I'm sure you all know by now that I love knitting - dishcloths being a favourite subject of my affection. Well, I was reading a knitting book last week and came across a new (to me) pattern that I thought would make up a very nice dishcloth. I worked it over the weekend and have just taken a photo for you.

I bake all our biscuits, cakes and bread, so I am always on the lookout for recipes which are quick and easy. I thought I would share one of my favourite biscuit (cookie) recipes. It is easy, quick, cheap and it makes 7 or 8 dozen biscuits, which keep well. The dough and cooked biscuits keep well in the freezer. I use butter and wholemeal flour, but white flour and margarine can be substituted. I have only ever used tinned sweetened condensed milk in this recipe, but i imagine that Rhonda Jean's homemade condensed milk would work just as well.

makes 7-8 dozen, cook 10 min at 180C

500 grams butter (approx 1.1 lb)
1 can condensed milk (390-400 gram)
1 cup sugar
5 cups wholemeal self raising flour (or plain flour and baking powder)
toppings like choc chips, smarties, jam, cinnamon and sugar

cream butter and sugar, add condensed milk. stir in flour. roll into balls and flatten. top with choc chips etc, or thumbprint and add jam for jam drops.

bake at 180C for approx 10 min until golden brown. cool on racks

I love finding a recipe that I know I'll use in the years to come. I found such a recipe a couple of weeks ago and was delighted with the results. It came from the Down to Earth forum, submitted by Paula Hewitt and she calls them Easy and Cheap Biscuits (cookies).


The great thing abut this recipe is that it uses only four ingredients. Paula says the recipe makes 70 - 80 biscuits. I made up one lot of about 40, another batch of 25 a week later and I still have one batch frozen as a log in the freezer.

I turned some into jam drops.

I'm going to share this recipe with our fundraisers at work. I reckon a little tray of these biscuits would sell at our stall for about $4 which would make us just over $50 per batch. I estimate the cost of ingredient to be just under $10 if we buy condensed milk, and less if we make our own. Definitely a handy recipe for charity fundraising.

But here at home it's a good one to make up and have in the freezer for unexpected guests. You could defrost the dough and have them cooked in under an hour. I've written the recipe inside the cover of my Feast cookbook, I'm sure Nigella would approve. This is definitely a keeper.

You'll notice I've put up some Amazon ads for the USA, Canada and the UK. The UK Amazon is now offering free postage to UK buyers from now until January 1, 2010. There is no minimum purchase needed. I will use any money I make on these ads to finance the set up and ongoing costs of the forum.

The start of another week and I'm back to working Mondays and Tuesdays from today. Hasn't this year gone fast! I guess you're all working on your Christmas gifts. I have discovered a new favourite dishcloth pattern. I'll show it to you tomorrow. I hope you have a beautiful week.

I'm happy to report that it all went very well with Hanno's surgery yesterday. He went in at 1pm, I popped down to Spotlight to check out a sale then spent a couple of hours in the waiting room, knitting, and he hobbled out at 5.30pm. We got home around 6pm. He had no pain, didn't need crutches and he slept fairly well last night. Today and tomorrow will be the test, the doctor said he must allow the knee to heal but he also needs to exercise it. His idea of rest, and mine, are entirely different so we'll see what happens today. My guess is he'll sit on the couch and on the front verandah until he reads everything he wants to read, then he'll want to wander around. Thank you all for your kind thoughts and prayers.


I was going to write about biscuits today but that can wait for another time because I'm going to carry on from yesterday. My post on "perfection" seemed to hit a cord with a few of you so let's expand on that.

I was saddened to read some of yesterday's comments. I know it's difficult to overcome something you've live with in childhood but as adults we have the choice to live as we wish. Examine your fears, think about what you believe perfection to be and develop the strength to toss out old ideas and work on new ones. Oh, and examine your fears in the bright light of day, not at 3am lying silently in the darkness when everything seems hopeless. If trying to be perfect just isn't working for you then replace that need with doing your best.

When elite athletes train for the Olympics they don't try to beat world records, they try to beat their own personal best. And that is a helpful tactic here too. Just do your best on any given day, you can't ask for more than that. I know that as I go through my week, some days I feel I can take on the world, and some days I just want to write, drink tea and rest. NO ONE, has the capacity to work perfectly every day. Not every day will be perfect - in fact very few are.

