Sorting, Plastics and the Coastline

Share this post

sorting

This very lovely armoire hides a dreadful mess! Tucked neatly into a vestibule I’m glad it has doors to hide the chaos within. This is where I keep my art, craft and ‘it might be useful’ things. Once tidy with labeled storage boxes it now resembles a danger zone. I didn’t know where to start and wouldn’t have even tried to sort it out except the other day I opened the door and a box of pastels fell out. They made a mess and some broke. Not good.

Thought I’d deal with the paints first as most of them were in boxes or bags or palettes. Some were immediately binned as the tubes were solid, some I tried to use and some I’ve put aside to investigate later. One small palette (origin unknown) reminded me of the compact traveling boxes people I know take with them to capture views during their travels. I’d like to do that, too. Tried them. Despite the lovely colours, actually the paint was thin and disappointing. Bin.

Other paints also found their way into the bin. The tubes with cracked and crumbled paint went but some others are sitting, waiting to be tested. Interestingly, I found oil colours from my student days which are still usable and acrylics of unknown origin which are in good shape. The tin of aquarelles will compliment a huge box I have and use frequently. I sharpened them with a sharpener found amongst the jumble and I remember writing my son’s initials on it 27 years ago. It still sharpens well.

I’d like to say I persisted and sorted and organised the contents of the armoire, but I didn’t; I was distracted by the treasures within for hours. And there is the problem, what do I need to keep, what might be useful and what if I want that sheet of textured red card in the future? A work in progress but I’m glad I can shut the doors. I think next time I’ll focus on the drawers at the bottom. They are full of my husband’s photos.

plastic free july

We must reduce our reliance on plastics. I like to think progress is being made, especially in first world countries. Well, maybe. I’ve just seen announcement in the paper informing us that the President of the United States, Joe Biden, has Covid. In the photograph heading this item is a photo of Biden with a plastic water bottle on his desk.

China is the World’s biggest polluter (10 065 million tons of CO²), followed by the United States of America (5 416 tons of CO²) and then India (2 645 tons of CO²). The next three are Russia, Japan and Iran. Plastic Free July encourages people to be part of the solution by reducing the reliance on single use plastics. I know many, many Americans are working towards reducing their use of plastic but apparently not their President.

australia’s coastline.

Australia is the sixth largest country in the World. In fact, Australia is almost the size of mainland USA! The middle of Australia is arid. The greatest population concentration is around the coast. It is estimated that it would take almost 29 years to visit one new Australian beach everyday. There are at least 10 685.

This morning was warm and sunny after days of (much needed) rain, so we set off along the coast. We started at South Cottesloe Beach, famous for being the best place to view stunning sunsets. We then progressed one beach at a time until we reached Mindarie. We sat in the sun eating lunch and drinking coffee before being lured into the gelato shop. A slight wind but beautiful views of the water.

The coastline of Australia is about 34 000 kilometres (21 000 miles) although different sources vary slightly in length. The coastline includes more than 1 000 estuaries. The Indian, Pacific and Southern Oceans surround different parts of Australia’s coastline.

European exploration and discovery highlighted how treacherous parts of the coast can be, with many hidden reefs. Early explorers included Dutch, English and later, the French. Sealers and whalers, mostly American and English, had temporary bases on the southern coastal areas of Australia.

There are over 8 000 known shipwrecks off the coast of Australia although not all of these have been located. The oldest shipwreck discovered is the British East Indian, about 500 tons, wrecked on the Tryal Rocks off the north west coast off Western Australia in 1622.

FOOTNOTE

I’ve started tidying the cupboard. I’ve actually done three shelves but not thrown out much stuff. I found so many things I’d forgotten about and feel inspired to begin a few new projects. I sorted envelopes, paper, coloured and plain, plus cardboard into separate piles but then they seemed to take up more room than before I began! I think I need a workroom but the unused rooms are all upstairs and I can’t see that working. Currently the dining room table has potted orchids, a bonsai, some ‘slips’ I’m propagating, a scented candle and a vase of eucalyptus leaves. Also on the table; paints, palettes, brushes, pencils, paper, art blocks, feltpens, blotting cloths and so many other things to do with my artworks. Now you know why I think I might need a workroom.

Share this post

How To Reuse Hotel Soaps and Refreshing The Outdoor Areas

Share this post

recycling hotel soaps

When we were away recently I had to move my husband’s toilet bag and was surprised at its weight. Took it out to the table, tipped out the contents and started sorting through the jumble. The toilet bag was a gift from me 39 years ago and it seems it’s only been added to, nothing has ever been discarded. He working life involved frequent traveling and he’d collected things from all over the world.

Sorted the sewing kits, the razors, shoe shine kits, the combs and folded hairbrushes, the nail kits, the ear plugs and the bars of soap. Most things went into the bin, but as I was scooping up the twenty plus bars of soap I suddenly wondered if I could reuse them.

Using tiny bars of soap isn’t easy nor appealing, although the bars seemed to get bigger as the years went by. So after I’d amused myself identifying the country of origin from the packaging I put them into a bag and brought them home.

