A ROUGH SEA ( #3 September 2017)

Last Sunday morning I visited two of my favourite places - the beach and Bunnings.

Peter and I went for a walk along Towradgi Beach. The sea was rough and had come right up the beach at high tide.

  

The waves had completely swamped the local rock pool.

This sponge looked as if it had only recently been ripped from the rocks as it still had its
pinky colour.

I also came across these fish eggs. I wonder what type of fish they are from.

At Bunnings I bought some new guttering and downpipes for the front of my house to replace my old disintegrating stuff. Peter had it replaced in no time.

Now I need to repaint the pergola.

 I am tossing up between white, light grey like my door......

 or the same green as my garage door.

I fancy accessories of the blue colour featured below.

 


Meanwhile I have made a handful of polymer clay toadstools to use in some gardening projects.

You may be interested in knowing that my talented niece Amy and nephew Laurie are involved in setting up some of Wollongong's first break out rooms.

Photo source

 Click here if you would like to read more about it.


RECIPE

I am always on the look out for thrifty recipes. Here is  a standby I have developed for left over vegetables.



Cream of mixed vegetable soup


This is a recipe for creamy vegetable soup made from left over vegetables that have been frozen or of course you could use fresh if you prefer. The vegetables and proportions can be changed, depending on what you have available. This makes about 4 litres of soup. Two cans of chick peas add protein to make it a complete meal.

I began with 1.3 kg of precooked frozen vegetables that had been thawed out. These included broccoli, carrots, potatoes, and pumpkin.

1.3 kg of precooked vegetables

 I used a large saucepan and caramelised 4 Spanish onions.

Caramelised onions

 I added the vegetables and gave them a bit of a stir around for a few minutes.
 

I added 1 litre of water and 4 teaspoons of Vegeta and  2 cans of chick pease including liquid. This provides protein to make the soup a complete meal. Then I added 2 teaspoons of curry powder. This is optional.

I simmered the soup for 40 minutes until all the vegetables were quite soft.Then I blended the soup in my food processor with soy milk (which makes it vegan) but you could use dairy milk or any other substitute. I blended it at the rate of 2 cups at a time with 1 cup of soy bean milk. But you could vary this ratio to taste.

Cream of mixed vegetable soup.

Makes about 4 litres. Suitable to freeze.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons olive oil.
• 4 Spanish onions chopped
• Around 1.3 kg of cooked mixed vegetables
• 4 cups water
• 4 teaspoons Vegeta or other stock powder 
• 2 425g tins of chick peas including liquid
• 2 teaspoons curry powder (optional) 
• About 1 litre of milk or substitute

Method

1. Heat oil over medium heat in fry pan
2. Add onions and cook until caramelised, adding water as necessary to deglaze the pan.
3. Add vegetables and cook stirring for 3 minutes
4. Add water and stock powder
5. Add chick peas
6. Add curry powder (optional)
7. Simmer for 40 minutes 
8. Blend in a food processor at the rate of 2 cups of soup to 1 cup of milk or substitute.
9. Makes about 4 litres.

Thanks

Thank you for reading my blog.I write it for myself first. It helps me look at the positive things in life even though they may only be small. Also if I say I plan to do something I have put it on record and this helps me to actually do it. Unforeseen life events have  led me to end up in a different position in life than I had planned. As a result I am unable to be involved in many of the activities of my friends. So I try to find joy in simple things and share some of these.

Thank you for those who have left comments and to those who have tried but been unable to. I am not sure what the problem is but will try to sort it out.

Lindy




Interesting sites

1.

 Earthships

Photo source

 Earthships - the ultimate in off-grid architecture. Click here to read more.


2.

 Makeover bus stop

Photo source

For the residents of a small village in Dartmoor, England, the universally-dreaded morning commute to work is now very much something to look forward to. Last summer, the village of Walkhampton woke up to find their grim and graffiti-covered bus stop had been transformed into a welcoming living room, complete with an armchair, pillows, framed pictures, potted plants and various household ornaments. Not just a one-time make-over, the bus stop has been “re-decorated” several times since and the best part is– no one knows who’s doing it. Click here to read more. 


3.

 Eerie music in Pyongyang

Click here to hear the eerie music played in Pyongyang, North Korea each morning to wake up the residents.

A MORNING IN THE GARDEN

Remember the miracles.

