The Last Day of this Decade

It seems we are on the cusp of a new decade. I didn't quite connect the dots between the coming new year and the imminent new decade until I read it somewhere and thought, "Oh. Of course! 2020!" I remember being much younger and calculating how old I'd be in 2020. Harmless fun back then but it seems that I'll be forty-eight this coming year. That snuck up on me too!!

My new  and flowery 2020 planner.

Although clearly of significance, both the beginnings of the new year and the new decade, I have not given much any thought yet to this new year to come. I tend to forget which day we are up to during holidays times so, here it is New Year's Eve, and I've set no great goals and made no grand plans. I do have a new yearly planner though but I've not added anything to it. Yet!

An abundance of sunlight but not a lot of hot water.

There are things, as there always are, to do around our home. We need to get our hot water fixed. Since a brief, thundery storm came through here on Xmas Eve, we've had lukewarm water which is not a problem on our hot Summery days. I would've been chasing up an electrician much more enthusiastically if it were Winter.  I don't think that counts as a goal though, more a necessity...eventually!

Sparklers are pretty but they can't be recycled.

I do have sparklers for midnight twirling tonight. One of our much more organised friends has invited us to see in the new year with them. Our host requested we bring sparklers which I braved the shops to find yesterday. There's been a bit of a debate about whether fireworks are appropriate given most of our country is on fire but I found myself having a mental to and fro over sparklers. A quick google in the supermarket aisle informed me they are definitely not recyclable so my plan is to collect the wire and re-use it to make something like this glass bead garden sparkler. I really don't want to add to the world's waste within the first minute of the new decade. That's not a new goal either.

A wombat we saw on holidays in Tasmania.
(I 🤎 wombats so I'm okay with being a muddle-headed one sometimes.)

It is inevitable that I will fall asleep well before midnight tonight. I am one of the world's  early-to-rise and early-to-sleep people so staying awake for so long just sees me become like a muddle-headed wombat. (Luckily, my friends know this about me and even if they did have a laugh or two at my quiet snoring, I am oblivious anyway. 😉) Someone will wake me up a minute or two before midnight so I can join in the count down and twirl one of the above-mentioned sparklers. So no plans to stay awake 'til midnight. It's beyond me!

Our best mate will ensure the first day of 2020 starts early.

Tomorrow, on the first day of this new year and decade, the punctual Sir Steve dog will wake me up (again) around 5:30 a.m., as he always does, for his breakfast as in this he is more reliable than an alarm clock. And, so, the day will properly begin then, not with fizzing sparklers but with the dance of a Labrador's paws on our floorboards and an insistent bark (right next to my ear)  should I not move fast enough. After breakfast has been served, we'll take a stroll together around our leafy and friendly neighbourhood. This is how my everyday days begin. This coming New Year's Day, albeit the beginning of a new decade, will be no different. And in that, I am most glad.

However you prepare for it and however you celebrate it, I hope you have a very happy beginning to your new year and the new decade. 

Meg

Wholesome Brown Rice Salad

Our Christmas Day lunch is a cold meats and salads affair; it's too hot for a roast dinner when it's 40C in the shade in our down-under Summery Australia. (The weather was actually milder this year (at our place) but I had already roasted the chickens on Christmas Eve so no last-minute switch to a hot roast dinner was entertained.

A big bowl of Brown Rice Salad. 

Yum!

Amongst the array of salads I made for our family feast was this delicious and wholesome brown rice salad. It's made with healthy brown rice, lots of colourful vegetables, crunchy nuts, fresh herbs and my-favourite feta. The lemon and honey dressing is so very simple. My kind of food! 

My version of this salad combines the basis of this recipe, from Katie Workman of The Mom 100 with the currants, nuts and feta from this recipe by Nicola of Eat Well NZ. I reduced the olive oil from 1/3cup to 1/4cup for the dressing and used pecan nuts, instead of cashew nuts, because I had pecans in the pantry. It all mixed together deliciously!