Searching online revealed lots of ways to use scraps of soap to make more soap. Put it off for a while as it seem a bit of a faff and soap is pretty cheap to buy. But I also put off throwing the soaps in the bin as it seemed very wasteful as we had so many! Eventually unwrapped them and settled into reusing or rebatching them.

Apparently, the soap needs to be grated, boiled, pressed into a mold. When I’d grated one tiny bar of soap and one fingernail I knew there had to be a quicker/better way. Chopped the bars roughly with a long blade, sharp knife then put them in the food processor. Most of the bars were powdery and ready to mix after being cut, so I sifted them and only processed the larger pieces.

Cooking the grated soap and water.

I could have added a sprinkle of dried lavender to the soap or some scented oil or colours, but the soap mix was really aromatic without any additions. Added water to the powder and left it for an hour or so, then cooked it on a low heat until it formed a ball. Pressed it into a silicone cake mold. Left it to harden over three days. Cut into bars.

Would I do this again? No. The resulting bars of soap are very highly scented, which we don’t like and it was a lot of work to save a few dollars. We haven’t traveled much during the past two years but I have noticed most accommodation now offer shower gel. (All those little plastic tubes!) I usually take our own soap, anyway. My husband dislikes gels and insists on soap.

By the way, the Hilton Hotel Group and it’s associated hotel chains collect all the used soaps from their rooms and send them to be sanitized and turned into bars of soap for the homeless and third world countries. Sensible.

preparing for spring

Really enjoyed wet, cold winter days, for a while, but the bulbs have germinated and I’m looking forward to spring. Still enjoying boots, jumpers and warm scarves but I’m preparing for more time outdoors.

So I’ve renovated some little chairs hanging on a wall which were showing signs of rust. I also resurfaced a terracotta pot which has a solar fountain floating in the middle. The idea of the pot was to provide water for the bees with a landing pad so they could be safe and rest for a while. Only ever seen a few bees at the water but see little birds perched there frequently.

Treated the rust on the chairs with rust retardant. The next day I set up a ‘spray box’ aka a big cardboard carton. I sprayed the back of the chairs, left them to dry, repeated over two days, spraying a different side each time. I used a spray designed to retard rust, too, but it isn’t perfect. Which is why they needed re-doing!

The next project was the terracotta bowl. I scraped off the existing paint then sanded the inner surface before applying two coats of terracotta sealer. The outer surface was still in good condition so I only sanded a few spots. When the sealer was dry, I spray painted the pot twice. Left it in the sun for a few days as the paint smell was very strong.

Ready to go but it is too overcast for the solar fountain to work!

super moon

Image Roger Purdy, Pixabay

Did you see the Super moon, the largest and brightest moon on the 13th of July?

Share this post

Happy Living, A Drawing Class, Painting and Cooking

Share this post

happy living

According to the World Happiness Report 2022, Finland has been named the happiest country in the world for the fifth year in a row. Other northern European countries follow with Denmark ranking second, followed by Iceland, Switzerland and the Netherlands. New Zealand comes in at number ten and Australia is number 12 on the list. Then Canada was 14th on the list, UK came in at number 17 and USA came in at 19.

Finland’s Flag Pexels

WHR considers lifestyle and peoples’ sense of well being to rate various countries. The report noted that volunteering, helping others and making donations had all increased in many parts of the world during the past two years. This increase in social benevolence due to COVID 19 has benefits for the givers, receivers and observers. Also evident was that countries with a higher trust in public institutions and more equality recorded much lower rates of death.

The six factors considered were gross domestic product per capita, social support, life expectancy, freedom of choice, generosity of population and perceptions of internal and external corruption.

Information is collected from a number 0f sources for this survey. If you are interested this is the site https://worldhappiness.report

drawing in nature

I enrolled in a four week “Drawing in Nature” course with a well known local artist, Jane, because I know I get a lot done when I focus for two hours. She introduced our theme for the session, ( last week it was feathers, this week was shells) and showed us examples of her work. Next we chose a feather/shell to examine and then draw. Jane talked about the different depth of line using 2B, 4B and HB pencils. We experimented, working on drawn circles, going from dark to light, exploring blending, pointillism, feathering and cross hatching.

Guinea Fowl feathers

Jane also introduced us to blending stumps used to blend our pencil marks. I had never used one before and I really like the way they allowed us to smudge and blend.

(A blending stump or paper stump is a stick of tightly rolled soft paper with two pointed ends. It can be used to blend, smear or smudge graphite, charcoal or similar mediums. Also known as a smudging stick or a tortillon. There’s online instructions for making your own! )

Inspired by Annie Herron’s art projects in the book, Around The Kitchen Table, Good things to cook, create and do-the whole year through, a mother and daughter project, I did some quick small paintings. Herron uses seasonal prompts to suggest quick works and talks about capturing simple scenes.

Around the Kitchen Table

Her daughter, Sophie Hansen, adds seasonal recipes and ideas for family fun, making this an interesting and motivating read. I chose one of Hansen’s slice recipes, Triple Ginger Crunch to make and take to my drawing class this week.

If you’re a fan of ginger, you’ll find this slice delicious!