 Sheila Schuller

Rain was forecast for today and my gutter out the front of my house was full of leaves.

The problem is that when it rains these leaves wash down to a drain and then block it up.

In really heavy or prolonged rain, the drain blocks and then water backs up, eventually runs down my driveway and then dams up against my garage door. Sometimes if I have not been diligent sweeping up the leaves and heavy rain wakes me up, you will find me out in the gutter at 3 am, under an umbrella, water swirling around my ankles, clearing great mounds of leaves with my feet. Not fun.

Gardening and such is a bit of a problem for me. I have a back that can only take so much bending over. So I  work out a nice little rhythm. Fill 3 buckets with leaves;

 

tip them on the garden for mulch; then come in and work on my blog until my back settles down. Repeat the process until the leaves are all taken care of. This sort of system works quite well. Until the rain starts. I didn't quite finish but I think I will be OK if there is some heavy rain.

I love the subtle colours of the leaves. Look at the picture below taken straight from the gutter.

There are some subtle greens, reds, browns and oranges. I love looking at the combinations of colors that the leaves provide. I went over to the color palette generator and devised a color pallet but couldn't seem to transfer my results back here. I know it can be done because it has been done by Jane La Fazio in her blog JaneVille. I got quite an interesting  list of colors. They may be good for my color scheme for the front of my house. I will get some more computer help from Daughter R and perhaps I will be able to show you the completed pallet. Watch this space.

There was quite a bit going on in my garden this morning. While I was tipping leaves around the plants I heard a crunching sound. I knew it was cockatoos. It took a little bit of looking around me before I spotted them munching seed pods in my wattle tree.

The picture above has 2 cockatoos in it. You have to look quite closely to see them both, they are so well camouflaged.

These were the pods they were crunching below.

It wasn't until the birds flew away that I realized there was a 3rd cockatoo in the tree. It was just too well camouflaged to see. It is interesting that white feathers and a yellow crest makes these bird so difficult to see in the Australian native trees.

I spotted this little flower which had bloomed on a plant which had just popped up.

I don't know what it is or if it is native. It looks as if it could be. I hope it is . I am trying to make my front garden full of Australian natives.

I have been experimenting with larger photos. I would love some comments as to what you think. Daughter R thinks the smaller ones look neater, but I really think I prefer the larger ones. What do you think?

Interesting sites

1.

 Click here to have a look at some pretty Eco-flowers made from recycled plastic.

2.

  Click here to read about the world's lightest metal.

3.

This cute little house folds up tp face the weather. Click here to read more

TIME FOR NEW GREENS

Today the sky outside my window is bright blue with a few wispy clouds.

It is still a bit cool and there is quite a breeze blowing. My place is quite protected so I know that if it is windy here it the wind is quite strong elsewhere.



Art around the house

Today I am going to show you some insects and spiders made by Daughter R's partner B.

They are made using resistors which are soldered.

These usually sit in a glass bowl on my coffee table but they just didn't photograph well so I put them on the plate.

B is very clever and can turn his hand to all sorts of things.

Below is the front of my house.

As you can see it needs some sprucing.


I have been considering what colors to paint it - not the brick- the pergola and the guttering etc. The front wall (which is not in sight on the right) needs a new coat of paint also, but I am thinking maybe I could get some type of cladding to cover it in the same color as my garage door.

Below is the pergola area which has never been painted.

 

And my front door below.

I don't think this photo does my door justice. I think the color is actually a lot richer, but I plan to do it a tidier color.

I like the color scheme on the picture below. It is about the color of my garage door - maybe a touch lighter.

 I love the blue door below, but am not sure how it would go with the green.

 

If I decide what colors I am doing maybe I could look at getting it done in the Christmas holidays, when I have about 6 weeks off.

Interesting sites


1.                                                                    

This is a hotel in Patagonia. It looks just like a hotel for hobbits. Find more about it athttp://inhabitat.com/magic-mountain-lodge-is-a-hill-like-hobbit-highrise/magic-mountain-hotel-5/?extend=1



2. This site is just good fun. You have to draw a stick man  and follow the story through as you draw more bits and pieces . It is very cute. you will find it at    http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/4Ihtj7/www.drawastickman.com/                                     



3.

 


This is a great site with tons of incredible street art on it. Find it at http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1Jc3xU/www.streetartutopia.com/?p=2014