cold and flu craft!

Lots of fellow bloggers are sick or their kids are sick. My kids are home (yet again) with another cold...

the main points for healing are-
lots of good fluids-clear broths, water, diluted juices. Spending some time in the sun.
Rest.
How to rest? Make yourself ignore the mess(it will keep) and find a project that requires you to sit...
while caring for my little ones I have been tackling some recycling projects.
I bought a 2nd hand lilac mohair cardigan. It had beautiful vintage buttons which I cut off. I have been un ravelling it apart and winding it into balls or as the knitters say 'frogging it '(rip it,rip, it, rip it)
This will make about 4 balls of yarn, so for $6 I got some beautiful yarn and buttons.
To find out how to do this yourself see this link
;http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-recycle-an-old-sweater-or-a-botched-one-i/

This is my cold relieving honey tea recipe-

2 tablespoons honey,
cup water,
juice of 2 lemons,
half teaspoon fresh ginger and some fresh mint...
in a small saucepan heat up water with honey to dissolve, remove from heat then add the juice, ginger, and mint and steep for a while. Strain for kids and serve up still warm.


Another good way to rest is to browse online...Jackie French's various websites make great reading.
She is a green gardening guru- her sites and books abound with recipes, insights into gardening and so much more besides.
She writes wonderful fiction stories as well and has written for earth garden magazine for years...aww, she even helps rehabilitate injured wombats back into the wild! I have to admit to being a big fan of her work....

Here's a couple of her recipes, word for word and taken from her website-
Last Resort Cold Cure
I have no evidence at all that this works - though taking three raw cloves of garlic (with food) while the cold or flu lasts may lessen its duration. Maybe it's chief advantage is that it's so horrible that you feel you HAVE to get well - just so you don't have to take this stuff.
3 cloves raw garlic, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
pinch of powdered cinnamon
6 drops Tabasco sauce
half a teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 cup hot water
Mix all ingredients. sip slowly (there is no way you can gulp this down.) Now go to bed. You'll need it. Be prepared for severe indigestion and long and painful burps.

Chicken Soup
Chicken soup may just- possibly- help the inflammation in colds and flu. Even if it doesn't, it makes you feel cherished- and the warm fluid does no harm either.
Ingredients:
4 cups chicken stock (Bought or home made)
juice of 1 lemon
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon olive oil
Saute the garlic and onion in the oil till soft. Add stock; cook for ten minutes; add the lemon juice and serve.
Go here for more....
http://www.jackiefrench.com/
xkate

Beers and beanbags

Its good enough for me...the movie, 'goonies' played on Friday night at southbank and I was so excited. I thought it was the coolest film when I was younger, and with time it has only gotten funnier and sillier. Seeing a film out in the open at night is great and t'was especially lovely, with beautiful weather, bats flying overhead and beers... And we even hired beanbags($3-bargain!)

The open air film screenings have only just started so keep an eye out, 'Milk' is coming up and so is (drum roll please, I can hardly wait)...'Ferris buellers day off.' EeeeeeK. I was a girl of the eighties. Ruth could remember so many lines of the Goonies I felt like an amateur. Do not play any kind of 80's quiz with her, she may pass as a sophisticated opera singer above that kind of thing but she is also a on the sly genius with her 80's stuff.

Apart from filmy-friendly nights I have been going along to the various markets of Brisbane. The Green flea market in West end has such great food and coffee and we spent a lazy Satd'y morning there with some lovely friends. The yummy Greek food stall can't be beat, with scrumptious haloumi rolls and delicious home-made tzatiki.

This morning my flatmate and I visited Northey street market and got some organic goodies and plants. If you haven't tried blue quongdong jam yet, you really don't know how good jam can be. And scones with organic jam and organic cream served with rooibos earl grey tea, well, words fail me.

I used the c.w.a recipe and it is the best-and fast and simple:

You need

2 cups of self raising flour,

1 cup milk,

1/4 teaspoon each of salt and sugar,

4 tablespoons cream.