Triple Ginger Crunch with glace ginger chunks.

decorating trends: GRANDMA COASTAL

Companies producing everything from paint, wall paper, furniture, lampshades depend on you purchasing new pieces regularly to support their businesses. I’m tragically a huge fan of decorator and garden magazines. I don’t follow decorating trends although they are an intriguing window into fashion and how easily we are influenced. I occasionally add or take something away, but not often. I am endlessly curious about people, how they build or renovate their homes, select colours, styles and finishes and how they allocate their budgets. I’m interested in how frequently they change their living environment and what provokes change. I’m a fully blown sticky beak!

Image PEXELS

As we all become more concerned about landfill and our use of limited resources so decorating trends change. When the mid century style replaced the white minimalist fashion we saw the focus move to re-using existing pieces. The latest decorating trend is partly based on recycling or upcycling everything from furniture to curtains and decorator items. Let’s look at Coastal Grandma and what it means.

Image Unsplash

Google has reported an increase of 334% searches last week into Coastal Grandma style. The style features nothing obvious like shells and faux life bouys on the wall, but neutral colours, loose linen covers and other natural, sustainable fabrics. White, cream, beige, grey and caramel along with cosy lighting, cushions and always, fresh flowers. The house should look lived in, comfortable and a bit worn and faded. Recover, restore, reuse. The aim is timeless, pared back but still luxurious.

Image PEXELS

Interestingly, the style is discussed widely in clothing sites, too. The same neutral colours reign. Button down collars, trousers, straw hats and straw market baskets plus knotted jumpers around the shoulders are all mentioned. Styles are classic in cut and design and feature natural fabrics. Again, faded, lived in colours and styles with a preference for vintage and recycled items. Sustainability is a constant theme.

international mens health week

The theme this year of International Mens’ Health Week, 13 -19th June, is Building Healthy Environments for Men and Boys. It’s about focusing on creating physically, mentally and emotionally healthy males. Lots of information online.

Share this post

Politics, Planting, Painting and Eating

Share this post

politics

Australians will be voting in a Federal election shortly. Both major parties are promising all sorts of unachievable changes, such as more doctors and nurses and aged care staff. These are going to be created out of nowhere! Political magic. One party is promising more workers for rural areas. More magic. We have the lowest unemployment rate since 2014 and anyone still unemployed, especially in Western Australia, has probably made a choice not to work.

Of course, I’d like to hear about importers, manufacturers and consumers held responsible for their use of plastics! This is not a hot topic with either major party, but it should be up there with national security, food security, education, health and housing costs. Instead, both parties promote green washing, fake change to make people feel better.

Tiny changes, such as refusing plastic cutlery and using your own bamboo implements which can be washed and reused, taking your own reusable straws and your own reusable cup are easy and would make a difference. Single use plastic bags are now banned in Western Australia. Look for products in glass containers as glass is infinitely recyclable. Use the paper bags intended for mushrooms if you don’t have fabric vegetable and fruit bags when you’re shopping. Little changes.

eating

It is so much cooler now in Western Australia and we have had very welcome rain, too. My thoughts turned to warming foods. I’ve made vegetable soup and also fritters. These are corn fritters. For a pop of colour and flavour I added finely chopped spring onion. Served with chili dipping sauce.

When I’m making cupcakes, muffins and fritters I use an old fashioned icecream scoop. This is an easy way to regulate the amount of batter used and the contents fall smoothly into the hot pan or paper cup. Easy to wash too and no spillage to clean up afterwards.

planting

The cooler weather means it’s time to plant tulips. In the past I have ordered tulips for my Mother and myself from a famous tulip grower in the east but we were both disappointed with how poorly they performed recently. This year we’ve bought the bulbs from a local shop. This was far more economical as we have to pay a quarantine fee to bring bulbs from the east to Western Australia to prevent the spread of disease.

red tulips in close up photography

I’ve planted Ed Rem Darwin tulips. The flowers are described as being intense orange – red with a yellow edge to the petal. A Darwin tulip is a cross between a single, late tulip and an early emperor tulip. I didn’t know that!

I have also planted out the cuttings I took from a pink pelargonia. I struck them in water until threadlike roots appeared on the stems then planted them in soil. They look healthy. The creeping fig and lucky bamboo I propagated are doing well, too. I enjoy creating new plants from cuttings.

COMPOST WEEK is from the 1st -7th May. I don’t make compost having created a few evil smelling piles of horrible mess in the past but I do make weed tea. I have plenty of weeds and like the idea of them adding nutrients to the garden. I use a plastic pot which has inbuilt drainage holes and a little metal bucket. I put the pot in the bucket (it goes about half way down) fill it with weeds then add water to the bucket until it is full. For a few days after I push the now dying weeds down until all the foliage is in the water and leave it for about 10 days. Then I throw the mushy weeds into a big pot which holds my exhausted potting mix and pour the ( slightly stinky) weed tea concentrate into a bucket. I dilute this about 1:3 so I can see the bottom of the bucket. Today I poured it on food plants such as the passion fruit, blueberries and all my pots of herbs and spring onions.

