down to earth

This photo was taken two years ago.

Hettie died on Friday afternoon. The vet said that in addition to the cancer, she had a few other serious problems. He gave us the option of coming back with her on another day, but as there was no hope of treatment or recovery, we decided to ease her pain straight away. She slipped away quietly while I held her. So after a lifetime of having dogs and cats around, we've decided that Hettie will be our last four-legged friend; it's too painful at the end. She was with us for a long time and it seems quite strange knowing she's not here now. RIP Hettie. Another chapter closed. Another new beginning.

Our sincere thanks to everyone who sent us a message for Hettie. Your kind support helped us get through the sad hours and makes us feel loved. Thank you for taking the time to reach out.

Kerry's Mambo feather cushion.

Tricia pinning her quilt before hand quilting.

The weekend here was subdued. Kerry and Jamie called in so Kerry could help Hanno with some heavy work. They loaded the trailer twice and drove off to the local dump and then we had lunch together. Even after so much decluttering, there is still "stuff" surrounding us. Although to be fair, this was mostly from the shed and yard. It feels good to be getting rid of all that excess and rubbish. Tricia and I cleaned out the bush house and then she went inside to hand quilt while I stayed outside and did some repotting. I'm still working in the garden, planting, tying up, propagating and fertilising but I'll be ready to show you a few photos later in the week. Yesterday the three of us had lunch with Kerry and Jamie (Sunny was working) at a local pub which has its dining area overlooking the water. It did us all good to sit in the sun and relax.

Sewing for Moey.

Receiving this pastel of Jamie was one of the highlights of my year. Moey is such a talented artist. She drew this from a photo on the blog, so it was a complete surprise to me.

I've really enjoyed my sewing lately. I took part in the Down to Earth Forum blue August swap, making a linen apron, a table runner and napkins for my partner Moey in Perth. She sent the pastel of Jamie above. Isn't it wonderful! And I found an old Mambo shirt hanging in the cupboard, it must be about 10 years old. I decided to repurpose it and made Kerry a big feather down cushion for his white leather lounge (photo above). He was away for his birthday so it became his birthday present. I think the distinctive artwork of Reg Mombassa needs to be on display, not hidden in a cupboard.

The start of the blue quilt collection.

Soon I'll be doing more work at the sewing machine. I'm planning (in my head) a blue patchwork quilt for our guest room. Now that I have more time to work in my home, I've decided to put some effort into a couple of areas so they reflect how we use those spaces. Homes change all the time and although I don't want to be constantly updating, it feels right to fluff up these spaces now, using fabric on hand, so we can all enjoy them and make guests feel at home here when they visit us.

My sister Tricia has been visiting these past couple of weeks and we've had a great time together chatting, knitting, sewing and gardening. She's going home tomorrow so after that I'll be back in the garden again to finish off a few things and then I'll take some photos to share with you. The weather is perfect for outdoor work at the moment and I'm mindful of the fact that tomorrow is the first day of Spring. There is always something to do here and although it's sometimes sad, it's never dull. I hope you've had a good weekend and that the week ahead is a productive one for all of us with many opportunities to enjoy time with our families. xx

I've had a few requests to write about how I make bread. I've written a number of bread posts but as it's such a big part in our lives, let's go through it again.

Even thought the bread I make looks like different recipes, I change the type of flour I use to get the variety I want but the recipe stays pretty much the same. I always use baker's flour, not pre mix. Over the years I've used plain white, wholemeal, whole grain, soy and linseed, corn and barley, leckerbrot and rye. At the moment I have organic spelt, rye, white and wholemeal flours in the cupboard and it will eventually make up bread of different forms such as sandwich loaves, free-form loaves, bread rolls, baps and French loaves.

My tutorial for making bread by hand is here
Making bread using a bread machine is here

BREAD RECIPE

2 teaspoons dried yeast
1 teaspoon sugar or honey
¼ cup warm water
4 cups bread flour (can be any variety – wholemeal, rye, white, grain or spelt)
1 teaspoon salt
350 ml warm water (approximately) Read what I said about water in the links above

Make sure the flour and yeast are fresh and if you want a more tender dough for to use for pizza, add a tablespoon of olive oil or butter. You can freeze the dough if you want to. It's often handy to have a few batches of dough big enough to make a pizza base in the freezer.

The following photos are all bread made using the recipe above but with different flour and toppings.

If you're a new baker, don't give up if your bread isn't what you expect the first time you make it. It took me ages to perfect a good dough, to know what to look for in the dough and to always get my hands in and feel it, even if it's being made in the bread maker. Teach yourself through trial and error what good dough feels and looks like and over the days and weeks, you'll teach yourself to produce loaves good enough to be used for sandwiches, rolls and toast. When you start producing good bread, experiment with toppings, additives and different shapes.