Mix the dry ingredients first, then stir in the rest to form a damp dough.

Turn out and really lightly roll out to about an inch or so thick. Cut into good sized chunks and pop on a tray into a hot oven(about 200degrees) for about 10 minutes. Brush with melted butter when they come out and gobble them up with cream and jam. Then go have a nap.

This coming Friday is market night at Blackstar. It feels like so long since I have been in there! I am really excited and have lots of really wonderful new things to share. I have been working with a fantastic talented seamstress and together we have created some things I am very pleased and proud with. Indeed a couple won't be coming in at all because I can't bear to part with them! I can't wait for that beautiful blackstar iced coffee too-mm.mmm.

I bumped into Vonney at the markets and we discussed our shared need for some more art therapy and craft events in the shop. To that end I will be heading into the shop to do some finishing throughout this week. I will post up when onto facebook but if you have the urge for a coffee you may find me in the shop, busy, busy, but happy, oh so happy to chat(and procrastinate.)

I was looking out for organic or renewable fibres such as bamboo, but they don't have much in that line at 'threads'. They do have a very wide selection so this came as a bit of a surprise to me.

If you are after organically produced wools or alternative fibres I found that 'Thurechts' in Redcliffe have a brand new selection of natural fibres.

http://www.thurechts.com.au/

I am very pleased to see the organic fibre market being supported in Brisbane and Thurechts stock organic cotton, organic wool and silky soft bamboo yarns- in some really lovely colours and weights. They are really wonderful yarns too, soft and natural to touch. As we head into cooler months I recommend anyone interested in getting into knitting to start off with real natural and organic fibres-you will never look back. Bamboo in particular is a really silky fibre and is produced without much need for herbicides or pesticides, and it feels absolutely divine against skin.

I have been very tempted but have lots of wool sourced second hand and from un wound garments to use up first... and on that note I better get myself a cuppa and pick up the hook again.

xKate

pancake joy

Yesterday started off early but happilly.

My flatmates 3 year old was demanding pancakes instead of dinner the night before(as 3 year olds do) so I suggested to him, if he ate his dinner I would make him pancakes for breakfast.

And those kind of words are practically a legal document in a 3 year olds mind, so 6 am yesterday morning there was a little voice at my bedroom door, "pancakes?"...cute.

So up and off to work I went and a happier table of children in Brisbane at 6.30 a.m would be hard to find...

Here is my all time favourite recipe for pancakes.

My son once described them as like tasting sunbeams and rainbows!

They are easy to make, incredibly cheap and contain nothing artificial or yukky-

3 eggs(organic free range or your karma will suck)

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

butter

Easy, easy instructions. Separate the eggs, mix the yolks, flour,milk and as much melted butter as you like together.

The next step is the really important one! Whisk up the whites, get them good and fluffy. Then gently, gently fold them through the mixture. Don't skip this because doing it ensures light fluffy yet rich and delicious pancakes.

The rest is pretty obvious melt butter, pour batter, fry and flip...melt together some butter and honey as a topping or whatever you like really and enjoy!

From the sublime to the ridiculous my life does take me to some funny places. After I had dropped off the kids, I spent time with my friend Russell Anderson who was driving around Scarborough beach in his bubble car bubble machine..he was being filmed for some inane commercial kids TV show, which I am pretending to forget the name of.

It was funny when my kids came along as the crew and presenter are obviously used to getting a reaction from children but my eldest just asked who they were in a puzzled 'why are you so in my face' kind of way...ouch, poor egotistical host, cut down by an eleven year old...they were all really lovely though and it was a interesting insight into how they make shows, its all in the can and seemed so refreshingly fast compared to the tedium of film making.

Anyway, you can see the amazing things Russell does here http://www.russellanderson.com.au/

Seeing the vehicle in action as Russell motored along in it sending out great showers of bubbles is one of the funniest and most delightfully absurd things I think I will ever see. And the best part is seeing someone living their dreams, I really love it.

xdash