time the slow cooker was in use to make enough meals to eat some now and lots to go in the freezer.

Browned onions, then 2kg of cubed rump steak and added it to bay leaves, curry powder, beef stock, five chopped carrots and some sweet potatoes. Salt, pepper, left it to cook for five hours on ‘high’.

Next morning when the curry was cold I put two lots in the fridge and the rest into the freezer. Experience has taught me to label the boxes. We’ve had some interesting thawed dinners which weren’t what I expected!

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Basket Weaving, Mother’s Day and Other Things

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basket weaving

I joined a friend at a basket weaving session. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the tutor had an array of beautiful baskets, from tiny ones to really big ones, hand woven from rope and stitched together with wool or cotton thread. Very inspiring.

The rope I’d chosen and the thread I used to stitch the bowl together.

We each selected a piece of rope, cut off some wool or cotton thread and threaded our darning needle. We began by making a loop to start forming the base. Everything was stitched into place using blanket stitch. Once we’d shaped the base we were shown how to make the ‘walls’. Three hours flew by. I came away with a small, slightly wonky basket. Really enjoyed the activity, the chatter of the people around the table and seeing the lovely baskets people made. The tutor offers other courses, so I’ll be looking them up.

mother’s day

Australians and many other countries celebrated Mother’s Day last Sunday. I hope all the Mothers had a lovely day, whatever they did with or without family. Our son couldn’t be here so he arranged two boxes of treats to be delivered from a French bakery. One box of croissants and one of mixed delicious cakes, scrolls and macarons. Superb!

A wonderful box of various delicious French treats.

My husband and I celebrated Mother’s Day by heading off to our favourite yum cha restaurant. We’ve been going there for years. We arrived quite early as the line builds up quickly on weekend mornings. The queue was already enormous! Often one member of the party lines up and the rest arrive later or sit on the walls. When the doors open and guests can enter, suddenly the person in front of you actually represents eight family members!

We were so lucky! Most groups were six or eight, but they had one two person table available! The line behind us was as long as the line in front of us, so some people were waiting ages to get a seat. But the little treats are so good! Brisk service, really good food and interesting watching the world go by. A huge selection of flavours. We had squid, crab, prawn and some pork dim sum plus a favourite turnip cake, all beautifully presented, all delicious.

One of my Mother’s Day gifts was Janelle McCulloch’s latest book, Where The Old Roses Grow. The sub title is Vita Sackville-West and the Battle For Beauty During Wartime. I am really enjoying it. Regular readers know I only buy books I really, really enjoy (I borrow books from the library, generally) and I have almost all of the books Janelle McCulloch has written. There are many.

other things

Forty odd years ago it was cold on our wedding day. Monday was 28ºC but there was a lovely sea breeze.

We celebrated our wedding anniversary on Monday. We went for lunch at a local restaurant with a great view over the Indian Ocean taking in Rottnest Island. It’s only been open a few months but has had very good reviews. We were not disappointed!

Half Shell Scallop Blue Swimmer crab tart.

Fremantle Swordfish Saltbush Fed Lamb medallions

Yuzu Tart Neopolitan Semifredo

more other things

I really like this small urn, one of a pair and struck some rosemary slips a while back put in both of them. They don’t have holes so I wanted to plant them in pots I could take out for watering. Problem was, I couldn’t find pots that fitted well!

So I cut the rim off two yoghurt pots which fitted well but were too tall. Then I reapplied the rims using double sided tape. Worked really well.

Washed the empty pots and sliced the rim off with a Stanley Trimmer. Reattached the rims to the pots using double sided tape.

Fits snugly.

I will toparize the rosemary plants when they are bigger. It will help them stay small enough for the pots. Bit of a long term project.

