Month: April 2018

Three Beaches

Hello!! Midweek already!
We lucked out today with some beautiful sunshine! Time to hit the beaches!
First stop… Fossil Bluff to collect rocks, check out fossils and enjoy the sunshine!

The tide was low so we could check out the rock pools too.

Then it was home for lunch then back out to Boat Harbour Beach

It was even warm enough to dip our toes in!

(I’d like to point out that my feet are clean but suntanned in patches)

Then we got hugely lucky as a pod of dolphins were frollicking about right in front of us!!
(let me zoom in on my shot…)

What a treat!!
Next on the list was a walk over to Anniversary Bay Beach. The day clouded over but remained warm. Perfect for walking.

Stones kept getting in our shoes! The shoes came off once we were on sand though.

The sand art got a bit weirder and cooler today. The dark tannin that makes the cool patterns had dried out to a black tar! Felt like melted chocolate to the touch!

Was a lovely day out!
Right now the wind has picked up again and it keeps raining in fits and spurts. LOTS of rain forecast for Saturday up at Cradle.
Of course!! 😀 😀
Cheers!

Day Out

Hi!
Unrelated, but I think this year is the year to treat Lisa to a new computer.
This one is so slow its almost making me cry tonight!
You know… all you want to do is write an email, respond to a couple of facebook messages, post process a few photos to blog, and 30 minutes of work (if that) takes 2 hours.
Its an old computer and its chock full of photos so its really no wonder its choking on simple tasks.
But when I am busy and trying to fit in so much its insanely frustrating just sitting here while the system thinks for five minutes about every single task you ask it to do!!
Will have to look at the budget I think.

Aaaanyway, enough whinging about my First World Problem.
Had a lovely day out with Moe and Ryo

Just a few photos I managed to post process before being in danger of throwing the hard drive into the paddock!! 😀

We visited Dip Falls and the Big Tree

We went up to Stanley and climbed The Nut
This photo will give you an idea of the wind today! haha – at least no rain!

We finished the days sightseeing down at Black River Beach… mega windy there too but really beautiful and wild looking today.
Will work on photos (you know – adding them to the insane backlog I now possess) another time.

I am giving up and heading to bed – more beach trips tomorrow!

Cheers

Attached to the Kitchen

What a terrible day to have to be inside in the kitchen!!
At least I got the last of the clothes dry from yesterday that needed finishing off!

I did do a bit of foraging out in the yard and soaked up a little of the sunshine while I could

Pumpkins going along well…

Back inside I made up a double batch of rissole mince so its ready for me to cook tomorrow night once we get back from sightseeing. (Planning on DIY Hamburgers)
I also cut up 12lb of tomatoes to make a double batch of sauce

I used a bit of an eclectic bunch of bottles… tried to get all the big ones – Jeff mainly uses this sauce, so he is set for a while (Probably about 10 litres there!)

Then I baked a cake and a loaf of bread.

I failed to photograph it, but I also baked one of my butternut pumpkins and turned it into soup for dinner tonight.
My friends arrived in late so I didn’t want a huge heavy dinner. So soup, salad & garlic bread seemed sensible. (And home made ice cream of course!!)

Anyway, I am glad to have finished with dishes
The weather forecast looks completely horrible, but we plan to go out and find waterfalls and beaches anyway!

Hope your day was great!
Cheers

 

Domestic Goddess Day

Well, something was starting to nibble on some of the butternut pumpkins so I decided to pick them and get them out of harms way!
Cute little family there!

Ugh… way too much housework today. So glad Jeff got in on the act too – its a time consuming job. I am a bit over it.
Still… was good to give the place a spruce up as tomorrow I need to be back in the kitchen to pre make a few meals for the upcoming days with our next visitors, Moe & Ryo.
I have known Moe since before she was born!!
Her parents, Mari & Koichi are the very first friends I made in Japan!
They are here scarcely 4 days so its going to be a rushed week to show them lots of stuff but keep it sensible so its not too exhausting (probably for ME since I am heading out on the hike the morning after they leave!!)

Anyway, house is mostly under control, we did a tip run which was great… all the bits and pieces that had built up a bit have been disposed of.
Stocked up on firewood at the back door so I don’t have to do too much more carting up the yard this week.
Did two loads of laundry… and naturally it rained… and rained. So I am now mucking about with the clothes (AND SHEETS- bummer) in front of the fire.
Also made some strawberry ice cream.

I need to go write a list for tomorrow!
I don’t pick up the kids until later tomorrow so I have all day to bake and cook.

I hope your Sunday was free of domestic duties and you had a bit more fun!

