taking stock september

Joining in with Pip's Taking Stock Snapshot. Here's my shorter version...

Smelling daffodils! A reminder that Spring has arrived as we continue some wintery habits such as tending to the wood heater. The snow season has been extended to mid October so we are not yet out of the wintery woods.

Watching our afternoon visitors, Eastern Grey Kangaroos, and their delightful joeys. Spring time brings new life and an opportunity for new beginnings!

Reading The A to Z of Home Remedies for Children's Health. An online course based on Chinese Medicine that gives you the knowledge and tools to help boost your child's immunity. I wish this course was available seven years ago for my first child. Every parent should do this!

Making Ossco Bucco, recipe from the above course. Nutrient dense stock is made from cooking the meat in water with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (I use Melrose or Braggs) onions, mushrooms and carrots. Served on white rice; brown rice is too hard on children's digestive systems. Less is more in Chinese Medicine and "clean" slow cooked casseroles instead of "rich" type casseroles are very good in calming inflammation such as eczema or on-going colds.

Feeling excited and anxious at the same time as we prepare to move house. We had a unique opportunity to live in a little village in Kosciusko National Park but now it is time to move on.

We'll still be living in the Snowy Mountains region...for now. This is where we began our lives as a family and we have seven years of precious memories here. I'm definitely looking forward to a new chapter in our lives and especially the decluttering of our things! It is a bittersweet time.

Knowing we will miss all this open space!

 

Loving the hard work put in by Rob to keep up with our vegetable garden. Garlic bulbs have been broken up and planted in our enclosed garden beds. In a couple of months we'll have a bumper crop to harvest. See our snow covered garden last month.

What are you taking stock of this Spring?

daily life

Heirloom tomatoes enjoyed fresh on sourdough with butter. Lebanese zuchinni's too bulbous to make Kousa Mahshi. Disappointing. Must speak to my "live in" gardener about that. Nevertheless, waste not want not. To the morning omelete you must go.

Painting old frames ready for snaps taken from my new DSLR canon. Happy 10th Anniversary says he to me.


An uplifting surprise win (after a glum few weeks) from one of my favourite reads.

 A great collection of books found at the tip shop.

Washing vintage linen on a sunny day. Thinking of sewing projects such as repurposing in to this or this.

Preparations in Autumn...looks like we will be spending another winter in this draughty house.

How is your daily life?

 

strawberries and spelt scones

 

First strawberry harvest of the season.

Strawberry seedlings were gifted to us from friends.

Even the little one is helping.

After-school pickings.

Replenishing the worm farm.

Pikelets for little fingers.

 Another after-school harvest.

Garden friends.

Mama's turn to harvest.

 

Rustic strawberry spelt scone with coconut sugar.

It has been strawberry heaven over here. Last spring my lovely friend planted some of her strawberry seedlings in our garden. Rob filled the beds with a trailer load of mushroom compost and dutifully waters our strawberries but the children and I have been enjoying the fruits of his labour. I'm unsure of the variety. Anyone recognise these blissful strawberries?

After school pick-up we arrive home and harvest strawberries together. This peaceful break centres us before the afternoon rush to bring in washing and start dinner and before the somewhat noisy bath and bed time affair. At first we pick and eat strawberries like possums but later as the crop became abundant we would fill a bowl every couple of days for some sweet baking. Max is a really good fruit picker and I already have visions of him "WWOOFing" around the world when he finishes high school.

The little one has been getting in on the action too. A few times he has shoved whole strawberries in his mouth before I can catch him. There seems to be less of a choking hazard than the store bought variety: Homegrown is so soft and sweet and dissolves blissfully in your mouth.

Strawberry recipes we've enjoyed are pikelets, a strawberry shortcake and scones. I always make english scones but I've been dying to try American scones. I've adapted closely from this recipe but replaced some refined ingredients with wholefoods. This is how I made mine.

Rustic Strawberry Spelt Scones

1 cup of strawberries cut in to small pieces

3 tbs coconut sugar

2 cups of wholemeal spelt

2 tsp of baking powder (aluminium free)

1/4 tsp salt (idodised and aluminium free)

90g butter

180ml buttermilk

Preheat oven 200ºC

1. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl, add butter and combine with fingers until crumbly
2. Pour in buttermilk and add chopped strawberries
3. Combine ingredients gently in to a ball and place on lightly floured surface
4. Place baking paper over lightly floured ball and roll in to a round disc about 2cm thick
5. Cut in to wedges and transfer to cookie sheet
6. Bake for 15 mins

These scones are not very sweet so you could definitely eat them for breakfast without feeling guilty - we did! Also extra yum with strawberry jam and butter:)

the cost of food

Raised garden beds repurposed from the box that carried our communities UV water filter.

Possum and kangaroo proofing the garden.

Our garden now. Our garden in winter.

Why is there always an abundance of garlic in our supermarkets from overseas when garlic is so easy to grow here. Local variety in taste and smell is so much more pungent and delicious. Photo taken November 2012.

The truth is, I spend a lot of money on food. I shop a few times a week and never add up the receipts for fear of the truth. I convince myself because I hardly buy any packaged food and avoid artificial additives and preservatives that somehow it is cheaper but it is definitely not! I buy organic often and wherever I can get it. Where we live there is only a relatively small supermarket so I supplement my shopping with a Healthfood store in the next town and for a long time I was able to pick up an organic box that was delivered in to my town.

We are a 'live to eat' kind of family and we increasingly get dissatisfied with the taste of meat and produce including packaging that accompanies food with shopping at supermarkets but unfortunately don't have that much choice at the moment. I do my best with what is available at the time and reassess how much money I have left in my fortnightly budget.

I don't save! I'm not even quite sure what 'balancing a budget' really entails. I am however a proud homemaker. I've raised a beautiful, creative and confident son who is very kind and caring. I am busy raising another beautiful son. There are new traditions I am creating for our family that will hopefully be passed on.

But there is so much more I could be doing in the home to make a difference. We are renters. The wellness and longevity of a family involves long term planning, strategic thinking and budgeting just like a corporate business. These are important areas I need to invest mindful time and energy in to, especially the latter.

Our garden is very challenging. What we thought was now finally animal proof is feral rabbit friendly. And lets not talk about the reappearing frost and ferocious winds! We need to learn how to grow sufficient food in these conditions.

I am grateful to have found Rhonda who continually reminds and inspires 'us simple lifers' on our true path to contentment through the home and to be part of this sharing and supportive community.