THE LYREBIRD IS BACK

The lyrebird turned up again on Sunday morning. He hadn't been around for a while but with the damp weather he returned to my back deck. I know it is a male because of its beautiful tail. The female has a far plainer tail.

Wednesday was Mum's birthday. She turned 82 but looks more like 72. I had the family around for dinner in the evening.They all have their various food likes and dislikes and my elder daughter J is vegan. I always try to cook a few new dishes and make sure there is plenty for J to eat.

Unfortunately I wasn't too well on Monday and Tuesday so didn't get the grocery shopping done or make the desserts on the day before.

I decided I was going to give you a running commentary on my day. It worked until 4 o'clock and then I just got so frantic that there was no time for photos. And I forgot to take a photo of the table once it was laden with food which was a bit disappointing, but here goes some of my day -


8.10
I popped down to Woolworths to pick up a few last minute groceries.

9:10.
The topside steak roast went into slow cooker on low. I added one 400 gram tin of diced tomatoes and a 300 gram jar of medium salsa. That gave it 10 hours to simmer away so it would be falling apart by the time it came to eat it.

10.00
 I put together the Easy Tiramasu, and put it in the fridge. I had never tried it before. It needed 6 hours of chilling. (It turned out well.)Time for a cup of coffee.

12.10
The vegan sticky date pudding went into the oven.

 

I made the sauce for the sticky date pudding.

12:40

 I poured half of the sauce over the top of the sponge after poking holes in the cooked sponge.

The rest of the sauce remained to be put on the table so people could add extra to their serve of sticky date pudding. The sticky date pudding was a bit dry and definitely needed the extra sauce.


1.15

I soaked the quinoa for the stuffed zucchinis for15 minutes before I put it on the stove to cook.

 Then I cleared the table of my sewing clutter.

 

3:00

The tuna bake was ready to be put in the oven at 6.00.

3:15

The potatoes went into the oven and I made the stuffed zucchinis.

 

4:00

I made the humous and the pita chips........

......and that was as far as I had time to write about. After that I made a red cabbage salad, a green salad and gnocchi with kale pesto, and wrapped the presents. Things just got hectic.

We had decided not to buy presents this year so I had made Mum some pretty felt lavender sachets which I meant to photograph also.

Anyway, we had a lovely evening. 

P:-) and  are off to Bendalong next week in out little caravan. P:-) has been busy putting in an extra shelf above the stove.

Bendalong is a small town situated on the South Coast of New South Wales. It is located in the region of Ulladulla, in the Shoalhaven. We are going to stay at the Rustic Caravan Park . 
It only has 2 powered sites so we are hoping it will be very quiet. 


Interesting sites
1.

 Grandmother's tiny house

Photo source

Not many people understood why Monica Smith began working on her 8×10 shed in the back yard… and then they laughed when they realized she was turning it into a tiny cabin. It seemed strange that she was putting so much effort into just a shed. But it wasn’t just a hobby. Her youngest daughter and 5 children lost their home. So, Monica decided to give them her own and move out to the back yard.  Click here to read more.
 
2.

Ocean Ecosystem Sustainability by 2050

Photo source

Humans are consuming the ocean’s resources at an alarming rate. Climate change and pollution have created massive dead zones. How do we sustain this vital ecosystem for generations to come? National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Sylvia Earle outlines some of the ways to protect the health of the earth’s biggest ecosystem. Click here to read more.


3.

 Driftwood horses

Photo source

These majestic life-sized horses galloping by the sea were made from hundreds of pieces of driftwood salvaged from the shore by British-born artist James Doran-Webb. 
Click here  to read more.