Finding joy in the everyday

(My dad use to make these on Sunday evenings - they would turn out crispy around the edges - he didn't use matzo meal - however matzo meal makes the pancakes so much lighter) Ingredients 3 large potatoes (peeled and grated) 2 onions (grated) 4 tablespoons matzo meal** ( 2 tablespoon matzo meal and 2 tablespoon plain flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 eggs (lightly beaten) 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt black pepper to taste Method Grate the potatoes and rinse (in a sieve) to remove as much of the starch as possible Transfer grated potato to a bowl and add the onion, matzo meal, baking powder, eggs, sugar, salt/pepper and mix together until well combined. heat oil in fry pan (about 1cm covering bottom). Drop spoonfuls o the potato batter into the pan (they can be big or bit size). Fry over medium heat for 3-4 minutes until underside is brown, turn and fry second side When cooked, keep warm in oven. Service with sour cream (or in an Australia tomato sauce) - I pr...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Caius and Wendy and Danny ( + Bill Gates of Microsoft and Jonas Salk who developed the vaccine against Polio !) Below are some cute photos of Caius as a little boy. He was (and still is) a very caring lovable boy with a cheeky grin who knows how to convince his mother to do things for him!! We had pizzas and cheesecake for dinner which was very nice.

These 3 photos come from my mother - the one above is one of my mum when she was a little girl (1937/8) with her own mother (who died at the age of 52 in 1943). When I scanning these photos I can't help but think about their lives. Even though they are my family I really know very little about their day-to-day activities. How was their life different to ours, what were their worries, how did the war affect them? Was it more complicated or less? And what was it like being a young woman in those days. And how did they live without the computer and mobile phone!! The whole family and the family dog taken at Hugh Street. Uncle David is next to my mother (with dog). Grandpa and his daughters (Auntie Peg, Auntie Joan and Auntie Mary) - notice that he doesn't look happy - he is frowning at mum because she is wearing a "bracket" that she had made. It was a BIG no no!!! and she got into big trouble!!

While I was in Adelaide we visited an Art and Craft Market where we looked at some artwork by Grant Young. The pieces were beautiful and I couldn't help myself and I bought a painting of a still life (flowers). Below is our lounge room and the painting is above the lounge suite (1 x 1m). Tristan and Caius both love it, in particular Caius - he loves the texture and layering of painting (this is what attracted me to the work). And it still smells like the acrylic painting. This is the garden beds I have been working in this weekend. I planted lavender x 3, curry plant x 3, daisies (yellow, coral and purple) x 3 + another flowering plant (x 4) which I can't remember the name of! Then mulched it all. I have also ordered 100 Autumn bulbs!!! AND now it is raining which will give everything a good watering. The lavender is doing so well this year - so good that I have planted 3 more (Italian Lavender). Did you know that it is 8 weeks to Christmas??!! and 9 weeks to the end of ...

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and discover they were the big things. (Author unknown) If you are new to this blog, don't forget to write a comment. I LOVE hearing from new people:)

Haven't done a book review for a while: 1. Child of Our Time by Ruth David: a fascinating (but sad) book about the Second World War and how the British Government decided to save some of the children by bringing them to England ( mostly from Germany). However Ruth and a group of other girls ended up in a hostel run by 2 women who knew nothing about children and treated them rather horribly and without any emotions to how they must have felt leaving their parents wondering if they would ever see them again. Ruth never saw her parents again, they died like many millions of other Jews. 2. Rifling though my drawers by Clarrisa Dickson Wright: bought this one in Adelaide - its has pockets of interesting facts but overall not the best book I have read. Currently reading: 1. After 30 years I am re-reading Anne of Green Gables and loving it. It is beautifully written in a style suited to both young and old girls. 2. The Purpose Driven Life by Rich Warren: the verdict is still out o...

On Saturday I got Tristan to cut back the mint we have growing in the garden (and I have quite a lot) and as he loves to cook he was quite happy to oblige. He made a big jar of mint sauce - he was going to make mint jelly (which I prefer) but it was a bit tricky - maybe next time. My garden is looking great - so full of colour, like the daisies below. I have lots of these in pinks, purple and white as they grew so easy, cope with drought and frost + add so much colour. They also spread and pop up in other places and I just love it when plants naturalise. The lavender this year is looking great - must be the rains we had in spring. I am so pleased with it I am going to buy some more plants on the weekend and fill up some empty gaps. The bees are very happy. I have been meaning to put the following pictures up - they are from a walk Steven and I did around a local lake a few Sundays ago. Steven sat down at the edge of the lake and all these birds raced to see him. They were disappo...

