by Krista | Sep 15, 2015 | Spring
Sometimes I have a lot of words swirling around in my head, tumbling over themselves in a race to get typed into a blog post. And other times, like the last few weeks, I have none. I sit down to my computer and all I can do is feel. The expressions for those feelings haven’t resolved themselves into anything comprehensible. I don’t understand yet. And when I don’t understand, I can’t communicate.
My friend Margo once told me that when she’s traveling or muddled and doesn’t have time or energy to write it all out, she just writes in bullet points. Short little bursts of information from her day and experiences that help her remember and track and, one day, understand.
So here are my bullet points from “my lately”:
- Asparagus growing is wondrous. One day there is nothing, the next there’s a 6″ spear ready for eating.
- Sundresses are the best item of clothing in the world. Truly. I find it difficult to ever be too downhearted in a sundress.
- When I’m grieving or hurt or sad, going outside at sunset and sunrise never fails to ground and comfort me and remind me that it’s OK to feel these hard things. They will pass.
- Bear bringing me a cup of tea without being asked makes me feel more loved than if he showed up bearing diamonds.
- Gardening makes me feel like I’m a magician. I throw dried up old seeds in the dirt, give them some water, and before long they’ve transformed into sugar snap peas and artichokes and tomatoes. Amazing.
- Watching baby animals of any variety is excellent therapy. They elicit laughter from even the most battered hearts.
- Stealing a few minutes to read a novel is never, ever a waste of time.
- Go for a walk. Even a little one. You’ll not regret it.
- Muscovy ducks make me smile. They are so quiet with their quacks that they seem to always have laryngitis.
- When you stroll past a rosemary bush, run your hands up the stalks then breathe deeply from them. Bliss.
- Eating lunch on the veranda makes even sardines, olives, and cheese feel like a feast.
- Reading other people’s blog posts is like traveling for me. Their words and photos take me to places and experiences completely different than my own, and make me a more balanced person.
- Re-reading my favorite childhood stories has been such a good idea. It’s like revisiting all my happiest memories.
- When I get homesick for mountains and pine forests, a dish filled with pine cones and set on the table sure is nice.
- Baking a cake is always a good idea. Especially when it’s a simple, homey one, heavily fragrant with vanilla and studded with spirit-soaked cranberries.
What are some bullet point moments from your life that you’re treasuring this week? xo
Vanilla Cake with Boozy Cranberries
Ingredients:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup spelt flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1 cup vodka or rum soaked fresh cranberries
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 F (180 C).
- Cover removable bottom of 8-inch round cake pan with parchment paper.
- In medium size bowl, beat together sugar and butter until pale yellow.
- Add eggs one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition.
- Beat in vanilla extract.
- In small bowl whisk together flours and baking powder. Add to wet mixture and stir until well incorporated.
- Add milk and beat until mixture is smooth.
- Add cranberries, stirring gently so they don’t break.
- Pour into prepared pan and place in oven.
- Bake 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
- Let cake cool in pan 5 minutes, then remove and cool on rack until ready to serve or until fully cooled and ready to store.
by Krista | Sep 10, 2015 | Spring
I’m home again after a sunset tractor ride with Bear through our bush. It’s one of our favorite things to do together, getting totally away from everything and trundling along on our old red Massey tractor as we point out roving gangs of kangaroos, the exquisite light shimmering through the gum trees, and our favorite spots where “one day” we’re going to build a cabin with a veranda overlooking the trees, back dam, and valley beyond.
It’s been a contemplative week for me, one where I needed to pull my borders in close and rest, giving myself time to grieve the loss of two dear ones, time to do those things that comfort and heal.
Nature, love, and companionship with a trusted soul, these are the things that strengthen me.
I took naps and read books and wrote many, many words in my journal.
I lingered in my gardens soaking up sunshine and celebrating every new sign of life, excitedly showing Bear each tiny harvest of asparagus, peas, and baby beets.
I shared many cuppas with Bear, talking or just sitting quietly, finding comfort in his hugs and kindnesses.
