Day 348 in a Year of my Life

Firstly today, I would like to thank Judi, my friend and fellow blogger, for sharing this delicious Lemon Risotto recipe on her blog!

I saved it, knowing that it was something that I would enjoy.  So I made it tonight for myself, while Adoring Husband is away attending SES training.

It was everything and more than I expected!  I'll definitely make it again.

It's a Nigella Lawson recipe and I hope Judi doesn't mind me sharing it here as well.

Ingredients:

2 shallots
1 stick of celery
60 grams unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
300 grams risotto rice (preferably vialone nano)
1 litre vegetable stock (e.g., marigold stock/bouillon powder)
zest and juice of ½ unwaxed lemon
needles from 2 small sprigs of fresh rosemary (finely chopped)
1 large egg yolk
4 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (plus more to sprinkle)
60 ml double cream
maldon salt (to taste)
pepper (preferably white)

Method:

Put the shallots and celery into a Magimix and blitz until they are a finely chopped mush.

Heat half the butter, the oil and the shallot and celery mixture in a wide saucepan, and cook to soften the mixture for about 5 minutes, making sure it doesn't catch.

Mix in the rice, stirring to give it a good coating of oil and butter. Meanwhile, heat the stock in another saucepan and keep it at simmering point.

Pour a ladleful of the stock into the rice and keep stirring until the stock is absorbed. Then add another ladleful and stir again. Continue doing this until the rice is al dente. You may not need all of the stock, equally, you may need to add hot water from the kettle.

Mix the lemon zest and the rosemary into the risotto, and in a small bowl beat the egg yolk, lemon juice, parmesan, cream and pepper.

When the risotto is ready - when the rice is no longer chalky, but still has some bite - take it off the heat and add the bowl of eggy, lemony mixture, and the remaining butter and salt to taste.   Serve with more grated parmesan if you wish, check the seasoning and dive in.

Additional information - for vegetarians replace the Parmesan with a vegetarian alternative. For gluten free check the stock or bouillon powder is gluten free.

The other bright moment of my day was when I took a photo of a Tawny Frogmouth in a nest.  I didn't notice at the time, but when I got home and looked at the photo on my monitor, I got a very pleasant surprise!

I'll go back tomorrow and take a better look.  There may be more little chicks hiding under there!

Today, I'm grateful for my two pleasant surprises today.  Delicious Lemon Risotto and a cute little Tawny Frogmouth chick!

Nite all.

Day 347 in a Year of my Life

This little video has popped up in facebook a couple of times over the last couple of years and it always has a profound effect on me.



I feel that my life would have been so different if I had followed my dreams at a young age, instead of firstly, rebelling, in a negative way, against all that the 'grown ups' stood for, and then, swinging to the opposite end of the spectrum and always doing what the 'grown ups' thought was best.

The more I step back and look at the human race, the more I see that even 'grown ups' behave like school children, in that they follow the crowd - that's how big business eg Coke, Nike, Microsoft, Toyota etc become invincible - because we all want one ... and we all want one the same or bigger and better than everybody else's.

People believe what they are told or are trained to believe, and very few question the crowd.

Watch what happens when somebody steps off the human path of conformity, and onto the path of self discovery.

Watch movies like Easy Rider, Cool Hand Luke, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Dead Poet's Society, to see what happens to nonconformists.

Mignon McLaughlin, a famous author and journalist once wrote "The human race seems to honour living conformists and dead non conformists."

George Orwell stated "that nothing crushes anti-authoritarianism and heroism more than overwhelming fear."

Consider these non conformists: Socrates, Joan of Arc, Martin Luther King and John Lennon, to name a few - executed or assassinated for their non-conformity.

These are just small examples of why we all conform and are subconsciously afraid to overstep the boundaries.

Why we never question authority, or if we do question it, we never stand up against it - certainly not in public.

Why we choose to believe that 'the powers that be' have our best interests at heart, when really they have their own financial interests at heart.

What would happen if we changed our way of thinking?

What would happen if we decided one day that make up was not only a waste of money and was bad for our health, but we were actually prettier, healthier and happier without it?  You are already backing off aren't you?

What would happen if we got on the net and researched the news that was happening in other parts of the world ourselves?  I guarantee you would be more horrified about what you're NOT told by our mainstream news reports.  Yet you are already questioning me aren't you?

