What I did during the winter we didn't have.

It was a very mild winter here in Brisbane but for those living on the streets the nights still carried a chill.  I broke out the old loom and made about 40 beanies in all different sizes and a few different shapes (some planned, some not).

I then joined a group called Knitting for Brisbane's Needy and donated my beanies to their cause.  KBN provide amazing support for the homeless around Brisbane and do their best to provide them all with beanies and blankets all year round.

I will do this again before the start of next winter.

Recent Reads

 

I’ve done a bit of reading of late.  Here are two of my favourites.

 Two Steps Forward

I loved this book about Zoe and Martin walking the Camino. I didn’t know much about the Camino but now I feel that I understand why people want
the experience.  I don’t, I think a walk on the beach or even just through
the streets is plenty for me, but I like that other people want to walk the
Camino.

 

 

The Rosie Project

I read this straight after Two Steps Forward as when you find a writer you like why deviate until you run out of titles (I also feel this way about items of clothing).  Totally different book, but just as enjoyable with a few more giggles.

A Long Time Between Posts

I don't know where I've been. I think back on the 20+ months since I last posted and I wonder why it's taken me so long to get back here.

Although I haven't blogged, I still love a simple life, I like time to myself to potter and create.

For a few reasons the last 12 months have taken a little turn down a more spiritual road.  More meditation, more yoga, more time just noticing the importance of breathe, and the sights and sounds that surround me.

There has been time spent exploring things like energy fields and the belief that we all belong to one consciousness and maybe we can develop the ability to see the aura of a person and touch their energy.

And just maybe there are beings that I can't see that are guiding me gently in this new direction.

I wonder ................................................

A Brand New Year

A Brand New Year and a Brand New Day it was time to find a different walking route.  It's amazing what is going on so close to home but out of sight from our everyday routine.

Beautiful flowers, a gorgeous flame tree and knitwear for trees and signal posts.

It was a beautiful morning and a great start to a New Year with my two favourite dogs, Layla and Lupin.

Tomato Soup

Once again we have an abundance of cherry tomatoes that have popped up without us planting them. They self seed each year and not always where we want them but we put up with them to get these little beauties.  I'm about to make my favourite Cherry Tomato and Chili Jam blog post here and last weekend I made some roasted tomato soup.  I know it's not really soup weather here in QLD but I work in a really cold office and as I'm not a Coffee drinker, soup is a great thing to have for morning tea.

It's healthy gluten free, dairy free and nutritious so it ticks all the boxes.  I read a few different recipes but then just improvised.   
Here's what I did with around 30 grams of cherry and small roma tomatoes. I cut them in half, put them in two baking trays and drizzled them with olive oil.  I cut the top of a garlic bulb and put one in each tray.  I then baked them for about 40 minutes at 180 degrees.

I then transferred the tomatoes to the Thermomix.  I squeezed the garlic out of the cloves and then blended it all on speed 9 for a couple of minutes. At the end of the blending it looked like tomato puree and there were no skins to be seen.  I added about 2 cups of water and a couple of tablespoons of my vegetable stock - recipe here.  I then cooked it on 100 degrees for 15 mins and finished it off by blending it for another minute.I didn't add any cream as I'm dairy free so just ate as is, and it was delicious :-)

5am Sunday Gardening

I was out in the garden at 5am this morning and spent a good two hours just trying to tame what had become a wilderness in only a short amount of time.   It's very very humid here and we are getting sunny days and some rain at nights which means everything is growing.  Unfortunately it's also bringing in all the pests and I've given up on growing Kale and Mustard Greens for now (among other things). 

I really enjoyed the garden last Winter, we were virtually pest free and keeping it tidy was a lot more enjoyable in our beautiful Brisbane Winter. 

Anyway no complaints we are still getting plenty to eat out of the garden and providing I'm out there at 5am all is good.
I can see I'm going to be making some Pesto in the next few weeks with all the basil I have.

I had a great little helper this morning. Except for the time she dug up a hole heap of dirt looking for a lizard.

Paleo Bread (Gluten Free and Dairy Free)

Due to some Thyroid issues my diet is now supposed to be Gluten Free and Dairy Free.  I have good days and bad days with this but finding a good bread recipe will make it easier.

Today I used this recipe from the Thermomix Community but it was adapted from a non-Thermomix recipe and they provide the link if you don't have a Thermomix. It was super easy and tastes really good. The recipe has honey in but I don't like sweet bread so inside of 35 grams I just used 15 grams.  I haven't tried toasting it yet but it's not crumbly so should be fine.