by Krista | Apr 4, 2014 | Autumn
I’m enamored by Autumn sunshine.
Is there anything more golden, rich, and warm? It doesn’t have the piercing brightness of Summer or the clear breeziness of Spring, no, it’s something different, something that sinks right down into your soul warming you from the inside out.
I’ve spent a lot of time on the back veranda today looking out at this scene while I sip my coffee, write in my journal, chat with Bear, or just rest.
One of my favorite things about our Aussie farm is how peaceful it is. It’s not a silent peace – that would be impossible with chickens clucking and the wind in the gum trees and goats bleating to each other out in the paddock – but it is a soothing peace, a natural one. No matter how crazy things get, I know my peace will always be restored if I can just get outside for a bit.
Especially in late afternoon when the animals are all tucked in for the night, happily snoozing in the last rays of sunshine.
The light is exquisite glimmering through waving gum trees, the warmth caressing as the winds die down and the countryside seems to settle down for the evening.
It’s a good place to rest, to restore in body and spirit so we can face everyday life with renewed courage and hope.
Where is your favorite place to rest? xo
by Krista | Apr 2, 2014 | Autumn
Good morning, luvs! It is so good to be back, especially since Bear’s surgery went beautifully and he is healing up nicely. Such a relief. 🙂
I’m also happy because, after a couple years of tests and doctors and specialists, we’ve finally (fingers crossed!!) pinned down how to help me get better. I started a new medicine last week and I’m already feeling like a new woman. 🙂 It will take time to get back to full health and strength, but I’m on my way and that is worth celebrating.
We also got rain this week – glorious, luscious, marvelous rain that soaked deep into the earth and turned the landscape a lush green that positively glows in the late afternoon sun. The drought is well and truly over and we are so thankful.
Everything is beautiful, everything, and I find myself stopping in front of the windows all day long to take it in.
I love how heavy rains like this turn our farm into a bit of Ireland with vivid greens and lichen-covered rocks.
We’ve been eating lots of nourishing things: fiber-rich breads, hearty stews, and Catalan-style Silverbeet.
Normally this dish uses spinach, but I like using massive leaves of silverbeet (known as Swiss Chard in North America). Simply steam the trimmed silverbeet and while it’s cooking, saute garlic slices in olive oil until they just begin to get a hint of color. Remove them to a paper towel and give them a quick salting (they give a lovely bit of crunch to the dish). In the same oil, saute a handful of sultanas or currants or cranberries or any other dried fruit you fancy, and a handful of pine nuts. Cook until the fruit plumps up and the nuts turn golden brown. Drain and chop the silverbeet and add it to the pan, tossing gently to incorporate oil, nuts, and fruit. Serve warm topped with the crispy garlic or a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.
What is your favorite nourishing food this week?
Catalan Style Silverbeet
Ingredients:
1 bunch silverbeet, washed, rib removed
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1/3 cup sultanas or currants or cranberries
1/3 cup pine nuts
Optional: Parmesan cheese
Directions:
- In large pot, steam silverbeet until tender, drain and chop into bite-sized pieces.
- In large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat.
- Add garlic and fry gently just until it gets a bit of color. Remove to paper towel and salt.
- Add fruit and nuts to pan, fry until fruit plumps and nuts brown.
- Add silverbeet and fry 1-2 minutes, stirring gently to incorporate oil, fruit, and nuts.
- Serve warm with toasted garlic and/or sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.
by Krista | Mar 27, 2014 | Autumn
It is so good to sit in our little house, warm and cozy as the rains fall. We’ve gone from drought to flood warnings in less than a week! That’s crazy Queensland for you. We’re just so thankful for rain, even if it does turn our farm into a massive mud puddle for a while.
I just wanted to pop in and say hello and let you know that I will be away until April. Bear had surgery this week and while he’s healing up nicely, docs have given him strict instructions to do absolutely nothing for a week. So I’m stepping in to fill in the gaps whilst he twiddles his thumbs and gets his fill of movies, audio books, and surfing the internet. Yes, he is going stir crazy. 🙂
So while we keep things quiet around here with comfort food and homemade cookies and a whole lot of cuppas, I wish you a wonderful week. xo
by Krista | Mar 23, 2014 | Autumn
I love trees. Love them.
When I was little I would climb the huge trees in our back yard on the Alberta prairies, never quite as brave as my three brothers who scampered as high as they could go, but brave enough to find a good thick branch for sitting on and dreaming from. I loved it up there, hidden behind leafy branches, dappled by sunshine like a little human meadow.