Remember the bread you bake will be made exactly to the dietary requirements of you and your family and nothing you can buy at the shops will be as good as what you bake at home. Your bread will be cheaper than the good bread you can buy (but not the cheap and nasty supermarket loaves), you'll know exactly what's in it and you'll have fresh bread in your home whenever you want it. I hope you try your hand at this because it's one of the core skills of a simple home. Even if it looks too difficult for you, trying and then perfecting a bread recipe will help you produce quality food in your own home and it will challenge you. And we all need that.

I'm hoping the hard copies of my books will be on sale at Amazon soon so I was checking in there yesterday looking for signs of activity. While I was there I noticed a review with one star so I had to look at it. This is what it said: While there were some really good tips for simplifying, the basic message in this book is how to be a "traditional" housewife. Nothing against that at all, but it is not for me and I suspect many others. Anyone who has read my books right through or the blog for any length of time would know that my "basic message" isn't promoting traditional housewifery, but an encouragement to be whatever you feel is your true self. Simple life is a garment that all of us can wear but we need to pin and sew it according to the cut of our own jibs, not the expectations of anyone. Just as in mainstream life, if you live according to the ideals and aspirations of others, you're doomed to failure.

The life choices you make should fit the age you're currently at and reflect your values. When you move towards a simple life it should incorporate what you're comfortable with and be allowed to settle in its own time. Anything else would be a complete waste, and a betrayal of your core beliefs. When I look back on my own life, I see that each decade presents different challenges and if you're lucky enough to start living simply when you're young, you'll progress through life, building one stage upon the previous one. However, not all of us are that sensible (I wasn't) but it's quite easy to come into the lifestyle at any age and start where ever you're currently at.

Jamie's toys on the kitchen table (above) and craft supplies, collected rocks, seeds and a little pine cone on the outside table (below).

But getting back to the "traditional" housewife in the review, I hope you're not a traditional anything just for the sake of tradition. That implies to me that you're adopting a role that has already been laid down and rubber stamped as being acceptable. If simple life gives us anything, it's the guts to move away from what is "normal", the courage to examine who we are and what we have, and to do things our own way. It's fine to be a traditional housewife if that is what you are, but it's also fine to be any other kind of housewife or not to think of yourself as a housewife at all. I prefer not to label anyone and to accept them as they are.

If you end up moving towards a traditional life or a non-conventional one, if you're married or single, straight or gay, young or older, if you are black, white, yellow, red or spotted, if you're female, male or transgendered, it is possible to have a happy simple life. And within all that diversity, with people making decisions based upon their own values, beliefs and knowledge of what is good for them, what will emerge is a life worth living. So steer clear of anyone who wants to label you as being a certain type, be yourself, be true to who you are and live to your potential. Life won't always be smooth sailing but if you create a balanced life, the way you live will help you through the tough times. And if someone who doesn't know you labels you as being the opposite of what you are, just roll your eyes and move on.

I'm an old fashioned cook. My food is tasty, I can stretch a pound of minced steak as far as the best of them and to tell you the truth, when I see towers of food, foam, micro herbs, "super" foods, or anything newly fashionable I roll my eyes and move on. I'm not a complete philistine though. I do enjoy eating and cooking with grains (turn your heads all paleos), and I like experimenting with salads and dairy foods.

But I am what I am - a product of my times, and although some new food is seen on our table, mostly I go for the old standards and I have a group of delicious slow foods that we all enjoy. The one thing I found that helped a lot early on in my married life (and now) was to have a decent collection of fast food recipes that even though it is cooked from scratch, I can prepare quickly. If you have a few standby recipes for cheap nourishing meals and snacks that you can make in a hurry then you'll save yourself time and time again when life gets busy.

I've had a few requests for some recipes I've featured in the past week. I'm happy to oblige and share how I cook. All the older experienced cooks and a few of the younger savvy ones will know most of my recipes but I'm aiming for the newer cooks and those who are still unsure of their capabilities in the kitchen. Introducing fast quiche and banana and walnut cake.

Remember that a quiche is an egg pie with a range of additions, which will change depending on what you have in the fridge. In this one I used bacon, parsley, garlic and cheese. Often the thing that puts cooks off cooking quiche is the pastry. I can make quite good pastry but I use filo pastry when I need a fast meal. It's easier and much quicker. Instead of brushing the sheets of pastry with melted butter, I spray the sheets with olive oil, which cuts down on the prep time. Normally it would take you about an hour to make a traditional quiche. This fast recipe will have you putting the quiche in the oven to bake in about 15 minutes. Add 30 minutes for the cooking time and you've got a healthy meal that will feed at least four people. To feed more, just increase the amounts.

FAST QUICHE

4 or 5 sheets filo pastry

can of olive oil spray

6 large eggs

½ cup cream

2 rashers bacon, chopped into small pieces

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed or grated on a microphone

½ red capsicum, finely diced

1 cup hard cheese, grated

hand full of parsley, finely chopped

Prepare the pastry by spraying the sheets and folding them in two. Line the pie dish with the filo, and spray the surface again. Make sure every surface is covered. If you're using a large dish, use more pastry. Fold the edges of the pastry down to prevent them from burning.

