A Quiet Easter Sunday

So much of our Easter Sunday passed as it always does but so much of it was different too.  

A soft felted bunny in a basket.

Tiny sweet eggs and a chocolatey bunny or two nestled themselves into little handmade baskets that I put out, along with our other Easter treasures, atop our old wooden table. This is where our sleepy-eyed son always finds his bounty upon waking and remembering it's Easter Sunday. 

A little woven basket filled with spotty eggs.

After coming in from the garden, where we spent time watering and weeding while our teenage son slumbered on (as they do), we three had breakfast together out on our verandah. Leftovers on toast in the warm sunshine! In other years, our verandah would have seen us sitting and sharing a lovely Easter lunch with my husband's family but this year it's not to be. 

A tiny rabbit on a tiny plate.

Instead, for the Grandma who lives close by, we nestled another chocolate bunny, a handmade washcloth and some soap into a little basket and drove to leave it outside her door. We wished her a Happy Easter from a socially-distant afar which is all we can do right now. For the Grandma and Poppy who live so far away, on a peaceful pocket of land in the far north, we set up a Skype session and were able to see them and talk with them from this distance we all now have to endure. While Skype can't replace the hugs I so wish I could give them, it was something in these surreal times.

A drawstring bag for gathering.

We three had our hot cross buns for morning tea (I did indeed make another batch on Saturday) and a simple lunch of toasted sandwiches which were warm and cheesy and just right for this year's Easter. The afternoon saw each of us absorbed in our own pursuits. While my others completed a jigsaw puzzle, read books, rode bikes and kicked footballs, I gladly curled up and watched Gardening Australia's Easter Special on ABC iview, walked Sir Steve dog and did some more sewing with lovely vintage linens. Perhaps the little drawstring bags I made could hold some of next Easter's eggs.

Three little Easter Bunnies.

In the evening, we shared a meal up at our old wooden table, with its display of little Easter bunnies and baskets beside us. Somehow those little baskets weren't holding quite as many chocolatey eggs as they had been in the morning. Hmmm... I'm pretty sure Sir Steve dog didn't steal any for he knows chocolate is not for dogs! 

This year, it was just the three of us but next year I hope wider family will gather here and we'll be truly together again. How are you spending your Easter time?

Meg

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

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

A Quiet Start

Last night, while the skies over Sydney's iconic harbour exploded with all the razzle dazzle of a massive fireworks display, the celebrations here were much more low key. A simple and happy dinner with friends, shared out on the verandah in the cool of the evening, and a sparkler to twirl, as it burned and fizzled in the midnight air, was the extent of our revelry. 

Last year's calendar was promptly taken down, a responsibility our punctual son takes rather seriously, and replaced by a new one for the new 2019. Each new month of this coming year will see us flip the page to a beautiful photo taken of our beloved Straddie. If this year goes as quickly as the last one felt like it did, then we'll be back there again soon!

Sand and sea and sky on Straddie.

The colours inside a shell.

The first of these new year days has passed rather quietly. There was the bustle of breakfast and packing up after the sleepover of our boy's friends, but all fell quiet once they headed off to the cricket. It's a quiet I've thoroughly enjoyed just doing ordinary things. I scattered some parsley seeds in the garden from the flower heads up the back, knitted a bit more of a washcloth, watched two episodes of a dvd I borrowed from the library (such indulgence) and decluttered a few more boxes of old teaching materials in our study. I ate leftovers for lunch and I'll have them again for dinner. My 'boys' won't be home 'til late from the cricket, as it's all the way down at the Gold Coast, so Sir Steve dog and I will be in bed early.  I'll be catching some zzzzs well before midnight tonight. 😴

Happy New Year to you!
Meg

Just In Time for Christmas

We are home just in time for Christmas. There's been rain while we've been away, the grass is long and green and the Poinciana trees in our little pocket of suburbia are covered in their showy red flowers. I think I will pick a spray of them for our Christmas table. So gorgeous and festive!

A Poinciana tree in glorious bloom decorates our neighbourhood.

As I write, a fluffy pavlova is baking slowly in our oven, dollops of meringue dotted around a circle to make a wreath shape. I made it the way Fiona, over at Stay Home Instead does. I can't wait to decorate it tomorrow with lashings of thick cream and slices of fresh fruits.  In many hours time, when I can take that pavlova out of the oven, I'll roast the chicken and the root vegetables for the salads that we'll share with our family for Christmas lunch tomorrow. It's simple, homemade food made with lots of love, baked with plenty of time and seasoned with much gratitude. There'll be leftovers too!

A cluster of Poinciana flowers.