Cheers

Hint of a sunset

Test Hike

Hi there!
Still a bit light on with my photos – sorry!
Above is not really my glam shot, and I am not that much taller than Fiona (Was standing up off path!)
Anyway, stuffed some things in the pack for a test run (haha) around Anniversary Bay.
Pretty happy with things though. I had about 14kgs – there is still a bit more to be packed in before we head out. Made a few pack strap adjustments and it all felt reasonably comfortable overall.
Our legs felt it more than normal by the end of the hike today. Shoulders not too bad really.
Got Fiona to test the jerky and got the thumbs up (whew)
Tomorrow is house-clean day, tip day and final packing day (since I won’t have much spare time during the week!)
Doubt I will fit tomato sauce making in there too but it is in the back of my mind too!!

Best be off – lots to do tomorrow. I’ll even try to photograph something for you!!!

Cheers!

Jerky Done – Recipe

Its hard to photograph jerky in a way that looks appetising… but I will have to say it really tastes amazing. Very happy with the outcome!
I have been running about doing lots of little tasks – nothing really bloggable so will leave the jerky recipe here in case it is of interest to anyone!

I used some rump steak. Whatever you use you need to cut out fat. I am a novice at this whole jerky thing, some of you will know what to do a lot better than I do!!
Anyway, this is the marinade:

1/2 cup Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce (I used my home made plum-worcester sauce)
2 teaspoons ground pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder (I used several cloves of fresh garlic chopped small)
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder (I used one fresh chilli chopped small)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons honey

I mixed all this up thoroughly and put the sliced beef in to marinate overnight
Drain.
5 hours in the dehydrator at 70C seemed to do the trick

Yummo!

Using the Produce

Lovely day today! I got to go for a drive up into the country to look at a hay baler for my friends. (Just needed to make sure that the seller and machine were legit – I know nothing about hay balers!!)
Anyway, was sunny and warm for a change!

Mostly I was trying to get kitchen stuff done – more apples into the dehydrator and finished off that batch of relish that I started yesterday.
I think I’ll have to do some sauce for Jeff next. Still a ton of tomatoes out there!

I made a marinade for my beef jerky, cut that up and its now soaking. Will get it into the dehydrator first thing tomorrow. (after coffee)

Raw meat doesn’t photograph pretty… but it does smell pretty good! (Soy, worster sauce, honey, pepper, garlic, chilli, nutmeg, brown sugar…)
The meat scraps that were too fatty for using I put into a makeshift soup tonight that turned out pretty great (if I do say so myself). Just whatever was around got thrown in! Add some veggies and salad = dinner!

I have just finished baking some cakes. Jeff turns 50 tomorrow (well.. actually today!)(Up late as usual)
If he is reading this he is about to find out I baked him a carrot cake!
Two carrot cakes. Plan is to put cream in between them! Hope they taste ok… never made one before! They smell good so thats a positive start!

Best get a move on towards bed so I can be up early to greet my Nightshift Nurse in the morning! (Good Wife)

Cheers!

Back in the Garden -Finally!

Hello there!
Finally we started off to a pretty lovely bright sunny day with a few puffy clouds! The gloom of the past weeks has been a little depressing this early in the year!
Took advantage and did another load of laundry (Only one –  not THAT confident!!)

There was a nice breeze too so it didn’t take them long to dry.
I left them out until I saw this (see below) and decided not to push my luck and brought them in.

Before heading out into the garden I put another lot of apples into the dehydrator as well as cutting up some tomatoes and onion to start the process of another batch of relish.

It felt so great getting back out into the dirt again! I am so far behind the 8 ball in the gardens at the moment!

I pulled out the first lot of corn and weeded that area. I will have to get another lot of seaweed and bed this down for the winter. I have no plans to use it before spring at this point.

I also did some more random weeding around the place. Lots of thistles have popped up.

Also coming across patches of self seeded potatoes. I got quite a lot today!

I found this most excellent creature:

Then I got all enthusiastic about potatoes so decided to get into the failed broccoli patch that some potatoes somehow managed to sneak into

So many huge beautiful potatoes!!!
We ate some tonight and they tasted so good too!!

I must admit, I am feeling it when I get up out of my chair each time this evening! Easy to tell who hasn’t been doing enough in the garden lately!!

Hope your day was great!
Cheers!

Muesli Bars (Recipe)

Time to make some muesli bars today.
My biggest problem on the upcoming hike is breakfast.
I am a toast and coffee girl and thats it.
I am not a morning person.
In any shape, way or form. (especially form)
So springing out of bed and dining on something different no matter what my intentions – doesn’t work.

I have decided that the easiest thing to do will be to have my coffee, then as we set out hiking in the morning I will nibble at the muesli bars while I am getting used to being awake. There will also be trail mix and a lot of my dried apple.

Anyway, today I put together a batch of muesli bars and I was thrilled how they turned out.
I used the dried apple chopped up, broke into the walnuts and crushed them up a bit and also put in chunks of my apple/raspberry leather which really gave the bars the edge!!!

