January Round-Up

Hallo every-one and thank you for all your comments, especially about the bush-fires, Lynda hit the nail on the head. I don't think they've caught any-one yet who may have started the fires.

I stopped on the way to see Mum yesterday and took a few photos of the damage, it's a shame I can't share the awful smell of burned plants and probably animals too...it's really bad! The first photo shows how hot and dry the area is, all the grass is dead and tinder dry...

the fence is charred too

Once the rains come again new growth will spurt very quickly...

I've made another batch of soap using some calendula petals from a friend...this was a first time for me..the heat during saponification burns the petals but they are still very appealing, I used cinnamon oil for scent and some turmeric for colour...

The reason I went to Mum's yesterday was to collect a skinned whole duck her friend, Steve, had prepared for me. I jointed it when I got home and have it marinating in some lovely Chinese flavours as per this Jamie Oliver recipe...will let you know how it turns out. Steve also sent some duck eggs...

Finally finished a baby jacket for my gifting box and have almost finished another one...I love yellow and I've used this pattern many times....can you see the spotty buttons? I'm going to buy some modelling clay and have a go at making my own buttons...

 I bought the buttons at Spotlight on my home from giving blood...I also saw this child's chair for sale...I took a photo because it reminded of the blue suite we had in Morecambe, club armchairs and a real fifties style. This chair is darker in colour, probably very sweaty to sit in and must be leaching all sorts of toxins into the air but it still looks like fun!...

The girls are back at Tee-ball today...I haven't seen them for weeks so will go along and cheer! I also have that bracelet making kit I won from Spotlight to give them.

Can't finish a post with a photo of our cutie...Bunnies have the cutest derrieres (butts) and this one is very well camouflaged lol

Cousin Dave Stewart has posted lots of old pics from when my children were little...I'll do a post on them next week...some are very sweet!

Do enjoy your weekend, stay safe and give your loved ones an extra hug!
Sue
xxx

Mandy Makes Soap

After much procrastinating I finally nipped down to Secret Harbour to Mandy and Paul's lovely home to show Mandy just how easy it easy to make soap at home. We used Rhonda's up-dated recipe of

1000gms olive oil
250 gm block of Copha
178gms caustic soda and 450 mls of water that Mandy had boiled and set aside to cool down.

Once the oils were warmed to 50C and the caustic water had cooled down to 50C Mandy mixed them together and began beating them...they soon came to 'trace' ie looking like a thick custard so she poured them into one of Deb's molds that we'd lined with baking paper...

Mandy couldn't believe how very easy it is!

The following day she sliced up the block and set it aside to cure for the next 6 weeks....she is already planning her next batch!

The pleasure of this morning's work gave me the impetus to organise to travel up to Bassendean tomorrow to show 2 more friends how to make soap....Mandy is coming too, Lara and Gaynor will be our hosts and have promised a wonderful lunch and lots of tea and chat.......will let you know how we get on.

Gaynor is also opening up her home in July for a Perth Get-together of Down to Earth members which will be wonderful, details are at the forum if you are interested,

Hoorooo
Love from Sue
xx

This and That

Oh my goodness, it's over a week since I last posted here and it's not because I had nothing to report...quite the opposite but not enough time to sit and think!

Best news first, Priscilla's tumour has confined itself to one spot and not gone burrowing into her lungs or bone marrow so we are thrilled with this news as you can imagine. Last Thursday she went to a wonderful hairdresser who shaves chemo patient's hair for free and then she showed her how to tie the pretty new scarf she'd chosen on-line (and paid for by her step-grandad!). Priss has been to the wig clinic and been loaned a really cute short blond wig, pictures coming soon. You can follow Priscilla's 'journey' here at her own blog.

Over at the Down To Earth forum we've had a huge number of new members following Rhonda's appearance on two national TV programmes as well as radio and the book tour...if you still haven't joined click on the badge on the right of this post and it will take you there, it's free, fantastic and so very inspiring.

On Sunday Gordie took Jess, Livvie and I to our first ever rabbit show at Ashfield near Guildford. We'd hoped there would have been more bunnies to admire but we saw some different breeds and some gorgeous Lops like Twitch, Olivia and I took loads of photos with my little camera and they are really bad! Still want to see some? Ok here goes...

This last one is an albino British Giant, roughly twice the size of Twitch who will weigh 2.5 kilos once he's full grown.

Then I mentioned that we were near Woodbridge House which was built in the mid to late 19th century by a Parliamentarian, Charles Harper, on the banks of the upper Swan River. His family lived in this beautiful 3 storey house and he began a school there which has blossomed into Guildford Grammar School. This short film shows you the beautiful house and area around there...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFcp0eKvHr4

It's run by the National Trust nowadays and you can look around the house for a small fee....the girls and I went in but they were somewhat distracted by being given a sheet and told to look for toy rats in each room! I did manage to get a little edikation thrown in too! The house is furnished as it would have been over 100yrs ago with many of the family's belongings still in place. I took a couple of photos outside, can you see the girls in the doorway?

This side faces the river, the verandas would have been a lovely cool place to sit on a Summer's day.

