27 July 2015

The ordinary work of the day

We had a lovely weekend here. The sun was shining and it was warmer than it has been so we were outside with Jamie while he rode his new bike and when we came inside, the doors stayed open to let the warm air in. My main work was to sew a few items for my swap partner, moeymichele, but of course, the ordinary work of the day also came into play.

Getting it all together for the swap.

 Searching through my stash for blue and lavender tones.

On the cooking front I made roast lamb and vegetables for us on Saturday, and used the leftovers for a spicy lamb curry on Sunday. Both easy meals and enjoyed by all of us. All of us included Jamie who was here both days, and Sunny who worked in her sushi shop. I made an extra portion packed in a sealed container for her to take home after work. I've experienced the exhaustion of a full day's physical work when I was younger and the thought of cooking a nourishing meal at the end of it still fills me with dread. I also baked jam drop biscuits on Sunday for our week's morning teas and had the added bonus of giving a pack of them to Jamie for his kindy morning teas and for Sunny's morning coffee. Home baked goodies, eaten when you're away from home, are a gentle reminder of the love you carry with you when you're out in the world.

With the butter, sugar and condensed milk whipped up, it was time to add the flour.
Here's my helper - cherry jam in some, apricot jam in the others.



And then morning tea and biscuits on the front verandah.  BTW, Jamie is wearing his Captain America suit.

My sous chef was Jamie who helped make the biscuits by setting up a work station on the table. He made the thumb hole in the biscuit dough and then filled all of them with either cherry jam or apricot jam.  Cooking and baking are great ways of teaching children the various bits and pieces of life. We counted and added, we washed our hands and talked about the reason for that, we talked about amounts and how long things last. I'm sure Jamie will remember that biscuit making even when he doesn't.

And it was Kerry's birthday yesterday so even though he Facetimed with Jamie and us on Saturday, there was a good reason for an extra call yesterday. Kerry's away at work at the moment and Facetime is a great way for all of us, especially Jamie, to keep in touch and to know he not forgotten. It's one of the good aspects of technology that helps us stay together when our circumstances force us to be far apart.

I'm getting through my swap items and have about another day's work before I'm finished. I've really enjoyed the sewing and I hope what I've made is used for many years. I also spent a little time on cleaning up and I repotted the Herb Robert I got from Nannachel at the group meeting last week. After reading about the herb and how it spreads by seeds, I've decided to leave it in various places in the garden, in the hope that it will spread and I'll have small patches of it growing well all through the year. From all accounts it likes the shady cooler weather so I'll make sure I give it a few places in the shade of other plants. It's such a sweet plant - a member of the geranium family and a very welcome addition to my garden.

I'm looking forward to a busy week ahead. I'll probably have the last read through of the book to complete and if it arrives on time, I might not get back here this week. I hope you have some interesting and productive days ahead too. Take care, friends. xx


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22 comments

  1. I spent many years in the workplace and retired 4 years ago at age 63. I can't tell you how I cherish the ordinary work of the day now that I am home. Cooking and cleaning and sewing and a very little gardening are all activities to savor because I'm not so constrained by time. I can work at my own pace and enjoy the journey.

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    1. Feel the same way Florence. I retired just over a year ago, at about the same age as you. Although my husband and I live in the road in our caravan, one of our great pleasures is planning and cooking our meals, cleaning our van and keeping it neat and tidy. I also knit and sew by hand as I don't have a machine. And, we have the time so everything at our own slow pace and enjoy every moment of it, even the washing up. Enjoy your retirement, it is a wonderful time of life, Cheers G

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  2. It was a great weekend !!!
    Greetings!

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  3. Sounds like a wonderful day was had by all. You are blessed to be able to spend so much time with Jamie. Have a good week.

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  4. Hello from a chilly Norway. 7 Celsius and a fire is lit. My husband just came in from cutting the grass and we had a lovely warm cassarole. What a strange Summer here indeed. Hope it doesn't mean a cold winter ahead. Lovely pictures of baking with Jamie. I remember my Gran's muffins. I was just tall enough to reach over the kitchen bench with my chin. They were delicious and she was a lovely lady. Pam in Norway

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  5. As kids, we were not allowed in the kitchen when my two grandmothers were baking biscuits for the two families, but we were always very close at hand....the smell of them cooking was so good and nothing has ever tasted as good as those plain home cooked biscuits, I make them now.....note to self......more biscuit baking required :)

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  6. I am glad the Herb Robert is doing well, Rhonda. It goes crazy here in winter. It is such a beneficial herb to have growing in the garden and the little pink flowers are lovely. It is wonderful that Jamie is learning how to cook at such a young age and I am sure he will always have warm memories of his days spent with you and Hanno when he was little.