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Pesto, Nutrition and Sharpening Knives

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making pesto

It’s that time of the year when the tomatoes are mostly finished but the basil is still thriving. So I make pesto. You can buy the basil if you don’t have any growing but make sure it’s not an Asian basil which has a slight aniseed flavour. The leaves should be medium sized and green with no yellow tips or black spots. Wash the basil then collect the other ingredients.

PESTO

45g toasted pine nuts (about 5 minutes in the oven, don’t let them burn)

1.5 cups basil leaves

60gm pecorino or parmesan cheese

5 tbspn olive oil

2 small cloves of garlic

Process the basil, pine nuts (cooled), garlic and cheese, then drizzle the olive oil in a steady stream into the machine. Purists use a pestle and mortar, I use a food processor. Scrape into a jar when you’re happy with the texture. Coat with a layer of olive oil to prevent oxidisation.

Pine nuts can be replaced by pumpkin seeds or walnuts. I’ve been reading Norman Swan’s What’s Good For You. ( He also promotes the usual; daily exercise, avoiding processed foods, getting enough sleep and maintaining social connections) Based on years of research he recommends following a Mediterranean diet. Pesto ingredients get the tick of approval. And it tastes amazing!

I use sheeps pecorino because I like the strong flavour. I only made a small amount this year as my husband can’t taste anything at the moment. I stir a spoonful into tomato pasta sauces, a smear on cheese and tomato toasted sandwiches and a drizzle on cheese on crackers. If I was making gazpacho I’d drop a teaspoon of pesto into each bowl. Enjoy!

a nutritionist’s hints for well being

Laura Southern, a nutritionist, in this week’s The Australian Weekend Magazine writes about optimal gut health. She says the way we combine foods can increase the absorption of nutrients and antioxidants and help good bacteria to survive the digestive process. Here are her six top recommendations.

Add honey to Greek yoghurt. Honey’s prebiotic properties feed and support the probiotic in the yoghurt as it is digested. This can reduce infection and inflammation.

Image Pixabay

Eat black pepper with turmeric. Research suggests turmeric has anti-inflammatory, antioxident and anti-cancer properties. It is also thought to strengthen the intestinal barrier, balance the microbiome and also aid digestion. The piperine in black pepper can increase the absorption of curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric by 2 000 percent.

Drizzle olive oil on salads. The antioxident properties of olive oil to lower bad cholesterol and raise levels of good cholesterol is well known. Now there’s evidence showing the polyphenols in olive oil can be absorbed by the intestine, increasing beneficial bacteria in the gut. Eaten with green salads, olive oil helps balance the microbiome.

Image Pixabay

Miso paste and bok choy. Miso paste is made from fermented soybeans and grains. It is packed with millions of probiotic beneficial bacteria which nurture the gut. To feed the good bacteria, add bok choy or seaweed flakes.

Stir cinnamon into stewed apples. Cinnamon increases the anti inflammatory impact of polyphenols in apples. Their soluble fibre, pectin, is also a prebiotic.

Image Pixabay

Sprinkle seeds on porridge. Betaglucan, the fibre in porridge, acts as a prebiotic. Adding chia seeds and flax will supply vitamins, minerals and cancer protective antioxidants and stimulate gut movement.

sharpening knives

Blunt knives are really annoying. I like to keep ours well honed. I use a whet stone to sharpen them regularly. The name derives from the actual process of sharpening the blade, called ‘whetting’, using a whet stone. The whet stone needs to be submerged in water until bubbles stop rising.

I place the stone on a hand towel so it doesn’t move then hone the blade in smooth motions along the stone. I start using the coarser side then finish with the finer side. Quick wash and it’s all done!

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Beef Stew and Other Food, Plus Making a Notebook

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really good beef stew and other food

If you live in Western Australia where it is still really hot, you’ll wonder why I’m making beef stew. Last November my husband was diagnosed with Parotid Salivary Gland cancer. Initially he was going to have it surgically removed but a PET scan showed the cancer had spread. What followed was radiotherapy, usually five days a week, plus frequent visits to the radiologist, the oncologist, a dermatologist, a speech therapist, a swallow specialist, a dietician, three different sorts of dentists all orchestrated by the wonderful cancer co-ordinator. Immunology and three monthly PET scans to follow.

