by Krista | Feb 3, 2015 | Summer
Rain is misting lightly outside, cooling things down after a gorgeous weekend spent with my friend Corrie. Neither of us were feeling good, so instead of jaunts here and there, we planned a thoroughly relaxing couple of days filled with eating good food, afternoon naps, and long talks while curled up in comfy chairs.
One of my favorite memories is from Saturday night. After trekking through the bush and spotting a couple of wallabies, we returned home and set up for an evening around the campfire. Bear helped me arrange the fire pit, haul chairs over, and collect firewood.
While Corrie had a good, long talk with her hubby back in Colorado, I sank into my chair with a cold drink and soaked up the stunning light shimmering through leaves and blades of grass.
I never tire of this time of day on our farm. We might be exhausted from wrangling goats or digging gardens, but once sunset begins, stress melts away and you can’t help but be happy to be alive.
As the sun sank lower we opened wine to breathe and brought out ice cold beers. Bear built and lit the fire and I brought out fixings for dinner: lamb sausages made with pepper and sun-dried tomatoes.
As the sausages popped and sizzled we settled back with our drinks, munching on potato chips and sharing stories. It felt so good to laugh hard and chat about our day, thoroughly relaxed and comfy with all the chores done and a free night ahead of us. 
While we chatted and the fire crackled, Bear collected more firewood, fallen branches and bits of gum tree bark to keep the fire going late into the night.
At last the sausages were ready, charred on the outside, cooked on the inside, ready to be dressed with Dijon mustard and homemade chili jam.
Soon the sun was gone and we sat under a star-filled sky wrapped in flannel shirts and blankets, talking about life and work and hopes and plans. Corrie is a writer too, so very, very talented, and it was great to talk shop with her, sharing plans and book ideas.
Following in that vein, I’m delighted to announce that PDF versions of my books are now available for only $14.99 AUS ($12.57 US). With no shipping or printing costs to worry about, they are a great option for anyone who’d like a copy to store on their computer and have inspiring images of Italy and old European doors only a mouse click away.
To purchase a copy or for more information, visit my book shoppe by clicking here.
The rain has stopped, but the clouds and wind are keeping us cool as we reflect on happy memories with a dear friend.
What is your favorite memory from this weekend? xo
by Krista | Jan 29, 2015 | Bits 'n' Bobs
This weekend I get to host my very first guest from America when my dear friend Corrie arrives from Colorado. To say I am excited cannot encapsulate the utter delight I feel knowing that soon I will get to hug tight someone who inspires me every day, a true kindred spirit and free-souled woman.
The last time we were together was a few years ago when we met up in Prague. Looking through the pictures today put the biggest smile on my face as I remembered wandering all over that gorgeous city, eating far too much food, and sitting for hours in smoke-filled pubs talking, sipping cold beer, and nibbling all sorts of unknown local specialties.
In true hostess fashion I wanted to have everything perfect for her arrival, but then my body decided to get sick for four of the last six days, so instead of unusual perfection she gets to see us in all our normal glory. The lovely thing about Corrie is that she won’t mind one bit.
In the spirit of celebrating normal, I gave up on the dusting and window-washing, and instead made a Tomato Caramelized Onion Tart to nosh on while I make up a bed for Corrie in the Granny Flat, collect flowers from my garden for her bedside table, and grin happily at the prospect of having such a treasured person at our farm for the weekend.
Only one more day until we get to talk for hours, go for treks in the bush, and make the most of every minute.
What do you look forward to most when a dear friend comes to visit? xo
Tomato Caramelized Onion Tart
Ingredients:
1 par-baked tart crust
oil for cooking
1 large onion, sliced thinly
2-3 Tbsp pesto or Dijon mustard
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
4-5 ripe tomatoes, cored and sliced
2 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp dried coriander leaves
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F (200 C).
Place sliced tomatoes in a colander to drain until ready to use.
Heat oil in frying pan over medium-high heat and cook onions until caramelized, stirring regularly so they don’t burn.
Spread tart crust with pesto or mustard.
Scatter caramelized onions evenly over mustard.
Scatter Parmesan cheese evenly over onions.
Layer tomatoes in an overlapping fashion over top of cheese.
Whisk together eggs, cream, and salt. Pour carefully over tomatoes.
Scatter coriander leaves over tart and place in oven. Bake for one hour until crust is browned, tomatoes are cooked, and custard is set.
Serve hot or at room temperature.
by Krista | Jan 27, 2015 | Summer
“Life is just a lot of everyday adventures.” Carol Ryrie Brink
Yesterday Bear and I saw storm clouds building and went outside to get the goats into their pen before the rain came. Unfortunately, the goats also sensed the storm coming and decided the best thing to do would be to hide under our house. All thirty of them. So under I went, hobbling along ridiculously like a crab wearing rubber boots, trying neither to fall over laughing or klonk my head on the floor beams. I shooed and waved my whip most awkwardly while Bear stood outside and hollered encouragement and finally, finally the goats moved on out. We got them to their pen in time for them to beat the storm, but not us. Within seconds we were thoroughly, utterly drenched. We laughed and shook our heads and sloshed our way back to the house where we dried off and Bear made us cuppas.
Such was one of our everyday adventures on the farm.
We never know what’s going to happen each day. Our goals are loosey-goosey at best, for just as soon as we make plans, animals or weather toss a monkey wrench into them while cackling gleefully.
