by Krista | Nov 8, 2016 | Spring
The wind is howling through the trees, sending anything not securely fastened skittering across the farmyard. It’s wreaking havoc on gardens throughout the region, but is doing a first rate job of drying laundry in record time…if you can manage to get it to stay on the line.
It’s been a sick week for me as I battle allergies and a dreadful flu that feels like every joint has a migraine. Thankfully on Saturday I was able to sleep 15 ½ hours, and that made a huge difference. I’m still groggy and sore, but nausea and fever are gone, and I’m able to potter now between rests.
The weekend was a lovely recovery time of naps and reading and sitting on the veranda, letting the wind roar as we slept in and didn’t worry one smidgen about getting up or doing anything.
Sunday morning I woke first and crept out to the kitchen to brew coffee and enjoy the morning sunshine streaming in the kitchen window.
I put Bear’s coffee on his dresser so he could find it when he woke up, then returned to the kitchen to sip my latte and read up on curing fish.
We will be going to the Gold Coast for fresh fish soon, so I wanted to get a head start on planning which recipes to try, and make sure I have all the spices, herbs, and other condiments we will need – dill, juniper berries, peppercorns, etc.
I grew up on salmon, Rainbow trout, and herring, but am an utter novice when it comes to Australian fish. I want to make Danish roll mops for Christmas, Mexican ceviche for these hot spring days, and Norwegian-style smoked fish just because it’s so delicious. I’m excited to learn good Aussie substitutes for the fish I’m familiar with.
When Bear woke up we visited over our coffees then he went to feed the chickens while I wandered out to my gardens for inspiration for breakfast. Green onions, tender asparagus, and a big tomato from our friends (thanks, Sallie and Marshall!) became perfect accompaniment to fresh eggs and our own smoked bacon. I must admit it gave me a big ol’ smile to look down at my cutting board and realize that everything on it was home grown or home made. I know not everyone has access to such things, and my heart swelled with gratitude for this oft crazy life we’ve built that brings us so much happiness.
Today I’m back to work, taking things slow and steady so I can get better soon. Bear is out with the goats while I do photoshoots and wood-burning and make a gigantic batch of mulberry lemonade to keep us hydrated on these dry, windy, and hot spring days. xo
by Krista | Nov 2, 2016 | Spring
The sun is sinking low over the fields and I’m parked in front of a fan, cold spiced tea beside me as I edit photos and watch Psych reruns. It’s been an exquisite day of just home-ness.
After weeks of dashing hither and thither for various jobs, meetings, and commitments, today was just for me. Bear was out and about running errands and I had the whole house and farm to myself to potter at all the little things that get lost and neglected when life has those inevitable busy spells.
I finished work and we had a good breakfast and then he was off and I headed outside.
How I’ve missed being outside in the sun and the wind, digging and watering and planting, hauling and organizing and tidying. I covered up well to protect from the sun – yes, dear Aussies, lest you worry, I wear a long sleeve, collared shirt and broad-brimmed hat when I’m working outside – then set to work, chatting to goats and dogs as they wandered over to see what I was up to.
I got my gardens watered and tidied up the farm yard. Our goats are wizards at getting their horns and hooves hooked into things and dragging them all over the place. I found once tidily rolled up hoses stretched willy-nilly down by the goose pen, my potting table toppled over from where they tried scrambling up to reach pea vines growing through the fence, and once neatly stacked flower pots tumbling every which way. I know they’ll probably end up helter-skelter again in the near future, but for today, everything’s where it ought to be.
When the sun got too hot I made a pear strawberry smoothie and sat in the shade on the back veranda watching the goats snooze in dappled light under the gum trees. After you’ve been running ragged, isn’t it wonderful to simply sit and bask in quietness?
After a while I went back inside and started pottering in the kitchen. It never fails to astound me how quickly one room can go from clean to utter mayhem. While I worked I listened to “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” – it’s that happy time for my yearly read through of all the Harry Potter books – and got my little pantry organized, my fridge sorted, dining room table cleared, floor swept, and dishes done. I can’t help but smile when I walk out there now.
Bear brought home fish and chips – he always seems to know the right day to do that – and now it’s time for a glass of homemade apple wine, a chat about the day, and an early night. xo
by Krista | Oct 20, 2016 | Spring
I’m sitting in a blissfully quiet house, comfy on my bed with the windows flung open to catch even a hint of a breeze on this hot-as-blazes-still-before-the-storm afternoon.
Bear and I went out earlier to make sure everyone was fed and watered, and now he’s off running errands, the animals are all snoozing or ambling lazily, and all I hear are gentle little songs from the wild birds that thrive here – fairy wrens, woolly wagtails, grass parrots, rainbow lorikeets, and more.
It’s wonderful to be home again after a treasured little jaunt to Brisbane with two grandmas I adopted for the night. We went to an Andre Rieu concert and had an absolute ball. They’re both disabled at the moment, so I had one on each arm as we inched our way slooooowly across parking lots and lobbies and hotel rooms and loading ramps and finally into our seats. I haven’t laughed so hard in ages as the two of them teased each other mercilessly and threatened to “show a shapely leg” and bust out into the can-can. I saw the young women they once were as they laughed and cried and swooned through the music, hands clasped to their chests in raptures as they sang along, clapped, and held hands with strangers, turning the disabled section into a jubilant party. It makes me tear up even now as I think of them, revisiting the music of their youth, regaling me with stories of long ago dances and concerts and beautiful dresses. Such a magical night.
Now I’m home again, heart full of memories of wondrous music and epic performances, so thankful for these moments that make life so marvellous.
I love going on adventures and love coming home again to my gardens and animals and very own bed, and Bear – who listens with a big smile to my exuberant stories.
