Our Garden, Autumn

We're having a real burst of late summer today with 29C forecast for Perth. The sky is bright blue and although it's only 10C outside right now it will be very warm later on. Yesterday was also nice so I took a few photos outside...these "spring bulbs" have made a head start, they're narcissus and will have a lovely fragrance very soon...

Tomato flowers? In May? Yes, let's see what happens here shall we, they may be killed off if the temp drops very low...

Italian flat-leaved parsley, this has come up on it's own at the bottom of a drainpipe so is getting lots of water, I love these volunteers!..

Another "work in progress" here...I've read that if you pop your celery core into the ground it will take root and provide lots of fresh leaves...I don't like this one's chances as celery leaves are Twitch's Grand Passion...he just hasn't seen it yet!...Celery leaves can be used like parsley, they really are full of lovely flavour and enhance almost any dish...

Ripe tomatoes...yes...these have struggled and have a few blemishes but will be enjoyed non-the-less. This means that we have had ripe tomatoes from October to May which is a really long growing season and actually surprised me...

Our Eureka lemons are almost ripe, some of them are huge. The tree is over 5 yrs old and has always lived in this pot, now that I have the Bokashi compost bucket the fruit trees are enjoying regular compost drinks and I'm watching to see if makes much difference...

This large habenero plant came up from seeds I harvested from the seedling I bought at Fremantle Markets several years ago...this is the first time it has had fruit...I wasn't sure it was a chili plant for a long time but left it just in case...here's the reward for patience. Some will go into the freezer and I probably make some Tabasco type sauce with the others...

This is a fully ripe habenero chile...they are gorgeous but fiery!

Here's our young comfrey pant, $3 from a local garden shop...I wanted to make some salve to heal cuts and scratches but still haven't got the beeswax I need. Comfrey is also a great help in the compost pile or bin as it helps the other plants to break down more quickly...this one has lots of new growth...

So that's our garden at the moment, there is rocket coming up fast and plenty of fresh herbs still growing, I've saved loads of basil seeds for later in the year and some capsicum seeds too. The eggplant shrub still hasn't produced any fruit and has probably left it's run a little late!

Do you have plans for the weekend? It's Mother's Day here Down Under so I'll visit Ma on Sunday morning before she goes off to play golf. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to Jessica's soccer match too!

Have a great weekend,
Love from Me
xx

My Weekend

I was out and about this weekend. On Saturday Joe had a specialist appt in Fremantle so we had a nice walk around the town after that. I needed more bokashi powder and on the way to the Planet Ark shop we popped into Le Forum, a lovely shop selling French literature etc...I spied some Santons on the top shelf and asked their price...oooooo I knew I had a little Christmas money left so treated myself to the beautiful lavender seller below. The two smaller santons came from Paris several years ago and I love the story behind them. Here is another nice link http://www.simplytreasures.com/t-santons-on-display.aspx. I also have 5 tiny ones that Olivia likes to put to bed in a matchbox! The new one wears a padded skirt which was an authentic way the Provencal women kept warm in winter.

 On Sunday morning I went to Burswood for lunch for Mum and Dad and took a few photos of plants and leaves while waiting for the bus on Gilmore Avenue, not sure where this leaf came from but when I held it up the light Maureen exclaimed that the veins looked like gold thread...

I thought this was a large mushroom but Mum felt it was a toadstool because it lacked a thread growing around the stem. We agreed it was a funghi just like Dad(fun guy)!

It's still raining heavily  but Joe managed to get a nice photo of the perigee moon of the last two nights, it's the biggest moon of the year, gorgeous isn't it?

The bread-maker is on and the bread is almost ready, we love our home-made bread. In the slow cooker is a large duck breast, bacon, chorizo and pork sausage casserole that will have white beans added to it later this afternoon, a wonderful fragrant dish based roughly on the French Cassoulet recipes.
I do hope you have a wonderful week, do you have plans or are you going with the flow like me?
Love from Sue
xx

Happy May 4th Every-one!!!

Lol I couldn't resist this one from Becci! and then I found this from Karen...

Have a happy weekend
xx

Oaty Blueberry Bars

Must write down this delicious slice recipe while I can remember what I did!!!

http://www.choosingraw.com/breakfast-to-go-vegan-blueberry-oat-bars/

I found this recipe but un-veganised it as I didn't have the vegan ingredients it needs.