Here is the recipe in case anyone wants to give it a go:

9×9″ pan, lined with baking paper criss crossed to go up all sides.
Pre heat oven at 165C (325F)

Ingredients:

2&1/2 cups oatmeal (oats)(quick oats)
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Then 1 cup of a mix of your choice of things like walnuts/almonds/raisins/dried apricots/choc chips etc
(as mentioned above I used walnuts, dried apple and bits of my apple-raspberry fruit leather)

I mixed by spoon first then by hand.
Put all into the tin and spent quite a lot of time pressing it flat
I got another piece of baking paper and used a jar and spoon to go over and over the surface to pack it down. (Don’t forget the edges!!)

It really worked well

We have had trouble with it crumbling in the past so this extra time pressing is worth it.
Put in the oven for 30 minutes. Take out and let cool completely before trying to take it out to cut it.

Happily it didn’t fall into bits this time. It cut beautifully. I was worried as it looked dry but nope… the taste test passes muster! Love it.

More Packing!

Hello there!
Hope everybody who got an Easter long weekend had a lovely one and didn’t overdo it on the chocolate too much!!
I spent a lot of today fiddling about with organising my gear
Above is the start of the food collection.
After hiking Jeff’s first day in the insanely appalling weather, I figured that having some simple ‘cup of soup’ mixes would be smart. An easy quick hot starter to dinner. I still might jettison them if the pack is too heavy or the weather is forecast not horrible.
The packs in the middle represent 4 meals for 2 people. My dehydrated vegetable mix is nice and light. I am going to put mine on 2 minute noodles. Fiona may use couscous.  Fiona also has some other commercially packed meals that we will use to mix things up a bit so we don’t get bored 🙂
Do you think I have enough chocolate???
While I am not a fan of single packaging (at all) I decided that those coffee packs were going to be the least difficult way to get my morning coffee. I can’t seem to control powdered milk, and these make a nice cup. I just have to pack some sugar.
Also pictured is my collapsible cup & bowl – fork & spoon (interchangeable handles saving me 2 grams LOL)
The jetboil, pan for heating the veggie mix, extra gas bottle attachment and the gas bottle… which we will get a new full one just to be on the safe side.
More food stuff to be sorted later.

These are my day hiking clothes.
If the day is not a freezing blizzard, I will probably just be wearing the black cycling pants (Jeff’s) the t-shirt (Jeff’s) the waterproof socks (Jeff’s) Gaters (Jeff’s) Bra & undies (mine) and my cap (also mine!)
I can layer up with the thermal tights, beanie, the black top (on the right), rain jacket (on the left) and in pouring rain or cold wind, Jeffs rainproof pants (Bottom)
If things go snow, then I have my puffy jacket too.

I put the lot on to see if everything worked (ie could I get my rain jacket over the puffy jacket?)
No worries. I totally looked … um… warm?

The puffy jacket and rain pants fit (stuffed) nicely into this waterproof bag too.

Here is everything looking more concise.

Then there is the stuff I plan to wear once the days hike is over.
Two spare pairs of socks. I will be gross and wear mostly the same (probably wet) socks for the first 4 days. No point starting a new pair every day. With how the weather has been, they will get wet within an hour or so, so no point starting dry. Save the dry ones for camp.
Two spare t-shirts. One for sleeping. Probably around day three/four I will treat myself to hike in the sleeping t-shirt and then use the spare one at night.
Comfy crop top for the evening and new undies every day! 😀 (yes there are limits to my gross-ness)
Thermal top (Thanks Fiona!) and pants, shorts to go over thermals (still might grab pj pants instead) windcheater (top left) plus scarf, beanie, gloves & my beach shoes as camp shoes. They are slightly heavier than the crocks (by 100 grams!!) but squash and pack better.

All in all for the clothes – I think I have all bases covered without carrying anything extra.

Jeff put together the medical kit and explained it to me, so I am sorted there. Have decided to take/wear contact lenses – esp if it rains as glasses are just useless. Its a pain as I just can’t see close up now with my glasses on!!! Will hunt out some reading glasses to help. (naturally take my normal glasses too)
Of course – means I need saline and contact lens cases – and a little mirror.
I have my facewasher for ‘sponge baths’ toothpaste/brush, towel, heat patches, toilet paper (really need to scientifically work out how much I need for a week), sunscreen and a poo-shovel (just in case…)
There is also a sharp knife on the med kit.

In other news I made my muesli bars, but will move on to another post for that.
Got some corn and lettuce for dinner tonight…

I also picked a large basketful of tomatoes!!

I was finding ripe tomatoes in places that I didn’t even know I had plants!! Love those self seeded ones!
Anyway – nice and productive day!
Hope your day was great too!
Cheers