by Krista | Apr 1, 2012 | Bootstrap Monday
Oh it is SO good to be home!!
After my mad dash to the States for visa and residency requirements, I cannot tell you how happy I am to be back on my beloved farm, hugging my dear ones tightly and basking in days that feel like the Indian Summers of my childhood in Canada.
This morning I had to go outside for a wander with our dog Fletcher, soaking up glorious sunshine and taking pictures of beauties such as this tree covered in papery pods. Any Aussies out there know what sort of tree this is?
Wildflowers are blooming again around my favorite fallen log and I want to sit there for a long time, eyes closed, face lifted to the sun.
The pure white Muscovy ducks are molting and the grass is covered with feathers and fluff. I think it’s the closest thing to snow I’ll see for a while.
My favorite part of this Autumn on the farm are my new baby goats born just a few days before I got back. They are twin girls named Flopsy (because she kept flopping on her bottom) and Lindt (because she’s the color of chocolate). They are wickedly cute and I love leaning on the fence at sunset watching them leap and gallop on their tiny spindly legs.
What season is it where you live? What is delighting you most about this time of year?
by Krista | Mar 26, 2012 | Bootstrap Monday
After a hearty and scrumptious homemade breakfast on the beach outside my bungalow, I grabbed sunglasses and camera and headed out for a trek along the main road of Nguna Island, Vanuatu.
Before I’d even gone a few steps I caught up with a lovely island woman who beamed at me and fell into step, telling me about her husband and children and what it’s like to live on this beautiful tropical island in the Coral Sea.
We parted at a crossroads where she joined a stream of colorfully clad folks climbing a narrow path up to the village church. We waved good-bye and I continued on my way, the sound of the church choir providing a magical soundtrack to my walk through the village.
I passed a local school, loving the mural that proclaimed: “White, Black, We Are All The Same.”
I wandered down the road and came across five brothers lolling about on wooden benches at the base of a massive tree. They were hilarious little chaps, answering my questions very politely before giggling like mad and hiding their heads under their shirts.
As I waved good-bye I looked back over my shoulder and there they were, peeking at me from around the tree and covering their mouths to suppress more laughter.
Although the sun was blazing hot above Nguna, a quick glance out to sea showed storm clouds gathering and dumping sheets of rain on nearby islands. I picked up my pace a bit, determined to see as much as possible before the storm arrived.
I approached three ladies bustling to church as fast as they could in the sweltering heat. But even running late they greeted me with smiles and stopped to chat. Turns out two of them were Aussies, a volunteer and her mother, heading to morning worship with their adopted island mama.
Little trails branched off from the main road, leading to exquisite views of roiling surf and distant islands. They also led to glorious shade and deliciously cool breezes off the water. Such things are pure bliss on a sweltering morning.
I loved strolling through one village after another, thoroughly charmed by the little touches employed to make each place unique: brightly painted gutters, shady porches facing the sea, and vivid hibiscus blossoms.
One of my favorite moments was spotting this woman through the trees. She looked so beautiful and powerful standing there on the rocks, her orange dress billowing in the wind as she searched the horizon looking for I know not what.
When I passed this spot on my way home, she called out greetings to me from a shady patch of sand where she was having a picnic with her husband and children. I love moments like that. 🙂
Next time I’ll share what I saw just before a mother of a rain storm blew in.
Do you like walking in the rain?
by Krista | Mar 18, 2012 | Bootstrap Monday
Mornin’ luvs! Back in October I gave you Part 1 of A Train Ride through the Italian Alps, fully intending to share Part 2 with utmost haste. Alas, “best laid plans” and all that, and here we are in March. 🙂
Last time we were wandering with my friends Margo, Katy, Kathy and Kate through a hand-painted archway into a courtyard in the village of Santa Maria Maggiore in Northern Italy.
We shall continue our ramble now, strolling past one glorious sun-drenched villa after another.
Although all of these exquisite old homes had lashings of charm, my heart was captured by this one with its vivid orange walls and vine-covered arbor. Wouldn’t you love to create a cozy seat under there for long afternoons of reading and napping?
I was also charmed by the intricate murals on various walls along our route. At first glance some of them looked real. Can you spot the one that isn’t a painting?
The pealing of bells from the church tower reminded us that we’d better scoot back to the train station if we didn’t want to miss our train. We hustled back and arrived in plenty of time to amble along the tracks and inspect some grazing cattle making a racket with the huge bells tied around their necks.
Soon it was time to board. We found our seats and quickly opened the windows to let cooling mountain breezes fill the rather stuffy railway car. I fully intended to actually sit in my seat, but the views were too spectacular and I spent most of the trip leaning out the window taking pictures and sighing in delight.
This little chap found us as fascinating as we found him, not budging from the fence until we disappeared around the bend. 🙂
Higher and higher the train went. We left the lush green valleys behind and entered the Italian Alps, mesmerized by the crystal clear mountain streams and craggy cliffs rising up from the trees.
Every curve of the track brought some new delight: a hidden turquoise lake, beautiful mountain chalets with window boxes overflowing with vivid blooms, line upon tidy line of vineyards and orchards. The midday sun was so warm and with the gentle rocking of the train I was glad I had my head out the window or I would surely have nodded off.
