he's gone.....

.......all the way to India! 

Yep, it's Stuy's turn for a little jaunt over the ocean. He's never been overseas before and when the  opportunity arose, we said Yes!!! on the spur of the moment (something that happens a lot here!) So he booked a plane and now he's off! Alone. To India. 

Well, not quite alone. Most of the time he'll be staying with friends of ours in Allahabad, which just happens to be the venue for the biggest Hindu festival in 12 years, the Maha Kumbh Mela! Andrew and Ginny have gone with their four children to build a boat that will enable them to ferry pilgrims across the Ganga during this festival. Andrew is a master builder and already the boat is looking pretty awesome - have a look at their adventures on their blog. They will be donating the boat to a worthy cause before they return home - a little poorer in the pocket but so much richer in experience. 

I created a few little zippered bags for him - one for toiletries, another for his iphone charger and power point converter; one for his money and card and a small random one that he used for his homeopathic crummy tummy remedy! 

I used up bits of scrap fabrics - mostly in green because its his fave colour! 

There was also a need for a man-bag and I just happened to have four diamond checked serviettes that I'd picked up at the op shop a while ago. I didn't have a pattern but just fudged my way through and was quite pleased with how it turned out. Theres a nice fat zip under the flap - I even managed to sew a couple of little pockets inside for small bits! 

So, complete with hippy sack, backpack, sandals and onyx charm bracelet, he's gone...... slightly nervous and just a teeny bit excited. It will all be new, scary and overwhelming but he's sure to get used to the bustle by the time he gets from Delhi to Allahabad. 

Wishing you all the very best of adventures, my love!! 

Mein lieber ist auf Wanderschaft! 

Er geht für fast 3 Monate nach Indien weil ehr war noch nie aus Australien und möchte auch ein mal was erleben!

Ich hab ihn etliche kleine Taschen genäht damit er nicht seine Sachen verliert und dazu auch eine Hippy Tasche aus alte Stoff Servietten. Ehr trifft mit unsere freunde in Allahabad und sicher wert ehr sehr viel spaß haben. 

     

merry christmas

 From our house to yours, we wish you a very relaxed and loving Christmas!! 

May all your wishes and hopes be fulfilled on this day and always! 

With love and gratitude ........ Ev and Family

solstice

It's almost midnight as I type this and if I am to believe the Mayan stonemason, I only have 15 minutes left to enjoy this life. 

I hope you all had a lovely Solstice today, whether it was a Winter one celebrating the return of the Sun, or like here in the south, a Summer festival. 

The days will slowly begin to shorten again as the Wheel of the Year turns in its age old cycle.

Blessed be.   

this week....

This week I have - 

marinated olives for gifting,

baked loads of biscuits, some for gifting and lots for my sweet tribe to nibble on;

 from top, chocolate gingerbread hearts, cinnamon stars, vanilla crescents,

fermented a batch of elderflower champagne, 

celebrated a birthday,

watched children and grandchild decorate the tree,

 watered the new plants in the poly tunnel, stressed a bit, enjoyed a day or two of rain, shopped for some last minute gifts, rearranged this tiny space to fit in the tree as well as another table to accommodate us all for Christmas dinner and worked on my secret person gift. 

And our computer has been to the fixer upper but is all better now! 

I bet you have all been just as busy as me? 

Diese Woche hab ich -

oliven mariniert zum schenken 

viele Kekse gebacken.... Lebkuchenherz, Zimtsterne und Vanillekipferl  

Holunder blüte Champagner fermentiert

mein Geburtstag gefeiert

unser Weihnachtsbaum verziert mit Hilfe von Kinder und Enkelin   

und eine ganze menge andere Sachen noch dazu!

Seit ihr auch so beschäftigt wie ich? 

baker man, baker man....

Oh dear, I meant to post this on Monday!!! and now its Wednesday and I have just remembered that I didn't actually finish it and press publish! 

What I wanted to say was that The Dj, who is 12 and a whizz in the kitchen, whipped up all these little bits of deliciousness over the weekend. Friday we had this Rhubarb Upside Down Cake which disappeared moments after I took photos (and has been baked again today)

Mix together - 230gm fresh rhubarb, cut into 5mm slices and 

3 tblspn castor sugar and arrange over the bottom of greased and papered 20cm round cake tin.

Beat 80gm soft butter and 240gm castor sugar until fluffy. 

Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time.

Stir in 3 tblspn ground almonds

Sift in 110gm SR flour and gently fold.

Spoon over rhubarb and spread out evenly.

Bake for approx. 40 mins.

Enjoy!! 

Saturday was the day for a tea party outdoors with a good old fashioned Madeira Cake and tea in pretty cups.... with saucers! 