They were all good things, so good, and today I was ready to step back into the world.
It was a lovely day for stepping back. Gorgeous Spring sunshine warmed us to our bones and cool breezes fragrant with new blossoms kept us from sweltering as we worked.
Bear and I have been building new pens this week and this afternoon we nearly finished number three. Soon we’ll have enough to be able to rotate our flocks of ducks, chickens, geese, and turkeys so they always have a source of grass and weeds to peck through while staying safe from foxes and wild dogs.
Today I spent with Oma at her farm, visiting over our favorite Earl Grey Tea and homemade chocolate cake in between all sorts of projects. We oohed and aahed over her gorgeous pigs, trimmed the beaks of naughty egg-pecking chickens, dispatched some roosters for the stew pot, bottled her latest batch of whiskey (smooth as silk, I tell ya!), and taste-tested her luscious caramelized marmalade jam – just to make sure it was OK.
It was a beautiful end to my stepping back day.
Now it’s time to finish up my latest wood-burning orders, have an evening tipple of Oma’s whiskey, and go to bed for a good sleep.
Wishing you a beautiful weekend. xo
by Krista | Sep 4, 2015 | Spring
It’s one of those funny sorts of days where I’m perfectly happy but feel all sorts of emotional, getting weepy at the drop of a hat. I know it’s because of all the kindness I’ve received and observed this week. It never fails to turn my heart to mush and make me a bit soppy.
The refugee situations in Europe and Australia are breaking my heart. I wish I was rich enough and powerful enough to find everyone a safe place to live and grow and thrive. But I’m so thankful for those who are doing everything they can to help and comfort and support. If this situation is on your heart too, here are 5 practical ways you can help refugees, starting today.
I’ve seen kindness close at home too. Yesterday my friend Oma spent the whole day with me showing me how to use her feather plucker, how to butcher ducks and chooks to get the most use out of each bird, and shared recipes for corned meat, sauerkraut with black pepper and caraway seeds, and crispy fried duck pressed under a brick. Then she gave me a stove. A stove!!! Do you remember I told you my stove and oven (and electric frying pan and spice grinder and bread maker) konked out last month? Bit by bit we’ve been replacing the appliances, but a stove is a big one and had to wait a while. Well, Oma told me, “I’ve got two and I don’t need two so one is for you.” I cried. Such generosity and thoughtfulness. It’s the loveliest little oven, just enough to bake a loaf of bread, a roast, or a pan of cookies, with two burners on top for soups, boiling potatoes, and frying eggs. I love it. And have named her Rosie.
It was such a beautiful day at Oma’s, working in the shed out of the wind, thoroughly enjoying the novelty of lush green grass and wildflowers after a dry and withering winter. As we plucked and gutted and carved and chatted, we were able to talk about so many good things in our lives: rain for our gardens, chooks laying eggs again, friends who are really there for each other.
When you move to a new country, it takes a while to find your place, to build the relationships that will be the ones you depend on when life goes wonky. And today I’m quite overwhelmed with gratitude for the lovely people in my life here. People I can ask for help when I don’t know what to do, who can ring me for a ride somewhere or to pick something up or to lend a hand in a project they’ve got going on. We’re there for each other and it is a lovely, deeply comforting feeling. It’s good to not be alone in this world.
Earlier this week I got to spend time with my friend, Kathy. Several months ago she invited me to join her gardening group and we’ve become dear friends since then. She grows and sells seedlings and plants and always has something new to try, like Egyptian mint. I love going over to her place for the afternoon. A “quick visit” always turns into hours of animated talking about herbs and veggies, happy perusing of seed collections, and sipping wine while catching up on all the ins and outs of our daily lives. We’re always swapping plants and seeds and sharing things we’ve grown, baked, or brewed. This week I brought her goat manure, black violas, pansies, bush lemons, and spelt flour, and she sent me home with celery, mugwort, horse manure, and a stack of cool new seeds: apple cucumber, jam melon, Amish paste tomatoes, Italian striped zucchini’s and other treasures. If you’re on the Southern Downs of Queensland and want healthy, hearty plants for your garden, pop over to Facebook and join her group: Pots of Herbs and Punnets of Seedlings.
