Making the most of a Sunday

It does me good to have time away from screens. I know this and make sure I have a couple of days most weeks when I spend most of my time connecting with my natural world. I 've just had two such days where I stayed away from the computer on purpose and watched a DVD with Hanno but nothing else on TV. Sure, I checked my blog and wandered around others for a little while, but both Saturday and Sunday I was quickly off into the work of the day, turning off the screen as I left. I know that for me too many screens - TV, monitors, any screens, prevent me from living the life I want for myself. I know I record my activities here but I could not do that unless I made sure that most of my time was spent connecting with real people, getting my hands dirty and doing, instead of just writing about, work. I love my computer and the ability to connect with people all around the world, but too much of it sucks the life from me. I wonder if this is common or is it something only I feel.

Sometimes, just some times, I watch a movie that impacts on me enough that I keep thinking about it long after it ends. Such films are watched knowing something special is taking place, there are lines I want to remember, ideas captured, simple music played well, and always an excellent script. Hanno and I watched Stranger than Fiction yesterday. What a wonderful and thoroughly enjoyable film. It a story about an obsessive and bland man who counts everything, lives each day as an exact replica of the day before and is reborn into his own life with the aid of cookies and milk and the love of a good baker. It’s a film about death that is life affirming. The film is postmodern, but not too abstract, and I’m sure many of you lovers of social realism will be caught up and captivated by its significance and sweetness, just as I was.

It reminded me that the plain and ordinary make up the broadstrokes of real life and that everyone, even an inconspicuous tax drone, and for that matter, a 60 year old Australian woman, has their own story to tell.

The rest of yesterday was spent pruning our peach and nectarine trees, clipping back grape vines, harvesting bananas, cooking and teaching myself some new crochet techniques. It was a lovely time. The weather was brisk in the morning and mellow in the afternoon. Night time was chilly but our bed was warm with soft flannel sheets and fluffy quilts. Pure joy.

There were a lot of eggs in the fridge so I had to use some of them. I made another swiss chard pie with several whole eggs and some yolks. That was eaten with a fresh garden salad of cherry tomatoes, Lebanese cucumbers and Darwin lettuce, dressed with raspberry wine vinegar and virgin olive oil. The egg whites made little pavlova cases filled with a dollop of local cream and strawberries, bananas and passionfuit from our backyard. Pavlova is usually a Christmas treat around here so it was nice to be able to tuck into them with a hot cup of tea at my side. I like my pavlova crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Here is my recipe.

Four egg pavlova - makes five small pavlova cases

4 egg whites at room temperature, it's best if the eggs aren't really fresh
5 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
2 tablespoons cornflour

Beat the whites until they're starting to stiffen, then add the vinegar and cornflour and one tablespoon of sugar at a time. Beat well before adding the next. Keep beating this until there are stiff peaks.

Place on a baking sheet in small rounds, build the sides up a little by smoothing them with the underside of a spoon. Bake in a coolish oven - 100 C (220 F) until the outside is crisp - about 30 minutes. Then turn off the oven, leave the door open slightly and allow the pavs to cool slowly in the oven. When cool, add a dollop of cream and whatever fruit you have available.

It was a real pleasure to work in my kitchen on a sunny winter's afternoon. The photo at the top of this post shows what it looked like at around 2.30pm. I could see Hanno through the window washing the car on the back lawn and every so often, throwing a ball for Alice to chase.

There are many moments in my life now when I just stop and take it all in, and being there in my kitchen yesterday, making dinner for the two of us, was one such moment. It was just a one thing at a time slow and ordinary day that made me stop and take a picture so I will remember the day I watched Stranger than Fiction, worked in the backyard and made another dinner with what is grown there.

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