fresh off the soap rack

the latest fragrant offering is green clay and rosemary
and pink clay with calendula petals.

hand-made stamps

my daily coffee
i've been adding to my stamp collection and intend to use these for my soap packaging.
i use cheap white erasers from the two-dollar store. simply draw your design in reverse and carve it out with lino cutters or scalpel (i've got stab wounds to three fingers so far...so be careful!). then ink up and print.

jam and more jam

i've been making jam in abundance as winter slowly draws to a close.
quince paste,
strawberry and raspberry

pear, ginger and saffron jam


3kg firm pears, peeled, cored and finely chopped
(mix pears quickly with lemon juice to prevent discolouring)
juice of 3 lemons
2kg raw sugar
a knob of finely minced ginger
and generous pinch of saffron

in a heavy large saucepan boil pears, ginger and saffron with the lemon juice and about half a cup of water until pears are the desired softness.
add sugar and stir until dissolved.

place a saucer in the freezer for later...

bring to the boil then cook stirring frequently (watch out for rising levels and a disastrous boil-over!). this part takes around 30 minutes or sometimes longer.

you want to check the jam for setting point regularly now. drop a teaspoon of the mixture onto the cold saucer and leave for a few minutes. press against the side of the blob. if it wrinkles as if a light skin has formed then it is ready.

bottle in sterilized jars and seal.

tip for sterilizing jars...
wash and dry jars and lids, then spray with a solution of ethanol and water (70% ethanol) and wipe with a clean, dry tea-towel. if you can get hold of ethanol this is easier than the alternative which is to boil the jars and lids for an hour.

outside our gig on saturday night

busy weekend

we had a great weekend. two visitors from the cold-hearted capital of our country, and a wonderfully successful blues gig (our first blackboard!), delicious food and drink and then a farewell dinner for my parents who are off to europe for three months to practise their italian, french and mid-wifery skills.

simon the pieman brought a lemon tart to die for...

and drinks....

mmm...chocolate mousse

sock dogs

i found some sockdogs that i made as i was tidying isabel's room and took a few pics for posterity... cute but irritating.

even more perfect...

ahhh, fickle creatures we be. no sooner had we fallen in love with one place than another appeared that is even more wonderful. a farm with a creek and pecan trees. lots of pecan trees. bring on the pecan pies and honeyed pecans and chocolate-caramel pecans and pickled pecans... the creek is a beauty with very good, clean water. great house too. and for once olympia really liked it...
anyone want to throw some money our way...
i'll include some pics.

print gocco

i finally got my new pg11 out of its case and had a go. what fun! i drew an indian drum player and exposed the screen, loaded it with ink and pressed a lot of cards. when i ran out of card i looked for the nearest fabric. it prints so well on cloth although i would need to use fabric inks... rosie is off to japan with 'old man river' for a week so i can get her to visit some wonderful crafty stores in tokyo and get me some supplies.

the perfect place

we got up way before dawn on friday and drove north up to gloucester which took less than three hours. beautiful sunrise on the way. hanging out for coffee by the time we arrived. looked at two properties in the wallanbah area east of gloucester. the second one was perfect... now we have to work out if there is any earthly way of affording it! 22 acres of lush rolling hills with a creek running by the house, a patch of rainforest with picnic areas and a few deep water holes. great for a horse and a cow and a few goats and lots and lots of veggies and flowers. here are some pics...