Christmas Wrap-Up

There is such a big build up to Christmas, that when it is all over, you can see the kids coming down from their high, but we have settled into an easy pace here at the farm. I have hardly seen the boys without their iphones in their hands, catching up with their friends and playing games. Paul has been busy chrome plating with Cole, mosaic-ing with Georgie and today is tye-dying with Sammy...you can imagine the state of my house, but it is all so much fun and good to do some interactive things with the kids.

The boys and I have been chilling out watching Revolution and Lauren has been spending most of the time with her new boyfriend, Luke. I cook large meals (most times there are nine of us here) late in the day when the house gets a little cooler, and I have got back into the habit of making bread...and avoiding the shops.

My hampers turned out well , although I ran out of time to cook everything I wanted to ... and it has been way too hot to use the oven. So next year, I will start a little earlier with the baked goods. The family loved them, especially the preserves and chutneys sourced with ingredients from our farm. You can't beat that.

Paul was really thoughtful and bought me a Fowlers Vacola which I am really keen to try. It is basically a large water bath and the beauty is that the temperature is relatively controlled. I can now preserve fruits and pickled vegetables. It comes with special jars (which are very expensive and well sought after secondhand) but I have done research and can use others. I will report back on my results.

He also bought me a box of these jars with screw on lids. When you make a jam or relish you make sure the jar and the filling are hot and then tip upside down for fifteen minutes. When you turn it back the right way a vacuum is created and the lid pops in, just like a commercial jar. This probably works for all jars but is something I never knew until I read the instructions. I am making a list of yummy things to make and ingredients to shop for at the markets tomorrow.

Green Living Australia

I always love how one thing leads to another. I have been saving my glass jars for the past six months and now have large collection, but with preserving it is important to use new lids. I had no idea that you could buy lids for supermarket jars...until I read someone mention it. A few Google searches later and I discovered my ultimate online shop -  Green Living Australia. I had a gift of $100 from my dad for Christmas so I lashed out and bought something which will help me do something I have had my heart set on for a while:

Hard Cheese Kit - Green Living Australia

I bought a Hard Cheese Kit! Sounds weird huh? But I get everything I need (except for the milk) to make twenty kilos of cheese including:

Large Curd Cottage Cheese
Feta
Farmhouse Cheddar
Colby
Monterey Jack
Gouda
Cotswold
Leicester
Ricotta

Lauren's boss makes her own cheeses. including camembert, so I will be able to get some pointers from her. Apparently this kit suits beginners who have never made cheese before. I have always wanted to make cheddar as we use 1-2 kilos per week with hungry teenage boys. I can probably source the ingredients individually but a kit to start with will do me just fine...including the instructions. Green Living Australia also have amazing tutorials...yoghurt is next on my list.

I can see that some of the things on my holiday list will not get attended to...oh well, holidays are to be enjoyed and plans can always be changed.

I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas at your place. I would love to hear about it.

Have you ever made cheese before or used a Vacola?

Simple Living Sunday 9

I know it's not Sunday but I thought I would still call my post Simple Living Sunday so that I can find it later. I enjoy looking at the photos of how my garden has progressed in just a few months. The amount of produce I am harvesting is reducing now, due to the heat, so when I get a cool spell (yeah right) I will start preparing gardens for planting in late February. Some long term forecasters are predicting a wet Jan-March with talk of floods in late March. Here's hoping they are wrong.

This patty pan squash has been my favourite so far. It has a lovely flavour, is juicy and the skin is not too tough to eat. There are heaps of little ones left on the plant so I will keep pollinating and see what happens.

Our cousin Colleen volunteered at the Victory Church Christmas food giveaway. Truckloads of donated produce was distributed to the people of Gympie. She was given some of the leftovers and passed them onto us. Wow,  so much food for free. With six teenagers staying here over Christmas, the donation was gratefully accepted.

In one of the bags were these melon. I have never seen them before and the closest I could find on Google was the Santa Claus Melon grown in Spain. Seems fitting. These are beautiful! A little like honeydew but much sweeter and with more of a pear sort of texture. If you spot any around I would strongly recommend buying them.

I need to find a place to plant my Herb Robert. He is really starting to spread out now.

The Brahmi is also going well. Think I might put this in a hanging pot on the verandah for easy access. I have been putting this in smoothies and it really does help with keeping my brain alert.

I found another watermelon hiding in the grass. That's two now.

Another golden squash that is in the basket. You can see the heat affected leaves. I have bought some shadecloth to construct a shelter for them.

As expected the Broccoli got sunburnt. I will look forward to growing some in the cooler months.

It's true what they say about beans - neglect them and they will thrive. 

The peanut plant is just hanging in there. My neighbour has been growing peanuts successfully by just planting raw peanuts. She said that because they are a legume they don't like too much organic matter so I will remember that when I plant more.

I haven't had much success with carrots and they are so cheap to buy so if we get a few it would be a bonus but not high on my list of production.

The simple beauty of a single rose bud.

Finally getting a few ripe lemons.

And the limes are not far away. They take a while to get going after a flood.

The pumpkin vine is half way across the lawn...and not a single pumpkin.

Extra layers of mulch to keep the moisture in the soil.

