down to earth

I had a wonderful time in the Blue Mountains. It was very cold for this sub-tropical girl but the only times I found it really uncomfortable was when I was going to bed or getting up again. Oh, and getting out of the hot shower. I thought I could live there but I doubt I'd be happy to, the traffic is too dense and mad and the people don't look at you. That is no way to live - I want to smile and say hello to complete strangers and not have them think I'm a nutcase; you can do that in Queensland.

This is where I set myself up during my stay - Tricia's loungeroom. I worked on the book almost every day, hence the computer. It was warm there with plenty of light.

I had to take this photo for our international friends. We found these little fellows out at Rydal, in the show grounds. It was raining slightly, which is why the photo is hazy. There was a family of about 12 kangaroos grazing on the grass and they were a type I'd never seen before, with longer ears and a black tail tip.

Erecting the shed.

I am really pleased that Tricia has found her dream home. It's ideal for her - a small cottage that is interesting and charming with not too much upkeep. She has been really busy painting and fixing things, and two of her sons, David and Danny, have been helping her with the bigger things like erecting a shed and the heavier garden work. I will be very pleased to visit there in the midst of Winter in years to come but I'll always be happy to come home again.

On the train, coming home, there were only eight other people in my carriage so we could all stretch out.

And speaking of coming home, just before I got on the train, Tricia, David, Danny and I went to visit the house Tricia and I grew up in, then we visited mum and dad's graves at Rookwood. It was a good way to end my visit. It was a fine train trip, with plenty of interesting people to watch and listen to, even though I was pretending to be busy with my knitting. I left Sydney at 4.30pm and arrived in Brisbane 14 hours later at 6.30am and there, waiting on the platform was, you guessed it, Mr Hetzel. We talked on the way home and I looked around the garden at my seedlings as soon as I got in, everything was fine, even the housework had been done. And Hanno had made the bed, although I shouldn't be surprised at that.He phoned me while I was away and said he left it the first day but didn't like getting into an unmade bed at night so he made sure to make the bed each morning. So not much had changed in that short two weeks, except ...

We had solar panels installed! I'll write about this tomorrow, as I want to tell you about the ins and outs of it, but I'm really happy we have them after wanting them for so long.

So now I'm back - I'll be busy with the last bit of the book editing this week and then, even though there will be book work to do, it will ease off and I can get back to my simple life and all the bits and pieces I like to include in each day. I have new books to tell you about, some new knitting and of course there will be updates on my favourite baby boy, Jamie and the soon to arrive Sarndra and Shane baby.

The view from the train, at 6.30 am, as we crossed over the Brisbane River - home again.

The following photos were taken when Tricia and I visited the Peppergreen antique and collectables shop in Berrima. I have to say this is, by far, the most interesting and fabulous antiques place I have ever been in. It is mainly antique and collectable fabrics, trims, old night gowns, aprons, quilts, table cloths and kitchenware of all sorts, including cutters, metalware, pots, glass, crockery and cutlery. I was so impressed by the clean and ordered shop. Unlike many antique shops, each category was grouped together so you could compare apples with apples. It was like an Aladdin's cave where the first large room opened up to another equally large space, then another and another; all of it was catalogued, labelled and beautifully presented. The staff were friendly and didn't pressure us to buy but we did - I bought a vintage lifter-beater utensil and an old English washing stick - for poking clothes into the boiling water. I'm going to use it as a small pastry rolling pin. There were linen nightgowns there for five dollars that would be excellent for patchwork, we were tempted but didn't buy them. If you're ever near Berrima, please go to this amazing shop, you won't regret it.

A wall full of rolled up vintage and antique quilts.

Glassware and crockery.

Cups and saucers, ribbons and plates.

Authentic vintage fabric and batting.

Bottles and enamelware.

Glasses, canisters, buttons and metalware.

Jewellery, ribbons and cake tins.

I've included the last of the photos taken during my holiday, I hope you enjoy them. Each photo can be enlarged by double clicking on it.

Many thanks to everyone who sent emails and messages about missing me. I had a wonderful, and much needed break, but I'm really pleased to be back. I feel like I'm just starting out on the blog again and I have so much to share with you.

