MOTHERS' DAY AND MADLY SEWING

This year for Mothers' Day I cooked dinner for my family - a mixture of vegans, vegetarians and avid meat eaters. Always a bit of a challenge. 
Daughter R loves gnocchi with kale pesto so the day before Mother's Day I began with the pesto. It is very simple and healthy so I thought you might like the recipe.

Kale Pesto  (Vegan)

 

•  2 cups packed kale
•  1/2 cup nuts (I used cashews)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 clove garlic (or more if you like)

Whiz up in a small food processor.
And hey presto - pesto!

Keep in the fridge and suitable to freeze.

I served this on store bought gnocchi but it could be used with pasta.

I forgot to take a photo of the table set with food, so I won't go through all the details but we had a very nice night - my Mum; my brother; my daughter J; daughter R and her husband B; and :-)P and me.

I received some lovely flowers for Mother's day and had a visit from a very special person, Suzanna, who I call my third daughter. 

Mothers' Day flowers

Wednesday was our monthly trip to Stanwell Park to see P:-)'s GP. The trip takes about 40 minutes. I always like the view as we drive down into the village,

Stanwell Park viewed from Stanwell Tops

Halfway up the photo above on the right you can just see the famous Sea Cliff Bridge.

I am going  into Permaculture in a very small way.

Last year I started a herb garden in pots. It didn't do very well in the last spell of dry weather. I only have garlic chives and lemon thyme left. So I am starting to plant some herbs and vegetables in my garden, amongst the shrubs and bushes. I have started with some shallots which I began planting a few weeks ago.

Shallots and rocket

I have been planting used shallots in my front garden. The tops grow and these can be trimmed and eaten. I love rocket so I have bought some of this to plant and shallot seeds to plant amongst the shallot plants. I hope to thicken it all up to prevent weeds.  This is all part of my saving money quest now that I am on a pension.

This morning I popped down to the fruit market to buy some apples and oranges for the next week.

Apples and oranges

I allow myself an orange for morning tea and one for afternoon tea each day - and an apple for lunch. It cost me $13. I could have bought 6 packets of Tim Tams for that. For the same caloric value, that is eating 3 Tim Tams a day, a packet will last me 4 days. So it would cost me $13 for 24 days (3 weeks and 3 days) with a Tim Tam for morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea., compared to $13 for one week of fruit. A lot cheaper than the fruit except it wouldn't be very healthy, and I must admit I do have trouble limiting myself to one Tim Tam at a time. 

It does make you think about the cost of healthy food. 

Craftwise I am working on a couple of projects that I need to get done for next weekend

I am covering some cushions for my daughter R. She is going on a trip in her caravan and needs these done. As always I have ended up leaving it to the last minute.

I am also in the process of completing a felt name for one of P:-)'s little grand daughters.

So I am spending today sewing. 
I had better get to it.
Talk to you again soon.



Interesting sites



1.

 Tiny House

Photo source

Alek Lisefski is a web designer who decided to take everything we know about building a house and flip it on its head. Instead of going in debt for hundreds of thousands of dollars, he built his own home for the low, low price of $30,000. It’s only 8x20ft, but that’s what makes it awesome.Click here to read more and see more photos.


2.

Special town

Photo source

Artist and photographer Michael Paul Smith has spent hours upon hours photographing one special town that he holds very dear to his heart. There is something that always drew him to it, and the images he created are simple, but stunning. They glow with small-town charm and innocence, reminiscent of days and decades past.The town he photographs is quaint and beautiful but it doesn't exist.Click here to see lots of fascinating pictures. 

3.

Sculpted pages

Photo source

 Sue Blackwell  cuts the pages of books with a scalpel, forming the printed paper into various forms. Some are elaborate scenes, sitting atop the books from which they were formed, some as simple as flowers in which the ink from the printed lines is arranged to form the dark-hued edges of the blossoms. Some are arranged as dioramas in wooden and glass cases, at times theatrically lit. Click here to see some close ups.