Put weeds into a pot with drainage holes.

Insert the weeds into a bucket filled with water.

After about 10 days remove the weeds and pour the tea into a bigger bucket.

Dilute the tea about 1:3 with water and pour around plants.

The soggy dead weeds I put in the exhausted potting mix will become part of the soil improvement plan.

painting

We celebrate Mother’s Day in Australia on Sunday 8th of May. My Mother really likes and grows many carnations. She takes a slip off any existing plant and grows her own from it. So I have painted a carnation on the front of her Mother’s Day card. Every year we renew her subscription for her favourite gardening magazine as her Mother’s day gift. She is such an avid gardener!

Painted a few other flowers, too. I read blogs where the writers commit to doing a painting a day. I once followed a group doing a painting every day for one hundred days and made the time to complete that task but have never been able to consistently paint every day since. I paint in fits and starts. I mostly flowers.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland, is the largest ecosystem in the world. Made up of nearly 3000 individual reefs, it can been seen from space.

Share this post

Reusing Scented Candle Holders and Other Occupations

Share this post

Cleaning and reusing candle holders

An empty candle holder with a replacement pillar candle in it.

Do you burn candles for their scent? So many of them are packaged in the most attractive holders and I don’t want to throw them out! Some are glass and some are porcelain. They are quite easy to clean and reuse. My favourite scented candle is packaged in a tin. I’m still thinking of ways to use the pretty tins. The labels will peel off and the lids seal snugly.

Still deciding what I can do with these tins. Any ideas?

When the candle has burnt to the base of the holder you can light the remaining wick to melt as much wax as possible. Pour the liquid wax into something where it can set then be thrown in the bin. Don’t pour liquid wax down the drain! Then place the candle holder in the freezer. The wax shrinks a little and about five hours later you can use a knife blade to pop out the residual wax. There’s probably a metal disk in the base which can be eased out with the knife, too. Leave the holder to warm up before you wash it in hot, soapy water.

Then I reused this pretty holder to hold cotton pads. I’ve actually been reusing it for years in different ways.

Boil a kettle, squirt some detergent into the holder then add the boiling hot water. Leave for five minutes, swish it around then pour out the water and wipe with a paper towel. All the residual wax should be gone, but you might have to repeat the process. If I’m using the holder for food stuffs I put it through the dishwasher.

Stationery holders for pencils and paper clips.

Now the fun bit, reusing the candle holder! Some have lids and some don’t, so that dictates what they can be used for, but they’re pretty versatile.

Once a candle holder now a salt container.

Some ideas for recycling candle holder include using them as vases for small bouquets, holders for pencils and other stationery such as paper clips, cotton face wipe holders, pretty pots for serving treats like wrapped nougat and other food things. I keep salt in one. I’ve reused them by putting short pillar candles inside them, too. Some people make their own candles to put into used candle holders.

Now a pretty bowl for treats and sometimes a vase, too.

Sweet vases for single blooms.

These two have well sealed lids and will end up in the pantry with food in them. To get rid of any lingering scent after you cleaned out and washed the container leave it and the lid out in the sun in a safe place. Should be scent free in a few days.

ITALIAN NOUGAT

In case my paintings suggest we only eat healthy, fresh food I’ve included this photo of what we were eating one afternoon when it really, really hot. We were experiencing an historic heatwave. It was too hot to do anything at all active. Very delicious sweet, Italian nougat coated in dark, bitter chocolate whilst watching TV.

watching the parisian agency

So glad there’s a second series of Le Parisian Agency. (L’Agence) This series on Netflix follows the super successful but down to earth Kretz family and their real estate agency. The mother, father and three of their four sons all work together. The fourth son finishes high school during the second series and assumes one day he will join the agency, too. The family deals in the multi million euro market and the properties they sell are so interesting. Old, new and everything in between, originally in Paris but now throughout the country, too. We get a good look around properties few would ever get to visit. Fascinating, especially seeing how much of the original architecture from the Haussmann buildings has been retained.

Pixabay

Chateaus and palaces, once unpopular except with foreigners, are now becoming more sought after by the French. Foreigners buy deserted chateaus in need of restoration, the French like them already restored.

annual macaron day 20th march

Unsplash Heather Barnes

Unfortunately, this delicious day passed me by but I am willing to celebrate later than the actual day. Macaron Day began in Paris in 2005. Parisian macaron makers initiated the day to raise money for charities.

There’s some excellent recipes and demonstrations for making macarons on Youtube, but, for me, it’s far safer to buy a few from the patisserie rather than bake a tray of about 20 exquisite little treats. Way too tempting.

and finally, the last food painting

This is the last food painting! Moved onto other things now. Well, actually I’m back painting botanicals again.