What would happen if you discovered that Drs are either trained by, or their training provider is funded by, the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.  That they are trained like monkeys and really have no idea what they are prescribing you or what long term effects the drug will have on your health down the track?  Now you're thinking to yourself - "ah here she goes".

Have you ever wondered why, when Doctors 'become aware' and want to inform the world of the wrong doings in the medical industry, that suddenly they become 'Quacks' and stories appear to dispel their integrity?

Because everyone knows that if you don't conform, there must be something wrong with you.  You're crazy.  You're paranoid.  You've got issues.

Everybody knows that if you haven't lived an exemplary life, it's proof that you are unstable and untrustworthy, right?

I know it's the most difficult thing in the world to question EVERYTHING.  It's so much easier to believe without a shadow of a doubt and just go along with the crowd.

You've got to wonder why our health has become so fragile.  Why our beliefs are controlled by what we are told, unless we've experienced otherwise.  Why we get angry with anyone who challenges our lifestyle or our beliefs.

I like to think that there are more nonconformists in the newer generations, than ever before.

I'd like to think that they are going to question everything that we've done before them and fix the things that we've (unintentionally) broken.

That they will challenge the 'powers that be' that need to be challenged, and hand us back our freedom.

The freedom to choose without discrimination.  The freedom to choose better health avenues.  The freedom to choose our own life in our own way.  The freedom to be ourselves without fear if judgement.

Today I'm grateful if you have reached this final paragraph after actually reading this entire post.  I'm training myself to question everything.  It can be confronting and I don't know what I'm going to do with the results, but it's all a learning process that needs to be taken in small steps.

Nite all.

Day 346 in a Year of my Life

We had a big shopping day in The Bay today and then picked up our FROG (Fraser Region Organic Goodness) box from the farm where they packed them.

We got lots of organic goodness in the box and only one item was not available.

As soon as we got home and unpacked all of our goodies, I made my first batch of Kale Chips in the oven.  YUM!  Better than crisps!

Apparently they are better in the dehydrator, so I'll try that tomorrow.  I'll also put some in my morning smoothie.  Interesting stuff, is Kale.

Our fridge, freezer and pantry is so full of nutritional goodness at the moment, I can't figure out what to eat first!

Today was the first time in months that I didn't take my camera with me, and on the way home, there was a field of cane being harvested.

The tractor and harvester had stirred up quite a bit of dust in the afternoon light and pieces of cane were flying through the air.  It just created the most amazing picture and I'd have loved to get a shot, but alas, all I could do was imprint the picture to memory and wipe it as a missed opportunity.

*sigh*

I posted another photo to the October challenge for the 104 group today.  Number 7 Clouds ...

And that's about it for today.  I'm feeling pretty tired tonight .. but it IS 11.30pm, so I guess I should be feeling a little weary.

Today, I'm grateful not to be living in Sydney where the wind gusts tonight have reached 80kph!  I'm feeling nervous for my youngest daughter, Bubbles, who is having to endure those winds as I type these words.

Nite all.

Day 345 in a Year of my Life

Meet my new friend ...

Isn't he beautiful?

He was clinging to a leaf in our mulberry tree, so I snapped the leaf off and brought him inside.  He is currently still attached to the leaf, but now it's on my desk.  I'll put him out in the garden tonight before I go to bed.

Number 6 in the October challenge, is 'macro', so this is my submission for that.

We had our annual pest inspection today and got the 'all-clear'.  No termites :)

I made a berry ice cream today too.  I attempted to make it in the ice cream machine, but just as I poured it in the tub, the pest man arrived, so I didn't turn the machine on immediately.  Unfortunately, this meant that the bowl was coated with a frozen layer of berry ice-cream before it started, and this clogged the machine up.

So it wasn't a huge success, however, I think it tastes great!  It's made with coconut milk, coconut sugar, vanilla extract, 2 egg yolks and berries.  I crushed and lightly cooked half of the berries and the rest I chopped into chunks.

It's not as sweet as the ice cream that you buy in the supermarket, but that's what I like best about it.

So that's about it for my day.  Nothing special

I'm looking forward to picking up my organic box of goodies tomorrow and then planning time in the kitchen to use it all up.

So today, I'm grateful to have found a frog in the garden.  It's been such a long time since I've seen any around here, and now I've seen two this week.  Very exciting for me!

Nite all.

Day 344 in a Year of my Life

Adoring Husband and I had a nice little day trip to Gympie today.

We caught the train, because AH had to have dental surgery, and they wouldn't allow him to drive afterwards (those of you who know me, know that I have never learned to drive, so I am useless in these situations).

