My Friends.

Well the fire is blazing after a slow start so it's very snug in here. We had a bonfire down the backyard a few weeks ago to get rid of some of the tree branches that had come down in the massive storm of a few months ago. That was warm too lol - well for a few hours.

We're having sticky pork chops and veggies for dinner with the last of the pear pie for desert.

 We're getting a few things done about the place so it's been a bit of a juggle with contractors coming and going. This week there's a new shower screen in the ensuite and the kitchen man is coming tomorrow for the final measure up. I can't wait to have a new kitchen - I may never leave it. :) I have my new stove sitting in the study waiting to be put in and fired up.

Today I've been telling one of my friends about the new things that are happening here and she's as excited as I am. Don't you love it when you have friends who are just "there"?  In good times or bad, loving you, supporting you, laughing with you, crying with you, putting up with you lol and allowing you to be there for them in turn.

I stopped and really thought about my friends today after that chat. I think its wisdom to remember often why you love and appreciate them so as not to take them for granted. How easy it to not appreciate what you have and it's the one thing that Mark and I very adamant about - taking time in each day to be mindful of the many blessings in our life. My close friends are a pretty big one. They are part of my family. A few have known me for around 30 years, my oldest for over 40. One girl (yes we're still "girls") has been in my life for around 9 years and knows me probably better than some. Each are different types of people but each have such amazing qualities!

Where does one start? Kind, caring, honest, brilliantly wacky senses of humour. Intelligent and did I mention a wacky sense of humour?? :) They are part of my life and my family. I can depend on them and they on me. We can be silly, crazy, up or down - in other words we can be ourselves with each other. That is a very secure place to be.

The definition of a family is no longer restricted by DNA but encompasses those who are a positive influence in your life. My close friends and I have relationships brought about by mutual respect and caring. The Japanese word "kenzoku" literally means "family" but sometimes a bond between unrelated people transcends mere friendship and infers "kenzoku". I'm very grateful for that. :)

Winter Warming.

The sun's out today and we need to take advantage of it as the weather is supposed to get a little colder in a few days. There was snow already inland and down south.

I did one of my favourite jobs this morning: wandering about collecting sticks for fire starting. I take my little cart and go for a walk around the yard; it's relaxing and I get to have a look about. We have a large grove of trees in the bottom corner and normally I can fill the trolley easily down there but I avoided it today as its quite windy and there are still a lot of broken branches from the storm just hanging there ready to fall. There are other areas with only a few trees and so I was able to get enough sticks for a few days at least.

I found a lone jar of homemade bolognaise sauce in the pantry this morning. Score! I was making zucchini spaghetti bolognaise for dinner but would have made it from scratch. Excellent, dinner won't take anytime at all.

We've had a bumper crop of sweet potatoes and so I made a gorgeous but incredibly easy soup to use some up. It so nice and with the ginger and curry makes an even better winter-warmer. The recipe is from Health.com and is as follows;

  Curried Carrot,Sweet Potato and Ginger Soup.

 2 T spoons macadamia oil  (Original recipe calls for canola oil, however I don't use canola oil at all)

1/2 cup chopped shallots

3 cups cubed peeled sweet potato

1 1/2 sliced peeled carrots

1 tablespoon grated ginger

2 T spoons curry powder  (I only used 1 teaspoon - not keen on "blow your head off" soup)

3 cups chicken broth   ( Organic stock) 

1/2 T spoon salt       (I didn't add salt)

Method.

Heat oil in a large saucepan over med-high heat.Add shallots, saute 3 minutes or until tender. Add potato, carrots,ginger and curry; cook 2 minutes. Add broth, bring to a boil.Cover, reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender; stir in salt.

Pulse in a blender until smooth.

Pottering.

