It must be summer

This is the earliest we have had strawberries every. Enough for dessert. We are having these gorgeous red strawberries with homemade Feijoa and Ginger ice-cream ( just added homemade jam to the recipe here).

The strawberries are in the new garden bed that I dug and built this winter and I have gone back to being traditional for planting. I used black weed mat and it certainly not only represses weeds but the soil under is so warm.

Yum Yum in our tum.

Blackcurrant Jam and Dairy Free Banana Cake

The finished product

A great book

I have half a cow coming off the farm in the next few weeks so need to empty the freezer. Last year my blackcurrants were so prolific that I still had three containers of them in the freezer when I looked today. As we used the last blackcurrant jam on Friday, I figured that was what I would do with them.

For those of you with lot of blackcurrants what we normally do is free flow freeze (try saying that fast!) them and I use them instead of blueberries when making the blueberry muffin recipe. They are tarter and stronger in taste and we all love it.

Anyway this Jam recipe is a conglomeration of years of trying and a lovely Victorian Jam and Preserve book that my gorgeous friend Marie Pearce gave me as a wedding present (Hi Marie - still haven't finished making your birthday present, am working on those screens).

Rather than type the recipe out I have taken a photo of it. You should be able to read it ok. I use a higher portion of fruit to sugar than most recipes. I also don't stew the blackcurrants as long as most recipes as I do not want my fruit to be mush - I like fruit in jam to still be semi whole. More like a conserve.

Anyway this recipe is good and is not boiled so long that it goes hard in the jar the way it can sometimes. (My other hint is that I never buy specific jam jars. I just use jars that seal from chutneys, jams and sauces from the shop. They clean up and reseal very well)

The recipe

Dairy Free Banana Cake
I made this dairy free today as I did not have any butter out soft and I wanted to use the time the jam was cooking to make something. (and I had four bananas that needed rescueing)
into a bowl put: 1 and 1/8th Cups neutral oil, 3 eggs, 1 1/8th Cup sugar, 4-5 soft bananas mashed and whisk together. Into the liquid put 3 Cups flour, 1.5 teaspoons baking powder. Then put 1.5 teaspoons baking soda into 3 tablespoons warm water and dissolve, put with all other ingredients. Stir all well and pour into prepared tin. I used a ring tin as this is a large cake and the ring cuts the cooking time down. 180oC for about 40 minutes.

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The Dude and I

Aaron is away at the Cold Play concert in Auckland. Jakob is staying over at his friends for the night. So it is just me and the Dude.

There has just been the two of us since 5pm last night. The Dude has been very happy as he has gotten to XBox all by himself without his older brother interfering. I had a bath and read my book as I was exhausted. We had been up since 6am doing a garage sale to get rid of all the stuff that Aaron told me I had to. (that was after a night where I was up twice to the Dude as he was having bad dreams) When I got up in the morning yesterday I could not find the Dude - he was in his older brothers' bed sleeping with him. Apparently he had another set of bad dreams that I had not heard and had climbed into bed with Jakob.

tidying his room

Then at 2pm we went to my nephews 5th birthday party. Out at Castle Park - so lots of kids running around, flying fox, petting animals etc in the sun. So last night I actually went to sleep when the Dude did as I had a lot to catch up. (8.30pm - very early for me). This morning we woke at 6.15am and I did not feel like sleeping in. So the Dude and I hopped into bed together with books and magazines and a coffee for me and a hot chocolate for him and we read for an hour.

We decided not to go to church but have a quiet morning with just the two of us.

Since then I have managed to clean out the chooks, put out two loads of washing, fold the washing that was there and make blackcurrant Jam and a banana cake.(it is now only 10.15am). (not too sure how this fits into a quiet morning but hey!!)

Posing on the sofa

I am calling Eli the Dude as I sent him to get dressed and tidy his room, 20 minutes later I went in to see how it was all going and he was all dressed up like a Dude. Took some photos but told him that he needed to give me a cute smile, so he posed on the sofa!!!!

Lawnmower graveyard

It has been one of those days. The Lawnmower is dead (well actually it is not but it sure is smokin'!!).
Aaron went for a run at 8.15pm just as I was tucking the kids into bed. I have been procrastinating all day about mowing the lawn (if I am real, it has probably been a week) so I gave myself a pep talk and told myself not to be so lazy.

Out comes the lawnmower and I am doubting the wisdom of this as it is getting dark. I mow the strip across the road and as I am coming back into the section I notice that the mower is smoking. A short check confirms that black oil is pouring out of the top of the head, down the side and onto the deck bit.

Now any normal person who works in Health and Safety would eliminate the hazard by stopping the task until either a new mower is purchased, or you hire someone else with their mower. But no - I think - "How fast can I get this lawn mowed? Can I do it before it explodes?:" Following that very bad Health and Safety thought I go for the minimise option in the hazard hierarchy. I go and get our fire extinguisher from the laundry door, check that it OK for oil and petrol and electrical. Yippee it is, so I put it within two metres of where I am mowing and I mow FAST!!!!!