Share this post

International Women’s Day, Plastic Pollution Treaty, Painting and Eating

Share this post

international women’s day

Last week, on Tuesday 8th March, we celebrated International Women’s Day. The campaign theme this year is #BreakTheBias. Officially recognised by the United Nations in 1975 I wonder what has changed. A recent study, quoted in the Sunday Times Body and Soul liftout (March 5th, 2022) refers to a study which found that young females exhibiting headstrong behaviours grow up to earn about $4000 less a year compared with men in a similar position. Interestingly, young males who demonstrated headstrong behaviours end up earning more than men who were considered dependent in childhood. So girls are still expected to be compliant. Boys are seen as leaders, girls are seen as bossy.

woman signing on white printer paper beside woman about to touch the documents

Unsplash Photo Credit

While it seems obvious that women need to get into the top positions in management and boardrooms and generate change, there’s that tricky little problem of maternity leave. Men feel women lose momentum after having children. Childcare is disproportionately the mother’s problem. Not many fathers prefer to stay at home and mind the baby. It’s often not a choice for many parents as (of course) the father has a greater earning capacity.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, a woman working full time earns $1575 a week compared to a man, who earns an average of $1837. The Australian Federal Government has introduced guaranteed superannuation contributions during maternity leave plus a baby bonus of $5000 for women giving birth or adopting a baby. Unfortunately, women are still retiring with an average of 23% less super than men due to lower pay and time out of the workforce.

Golden Retriever lying on bed

Photo Credit Upsplash

The same issues women were campaigning against in the seventies are still being discussed today. Women want equality of opportunity, greater flexibility in their paid work (working from home, for instance) and equal pay for equal work, resulting in financial security. They are tired of sexual innuendo and harassment. The situation is changing, but too slowly. Time for positive and meaningful change at all levels.

historic plastic deal signed in nairobi by 175 nations

On the topic of change, in another long overdue response to social pressure, 175 nations belonging to the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) met in Nairobi to sign a legally binding commitment to end plastic pollution by 2024. While the details now have to worked out, the meeting acknowledges that plastic pollution is a worldwide problem. It spans international borders and all nations must work together to solve the problem.

The treaty encompasses all stages of the life of plastic: it’s production, consumption and disposal. The treaty is legally binding, includes financing mechanisms and acknowledges that some countries can do more than others.

white and brown boats on blue sea water during daytime

Unsplash Photo Credit

“In the space of one human lifetime, we have caused unimaginable damage to the global environment, choking every part of the global ocean with plastic pollution”, said Lord Zac Goldsmith, a UK Minister for the International Environment.

painting and eating

Whenever I go near the fridge at the moment I seem to open it and have a look. Obviously, nothing has changed since I last looked, no amazing treat has magically appeared, but I do get inspired to paint what I see. Then I usually eat it! Not a good plan.

I made an Egg, Creamed Corn and Potato Pie, by mistake. Had some lovely free range eggs to use so added some grated Edam, which was getting a bit elderly, 4 medium potatoes thinly sliced longways, a tomato and then went looking for something else preferably something to add some colour. Found a tin of corn in the pantry. I’d sliced the potatoes, beaten the eggs and grated cheese and just needed to add the corn. Surprise! It was a can of creamed corn, origin unknown! Pondered briefly, then added the creamed corn to the egg mixture, mixed well then constructed the pie. Layer of thinly sliced raw potato, egg mixture another layer of potato then a cut up tomato on top a grind of pepper. About 40 minutes in 170°C oven. Quick. Easy.

This ended up as a very tasty experiment. We really enjoyed it. I’m not sure I’ll make it again as I never think to buy creamed corn but it blended well with the egg and tasted very good. Add salad for lunch or cooked vegetables for dinner.

I don’t buy a lot of books despite being a keen reader. My husband buys a few books every month. The problem is storage. We have a large room upstairs with bookshelves built floor to ceiling on two walls and every shelf is full. Some are packed two books deep.

I borrow books from the library. If I really enjoy a book I buy it, but not very often. A fortnight ago I borrowed, read and reviewed Jaclyn Crupti’s Garden Like A Nonno. I read every page. This book is packed with practical advice. I didn’t want to return it to the library, so I bought a copy! It wont be going upstairs either, there’s so many things I want to start doing now, particularly improving our scorched, grey beach sand soil. I’m collecting the things I need to make weed fertilizer right now. (Page 68, I know because I’ve already marked it.)

My final painting of food from the fridge; I’m back to painting flowers.

Share this post

Watching, Eating and Gardening

Share this post

the tinder swindler

Image credit: Netflix

Three women meet Simon Leview (above) through the dating app, Tinder. He befriends them, claiming to be the son of the super rich diamond dealer, Lev Leview. He dazzles them with his wealth, then steals from them. He claims to be under threat from unidentified people and asks them to help by sending money for him to escape. Each woman goes into debt having borrowed money to give to him. Eventually, they doubt his story and can borrow no more money. They then connect online and realise they have each been seriously duped. One swipe right changed their lives and not in a good way. This is their story. Leview claims to be misunderstood, the women are trying to pay off massive debts.

Interestingly, while the women involved struggle to repay their debts and get on with their lives, Leview (real name Shimon Hayut) has been released from prison, has a Hollywood agent and is dating a model.

inventing anna

undefined Image credit:Netflix

Anna Sorokin, a Russian who claims to be German, arrives in New York in 2013 and works hard to become accepted by the rich and famous as a wealthy socialite. Inventing Anna is a dramatized version of how the real Anna conned an enormous amount of money from friends and the wealthy associates she sought out. She was ruthless, scamming banks, hotels and high society.