The nights are getting cooler now as our southern hemisphere winter draws closer. It won't be long before the wood holder will be brought up to the deck and piled high with a load ready for a surprise cold night. We'll certainly have enough for the next couple of years with the trees that came down in the storm. The guy next door had one down as well so Mark cut it up for him as he doesn't own a chain saw. We didn't realise the guy doesn't have a wood fire (most people here do) so were very happy when he offered us the wood for ours.

It's a quiet day today; Mark is working all weekend but I'm seeing the kids for Mothers Day tomorrow so that will be wonderful. I've just pottered about  the last couple of days - some generous person has shared their cold germs so have that awful heady feeling.

In the kitchen yesterday I made ham hock and veggie soup and cooked a large piece of silver side. We had the soup with gorgeous sesame seeded bread from  the local bakery for dinner last night. Love it! The silver side I'll slice and heat through with gravy or a sauce with veggies for dinner tonight before Mark goes off to work.

This morning I made granola ( make it every fortnight) and crumbed and cooked some small bits of chicken to make wraps for lunch today.

Once the granola is cooked and cool I add chia seeds and a few other bits and pieces - really whatever I have on hand. Today it was pepitas, more cranberries (uncooked) and dried banana pieces. With a bit of yoghurt of a morning it keeps me going until lunchtime. (No mid morning snacks needed!) .

The chicken is "Mum's Chicken"  - a recipe whose reputation is almost sacrosanct in this household.

It truly is the most simple of recipes and yet the family have raved about it for years. lol. I've a feeling I may have posted it before but will do again as I really can't be bothered to go trawling about trying to find it. :)

All it is is coat bits in seasoned plain flour, dip into egg and tomato sauce mixture, pop into crumbs with fresh Parmesan added. The crumbs are up to you - I use corn flake crumbs. See - how easy is that!! With lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, and a wee bit of mayo on a sourdough wrap - YUM!

This Morning.

 It was a foggy morning before the sun poked its nose out. Looks like the little creatures were busy overnight.




                                   

That Storm.

As most would know here on the East Coast of Australia the area in which we live was inundated with flooding rain a few weeks ago. The storm hit on the Monday night and what a storm! It sounded like an A380 was about to land on our roof! The wind noise with the driving rain, thunder and lightening had me hiding under the covers! Mark was at work on night shift and the next morning there was a very real chance he'd be cut off from home. Thank goodness he got through  as just half an hour later the road was cut when the river broke its banks and we were flooded in for a week.
 We lost electricity around 6 am Tuesday morning and it was a week before we got it back on. So no cooking, TV, phones, Internet or hot water. The first day wasn't too bad. Unfortunately our garbage was due to be picked up that morning but the truck couldn't get through- it was to be a week later and garbage overflowing before it could be taken. We had 2 gas cylinders full so knew we could cook on the barbeque. My laptop was fully charged so we could watch a DVD.
The first night Mark cooked the roast on the barbie out on the deck - he'd never done that before and he did a great job. Between that and some steamed veggies it was a great dinner. There was enough hot water left to have a warm (albeit very quick) shower each and then we settled down to watch a DVD.
Although the news had said the storm would be here for a few days we really thought the worst was over.
 I have a small battery operated radio so next day we were able to find out what was happening. The news was dreadful; communities were trashed, lives were lost and the storm was set to continue. We felt incredibly lucky to be so safe. Our home is on a hill so there was no chance of our home being washed  away which was what happened to some houses in other communities.
The second day we ate what we could from the fridge and I used up the fresh milk and eggs to make custard but now knew we were going to lose it all if the electricity didn't come back on very soon - and so we did. Everything in the fridge freezer and our large upright freezer. :( All the meat, the years worth of homemade stock, our frozen veggies from the garden - all gone. Having said that and yes it was difficult throwing out the "fruits of our labour" not to mention all that meat etc I was struck again at how very lucky we were to be warm, dry and above all safe! It was a long very quiet week but we read, we talked and I wrote while Mark pottered in the shed - when he could get there!
After a week of unusual food combinations from the pantry, boiling water to have a wash in the sink, and sleepless nights terrified all the street's septic systems were going to explode and shower us all with unmentionable gross stuff ( they are run by electricity) the rain stopped. The damage was unbelievable, the storms ferocity was unprecedented in our area and it will be months before things are back to normal.
We lost a huge gum tree that hit the back fence but that was the only real damage.
It was a pain losing my fridge and freezer stuff but that can be replaced. It was a nuisance not being able to shower daily, watch TV, go on the internet or get some fresh food. But that was all it was. In real terms it was just a nuisance.
People lost their homes, their livelihood, their stock and some their lives.
My daughter told me one lass complained on the Ausgrid website (our electricity company) that she had been without power for 7 hours. You have to be kidding!!
The Ausgrid people, SES, police, ambulance, firies and all who helped during this dreadful time deserve medals. They continually risked their lives going out into the storm to help others. Where I live is full on Australian bush  - the amount of trees down is unbelievable - but these guys were out day and night trying to clear the trees to restore power.The roads were impassable but asap the council was working to put it back to normal. Amazing people!!!