He can now swallow soft, finely cut real food! He has no sense of taste but was tired of meal replacement drinks, scrambled eggs, chicken soup, Weetbix mushed into milk and cool, easy to swallow but tasteless icecream. I stumbled upon this stew, called Martha Stewart’s Beef Stew on https://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/martha-stewarts-slow-cooker-stew/ I made it in the slow cooker and then stored portions in the freezer. It is a really wonderful, easy, quickly reheated stew and I can slice or mash the pieces so he can chew and swallow. No flavour, as he has lost the sense of taste, but he enjoys eating real food again. So I keep making it despite the heat!

I didn’t have diced tinned tomatoes with chili so used plain tinned tomatoes and I didn’t add garlic, either. Otherwise, I followed the recipe. I think the vinegar ensures soft, fall apart meat but also makes the gravy really delicious, too. I used Apple Cider Vinegar, but the recipe suggests any vinegar will work. I cooked it on high in the slow cooker. Easy, tasty, ingredients on hand. No one knows when or even if his sense of taste will return.

Meanwhile, I made myself a feta and spinach pie. I had thawed the spinach, diced the onions and crumbled the feta, left the eggs to reach room temperature and went freezer hunting for the roll of filo pastry. Found it, but instead of sheets of pastry I found shards of broken, shattered sheets of filo. It had reached the end of the road! So, as I have done before, I used some shortcrust pastry. Tasted good but I missed the crunchy, crumbly, buttered flavour of filo pastry. Also, my usual recipe makes three meals for the two of us, so I was really tired of it! To use it all I had it for lunch and dinner for three days. Enough!

I’m still trying to eat at least thirty different foods every week. I wasn’t meeting this goal in the last fortnight, at all. Cooking for myself came last on my To Do List. Trying to make smaller meals to eat over a few days. Made ratatouille and added shaved Massadam cheese both times I had it. I don’t make big pots of it as my husband doesn’t eat it, anyway. This has resulted in a greater variety of foods, but not thirty different ones!

making a notebook

I write in a journal everyday and have done for more than thirty five years. I buy notebooks from the newsagent, cover them and add marbled papers as inner lining pages. So when I saw an advertisement for a notebook making session I was quick to enrol.

We were shown how to stitch the signatures (pages in sets of five sheets, folded in half to make ten pages and stitched down the spine.) how to sew and knot them together, glue a mull, or fabric strip, along the spine, then glue on a ribbon page marker. Next the outer fabric cover and finally, the lining pages front and back. Lots of cutting and gluing and I’m really pleased with the outcome and hoping the class will be offered again. I loved it!

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Bookmarks and Reading, Tomatoes and Plastic Utensils

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bookmarks and reading

Tidying up and sorting through your Christmas and Valentines Day envelopes, do you wish you could recycle some of the very pretty envelopes? Me too. I read a lot and often scramble for a bookmark. Now I’ve made a few from leftover envelopes. You could use coloured or patterned envelopes to make the bookmark. Gather a few envelopes and a pair of scissors and you’re ready to create.

1. Cut a triangular corner off the envelope. Glue down the flap at the back. Let it dry.

2. Fold the triangle in half longways.

3. Cut an arc shape from side to side. You can pencil the arc before you cut.

4. Viola! Pretty heart shape bookmark.

If you lose it just make another one.

I’ve read four books lately. Three ‘whodunits’!

An engaging book, but not of the happy ending genre! This Australian author writes clever and rather scary books.

I enjoyed this clever story so much I recommended it to my husband. Then I borrowed another one of her books and suppose I will enjoy it when he’s finished it! Complex plot and an ending I didn’t see coming.