Although it was already October, Italy was having a gorgeous Indian summer and everything looked warm and golden as we chugged over the border into Switzerland.
I can’t wait to show you what we saw in Switzerland. 🙂
What sort of travel do you like most? Are you as besotted by trains as I am?
by Krista | Mar 11, 2012 | Bootstrap Monday
As much as I love the gorgeous old buildings and courtyards of Bologna, I also find great delight in the little unimportant details that make this city so interesting.
Like the community bulletin board plastered with all sorts of notices for concerts and films and classes.
Some of my favorite such sights are the painted murals on the garage-type doors that protect the shops of Bologna after hours and during afternoon siesta.
They are supposed to represent what is sold inside. Some of them are easy to decipher, but others??
Methinks this might be a Bolognese watering hole.
Perhaps a bakery? Shelves lined with warm loaves of fresh white bread?
And this one? Umm, no idea whatsoever. 🙂
After wandering under the cool porticoes of Bologna in late afternoon, my friend Maddalena and I headed out into the hot September sunshine. It didn’t take long before we were both craving gelato. Maddalena took me to one of her favorite spots and I got a scoop of the very darkest of dark chocolate. Delish.
What’s your favorite thing to eat on a hot sunny day?
by Krista | Feb 27, 2012 | Bootstrap Monday
After day upon day of dark skies, pouring rain and wild winds, it’s felt like autumn here in Australia instead of summer. And to be honest, I don’t mind one bit.
I realized the other day that I’ve been living in perpetual summer since June 2011, and as lovely as that’s been, my soul is craving the peaceful, cozy hibernation of the colder months of the year.
This week I’ve been editing pictures from an autumn trip to Paris and I can’t tell you how much joy it’s brought me. To see those gloriously colored leaves and remember the scent of chocolate chaud (hot chocolate) as I sipped it cautiously on early mornings. To almost feel the cool chill of those first icy winds on my cheeks, oh it’s been grand.
So today I’m taking you with me on an autumn stroll through leaf-strewn streets and quiet parks. I hope it brings you a bit of joy in whatever weather you find yourself today.
After such a brisk constitutional I find myself hungering for homey things like Maple Peach Crisp with Toasted Almond Coconut Topping. So pull up a chair, dear one, and I’ll serve you a big warm slice drizzled with cream.
What do you crave after a morning out in the cold?
Maple Roasted Peaches with Toasted Almond Coconut Topping
Ingredients:
8-10 large peaches, washed, pitted, and cut into chunks
2-3 Tbsp real maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cloves
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cloves
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In large bowl place peaches, maple syrup, vanilla and first lot of spices. Stir until peaches are well coated. Cover and set aside.
- In a different large bowl combine remaining ingredients. Using hands mix, rubbing ingredients together to incorporate butter, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Pour peach mixture into 9” by 13” pan. Sprinkle oat mixture evenly overtop.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes until peaches are bubbling and topping is toasty brown.
- Serve with heavy cream or ice cream.
by Krista | Feb 19, 2012 | Bootstrap Monday
It was a wonderfully dark and eerie afternoon when Bear and I stepped onto the sandy shores at Deception Bay in Caboolture Shire north of Brisbane, Australia. Storm clouds loomed overhead, threatening to unload their cargo of raindrops at any moment. Being adventurous souls we couldn’t let such things deter us, so we set our faces into the blustering wind and went for a trek.
Deception Bay is a lovely place, named by a certain Lieutenant John Oxley in 1823 who mistook it for a river due to its unusual shallowness.
Such shallow waters make it an ideal spot for fishing, boating and searching for treasures in the tidal pools.
It’s also home to beautiful mangroves, a thick carpet of roots keeping them anchored in the shifting sands and rising tides. I loved standing on shore gazing out to sea, mesmerized by silvery swirls of water shimmering a gun metal gray in the brooding light.
I’d never seen mangroves before and was quite transfixed by them.
Up close the sand looks like it’s carpeted with ginger root mingling with fallen yellow leaves and cheery green shoots.
The small pool below is known as Mrs. Bancroft’s Bath. The pool was carved out of rock in the 1880’s for the wife of Dr. Joseph Bancroft. The poor woman was very ill and an English doctor prescribed salt water baths. On fine days Mrs. Bancroft was carried down the cliff and placed into the bath as the tide came in. Before this treatment she was only given a short time to live. Amazingly she lived a further 8-10 years. To this day you can still see the holes where a canopy was erected to protect her from the fierce Australian sun.
The mangroves have a rather splendid tropical feel to them, and I had flashes of the old Disney version of Swiss Family Robinson.
When we weren’t traipsing through the sand peering at jelly fish and old salt water baths, Bear and I joined other afternoon strollers on the Cottonwood Walk, a sweeping boardwalk along the esplanade with magnificent views of the mangroves and the sea.
When the skies grew darker we breathed deeply of the cool, sea air then headed back to the car, arriving just as the first raindrops began to fall.
What is your favorite thing to do on a stormy afternoon?
