Birds in my backyard

How geeky can I get? Well pretty geeky it turns out because I’ve become a bit of a bird watcher. For one of my University units I had to do a bird count and well that wasn’t a hardship considering I do it almost everyday! I have also participated in the Backyard Bird Count for the past few years.

Red Browed Finches

My kitchen window overlooks the backyard and has proved to be the best spot on the entire property for bird watching. Every morning you will find me hanging out over the kitchen sink just watching my feathered friends. I have seen an incredible number of different species with so many I’ve never seen before moving here.

Kookaburra

The list includes the usual suspects; Magpies, Kookaburras, Willy Wagtails, as well as the exquisite Superb Fairy Wrens (there’s a family living in the murrayas that sit between the backyard and one of our dams; Crimson Browed Finches who after their breeding season there are millions of them (ok, maybe not millions but you get the picture) and are so tiny they are almost impossible to see until they move; Scarlet Honeyeaters, another very special and very tiny one that I have now seen on several occasions; Satin Bowerbirds, I often leave out some lovely bright blue wool for his bower; Wattlebirds; Tawny Frogmouths (not a member of the owl family in case you didn't already know); Eastern King Parrots who love to visit each morning and afternoon when the guavas are ripening; Eastern Yellow Robins; and one cold, wet winter day we even saw an Owl!

Superb Fairy Wren

Still with me? I haven't scared you off with my nerdiness?

'Til next time.

x

Varroa Mite incursion

Over the past few days we have had the devastating news that the Varroa Mite has been found in our area and we are now in an emergency surveillance zone in an attempt to halt the spread of this horrid pest. We have 8 hives here at home and another 6 belonging to a friend. This surveillance zone means we will be unable to take any honey from our hives for at least 6 months, and that's the best outcome. If the mite is found to have spread we may be forced to have our bees euthanised, I am heartbroken at just the thought. 

An eradication zone of 10 kms has been set up around the hives were the mite was first found and all bees and hives within this zone have been, or are in the process of being, destroyed. My thoughts are with these beekeepers, how absolutely awful for them. One beekeeping business that I know of will lose all 90 of their hives, and effectively their entire business has now been wiped out.

Fingers crossed it has been picked up early enough for us to get on top of the outbreak before it wipes out any more bees. Bees are an essential part of the local biodiversity, even if they are an introduced species.

x

R

Single-Use Plastic Ban

Today in NSW a law has kicked in banning the use of some single-use plastics, and about time too, NSW is the last of Australia’s states and territories to do so (remember the old car registration plates - NSW The Premier State, yeah, now I know why we don’t see them anymore). Now obviously the ‘some’ means the law does not go far enough and that means there are loopholes. And the plastic bag is a perfect example of the sometimes ineffectual laws we are beholden to, the old grey or white thin ones we used to get at the supermarket (that are banned from today) were replaced by thicker ones that aren’t being banned. How do you think that conversation went down? “Let’s ban plastic bags, but not really ban them, let’s just get rid of the thins ones and replace them with thick ones that take even longer to break down”. And those ones available in the fruit in veg section? Yep, still in use. Seriously, sometimes I think our politicians think we are idiots.

In 2021 a survey was conducted of over 20 000 people across 28 countries and it found an average of almost 9 out of 10 people believe it is important to have a global treaty to combat plastic pollution. So in March this year the United Nations Environment Assembly agreed to create a global treaty with the goal of ending plastic pollution. This means the whole life cycle of plastic will be addressed, from it’s manufacture to transport, consumption and disposal. But this treaty is not expected to be ready for ratification by the UN until 2024. And then the actual work will begin, it won’t all happen overnight so initiatives such as the flimsy one coming into force today are still required (and can we have some more please?).

I’ll be starting a series of posts on my much neglected blog about sustainability and the steps we can take to help achieve it because it’s a passion of mine. I started my Diploma of Sustainable Living with the intent of using it for my own knowledge but by the end of it I realised I have an obligation to share what I learned with everyone. It will contain a bit of information on lots of different topics and more importantly some actions we can take to make life a little more sustainable on this magnificent planet of ours. I hope  you’ll join me.

x

R

Resolutions

 Happy New Year! 2020 was a strange year wasn’t it? Here’s hoping 2021 is a better place be for all of us.