Sorokin got away with her audacious scams by claiming to be a German heiress waiting to inherit a multi- million dollar trust fund when she turned 25. Finally found guilty on a number of charges, she is sentenced to 4 years in jail. Many of her victims are too embarrassed to report their loses. She was released in 2021 but is then taken into custody by Customs and Immigration for overstaying her visa and is awaiting deportation. Meanwhile, she’s written a book and done lucrative deals, including working with Netflix on the program.

So what do we learn from Inventing Anna? Social media is a clever platform not necessarily based on fact. Proceed with caution if you’re relying on what you see on your device!

Eating

GRAPES

Chilled grapes from my mother’s garden. Despite breaking a record held for 110 years by having 13 days over 40ºC the grapes are lovely! My own garden is not doing so well.

RED CABBAGE

I cook for two people and find so many fruit and vegetables last two people more than a few days. They do not stay fresh and crisp! So, after I bought a medium sized rockmelon and realised we’d have to have a quarter each for lunch and then a quarter each for dinner, as it wouldn’t keep, I started looking for smaller pieces, especially vegetables. This is a petite red cabbage.

We enjoyed half one night braised in a pan over high heat in cider vinegar then a knob of butter and a good grind of black pepper. We had the other half the next night simply boiled. No waste. This is really a hot weather problem as leftover vegetables go into the soup pot in winter!

TOMATO, BOCCONCINI and BASIL SALAD

Gathered the ingredients for a light summer salad at lunchtime. They looked so luscious I sat down and painted them!

First I painted them, then we ate them!

This is a traditional Italian salad and features the colours of the Italian flag. So, red tomatoes, green basil and white bocconcini!

So quick and easy. Slice the tomatoes and cheese thinly and arrange on a plate. I put a sliced avocado in the middle, drizzled with a peppery olive oil then sprinkled basil over the top. Served with toasted ciabatta. Lunch done.

When I set my plate of salad, I added finely diced raw red onion for a contrasting crispness. Delicious.

SOURDOUGH RYE BREAD

Every fortnight I make two loaves of rye sourdough. Some goes in the fridge, some goes in the freezer. I’m the only one who eats it, my husband has two favourite local bakeries where he buys his white artisan loaves. No rye bread for him!

growing vegetables

Affirm press

Are you growing your own food? Whether you’re new to gardening or an old hand I think you’ll find something interesting in Jaclyn Crupi’s Gardening Like Nonno. I certainly found loads of advice and recipes for improving soil quality. This is little book packed with practical bite sized bits of information.

Crupi grew up with two Nonnos ( Italian grandfathers) who she describes as “…no-nonsense, hard working and cheeky. They know how to fix things, how to make things, how to grow things and how to care for things”. This little book is full of useful information about improving the quality of soil organically, choosing and saving seeds, seasonal plants, the tools you’ll need and how to care for them, chickens and even some recipes for preserving your crops.

Whatever size your garden I think you’ll find inspiration in this practical book. I couldn’t put it down and have gone back to find particular advice, especially on soil improvement. La dolce vita in a book!

Share this post

Painting, Cooking, Reading and Huge Lotto Prizes

Share this post

painting botanicals

A friend arrived with two picture frames. He asked me to paint pictures for the frames. I asked what he wanted me to paint. Fruit, vegetables or flowers? He pointed to my Moleskin painting book and said anything like those in there. So, flowers. Did he have favourite flowers, preferred colours. No, just do some like those ( in the book) So I did!

I began with the dark red geranium as I have several pots of them and I know he likes them. Then I painted a gladioli, which I didn’t like at all, so started again and painted some carnations. Painting for someone else is actually very different from trying to capture the colour and shape for myself.

Took my friend’s frames apart, cut some mounting boards then put them back together again.

The unloved gladioli.

cooking

This recipe for Feta and Leek slice was doing the rounds at yoga. I had a leek and a packet of feta so knew I was going to make it for lunch. Had everything ready to go when I discovered I didn’t have enough plain flour, so I used self raising flour and left out the baking powder. Worked well!

To make a LEEK and FETA slice mix 200gm yoghurt, 200ml vegetable oil (I used a mild olive oil), 200gm crumbled feta, 200 gm chopped leek, 2 cps sifted plain flour and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder plus 4 eggs.

Spray or oil a baking dish and spoon in the mixture. I used a spatula. Top with 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds if desired. Bake is a pre- heated oven 220°C for 15-20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Can be eaten hot or cold

Conversions weight 200gm =7oz, temperature 220ºC-=430°F

This made quite a big pie. Next time I make it I’ll freeze half as eating the same thing for lunch and dinner and then again for lunch the next day is a bit too much. I drizzled sweet chili sauce over it the second day as it seemed a little bit dry.

NOTE I used self raising flour as I discovered I’d run out of plain flour. This made a ‘puffier’ slice than the original one. Tasted just as good.

