Finding joy in the everyday

B is for B read The aroma of bread to a baker is like the perfume of a flower to a lady. ~from Secrets of a Jewish Baker by George Greenstein~ This weeks bread is "Milk Bread" ( Pain au Lait ) from my new cookbook " Secrets of a Jewish Baker " - this is a standard white bread, except it has 2/3 of a cup of powdered milk added with the 5 cups of white bread flour.  It is a crusty bread and toasts very well. The recipe recommends removing the bread from the tins in the last 5 mins of cooking and once cooked brush water over the crust whilst still hot.  DH thought he would "model" the bread for you all!! B is for B rownies My son asked me to make him some brownies - his favourite dessert.  I found three fabulous recipes - this is one of them.  It is called the Ultimate Chocolate Brownies with Raspberries ( link ). I made one change to the recipe - I melted 2 blocks of dark (80%) chocolate with the butter in place of the 1.5 cups of chocolate chi...

Thanks you so much Amy from Making a Joyful Home , I am very touched by this award and feel very honoured.   The Rules: 1. Link the person back who awarded you 2. Share 7 things about yourself 3. Answer the following questions below 4. Award this to 10 bloggers ( it might be a few less than this! ) Here are 7 things about myself: I adore cats and spoil my 2 fluffy pets far too much. For 20 years I lived without a cat until one day Charlie (our tortoiseshell cat) walked into our lives as a tiny 6 week old (after being dumped at Christmas) and has made our home, her home. I love being organised and believe that everything has a place and must be returned to that place after use!!  It can drive other people slightly mad at times:) When I was born, my dear older brothers were thrilled to have a sister as now someone else could wash and dry the dishes - how they did have to wait a number of years for that to happen. I love afternoon naps - quiet music playing in...

Its been a busy week for me - good, but busy.  We have also had lots of rain, therefore it has been grey, cold, windy and soggy.   But the garden has loved every minute of it.  How has your week been?  Sending hugs and prayers to anyone who has not had a good week or has been feeling a bit down laterly. As for my weekend - I'm to Costco on Saturday morning with a friend and the rest of the weekend I plan to do leisurely activities like card making (using some of the embellishments I bought at the craft fair), reading, bread-making (my new bread cookbooks have arrived from Amazon.USA so I have plenty of new recipes to try) and perhaps make some brownies (I found 3 decadent recipes my son would like me to make and he is eager to test) and perhaps watch a movie or two.  The weekend will be one of enjoyment.  I might even squeeze in an afternoon sleep with classical music.  What do you have planned? The Otter and the Dog: this is reall...

Saved Artist: Sir Edwin Landseer (1802 - 1873) Born: London, United Kingdom English painter of animals If you love animals, you will love the work of Edwin Landseer.  His animals are magnetic, elegant, handsome and powerful.  They show tenderness (just look at the one below of the horses) and gentleness (as in the dog paintings).  These are beautiful pieces of art. A child prodigy, Landseer’s talent was recognized early.  At the age of 13 Landseer exhibited works at the Royal Academy - some artists waited their whole life to exhibit at the Royal Academy.  By 24 he was an associate of the Academy.  Landseer was rumored to be able to paint with both hands at the same time, for example, paint a horse's head with the right and its tail with the left, simultaneously. He was also known to be able to paint extremely quickly—when the mood struck him. He could also procrastinate, sometimes for years, over certain commissions. He was knighted in 1850. ...

 Rango On the weekend I watched two animations - Rango (USA) and Gnomeo and Juliet (UK) - both rated PG (parental guidance) which give the impression to parents that these animations are suitable for children. Afterwards I thought about the content of these movies, in particular Rango and I wondered what has happened to innocent childrens animation. Rango (a western themed story) is quite funny, I recognised the parts stolen from other (very adult) movies (such as the R rated Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) and I quite enjoy it as an adult.  However, as far as I am concerned this is NOT a childrens movie.  The language is questionable, some characters were quite ugly (in a scary sort of way) and it is more violence than in many other animated children's movies -- including scenes with gun showdowns and gallows outfitted with nooses to frighten a killer hawk and a sadistic snake that threatens characters.  A few characters are killed (or nearly killed), shot at, o...

Country Women's Association meeting, 1965 There was a time not that long ago when women:   Dressed smartly to going out, even to the shop Wore hats and gloves (as seen in the photo above)   Behave like ladies Understood the meaning of modesty Encouraged their daughters to be girls and their sons to be men Could prepare meals for their families without relying on take-aways or fast food Had time for their children And didn't hire help to clean the house Knew their neighbours and took care of their husbands Then it all started to slip away . . . when women wanted more (image) . . . now, as a result of wanting more . . we are worn out, exhausted, have no time for our children or our husbands, chasing our tails and getting frustrated and stressed. We even struggle to prepare home cooked meals each night.  We are trying to juggle too many things all at once - often things that aren't that important.  Its time to re-evaluate what is import...

These are the last of my trip to Sydney city - and as you have seen, a day packed full.  These photos were taken at the end of the day as the sun was setting over Sydney Harbour - it was the perfect time to capture these landmarks. The Harbour is really quite beautiful with the suns final glow sprinkled over it. These two photos were taken at dusk from the Sydney Harbour Bridge looking down on the Opera House. The Opera House was designed by Jorn Utzon (Danish) and opened in 1973. ( link for its history ) Below are some of the 1,056,006 glossy white- and matte-cream-coloured Swedish-made tiles that cover the roof of the Opera House.  For some trivia - the building is supported on 588 concrete piers sunk as much as 25 metres below sea level. Sydney Harbour Bridge Opened in 1932 after 6 years of construction ( link ) Its total length including approach spans is 1,149 metres and its arch span is 503 metres. The top of the arch is 134 metres above sea level and the clearance fo...