by Krista | Apr 13, 2015 | Autumn
I love mindfulness, meditation, stillness, whichever word you wish to apply to moments throughout the day when, no matter what you’re doing, you stop, close your eyes, slow and deepen your breathing, slow and steady your heart rate, and linger in a place of physical, mental, and emotional peace until you’re ready to return to the world with a strengthened heart and restored spirit.
I like that you can take this practice with you anywhere, like a secret weapon, ready to pull out whenever life goes wonky or people give in to their mean side or your body just decides to feel frazzled.
But I also love those precious moments when you can steal away to a place of peace, a place where the very surroundings calm, steady, and ground you.
Like the beach.
Last week my friend Ann asked if I’d like to accompany her to Brisbane for the day, so we packed water bottles and snacks and headed over the mountains to the coast. We popped into bead shops and thrift stores, European delis and Greek food shops, and took a few moments away from our errands to have fish and chips at Wynnum Pier with my friend (and Ann’s daughter) Lizzie.
It never ceases to amaze me how even an hour at the beach can restore your spirits immeasurably, and linger with you long after you drive away.
It was sheer bliss to feel hot sun on my face and shoulders, salty breezes tossing my hair this way and that as we found treasures in the sand like this banksia cone. I’d never seen banksia before I came to Australia, and I find it incredible that the cheery and soft yellow blossoms above become these equally beautiful cones.
We watched people wading in the water, kids screaming with laughter, others strolling quietly along the beach lost in their own thoughts.
I found a seagull feather and watched boys racing each other through the trees, gasping for air as they shouted, “Again!”
I love the air at the beach, so fresh and cool and briny, especially as Autumn deepens and the fierce heat of summer dissipates.
Bear and I often talk about retiring to the beach, finding a little spot just for us where we can fish and look for treasures in the sand and potter away at our crafts and projects. But we always return to our beloved farm, a sense of belonging and welcome engulfing us as we descend over the mountains to the rolling hills of the Darling Downs.
For now we are happy for jaunts to the beach, for pleasurable hours sitting under the shade of palm trees, watching seagulls hop ever closer hoping for a nip at our fish and chips.
All too soon it was time to leave, to get back to school and work and chores. We took one last look at ocean waves and sand that seemed to ripple in the heat, nodded farewell to the gulls and headed back home to the people and things we love.
Where is your favorite place to go to restore your spirits? xo
by Krista | Apr 2, 2015 | Autumn
One of the things I love best about living on our farm is that I’m always learning new things. I may get tired and dirty here, but I never, ever get bored.
This week I learned more about my favorite trees on our property: Golden Rain Trees. Although they are lovely and green all year round, Autumn is when they come into their true glory. First they’re covered with tiny yellow flowers that give a siren call to any bee within sniffing distance. These then fall off, carpeting the ground in a sea of yellow. They’re replaced by these gorgeous fuchsia pods filled with small green seeds that later turn black.
I love the Golden Rain Trees for their shade, their colors, their beauty, and this week I learned, much to my amazement, that the seeds are edible if roasted. I cannot wait to try them in a few weeks when they are ready for gathering.
This weekend we trimmed one of our Golden Rain Trees to ensure our new cider orchard will have plenty of sunlight. I made numerous cuttings from the fallen branches and planted them to see if they will take. I’d love to have a whole new bunch of rain trees to plant around our farm.
I like how the branches provide cuttings, seeds, firewood, and even beautiful displays of gorgeous, amber sap. When I was a little girl I used to love roaming the woods and finding nuggets of jeweled sap on various trees. I would taste the different types, most rather pitchy and resinous, always hoping that they would taste as wondrous as they looked. I still think they’re beautiful, like droplets of spun glass against the rough wood.
With the big winds we’ve had this week, the Golden Rain continues to fall, covering the dirt, grass, potted plants, and even my rain-filled wheelbarrow. It makes me smile every day.
Do you have a favorite tree where you live? xo
by Krista | Mar 30, 2015 | Autumn
With great delight we welcomed the cooler temperatures of Autumn this weekend. I can’t tell you how lovely it is to not need a fan blowing on me all day just to keep going. I’m a happy camper.
With the decrease in temperature came an increase of energy, and I’ve been working hard putting up all sorts of fruits and veggies for the cold winter months.