By now it is dark, I have no idea what our lawn is going to look like tomorrow morning. It was looking pretty stripey but the lawnmower and I were running. I did get the lawn done ( well I couldn't see the strips I missed so it must be done). I did wonder at various points just how sensible I was being - not. Half of the reason that I could not see was the mower was smoking so heavily. Aaron came back from his run and took a photo of me mowing the lawn with my fire extinguisher handy.

So anyone working in H&S - just ignore this blogpost or use it as an example of what not to do.

This lawnmower has done us well. It has been treated harshly but survived. We bought it nine years ago and it was well and truly second hand then. It has been so easy to use. Always starts, is light, perfect for me. Over the years it has had to be fixed several times. My trusty and wonderful Father-in-law has done that for me. Last time the throttle cord went and it came back from him with the throttle working backwards (where the prime used to be it was now off and visa versa) so that took a bit of getting used to. So in-spite of all the Kiwi number eight wire it has been faithful. We knew it was going bad as last time I mowed the lawn the entire head came off when I pulled the starter cord. Aaron used his handyman skills and put in more screws and got it looking solid again (much to my and his surprise - bless him his handyman skills are very much hit and miss).

But even I have to accept that it is destined for the Lawnmower graveyard, never to mow another lawn.

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I could not resist

You would think that I did not already have enough to do. I have a garage sale to organise for next weekend (yes I have decided that Aaron telling me to clear out does mean a big garage sale - my sister Anna is joining me with heaps of stuff), at least three waistcoats and goodness knows how many bow ties to make from the silk here.

I was ironing the silk tonight and got sidetracked. I could not remember which colours Jakob had chosen so I could not cut the patterns out. So I just kept ironing. This pile will become another 100% recycled quilt. This time a flannelette one. It will be half square triangles like the quilt I made for Alex, but in girly colours. This one is destined for the caravan for Aaron and I.

I had the pieces cut out, now they are ironed and ready to go. (I will need to cut more white, but hey why do that when I can do the fun sewing thing). Instead of marking my diagonal lines, when I have big squares, I just iron them and the iron mark works as the stitching guide. I find this a lot quicker than marking them in pencil or pen.

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My day

Peonies in the garden

Today we were going to have a family trip to Orana Park. But we woke to wet weather. So coffee and croissants were delivered to me in bed for breakfast (Yum and thank you Aaron). Then I set about doing another of the tasks that I had been procrastinating about - Cleaning the caravan out. Somehow stuff accumulates. So every cupboard and space has been gone through.

We now have a tidy caravan and we no longer have 17 towels!! (slightly excessive). I have pulled down the last lot of curtains to fix as I fixed all the front ones last year. Apart from that the food needs to be stocked up a bit and we are set to rock and roll.

The reason for this is that at Xmas time all of my family are getting together for my sisters wedding and then we are all camping for Xmas and New Year. So we have a few extra chairs in, a few more bits of cutlery, plates etc. Looking forward to it.

Wisteria and Poppies

I am really pleased with the garden at the moment. Thank goodness we did not get the snow that was down south. My peas, beans and carrots have all struck really well and things are progressing in leaps and bounds.

The white wisteria that we planted this winter is flowering like mad, by chance there is a gorgeous red poppy surrounding one of the new plants and they look amazing together.

The organised top cupboards

Looking clean.

We are currently playing a game of family trivial pursuit and the boys are winning!!

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What's on my washing line and sewing table

Piles and piles of gorgeous Thai silk. I bought this silk when I was 20 and went overseas. On a Singapore stopover I could not resist all the silk and at amazingly cheap prices (well at that time compared to NZ they were).

These materials have been in storage since then (yes I kid you not - 24 years!!!!). As you know from my previous blog posts we are going to try to get to the Victorian Festival in Oamaru in a couple of weeks. I have an Edwardian dress I made for Aaron's 25th birthday party. But the boys and Aaron need something. I was going to make them vests and bow ties for my sisters upcoming wedding anyway. So I am now doing it a bit earlier.

I had kept these in storage, as from memory I thought I only bought a metre of each and that is not really enough to do anything particular with. BUT wouldn't you know it - I actually bought decent amounts. Some are 1.5 metres and some are 2 metres. Oh my but I might need to do a skirt for me for some occasion.

The pattern

So over the next two weeks it will be busy busy busy sewing silk. The boys chose their silks this morning before school. They want reversible waistcoats and two different bow ties each. I washed the silk this morning and maybe will get to cut out something tonight.

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Mad or superwoman

I just can't decide what I was the other morning. But by the time the kids left for school I had made a batch of Louise Cake and a batch of Hokey Pokey biscuits!!

I had a comment on my blog recently from a lady whose blog title is "Supermum no cape", What a great title.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been a bit stressed and not keeping up with some stuff - one of which was baking for lunches. So I either don't do it or go over the top at the moment!!!