If you're expecting perfection you're setting yourself up for disappointment. You're hoping for something that rarely happens. Don't do that to yourself. Instead, today, this very minute, say to yourself that you're replacing the expectation of perfection with doing your best. And in the days that follow this one, try your best in every thing you do. Slow down and concentrate on what it is you're doing - don't rush through your work trying to get it done - and do your best. Some days your best will be spectacular and some days it won't be but as long as you can go to bed each day thinking that you did the best you could do on that day, that will stand you in good stead. Hopefully over the course of a few months, you'll replace your mother's voice in your head, insisting on perfection, with: I'm proud that I did the best I could.

I have touched on this subject before here: The best

I hope today is a good one for you and that whatever you do, you'll do your best and be happy with it. And remember, happiness is not one huge reward you find one day. It's tiny fragments that are collected every day and added to your basket. Never stop looking for whatever happiness you can find. It maybe in the passage of a book, it may be lurking in your garden or on the faces of your children. Take note of every happy moment, add them to your basket and be enriched by the thought of them as you go through your day.

It doesn't take much, just one good night's sleep and I'm ready to take on the world again. Thank you for your good wishes and prayers for Hanno, we both appreciate them. We'll go in later this morning and be home late this afternoon; no doubt there will be news to write about tomorrow.


But today I want to talk about perfection. I don't talk about it much, mainly because I don't believe many things are perfect, I rarely seek perfection and I tend to feel a bit uneasy when things look too good. I prefer to live in a slightly wobbly, less than perfect world. It suits my nature, I don't have to constantly measure myself against some "perfect" ideal and I learn so much when I make mistakes. Don't mistake perfection for happiness, they are two entirely different things.

If you were to ask me how I discovered how to do what I do I would probably tell you that my mistakes have taught me well. My mentors are books and the fading memories of the many things my mother and grandmother taught me. I also have the remarkable benefit of having grown up in a time when people did for themselves. But the mistakes I made along the way have taught me things I will never forget. When I first left home I tried to forget what I knew because I wanted to be modern, eat convenience foods and live more outside my home than in it. When I reversed that trend I found I still remembered much of what I was taught and saw but still, my main teacher were the mistakes I made.


There is nothing better for making you remember a sequence, a recipe, a method, than putting time into something and then realising you have to start again. A mistake, that perfect teacher, makes you undo stitches, give food to the chooks and make a skirt into an apron, all because you did something wrong. But do you ever make that same mistake again - I don't, I learn from what I did wrong and redoing it cements it into my brain.


If you're starting off with knitting, sewing, crochet, soap making, homemaking or marriage, be kind to yourself when you make a mistake. See it as a gift. You won't waste too much of your project if you unpick and redo, and the process of doing it will be your teacher. Don't look for perfection, except if you are seeking a warm sunny day, a five out of five nest of new hatchlings, or the first glimpse of your new baby. They will all be perfect, most other things rarely are.

I applaud you if you set delicious meals on the table every night, if you never drop a stitch, or if you produce batch upon batch of perfect soap. But when you do make a mistake, don't beat yourself up about it. Be kind to yourself, let yourself enjoy all this life has to give you - even the mistakes. See a mistake for what it is - an opportunity to teach yourself. I remember the first time I tried to knit a headband. I unpicked that thing about 10 times before I got the tension and size right, and then it turned into a hat! But I learnt so much from that hat. It still shines as a bright beacon for me because it taught me not only how to knit hats and headbands, it taught me that wasting time on perfection sometimes gets in the way of what I want and need.


My own less than perfect day today will include taking my husband in for surgery, knitting, thinking about whether to replace a broken dishwasher, cooking, updating my diary and mapping out what I'm doing from now till Christmas, including deadlines (I really don't want to do that) and reading. There will be parts of today I don't like but overall it is a day just like all others to be mined for all the enjoyment I can find in it.

I wonder what you're doing on this less than perfect day.

After a busy day at work yesterday, I'm worn out. I over-slept this morning and as I have to do a few things before going to work soon, this will be a short post. There are times in my past when I worked much harder and longer than I did yesterday but now it does me in. I have another work day today and tomorrow Hanno goes in for his knee operation and I want to be in top form for that. I'm taking it easy and letting myself recover so I have the energy to cope with the rest of the week.

I'm sorry that I haven't had time to answer questions in the comments and emails or spend much time at the forum, but I'll get back there later in the week.

