Day 351 in a Year of my Life

A quote from David Attenborough:

"We are a plague of the earth.  Either we limit our population growth, or the natural world will do it for us."

Facebook quotes:

One photo from me ...

Today, I'm grateful for ice cream made with frozen banana, avocado, greek yoghurt and pecans.  I am also grateful that Adoring Husband doesn't like it ... WIN WIN for me!!

Nite all

Day 350 in a Year of my Life

Meet Lolly ...

Isn't she adorable?  A Tawny Frogmouth chick, approximately 3 days old, that I found on the ground under a nest that was VERY high in the tree.

There was no safe place to put her nearby, so I picked her up and put her inside a glove that I had in my trike basket and brought her home.

I got online straight away and tried to contact The Nikonian, who I know has had experience caring for Tawnies in the past and I also googled for as much information as I could find.

Adoring Husband was in The Bay, and just happened to phone me, so I asked him to stop at the Vet to get some advice and some special food, which he did.

I kept Lolly in the glove, under a warm lamp and I fed her the special food, which she gobbled up quite happily.

You all know how much I love Tawnies.

I was so excited to be rescuing and saving a Tawny chick.  I knew that I'd probably not get much sleep, having to feed her every hour, but that didn't bother me.

She was making little chirping noises and seemed to be doing very well.

Unfortunately, she lasted just seven hours.  She got weak and seemed to go downhill very fast.

It's possible that she had internal injuries from the fall out of the nest.

She may have been tossed out of the nest because she had something wrong with her.

She may have been out of the nest for much longer than I thought and was already too weak to recover.

Who knows.

I do know that I did my best.  I have no regrets.  It was a great experience and I learnt a lot about Tawnies that I didn't already know.

I found two new nests today, so now I have three to watch ... all of them have chicks in them already, so hopefully, I'll get some good shots in the coming weeks.

So today, I'm grateful for the experience of attempting to save a Tawny Frogmouth chick.  She was so beautiful and soft and fluffy and provided me with the cutest photo for my macro challenge lol.  Really, ya gotta look on the bright side :)

Nite all.

Day 349 in a Year of my Life

It's good to have Adoring Husband home after a successful weekend of SES training.

He returned exhausted and sore, but happy!

This morning, before he arrived home, I began the process of making Feta cheese.

Last time, we tried this together and it was a massive FAIL.  You know what they say about 'too many cooks' .. so while I was here alone, to focus on the job at hand, I decided to have a go ...

I used organic, unhomogenized, full cream milk and everything else was provided in the cheese making kit.

I'd have used raw milk if there was anywhere to get it in my area.  Raw milk is illegal to sell for human consumption in Australia, but it's available in two places in QLD, that I know of, and they sell it for 'bathing' and 'pet food', but people buy it for consumption.

Anyway, my feta cheese is looking pretty darned good at this point.

When I wasn't in the kitchen - I also made a rhubarb and apple crumble for tonight's dessert - I worked on a couple of old photos.

It's been yet another wild windy day, but it seems that many places all over Australia are experiencing these horrible winds, so I shouldn't complain.

I picked our first red capsicum from the garden today.  That will be part of tomorrow's lunch, along with Crispy Kale and Pumpkin croquets.  A friend shared that recipe in facebook today, and it looks delicious, so I'll have a go and let you know what it's like.

Today, I'm grateful that Adoring Husband was able to manage all of the rigorous drills required for his training over the weekend.  I know he was worried about his ability to pass the physical requirements, but he did very well.

Nite all.

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.

Day 341 in a Year of my Life

Number four on the list 'Light and Bokeh'

Number twelve on the list 'Negative Space'

Today I'm grateful for late sleep-ins and time spent in the sunshine on the garden swing with apple and cinnamon water .

Nite all.

Day 340 in a Year of my Life

Number two on the list for this month's challenge .. Old/Rustic/Broken

My options are fairly limited here in town, so this was the best that I could come up with.

I've been sitting here for an hour trying to think of something else to write, but I have been distracted by the end of one movie and the beginning of another, so I am signing off.

Today, I am grateful for slow cookers .. which tonight, provided a delicious meal of lamb shanks, potato, sweet potato, onion, tomato, carrot and mushrooms.  There's nothing nicer than coming home from a couple of hours at the club and having dinner already prepared and ready to serve!

Nite all.

Day 339 in a Year of my Life

The first thing on the challenge list was 1. Peace/Piece.

That's the first one out of the way.

SEB (the cockatiel) has laid an egg in the nesting box.

She spent about 6 hours in the nesting box yesterday, probably longer, but today, she came out and left the egg unattended.  She hasn't been back in the box and nor has OB (the other cockatiel).