This starts off as a nice story about two women living next door to one another and how they became friends. It finishes with one of them in prison and the other hiding the truth and bringing up the prisoner’s children. No happy ending here !

Not a murder story, but an account of one woman’s life as a wife and mother. Anne Tyler is a prolific American author. She has a wonderful way with words and is keen observer of women’s lives. A reviewer whose column I enjoy recommended this book as one which had stayed in her mind for 20 odd years. I ordered the book. It began well, with typically lyrical descriptions of the main characters, but then, when the family was at the beach one day, the wife just walks away and hitches a ride to another town and starts another life.

Set in the late 50s, she successfully flies under the radar for a few months. She narrows her life to eating, sleeping, working and not much else. She doesn’t seem to miss her husband or children. When a family member finds her she pleased to hear news of her family but doesn’t return to her hometown.

Eventually she returns for her daughter’s wedding. It’s a total fiasco and she resorts to feeding everyone and cleaning up, just like she did before walking away. She decides to stay. A puzzling plot.

tomatoes

Tomatoes with balsamic vinegar, chopped red onion and basil. Delicious.

Sadly my tomato crop is coming to an end. Fresh, warm, thin skinned truss tomatoes are delicious! I have saved the seeds from one of the biggest, reddest tomatoes to plant next summer. These are heirloom seeds which are true to the parent plant. There’s no genetic modifications and the fruit is always predictable. I actually planted some seeds for another tomato this time, as well, and they didn’t fruit. Disappointing. So I just stay with the seeds I got from my Mother.

These truss tomatoes are reliable and explode in your mouth, releasing sweet flavour and no tough skin. At the end of the tomato season I chose a really luscious tomato, cut it in half and squeezed the seeds onto paper towel. When the seeds and remaining pulp was dry I wrote a label on the paper and stored it in an envelope in the laundry cupboard ready for the next tomato season.

Some growers suggest leaving the scooped out seeds and adhering pulp in a jar for a few days so they ferment. Apparently this prepares the seeds for germination. I have never done this and have always had great germination rates.

The tomato process is save seeds from the best tomatoes, plant the seeds, watch them grow, then paint the tomatoes and finally, eat the tomatoes.

plastic utensils

First we were told to throw out plastic utensils, particularly black plastic utensil, due to toxic chemicals. This still remains good advice, as concerning levels of cancer causing flame retardants are present in black utensils. One recent report has ‘corrected’ the probable risk of toxic chemicals but emphasize the risk is still concerning.

Meanwhile, the sales of stainless steel utensils increased by 13% last year . During the same period sales of silicone utensils increased by 70%. Do your own research and decide if you need new utensils!

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Making, Cooking and Other Things

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The collection of beads used to make a new necklace. The (sadly) broken white bead was right at the front.

When I was a junior primary teacher, my necklace made from these faux pieces of licorice allsorts was a bit of a hit. Not so much now when I go out to mahjong or shopping and certainly not at yoga! Then I bought a black and white striped shirt. Eying off my necklace collection inspiration struck and I knew I could reuse some of the licorice allsorts pieces and bigger beads from a necklace I dropped on the floor. One of the pieces broke on impact. I wore that necklace often, so hunted down a replacement. Now I will reuse pieces from the original.

Put the large beads from the broken necklace and pink pieces of licorice allsorts and smaller black pieces together. Changed things around a few times. Then I made the new necklace. I already had the string and the catch for this new necklace. There may be more soon. My elderly neighbour can’t be bothered with necklaces or earrings anymore and has given me several necklaces made from glass beads. Very pretty and ripe for reusing.

sourdough

I’ve been making sourdough bread years. My first sourdough starter died when we were away for a long period but the replacement has been bubbling away happily for a long time. Until it didn’t look sprightly at all. Read lots of articles abut reviving runny starter. Followed the instructions and fed it twice, using more flour than water, let it rest between each feeding and it’s back to normal. I will make a loaf tonight and bake it in the morning.

