Antarctic Vortex

We have had media overload these past days as the south-east of Australia geared up for a cold snap. Well the hype, I think, was a bit over the top - although some parts of our state of New South Wales did wake to a whisper-white morning this morning.

Mr HP and I, our Daughter and Grand Daughter had already arranged to pick up Youngest Son at the end of a short hiking trip he was undertaking in the Jamison Valley so we took the opportunity to drive up a bit further up the range to Mount Victoria to see if we could catch some snow.

Well, we did see it snowing, but where we were, the snow did not settle.  

So I don't have snow photos to show you. 

Even so, I have to admit that the cold has been getting me down a bit this winter.  Today's temperature didn't get above 11 'C in Springwood and the previous week didn't perform much better.  

Katoomba (where snow is more likely), it is at present less than 1 'C with a windchill factor of -5.5 'C.

So instead of a snow photo here is a shot of tonight's desert...the cold made me do it...I just needed some comfort food and I can tell you...you can't go past this Baked Rice Pudding by Donna Hay.  You can find the recipe here:  Recipe.

And there's enough leftovers for tomorrow...after all, we might need it, because the media assures us the worse of the Arctic Vortex is yet to come!

Hoping the weather isn't too extreme in your part of the world. 

This Month In The Garden - April - Chilli

I have had two worthwhile crops of chillies this year.  I don't normally use chillies in my cooking, simply because Mr H.P. doesn't like spicy food. As you can see in the above picture, I've had to net the one plant I have because the possums treat chillies like delicacies.  On a nice hot sunny day I picked all the red finger chillies and using a needle and canvas thread, I strung about 20 onto the thread and allowed them to dry in the hot sun for a few days before bringing them indoors to completely dry. 

My first strand was exchanged at Crop and Swap for a yummy piece of blue pumpkin.

My second strand went to a friend I have made via an online garage sale and in exchange I received some kefir milk grains.  I gave the kefir grains to my daughter because she has been coveting some for a while now.  

Kefir is a fermented milk drink probiotic.  I must admit, milk is not one of my favourite foods and the closest I come to consuming milk is homemade natural yogurt which I religiously make about ever ten days and add to my porridge or smoothie at breakfast.

Tonight we used yogurt in our pumpkin soup instead of sour cream.

I think I will wait and see what kefir tastes like before I decide whether I will make it or not.

In the meantime, the weather has become very damp and humid and my chillie plant has been infested with aphids.  I'm hoping that a spray of soapy water will bring them under control.

It's not unusual for Sydney to be hot and humid over summer, in fact, it's quite normal.  But the past three or four summers have been so dry that I must admit I've forgotten how unpleasant the humidity can feel.  Unfortunately, the bugs have revelled in the return to more normal conditions.

Charging The Batteries

Mr HP, our Daughter and Grand Daughter and myself managed to get away for a few days to refresh our batteries before the school year is in full swing again.

It's been a tough start to 2015 and I've been feeling very tired.  It was a great few days of relaxing, walking, eating, and simply having fun. 

It's so hard to believe that our Grand Daughter is now in her third year in school.

Her favourite pastime is reading...a girl after my own heart!  We travelled everywhere with a small library of books!

Her preferred book at the moment is The Big, Big, Big Book of Tashi and it creates quite an impression tucked under the arm of a seven year old, let me tell you. Since it's a collection of Tashi's tales, Little Miss Seven allows herself little breaks between stories to read other books.  As you do.

Some Rain Must Fall

Day Two of our mini-holiday and we wander down to Milson's Point via Luna Park. It's cloudy but we're brave and leave our umbrellas at home.

We see a cruise ship waiting to enter Circular Quay and think it's left the quay and for some reason is returning but later we realise that it's a different ship but from the same cruise company.

From Milson's Point a ferry ride takes us to Circular Quay once more and we head off to The Rocks again, only to find that the museum we plan to visit in Susannah Place does not open until 2 p.m.

So we wander around, a little bit lost as where to go.  We find some stairs that lead to the Sydney Harbour Bridge but instead take a less strenuous route alongside the stairs and found ourselves at Observatory Hill.

Little Miss and I spend a wonderful couple of hours inside the Sydney Observatory and take a tour of the telescope room.

 The domed roof of the room turns.

Not only does it turn, but it opens up too.

Outside, we are disappointed to see the clouds.

Clouds mean we can't view the sun through the solar telescope, so instead we look at the traffic on Sydney Harbour Bridge, which, weirdly, is all upside down!

Outside, the sky gets darker and darker, 

the clouds get heavier and heavier

..we manage to eat morning tea in the gardens before feeling the first drops of rain and make a dash for Circular Quay.

We make it in time to miss the heavy shower which lasts long enough for us to meet up with my daughter for lunch.

After lunch it's back to Susannah Place to visit the museum.

Little Miss is enthralled with the stories our tour guide tells us about families that once lived in the row of terrace houses that is Susannah Place.
Each room we visit inside remains as it was when it was occupied by various families before being turned into a museum.  We learn that initially, The Rocks was not necessarily a desirable place to live, and local residents would sometimes lie about their address.  My how times have changed!

Afterwards, we purchase lollies at the 'corner shop'.  (I can't believe that I've taken no photos of Susannah Place!)

Across the road from Susannah Place is The Big Dig which is an archaeological dig of an 18th century European development in Sydney which was demolished to prevent the spread of plague.

Around the dig is the YHA building.

And we return'home' without the need for our umbrellas!

Upcycle Queen

Here in Australia, we have what we call a bunny rug which is an essential item for newborn babies.  It is a large square of fabric usually made from one hundred percent cotton flannelette and used to swaddle baby.

Little Miss Six of course had many of these as a newborn.  She loved being swaddled and without swaddling would have trouble getting off to sleep. 