Our markets are currently full to bursting with inexpensive boxes of ripe tomatoes, fat apples, and oh-so-juicy pears, and Bear and I happily load them into our car each week to be turned into delicious things.
This weekend I made trays of roasted tomatoes and pureed them into scrumptious tomato sauce that is now frozen and ready for winter pasta dishes and hearty soups.
I hauled out all three dehydrators and have kept them humming as they dry stacks of tomatoes, apples, and pears. The dried tomatoes will be packed in jars with capers and garlic then covered with olive oil. The apples and pears are for snacking now and to be used in dried fruit pies and puddings down the road.
I also did a lot of baking, two dozen whole grain sunflower seed flat bread rolls and a loaf of sunflower seed bread.
Mmm, it smells so good in here.
I ended the baking, cooking, preserving frenzy by making a quick and easy Maple Fig Cobbler using up the last of the figs I picked with my friend Katy a couple of months ago. They’ve been waiting in the freezer for a just right recipe, and this was it. The hearty whole grain cobbled crust was a wonderful accompaniment to the melt in your mouth fig filling. It was a delicious way to end a busy day.
What is your favorite part about the season you are in? xo
Maple Fig Cobbler
Ingredients:
10-12 fresh figs, washed and quartered
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp real maple syrup
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp maple extract
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 F (200 C).
2. In large saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 2 Tbsp butter and add fresh figs. Drizzle with maple syrup and simmer until sauce forms from the butter, syrup, and fig juices. Pour into pie plate.
3. In medium bowl stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using fingers, work in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Add milk and maple extract, stir with fork until soft dough forms. Will be quite wet.
5. Using a tsp or your fingers, cover fig mixture with dollops of dough to create cobbled surface.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until crust is golden and fig mixture bubbling.
7. Serve warm or chilled.
by Krista | Mar 19, 2015 | Autumn
“The richness of the rain made me feel safe and protected;
I have always considered the rain to be healing—a blanket—the comfort of a friend.”
Douglas Coupland
It rained yesterday, beautiful, heavy, dirt-soaking rain. And for a while the world was dark and cozy and wild and stormy and downright wonderful.
So we made it a day of simple pleasures: no internet, no phones, no computers. Just me and Bear spending time together doing little things we love.
We treated ourselves to a humdinger of a breakfast with extra hash browns, a side of pancakes, and both coffee AND hot chocolate. We were ravenous after two days spent building fences and planting nearly 70 tree cuttings.
We went treasure-hunting at our favorite thrift store and junk shop and found all sorts of great things: storage racks for his tools and my wood-burning equipment, hardwood planks for building my greenhouse, and some lovely old china dishes from England.
We went to the hardware store to get our new ladder and the last bits needed to finish off the orchards, and found a treasure trove of winter veggie seedlings for a song. We picked up groceries, Blood Orange and Tahitian Lime Trees for our citrus orchard, and a stack of inspiring books from the library. The titles alone send our imaginations whirring.
We had our weekly date at the bakery, indulging in leisurely visits, cheesy quiche, and sips of ice cold sarsaparilla to cool us off in the blistering heat after the storm.
After such a wonderful but tiring day in town, I like to keep things simple on the food front, raiding the pantry for things that taste good, fill us up, but require no preparation. This does the trick nicely.
What is your favorite simple meal after a day out? xo
by Krista | Feb 17, 2015 | Summer
After the launch of my book and completing the last of the radio and newspaper interviews, I’m slowly but surely getting back to normal life: laundry, animals, new writing projects, and cuddling ducklings whenever possible.
Today I got to bake up a storm and do a Country Tea Party photo shoot and story. It was so much fun, especially because my hubby and our friends, Ann and Oma, showed up to help me feast out under the trees.
We laughed hard and told stories and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves after working full steam ahead all day. Nothing like afternoon tea in the shade of a big tree to relax you in body and spirit.
After they left and the dishes were done, I went for a wander to check on animals and gardens and was thrilled to see my lilly pilly fruiting!
Until this week, I’d only ever seen them in pictures, and never heard of them at all until I moved to Australia. They have such gorgeous little berries.
Isn’t that color fantastic? I tasted my first ones today and am smitten. 🙂 They’re crisp and slightly tart and very refreshing. I don’t know what to liken the flavor to yet, but I will keep you posted.
Have you ever had a lilly pilly berry before? What is your favorite kind of berry? xo