The Tilt Train is very comfortable and the trip is less than 90 mins.  There is a Rail bus that takes you to the city of Gympie from the station for free, so it was very easy.

While he was in surgery, I decided that retail therapy was in order.

Found an interesting old Ford to photograph (the 104 challenge list has 'Cars and bikes' at number 5, so this fits the bill nicely).

This was Adoring Husband before surgery ...

... not too shabby really (although he looks like an amputee here).

So we were home again by 3.30pm, thanks to Lady Lynn's champion husband, Happy Harry, who played the role of taxi service for us today.  So nice of him to help us out like that.

AH was impressed with this new dentist.  The level of care is excellent and the staff are friendly and accommodating and helpful.  It's worth the trip down there, just for the friendly service alone.

I would even consider using them .. and I have the worst odontophobia EVER!  The last time I attended the dentist was in 1995.  In the last 6 years, two of my top front teeth have become crooked and are protruding outwards, so much so, that I'm seriously considering dental work.

We will see.

So, today, I'm grateful for the wonderful service provided by the Gympie Family Dental staff and grateful that Adoring Husband survived unscathed.  All things considered, it was pretty good day out.

Nite all.

Day 343 in a Year of my Life

There are now 3 eggs in the nesting box that I can see.  They are partially buried in the wood shavings, so there could be more under there too.

SEB and OB don't seem to be getting along very well.

When SEB goes into the nesting box, OB sits on the perch at the opening and constantly whistles and chirps and squeals.  CONSTANTLY.  I've been over to the cage a couple of times and given him a lecture - he stops talking while I talk and then starts again as soon as I've finished.

It can become a bit annoying at times.

Since we still don't know if OB is a boy or a girl, who knows if the eggs will ever hatch?

From the reading that I've done, the eggs are still viable up to 10 days after laying them.  The incubation period is 18-20 days and both the male and female share the duties of sitting on the eggs so that each can feed.  They leave the nesting box to poop and pee!

Oh and apparently at about the 10 day mark, if they are fertile eggs, you can see veins begin to appear inside the egg shell.

So I guess it's a matter of 'wait and see'.

Meanwhile I found two Tawny Frogmouth nests today!

This one is only about 8 feet from the ground, so there should be some good shots coming when the chicks hatch!  I calculate around 1st or 2nd November as the hatch date, because he was first seen on the nest last Thursday, 3rd Oct .. he wasn't there the day before that.

The incubation period is 30 days.

The male sits on the nest all day and then they take turns at night while each of them feed.

I'm very excited!

Today is a public holiday and the last day of the school holidays.

It's almost like nature knows the kids have all gone home, because there are birds EVERYWHERE.

I found a Grass Parrot...

I found male and female Storm Birds (Koels) feeding in a palm tree.  This is the male...

... and the female ...

... and finally a 'Squadron' of pelicans at high tide on this beautiful morning.

There were others, but I'll save them for another day.

Today I am grateful for a wonderful morning of photography to renew my motivation.  It feels good.

Nite all.

Day 342 in a Year of My Life

I sit here with my laptop on my lap (exactly where it should be), in the lounge room in front of the big screen, watching the 2013 Rugby League Grand Final.

Sea Eagles V Roosters

Sea Eagles ... the team that everybody loves to hate.

Every code of football has a team that everybody loves to hate.

As I type this, Sea Eagles are leading 18 - 14, but there is still 20 minutes to go.  Roosters have just scored!!  18 - 18 with a conversion kick to come.

I'm barracking for the Roosters :D  BGWLBH doesn't follow football, but she supports the Roosters.

The score is now 20 - 18 to the Roosters.

Since I haven't been out with my camera for a couple of days, I went searching through my archives for some oldies that I might have missed.

I found a nice sunrise shot ...

Can you feel the serenity?

Adoring Husband played golf today.  So I had a lovely peaceful day at home.  I practised my new obsession - cooking.

I made a basil pesto to coat some pork cutlets for dinner tonight and then I made a creamy cauliflower sauce to cover the broccoli, carrot and pumpkin.  Then I made a delicious apple crumble  - gluten free, sugar free - for dessert.

It was a beautiful day.  Perfect temperature, beautiful breeze, bright sunshine and crisp, clean air.

Today, I'm grateful that Roosters have defeated Sea Eagles in the Grand Final 26 - 18.  Wahoo.

Nite all.