Ageing Hydrangea

Over the last few months, our hydrangeas have changed from lavender petals to speckles of rich pink.

I think I actually prefer them in their decayed state.

Hot Harvest

We purchased these two chilli plants at a local market back in October. The tip from the stallholder - not to water until the pot is light to handle - has served us well and the plants are going from strength to strength.

Sprouts

I quite often grew sprouts in London but found them rather bitter and unappetising. I'm trying again but keeping them out of direct sunshine this time and watering more vigorously.


Check back for an update on the mung beans, snow peas and spicy salad mix in a few days....

Looking at Lino

Our quote has come back a little over budget and so we're exploring our options. Including lino rather than tiles. Fortunately, we were intending to go for a 1960s feel to our 1960s house so lino should fit right in.



As anyone in the trade will tell you, lino has come a long way in recent years. We're not tempted by any of the more realistic wood or slate options - too disappointing for people when they step on to warm, sticky lino rather than cool, smooth tiles - but we did quite like the bamboo print above.




And these mosaic tiles could suit a bathroom or two...




And we couldn't resist this cork pattern for the pantry - the heart of our winemaking activities. Unfortunately, it was far and away the most expensive of all our potential choices and so we may be looking for an offcut...

A Snap of a Snapper

Tonight's fish looked so morose that I figured he deserved a picture too...



Although the snapper have come into the harbour to spawn now, we only went as far as Pak N'Save to catch this one.

Heeling Hands

Now that I've started baking my own bread (or rather using my breadmaker to do it), I need to find a way of using up the crusty ends or heels of each loaf.

The Eat Drink Talk cookery school newsletter came to the rescue this week with an excellent recipe for skordalia - a kind of Mediterranean bread sauce.



Soak the bread in water and add red wine vinegar, garlic, oil and salt and pepper and you have a tasty accompaniement for grilled fish. We're going to eat ours tonight with some snapper.

My only tip is to keep your fingers away from the bread-knife. If you don't manage to do that, at least try to keep the plaster dry when wringing out the soaked bread and don't drip blood into the pestle and mortar alongside the red wine vinegar. Or get vinegar in your wound. An eventful afternoon of cookery.

Seedhead

A seedhead in the back paddock. Not sure what type of grass it is but it's very tough and the seeds have an intriguing serrated edge.