A Winters Morning?

Sitting in the 21 c sunlight having a morning cuppa it was difficult to believe we're in the middle of winter. The nights are chilly, and I do like a fire, but the days are glorious at the moment.

Sometimes I just sit; and wait; and listen. Before I know it my eyes adjust and I begin to notice all the busyness going on around me, down in the underbrush or quite close in the trees where I'm sitting.. The plovers wander about, and magpies, peewees, willy wagtails, finches, rainbow lorikeets, king parrots, corellas and cockatoos all visited this morning. If I'm lucky a kookaburra occasionally swoops in but more often than not I just hear them in the distance. Black cockatoos with their distinctive cry fly over often and sometimes grace us with their presence. It really is quite the little metropolis out there. lol.

Tomorrow is yard day. Our "get the garden back into production day." We'll finish clearing them out and fertilise ready for the next lot of seeds. Mark is off tomorrow so we should get quite a bit done. The chickens have been amazing - they haven't gone off the lay at all. I don't know how they keep going but they do.

I also want to undercoat a gorgeous old chair that I got at the weekend at a market for $10!!!! It has cabriole legs and a seat stuffed with horsehair! It is just beautiful!! It's sturdy and in perfect condition. I'm going to paint it and re-seat it and then it will go into my office. I have bought a new desk (well its antique) and a huge bookshelf cupboard thing that is in the process of being painted. The theme is french provincial. I like the shabby chic look but with a little less shabby and a lot more chic. :)) I think it will look amazing painted with a new seat.

Random Catch -up Stuff.

Its been forever since I blogged and loads of things have changed since I was last here; not the least that we spent 6 weeks tootling around overseas. What a time!
The garden fizzled whilst we were away but we weren't bothered by that - we let it go coming into winter since we knew we wouldn't be here to tend it. The kids dropped in and looked after the chickens marvellously - the girls were thriving when we got back.

I've begun to make my own almond milk; then dry and mill the meal left over to use in baking. It's an acquired taste after years of being a poddy calf and drinking gallons of cows milk for as long as I can remember, but it's growing on me. I love cows milk but it doesn't love me. lol.

Almond milk is really easy to make, or any nut milk for that matter. I use a cup of organic almonds, soaked  in spring or filtered water overnight (at least 12 hours) at room temperature. Add a dash of unrefined sea salt to the nuts and water. (this activates the nut - ie brings out all its nutrients) Next morning drain and rinse well. Add 4 cups of of spring or filtered water, blend madly until it's white and fluffy looking. Strain it into a bowl through a nut bag or muslin and squeeze out very carefully, taking care not to squish the meal back into the milk! Decant into a bottle and pop in the fridge. Dry the meal from the nut bag in the oven on about 170 c. Just spread it on an oven tray; I put oven paper on mine, and into the oven for a few hours until dry. It can then even be milled down to a flour if you wish; gluten free by the way. The milk takes all of five minutes to make and I know exactly what I'm getting. Almond milk has fewer calories and is lower in fat than cows milk which is a plus too. It can be sweetened with stevia if need be and is lovely with cinnamon or vanilla. I just use it anywhere I'd use cows milk.

I've changed my diet to boost my immune system etc since I contracted Guillain -Barre Syndrome courtesy of my first ever flu vaccine!!! For the most part I'm enjoying the changes..... well.......for the most part................! :))