And just a quick word about advertising. I've added Amazon ads to my blog to help pay for the forum which cost a few hundred dollars to set up. I like the Amazon ads, I think they are good value for money and they feature products most of us use. Clicking on the ads will give you more information. I appreciate any help you might be able to give me.

I saved this blog address earlier this week and hoped I would have a chance to share it with you. It's the blog of Jessica Watson, a young lady who lives in my region. Jessica is 16 years old and is sailing solo, unassisted and non-stop around the world. I doubt I would have allowed my children to do what she is doing at that age, but I admire her so much. I've watched a couple of interviews and her videos and she seems a very mature and intelligent girl. We so rarely find real adventurers in our lives now but Jessica is one and I really hope she achieves her goals. I think following her journey would be a wonderful project for homeschoolers. She is in her second week now and has just passed Norfolk Island. Soon she will head south, over open ocean, towards South America. Scary! The route she is taking is written about here.

See you tomorrow. I hope you have a lovely day.

I love knitting. I'm not particularly good at it, but I get by. There is something about winding a long piece of wool or cotton around sticks that is very appealing. I relax when I knit and I feel connected to all my grandmas who would have sat by a fire knitting clothes for the family. Knitting is a gift I give myself. As well as the relaxation, it exercises my brain, makes me feel productive, even when I'm sitting down, and it produces beautiful items that I happily use in my home or give as gifts. Knitting is part of my day to day life and I believe it should be part of everyone's. If you're not knitting for the productive rewards it gives, then do it to relax.

I still get emails from readers who like the idea of knitting but don't have anyone to teach them. This post is to encourage new knitters, and those who have yet to take up their needles, to start on simple projects and not give up. Knitters are very much like gardeners. I am convinced that if you see a knitter or a gardener anywhere and ask about what they're doing, they'd be pleased to tell you.

Knitting looks complicated but as soon as you learn how to hold your needles and realise that almost all knitting is just casting on, knit, purl, casting off, it seems doable. Learning a few extras like slip stitch, knit two together, yarn forward etc., will give you some lovely pieces that you can't buy at the shops. The thing that really appeals to me is that you can choose your own wool or cotton, and there are some beautiful yarns on the market now. A preknit cardigan from China just doesn't cut it for me anymore.


I noticed a thread over at the forum yesterday about casting on and untidy loose edges. A few techniques were offered and here is mine, I don't know what it's called. I do the normal, for Australia, cast on, then on my first knit row, I knit into the back of the stitch, not the front. It gives me a beautiful firm and tidy edge. The photo above shows where to place the needle, otherwise it's just a normal knit stitch. I find the American way of casting on quite complicated and always use the UK/Irish method taught to me by my mother.

I have looked for what I think are good sites for you to learn from. Remember, it is up to you to put the time in, overcome frustration and keep going. Whether it be knitting, sewing, cooking, growing or anything else in this simple life, don't give up if you don't get it straight away. These are crafts - skills to learn, you have to rediscover how to hold your hands and techniques that, although once commonplace, now are not. That takes a little time. Give yourself that, be patient, and it will come to you.


That learning aspect of knitting is why I encourage new knitters to knit dishcloths. They are the ideal project to learn the stitches as well as cast on, cast off, and you can experiment with fancy patterns if you feel like it. It doesn't matter if you don't do a perfect job, it is the practise that counts, and you get something at the end that can be used in the home. So start off with dishcloths and then progress to other small projects. There are some in the links below.


Set yourself up properly. It's not expensive. Buy or barter some good cotton or wool, I never knit with acrylic but there are many ladies who do. I think if you're putting the time in to knit, it should be the best yarn you can afford. For me, that means watching out for sales, or buying online occasionally. You'll need needles, I think aluminium are the easiest to knit with, just get one pair to start, maybe size 7 or 8. So when you have your needles and either wool or cotton, find a bag to put them in. You'll need to protect your work and if you intend taking it with you when you go out, a bag will keep it all together for you. I use an old flour sack made of calico. I gave a similar kit of cotton, needles and a flour sack to my friend Fifi at work. She is now madly knitting away on her first dishcloths, and loving it.

I hope I've encouraged you to try, or re-try knitting. If you get stuck, go to the knitting ladies over at the forum, post your question and someone will help you. Don't give up on it, or yourself, and have fun!