🤎 Wholesome Brown Rice Salad 🤎

*** Omit the nuts if you have a nut allergy.***

Salad Ingredients:

4 cups cooked brown basmati rice

1 cup coarsely grated carrot

1 cup diced cucumber

1/2 cup diced red capsicum 

1/2 cup thinly sliced celery

1/2 cup chopped spring onion

1/2 cup toasted and roughly chopped pecan nuts

handful (or two) of currants

1 block of your favourite feta cheese

1/4 cup chopped parsley

2 Tablespoons fresh thyme leaves

Dressing Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil 

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons honey

1 Tablespoon white white vinegar

1 Tablespoon mustard

salt & pepper

1.  Mix all the vegetables, nuts and herbs through the cooked brown rice. 

2. Crumble in the feta cheese and sprinkle over the currants.

3. Whisk up the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the top of the salad. 

4. Toss to combine. Refrigerate in an air-tight container.

I doubled the recipe and made a huge bowl of this rice salad so there was plenty leftover; some to send home with family and some for us to enjoy bowlfuls of for lunch and dinner the next day. Lazy leftovers have to be one of the best things about Christmas Day lunch!

What did you cook for Christmas at your place that you have leftovers of?

Meg

Almost Christmas Day

It must be that time of year! There are splashes and shades of red, the blossoms of the Poincianas, Illawarra Flames and native flowering gums decorate the view as I look out the windows of our home to the trees that surround us here. Their blooming signals that our summery Christmas is near.

A handmade clay kookaburra.

Another tree stands tall in our living area. It's shiny in all its red tinsel-y finery; decorated with much a-do by our beautiful boy on the very first of these December days. As it's now the 24th day of the advent countdown, Christmas Day must be only a tomorrow away.

 A once-toddler boy's starry bauble.

Though I have not actually heard the ringing of sleigh bells as yet, I must be ready as the lunch menu is all planned and shopped for, the table napkins are all neatly pressed, the little old fridge downstairs that keeps the Christmas drinks cold has been switched on from its almost year-long slumber and the gifts have all been wrapped with bows of love. Christmas must be almost upon us!

A little wooden bell.

During today, there's a family feast to prepare. I will be roasting chickens with lemon and garlic and thyme, making colourful salads and whipping the creamy filling for the cheesecake that is our dessert tradition. There'll be fruity slices of plum pudding too but that recipe belongs to my mother-in-law who makes it for us all. (She makes the rum balls too and they are oh so good!) Later this evening, we will take a leisurely stroll around our neighbourhood to look at all the twinkly, coloured lights. It is Christmas Eve!

A sweet hand-painted angel.

Family will gather at our place tomorrow. There will be much chatter, laughter, rememberings and togetherness. We may be sharing our Christmas lunch indoors though as the forecast is for rain here, up to 60mm. Rain is at the very top of my wish list and there are many, many others who are hoping some will fall on their Christmas Days too. Perhaps the collective hopes, wishes and prayers of so many have filled some clouds. If you need rain at your place, I hope you get some under your tree and on your land tomorrow. We'll have our fingers crossed. 

A folk art heart for love.

In whichever way you spend your day tomorrow, be it Christmas-y or otherwise, may it be a lovely day shared with your dear and cherished ones. 

A most Merry Christmas to you all.
Meg Xx

Dipping My Toes in the Ocean

We're here! We're not much more than an hour from our home in the suburbs but we've made our traditional holiday "escape", across the magnificent Moreton Bay (see these beautiful photos from Moreton Bay Foundation photo gallery), to our beloved Straddie island, and it feels a world away really from this December and from this year.

A Straddie jetty.

Such true words!

We left home on a scorching 38C day; a smoky haze, from the devastating bushfires that have set the east of our country on fire, thickening the air in and around our city. No rain on the forecast; a dire outlook for an extra dry and extra hot Summer ahead. We filled our car boot with a pared-back load of the essentials. (Our trusty old ute didn't make the trip this year; we no longer fit with any ease across its bench seat, thanks to the seemingly unlimited growth of our almost-teenage son.) There's never been any room for what a lot of shops are "flogging" at this time of year; happy to leave all that behind on the shelves. We have everything we need.