Dear Everyone,

I'm having a wonderful time here in the mountains with Tricia. It's been cold and raining the past two days and although I'm cold, I'm really enjoying it. I have gloves on while typing. I have a few photos to show you where we've been.

All photos can be enlarged by double clicking on them.

This first place is Brown's Siding Store and Cafe. It's owned by a friend of Tricia's, Kerry, who used to work for Martha Stewart. We had lunch there, the food was delicious - I had a Ruben sandwich and hot chocolate, Tricia had the smoked salmon and potato cakes. Apparently the cafe is packed to the rafters on the weekends - we arrived late for lunch so there weren't so many other diners there. Afterwards I had a look around and found wonderful stock like German scrubbing brushes, goats hair dusting brushes, pure soap, liquid soap, jams, tea, packs of trail mix, cake and brownie mix and many beautiful bags, cups and odds and ends. The goods for sale are beautifully presented and excellent quality. If you're in the mountains, this place is in Medlow Bath, right next to the railway station and just off the highway. It's well worth a visit, especially for the hot chocolate. : - )

One of the delights of being here over Easter was that I was able to spend time with two of my four nephews - David and Daniel. Danny came up a couple of times to help Tricia with various jobs around the house and David arrived Easter Sunday armed with Easter eggs and chocolates for everyone. David stayed that night after he and Danny erected a small shed for Tricia to store her garden tools and mower in. We had lunch at David's home on Easter Saturday where he cooked us a lamb roast and Tricia and I made cabbage rolls and up-side-down plum cake. Daniel is back again today to fix an original 1919 Singer treadle sewing machine he bought for Tricia recently. He brought fresh croissants with him!

Yesterday, Tricia and I went to the Megalong Valley Tearooms which is about 10km from Tricia's home at Blackheath. What a wonderful place that is! The tea room has been run by grandma, mother, and now, daughter since the 1930s. It used to serve tea with scones, blackberry jam and cream from the dairy cows out there, now they serve breakfasts, tea and coffee all day and lunch. Blackberries grow wild there and blackberry jam and cream scones are still on the menu - naturally we had some. The tea is still made using the old cast iron urn grandma set up way back then.

When we left the tearoom, we came across a heritage centre with many interesting carts and old wagons.

Further along, we stopped to let a trail ride pass by. It was quite a sight to see all the people, single file on their trained horses, wandering along through the bush.

The photo below shows the drive back to Tricia's. It was cold and bleak and definately the perfect time for knitting and the heater.

When we got back home again, the oil heater was on, I got out my knitting, Tricia was hand stitching her quilt and we watched Kirsty's Handmade Home. I had never seen that program before and enjoyed it very much. It was the perfect end to a brisk Autumn day in the mountains. I promise you that we are doing a lot of things that don't involve eating. LOL It seems that's all I've been writing about. I have been working on my book almost every day and will keep at it because the typesetter's deadline is looming. Tricia is pottering around her home fixing this and that and making patchwork cushion for her rattan sofa on the back verandah. The gas man is coming to connect the stove tomorrow, we're going for a drive through the highlands on Thursday and on Friday, the chimney sweep arrives. I doubt I'll move an inch when there is a fire glowing brightly here. Never fear, I have plenty of Vivian's beautiful eco yarns with me which I think make the perfect partnership the warming fire.

BTW, Sharon will post an update about the swap. It's closed now and soon your swapping buddy list will show who you will be swapping with. I hope you're enjoying your knitting.

We're here! We took two days to drive from Queensland to Tricia's cottage in the Blue Mountains. It was a great trip, we took our time, after Tricia was pulled up by the Highway Patrol at 20ks over the limit, breathalysed, licence and registration checked, then told to slow down and let go. LOL I think we must have reminded the officer of his mum. Anyway, it was kind of him to caution us and let us be on our way. We travelled to Brisbane and bought some old windows at a second hand yard ($30 each, in Sydney they're over $100 each), through the Gold Coast and called in to see Sarndra and Shane, then drove south and turned inland at Alstonville, coming out on the New England Highway at Tenterfield. That is a beautiful town and well worth a visit if you're up that way.

I'd packed sandwiches, date and walnut loaf and tea so we stopped at some really quiet and beautiful places on the side of the road to rest and eat. The wind was getting cooler the further south we went and to sit in some of these places, just the two of us, no sounds except the trees rustling and the birds, well, it was just beautiful and something I'll remember for a long time.