I didn't take this photo. it was posted on FB many times by various people. so I'm not sure who to attribute it to. This is the road on the way to my place. It was only finished a matter of a few weeks before the rain event hit.

Back to Normal.

Or should I have said back to reality?  We had let the garden go a little before we went away as we knew we wouldn't be here to tend it so it needed a bit of sorting out this morning.

Its still quite warm even though it's officially Autumn. For some reason I always expect the weather to cool the day I turn the calendar page over on the 1st of March. Invariably I'm disappointed. :)

We were able to pick the first of the butternut pumpkin, some rainbow chard, beetroot, a few straggling strawberries, a mass of onions as well as a few tomatoes, zucchini, and potatoes. We won't be putting potatoes in anymore as we've stopped eating them, so no point.

One of the trays of onions ready for the freezer. Once frozen they go into containers. They don't defrost crisp of course but are perfect for soups or casseroles. The chard will be done the same. I use the leafy bits of the chard as if spinach.

The beetroot have been cooked, diced, sliced and preserved. There's a couple in the fridge and 3 for the pantry.

And may I say they are beautiful. Nailed the liquid!!

Bula.

Bula. (pronounced boo-lah) is the greeting you hear everywhere in Fiji.

We've just had a wonderful holiday there and fell in love with both the place and the people. Fijians have the reputation of being the friendliest people on earth and I have to say I agree. They are so genuinely happy and in love with life!

We spent two days in Denarau at a 4.5 star resort - gorgeous. Then 5 days on an island resort and then back to Denarau for another two days before flying home. The resorts had to be seen to be believed!

The first place had a lovely atmosphere and was a great intro to the country. An hour and half super-cat ride to the island was fun, stopping at various places on the way to pick up and drop off guests at the other islands. We reached our island and were greeted by beautiful singing at the jetty. A short walk to check in where we were given a cool and fragrant flannel to freshen up with and an iced tea. Our bure was thatched and air-conditioned, king size bed and outdoor shower lol. The bathroom has a large glass sliding door and you walk outside into a semi-circle area with a stone wall about 7' high. It was magic showering outside of an evening with palm trees swaying above. Fresh flowers every day on the coffee table and a bowl of fresh water with a red hibiscus floating in it on the verandah each morning to rinse the sand off before going inside. Oh and no TV. Believe you me if you were bored you only had yourself to blame; there was plenty to do if you wanted to do something and masses of places to hang if you were just wanting to relax.

This was my favourite resort. So relaxing and beautiful. The staff were brilliant and nothing was too much trouble.

The final place we stayed at in Denarau was beautiful as well but lacked the atmosphere of the first two places. It was a 4.5 star too but it could have been on the Gold Coast for all its Fijian flavour. If I'm going to another country I don't want to feel like I'm in the next state. I want to experience something new. Meh  - nice but boring.

                 




            Beginning of the day.

             

                    Another perfect day.