Most online examples of sourdough loaves are boulés, round balls, and are baked in a Dutch oven. I make my loaves in a loaf tin as this results in slices of similar size, which I prefer.

Sourdough baking appeals to a wide range of people. Reading some of the advice was daunting but I found an easy method which worked. Sourdough bakers who post online are totally passionate about their bread and jump through all sorts of hoops to make it and some, like me, use the same recipe and are happy with the outcome.

The newly ‘recovered’ sourdough starter made a very good loaf of bread.

There’s so many recipes for using the discard from feeding the starter and so many for adding things to the bread, too, but what really caught my attention was the names people give their starters! One blog lists 160 potential names, some very funny. Another list included Must-Tang-Sally, Lazarus, Doughkey Pokey, Festus and Sour Seymour. Mine is called The Flour Child!

other things

I’ve read two books this week. I spend quite a bit of time waiting while my husband has treatments and also, there’s not much on TV. Currently we are watching on ABC iview The Secret History of the English Garden. Monty Don is the commentator and it is one of many programs about gardens he’s has visited. It is very interesting and he is a born storyteller. Really enjoying it and learning a lot about the role of gardens in history. Also seeing some amazing gardens.

The first book I read was The Night We Lost Him written by Laura Dave. Like her previous book I wrote about The Last Thing He Told Me, this is a book about lies, intrigue and the secrets of successful men. The families left behind struggle to find out what really happened. A great read.

The second book written by Nadine Williams, an Australian journalist, is about her third marriage (having vowed to never marry again) and how it led her to France. From France With Love, A Story With Baggage details how she met Oliver, how they traveled together to France and then try to sort out their cultural differences on a road trip around the country. I seem to be attracted to books about visiting France, living in France, renovating in France….I enjoyed this book . It is funny, sad and informative. I am looking online for her second book.

Tim Spector’s book Food For Life which I wrote about a few weeks ago makes alot of sense. A diverse diet results in a healthy gut but I’m struggling to eat thirty different foods every week. I was relieved when I read spices and herbs count as different foods as that got me a bit closer to goal. Close but not perfect.

Meanwhile, I have picked my first tomato of the season. Two days later there were many ripe ones. Delicious. Do you grow any food?

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Preserving Lemons and a Study About Rat Behaviour.

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preserving lemons

Are you a fan of lemons? I think almost everything I make is lemon scented or lemon flavoured at the moment. We have so many lemons! Today I am preserving lemons, so I’ve picked fresh ones, the jars are in the dishwasher and I’m about to start preparing the brine. The size of your jar dictates how many lemons you will need.

Glass jars for storing food can be used and re-used multiple times. They are strong, easy to see the contents and easily cleaned and reused. Of course, they are useful for storing many other things, too, but they are perfect for food.

sterilizing the jars

I’ve listed three common methods for sterilising jars. For each method you begin by washing the jars in hot soapy water, rinse but don’t towel dry. I wash them in the dishwasher although they have been stored after being cleaned previously.

1. Set the oven to 110°C, place the jars on an oven tray, place in the oven for 15 minutes, carefully remove and leave to cool.

2.Alternatively if you have a pot deep enough you can set the washed jars in it, cover with water and boil for 10 minutes. Remove carefully and leave to cool.

3. Or you could place washed jars in the microwave on high for 1 minute. Remove carefully and allow to cool. This is how I sterilised the jars when they came out of the dishwasher.

Preserved lemons are pickled in their own juice and salt for three weeks. Originating in Morocco and Middle Eastern recipes I find a little preserved lemon adds zing to everything from salads to stews. Select and sterilise the jar you want to use to preserve your lemons. A wide opening makes it easy to insert them. Cut off the tops and bottoms of each lemon after you have washed and dried them. Then cut your lemons into quarters leaving them joined at the base. Spoon two dessert spoons of salt into the jar and spoon more salt into the first lemon. Place it in the bottom of the jar.