I might have the egg for breakfast tomorrow morning.  Come on!  I'm kidding!  Just testing to see that you're paying attention!

Today, I caught some crows in our veggie garden.  They've been picking at our tomatoes!

Tonight, for dinner, I used quite a bit of produce from our garden ... asparagus, tomatoes, parsley, mint, celery leaf and chillies.

I cooked tuna steaks, and served them on a bed of chilli salsa.  I made the salsa with tomato, red capsicum, cucumber, onion, asparagus, avocado, crumbled feta cheese, chilli, mint, celery leaf, basil and parsley.  For the dressing, I used lemon juice, coconut oil, balsamic vinegar and raw honey.

Adoring Husband had the leftover salsa after he finished dinner.  I know that's a good sign.

Today, I'm grateful that another storm passed without incident.  It looked spectacular!

Nite all.

Day 338 in a Year of my Life

I think I've decided on this photo for number 6 on the challenge list that I showed you yesterday.  It's for 'macro'.

Macro photography is taking extremely close-up images of subjects. The technically correct definition would be to take an image at a 1:1 ratio but, in general usage, the term has come to mean any close-up photography.

I am waiting to upload the photo, because my anal brain is telling me to upload them in the order that the list states.  I can't believe I need to do that.  Once upon a time I wouldn't have cared, but strangely, as I get older, these things matter to me.  Who'da thunk??

Maybe some of Adoring Husband's traits are wearing off on me!

It rained during the night.

At around 2.30am AH had to get up and close the bedroom windows because the rain was blowing in and landing on his face.

I didn't hear a thing!  Apparently, we got 10ml of rain, which we definitely needed, and we could do with some more.

I've ordered my next organic FROG box (organic fruit n veg) to be delivered next Thursday (they pause operations over the school holidays).

I also ordered some extra goodies, like coconut oil, coconut water, maca powder and some extra vegetables, including 'KALE'.

I don't know about you, but I've never tasted kale!

It is one of the super vegetables as far as nutritional value ...

Some of Kale’s Many Benefits

Kale is rich in iron, vitamins K, A, C, and minerals manganese and copper. It’s also high in fibre, low in calories, and has no fat. There are several things that make it a healthy food, like other healthy foods. But those things that elevate it to super-food level are not your average vitamins and minerals.

The antioxidant concentration in kale is truly remarkable. It is particularly rich in carotenoids and flavonoids. Lutein and beta-carotene are two carotenoids that work to protect the body from oxidative stress while also boosting eye health and preserving vision – both are found in kale. As a result, kale may reduce the risk of eye problems like macular degeneration and other health problems related to cellular stress like hardening of the arteries and COPD. In addition, kaempferol, a flavonoid, and quercetin are both tied to cancer-prevention, and like the other carotenoids, kale has plenty of them.

Another powerful substance in kale that has been shown to help activate the detoxification enzymes within the liver is known as sulforaphane. This compound is produced when you chew or chop the vegetable.

So, what can kale actually do for you? Given the power of the numerous beneficial compounds within the vegetable, it is likely that kale can provide:
Protection against cancer
Improved digestion
Boosted immune function
Vision health
Heart health
Anti-inflammatory benefits
General detox
Reduced cholesterol

So, over the years, I've heard people talk about kale, but I've never noticed it in the supermarkets, and I can't say that I ever noticed it in the farmer's markets or organic markets that we once frequented.  

I must check to see if it can be grown easily in this sub tropical climate of ours. 

I'm looking forward to trying it.  I can add it to my juices and smoothies, and also to salads.  It's best eaten raw because cooking it can remove some of it's nutritional potency.  Steaming it, on occasion, is ok. 

I'm looking forward to trying it.

Today, I'm grateful for quiet time to catch up on some photography tutorials and photoshop lessons.  Time flies when you're having fun!

Nite all.

Day 337 in a Year of my Life

My 104 photography group in facebook decided they wanted a new list of challenge photos for the month of October.

So here is the list ...

1. Peace/Piece
2. Rustic/Old/Broken
3. Creative Blur
4. Light & Bokeh
5. Bikes and Cars
6. Macro
7. Clouds
8. Spring
9. Obsession
10. A random stranger - speak to him/her and attach their story
11. Faces
12. Negative Space
13. Rivers/Lakes/Oceans

Each of the 'regular' contributors offered a suggestion, so everyone is involved and I'm even offering a prize to the person who 1. completes the list and 2. is judged as having the best photos.

I might get Adoring Husband to judge it or maybe I will form a panel of judges!  Not sure yet.

I'm quite keen to get started on this.  I hope the others feel equally keen.