Winter was my favorite time to explore the snow-covered woods at my grandparents house in northern British Columbia. The drifts were huge and the woods silent as my brothers, cousins and I tramped through, dreaming up escape routes from the Nazis and Russians who were surely marauding nearby. We built forts and gave chase and eventually dragged our red-faced, drenched selves back to Grandma’s house for hot chocolate and homemade Danish cookies. It was marvelous.
I’m drawn to the woods wherever I go. The pine needle carpeted forests of British Columbia and Washington State, the birch groves of Russia, the gum and Eucalyptus bush of Australia. Tramping through the Black Forest in Germany to find ruined castles or alpine lakes is sheer pleasure, as is ambling through the New Forest in England, stumbling upon idyllic cottages and catching glimpses of wild ponies.
While walking in a park in Allora this week, I saw this beauty of a tree and was smitten.
I love its sturdy trunk and massive spreading branches, the hollow at its heart that would’ve been perfect for a blond girl to hide in when she was little.
Its deeply riveted and weathered bark begs to be touched and provides the ideal climbing surface for a rogue strand of vine.
Its roots are covered with all sorts of interesting detritus: gnarled branches, fallen berries and twigs, curly-edged leaves in a rainbow of colors. Splendid.
So as I dream of dark forests and mysterious woods, I sip a London Fog, a delicious concoction of strong Earl Grey tea, steamed milk, and vanilla syrup. It’s just the sort of thing to drink on the front porch of a cabin in the woods.
I would normally steam the milk in my frother so that it would be wonderfully foamy, but alas, it kicked the bucket a while back and knocked out the house power at the same time. 🙂 Although I miss the creamy foam on top, the taste of the London Fog is just as lovely with warm milk instead of steamed.
Do you have a favorite tree or forest?
London Fog for Two
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Earl Grey Tea leaves (or two teabags)
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp vanilla syrup (To make your own vanilla syrup, boil together 1.5 cups sugar with 2 cups water for 5-10 minutes until a syrup forms. Remove from heat and stir in pure vanilla extract. Cool and bottle.)
Directions:
- Place tea leaves in tea pot and cover with two cups hot water. Let steep 2-5 minutes. You want it strong for this drink.
- While tea is steeping, heat milk in small saucepan over medium high heat. DO NOT BOIL. As soon as it is hot, remove from heat and whisk until frothy. (If you have a milk frother, just use it)
- Pour tea through strainer into two cups.
- Stir in 1 Tbsp vanilla syrup into each cup.
- Pour 1/4 cup of frothy milk into each cup.
- Serve hot.
by Krista | Mar 21, 2014 | Autumn
After a long and terrible drought, we finally got rain this week and I was so happy I nearly cried. Our parched, dusty earth is dark brown and moist again and the air is so clean and fresh and cool. At least at our farm. Neighbors 10 km away didn’t get a drop. 🙁 I ache for them and wish for bucketing rain for all of Australia.
Yesterday I spent the day in town so I could meet a new specialist who is making great strides in evaluating and helping my situation. Hooray! While I was waiting, watching the skies fill up with massive dark clouds, I decided to risk a drenching and walk down to the park.
It was gorgeous, with leaves in glossy russet, pale green, and sunny yellow carpeting paths and fields. The wind rushed through the poplars making the leaves shimmy and whisper. It was so cooling and refreshing I just stood there, eyes closed, letting it whisk away the week of suffocating heat and humidity.
I wandered slowly, stopping every few feet to sigh happily at one beautiful Autumn vignette after another.
Who can resist apple red leaves on Kelly green grass?
Or sage gum leaves etched against blackened bark?
Or a carpet of leaves under a stormy sky?
What about an aging poplar leaf…
…or a starry orange flower…
…or a lap full of colored leaves?
Then, as I walked and looked and sighed, the gentlest of rains began to fall, cool and luscious, misty and wonderful. A walk in the rain. The cherry on top of a magical morning.
What’s making you happy about your weather today? xo
One of my favorite things about our Aussie farm is how peaceful it is. It’s not a silent peace – that would be impossible with chickens clucking and the wind in the gum trees and goats bleating to each other out in the paddock – but it is a soothing peace, a natural one. No matter how crazy things get, I know my peace will always be restored if I can just get outside for a bit.
Especially in late afternoon when the animals are all tucked in for the night, happily snoozing in the last rays of sunshine.
It’s a good place to rest, to restore in body and spirit so we can face everyday life with renewed courage and hope.
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