A warm start to a frosty morning

Its been cold. Really cold. 

And on a frosty morning when the breakfast blues hit, what do you have for brekky? Something healthy and warming! 

So, it's cooked buckwheat, with canned peaches and easy peasy cashew sauce. And it looks like someone added some yoghurt to theirs too! 

Cashew Pear Sauce is easy and I will just give you the ingredients and the approximate amounts because I always make more than any recipe says and then I just ad lib from there! 

In the blender place about a cup of cashews (soaked if you have time - I'm never that far ahead) , 1 or  2 ripe pears, cored (and peeled if not organic) enough orange juice to blend and just a hint of freshly grated nutmeg. I also add a tablespoon of whey protein powder to up the protein content. If oranges are out of season you can use any other juice that you have on hand. We often use Golden Circle Breakfast Juice. Sometimes I add an apple as well or more pears or no nutmeg or .......... it's up to you! 

I'm going to have this with quinoa next time....... See ya!!! 

Colourful Autumn Day

Have I mentioned how much I like Autumn? I am not a lover of the cold, in fact I definitely prefer summertime - balmy afternoons, sunny mornings and not having to wear layers and layers of clothes....aaahh freedom! But Autumn, now thats a different story and thats because of the colour. 

So many different shades in ...... well ...... Autumn tones! Its a funny thing because in spring the predominant colour in my area seems to be yellow - in fields and fields of daffodils - and so too at this time of year, although its the leaves that are giving the show.   So, really, I can sort of pretend that it's not getting colder and darker and drearier but sunny, sultry and warmer!!  

The Best Man and I went out for a very early morning drive and I took along the camera to record the colours of the season. Although I did have a momentary vision of Spring, when I hopped out of the car I really, really knew it was almost Winter! It was freezing!! These cattle egrets were all hunched over probably with their beaks chattering! 

We stopped at a park in a neighbouring town and wandered around admiring the colours. So pretty. I wish they had been dry leaves so that I could have run through them scattering them as I went. The recent rain put a dampener on that (no pun intended!) 

Overhead are the skeletons of the trees -  they look as if they are enjoying shaking off their old 'clothes' - with naked abandon. I feel like that in Spring when I can leave off some of those extra layers and stretch in the sun ..... maybe not naked though!! 

  

And another favourite find in the Autumn - mushrooms! Or maybe I should say fungus. Loads of them around this still growing tree. Something for the fairie folk ........ 

Oh and the reason we went off on such an early morning jaunt was to pick up some Pea Straw to mulch the garden. 20 bales and maybe another 20 in a couple of weeks and we should just about be right for the winter. Some of them will be used to build  more no dig garden beds with mushroom compost spread over the top and the rest are to be used around the fruit trees. 

We also popped in to an orchard and bought some pears. I found some more golden yellow hanging on the trees that lined the driveway - can't wait till ours are producing like this. 

I hope your day has been as golden as mine....... !