Today I'm grateful to have a new photography challenge to obsess over ... I think I have number 9 covered :)

Nite all.

Day 336 in a Year of my Life

I have no photos to share today ... I'm all photoed out after spending last week putting together the Photo5 submissions and two flickr submissions.

I spent today watching Creativelive tutorials on photography.  Thoroughly enjoyable, very relaxing and incredibly informative.

So I think it might be time to share some facebook quotes.  No funny ones today.

Today I'm grateful to have been able to finish the Canon Photo5 submissions within the required time frame PLUS two flickr challenge photos and THEN spend a day learning a little more about my craft without guilt or interruption.

Nite all.

Day 335 in a Year of my Life

I went to bed at 'stupid' o'clock this morning and I set my alarm for another 'stupid' o'clock so that I could get the sunrise ...

Not very spectacular, but it was a beautiful morning and worth being up to watch the sun rise.

I spent a good part of the day trying to get a decent photo for the final Photo5 brief.  Still not 100% happy with the final outcome, but I'm OVER it, so I submitted this one tonight, for the 'Shadows or Stencil' brief ...

That's about it for my day.  Very quiet.  Very relaxing.  Very enjoyable.

Today, I'm grateful that the black, thunderous storms skirted their way past us this evening and all we got out of it was some rolling thunder for a little while.

Nite all.

Day 334 in a Year of my Life

What a great night we had tonight!

We caught the Burrum River Quest over to Walker's Point, where the Woodgate Bowls Club buses picked all 20 of us up and drove us to the Bowls Club.

We relaxed and chatted over a drink.  A couple of us played the pokies for half an hour and then we all ordered dinner, which was served promptly by friendly, happy staff.

The food was delicious.

We discovered one of our group was celebrating a birthday, so we all sang 'Happy Birthday'. 

A couple of drinks later, we were sitting near the dance floor and a rock and roll band was playing.  The members of the band, all elderly, were having a rocking good time.  We knew most of the songs, so sang along and a couple, all dressed in their dancing garb, got up and let loose on the dance floor.

Some of our group also got up for a dance.  As usual 'Nutbush' was the most popular dance song!

At 8.45pm the buses drove us all back to the boat ramp, where we met Burrum River Quest again, which took us back home.

There was a good old fashioned singalong on the boat and some belly laughs were had by many.

It took a bit longer to get home because the tide was out, so we had to manoeuvre between sandbanks and moored yachts, in the dark.

Who knew that we had such pretty lights lining the shores of our river??  (Excuse the quality of photo - taken on a moving boat and without a tripod)

We made it back safe n sound and were home before 10pm.

A thoroughly enjoyable night and I'd love to do it again!

Despite the weather forecast being for possible storms and strong winds, the weather was calm and perfect.  Not a cloud in the sky on the way home and the water was like glass.  We couldn't have asked for a better night to be on the water.

So a good time was had by all!

Today, I'm grateful for opportunities to do something new and different, with good friends and new friends.

Nite all.

Day 333 in a Year of my Life

No photos from today.  I did take some, but I haven't looked at them yet.

The highlight of my day was having a nap on the garden swing this afternoon.  It was very pleasant until a massive gust of wind almost blew the garden swing AND I over the fence!  That was most definitely a heart starter!

I made some gluten free, refined sugar free and lactose free chocolate brownies.  Delicious, but very very rich.  Adoring Husband only had one and didn't ask for more, so I take it that they weren't to his liking.  All the more for me!

I had a great night at the club with the girls tonight.  No luck on the pokies though.  At least last week's win paid for my Christmas getaway with the girls in November.

Today I'm grateful to be living on the coast, away from the stifling heat that is making Spring almost unbearable for inland and central Queensland.  We complain about the constant wind, but the wind is keeping our temperatures down.  40C and higher inland.  Ugh!

Nite all.

Day 332 in a Year of my Life

Well ... with 5 days to go til the closing date of the photo competition, I got two of the photos done today!  Woot!  Woot!

The 'Jelly' brief (Jellyfish) ...

The 'Cartoon Eyes' brief (Death by Blending) ...

So that's three down and two to go.

Best Cousin in the World left today.  It was a brief, but very nice visit.  Now she gets to spend a night with my little sis, 'Squirt'.

We didn't even get a photo of each other this time!  For photographers, we are not very good at recording memories of our lives!

An interesting little development with SEB and OB (the cockatiels)!  SEB spent quite some time in the nesting box today and created a little nest inside with the shredded paper that Adoring Husband put there.

OB spent the entire time sitting on the perch right outside the little entrance to the nesting box and didn't even move to eat during that time.