And on Sunday he produced these multi coloured buttery biscuits...... which were actually the second batch he'd made last week. 

The most exciting bit was using this new to us, op shopped gadget, the Sawa 71. Made in Sweden but sadly, with only half the pretty shapes, this is such a fun little kitchen helper! He had so much fun that now he Has Plans for more!! 

And just in case you were wondering if I've broken my self inflicted no Grain diet, the answer is NO! .......although I may have tested a few crumbs..... !! 

Mein junger Dj ist 12 und esst gerne süßes!! Aber seine Mama backt ihn nicht oft genug was zum naschen und so muss er selber backen! Und übers Wochenende hatt er viel gutes aus der Küche  gebracht! Zuerst ein Rhabarber Kuchen, weil wir momentan viel Rhabarber im garten haben. Nächsten tag ein Madeira Kuchen und dann die schönen kleine Kekse. Wir haben so ein tolles Instrument gefunden beim Karitas Geschäft und ehr hatte schon Ideen zum wieder so feine Kleinigkeiten backen.  

Slow Living 2012 - November

Joining in again this month with Christine, who had the brilliant idea of doing a monthly round up of things that we are trying to slow down in! I really enjoy it when I actually sit down and think back to what has been achieved over the previous month but it does strike me that most of what I write about is just that - stuff that we have done, and there's never much slowing down amongst it!! December is gearing up to be busier than ever but I am hoping, really wishing, that January will be my Slow Month!! 

 

Nourish - I am still eating a grain free diet and have been finding and trying out new recipes. I can't say that all of them are delicious but it's not a problem as there are so many grain free web sites out there that I just try another version! We are guzzling kombucha as it doesn't take long to ferment in the warmer weather - we love it so much I'd like to start another two litre jar! I have also been gifted some milk kefir granules and I've made a few batches..... not sure though, if it's working properly as the grains were old but something happens in that little jar and we've been using it in smoothies anyway!!  

Prepare - The sauerkraut....... well, it's still sitting there in it's not quite so bright green glory and I think it's still alright. There were a few days early on that I thought I had let it get too warm and that it was quietly rotting away in its jar but I hope it's just doing it's thing! There has also been some Christmas preparation happening around here, by all of us...... but I cant tell about that yet! 

Grow - Oh my!! There has been such a flurry of growing activity going on around here that its a miracle anything else has been done! The weather has just warmed up enough to really start planting out and we have zucchini (oh zuc's how I love thee!) self seeded perpetual spinach, a lovely batch of spreckled lettuce, bok choy that went to seed so fast that we've already eaten it, radishes and the very beginnings of strawberries. I've also finally planted out asparagus seedlings, some angelica from a friend and another thyme plant. 

Reduce - This one is easy and yet it's not! I reduce our planetary impact just in general, I feel, so it's a bit hard to remember anything in particular. We purchase a lot of our clothes, books, fabrics, crockery etc at the op shop just par for the course and repurpose bits all the time! One thing recently would be the old bricks from a demolition site that we were using for a patio but as it hasn't happened yet, I turned them into shelving for our large book collection in the shed loft. Oh and does using baling twine for stringing up tomatoes in the poly tunnel count? I mean everybody reuses baling twine for something, don't they?  

Green - The only thing I can think of here is the repurposed wrapping paper cardboard we used to make advent stars (which could also go into Reduce). And maybe that we are diligently turning off the washing machine, ipad chargers and lamps at the power-points! 

Create - The biggest and most time consuming creation this month was The Poly Tunnel!! Yay, it's almost done and Stuy and I run out there at least 10 times a day just to stand in there and Admire! I've also done a good amount on the repurposed sheets crochet rug, finally finished that green beanie, and started on my Secret Person Gift for Christmas (this is amazing as I'm usually doing that on the day before The Day!)  

Discover - Hmm, another tricky one - there's not much reading been going on here! I have searched up and perused lots of recipes online and I have been reading up on polytunnel growing so this month has not been completely devoid of discoveries. No outings to discover new places either - perhaps another month! 

Enhance - My friend stopped by on her bicycle last week and I offered her a glass of sparkling fresh kombucha to drink; she loved it so much that I shared a scoby with her and judging from her excitement over the first batch she's made, I'd say I've definitely enhanced her day!! 

Enjoy - This month we celebrated a 15th birthday - our beautiful Elli is a delightful young lady, full of smiles and fun and I love love love her company. She recently achieved her black stripe karate belt and that was certainly an enjoyable event to watch ~ one that only a proud mama can truly enjoy!! 

So, another month gone by and pretty soon it will be time for a round up of the last one for the year, December! This year has flown by so fast, although that could be because I had a lovely long holiday in the middle of it!! 

Have a look on Slow Living Essentials for some other busy folks months!