I wandered through my gardens after work this morning, so excited to see artichokes blooming!!! I’m a huge artichoke fan and can’t wait to cook up these beauties. Some will be steamed then dipped, petal by petal, into creamy, garlicky mayonnaise, others will be roasted, Roman-style, with lemon, garlic, mint, and white wine.
The asparagus is flourishing too – a new crop of spears every morning.
I picked a lovely big bundle and will roast some of them with green beans for a cold salad tossed with a fresh tarragon vinaigrette and shredded roast chicken, and others with plenty of Parmesan cheese that will crisp up marvellously in the oven.
And now I must get back to my kitchen. I’m cleaning out the pantry – making room for homemade pasta, bottles of black raspberry liqueur, absinthe, and Sambuca, and jars of preserves – and the fridge so I have somewhere to store all the good things coming out of my gardens. And laundry. Yes, mustn’t forget the laundry.
What’s the best soul-stirring music you’ve listened to lately? xo
by Krista | Oct 18, 2016 | Spring
It’s a gorgeous morning on our farm, the wild winds and pelting rains of yesterday forgotten in a wash of sunlight and stillness. The world looks clean and bright and all is peaceful.
Recently a retired friend of mine told me that she’d spent the 50 best years of her life working non-stop, trying to build something good to pass on to her descendants. She doesn’t regret the investment, but wonders now why she thought she had to only work, work, work and rarely, if ever, take time to play. She urged me not to spend my life working, but to make time for the inspiring, the beautiful, the things that delight.
I love friends like that. Friends who remind me of what’s important. And that it’s never too late to start fresh.
She’s part of my “in cahoots” tribe, and with her and others we’re redeeming the lost moments, making time for the things that make our souls sing.
Like finding a café in Toowoomba that looks like it was plucked out of Greece or Italy or France – or some splendid hodgepodge of the three.
Café Valetta has become a favourite spot to meet with dear friends when we’re adventuring in Toowoomba. Such a wonderful escape from the ordinary, a charming oasis that begs for leisurely visits and solitary reveries.
Recently I met my friend Bernie there, and we had the best talks and laughs over mammoth pieces of cake – carrot for her, red velvet for me – basking in dappled sunshine and fragrant breezes and beautiful views of the park across the road.
I enjoyed a solitary cuppa there when I arrived early for a meeting, letting the cool morning air whisk my imagination back to beloved trips overseas and finding hidden cafes in Paris, Malta, and atop a cliff in Greece. You know you’ve found a good spot when it reminds you of places that hold beautiful memories.
I’ve thought a lot about what my friend told me. Since that chat we’ve saved up money to go to an Andre Rieu concert and to see the Russian Ballet perform “The Nutcracker” over the holidays. Things that may not delight others but fill our souls up to overflowing.
We will always have work to do, always, and work is a good and necessary thing, but our souls need nourishing every bit as much as our bank accounts need filling. Sometimes I’m really good at remembering that, other days I need a nudge.
What good thing will you make time for this week? xo
by Krista | Oct 12, 2016 | Spring
It’s a gorgeous afternoon, soft and golden, cool and green, our goats and sheep nibbling contentedly among the shifting shadows of the gum trees.
A lime yogurt cake is baking in the house, and Bear and I just finished a break on the veranda, watching our little world as we chatted and sipped cold drinks. It’s so good to be home.
Monday was a lovely but busy run-around day. We got up early and drove out to the Pilton hills to pick mulberries at our friend Carolyn’s property. She is an incredible gardener, generous with her produce and her time, happily trading and sharing whatever bounty she has whether it’s a basket of limes, a bundle of asparagus, or, at this time of year, a few kg of mulberries.
I always love visiting her and meandering through her gardens and orchards to see what amazing things she’s built, planted, or harvested. We had a fun time crawling about under and among the mulberry branches, filling baskets and bins with gorgeous, ripe berries. Carolyn and I kept getting our long, blond hair tangled in tree limbs and emerged looking like wild women with berry stains everywhere and hair stuck up with leaves and rogue mulberries. Bear, on the other hand, appeared utterly unscathed. Even his hat remained on his head!
Laden down with mulberries we bid farewell to Carolyn with promises to drop by bottles of homemade mulberry liqueur and cordial.
Then I was off to Oma’s to process all the berry beauties. We pushed them through a hand-cranked sieve that retained the seeds and left us with gorgeous mulberry juice. Then we made sugar syrup and blended it with the juice before bottling. Oma processed hers in a hot water bath and I put mine in the freezer. I just love that gorgeous color.
Next up was making pasta. Oma’s recipe is simply 1 egg per cup of flour. We made a 5 cup batch using Oma’s free range duck and chook eggs that turned the dough a rich yellow. We floured it well and cut it into workable pieces.
With mulberry stained fingers we pushed the dough through the pasta machine into long, wide ribbons, then again into thin sheets, and once more as we cut them into fettucine and vermicelli. The weather was so warm that the pasta was dry before I got home and I didn’t have to hang it to dry.
It felt so good to come home with glistening bottles of jewel-tone mulberry syrup, stacks of homemade pasta, and plans for how to use both.
With the warmer weather we’ve had, I’ve been making all sorts of cold drinks with the mulberry syrup. After the long day of berry-picking and pasta-making, I made us Mulberry Gin cocktails. Yesterday afternoon I raided my garden for fresh herbs, then sat on the veranda with Mulberry Lemongrass Iced Tea, while bottles of Mulberry Mint Iced Tea chilled in the fridge.
Tonight we’re having my homemade vermicelli tossed with roasted tomatoes and garlic. I’m really looking forward to it.
What is your favorite cool down beverage? xo