Something interesting could happen any time now!

I'll keep you posted!

Today, I'm grateful that the 56km per hour winds have finally dropped back to 30km per hour!  I'm a bit OVER the wind.

Nite all.

Day 331 in a Year of my Life

I feel a bit tired tonight.

Best Cousin in the World and I have had a day cycling, photographing, shopping, eating and sleeping (well, she slept and I cooked).

A couple of photos from this morning.

Today I'm grateful to have two guinea pigs (Adoring Husband and Best Cousin in the World) on whom to test my cooking experiments.

Nite all.

Day 330 in a Year of my Life

How is this for cuteness??

She is so special.

That's all I wanted to share tonight ... she deserves a post all of her own.

Today I'm grateful that Vegan Chickie and Chicklet share so many little snippets of their lives from afar.

Nite all

Day 329 in a Year of my Life

Adoring Husband and I have a favourite lamb and rice dish that I cook about once a month.

It's a recipe handed down to me from my last partner believe it or not!  Personally, I think he cooked it better than I ever could, but I keep trying.

Every time I cook it, it turns out different to the last time.

He used to call it Mongolian Lamb, however, there is nothing 'mongolian' about it.

It's layers of browned lamb barbecue chops, tinned tomatoes, leeks and rice, all covered with stock and then cooked in the oven for 2 hours.  Really simple, and really tasty.

I've got a pot of it in the oven right now ... but I've tried something different this time.

When I cleaned out the fridge earlier today, there were some old vegetables that I knew wouldn't last much longer and I didn't think I'd use them in the next couple of days, so I threw them all in a saucepan with some filtered water, some herbs from the garden and some himalayan salt and cracked pepper and made some vegetable stock.

I had a small amount of home made chicken stock left in the freezer, so I added that when it was finished and used the whole lot as my stock for the lamb dish (I usually use two containers of bought liquid chicken stock + the juice from the tinned tomatoes).

The other change I made, was using fresh tomatoes.

Everybody has an abundance of tomatoes in their gardens at the moment, and because ours aren't quite ripe yet, our friends have been sharing theirs with us.

All types.  Egg, cherry, grape, ox heart, beef steak, gross lisse, mini roma etc etc.

So I chopped a good lot of them up into big chunks and I also threw a good lot of them in the blender and pureed them.

I didn't add anything to them, because when I tasted them, the flavour was so delicious and strong, I didn't think they needed anything else.

I used all of this as the tomato base for my lamb dish (I usually use 3 tins of whole tomatoes and one tin of diced tomatoes).

I won't finalise this post until after dinner tonight so that I can tell you if it was a success or not.

While I've been creative in the kitchen, Adoring Husband has been creative in the shed.

He made this to house our often-used shoes in the garage.

and he made this nesting box for OB and SEB.

One of them laid an egg last week and we found it smashed on the cage floor.

It is Spring, so I guess the birds and the bees get restless at this time of year!

Anyway, the only thing that this has confirmed, is that one of them is a female!  We figure, if the other is a male, perhaps we should accommodate the possibility of little OBs and SEBs in the future.

So it's been a very creative day for both of us.  This was our lunch ...

Today I'm grateful to live in this very lucky country.  I feel so lucky to have been born here and that I've never had to suffer the injustices, the cruelty, the torture, the poverty, the starvation, the violence, the fear, the sickness,  the trauma of war or any of the hardships that so many others in so many countries have endured.  Australians have so much to be grateful for and we should never take this lifestyle for granted.

Nite all.

PS Dinner had so much more flavour than usual - Adoring Husband had two helpings!

Day 328 in a Year of my Life

Well, we had our first storm of the season this afternoon and we survived intact.

Very heavy rain and then hail coating the ground and then the wind picked up, giving Adoring Husband and I a bit of a heart starter.

No doubt, our level of panic, will decrease with each storm.  Fear is a terrible thing.

I was somewhat distracted mid storm though.

I thought it was a good opportunity to get some good hail shots with the camera, but as I pressed the button, the battery went dead.

I got my spare battery out of the bag, but discovered quickly, that it was also flat because I'd forgotten to charge it last week, when I removed it from the camera.

So I got the battery out of my old camera ... but yes, you guessed it, it was also flat!!

Adoring Husband came to the rescue with a battery out of his camera, but alas the storm was almost over and the hail had almost melted, so my shots are less than spectacular.

At least the battery dilemma took our minds off our fear ever so briefly!

Today, I'm grateful for the smell of fresh rain on the grass and I'm sure that our vegetable garden is grateful for the well needed rain that fell this afternoon.  The hail didn't damage any of our produce - thank goodness.

Nite all.