Beach Lagoon.

We so look forward to returning here year after year  (everyone needs something to look forward to, don't they) to all that is familiar about this special place and to see what shifts the sand has made since we were here last. This year, there is a low-tide lagoon on one of the beaches, where we swim in the day-warmed water until it's almost sunset, and a wall of sand along another windswept beach that's been carved out by the power of the waves. Nature shapes the island.

Straddie Sandbank.

This year, I've longed for these Straddie days even more so than other years. Just one glimpse of her as the barge draws near, one afternoon of her cooling afternoon breezes, one dip of my toes in her greeny-blue ocean and I feel at peace.  I love to float upon her gentler waves, my face turned skyward to the azure blue above, and clear my mind.

 

Late Afternoon Waves.

Our fortnight of days on this island has taken us a world away from the searing heat, the smoky skies, the parched landscapes of our tinder-dry country and the Christmas commercialism and reminded us, as it does each year, that life can be very relaxed and simple. We are lucky indeed to have this time here and to know we will always come back.

Meg

Simple & Sweet Chocolate Fudge

A sweet, homemade fudge makes a lovely gift. This one is so simple; just a few ingredients melted together form a creamy, chocolatey treat. No candy thermometer required!

A little box of homemade chocolate fudge...

with peppermint crisp shards on top!

There are just a few simple steps to making this creamy chocolate fudge. I followed the recipe, for 3 Minute Chocolate Fudge, from the Chocolate, Chocolate & More website. It really does only take a few minutes!

Here's how to make it:

Put 400g condensed milk (one tin) & 2 cups dark chocolate chips 

into a microwave safe bowl.

Melt on high in microwave for one minute. Stir gently to combine.

Heat for another 30 seconds if needed to melt all chocolate chips.

Add one teaspoon vanilla extract & stir until well combined.

Cut up or crush topping for your fudge.

Carefully pour fudge into lined slice tray.

Sprinkle topping on & gently press into surface of the fudge.

After an hour or so in the refrigerator, your simple and sweet chocolate fudge should be set and ready to cut into squares. Keep in an airtight container and try to resist sampling too many pieces before packaging up your homemade fudge. 😉

To make my fudge that little bit more special, I topped it with the minty shards of a peppermint crisp. For a festive fudge, you could top with a crushed candy cane or some chopped dried fruits or nuts. 

Packaged up beautifully it makes a sweet, homemade gift for birthdays or Christmas. 

Meg

From Curtains to Cushion Covers

Ages ago, in a little local op-shop, I found a pair of old cafe curtains made from a creamy cotton printed with many beautiful blooms of Australian native flowers. The fabric features detailed prints of Qualup Bells, Christmas Bells, Swamp Wattle, Bottle Brush, Blue Pincushions, Banksia, Waratah and many others beautiful blooms. Each flower's botanical name is printed underneath too. Gorgeous!

Op-shop cafe curtains.

I adore botanical sketches, stitching, paintings and prints and love our beautiful native flowers so, for just a few dollars, I brought these old curtains home with me and stashed them away until I had time to make something from them. 

Printed with gorgeous Australian native flowers.

I followed the steps of this online tutorial, which includes a YouTube clip, to re-purpose these old curtains into a pair of pretty cushion covers. They were very easy to sew and I'm very happy with how they have turned out. 

Cushion covers from old curtains.

Perfect for someone besotted with plants!

Meg

Lined Drawstring Bags

From fabrics leftover from earlier projects and some reclaimed ribbon, I sewed three little & lined drawstring bags. 

Little lined drawstring bags.