Base
3 cups of rolled oats: blitz 2 cups in your food processor to a flour-like consistency
1/3 cup of raw sugar
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon each of cinnamon and bicarb of soda

Mix them together in a large bowl.

Whisk together
a ripe, mashed banana
1/4 cup oil
2 tablespoons of maple syrup and work them into the oats.
Press into a baking tin, mine measures 9inch by about 4inches.

Filling
2 large tablespoons of your favourite jam, I had strawberry and plum
3/4 cup of frozen blueberries, thawed and mixed with the jam. Spread this on the base.

Topping
3T raw sugar
3T desiccated coconut
2T soft butter, mix these ingredients together( I had 2-3 Ts of oat flour leftover so I mixed that in too.
Sprinkle over the top and bake at 180C for around 30minutes, until the top is browned and crisp.

Let it sit to cool as the jam will be very hot and runny.

Joe just had two pieces and he keeps saying, "Wow wow wow!" It would be lovely with cream or custard too but is moist enough to stand alone.

Enjoy
xxx

My Nana's Fan and Elizabeth's Baby Dress

Carrying on from my Korean stories I dug out the fan that my Dad brought home from Korea in the early fifties for his mother. When we left England in 1967 to live in Australia my Nana gave the fan to me and I have taken great care of it ever since.....

After having two baby boys I was more than ready for a daughter in my life and optimistically knit this dress and matching cardigan in 1982....what joy when Elizabeth was born!

And last but certainly not least here is my Mum last week at a function in Korea, she's wearing the traditional gown and looking very fetching indeed. (Who is that humming "Three Little Maids"?)

We're expecting some stormy weather in the next few days, it's still warm though.
Hooroo
Sue
xox

Knitting and Cooking

I came across a very interesting free pattern on Ravelry late last week, it's called the Ten Stitch Blanket by Frankie Brown and if you are a Ravelry member you can use her patterns for free! It's free to join so git along there for knitting and crochet fun. I'm using some 3-4 ply sock yarn on 4mm needles for a light open knit. The blanket is based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's clever cornering, you pick up a stitch at the end of every second row so there's no sewing involved(hurray!)

I've got into a great habit these days of cooking enough for 4 people each evening and then using the leftovers the following night...over-lapping if you like and it means we don't eat exactly the same meal 2 days in a row. Here you can see leftover baked potatoes, pumpkin, onions, sausage and chicken and I added a slice of Black Pudding and made a cauliflower bake....I cooked half a large cauliflower, seasoned it very well and mixed in a cup of edamame(green soy beans), then I beat together 2 eggs, almost a cup of plain yoghurt and poured that over the cauli and topped it with grated cheese and tomato slices. Bake it for about half an hour at 180C or until the topping sets and browns.

I had my flu vaccination yesterday, it's free for pensioners and any-one with long term ill-health, Joe had his last week. Chess club started again yesterday at school, the children love to have him come in and show them how to play.

Bye bye for now,
Love, Sue
xxx

Jessica Is Playing Soccer Now!

Talk about Memory Lane. Yesterday I went over to Reserve Street to watch 9 yr old Jessie's 2nd soccer game. She played the first half in goal and then came out in the number 5 shirt after half time.

I can remember watching my Dad play 'football' in Morecambe, I played for 3 yrs in the early seventies for Kwinana United Women's Team, Paul and Gordie played as kids in Rockingham and now Jessie is playing. They got hammered but didn't seem to mind too much...time will tell. It's an Under-11 league and they travel all over Perth to their games.

Gordie, Livvie and Gypsy look on.

A Trip To Korea

Dad was still only 16yrs of age when the Korean War began on June 25th 1950. It was still raging after he'd turned 18yrs and as such he was eligible to be drafted to serve in the British Armed Forces. Call-up came the following year and he spent his 19th birthday on the ship sailing to the Far East. Dad survived this awful time and came home a much older man, both in years and outlook.
Last year he became aware of an offer by the Seoul Government for ex-servicemen and women to attend Memorial Services in South Korea as a gesture to thank them for their time there. Each former service person can take their spouse or friend/child and the relatives of people who lost their lives in the war are invited too. The Seoul Govt pays about 50% of the air fares and covers the cost of the 6 night stay(5 star hotel, no less) as well as transport around the country to various important sites. This is the organisation to approach if you are interested in taking up this offer http://www.bkva.co.uk/membership.htm

 There were over 200 people in Dad and Mum's group from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and they were treated like royalty. Most were humbled by the high value placed on their service by the charming people of South Korea who are now prospering as opposed to the troubles in North Korea under the communist regime.