Mix the eggs and cream together in a bowl and leave while you cook the other ingredients. Fry the bacon, onion, garlic and capsicum/peppers for about three minutes - just enough to soften all of the vegetables.

Add that to the egg mix, add the cheese and parsley, mix well and pour it into the pie dish lined with filo. Bake is a moderate oven 175C/350F for about 35 - 40 minutes or until the egg mix is golden brown on top and the egg is set. Be careful not to overcook the egg, take it out when the centre is still slightly wobbly because it will continue to cook for a couple of minutes after you remove it from the oven.

The quiche is delicious hot or cold and served with a salad.

.......

This banana and walnut cake is ideal for those who don't have a mixer but still want a good light cake to add to lunch boxes or for morning or afternoon tea.

BANANA AND WALNUT CAKE

125 grams butter
¾ cup sugar - I use ½ white and ½ dark Muscavado sugar You can use a mix of white and brown sugar or just white or raw sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup walnuts
3 small-medium eggs
½ teaspoon bicarb soda/baking soda *
1½ cups self raising flour or plain/all purpose flour with 1½ teaspoons baking powder *

* Please note: baking soda and baking powder listed above are two different ingredients.

Into a small saucepan, add butter, sugar and vanilla. Over a low heat, melt the butter while stirring to dissolve the sugar. When the butter melts, leave it to the side.

In a bowl, mash the bananas, add the eggs and bicarb and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula. Then add the melted butter and mix it together, add the flour and combine thoroughly. Finally, add the walnuts and mix through.

Add the cake mix to a prepared cake tin. I use a 33 x 23cm rectangular cake tin but you could also use a 22 x 13cm loaf tin. Bake in a moderate oven 175C/350F for about 35 - 40 minutes or until the cake is golden on top, it smells cooked or a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Store the cake in an air-tight container and it will last about 5 days. It's ideal for school and work lunches because it will travel quite well packed in lunch box.

These are just two examples of simple foods that won't take too much time, effort or money to make. Collect recipes like this that you and your family like so that when you need to produce food and you don't have much time, you can have good food on the table and you don't buy take away. Hopefully other experienced cooks will share their fast and frugal recipes here too. It's okay to link to your own blog today to share your recipe.

It's been a quietly busy few days here. I finished my blue swap sewing, worked in the garden, baked bread and a cake, made a quick quiche which fed us for two days, watered the garden when I gave up all hope of rain, finally booked an appointment to have a haircut and did the hundred other unnoticed but necessary things that make up a day.

I smiled when I just read what I'd written. It seems like so little was done and yet it filled my days not only with activity but with satisfaction and contentment as well. There was a time when I would have thought I was wasting time doing what I've been doing, a time when only busyness counted. Well, I'm more enlightened now. Now I value each moment. I've stopped rushing and I'm just as committed to enjoying what I do as I am about the productivity of my hours. Life's too short for anything else.

In the old days I would have known I had a certain task to complete - let's say it was my swap sewing - and I would have planned it out, cut it out, spent time at the machine sewing, ironed what I'd made and within half a day, I would have finished the job. HA! Not now. Many of you know I now have my sewing machine set up next to my computer and so before I sat down to make the last blue item, I searched for some music to listen to and watch on You Tube. I settled on the funeral music of country music legend George Jones, yes, the funeral music, then readied myself to listen to Alan Jackson singing He stopped loving her today. Not the most popular music but oh my, it was beautiful - I was captured by the emotion as much as the words. As it turned out, I listened to that particular song about 10 okay, 30 times. Long term readers will know I've referred to myself before now as the ageing equivalent of a box full of monkeys being let loose in the jungle. This is another manifestation of that. We are all many people rolled into one and this is a small example of my obsessive self. It surfaces fairly frequently. ;- )

So, I had the music ready and was just about to start sewing when my good friend Kathleen messaged me. I have phone messages set up on my computer too, so we had a long chat, in between stitches, cutting, snipping and listening to Alan singing sadly for old George and watching a bit of flat foot dancing on the porch. It took me three or four times longer than it should have to finish my project but the enjoyment factor was sky-high. I was smiling and ready for anything.

Of course I had many other things I could have been doing but I came away from that sewing machine feeling that I'd looked after myself and given myself the time to enjoy those hours. Sometimes it's not so much about what is produced but the feeling the production gives you. That is the true gift and there will be days when that gift will carry me through a bad day and help me continue this journey of simplicity. And even though some people would look at me there, madly re-listening to Alan singing for George, and taking longer, much longer, than the job needed, sometimes we all need to embrace the mad feelings we have, invest that time and craziness in ourselves and then reap the rewards.

What craziness do you get up to? :- )