29 May 2020

Weekend Reading

Another week has gone by in lockdown, although the tough restrictions are slowly starting to lift here. The days are beautifully slow but the weeks seem to fly by. I'm not really sure how that works, but that's what it feels like.  We've been doing our regular chores, reading, gardening, sewing, knitting and cooking. Nothing much has changed. 

After two days of sweet potato and pumpkin soup, today's lunch is roasted pork belly, sweet potato, cauliflower and onion, and yes, I'm still eating my junket. 🙂

 Amazon lily.



These photos are of my Amazon Lily. I have several pots of them and they're really easy to grow in a subtropical climate. They flower on and off during the year but now they're all blooming.


I gave you a link for dalgona coffee a few weeks ago and this is the one I made. I had one small taste of the foam and had to scoop it off; it's really hideous. If you haven't tasted this coffee yet, don't bother. I'm not much of a coffee drinker, I think it smells much better than it tastes. I remain a devoted and steadfast tea drinker.

How are you going during the lockdown? The prediction is that it will change the world in many significant ways and I think that will happen. How and what it will change is not clear yet, I just hope we move to a much more sustainable way of living. 

Take care of yourself and stay safe.  xx




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20 comments

  1. Oh, it looks delicious! (but I'm a coffee fiend.) You certainly have a green thumb. I wonder if that lily would grow in Southern California? It looks just lovely. Glad to hear that you and Hanno are doing well in the lockdown. I have planted so many more fruit trees, (cherries and apples up at the cabin,) and my vegetables are doing amazingly well. It's exciting. For the first time ever I have several tomatoes on one sturdy tomato plant, and have been harvesting thick rhubarb stalks regularly. It tastes divine when stewed. Gardening is so rewarding, especially when you have success with something that you have failed at in the past.

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    1. Your garden sounds like it's a real success this year, Stephenie. I'd love to grow cherries here but it's too warm. I think you should try the Amazon lily. Find a warm and humid spot for it and it should thrive.

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  2. Hi Rhonda,

    I think I might be losing the plot during lockdown. I started reading the weekend reading and thought, it's Monday, how did I miss reading this last week!! The penny has dropped now :-)

    Your first link made me smile: the picture of a much messier home than my own cheered me up! Some days I do ask myself, where did all this 'stuff' come from? I think it's because once you have pets, kids, a business you run from home as well as all the 'tools' of sustainable living, well, that creates 'stuff' and a lot of it is just paperwork! I don't know about other people but I always end up working at the dining table which is in the centre of everything so actually I am to blame for the mess quite often.

    Thank you for continuing to post, Rhonda, your writing is a little beam of hope and encouragement in a challenging chapter of life. xx

    Madeleine

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  3. Good afternoon Rhonda and Hanno,yes where are the weeks going? I wonder if that beautiful lily would like being a house plant down here? I can grow moth orchids inside.I have mastered some online shopping since we've been stay-at-home.I hate shopping and prefer quality over quantity,but sometimes you are forced to replace some clothing or look like a ragbag on the few occasions seen in public! Minestrone soup the go for this weekend and whole grain bread,no choice at the moment as bread flour still hard to come by.Best wishes for a great week🙃

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  4. your lily is beautiful, we don't have these in the UK, not even imported I don't think. I like this slower pace of life and much of it could be good for us, less pollution, more time for each other, but the economy is a concern.

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  5. "it smells much better than it tastes", that is what I always say to my husband ;-) I am also more a tea-drinker ;-)
    The amazon lilly is amazing beautiful!

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  6. I'm with you on the Dalgona coffee. Looks fantastic, smells lovely, tastes hideous. I thought I must have done something wrong with the recipe. Or have used the wrong coffee. Glad to find out I'm not alone in my experience. :D

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    1. Nope, there are a few of us I think. ;- )

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  7. Beautiful Amazon lily! I have a plant in our tiny garden, I miss the bloom!

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    1. Mine flower a lot in the cooler weather, Endah. They also like being pot-bound so maybe tranferring yours to a pot may give you more flowers. I hope you see flowers soon.

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  8. The thermodynamics article was a hoot. Thx for sharing. Gail

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  9. 'The days are beautifully slow but the weeks seem to fly by - that is exactly how I am feeling too. Days full of working and resting at a wonderful pace not watching the clock anymore. I am really enjoying it and have no desire to re-engage with the world now that things are slowly opening up, not yet anyway, I am going to take that slow too.

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  10. I had moved back to face to face teaching my senior students this week and am still teaching my junior students via Zoom. I look forward to them all returning soon. It’s amazing to realise how long I managed to teach remotely for whilst homeschooling my own 3. I never thought it was possible but we all adapted and did quite well.

    Ive been able to book into an all day sourdough making workshop in August with a lady that mills her own flour! I can’t wait to learn this new skill and incorporate it into my life. Jade x

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  11. Gorgeous bloom there! Our daylilies are just now starting to bloom outside. Love all the glorious color spring is starting to show us.

    Thank you for the links to good reading.
    Hoping that your weekend is relaxed and satisfying.
    Cheers!

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  12. It's been tough here in North Wales, UK. As we are on a smallholding by a main road with no verges, footpaths or pavements, and with two dangerous bends at either end of our straight it's not safe to walk along the road, either by ourselves or with our dogs so we have been 'confined to quarters'.

    The dogs get two loops of our paddock twice a day and 'playtime' while we sit on the grass, but we are missing being out and about. And having different lockdown rules to England, where most of our family are makes it confusing for my elderly Mum. She keeps telling me that her friends are asking why I'm not visiting now, but I think it's her needing to be told over and over.

    We will all come out of this differently I expect, hopefully some changes globally will be for the better. There are so many people in a much worse situation than us, so we all just need to do the best we can and keeping a sense of humour sure helps.

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  13. Lovely photo of the Amazon Lilly - we arent far south, just over the Qld /NSW Border so I am going to investigate to see if they will grow here. I have had surprising success with a couple of houseplants recently( meaning they havent died) and this plant would be a welcome addition. I smiled at your refernce to junket in your posts - it was something my Nana used to make often and I loved it. Thanks for the remider of this - might have to try some. Thanks again for your wonderful blog - am about to make your Laundry recipe this weekJust an old gal trying to learn some new tricks

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    1. You're welcome, I hope the laundry recipe works well for you. The main thing with the lily is that they need warmth and humidity for most of the year and even though we have fairly cool nights here in winter, it still thrives because it's had humidity for the other nine months.

      I reckon we're twins. I'm just an old gal trying to learn some new tricks too. That never ends for me because there are always better ways of doing things.

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  14. Thanks for the links Rhonda. The Amazon Lily looks beautiful and will certainly look out for one. We have had a weekend of Grandchildren and catching up with Family and my best friend this afternoon with our home baking. My husband just asked if I had a good weekend and it is satisfying to look back on a simple weekend and say yes! Enjoy the week ahead ��

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  15. Hi Rhonda, thanks so much for the weekend reading again. I really look forward to it every week. It has been really cold down here in SA, but even so, I managed to build two raised garden beds. My back felt the worst for wear after two days of bending over putting in multiple screws, but it will thank me when I no longer have to bend down so far to do my gardening. The beds are 750 high x 1000 wide x 2 metres so they are quite big. Loved the Amazon Lilly - but not for us I don't think, way too chilly.
    Stay safe, Gail

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