I am looking forward to setting the table out on our verandah tomorrow, with a spray of those Poinciana flowers in the centre, and then sitting down to share the delicious meal we've made along with all the laughter, storytelling, memories and joy that comes with being together.

Wherever you are, and whether or not it is a day of celebration for you, I hope you can spend time tomorrow with the ones you love and that love you.

Merry Christmas to you.

Meg Xx

A Night at the Local Show

Arriving just as the sun was going down, rugged up in our layers to keep out the Winter  cold, we enjoyed a night-time visit to our little local show in the valley.

Colourful, wide-mouthed clowns.

Sparkly balloons.

Side show alley rides.

Given the chill in the air, we soon made our way to the big bonfire, burning up the leftovers from the woodchopping competition earlier in the day. The heat from those crackling, golden flames was toasty warm and so we found a spot nearby for our barbecue tea. While we ate our burgers and sausages-on-bread, drips of tomato sauce on our chins, we joined in with the beat of the bush band playing their toe-tapping, sing-a-long tunes.

The Bush Band playing one of their upbeat songs.

I only had a moment to dash in to the pavilion, where I usually while away much of my show day, before it closed for the night and while hubby and son sourced dinner.  I wish I'd had more time as I love seeing what people are growing and baking and making!

Beautiful roses like this one. 

 Delicious cakes and biscuits and slices...

(I remember making this when I was a girl!)

Lots of jam and lots of ribbons!

 Juicy oranges for judging.

Pikelets ... of course!

After our dinner was done, it was around and around on the ferris wheel to look out over the showgrounds, lit up by the colourful lights of side-show alley.  

Around it goes!


Looking down from the top!

After our whirl through the sky, we joined with many others to await the fireworks. After a countdown from ten to an enthusiastic "Zero!" from all the children in the crowd,  those first fireworks whizzed up and into the sky. Popping and crackling and fizzing, they burst into showers of sparkles that lit up the dark sky of the valley.

Bursts of colourful sparkles.

A stroll around sideshow alley, a few whirling rides and an ice-cream (it seems our boy can eat ice-cream no matter the weather) later, we were back in the car and heading for the warmth of  home. While our night-time visit to the show cut short our time compared to other years, we still found much we enjoyed. 

Our little local show is something we look forward to, as a family, every single year. That's a tradition that I hope continues for many a year yet. 

Meg

Poppies for Rememberance

At a little stall, selling handmade poppy flowers for ANZAC Day, I bought this little brooch. I think it is simple and beautiful. 

A little handmade poppy brooch.

Red poppies have become a symbol of remembrance. Along with sprigs of rosemary, they are worn as poignant reminders of the sacrifices made for peace; a peace that we are so fortunate to enjoy here in Australia when there is so much conflict and suffering in other parts of our world. I think it is important that we don't forget how lucky that makes us.  

Thousands upon thousands of red poppies, each one knitted or crocheted or stitched by hand, have been made and "planted"  in very special tributes. The 5000 Poppies project, featured on Gardening Australia (my favourite television program) this past week, began as a personal tribute that has now grown and inspired en masse installations which are just extraordinarily beautiful. 

While no more handmade poppies are needed now for these inspiring installations, you could still make yourself a little red poppy of your own with some red yarn or red felt. Here are some pattern links:

four petal poppy knitting pattern  from Hippystitch blog

knitted poppy 2 from Libby Summers blog

Jen's very simple poppy pattern (crochet) from pattern list on 5000 Poppies blog

felt poppy brooch from Pip over at Rest is not Idleness blog

I will be wearing the little handmade poppy brooch I bought today for it's ANZAC Day here in Australia. A day to offer up a quiet thanks for peace. 

Meg

Honey & Ginger Anzac biscuits

Sweet and oat-y and thought to be a welcome inclusion in care packages sent to loved ones fighting in a long-ago war so far from home, Anzac biscuits are an Australian tradition that take their name from those first brave ANZAC soldiers who landed on a far away beach at Gallipoli in Turkey, on April 25th, 1915. On that April date each year, our nation solemnly remembers those long-ago soldiers and all those who have come after them. 

Those original Anzac biscuits had a long way to travel to reach loved ones on faraway shores. While traditionally made with rolled oats and golden syrup, without eggs and with lots of sugar, there are many twists now on the original recipe that began appearing in recipe books from the 1920s.  Traditional or with a twist? Chewy or crunchy? However you like them best, they are a biscuit with ties to our nation's history.

ANZAC biscuits with a ginger twist!