What happens when one dog accidentally bits the tip of the ear of another large dog (at 7:30am on a Saturday morning)? ............ Blood goes everywhere - up the walls, all over the floor - huge mess. This is what happened this morning:( To try and stop the bleeding, I brought Gaia inside to the bathroom and held the ear hoping it would stop - then disastrous - Gaia shook his head and the bathroom was covered in blood - EVERYWHERE. In the course of the morning, with Steven, Tristan and I all taking turns to hold his ear (so each one of us could have a shower and get dressed) Gaia shakes his head 6 times and what a job it was cleaning up all the blood. It looked like we had murdered someone. We are now trying to stop the ear from being shook and from hanging down (as it is still bleeding) his ear has been pulled back and a bandage wrapped around his head (see below) - he is looking very unhappy.

Tristan's interview went well this morning. He said he could answer all the questions without difficulty and was only nervous at the beginning - for a boy who didn't like public speaking and who lacks confidences in himself, doing well in an interview is something he should be very proud of. The funny thing was I was probably more nervous than he was - I even had the sweaty palms!!!:) Below is the outfit he wore - Kathleen took some photos of him clowning about. He won't hear the results until the end of November. Will keep you posted.

This Friday Tristan has an interview for a 2 year ICT apprenticeship, in the Public Service. Please pray that he gets to the location with out any difficulties (we have already done a trial run), that he finds a car park (we have looked at different options) and the interview goes smoothly (I will give him some coaching tomorrow). This job/training would be perfect for him, however I will leave it in the Lords hands to decide if this is the best option for him. He has bought a new outfit and the haircut is planned for tomorrow. " O my God, I trust in Thee " Psalm 25:2

Whilst in Adelaide Stephen and Lorraine took me on a trip to the Barossa Valley - I had requested this destination as I wanted to take some photos and there was no shortage of things of wonderful views and buildings. Being the end of winter and with good rains in the Hills, the Barossa was beautiful - so green and lush as you will see in the photos. The first stop was at the Hoffnungsthal Memorial (near Lyndoch) which was the early settlement of about 20 German families (who left their homelands to escape religious persecution). It started in 1847 and the village survived until 1856 when Hoffnungsthal was flooded and the families moved elsewhere in South Australia. One of these families one was mine (my fathers fathers family). There is now nothing left of the town except this memorial. (Photo below) This is where the town of Hoffnungsthal (which means "Valley of Hope") was until it flooded. The settlers didn't know that they had built their homes on a lake that onl...

I spent the Sunday with David and Judith and had a lovely time. The weather was much improved so I was able to go for a walk around Davids garden and eat some of his asparagus (which I discovered tastes great raw). It was Carl's 15th birthday (my nephew)and above he is cutting his birthday cheesecake (which was delicious). Below is Jo (my niece) also cutting the same cake!! Judy, Carl and Rachel (Jo friend) having a good laugh!! I think Judy is standing on her tippy toes so she could be a bit little taller! Below is Jess (David's dog) - she is "rounding up the chickens" - they didn't seem to give much thought to Jess at all.

With the rains we had, the flowers in Stephan's garden looked beautiful. Below are a few that I took - what beauty a few drops of rain on a petal can make. The purple and white flowers are Iris. I'm sure the mushrooms are not really part of his garden, but they are quite beautiful in their own right.

I arrived in Adelaide on Friday 2nd October at 7:30am (after getting up at 3:30am) - it was a long day!! After spending a few hours with my uncle and aunt (catching up all the family news), my dad came and picked me up and we drove to the Adelaide Hills (an hour trip). Had lunch and then started on my first task - cleaning out my mum's wardrobe and getting rid of all the clothes she can no longer wear since her stroke. All in all we filled 4 large garbage bags which my dad will take to the charity store. Mum was a bit sad throwing away so much - and even dreamt about it that night! (I found 3 skirts that fitted me perfectly). Saturday - wet, cold, misty and cold (didn't really pack enough for the wintry conditions)!!! Stephen stoked the wood fire and we spent much of the day indoors. However Lobethal (where I was staying - which means "Valley of Praise") was celebrating the 70th anniversary of the 1939 Australian Grand Prix (which raced through the main street ...