I took these photos to show where we've been. I thought it might be of interest to many readers to see some of the real Australia off the tourist track that you might have already seen.

This little antique shop was outside a country town on the New England Highway.

Above and the following three photos are in Rylestone.

Driving along country roads with the Autumn foliage starting to show their true colouring.

And then we arrived at Tricia's beautiful cottage.

This is the front verandah and on the floor you can see two of the six windows bought in Brisbane.

Some of Tricia's many quilts.

And the kitchen which has now been repainted. The little fabric bird on the door was a housewarming gift to Tricia from Sarndra. The black and white background in the pantry is fabric Tricia put on just after she arrived.

There is still a lot of work to do in this little home but it's easy work and Tricia can take her time with it. When I walked in the door for the first time, I felt like I'd already been here, and with my much loved nephew Danny here last night, it's fast becoming a very favoured place of mine. I feel comfortable here and more importantly, Tricia does too, it really is a wonderful home.

The temperature hasn't dropped too much, it's around four or 5 degrees at night and it rises to about 14 during the day. It's definitely jumper and cardigan weather and although we haven't got the fire or stove going yet, I'm hopeful they're be fixed soon and we can sit cosy and warm in front of the fire, knitting. We have to find a chimney sweep! Now that's a sentence I never thought I'd write. My bed is warm and cosy and we're drinking lots of hot tea. Life is good.

I'll post again soon.

I've almost come full circle again, tomorrow is my birthday. Sixty-three - it feels so good! I know there are people out there who don't like the idea of getting older but I am a staunch advocate of ageing. The alternative - death - does not appeal to me at all. So here I am, not quite an old aged pensioner, on the brink of a new career, with so many enriching activities and interesting people filling my days. Life's good.

Shhhh, let me tell you this quietly. There was a brief two minutes in my late 50s when I wondered if life would continue to improve. It did, it has, and it keeps getting better. I have lead a fortunate life. I was born into a working class family and went to an all girls' Catholic school. We were never handed anything on a silver platter, we worked for everything we got and we were taught, very young, the value of a family. That upbringing taught me the true rewards of hard work and set me up for life, and for that I will be forever grateful. I believe that work really is the key to a successful life. I have had some friends who tell me I'm lucky, but I will tell you this: the harder I work, the luckier I become. Now that I'm standing at this end of the age spectrum, I clearly see that whether it is in the home, working towards making your home a place of nourishment, comfort and calmness, or in a job earning money to provide for yourself and your family, what you put into your work returns to you in wonderful ways and turns you into a different person. I have been changed by the work I do - both in my paid work, my work in my home and here on the blog and forum.

The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it.

John Ruskin

Just like the Queen of England, I am issuing a birthday photo. ; - ) This was taken yesterday.

There is so much to look forward to in this life. Don't listen to those who say you must be a certain type, size, height or age to be acceptable. Don't believe that dyed hair is better than grey hair, don't be tempted by plastic surgery, don't fall into the trap of thinking everyone should look young. Celebrate diversity, be the person you really are and not a facade that makes you the same as everyone else. There is beauty at every age. Those lines that weren't there a ten years ago, those few grey hairs, all those signs - they, my friends, are your badge of honour.

I'll be celebrating my birthday here with Hanno and Tricia, then on Saturday, Tricia and I will drive to the Blue Mountains where I'll spend two weeks in cold weather. I'm looking forward to it so much. I'll be working on the book while I'm away and I'll blog when I feel like it. That might be never, or every hour - who knows what I'll be capable of when I'm 63.