ONLINE RESOURCES
UK how to cast on

Chickens are creatures of habit, they are practical and they like climbing, so it should not have been a great surprise when I looked out the window from where I am sitting right now to find this looking back.

Quentin wanted to be close to someone and she wanted to rest while watching her friend, the half blind Quince. I think she'll make this one of her permanent perching places unless we move them on.


We bought Quentin and Quince about a month ago and since then Hanno has patiently nursed Quince through a nasty eye infection. She looks to be recovered now but she's blind in that eye and a little undernourished but I think she'll be fine in the long run. Generally new chickens would be well and truly integrated into the flock by now but Hanno separated Quince from the other girls when he noticed her bad eye, and Quentin, voluntarily, followed her. Even now she will fly over the fence, away from the other hens, to be with Quince. There is a loyalty there that is touching and quite fascinating.


During the time when Quince's eye was badly infected, her feathers became matted around her head and neck. Hanno washed her a couple of times and gently dried her in the sun. If she could talk, I'm sure she would have thanked him. With all this handling, these two little Sussex hens have become very tame and don't mind at all being picked up, which Hanno often does. He has such a soft heart when it comes to animals. I've seen him many times just sitting on the back verandah, smiling, and watching the two Qs.


But soon the time will come when they will have to join their coop sisters and free range in the backyard. They're fenced off from the flock now, living on the back verandah, and so Quentin can perch on a bench close to my computer and she can watch over Quince as she scratches for food. People say that chickens are dumb critters and I have certainly found that to be so with some, but like people, there are all types - some funny, some sullen, some smart and some not so. Quentin is a leader, so I'm glad we named her for our first female governor general.

I think Hanno will move them out to join the flock today. Their little wooden fruit box full of straw will go with them and they'll have to roost in the coop, instead of on the rungs of the old chair standing near our bedroom. It's been lovely having two baby chicks peeping at the back door but the time has come for them to move on. I think they'll stay together out there and I think Quentin will always help Quince find the water container and scatterings of grain.


If you take the time to know them, you will see character differences in all your chooks. Lucy, our Old English Game chook is bossy, highly strung and a rebel - she took it upon herself to build her nest in the next door neighbours yard instead of taking to the coop nests when the rest of her broody sisters did. Hanno found her there with five eggs. Cocobelle is our prima donna, Martha is a slow and gentle mother, Heather is the individual with her feathered pants and puffy face, and she is as game as Ned Kelly. I have never seen our chooks just as egg producers, although that is their primary function. They also entertain us, eat every bug they find and teach us that birds of a feather do not always flock together.

There are certain areas in every home where clusters of chemicals sit. The laundry is one such place and is a great place to start walking the green path. There are many recipes for laundry powder and liquid on the net. I have my own here, but it doesn't matter which you use, just start using one of them, it's a very good way to start simplifying. You can also throw out that softener. Get used to the feel of normal clothes on your skin; clean cloth with no additives is a healthier option that clothes with softener added. Read the labels on the products you're using and if what you read disturbs you, get rid of them, do some research, start making your own and be better off for it.

One of the best ways to be greener with your laundry is to line dry your clothes. I am amazed to read that in the USA, the land of the free, that line drying clothes is banned in many areas. Some claim it's unsightly, it lowers the standards of the neighbourhood, or that clothes hanging on a line indicates "poor" people are living there! I'm not sure what kind of fantasy land people who make these statements are living in but how can clean clothing hanging in the sunshine be unsightly. Clothes hanging out to dry indicates clean clothes, clean sheets and towels all smelling of sunshine. And if "poor" people live there, so what? If you came to Australia you'd think we are all "poor" because there is washing hanging outside all over the country here. It's normal, and always has been.

And while we're about it, what about the regulations that ban home owners from keeping chickens! That's another stupid rule that needs overturning. I think it's about time these ridiculous regulations are seen for what they really are - a way for local authorities to interfere in our lives. Let them regulate parking rules and where shopping malls are built but they can stay out of my backyard, thank you very much. What happens there is my business and no one else's.

If you are affected by these unfair restrictions, start making a noise about it. These are not radical things, our grandparents and theirs kept chickens and hung laundry outside to dry. Why have those simply rights been taken away? It's just another way to control us. Write to your local politicians and your newspapers and demand the right to line dry and keep chickens. These are your decisions to make, they should not be made for you.

And now I'll step down from my soap box. :- ) I hope you have a beautiful day.