I discovered this version, for Nourishing Anzac Biscuits, over at Georgia Harding's blog,  Well Nourished, while looking for a healthier version that had far less refined sugar. In my much-loved, old and splattered copy of the Day-to-Day Cookery Book by I.M. Downes, the Anzac Biscuit recipe calls for a whopping 3/4cup of sugar. While Georgia's recipe incorporates ground, mixed seeds, I have tweaked the recipe to make these biscuits without them. Here's how I made them:

Honey & Ginger Anzac Biscuits

100g butter

60g raw honey

1 teaspoon bicarb soda

1/2cup wholemeal spelt flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/2cup dessicated coconut

1/4cup of coconut or brown sugar (optional)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ginger powder

1.  Preheat oven to 170C.

2.  In large bowl, combine all dry ingredients, except bicarb soda. 

3.  Melt butter with honey in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Remove from heat as 

     soon as butter has melted.

4.  Add bicarb soda and stir in very gently as mixture becomes frothy.

5.  Pour frothy butter mixture into dry ingredients and mix well. 

6.  Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls with wet hands (as mixture is somewhat sticky)

      and place on lined baking trays. *Leave room between each biscuit to spread as it bakes.*

      Flatten each biscuit ball slightly with a fork.

7.  Bake until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool considerably on trays before 

     transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

8.  Store in an air-tight container. 

Try not to munch on too many of these before Anzac Day on April 25th otherwise you'll find yourself up early baking an extra batch!

Meg

Over the Easter Long Weekend

It was extra quiet here over the Easter extra-long weekend.  Our neighbours either side and over the back have all gone away. Many folk go camping, to the beach or travel to visit family over the four day holiday here in Australia. We stay home and enjoy the slowness of days without work or school. With nowhere pressing to be, we can settle in and relax ...

Friday:

We brought out our special Easter treasures.

(One rabbit & one hare discussing who should get the carrot!)

I finished another sailor top in a mustard-y gold.
(Can't wait to wear it!)

Little zucchini slice muffins were baked.
(Fresh from the oven with a generous dob of butter. Yum!)

Some of us "worked" hard in the garden. 

(Others simply supervised & guarded the plants.  Ahem!)

Saturday:

Cuttings for this garden-bed-in-progress were potted up. 

(Do you like my new watering can?   I do!)

A spot of reading & a little light-hearted viewing were enjoyed.
(I recommend the book:)

Gifted limes from a fellow gardener were gratefully received
(I gave him a cardamon ginger plant as a thank you.)

Sunday:

Little chocolate eggs appeared in our son's Easter basket. 
(Sunday morning's excitement!)

Fresh produce came home from a local Farmers' Market.

(... & The Big Issue to read too:)

 A simple homemade cheesecake was shared at Easter lunch.

(Our family needs very little excuse to have cheesecake.)

Monday:

A little knitting happened while curled up on the lounge.

(My shawl is growing!)

Seed potatoes were planted in grow bags.

(Two delicious varieties - Nicola & Desiree)

This delicious chicken & vegetable pie was made from this recipe.

(I used leftover chicken from Easter lunch & veggies from the Farmers' Market.)

Four days at home, without the tug of other commitments, made time for all of this simple and homely goodness. Some work in our home and garden, some time to become absorbed in our own particular interests and hobbies and unhurried days together. Plus, a little chocolate, of course!

How did you spend your weekend?

Meg

Christmas Time

It seems that it is Christmas time again. In our little neighbourhood, there are beautiful festive trees gracing many homes and welcoming wreaths on many front doors. Children call to one another across the street and draw on their driveways with coloured chalks. The sound of the odd lawn mower rings out with the birdsong and the occasional waft of sweetly spiced baking carries on the breeze. In the evenings, coloured strings of lights twinkle in the darkness. Tonight, on Christmas' Eve, I'm sure there will be a few treats for Santa and one or two carrots for the reindeer left out in the homes where young children excitedly wait for morning.

Nature seems to be in a joyous mood too. We have had quite good rain since the beginning of December and all is lush and green. Just down the hill, a magnificent native flowering gum has burst into bloom. Its blossoms are truly stunning. It needs no additional decoration. No twinkle lights. It is beautiful just as it is ...

A beautiful Australian flowering gum.

A cluster of Christmasy colour!

Merry Christmas!

I feel truly blessed to live where I do. Its friendliness and its peacefulness offer a quiet haven where family and friends and nature are close.  I wish that everyone around the world knew that safety and security. I wish that everyone had a place to call home.

Thank you to everyone who visits me here, who reads my words, who offers a like-minded connection and words of encouragement. I feel very lucky to have such kind visitors to my space here.

From my little pocket of the world, I wish you a beautiful day tomorrow with those you love.

Meg Xxx