Also I find leeks need a lot of washing to remove all the sand embedded with in the leaves!

Served at lunch time with salad, at dinner time with steamed vegetables and the next day with sweet chili sauce.

apple crumble

What do you do with leftover apples losing their crunch? I try not to waste food so peeled them, removed their cores and cooked them in water, a little sugar and cinnamon. Cold stewed apple with icecream would have been appropriate during this never ending, record breaking heatwave, but I decided on apple crumble.

While the apples were stewing I thought I’d look up a ‘proper’ recipe for the crumble instead of just mixing the oatmeal, flour, cinnamon, brown sugar and butter the casual way I usually do until it feels just right. I immediately discovered a problem. Apparently I should have weighed the prepared apples before I stewed them to determine the ‘right’ amount of crumble! Too late, proceeded in my usual casual ‘throw it all together’ way.

There are many recipes for making a crumble online. This is a great way to use up any fruit which can be stewed. Serve crumble with custard, cream or icecream. Delicious even on a hot day.

reading

Adrian Hyland’s Canticle Creek is a fast moving story about Leading Senior Constable Jess Redpath briefly leaving her police job in the outback to accompany her artist father to an awards evening in rural Victoria. This gripping murder mystery, taking the reader from one drama to another, left me not sure who the killer was until the very end. Full of twists and turns with some great descriptions of the various landscapes, the story has well developed characters and is a good read.

Kit Kemp, regular readers of this blog will know, is one of my favourite interior decorators. Her new book Design Secrets is full of her colourful and clever combinations of fabric, colour and shape. She talks about the design processes she uses with her staff to come up with new projects and ways to put things together. Kemp doesn’t dictate strict guidelines and encourages the use of everyday objects to create pleasing arrangements. The results are often exuberant! It did occur to me that this style of decorating with layers of fabric, paper and objects plus furnishings was probably more suitable for cooler climates!

huge lotto winnings

Last week one of Australia’s lotto prizes was $120 million dollars which sounds like an enormous amount of money for one person to win. Actually, there were two first division prize winners, winning $63 million dollars each. One of the winning tickets belonged to a Kalgoorlie syndicate of 250 people. They each won $261,986. Millions and millions of dollars can be life changing, but not in a good way, whereas $261,986 must be wonderful! This is a great deposit on a house, a way to pay off loans, a chance to travel, educate children or buy the family treats. I’ve just read in the paper, some syndicate members plan to pay off mortgages, buy caravans and travel, plan for their retirement and help their children get settled. Makes so much more sense that huge prizes.

Share this post

My Intentional Word and Other Verbs

Share this post

my intentional word

After reading lots of blogs at the end of last year where the writers referred to their ‘word for the year’ or their Intentional Word I decided on one, too. My word was BALANCE. Not even remotely original but that only underlines how unbalanced life can seem at different times. Mine was pretty skew whiff!

Put lots of thought into rearranging how I spend my time but found it hard to change things where other people were involved. Then we began having cases of Covid in Western Australia and suddenly, we had to wear masks in the metropolitan and Peel regions. That meant canceling lots of things and staying home. Mostly these things were lunches with several different groups of teaching friends who are still enjoying school holidays. Masks combined with top temperatures over 40ºC for six days in a row meant many planned activities went by the board!

So, suddenly, I had time to read, paint, watch TV, phone friends and go for long (masked) walks. Some of my daily steps had to be done indoors as it was very hot outside. Although I was aiming for balance in my life things actually felt out of balance again as there was a lot of downtime.

reading

birds of a feather

Tricia Stringer is a prolific and well known Australian author. I haven’t read any of her books before but will definitely read more in the future. This story about a group of women in various stages of their lives, widowed, mother of young children, newly partnered woman in her forti is set on Spencers Gulf in South Australia. It centres around the prawning industry and the local town.

We follow the women as they resolve family problems, sell long established businesses, sort out future plans as a family and change direction at work. So, all the usual things that happen in families, but well written with the od unexpected turn of events. This is a book to take on holidays or to the beach and become immersed.

Abbi Waxman’s THE GARDEN OF SMALL BEGINNINGS was a light, easy and entertaining. The text is smart and snappy. The story focuses on the characters who enrol in establishing a community garden under the guidance of a famous horticulturalist.

As the garden evolves, so do the characters. Their lives become intertwined in many positive ways. Each chapter ends with notes and advice on growing a particular vegetable. Enjoyable, with a happy ending.

TWO FEET FORWARD

Written by husband and wife team Graeme Simsion and Anne Burst this is the story of Zoe, from California and recently widowed and Martin, recently divorced, from the UK. They meet just before they both set off to walk the Camino de Santiago trail.

The walk is known to inspire reflection and change. The walkers meet other pilgrims and their stories about their lives, their challenges finding accommodation and food and the general difficulties of walking the various terrains make up the story. Martin and Zoe bump into one another along the way but for various reasons, mainly barely credible misunderstandings, they never quite get together.