Here we have a taste of Mum's photographs, Dad looking very chipper and dignified(he isn't always lol)

Highlights were a 7 course dinner at the British Embassy, travelling on the this train to Busan in the south of the beautiful country to attend the ANZAC Dawn Service(Mum said "It was pouring, the water and mud were up to my ankles, it must have been like being in the trenches!(She travelled home in her slippers as she couldn;t get her shoes dry!!), the wonderful care given to them by the young students who accompanied them on trips and took such pleasure in their task, the waving crowds as the buses went through busy towns with their Korean War Veterans banners on the sides and just the genuine gratitude expressed by every single Korean they met during the week.

Here is a link to an article written by the UK correspondent who travelled with the Veterans...her story begins 12 minutes into the recording, it is very moving and very accurately tells the story of the trip to Busan....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01jwd5w/From_Our_Own_Correspondent_16_06_2012/ 

Thank you for coming here to read my blog, as stated my main aim is to preserve our family's stories for my grandchildren.
Have a wonderful week,
Love from Sue
xxx

Added April 24th 2020
I found this on Wikipedia, it's their account of the King's Regiment(Liverpool) in Korea

"The battalion was ordered to Korea in June 1952. By then, the Korean War had entered a period of stalemate, with trench warfare prevailing.^[163] At Liverpool, the King's embarked aboard the troopship Devonshire for Hong Kong, where it underwent training before landing at Pusan, Korea, in September. Replacing the 1st Royal Norfolk Regiment in the 29th Infantry Brigade, 1st Commonwealth Division,^[164] the 1st King's took up defensive positions on moving to the frontline, about 45 miles (72 km) from Seoul.^[165]

While much of the battalion's time at the front proved uneventful, its night patrols often clashed with Chinese troops.^[165] In 1953, the battalion withdrew to reserve for three months. A tactically important feature known as "The Hook", a crescent shaped ridge, was the scene of intense fighting between Commonwealth forces and the Chinese in May. On the night of 20 May, Chinese forces commenced a sustained bombardment of the Hook, defended by the Duke of Wellington's Regiment. Two days later, a company from the King's conducted a nighttime diversionary raid on Chinese positions known as "Pheasant". During the raid, Second-Lieutenant Caws' 5 Platoon, intended to execute the actual attack, inadvertently stumbled upon an uncharted minefield, suffering 10 wounded from a strength of 16.^[166] The attack had to be abandoned, forcing the company to withdraw with its wounded back to British lines under the protection of artillery.^[167]

A Kingsman cleaning his .30 cal Browning machine gun in a trench, 2 December 1952.

The King's moved to the right sector of the Hook on 27 May, excepting "D" Company's 10 Platoon and "B" Company (as reserve), which became attached to the Dukes. At 1953 hours, on 28 May, the battle began when a heavy artillery barrage targeted the Dukes' positions.^[166] Within minutes, the first of four successive Chinese waves attacked. Two King's platoons had to be moved forward to reinforce the Point 121 position, which soon after came under attack by two infantry companies. After the attack was repulsed with the assistance of Commonwealth artillery, the Chinese directed their attention to the King's on Point 146. As their troops assembled at Pheasant at around 2305, 1st King's Lieutenant-Colonel A.J. Snodgrass called in artillery, Centurion tank, and machine-gun fire that effectively destroyed the battalion-sized formation.^[168] Fighting continued until the British cleared the remaining troops from the Hook at approximately 0330. British casualties numbered 149, including 28 killed, while Chinese losses were estimated to be 250 killed and 800 wounded.^[169]

The 1st King's left Korea for Hong Kong in October, by which time the battalion had suffered 28 dead and 200 wounded. Of some 1,500 men that served with the King's in Korea, 350 were regular soldiers, the rest being conscripts on national service.^[166] The King's moved to Britain in 1955, were posted to West Germany the following year, and made its final return home in May 1958.^[146]