I grin as I look back at my rose-colored views of farm life when I arrived here three years ago. I envisioned a cute, tidy house set in a pristine farm yard where darling animals fed happily and gardens and orchards grew lavishly.
Sometimes those things actually happen. And when they do we look at each other in wonder and amazement.
Because most of the time it’s a mix of beauty and mayhem.
Amidst the flower-filled meadow are old cars we keep meaning to haul to the dump, but never seem to get around to. Our cute little house is cute and little, but it’s also a bit of a disaster during those times when you have to dash into the house with muddy boots on, or stack projects up in tottering piles because your “free afternoon” has suddenly turned into “get the goats out of the neighbors yard before they eat anything!” or “quick, make a newborn duck pen because two mums’ eggs just hatched and we have eighteen babies to look after!” While the animals are adorable, they’re also a pain in the neck! It’s rather like having a farm full of furry toddlers who get into absolutely everything and have no concept of why you’re perturbed with them. And the gardens and orchards are wonderful when they aren’t withered by drought, drowned by floods, or eaten by goats, mice, possums, kangaroos, or all of the above.
I wouldn’t trade this madcap life for anything, but it isn’t easy, and anyone who says it is, is clearly trying to sell you a farm.
I do love it, though. Yep, even when I have to replant my garden for the fifth time in 12 months, when we grieve the loss of animals who die for no apparent reason, and when my dreams of a tidy home aren’t anywhere near coming to fruition.
I love it because it’s ours. Because everywhere we look is something we’ve done, something we dreamed about, worked towards, and made happen through our own toil, ingenuity, and careful saving. I’ve learned a lot about patience living here, about celebrating every little thing because the big things take so long to come to pass. I’ve made peace with the unfinishedness, the undoneness, the may-never-be-completedness, and I can even look at the old cars with love.
So today I celebrate our everyday adventures: laughing in the rain with my sodden hubby, a mama goat about to give birth any minute, a tidy (for at least the next five minutes) house.
What everyday adventure are you celebrating today? xo
by Krista | Jan 22, 2015 | Summer
“I drink cup of sunlight every morning to brighten myself.” Debasish Mridha
I love the first rays of sunlight coming up over the fields, filtering through the kitchen window splattered from enthusiastic bathing by ducks in the water tank below, settling seedlings aglow, making the world seem softer, brighter, more hopeful.
It seeps across the kitchen floor turning old floorboards warm and golden before it slips back out the window and clambers up onto the roof.
It’s such a beautiful time of day, the one I look forward to most as I finish up the dishes, brew cuppas, and work out my to-do list. Today my list includes the following:
- plant seedlings in newly cleared garden
- bake bread for article on soup and bread
- do research for writing assignment
- harvest beetroot and purple carrots
- pay bills
- remember to hang the laundry
- eat banana muffins with butter
- mend sundress
- un-decorate Christmas tree
- taste first elderberry
And now the luscious morning sun has disappeared behind a wonderfully cooling haze of clouds. Just the sort of weather I was hoping for as I head out to the gardens.
What are you most looking forward to accomplishing on your to-do list today? xo
by Krista | Jan 20, 2015 | Summer
“Home is the nicest word there is.” Laura Ingalls Wilder
Yesterday Bear and I went to the Post Office and received a large envelope with my name on it. Inside was approval for my Permanent Residency in Australia. I could hardly believe it and promptly burst into tears. I didn’t realize how I’d been emotionally holding my breath, hoping that Australia would want me to stay, hoping that I’d be allowed to remain with my Bear. After my cry we laughed and whooped and hollered with joy. It’s been a long, long road but we’re finally here and it feels amazing.
I belong here now. I’m allowed to stay. I’m truly allowed to call this place home.
I can’t help but smile. A lot.
So Bear and I are celebrating. Much to our delight, on the same day my approval arrived, so did a box full of Christmas pressies from the US. So we’ve been having such fun watching new movies, reading through new issues of my favorite American magazine, and dreaming up the ideal recipes to utilize the three precious cans of mild green chilies our dear friend sent to us.
This afternoon we’re going to treat ourselves to a coffee and cake date, and this morning we celebrated with one of our favorite brekky’s: fried potatoes with onions and sausage.
Now I’m heading outside to start prepping my garden for winter veggies. After searing heat for days on end, last night a new front blew in and it is wonderfully fresh and cool. Can’t wait to get outside and dig and plant and plan.
How do you like to celebrate important things? xo
While Corrie had a good, long talk with her hubby back in Colorado, I sank into my chair with a cold drink and soaked up the stunning light shimmering through leaves and blades of grass.
I never tire of this time of day on our farm. We might be exhausted from wrangling goats or digging gardens, but once sunset begins, stress melts away and you can’t help but be happy to be alive.
As the sun sank lower we opened wine to breathe and brought out ice cold beers. Bear built and lit the fire and I brought out fixings for dinner: lamb sausages made with pepper and sun-dried tomatoes.
While we chatted and the fire crackled, Bear collected more firewood, fallen branches and bits of gum tree bark to keep the fire going late into the night.
Soon the sun was gone and we sat under a star-filled sky wrapped in flannel shirts and blankets, talking about life and work and hopes and plans. Corrie is a writer too, so very, very talented, and it was great to talk shop with her, sharing plans and book ideas.