Continue adding salted lemons, squashing them down and releasing juice. Finally, when the jar is full of salted lemons top up with extra lemon juice.

Leave in the fridge for four weeks before adding to salads, soups, stews and casseroles, or whatever takes your fancy! I turn the jars every few days during the process. Be sure to scrape the pulp from the skin before using the preserved lemon.

rats

Back in 1962 an experimental psychologist John Calhoun published an article in the Scientific American, after considerable research, on rat behaviour in growing populations. He observed that growing populations with increasing physical proximity induced stress and that the birth rate then decreased to reduce crowding.

However when he increased physical proximity by reducing rats personal space all sorts of other behaviours were triggered. Violence and homosexuality rocketed, females ceased to nurture and suckle their young which were then eaten by male rats. Some adults survived by avoiding social contact and spent their time grooming themselves. The population collapsed. The survivors with few social skills lived passively alone.

In another experiment rats in a closed environment were never allowed to become ill or run out of food. Once they reached a certain population density vice wiped them out. Food for thought when you consider the pressure in Australia for people to adopt tower block living in apartments in preference to our traditional way of life of living in separate houses on separate blocks of land. We are not exactly running out of room, are we? Points to ponder!

Taken from a book review in the Spectator of a book written by Lee Dugatkin’s, Dr Calhoun’s Mousery; The Strange Tale of a Celebrated Scientist, a Rodent Dystopia, and the Future of Humanity, published October, 2024.

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Plastics and Autism, Lemons and Printing

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plastics and autism

Plastics have made so many aspects of our lives easy and disposable. But there is a dark side to plastics, too. The Florey Institute has just released the results from a decade long study clearly connecting a biological pathway between autism spectrum disorder and BPA (the plastic chemical bisphenol A). Boys are particularly affected by BPA. It can disrupt male fetal development.

Autism is defined as a neurodevelopment disorder with a wide spectrum of cognitive and behavioural changes. The research has shown that high BPA exposure suppresses aromatase, a key brain development enzyme. This has been noted particularly in males and has been linked to an increased likelihood of autism.

Image Pixabay

BPA is found in packaging, food and drink containers, cosmetics, even some foods, such as chewing gum. Common items with this plastic are food packaging, water dispensers, reusable plastic drink bottles, plastic wrap, takeaway cups, waterproof clothing, kitchenware and even sunscreen. Plastic makes these products stronger and more durable. There are many reusable alternatives.

lemons

No risk of scurvy in this house! The lemons are plentiful this year and we’ve been enjoying them in both sweet and savoury dishes. We had leftover lemon juice after I’d prepared dinner but my husband had a solution. It went into a glass with a generous splash of gin. Very nice, apparently.

The Lemon Chicken I normally make is a Greek recipe. This recipe has an Asian flavoured sauce, which was a lovely change. I served it with the pieces of lemon from the roasting dish but my husband found them too strong. I really enjoyed the intense flavour. Also, I used maple syrup rather than honey. I served it on mashed potatoes but rice would be good, too, except I don’t eat rice.

https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/recipes/easy-lemon-chicken

One lemon provides about 31mg vitamin C which is 51% of the recommended daily intake. Vitamin C reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke, as does their fibre and plant compounds. Vitamin C plus citric acid, both in lemons, may help prevent anemia by aiding the absorption of iron. And they smell wonderful!

Also made these Lemon Crackle Biscuits. I omitted the desiccated coconut from the mix, so the biscuits were softer and spread out. They were delicious!

https://author-p35852-e148706.adobeaemcloud.com/shop/recipes/lemon-crackle-biscuits

We had leftover Lemon Chicken for lunch. Added mashed potato, carrots with mint and butter and baby beans. I also had leftover apples I wanted to use before we shopped again. Made an Apple Slice recipe which was easy and tasted great. The recipe actually states ‘green apples’ but I took a risk and used red apples. The slice was very good. Ran out of raw brown sugar so also used some brown sugar.