I persisted with this book as I’d like to walk the trail, too, and found the descriptions of various towns, the hospitality offered and the reason people embarked on the walk interesting. I found Martin’s attempts to improve his relationship with his hurt, troubled daughter rather tepid. Zoe’s faith in the universe, which was very unhelpful at providing regular vegetarian meals, was irritating and quite sad for a woman and mother in her forties.

Reviews vary from five stars to one star, with strong feelings expressed at both ends of the scale. I’m glad I read it because the information about the Camino trail was interesting but I didn’t enjoy the book.

watching

Credit Walter Presents

Ice Station Murders is an Italian police drama on Stan. Set in Aosta, close to the Swiss Alps, it is a gritty drama in a very beautiful setting. So when I flicked through Frances Mayes’s ‘Always in Italy’ I read everything about the Aosta region. Apart from the surrounding Alps, always covered in snow in the series, one of the attractions is the beautiful buildings. So many of the characters live in lovely old buildings with high ceilings, big rooms and a cafe with outdoor tables and chairs just downstairs!

Pleased that there are many episodes of Ice Cold Murders as there’s little to watch on free to air TV and cinemas are out of the question at the moment.

cooking

Two loaves of sourdough rye bread. I wait until they are cool as they are easier to cut then I slice and freeze most of the bread, leaving out six slices for immediate use. This is a heavy bread with a distinctive taste and not liked by everyone. My husband prefers a white loaf from a local bakery which he cuts into thick slices.

australia day

Wednesday, 26th of January was Australia Day, commemorating the landing of the First Fleet in Sydney Cove in 1788. We reflect on the history and diversity of our nation. We celebrate with family barbecues, community events, citizenship ceremonies welcoming new members to Australia and acknowledge personal achievements through the Australia Day Honour List.

It is a public holiday in Australia. Like thousands of other Australians, my favourite event on Australia Day is the fireworks! They are fabulous. Usually, people crowd around the foreshore to watch the display, but social distancing resulted in far less spectators this year. I watched it from an upstairs window. Really like fireworks.

Share this post

Happy New Year, Resolutions and Gardening News

Share this post

HAPPY NEW YEAR

We spent a lovely Christmas Day with our extended family. Enjoyed catching up with all the news. Not so lovely was the 43°C top temperature. Really hot nights, too, so I’m watering the garden every night. Then Boxing Day was hot at 44° (111°F) but we’d already planned to take my Mother shopping for a new television. Despite the shop being air conditioned it was very hot and crowded and this week we have to wear masks. Not complaining, as we’ve only had to wear masks twice in two years.

We have had 9 deaths from Covid in Western Australia and I realise we are really lucky. We will need to wear masks at any New Year parties and the numbers able to attend will be limited. Why? Because 86 close contacts of a French unvaccinated back packer who arrived in WA and was diagnosed with CV-19 haven’t fronted up to be tested.

The best post Christmas thing is settling to the books we received as presents. We are a family of keen readers and enjoy this slower time after the festivities to read and stay cool. There’s always lots of leftovers to eat for two or three days so it’s a relaxing time. One night we wanted variety and had a curry feast! Unfortunately, the garden is wilting. It is also too hot to set up our new worm farm.

Luscious curry dinner, not cooked by me!

I was really interested when a friend told me her family only exchanged gifts they could eat, drink or read. Probably because we’re all in a similar age group we don’t need other things but still enjoy reading, eating or drinking! In fact, most of our gifts already fit into these categories but now is the time to formalise the plan

resolutions

woman stretching This is definitively not me!

Do you set New Year goals? I know lots of people see the new year as a fresh start and therefore the ideal time to make changes for the better. I’m not big on coming up with goals for the new year, despite being aware of some changes I’d benefit from making, but I’m always interested in what other people are planning. Popular goals mentioned amongst friends regarded diets, exercising, drinking less alcohol, spending more time with family and friends, decluttering and organising expenditure. In fact, losing weight or just eating a healthier diet are the most popular resolutions in the Western World. Do you make resolutions? I’d love to know if you keep them!

happy birthday greeting card on brown wooden table

decluttering

We spent a day decluttering. It wasn’t a New Year Resolution but really a necessity. The large cupboard under the stairs was overly stuffed with things. We couldn’t get to the back! About four years ago when I decided to retire I brought home and stored work things in case I ever wanted to go back. Of course, I’ve never looked at any of those things since. Our son moved home after a couple of years in another state and many of his things were stored and forgotten in the cupboard, too, when he returned. Years of me painting, drawing and printing have resulted in an overflow of art works. I have no idea what to do with them.

It took a day, many difficult decisions and two trips to the tip plus a large box of things to donate to sort out the cupboard. It is at risk of being filled with the overflow of our lives again as it is on the way into the main part of the house and we can just shut the door on the things we can’t decide about and there are many. But for now we’re just enjoying standing at the door and admiring how organised and tidy it all is, however briefly.

gardening

purple flower in macro lens photography

In gardening news, the agapanthus are loving the scorching sun and blooming with great gusto, the alstomerias have given up, the roses are managing but not enthusiastically and I am picking passionfruit, blueberries, a few tomatoes, coriander, perpetual spinach, mint, parsley and basil.

Wishing You All A

Happy And Healthy New Year!

Share this post