The dishcloth swap looks like being a great success with over 100 people joining in here and at the forum. Soon Sharon will declare a cutoff point and then pair up swap buddies. Remember you can slip something extra in your package - just something small - if you like, it is definitely not a requirement of the swap.

~~~

I've been dealing with an over-abundance of delicious and juicy passionfruit. It's not a bad problem to have but I wish I had more passionfruit recipes. If you have any you'd like to share, please send them my way.

On the weekend we had Kerry, Sunny, Sunny's mum and Jamie here for lunch and it was a good chance to send them home loaded up with passionfruit. While they were here, I served up passionfruit cheesecake. We all love cheesecake, we don't have it often, but it's such an easy cake to make I couldn't resist it.

PASSIONFRUIT CHEESECAKE

Make a crumb base with a packet of biscuits such as Granita, Graham crackers or digestive biscuits. Crush them completely in a food processor or put them in a plastic bag and hit them with a rolling pin. Melt about one third cup of butter and mix it into the crushed biscuit crumbs. Press the crumbs into a springform tin (about 25cm/9inches), smooth them to form a nice base and press it all until it holds together and is firm. Put that in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

3 packs Philly cheese (250grams/8oz each) - remove from fridge an hour before using
juice of one lemon
juice of two passionfruit
1 can of condensed milk - the recipe for homemade condensed milk is in this old post

Place philly cheese in a mixer bowl and mix until it's combined and smooth, add lemon, passionfruit and milk and mix for one minute.

Take the biscuit base from the freezer and add the filling. Put the cake in the fridge overnight or for at least four hours.

PASSIONFRUIT YOYOS - recipe from The Thrifty Kitchen

These are a light biscuit that are really lovely with morning tea.

Pulp from three passionfruit
125g (one stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 egg
1 cup plain (all purpose) flour
1/2 cup self raising flour

Strain the passionfruit and reserve the juice and seeds separately.

Cream the butter and sugar, add the egg and mix in well, take the mixture off the mixer. Sift in the flours, add the passionfruit pulp and fold in.

With lightly floured hands, roll two level teaspoons of mixture into a ball and place on a baking tray - flatten them slightly and cook in a pre-heated oven on 180C/350F for ten minutes.

When cool, add icing and join two biscuits together, like a yoyo. Mine where too big to do this so I left them as a single and iced each one.

PASSIONFRUIT ICING

80g (3oz) soft butter
2/3 cup icing sugar (confectioners sugar)
1 tablespoon passionfruit juice

Cream the butter and sugar, then add passionfruit juice.

Don't forget to send me your passionfruit recipes. I'm also looking out for sweet recipes with unusual names. If you have any, please share.

As you know we're enjoying Autumn here now. It's my favourite season. It's cool, with the certainty of colder weather to come. Bliss! I knit all year through and generally knit with cotton in summer and heavier yarns, like wool and alpaca, in the colder months. This year is an exception to that rule because I'm knitting for the babies and some of the lighter autumn jackets and booties call for cotton. I am using the Ecoyarns organic natural dyed cotton from Peru. The colours are subtle, the cotton is strong but very soft, and in addition to being paid fair trade wages for processing the cotton, the women are given a litre/quart of milk each working day. I really like the idea of that.

I'm now half way through a blue cotton kimono jacket for Jamie. The pattern is from the Cute and Easy Baby Knits book which is very easy to use, even for a beginner. When he came to visit on Saturday, he wore the blue cotton shoes I had knitted for him, with blue and black striped socks - bee feet and very cute. I must say it makes me feel good knowing the knits I make for our babies, while being soft on their skin, are not harmful in any way. I like supporting businesses producing organic materials too. Many of them are swimming against the current to get their products out to us.

This little jacket is an ideal step up project for a new knitter. It could take you from "beginner" to "intermediate". All it requires in the way of stitches is cast on, knit and purl, cast off/bind off, and the additional of two new stitches - "sl", which is just slipping a stitch from one needle to the other and "inc" which is knitting into the front and back of a stitch, instead of just into one side of the stitch. It's a bit fiddly when you first do it but it's not complicated and is easy to remember. Doing these stitches, along with the knit and purl, makes the curve in the front of the jacket you can see in the photo above.

My good friend and long term helper, Sharon, started a dishcloth swap at the forum and here on the weekend. Sharon has been very sick for a long time so it's really wonderful to have her back, both here and at the forum. The swap serves a couple of purposes. It provides a challenge, a way of engaging with others and it is an encouragement to those who don't knit or crochet to think about working on a simple and quick project. There are a few new knitters in the swap, so if you're unsure about your knitting capabilities, don't be, you're not alone and, as usual, perfection is not a requirement. Making dishcloths is an excellent way of improving your knitting while making something useful. Even if it doesn't look great it is still useable.

