A nifty use of an old bookcase.

After tripping over my garden tools for months, having marauding moggies knock them down and finding that my beloved sons were leaving them lay around the property, I took things into hand.  A few days ago while fossicking at the op shop in Echuca, I came across a bookcase that had no shelves.  Now, being the bilateral thinker that I am, my mind went into overdrive.  So after parting with $7.50 for the book case, Number 2 son and I squeezed said book case into my rice bubble car and made our way home.  It has been on the verandah waiting for me to finish the project for the few days since, so today while in town, I bought a hole saw and measured out the spacing to drill holes for my garden tool handles to slide through.  Allowing 10cm between each of the holes to allow room for hands and no cuts or grazes while getting tools out.  Then after attaching the hole saw to my lovely big impact drill, I set to drilling out the holes.  The old book case now has two rows of 9 holes and sits proudly on my verandah with most of the tools in place.  Next week I intend to buy a couple of hooks to put one end and hang the pruning shears and secatuers, as well as a bigger hook for the other end to hold the spade and garden fork.  Another job done and less mess to look at.

A small miracle in a world of Chaos

A SMALL MIRACLE AMONG CHAOS

The proud daddy, "Elvis"

  One Eye and her brood

I have had several weeks of sadness, worrying what happened to my favourite hen, "One Eye".  I had thought that Foxy Loxy had taken her as his lunch.  Today my sons and I were removing plants from the gardens, weeding and clearing up.  I asked Number 1 son to go and slash near the compost, imagine my surprise when he called me and said, "We have several problems here."   I walked out there with slumped shoulders and a dejected heart, only to be greeted by a very protective One Eye and her 15 fluffy chickens.  Turns out she had been laying eggs by the half finished woodshed and sat on them to hatch.  A small miracle to brighten my day. So, for this I give thanks to the universe.  One Eye and her babies are safely tucked in a box until we can put them in the makeshift pen we constructed today out of two bird cages.  Must apologise to our sweet cat "Snake", those cages formed his travel cage, which means no holidays for him for the moment.  How sweet is life?

CORN AND CURRY MUFFINS

CORN AND CURRY MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup P.Flour

1 Cup S.R.Flour

1/3 Cup Sugar

2 Tspn Baking Powder

1/2 Tspn Salt

1 Tspn Curry Powder

1 beaten Egg

1 Cup Milk

1 Medium Can Corn Kernels

1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil

METHOD

Place all ingredients into a large bowl and stir gently until mixed.

Divide mixture evenly into a greased muffin pan.

Bake at 200c for approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

NOTE:  These muffins make a great substitute for bread, to eat with an evening meal. They are also good lunchbox fillers for kids.

Stepping outta the square.

Well, well, well. Here I am, looking at a history of having been in the entertainment industry.  First as a singer, then as a clown for a long time.  Yes, you did read that right, a clown.  My diary for the entire 8 year career in funny land was so heavily laden with bookings, I had to offload a heap of them to a chap I helped to get started.  He became so successful that even today he continues to entertain and please people around his area.  Go Sparky.  Now, a long way down the road, I am making the move to leave my comfort zone.  I have been most industrious and made myself a Rastaphone (Lagerphone).  Mine however has been made with a twist.  It has a dyed mop for hair, a styrophoam ball for a head, a rasta hat, a boomerang for arms and a homemade ukulelee for the main feature.  Ta Da..instant rastaphone.  My friends and family are in hysterics and some in disbelief that I am going to take up a different instrument and get back into music.  Hoping like mad I can pull this off, tuning up the vocal pipes and having such a ball with it all.  Think I have even shocked myself. What the heck, it's all in fun and hopefully a lot of laughs will be had by all.  First step though is to go to a few open mike nights and just jam with some of the guys and ladies I knew way back when. 

Zucchini Slice

ZUCCHINI SLICE

INGREDIENTS.

700gm of coursley grated zucchini, drained in a colander.

Mint, parsley and dill.  Large qty.

500gm grated parmesan or fetta cheese.

5 eggs.

½ cup olive oil.

1 bunch of chopped chives.

Salt and pepper.

1 cup S.R Flour.

Chopped cherry tomatoes for top.

METHOD.

Whisk eggs.

Add oil and herbs.

Stir in zucchini, cheese, flour, salt/pepper and oil.

Pour mixture into a 22cm lined and greased cake tin.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes at 180c, until just set in the middle.

Preserve Them Vegies.

Today began as usual, with me waking to Snake chewing my toes.  So after shaking him off and consuming a considerably good coffee, I began the process of chopping and grating zucchini to make both pickles and a zucchini slice.  Seemed to take forever and a day to get them all done, along with big bunches of fresh herbs that needed chopping up.  Once I had the chopping done, of course nothing runs smooth, found that I had no onions, eggs or vinegar.  A quick run to town, supplies in hand and then home again to tackle the rest of the cooking.  I made up the slice first so it could be in the oven while I was doing the pickles.  How amazing I got 3 trays of slice from a double quantity of the recipe.  Woohoo, means I can cut and freeze it to meal sized pieces later.  Then onto the pickles, lots of tears later from chopping the onions and they are on the go.  Wonder what it is with onions these days though, they seem so potent that nothing I do can stop the tears.  When all the cooking, bottling, cutting and wrapping is done  I survey the dishes and sigh.. Another mess with great success.

Riverboat Cruise.

Today I had the most wonderful surprise. My dear friend shouted me a trip on a riverboat  and then a nice lunch at the Barmah Pub.  A two hour cruise that saw us meander along streams, a river and then the Barmah Lake.  A lot of the smaller streams and parts of the lake are usually high and dry all the time, but with all the recent flood incidents there is still a lot of floodwater laying around. It is only dropping very slowly and as we past through the Barmah Forest area, I was able to see the watermarks on trees that showed how high the water reached at it's peak.  It brought a much more balanced perspective to my outlook on what the surrounding areas had been through and made me wonder how people kept their wits about them.
I was able to take many photos along the way, mostly of scenery. I was lucky to capture a few photos of wildlife including a tiger snake swimming in front of the boat.  Along side one of the riverbanks sits an old abandoned paddleboat, it had been moved there a year back due to water levels at its original port being too low.  It now seems the owner has forgotten it altogether.  I can't find enough words to express the joy, the peace and at the same time the awe I felt as we motored along and passed all the flooded areas.  To my dear friend, I say a big thankyou for sharing this day with me.

As many know, last night the Queensland state endured yet another natural phenomenon in the form of a category 5 cyclone.  My hat goes off to the Queensland premier for all her efforts and standing so strong in the face of adversity.  She kept her dignity in presenting our country with the vital statistics and information needed to keep the people in the path of the cyclone safe.  To the people of Queensland who have suffered loss in so many ways,  my thoughts and prayers are yours.  May the tide of hardship turn and good things return your way.