Recently, her Mum has made a little bit of pocket money by selling no longer needed items of clothing, toys, etc on an on-line garage sale site that we have here in the Blue Mountains.  But it seems everybody wants new bunny rugs for their babies because these just do not move.  So, I bought them off her and made myself some very long lasting dish cloths with them.

I ironed and folded each square into four using the fold line to then cut it into quarters.

This one originally had rounded corners so I marked the freshly cut corners using a plate of the right size as a guide to match the original corners.  

Next I trimmed them with sharp scissors to match the original corners. I kept the original hemming and simply finished off the newly cut edges by matching them to whatever was on the original rugs.  Those that had overlocked edges I overlocked.

 Those that had turned edges I turned.

  

In all I made sixteen new dishcloths.

Of course, new dishcloths need a tidy under-the-kitchen-sink-cupboard.  So I gave it a spring clean, even though it's almost autumn.

Halloween

This is how my day panned out today:

0700 hours wake to an aching body and an episode of vertigo even before lifting my head off the pillow. Drag myself out of bed and drink a glass of water with the teeniest pinch of Celtic sea salt to counteract the vertigo.

0715 hours yoga nidra 

0745 hours load up the washing machine with another lot of what seems to be never ending dirty laundry which, I remind myself, will have to be pegged up indoors to avoid it smelling smokey.

0800 hours turn the sprinkler on the thirsty herb and vegetable patch because, despite a sprinkle of rain in the past 24 hours, my plants seem forever needy for water in this climate of low humidity, high wind and high temperatures. 

0845 hours make myself an affogato...sort of entree breakfast.  Follow this with half a fresh pineapple and freshly picked blue berries. Turn off water sprinkler.

0900 hours call my Grand daughter's school to see if they will accept a box of thirty copies of my sister's self published children's book: Ursula The Flying Unicorn. 

 I'm informed that they have been inundated with donations and I would  be better off taking them to the Baptist Church in Springwood.  The Salvation Army has agreed to host a toy drive initiated by an out of the area school and will be delivered to the church tomorrow.

0930 hours Shower

1000 hours Move carved Jack O'Lantern pumpkins outdoors in preparation for tonight's Halloween Trick or Treat.  Poor pumpkins are melting before my eyes after being carved out by Mr Honey Pie for a party last Saturday. They are quickly approaching their use by date. Into the car, I load books and  funnel web spider (discovered on driveway last Sunday by Mr Honey Pie).  

Lock up house and head off to Baptist Church to drop off books to be donated.  Meet some lovely people at the church working their little hearts out to help anyone affected by the recent fires.

1130 hours Arrive at Mum's house to meet up with mystery person which Mum had informed me about at 2145 hours last night when she phoned to asks if I can be there when they call this morning.  Meet Mum, she still doesn't know who is calling in this morning...thinks it's someone from Sydney Water.

1205 hours Man arrives at Mum's house.  It turns out he is a property developer who is looking at buying up land affected by the North West Growth Centre. Not quite what I expected but quite helpful all the same.  Although bad news is that Department of Roads and Maritime Services are cutting up Mum's land so badly that the developer is not interested.

1245 hours lunch with Mum at a cute cafe (a church-to-cafe conversion) not far from Mum's house.

1330 hours drive to Windsor to drop off above mentioned funnel web spider, 

drive up the mountain, quickly shop for individually wrapped chocolates and lollies, rush home, invite Daughter and Grand Daughter to dinner.  Eat cake while I make up twenty trick or treat lolly bags for expected trick and treaters later on in the evening.

Happy to report...some little neighbours arrive, attempt to scare us out of our wits, collect some treats and leave happy, with little Miss Six joining in her very first Halloween Trick or Treat Adventure.

Smoke Screened Moon

After yesterday's 100 kph winds, scorching temperatures and low humidity, today was like a jackpot.

Temperatures in the low twenties and very little wind meant none of the devastation witnessed yesterday.

None the less, today,another school needed evacuating and the fire, finding a new route, threatened homes above the area affected yesterday.

My Daughter, Grand Daughter and I took temporary relief from the media onslaught by driving down the mountain to do some shopping which had been delayed because of yesterday's incidents.

Our Little Miss Five said yesterday was the scariest day of her life. 

At school, the children literally left their half eaten lunches behind, their back packs too, and walked three kilometres with their teachers to the safety of a local shopping centre.

There, Donut King served the children doughnuts and Coles distributed bottles of water and cupcakes as well.

Their school's principal lost the family home.

I have this instant found out that friends of ours are overseas and we're pretty certain they have lost everything.

Our youngest Son's friend's family home was totally destroyed, along with the sister's wedding gown...she is getting married tomorrow.

Another friend...we haven't heard from.

Our Daughter's friend lost his home, he and his girls have nothing except the clothes on their backs...

And here I am...totally safe, with all my belongings, all my family, and I feel so bad to be able to say this...

Juxtaposition

In a little corner of Sydney, amongst the concrete, skyscrapers, steel, and glass is a pocket of tranquility called the Chinese Gardens of Friendship. 

On our recent visit to Sydney we had not intended to visit the gardens. As the three of us, that is myself, my daughter and grand daughter walked by, the entrance to the gardens aroused Little Miss Five's curiosity. Since our main aim at the time was to find somewhere to eat, we ventured in, firstly because the garden boasts a tea house, and secondly the entrance fee is minimal. 

Little Miss Five loved the gardens. She had her point-and-shoot camera with her and took many photographs.

Me, on the other hand, found my eye drawn not only to the tranquil scenery of the gardens but the juxtaposing of them with what is beyond the walled garden.

I hope you find the following scenes as beguiling as I do.