Turning the Tables

I've been hunting down bargains on TradeMe again. This time I've secured a cupboard for the laundry and four handmade rimu stools - two are now functioning as coffee tables in the living room whilst the other two have become bedside tables in the granny flat. And for less than $100 for the five pieces - two great bargains!





So far, I've succeeded in securing all additional furniture that we've needed for the house from the secondhand market. We've saved money, given good pieces a good home and kept close to our 1960s theme. I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself as a result! I'm no nearer to finding a good sideboard at a reasonable price though. Watch this space.

Dew

Misty Morning 5

Misty Morning 4

Misty Morning 3

Misty Morning 2

Misty Morning 1

Bedraggled

Chickens on the doorstep again. Sheltering from the rain this time and looking a bit worse for wear.



Did you spot J's flip flop in that first picture, in a rather precarious position? I promise that I moved it straight after I took the photo.

Big Bird

After our grey hen reared a clutch of chicks, I posted them on TradeMe to make sure we didn't get overrun with birds - roosters in particular. I gave some to a local family and agreed to sell the remainder to the first bidder along with the grey hen.

Whilst I was boxing up the grey hen and her brood at dusk, one of the chicks got away, together with a little brown hen. They dashed into the bush and there was no chance of me catching them. I sorted out some chick starter and sawdust from the shed for the buyer and then went back down to the coop to see if the runaways had returned. And this is what I found.



How could I separate them? I couldn't bring myself to do it. Particularly as I was fairly sure that the chick would grow up to be a hen. So I told a small white lie and said that the pair were still hiding in the bush. Sorry.

For a few weeks, the little brown hen and the one remaining chick pottered up and down the fenceline, close to the bush, sheltered from the hawk. But now the chick is much bigger and the little brown hen has decided that she's big enough to join the main flock. This week the pair of them have been strutting around with two roosters and the other two hens, happy as can be. Here they are, hanging out on the front doorstep, bold as brass.

Why Green Tomatoes?

I've been trying really hard with these tomatoes. I've watered them every other day, faithfully, and fed them each time too. They sit in full sun for much of the day, in a sheltered position.

There are plenty of flowers...



...and quite a few fruit but none of them are showing any signs of reddening.



So why are they not ripening, gardeners?



I don't think this peahen is helping but she's probably not the cause either.

Beginner Baking 12

Not exactly baking but still within my culinary challenge, I think - chutney!

I had some chunks of orange left over from a Pimms afternoon, as you do, and some rhubarb which was going to waste as we were too busy eating up cheesecake. Luckily I found this recipe in the Southland Times and combined it with this recipe which involved roasted orange.

And this is how it turned out...



We're going to eat some of it with leftover New Year ham.

Beginner Baking 11

A baked vanilla cheesecake, topped with raspberries, for J's birthday, courtesy of River Cottage. Mmm...



The next birthday challenge will be a chocolate cake for my birthday next week...

Caterpillar in the cauliflower

Beginner Baking 10

This is a gluten-free lime and coconut loaf from a River Cottage recipe.

Except I don't like coconut so I switched that for chopped pecans. And I didn't have any lime so made it with lemon juice instead. And I decided to do a cream cheese icing instead of a lemon glaze. It was still gluten free though.

Surprisingly, it turned out rather well, particularly given that I didn't have any xanthan gum to lighten it up. The icing was a little runny after I added lemon juice to it - and I failed to stir it well enough as someone was complaining about being hungry - you can see the resulting lumps. But it was sufficiently sweet and creamy so that didn't really matter.

I'm sure that some of my experimentation will fail soon - I must try not to become over-confident in my baking abilities. But in the meantime, I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself, despite my success being somewhat undeserved!

Beginner Baking 9

This is some of my gingerbread triangles, before they've been cut.

It's made from my mother's recipe but turned out not quite as dark as I remember it. Just as delicious though.


Here's the recipe:

• 100g SR flour
• 100g rolled oats
• 1.5 tsp powdered ginger
• 150g soft brown sugar
• 150g melted margarine
• 1 tbsp syrup

First, place all the ingredients in a bowl - a nice and easy recipe this one! Mix well with a fork then press into a lined round cake tin (8"). Bake for 30-45 minutes at 165 degrees celsius. Leave in the tin to cool then cut into triangles and enjoy.

A new perspective

When I took our neighbours' wandering dog back home the other day, I was interested to see what they could see of our house from their gate - just the top storey through the hedgerow.

Safekeeping

J has recently extended his collection of pottery which looks like fruit and vegetables to include containers which look like the food that they are intended to contain.

Witness the lemon-keeper and the garlic-keeper:



Next we need a chilli-keeper and a ginger-keeper.