Visitors so I made a Lemon Cake which also had lemon flavoured icing and Brownies, no lemon at all!

printing

Our local library closes this afternoon and will be relocated to another building in the future. I have played mahjong there for years and also was part of an art group. We don’t know if we will be accommodated in the new venue. So we were just finishing off some printing projects this afternoon.

I had been very disappointed with the crispness of my previous prints. I cut a new plate, using the inside lining of a long life milk carton. I spent a lot of time pressing the image into the foil to ensure a crisp edge. Then I printed it in blue a few times and finally, in black. Quite pleased with the final monoprint. I have a piece of lino ready for my next project so will be drawing, carving and printing with lino.

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Literacy and Numeracy Week, Printing and Reading

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literacy and numeracy week

Celebrated on 29th -4th September, this week recognises that literacy and numeracy are the cornerstones of learning. The most recent OECD Program for International Student Assessment reveals more than half Australian students fail to reach proficiency standards in maths and 43% fail to become proficient in reading. Australian students are four years behind Singaporian students in maths and more than two years behind in reading and science.

The report also grades Australian classrooms as amongst the most disruptive ( in terms of disorder and noise.) We rank 71 out of 81! This makes me question the role of ‘student- centric learning’, the fashion of recent years. The teacher is seen as a guide or partner in the child’s education, not as a responsible adult familiar with educational philosophy. Education moved from a system based on knowledge, facts and experience to one based on political ideology.

This appalling information was published around the same time as the Australian Education Union rejected the Victorian Education Minister’s directive that all school in that state would employ the explicit teaching of phonics for a minimum of 25 minutes a day. The union says this displays a breathtaking disregard for teachers and advised their members to ignore it. Phonics is one of the most efficient and powerful ways for children to learn to read and spell.

Countries performing well according to statistics, employ ‘old fashioned’ educational styles. The slightest errors (eg. forgetting a pen) can result in demerits (two equal detention). The students sit up straight, all facing the front. Strict and explicit teaching methods, walking quietly between classes and being prepared plus greeting teachers politely are some of the criteria putting the children at these schools in the highest performing levels. Many are in disadvantaged areas. There is enormous parental support for these schools.

(Some of these figures are taken from an article written by Colleen Harkin, published 31 July 2024.) https://www.spectator.com.au/author/colleen-harkin

printing

Following the felting activity last week, I did a printing session this week. No, not learning upper and lower case letter formation! We created a template from a milk carton, inked it, pressed paper over the template then rubbed the paper to transfer the image onto the paper. Basic but satisfying activity.

Not really pleased with my print but next week will refine the activity.

reading

Piglet, by Lottie Hazell, was a very popular book earlier this year. Now I’ve read it, too. This is the story of Kit and Piglet getting married. Thirteen days before the wedding Kit reveals an awful truth ( it’s never actually named, but you imagine infidelity). They go ahead. They’ve bought and decorated a house, planned a honeymoon, sorted the flowers, the feast, her parents have paid for the wedding gown and all is set to go.

I was very surprised at the complex planning that goes into a grand wedding and the cost. Do the bride’s parents still pay for the wedding? This wedding was very grand until Piglet, the bride, realised at the altar she didn’t want to go ahead. The dream was spoilt. What happened next was pretty awful.

Piglet is a successful publisher of cookery books and I wondered what she was called at work. Her family, his family and all their friends called her Piglet, or Pig. Her family called her that as a child because she had a healthy appetite. Awkward name for an adult. Her younger sister was anorexic. This is a story about appetite and ambition.

I can see why it was a popular bookclub book. Feisty discussions, I’m sure!

