by Krista | Mar 19, 2015 | Autumn
“The richness of the rain made me feel safe and protected;
I have always considered the rain to be healing—a blanket—the comfort of a friend.”
Douglas Coupland
It rained yesterday, beautiful, heavy, dirt-soaking rain. And for a while the world was dark and cozy and wild and stormy and downright wonderful.
So we made it a day of simple pleasures: no internet, no phones, no computers. Just me and Bear spending time together doing little things we love.
We treated ourselves to a humdinger of a breakfast with extra hash browns, a side of pancakes, and both coffee AND hot chocolate. We were ravenous after two days spent building fences and planting nearly 70 tree cuttings.
We went treasure-hunting at our favorite thrift store and junk shop and found all sorts of great things: storage racks for his tools and my wood-burning equipment, hardwood planks for building my greenhouse, and some lovely old china dishes from England.
We went to the hardware store to get our new ladder and the last bits needed to finish off the orchards, and found a treasure trove of winter veggie seedlings for a song. We picked up groceries, Blood Orange and Tahitian Lime Trees for our citrus orchard, and a stack of inspiring books from the library. The titles alone send our imaginations whirring.
We had our weekly date at the bakery, indulging in leisurely visits, cheesy quiche, and sips of ice cold sarsaparilla to cool us off in the blistering heat after the storm.
After such a wonderful but tiring day in town, I like to keep things simple on the food front, raiding the pantry for things that taste good, fill us up, but require no preparation. This does the trick nicely.
What is your favorite simple meal after a day out? xo
by Krista | Mar 16, 2015 | Autumn
“Anyone who has a garden, park or orchard tree has an opportunity to ensure that it offers protection, brings beauty and bears fruit for future generations.” Gabriel Hemery
When I first moved to our farm in rural Queensland, Australia, I could never have imagined the projects Bear and I would tackle as we turned this beautiful spot into a place where little dreams come true.
One of our dreams was to have our own orchard filled with apples, plums, pears, peaches, apricots, etc. But as owners of a herd of Kalahari goats with fence-busting tendencies, we had to make sure the orchard would be safe from their voracious appetites and sneaky ways. We also had to protect the fruit from marauding birds. We both love watching the amazing birds around here – galahs, cockatoos, grass parrots, kookaburras, and more – but any fruit tree left unprotected is soon devoured by the feathered beauties.
All that to say, we had our work cut out for us to grow and harvest our own fruit.
We’ve been working in stages. First we built one row of fencing of heavy duty wire around the perimeter of the Big Orchard which houses plums, peaches, citrus, and 19 grape vines. Then we pounded in star pickets to anchor the large plastic pipes that would form the base for encasing the orchard in bird netting.
This week we’re working on building an inner fence. The last line of defense to keep out pesky goats, kangaroos, and wallabies.
It’s mighty hot work out in the blazing Autumn sunshine, but over the last day or two some cooling breezes have blown in making it more bearable. Thank. Goodness.
Being out there day after day gives us the opportunity to see the orchard up close and personal. While the plums and peaches are past producing anything, the citrus portion of the orchard is flourishing. Even though the trees are only two years old, most of them are bearing good-sized oranges, lemons, and limes.
A few of them are covered with lusciously scented blossoms. I always wondered why brides in old books wore orange blossoms in their hair. Now I know. They’re pure heaven.
Some of the trees were purchase at rock bottom prices because the labels were missing and the nursery didn’t know what they were. So they’re our mystery trees, and we look forward to finding out what they are.
Working in such hot weather regular breaks in the shade with cold glasses of something to cool us down and refresh our spirits.
Our favorite drink right now is Sima, a traditional fermented Finnish drink made to celebrate May Day. It is lemony and fizzy and not-too-sweet and slightly alcoholic, rather like ginger beer. I brewed up a triple batch this weekend, and it is divine. Those Finns have a good thing going with Sima, and we are very happy to adopt their traditional drink as a delicious pick-me-up on sweltering days on the farm.
Traditional Sima is made using sliced lemons, but I have bottles of bush lemon juice I made last year that need to be used up, so I make it with straight lemon juice and bush lemon zest instead. Feel free to use whatever suits your fancy.