A start to the Xmas present wrapping. Not environmentally friendly but I did use some paper I had left over from last Xmas.

I made the spiced nuts for my Christmas hamper...

...and they taste amazing.

The link to the recipe is in my Simple Living Christmas post. Well, I hope all your Christmas plans are coming together. I will be back later with an update on my hampers. Lots of baking today now that the presents are well and truly sorted.

Christmas Holiday List

With my holidays only four days away I am starting to think of things that I really want to do on my break. I have come up with a mix of practical and indulgent items, and thought I would share some of them with you...just for fun.

Beautiful Gifts

I have saved all of the Christmas presents I have bought...to wrap up all at once. In beautiful packaging just like my Mum (Nanna Kerrie) always did. I love this part of Christmas.

Xmas Hampers

I am going to finish off my beautiful, fancy, gourmet Christmas hampers.

Christmas Shopping

I will shop for those last minute Christmas gifts...can't wait for that!

Wake UP Croissants

I will make leg ham and cheese croissants on Christmas morning...just like Mum always used to.

We will spend some quality family time at Rainbow Beach.

                   I will re-paint all of the grey railings which are chipped and magpie-poo stained.

We will mow our beautiful green lawns.

I will experiment again with making soap

Add caption

I may even extend myself to making candles.

I want to perfect making bread rolls so I can use them for the boys lunches.

I will spend a day scanning all of my old photos onto my hard drive and making up some albums with the photos salvaged from the first flood. 

I think I will make some more chutney...and maybe even tackle jam, which I have never made before.

The Anatomy Of Wings

The Anatomy of Wings...my Writing Group leader, Karen Foxlee's, world acclaimed novel...can't wait to read this!

Breaking Bad

 I will start another television series...Breaking Bad has been suggested,

Vampire Diaries

So has Vampire Diaries...

Revolution

Revolution is another one I already have,

Gossip Girl

And so is Gossip Girl which my daughter Lauren loves.

Homeland OMG!!!

OMG!!!! This is my fav show. If you haven't seen it I totally recommend it. 

Blogging

I will spend some quality time blogging...

Beginners Knitting

And maybe re-learn to knit...I used to know how once upon a less busy time

What about you...what are you up to during your holidays?

Christmas Spirit

Christmas Spirit

I have been thinking about Christmas Spirit lately. Probably because my husband, Paul, said the other night that he was not looking forward to Christmas, that he could do without it, that all it meant to the kids was requests for what they wanted. Granted we have three teenagers each, so the requests for 'stuff' are out there, with no magic or fluffy Santa stuff. What I really want to know is....has he lost the Christmas Spirit? And, what exactly is that...how do you define Christmas Spirit?

I asked my family and friends this question and the general consensus is that Christmas Spirit is something that we find within ourselves (our heart) that enables us to show gratitude towards, and caring of, others. It allows us to be more giving of ourselves, to believe in magic, to have faith and to appreciate our families. It is about the giving, and not the receiving (this obviously did not come from my kids) of presents. Christmas Spirit is the antithesis of 'bah humbug' Scrooge and his disbelief in all things Christmas.

Putting the religious aspect aside (ie. the celebration of the birth of Christ), shouldn't we be finding this Christmas Spirit within ourselves every day? I know plenty of people that do, and unfortunately, far too many people that will never find it. It's a choice isn't it? Like mindfulness, one needs to be aware of the fact, and actually notice, that they should be a giving and caring person, and not self-centred...I know at times that I don't always see, or am aware of,  those in need (outside of my family) because I am busy working and raising my kids. It's not because I don't care, on the contrary, I do.

Someone (not sure where I read it) wrote that there is less Christmas Spirit now, that this generation is lacking in it. The unknown writer is on Paul's side, and maybe there is something in that. I know that when I was a kid, you never asked for anything for Christmas. There were no lists and my parents would have been offended if you asked for anything. It was okay to whisper it to Santa but my parents never knew...and rarely delivered my wish...but that was okay. I wondered at the motorbikes that my cousins got when we got Barbie dolls and books, and thought that I must have been a bad kid to not warrant such extravagance. It's a hard thing to explain as a parent.

However, aside from the above, what I want to share is the Christmas Spirit that I have felt and seen in Gympie lately. There are some amazing people and groups here who embrace and embody exactly what I feel the Christmas Spirit should be (or look like):

Gympie Library Donate a Book

The Gympie Regional Library assisted the Salvation Army with their appeal to donate books to kids for Christmas. Over one hundred books were donated to children in need.

Adopt a Family

Many businesses in Gympie (including my office) donated presents to an adopted family instead of doing a Secret Santa or Kris Kringle.

J Smith and Sons Christmas Appeal

This showing of Christmas Spirit just floors me. A local business employing 67 staff closed it's doors two weeks ago after fifty-plus years in business. The staff were left without pay before Christmas. So what do the amazing people of Gympie do? They organise an appeal to help the families out. Priceless.

The Victory Church organise food hampers worth over $100 to families in need for just $25 over Christmas. No family should do without Christmas dinner. They also organise a lunch on Christmas day where the pastors also attend.

These are just a few examples of Christmas Spirit...the giving, sharing, caring...that I have seen in my home town. Are you humbled by Christmas Spirit?

What does it mean to you?