2020 bought about some fairly big changes for me, I decided my newish job wasn’t the right fit for me and so I returned to a previous job and, I’m relieved to say, it was absolutely the right decision for me. I am at a different location than last time but the team I’m working with is a perfect fit for me, an extraordinary group of people and almost 12 months on I still look forward to going to work each day. Mind you I still really like the days when I don’t have to too :)

I have spent the last few weeks, as a lot of us do, thinking about New Years resolutions. I’ve made some in the past but only because I’ve kind of thought I’ve had to, they have never really meant anything to me and as a result I didn’t stick with them but this year it feels different. Finishing my PDC in late 2019 caused a few mental changes in me, hence the job change, and those changes have kept developing, so I feel really good about setting goals in 2021.

So my resolution this year (although it feel weird to call it that, I feel like it diminishes the gut feeling that  this is something I feel really strongly about so let’s just call it what it is, a goal) is to not purchase any new clothes. I will make some exclusions, uniforms for work and underwear because let’s face it, my sewing skills aren’t that good, but everything else I will need to purchase second hand or make myself. I purchased so very little last year due to the pandemic and not spending any time in shopping centres. I think the only thing I bought (besides the aforementioned uniforms) was a dress for a wedding that didn’t go ahead thanks to Covid so the plan doesn’t feel like too much of a stretch. I’m also hoping it’s an opportunity to improve my very rough dressmaking skills, although I need another hobby like a hole in the head!

Do you sew your own clothes? Or have you made a resolution for 2021?

xx

Sauerkraut

This year is the first year I have been able to successfully grow cabbages. Sure, some of them were absolutely smashed by cabbage moth and the subsequent caterpillars, but I still managed to get some out of the seeds I planted. Now I know I can grow them I'll look at some netting options for next year.

I've also had some health issues over the past few years being diagnosed with a Helicobacter Pylori infect not once but twice! The antibiotics and other medication given to treat the infection are absolutely vile so I'm trying to do everything to ensure I don't get a third infection so it was an easy step from cabbages to making sauerkraut!

I bough one of Sandor Katz's books a couple of months ago but still hadn't taken the step until I was watching an episode of Gardening Australia and there he was, the man himself, making sauerkraut. And it was dead easy.

So here it is, my first attempt. I can't wait until it's ready, I have no idea how long it will take but as it is the middle of summer I'll be keeping a close eye on it.

Have you made sauerkraut? Any tips you'd like to share?

xx

R

Cinnamon Scrolls

Who doesn’t love a cinnamon scroll? 

Bueller? Bueller? Right, just as I thought.

This recipe is a bit of a hack, ridiculously easy and so quick! It only has 5 ingredients with another 2 if you want to glaze them and it’s a great one to make with the kids. The dough can also be used to make your own flatbread.

Ingredients 

2 cups SR flour

1 cup Greek style natural yoghurt

Butter, softened

Brown sugar

Cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Combine flour and yoghurt in a large bowl until you have a bit of a sticky mess. Lightly flour your kitchen cupboard and get to kneading the mess until you have a lovely, well combined dough.

Roll the dough out into a rectangle about 30cm long and 20cm wide, or until it’s nice and thinnish. 

Spread softened butter on top of dough. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a seperate bowl and when combined sprinkle over buttered dough. I don’t measure any of these ingredients, just use as much as you like. 

Starting with the longest side just roll it up. Try to keep it nice and tight. Once you have your log use a sharp knife to cut into 12 pieces.

Lay into small greased tray and pop into the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Voilà! Delicious cinnamon scrolls! 

To glaze them simply mix icing sugar with a little milk and dribble onto the scrolls whilst they are still warm.

If you want to make flatbread simply roll smallish amounts of the dough into balls and then flatten out, pop into a dry non-stick frypan on high heat for about 20 seconds each side. Easy peasy.

xx

R

Blood Orange Madeleines

I made Madeleines for the first time a while ago but didn't post at the time. I’ve loved these little French cakes for a long time but never spent the 30 minutes making them (yes that includes the time in the oven!). Madeleines are made using little shell shaped cake tins, I inherited mine from my husband’s much loved grandmother so that makes them even more special. Plus I used an orange from my own tree. You can, of course, use normal oranges if you prefer.

Blood Orange Madeleines

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/3 cup caster sugar
Pinch of salt
Rind from 1 blood orange, finely grated
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 tspn baking powder
75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tblspn blood orange juice
Icing sugar (optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Beat eggs, sugar, salt and orange rind for 4-5 minutes, until pale and thick.
Gently fold in flour and baking powder. Combine juice and butter and gently fold into egg mix until just combined.
Spray Madeleine tray with oil and spoon mixture into each mould until approximately half full.
Bake in oven for 7-8 minutes until golden on the edges and cooked through.
Cool on racks and sprinkle with icing sugar when cooled.

Now go and enjoy one or two with a cup of Early Grey tea, yum!

xx