What is your favorite drink on a piping hot work day? xo
Bush Lemon Sima
3.5 litres/gallons of water
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup fresh squeezed bush lemon juice
1 heaped Tbsp bush lemon zest
1/8 tsp champagne or regular yeast
handful of raisins
1. Place water, sugars, juice, and zest in a large pot and bring to the boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and sit until lukewarm.
2. Pour into glass demijohn (or large glass pitcher), add yeast and stir. Cover with clean tea towel and leave overnight.
3. Sterilize 4 1-litre/gallon bottles with lids.
4. In each bottle add one tsp raw sugar and 5-6 raisins.
5. Strain Sima into each bottle and seal well, giving it a vigorous swirl to help dissolve sugar.
6. Let sit at room temperature until raisins have all risen to the top of the liquid.
7. Refrigerate until ready to serve. This should nearly halt the fermentation process and stop the bottles from exploding, but check the bottles now and then just to make sure. Gentle open tops to release pressure if necessary.
by Krista | Mar 10, 2015 | Autumn
“I know the look of an apple that is roasting and sizzling on the hearth on a winter’s evening,
and I know the comfort that comes of eating it hot, along with some sugar and a drench of cream…
I know how the nuts taken in conjunction with winter apples, cider, and doughnuts,
make old people’s tales and old jokes sound fresh and crisp and enchanting.”
Mark Twain
I love this time of year, so very much. Though I must confess that the beginnings of our Autumn feel suspiciously like the roasting hot days of the inordinately blistering Summer we’ve just had. Hopefully cooler days will come soon.
In the meantime, Bear and I are basking in the harvests of Autumn, hauling home boxes full of too ripe pears and perfectly crisp apples as we begin our initial forays into cider-making.
Over the past few months we’ve been collecting all the bits and bobs necessary for brewing our own cider, beer, wine, champagne, liqueurs, and anything else we might think of.
Our outdoor kitchen is still in the dreaming phase, so until then, our breezeway is stacked with demijohns and bottles, packages of lids and rubber seals, and the presses and mulcher Bear has been lovingly restoring and adapting to our needs.
Last week we were finally ready for the trial run of our equipment, so we got it all set up and went to work.
Our cider apple orchard isn’t planted yet, so we just picked up a couple varieties from the market and a box of pears to blend them with.
I was in charge of the mulching, getting the fruit chopped into pressable bits. It smelled amazing!! All that gorgeous apple and pear deliciousness wafting around us while we munched on apples as I fed the machine. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, I tell ya.
When the fruit was all chopped up, Bear manned the press, turning the handle and squeezing out every last bit of gorgeous juice into the waiting bucket. Then we filtered the juice into waiting demijohns, added Campden tablets and yeast, inserted the air locks, and set them into the Granny Flat to do their fermenting work.
Bear checks them all throughout the day, excitedly reporting back on the rate of air bubbles, frothing consistency, and whatnot. We’re getting rather antsy to get to the bottling and tasting stages. Oddly enough, we keep getting volunteers eager to help with that whole tasting thing. Such good friends we have. 😉
What is your favorite brew? xo
**If you fancy reading about how we got involved in making cider, pop over to our farm blog to read my hubby’s highly exaggerated account: Adventures in Cider Making 🙂
by Krista | Feb 16, 2015 | Summer
It’s a beautiful morning, soft and still, and I’m all rested up after the launch of my book: “Freestone: a mostly true history” at Freestone Memorial Hall yesterday.
It was an amazing time with animated conversations going on wherever you looked. So many people came they lined the walls and organizers had to bring in more chairs. It was so fun to see dear, familiar faces who came out to show support, and meet some lovely new folks and people I’d only known by name through my research for the book.
The committee did a spectacular job organizing massive amounts of baked goods, tea, coffee, and lemon water to keep the masses fed and watered, and lining tables with old photos to elicit laughter and good memories.
The launch itself was short and sweet. I gave my speech and was understood in spite of my foreign accent, and was honored to present a copy of “Freestone: a mostly true history” to friends from the Warwick library.
Afterwards everyone milled around chatting up a storm as I signed stacks of books and met even more great people. It was such a warm, community feeling and I was thrilled to be a part of it.
Many thanks to Liz Hill and the Freestone Hall for these photos of the book launch.
As folks made their way home again, Bear and I got in our car and headed back to our farm, beaming but exhausted, thankful for the journey that accompanied this book, relief at being done, gratitude at being able to celebrate it with such a great group of people.