Anyway - why has no one told me about Hokey Pokey biscuits before? They are so amazingly super easy and super fast to make. This is a fantastic recipe for the busy household.

From the Edmonds cook book

Hokey Pokey biscuits (taste a little like the inside of crunchy bars)
125g butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon golden syrup
1 Tablespoon milk
Put all these into a pot. Heat until butter is melted and mixture nearly boiling, stirring constantly. Take off the heat and sift into pot
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda.
Stir well. Put teaspoon sized dollops onto a lined tray. Flatten slightly depending on how thin or thick you like your biscuits (I did not flatten much). Bake 180o C for 15 - 20 mins or until golden brown. (I cooked 18 mins)

The Grande Finale

I can finally say those words "it is finished". I have been trying to put this on my blog as a finish for the last two weeks. That is how long it has taken me (with a bit of camping in between) to get all the quilting done.

In my blog here - I explain how this was made from 8 businessman shirts all from Op Shops (Charity Shops). Even I doubted what a quilt would look like just from second hand shirts. I am absolutely thrilled.

I have never made a quilt before that is just block colour and I am very taken with it. Two nights ago when I was auditioning fabric for the binding I had patterned greens, multicolour and stripe material. Aaron did not like any of them and pointed out that introducing a pattern when all the rest was plain did not seem right. So I used the trimmings of the 100% cotton sheet from Ezibuy that is the backing, and had just enough to make a good solid binding.

I quilted this using freehand quilting but in straight lines, to give a bit more of an organic look to the quilt, rather than using my walking foot. Each cross is quilted in an appropriate colour quilting thread. Each cross had the quilting in the opposite direction to any crosses surrounding it.

Jakob

Eli

This quilt has been made for Jakob to go with his newly decorated room. It looks amazing in there and is even big enough to fit on the pull out sofa when guests come. It is big enough for my bed and I want it!!!

When taking the photos Eli helped and at the end Jakob told me to take a photo of Eli too so he did not miss out. I love his compassion.

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Funny but Fantastic

As you know from my last blog post, we went to Oamaru for the long weekend. We are calling this the PPP weekend (a bit crude but - Piss Poor Planning). This is not about forgetting things, or breaking stuff etc, this is about going for an event without checking whether it is actually on!!

Yes that is right folks - we went for a Victorian Festival that is held every year. So off we trotted, absolutely sure that the last time we found out about it, it was on the way home from my sisters place on Labour Weekend. NOOOOOO. The Victorian Festival is on Show Weekend!!!

So guess where we are regoing in three weeks time? Yes - to a Victorian Weekend in Oamaru. Well actually we are going to stay with my sister in Dunedin and then head back with them in tow. And yes we will be making a booking for Annies Victorian Tea Rooms for lunch.

Eli on the Penny Farthing

Jakob rode the Penny Farthing really well

In spite of our PPP we had an awesome weekend and are likely to put Oamaru on our destination list again. The Botanical Gardens are amazing and the kids play area was enjoyed by us all as well. Great time walking around the sea and wharf areas, lots to do, excellent swimming pool. The boys had a fantastic time on the Penny Farthings

Victorian afternoon tea

Waitresses clearing the table - cake trolley on the left

What a fabulous and funny weekend we have had - more of that on a later blogpost. I am currently printing like mad, a pile of work stuff, before heading out to the office at the shed. So while I am doing that here is a quick glimpse at the most amazing find in Oamaru.

Aaron had just done the wrong thing with his plate (must teach  some manners)

We went to Oamaru for the historic centre which we have gone to before and was great fun. On the corner of the Victorian prescient we found a new tearooms which has only been open just over a year. Annies Victorian Tea Rooms. Opening Day newspaper article . It is 1 Tees St, Oamaru. I cannot give you a website as she does not have one but there are also articles about her in the Historic Places Trust website.

Tea for me

This is a true Victorian Tea Rooms. We just happened upon it by fantastic design. Everything about it is authentic. They all wear the old uniforms, even the cooks in the kitchen whom you do not see. They cut the bread at the table if you order bread, butter and jam. If you order cake then the trolley is brought to your table and you select the cake, it is cut in front of you and served up with cream and berries if you wish. Even the boys icecream sundaes arrived in china cups, homemade (and gorgeous) icecream. We all had tea and took a while there. It was so fantastic that we went back the next day for lunch (Sunday) and on that day to cap it all off there was a man tinkling the ivories in the corner.

They also follow etiquette of the time. The boys and I went in first while Aaron was at a bookstore, he had said to order for him. The waitress would not take an order for a Gentleman " as without the gentleman being present as it does not pay to order as you may order something that the gentleman does not really like".
This is the place to take your mother, your grandmother, your sister..... Having said that the boys and Aaron really enjoyed it too. It slowed you down for a while and made you appreciate the little things. Fantastic.

Next time we go back we are going to go in period costume.

Cutting the bread for bread, butter and jam for Eli

A happy Jakob

Serving the cake up

Jakob having to select a cake