If you decide to join, when you start work on your dishcloth, keep the label from the cotton you use and clip that to the dishcloth before you send it. It will show the recipient what you used and these labels often have washing instructions on them as well. It's a good habit to get into if you're knitting for others - send them that label, or a hand-written label stating what materials you used and how to care for them. It's a lovely little touch that I'm sure most people appreciate.

Another tip: modern yarn is usually sold as a ball. The old fashioned way was as a skein. The yarns above I got from Ecoyarns as skeins and before you start knitting with them, you form a ball; it's easier to knit that way and you get no knots or tangles. You'll need to hook the yarn over someone's hands or two kitchen chairs and just wind the skein to form a ball.

Knitting is one of those distinctive skills of simple living. It's similar to learning how to make bread and soap. You can get by without it but if you take the time to learn, the quality of what you make is much better than what you buy and in the case of knitting, you can knit useful items for the home like dishcloths and tea cosies, and then progress to mittens, scarves and warm winter clothing. It's just the most relaxing thing to do, it will give you a portable project to take with you when you go to work or when waiting to pick up the kids, and it makes your relaxation time, both calming and productive.

Happy knitting everyone!

Hello All, this is Sharon and I am announcing another swap; in order to get back into the swing of swapping we thought to start off with a small item-a dish cloth to encourage everyone to enjoy the joy of washing dishes-a time when one can think things through or organize one's day......You make one dishcloth from cotton yarn, either knitted or crocheted, and swap it with another member. You get something useful and handmade as a lovely surprise in the post and get to improve your knitting or crochet skills at the same time - simple!

The swap guidelines are as follows:- Sign up on Rhonda's blog or at the forum. Please do *not* sign up in both places otherwise we will get confused and possibly count you twice in the swap numbers, which would be bad. Please also indicate if you are willing to post internationally keeping in mind postage costs. Saying you are willing to post internationally does not guarantee your buddy will be from another country but we will do our best to match everyone to their preference.

Make a knitted or crocheted dishcloth for your partner. This should be around 7-8 inches (16-20 cm) square, as a guideline. You will have a minimum of one month to create your item. If you sign up early you will have slightly longer. Once the item has been completed come back to this post notifying us of completion. At the end of the month (or possibly before if all participants have created within the time frame) Buddys will be matched up, and details exchanged. The item must be in the mail and postmarked by 14 May. Then come back when you receive your swap and show us what you got : )

The item being swapped is a lovely handmade dishcloth. As often happens in swaps people enjoy and/or like to pop in some little extras for their partner, while you are most welcome to do this if you want to, it is certainly not expected or required. Please don't send more than one or two small extra items. We would not want anyone to be disappointed for not receiving more than the specified swap item or to feel bad for not adding extras to their swap parcel. Through our collective experience in hosting and participating in swaps we know there are times when people don't follow through with their commitment to participate, parcels get lost and life gets in the way. Obviously we understand that sometimes things happen, but we want to avoid disappointment for other swappers. So, anyone who does not send a promised swap will be excluded from the next swap. Not sending a second time in following swaps will result in exclusion from all swaps.

Some resources to jumpstart your creativity or light your creative spark are ... - http://www.knittingpatterncentral.co...dishcloths.php/ - http://www.knittingonthenet.com/cloths.htm - http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory/dishcloths.php - fixed
http://crafts.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Fr...cloth_Patterns and of course http://www.ravelry.com/

Have fun! We hope to see some amazing dishcloths in due course.

Cleaning mould from walls and fabrics

With all this rain around we've developed a mould problem in our home. Usually we have the front and back doors open and that good ventilation stops most moulds from establishing. However, with the house locked up for the past week, the high humidity and the rain, mould is now growing on the wooden walls near our front door and on the lower parts of cupboards in the kitchen. Most of us will find mould growing in our homes at some point. Either in the bathroom or, in humid climates, on the walls, like we have now. You'll need a safe and effective remedy at some point, so I hope one of these methods works well for you. Mould is not only ugly to look at, it can cause health problems so if you see mould growing, do something about it straight away. The longer you leave the problem, the harder it will be to get rid of it effectively. If you have asthma or any allergies, you should do this type of cleaning with a face mask on so you don't breathe in any spores. Many peopl...

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