This is the YouTube tutorial, from Whitney Sews, that I followed to sew up these bags. While I used an A4 size sheet of paper as a template for these bags, you could make a larger or small version.  The only change I made was to thread one long piece of ribbon right around the casing at the top of each bag before tying the ends together to form a long loop for hanging the bag up.

One little drawstring bag sewn from a sweet fabric.

 A peek at the soft blue lining inside this bag.

These drawstring bags are the first handmade things I've crafted for gifting this Christmas.  I am going to fill them with scented bath products, like these soaps that I purchased a little while ago and these bath bombs which I am very keen to make this coming weekend from ingredients I already have on hand. Together with a soft organic cotton hand towel, that I bought at Aldi much earlier in the year, I think they will make sweet gifts. 

 A pretty and reusable bag. 

Drawstring bags like these are also a very pretty alternative to wrapping paper and can be re-used over and over again. Something to keep once all the sweetly-scented bath products have been enjoyed.

What are you in the midst of making at the moment?

Meg

Some Small & Simple Savings

The savings we make here are not usually of the jaw-dropping kind. While hubby saved 15% off our car insurance renewal last week, with a phone call and a question, most savings here are of the small and simple kind. They are the little things that save a $ here or a $ there. 

$2 for three little plants purchased from a school market.

(One plant at a nursery would cost more than $2 so three is what I consider a bargain!)

Homegrown tiny tomatoes for salads.

(I'm growing these in pots and they are fruiting well.)

A stale bread roll made into breadcrumbs.

(I froze these for later use.)

I purchased an "odd bunch" of pears.

(These are sold more cheaply because they are not quite "perfect".)

Free entertainment for a boy who loves flags!

(Perfect for when it's too hot to kick the footy at the park.)

$2 birthday cards from Big W. 

(Given cards can cost upwards of $5each, I bought 5 and saved at least $15.)

I mended the pocket on my son's school shirt.

(This weekend, I have to mend his hat!!)

I added these half-price crackers to my stockpile.

(My son takes a little tub of these with cheese to school for a snack.)

While none of these little savings are particularly astounding, they all add up. What simple savings have you made lately?

Meg

Sweetness on Saturday

As the sky warms here today, and Saturday dawns, from my old verandah chair I watched and listened to daybreak. While the world was only half-awake, I thought of the many sweet and gentle joys in my life: from the way my almost-teenage son still lays his head upon my shoulder to the loving voice of my Mum on the phone; from the warm and happy hugs of dear friends to the generosity of a simple-living blogging community; from the soft yet insistent nudge of a Labrador's wet nose (when dinner is less than one-minute late!) to the creamy petals of a new Magnolia bloom unfurling. While I can hold some of these special things in my hands or capture them on camera, there are many that are tucked away in my heart.

Creamy magnolia petals and honeybee stripes. 

(Such a happy, buzzy bee!)

A slice of homemade birthday cheesecake. 🎂

(On my favourite plate!)

Twinkling lookout lights that sparkle across the night.

Handmade goodness that arrived in my mailbox.

(Thank you, Nana Chel and Judy.) Xx

The soft colours of orchids in my Mother's garden. 💛

(They remind me of a fading sunset.)

May there be some sweetness in your Saturday too. 

Meg Xx

Comforting Caramel Puddings

Puddings like these, which make their own sauce as they bake, are among my favourites. With a soft, cakey top and a sweet sauce that thickens and bubbles away underneath, they are warm, gooey and comfortingly delicious. Served with a dollop of naturally thick cream and they are even better!

Mmm ... sweet self-saucing caramel puddings. 

I made this version of a caramel self-saucing pudding for the first time recently. I followed Donna Hay's recipe but reduced the amount of sugar, in both the cake and the sauce, to lessen the sweetness somewhat. I also used spelt flour instead of plain flour as that is what I generally cook with. They still turned out beautifully!  Here's the recipe with my adjustments:

Self-Saucing Caramel Puddings
** not suitable for those with a nut allergy**

Cake Mix:
75g melted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup almond meal 
1 cup white spelt flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Sauce:
50g butter
1 cup  brown sugar
1 1/2 cups water

1.  Preheat oven to 160C and lightly grease 6 x 250ml capacity ramekins.

2.  Make the sauce by putting butter, brown sugar and water into a saucepan. Stir over a 
     medium heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool while you 
     make the cake batter.

