Hanno, Alice and Don Burke

Hanno comes home today and I begin my short break from work. I'm taking three weeks off to concentrate on writing. But the big news is that Hanno will be home and both Alice and I are very pleased about that. Alice has stopped watching for him at the front door. She must think it's like when Rosie went away and didn't come back. She'll be so happy when she sees him, and so will I. I'm going to take Alice to the train station when I pick him up. She'll like that, so will he.

I'm so pleased Hanno could help my sister with her house. He did a lot of things that she's very grateful for and put her mind at rest that the insurance assessors and tradespeople are doing what they should. It is a wonderful thing to be married to a capable man and I am truly grateful that he is generous and kind, especially to my family.

So tomorrow I'll be back into the normal rhythm of my days. I've missed that this past week and have done my chores, and Hanno's, at all sorts of odd times; I've lived on eggs and toast and generally gone a bit wonky without him here. It's funny how the way you live on a day to day basis reflects who you live it with. Hanno and I have been together over 30 years, our 30th wedding anniversary is in September, and over that time, without either of us knowing it, we've become reliant on each other in so many ways. My weaknesses have become his strengths and I have become strong where he is weak. I guess it is obvious when you think about it, but until he went away, I hadn't.

I know he'll be tired when he comes home because he never sleeps well when he's away, but he'll be pleased at the job he's done and the help given to Tricia and that will see him through. He will have missed my cooking too, so I'll have a pot of food on the stove when he comes home, it will be after dark when I collect him, so he'll appreciate a hot meal.

Soon I'll have some breakfast - tea and cinnamon toast, then I'll make warm porridge for the chooks and let them out to free range for the day. It's been raining here the past few days and while I was at work, they were locked in the coop, which they complained loudly about whenever they saw me. I've been making Alice and Hettie a warm breakfast too, and as I walked away each morning I could hear Hettie purring until I got back inside. LOL I'll be planting some vegetable seeds in trays today, our garden is way behind this season and it needs a pick-me-up. Some new cabbages, tomatoes, leeks and lettuces will do the trick. There is bread to bake, maybe a cake too if I have time, and slowly, through the day, things will return to normal.

Answers to some questions: I used about 4 or 5 long cucumbers and a couple of smaller ones in the bread and butter pickles. Just use what you have and adjust the vinegar dressing to suit your amounts. If you have dressing left over, use it on your salads.

Karen, I'll be making lemon cordial and freezing lemon juice soon too. People are starting to bring their excess lemons into the Centre I work at. It's a great time of year.

Suzan, thanks again for your help. I really appreciate it. {hugs}

Jenn, I'll be doing sweet pickles in a couple of months when I have an excess of cauliflowers. I'll dig up a recipe soon.

Elaine, you could do peppers in the same way and I think they'd be very tasty. I always use sea salt. I don't like pouring salt.

Marg, I didn't see the program, I'll try and catch it on ABC2. Thanks.

I am really touched when people comment that they've read through all my posts. I have tried to do that on a couple of blogs but I always get distracted, so thank you to those who read everything here. I know it's quite a commitment.

And finally, I have some more good news. I was contacted by the wonderful team at Burke's Backyard recently, they found me through the blog, and I've agreed to write a monthly column in the Burke's Backyard magazine. For the overseas readers, Don Burke had the first lifestyle program on Australian TV about 25 years ago. He now produces other programs, has his magazine, he writes a variety of books, does a TV segment each week, as well as four hours of national radio on the weekends. I couldn't start as soon as they wanted because of the fast approaching wedding, but I'll be there in the Spring edition. I hope you enjoy it as much as I hope to.