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  7. I remember my grandma and grandpa teaching me things in the kitchen. My grandma was the best cook, and baker! I learn to bake bread from her, I used to make it from the recipe she put in my head, but life got in the way, I didn't make it for years, now I use your recipe and one other blogger's. My grandpa taught me about making breakfasts! He would scramble up some eggs for me and make toast. Then he would put a tablespoon or two of coffee in a glass of milk for me and he and I would have our "coffee" together. Such wonderful memories! This weekend I have been preparing for a visit from my sister. I moved up here to my farm six months ago. She, my niece and my nieces children are driving up for the week! I am so excited! In between cleaning and doing food prep(So we can visit instead of cooking) I am cutting fabric for a mystery quilt I joined in on. I retired seven months ago, so I am relearning the daily routines of home and farm!

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  8. There is no better way to share time with grandchildren then to bake in the kitchen I think ... They just love it & we love it too !! I had my granddaughter Belle here for a couple of nights recently & she insisted we bake cookies for her to take home with her so she could put some in her lunch box for school ! Little things please little people 😍

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  9. You are a wonderful mother in law, and grandmother! :)

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  10. Jamie has the most beautiful eyes. I do like his Captain America shirt, it suits a bloke like him.

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  11. They look lovely.............is that recipe on your website? Regards Kathy A, Brisbane

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    1. yes Kathy, they're the cheap and easy biscuits.

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  12. What a lovely post showing the love and consideration of family life.

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  13. Lovely post, Jamie's going to grow up to be a wonderful husband to somebody some day. Aw, Herb Robert. Beware ... yes, it does seed iself all over the place and it can become a real pest if it's growing in the wrong place...

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  14. Oh - I like that brand of cherry jam too - not too sweet. The jars are fabulous and can be re-used and the cost of cherries prohibits me making my own mostly

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  15. what a wonderful weekend you all had! by golly Jamie is growing up so fast, love his captain america costume! great movie too!
    i bought a herb robert awhile ago too as i saw it on nannachels blog & thought how very pretty it was! it's still in a pot as i'm not sure where i'm going to put it yet, not a lot of shade here (yet)
    your fabric stash looks very nice too!
    lovely post
    thanx for sharing

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  16. You know, it's not everyone that gets help directly from Captain America.

    It's about jam-making season here. One of the children just announced that the wild muscadines are ready along the fence. My wife posted her recipe a year or so ago: http://www.thesurvivalgardener.com/index.php/2013/09/06/guest-post-how-to-make-jam-from-wild/

    The flavor of homemade is like nothing else. Peace to you and your household.

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  17. I have a silly question perhaps - I live in GA in USA, we basically have three meals a day. Breakfast in AM, lunch mid day & then 6:00 or 7:00 PM our supper or dinner. When do you have tea & the time that you would eat biscuits, etc. with tea or coffee? It sounds wonderful, but I am just confused about when you do it. I greatly enjoy your blog. Mary Ann

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    1. Hello Mary Ann. Meal times are the same here but in the past few years Hanno and I have had our main meal at midday. We have morning tea at around 10 o'clock and if we were to have afternoon tea, that would be at 3 or 4 pm. In "old Australia" dinner/supper was called tea and as I've grown up with that custom I still call the evening meal "tea". I don't hear the younger ones calling the evening meal anything but dinner here so I guess it will die out like so many other things.

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  18. Moeymichele is a lucky, lucky girl! :)

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  19. The picture of Jamie in his Captain America outfit brought back happy memories of my son wearing a Power Rangers Halloween costume all the time when he was 3 years old. (I don't know if you had them in Australia, they were sort of like super heroes.) It was for only a few months, but he used to get so many smiles at the store when he went out dressed like that. Thanks for posting such lovely pictures! I wish my son had had grandparents like you and Hanno, sadly my parents and mother-in-law did not spend that much time with him and now that he is a teenager, it's really too late to forge much of a bond.

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