3.  Place all the cake mix ingredients into a large bowl and mix until well combined.

4.  Spoon cake mixture evenly into the six ramekins.

5.  Pour the caramel sauce over the top of each pudding (I transferred the sauce to a 
     heatproof jug and poured it very slowly over the back of a spoon and onto the top of each
     pudding.)

6.  Bake for 30mins.

7.  Allow puddings to stand, for at least 5-10minutes, to allow sauce time to thicken more.

8.  Serve with a big dollop of the freshest, thickest cream you can find:) 

While we've had some hot Summer-like days already this Spring, many nights have still been cooler so perfect for a warm and comforting pudding like this one. Its nutty sweetness and gooey sauce will see you scraping every last little bit you can out from your own little ramekin.

Have a lovely weekend!
Meg

p.s. I found my little ramekins at the local op-shop. The set cost me just a few dollars and I think they are as sweet as this pudding.

Out In My October Garden

Just a little over a week ago, our garden was as parched and listless as so many other gardens where we live. There'd been next to no rain over Winter and early Spring. The drought, that's had a firm grip on landscapes along our country's East, felt like it was beginning to bite in our pocket of suburbia. The view from my front verandah was hazy and dry, the grass underfoot brown and crunchy, the little creek bed empty and silent and the leaf drop from the trees was just incredible. Thankfully, storms have rolled through over the ridge here this week and brought with them replenishing rain. 

Homegrown Lebanese Cucumber.

In our garden now,  plants are beginning to bloom and starting to ripen. I'm most excited about the cucumbers. I'm growing salad veg, like lettuce and cherry tomatoes, in pots over the coming Summer as I expect it's going to be very hot and, despite this past week's rain,  very dry too. On a bit of a whim, I did plant a few cucumbers in the veg patch. Although they took quite a while to get growing, they've taken off now and the first little Lebanese cucumbers are forming. There is nothing like fresh, crunchy cucumbers straight from the garden! 

 One ripe and juicy strawberry with more yet to ripen.

A cluster of blueberries

 Little yellow tomatoes are starting to ripen.

Besides the cucumbers, there are strawberries, blueberries and little yellow cherry-like tomatoes deepening their colour as they ripen in their pots. Pick again lettuces and chives are growing together in pots too but up on our back verandah where I can move them out of scorching sun easily. Happily, and with abandon, flat-leaf Italian parsley and sweet basil have self-seeded too. Fresh herbs for free!

A fragrant Gardenia bloom beginning to open.

 The pretty pink flowers of Grevillea 'Dorothy Gordon'.

The deep blue centre of an African Daisy.

A pink gerbera beginning to bloom.

The first Gardenia bloom has begun to unfurl its creamy petals. The scent of these flowers is simply sublime. I can't wait to bring a little bunch of them inside when more open up. A new plant in the garden, an African Daisy (Osteospermum) which I grew from a cutting, has its first flower. I love its bright white petals and deep blue centre. So pretty! Another pretty plant blooming in my garden is a gerbera gifted to me by a friend. I love its light pink petals. The native grevillea, Dorothy Gordon, has burst into bloom in the back bottom corner of the garden. The birds are enjoying it very much.

 Supervisor extraordinaire! 

Someone else enjoying the garden is Sir Steve dog. He came out with me yesterday to 'supervise' the digging over of the soil where our poor avocado tree used to be. Needless to say, he did very little digging and opted to warm the soil with his tummy instead!

We've been fortunate to have rain here. There are many in Australia living through unprecedented and heartbreaking drought. I hope rain clouds gather above them soon and that nature brings the water they so desperately need. It makes such a difference.

Meg