randomness

Okay, so this post has been sitting in "draft" for a while. I had completely forgotten about posting it with all that has been happening around the world. Like everyone else, I have been rather distracted lately, but now I have decided to post regularly to keep track of the events and things as they happen throughout this awful time. I will post about our days while we are in isolation and beyond. I hope you all keep stay safe and well.

And now for this post;

A few weeks ago our son and his girlfriend arrived home after three weeks in Japan.

It was a worrying time with the CONVID 19 virus going on around the whole world. Anyway they seem to be clear of any infections. They took precautions such as wearing masks and using sanitiser on their hands.

I felt really special when they handed me this gift they had brought home for me. It is a teacup set with a packet of Cherry Blossom tea. The cups are so pretty, more so than the photos show. One cup is slightly bigger than the other and I presume one may be for a man and the other a woman. 

While watering out back one morning, I found a random mushroom. It was heart shaped.

I've been cooking up a storm in the kitchen. All these baked goodies are vegan. Most are standard recipes that I used to bake, except now I convert them to vegan, and surprisingly the taste is the same.

This vegan chocolate coconut cake is so moist and delicious. This is an easy cheapskates recipe. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well, then put into cake tin and bake.

MOIST COCONUT CAKE

2 cups self raising flour
1 1/4 cups caster sugar
2 eggs lightly beaten *sub for 2 flax eggs
1 450g can coconut cream
225g coconut
(Add 2-3 tbspns cocoa for chocolate version)

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 C. Sift flour into bowl. Mix in caster sugar and eggs. Add coconut cream and coconut. Mix well until all combined. Pour batter into a greased and baking paper lined cake tin. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Allow cake to cool in tin. Once cake is cool, ice with plain or chocolate icing.

Old fashioned rhubarb cake vegan style, using rhubarb from the veggie patch.

So deliciously moist! I am going to make some custard tomorrow and have it for dessert.

 Vegan zucchini bread using zucchini from the garden.

Vegan bread and butter pudding using $1.00 fruit bread from the specials rack. Baked in yummy vanilla custard and topped with marmalade...mmmm!

I also made some of Jenny's vegan banana bread cookies. I added dates to mine instead of raisins and they are delicious!

This baby blanket was a special request from my daughter. She wanted me to crochet a simple blanket in rainbow colours for her friend who is having a baby in June. I think the colours turned out lovely. I did have a bit of trouble finding suitable colours and in the end had to buy a pale blue and apricot in 4 ply baby wool and use it doubled.

 I had a few spare squares that I didn't use, so I made them into a dolly blanket for my grand daughter.

While I had my crochet out, I decided to add trims to a few bits of my clothing. Firstly this plain denim skirt.

And then a couple of my tank tops. I am going to make the trim on the bottom of the brown top a bit longer as this shirt is quite short.

Here is an easy meal I made while home alone.  I simply grabbed some veggies from the fridge and fried them together. I used spring onion, garlic, zucchini, beans, cabbage, carrot, capsicum, baby spinach and some past their use by date tomatoes. I would have used mushrooms, but I was out of them. Add some salt and pepper, basil and oregano and let stew for a little while with the lid on. Meanwhile I cooked some brown rice to add to the mix.

Panic or prepare?

What ever you like to call it,  I am preparing for the coming corona virus. Here I have made dettol wipes out of a bottle of dettol and paper towels. I used a large jar so I can fit a paper towel roll in and when I lift the lid, the wipe will come out of the middle easily. These will be used to wipe down doorknobs etc.

This cheeky dragon was up in a small shrub catching bees as they flew past to the nearby bird bath for water.  A free feast!

Can you see him in the bush?

I think this was the same bearded dragon a few days later. He almost gave me heart failure because I nearly trod on him!

The outback daisies are back and looking pretty.

Jerusalem artichoke flowers that the bees are loving.

The weather lately is beautiful, it is so good to get outside and enjoy.  Because it takes a while to fill all the wicking barrels with water, I take a book out to sit and read while I wait. It is nice to just be, and listen to the birdsong going on around me. The book I am reading is A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, I am finding it fascinating.

See you soon,

xTania