Today is sunny and quiet and peaceful and I’m exhausted after a very busy week. 🙂 So I’m taking the day to potter, to rest, to do the things that restore my body and spirit: reading, naps, sorting seed packets, making soup, and chats with far-away-but-dearly-loved friends who always give me courage and inspire me to press on with hope.
What kindnesses have you experienced this week? xo
by Krista | Sep 1, 2015 | Winter
It’s still quite shivery this morning as we welcome September 1st and prepare for the much longed for Spring.
You can see glimpses of it in budding berry canes, flowering fruit trees, and a shimmering green through the waving brown grasses in the fields. Chickens and geese are sitting on overflowing nests of eggs, and baby goats have found their sea legs and are galloping happily around the paddocks.
Veggies I planted months ago are now ready for harvest: beetroots, radishes, snow peas, sugar snap peas, kale, spinach, silverbeet, and lettuces. Blueberries are turning bluer, lilly pillies pinker, and I’ve even got a green tomato nearly two inches wide!!
It’s such an invigorating time of year and I feel a surge of excitement as I make plans and start projects.
I’ve been taking time each day to linger over tea with my journal, jotting down hopes and ideas, scribbling lists, and giving myself a few moments to celebrate each little thing that is completed. I love those quiet moments of reflection that settle my frazzled self and help me focus on the important stuff with a peaceful heart.
Today I’m spending the whole day between my gardens and my office, getting things ready for this new season.
Yesterday I planted broccoli, cabbages, and a rogue tomato that popped up in my strawberry bed, and now I need to get them all mulched so they’re protected from the coming heat. There are potatoes to be planted, all sorts of seeds put in trays, fruit trees sprayed and mulched, and seedlings transplanted. I do love getting out there in the sunshine, digging in the dirt, giving everything a good drink.
Over the winter my office became a catch all for myriad projects and is in dire need of a clear out and spruce up. I’m excited to get everything sorted and organized so my creative space is a haven again.
Now it’s time to finish my last sip of coffee, bundle up against the morning chill, and go feed all the animals, collect eggs, and get the next load of laundry on the line.
What is your favorite part about the change of seasons? xo
by Krista | Aug 31, 2015 | Winter
Saturday morning Bear and I were up at 4 a.m. to pack the car, dress in medieval clothes, and head to Fort Lytton for a day with friends representing the 12th century.
Normally during medieval events, we are busy from morn until night doing demonstrations and talking with the public, but this one was laid back and relaxed and so much fun. We actually had time to hang out with each other, and that was brilliant.
We got to wander into each other’s tents and see the variations of food, craft, and furniture used by different groups representing different cultures. I was delighted by these rustic little apple hand pies.
And who can resist hummus, salted nuts, smoked hams and sausages, dried fruits, lovely cheeses, and those oh so gorgeous strawberries? Medieval food provides mighty good eating indeed.
I also liked looking at all the unique crafts practiced by each group. My friend does the most beautiful naalbinding, a precursor to knitting, churning out cozy mittens, socks, slippers, and cord. Her hubby makes handmade leather shoes that are gorgeous.
My friend Sue and I spent several hours making brightly colored Bedouin tassels for our Bedouin tent, camel saddles, and robes. It was so fun to sit in the shade of the tent, visiting with old and new friends as we worked.
Since it was such a small event, our Templar friends told us to not worry about bringing all our gear, and instead shared their tent with us. It was so great to get to spend time together, telling stories and jokes, swapping tales about past events, and sharing our latest bits of medieval research and discovery.
I especially loved learning about the history of the Templars, their role in the Crusades, and the diverse assemblage of pilgrims from around the known world who accompanied them to the Holy Land.
My favorite bit was hanging out with such a great group of people, doing something we love with others who love it too.
Bear and I returned home exhausted but inspired, full of ideas for projects and improvements and additions to our camp. With our next event less than a month away, we have a lot of fun work to do.
What is your favorite memory from your weekend? xo