Across the lawn to the river...

Olivia took this arty photo of Jessie talking to me about the house. They both filled in the Visitor's Book...Liv said "Wow" and Jessie said how much she loved the house and would like to live there!

Two more batches of soap have been made this fortnight.. I have 2 of Deb's wooden molds now and they make soap-making so very much easier. I use Rhonda's second recipe all the time now.

1 block of Copha
1000 gms olive oil
450 mls filtered water
172 gms caustic soda

This batch just has 3 tablespoons of sweet orange essential oil...it's lovely and light...

Well I think I've caught up to date now, there's also been a lot of reading and a little knitting going on as well lots of cooking and gardening,

Hope all is well with you(especially Claire who has not been well for far too long),
Love from Sue
xox

Chicken and Cashew Curry

I rarely use curry powder, preferring instead to use the blend of spices we like the most but Joe found some really good powder at Kakulas Bros....unfortunately he didn't remember the name!!!

This curry was so rich and delicious due to the ground cashews added near the end....

For 4 serves you will need

500gms of chicken, I use thickly sliced breast(for Joe) but any bony bits will work well too, cut them fairly small
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons of fresh ginger, chopped
2-3t curry powder
1/2t chili powder(optional)
2 large tomatoes, chopped(you could skin them, I don't bother)
1T chopped mint or coriander
1/2 cup peas

1/2 cup plain yoghurt
2T ground cashews

Gently fry the onions until they are soft, at least 10minutes as this gives you the most flavour
Add the garlic and ginger and stir for another 5 mins
Add the spices and stir them for 5 mins, add a little water if they begin to stick
Add the chopped tomatoes and herbs and a little water and cook to make a thick sauce(keep stirring)
Stir in your chicken and peas, mix well and cover tightly, stir occasionally to stop it sticking
The breast pieces were cooked in 10minutes, bony pieces will take longer
Add the cashews
 and the yoghurt, a spoonful at a time to stop it from curdling.

Add salt to taste and serve either with plain rice or an Indian bread such as chapattis

I also made a batch of soap yesterday so that is drying out on the table....I used Deb's deep wooden moulds for the first time. The soap is softer than usual but I know from other soapies that this hot, humid weather is affecting their batches too.

Do you have any plans for your weekend? Joe is meeting Patrick near Perth to go to a Quebec Beer and Food Afternoon, they will even be having "poutine" lol

Take care of yourselves.
Love from Sue
xxx

Silicone Soap/Cake Moulds

I made another batch of soap yesterday using Rhonda's second recipe and my new silicone soap mould from the Reject Shop. Deb recommended these moulds, she has several herself and bought the gingerbread men one when we went to Fremantle on Thursday. You can see Rhonda also uses these moulds.

Aren't they cute? There's no need to grease them either and I just levered them out gently this morning. The moulds are $6 each and one batch of soap fills 2 trays.

Harlequin Bugs and Some New Soap

I'd noticed some pretty red insects sheltering on the back of my garden spade(that I hadn't put away) and thought how cute they were. Yesterday I was reading a gardening magazine from the library and spotted my new little friends! They are Harlequin bugs or beetles and they live by sucking the sap from citrus trees, potato and pumpkin plants. Hmmm. Not good. The solution was simple enough though, drop them into a few inches of soapy water and that's it. I knocked them off the back of the spade and even picked a few up off the garden. Sad but true...they were within a yard/metre of my lemon and lime trees, potatoes and pumpkin vine so they were definitely up to no good.....have you seen them in your vegie garden?

The other thing I did yesterday was try Rhonda's new soap recipe,

1000gms olive oil
250 gms copha
450 gms of rainwater
172gms caustic soda

You'll need to visit Rhonda's blog for her instructions. I found this recipe quicker and even simpler to use than her previous recipe, the soap this morning was easy to cut and stamp and I'm very pleased with the result. Thank you, once again, Rhonda.

The recipe makes twice the amount shown in this photograph for less than $10 Au if I leave it unscented, the essential oils are rather expensive.

Making Soap at Home

Today is the 1st anniversary of making my own soap. I've made 7 batches in this time, enough to keep Joe and myself clean as well as sharing it around with family and friends.

The cost for a plain soap is about 80cents a bar and is mild and gentle with the glycerine intact unlike commercial soap where it is removed and sold separately resulting in a drying soap. The cost of the essential oils is quite high but makes bathing a much more pleasurable experience. Joe loves his Man Soap which is a mix of 4 teaspoons each of patchouli and cinnamon oils with a teaspoon of ground cinnamon stirred in to give it a nice purple colour.

I use Rhonda's Cold Pressed Soap recipe and am using 2 x 2litre ice-cream tubs with baking paper as the soap keeps sticking in my lovely molds and needs digging out!

These last ones are scented with Sweet Orange Essential Oil and coloured with ground turmeric.

Confession...after posting about my huge wool stash I bought more. ( lol )  150gms of lambswool blend for $3 at the Red Cross Shop was too much temptation and a Milo is on the needles for Miss Megan :)