I also read Sally Hepworth’s Darling Girls. We follow the lives of several girls in a toxic foster house. A sobering book but it does have a happy ending. I’ve read other books by Hepworth, an Australian author. This is a thrilling psychological murder story. Hepworth apparently interviewed social workers, psychologists, police, lawyers and foster families before writing this book. I read it in a day and a half. Not much else got done.

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Making Felt and Seasonal Vegetables

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making felt

I enrolled in a FELT MAKING course. I’ve made felt before but it was a long time ago. We were given 30g of wool. We set up our work places and began teasing our skeins of wool into small pieces. We created a square of five layers of the wool, each layer place in opposite directions, teased out and overlapping each other. We were shown how thick the finished piece should be and how to tidy the edges. Then we rolled the square onto a sushi mat and covered it in a sheet of plastic to create a sausage. Then we rolled this back and forward.

Teasing the wool into thin sections, each overlapping to create a square. We created five layers.

We all worked on the same project.

The wool was rolled many, many times to make the felt.

In the second session we unrolled our fabric, covered it in a piece of tulle, drizzled some liquid soap onto it, sprayed it with water and began rubbing it with a scrunched up soft plastic bag. After rubbing it repeatedly, we rolled it up and secured it, then rolled it backwards and forwards on a hard surface about one hundred times. Uncovered the felt, washed it repeatedly in warm water, then ‘bashed’ it on the draining board. Rinsed it after multiple ‘smashings’ on the draining board.

By now the piece of felt had shrunk and was quite compressed. Later I washed the rest of the soap out then ironed it with a steam iron. Finished!

seasonal vegetables

Our green grocer only sells seasonal vegetables. This suits us as it generally means the produce was grown nearby. I’d decided to stir fry some vegetables to go with some salmon and wanted Chinese cabbage. The Chinese cabbages were really fresh and attractive, but were being sold in lots of four. I only needed two for dinner but ended up with four.

I had already made some of Nagi’s (recipetineats.com) Asian Cooking Sauce which she calls Charlie-My All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce, so prepared the salmon and a pile of vegetables. This included zucchini as I’d used some in a ratatouille I was making and there was some left. Regular readers know my ratatouille mix never includes eggplant but often includes all sorts of other things. This time its Chinese cabbage! I try to avoid food waste.

All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce.

I cooked rice for this salmon stir fry. I don’t really eat rice, which often caused comment when we were in Asia, especially when we lived there, but my husband likes it. Rice is almost sacred in Asia but I become very skilled at avoiding it. I would cover it with sauce or food and leave it on the plate. It was considered polite to leave food on your plate! There’s no photo of the stir fry because the minute it was done, we ate it.

The other seasonal food on display at the green grocer was apples. So many types of apples! We bought Pink Ladies and Gala, a big, flavoursome, crunchy apple. We eat them raw, stewed or baked. Plus an end of season pineapple which was very sweet and delicious. Also eaten before I thought to photograph it!

Enjoying the apple season. The Gala apples are crisp and very sweet.

The next day I grated a zucchini to make a Zucchini Slice. I followed an online recipe. There were interesting comments about Zucchini Slice recipes. One site said it was their most often hit on recipe, another asked if it was a typical Australian recipe as it was very popular. One of my neighbours makes it every week for breakfast, lunch or dinner, whatever she fancies. It is delicious and versatile. You can eat it hot or cold, take it in a lunchbox and even freeze it.

Traditionally, Zucchini Slice has grated zucchini (courgettes), grated cheese, beaten eggs, S.R. flour, an onion, some bacon and some mildly flavoured oil. Of course, mine was a bit different as I had a Chinese cabbage to use up ( they don’t keep for very long after picking) so that was finely chopped and added. Also, I had some cheeses left from a grazing board and some other knobby bits, too, so grated them and used them up. There was a wedge of camembert, too, but that didn’t make it into the slice. I ate it.

The Zucchini Slice was very good. It made three generous meals for two. It was easy to make and we enjoyed the mix of flavours. So many recipes online if you’re interested!

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