If you would like a copy of “Freestone: a mostly true history” there are two options. If you’re local (ie – in Southern Queensland, Australia) you can purchase a copy at “Art on King” in Warwick. If you’re a bit farther afield, you can purchase a copy online by clicking here. If you buy in Warwick, only soft covers are available. If you prefer a hard cover or PDF version, please order online. (All proceeds go to the Freestone community.)
If you’re local and would like me to sign your copy, I’d be delighted. Just drop me a note and we’ll make arrangements to meet up.
Now it’s time to get back to work. 🙂 I’ve started my next book, the biography of an amazing woman who survived the Holocaust and the Hungarian Revolution, and moved to Australia with only one set of clothes to her name to start a new life. I can’t wait to share her story with you.
What is one of your favorite biographies? xo
by Krista | Sep 6, 2012 | Bits 'n' Bobs
I love living on the Darling Downs in Queensland, especially in Spring when it seems that everything is budding, blossoming, and greening.
Today is a good day, not just because it’s gorgeously Spring-ish, but because I’m finally recovering from a four-week illness (HOORAY!!!), a dear friend is coming to visit, and I am finally back to my Italian studies.
A few months ago Rocket Languages offered me a free language course in exchange for an honest review. I was delighted, then promptly got sick, then Bear got sick, then I got sick again. Sigh. 🙂 Isn’t that how life goes sometimes? But now, at last, I feel so much better, my head is clear, and I can begin to wrap my brain around Italian lessons.
Although I’m only on the first level, I am enjoying it so much. Unlike other courses I’ve tried that simply have you sit and listen to rapid-fire conversations while you furiously try to follow along, Rocket Languages in an interesting combination of visual and audio lessons.
One of my first assignments was to find Italian movies to watch – without English subtitles. It’s a little like sitting in a courtyard in Italy, listening to the babble of voices around you, incomprehensible at first, but soon familiar in lilt and diction. Before too long you’re picking out words you know, discovering words that make sense when heard in context, learning slang terms that regular Italians use rather than the textbook phrases that sound stilted and, well, text-bookish.
I like that I can listen to my lessons online, or download them to my computer to listen offline. I will keep you posted on how things go, but so far, Rocket Languages Italian Course is a pleasure.
And now for my crazy story of the week. 🙂
Last Wednesday I was minding my own business, innocently waiting to pick up my books at the library counter when a man with wild white hair and piercing blue eyes approached me. In a soft German accent he asked if he could talk to me about something, hastily assuring me he was not trying to sell anything. Politely I nodded for him to continue.
He informed me that he was the leader of a drawing/art class in town, and wondered if I would consider being a paid model for the class for two hours every weekend.
A NUDE model.
Now darlings, I think I should receive an Academy Award for my performance of “woman of the world who gets asked to be a nude model every day of the week”. I was cool, suave, and behaved admirably, especially considering that my friend Ann was only a few steps away, frozen in the act of looking at a book, doing her best not to howl with laughter as he described the modeling schedule, adding that it wouldn’t be difficult work because they would give me regular tea breaks.
Ayiyi. 🙂
I thanked him for his offer, said I’d “give it some thought”, and bid him farewell.
After his departure, silence reigned in the entryway as Ann’s face contorted into all manner of amusement. “I’m not saying a word,” quoth she, “not a single word.”
We managed to make it out to the car before bursting into laughter. Ann said, “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’d never have believed it!”
And lest you think the story is over, it isn’t.
We made our way to our favorite cafe which is run by a fabulous South African artist. We told her about my encounter thinking she would also find it hilarious.
Nope.
“Oh!” she gushed. “What a wonderful opportunity for you!” She then proceeded to tell me that when the artists completed their nude portraits of me, she would be thrilled to hang them in her cafe…where we eat every single week.
Good. Heavens.
Now I consider myself a fairly brave person. I’m willing to road trip through Albania, travel solo in the boonies of Vanuatu, or strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere, but pose nude for a crowd of artists and then have those portraits hung in my favorite cafe? NOSIREEBOB!!!! Alas, the Art and Culinary worlds are going to have to miss out on that particular…um…pleasure.
Life is never dull on the Darling Downs. 🙂
Now I will leave you with pictures of our darling new Maremma puppies – Apollo and Solar – who arrived safe and sound last night. 🙂
