G'day, folks.
Fran, aren't mothers the pip sometimes? mother in law is similar, will have a problem like a fall or something and not tell us (even though we live only a few houses apart). But if WE have a problem or an adverse doctor's report we get, "Why didn't you tell me?" when we ARE telling her, at the first opportunity.
GG, sorry it's cold where you are. It's about the same temperature here, overnight most nights. That is what I consider a cold winter! At least here, there's an excuse. But I thought you were in summer still?
Linda, I love gardening too. The kneeling device - is it one of those with handles to help you get up? I love those. I haven't got one but I've used one. I use really good knee pads, they actually got used in "Black Balloon" by one of the boys playing a turtle, he had to kneel and his knees hurt so I brought in my Gardener's Knees for him to use. They even matched his costume!
I love moving plants around and I'll even scavenge discarded plants to salvage some treasures from the roadside. We don't get frosts here which widens our scope. Enjoy your perennials!
We've been gardening today, in between peeking in the studio of our artist neighbour. He's got the job of painting the official portrait of our former PM, we saw the head study over the last two months and today we saw the well-developed full portrait. The artist told us of the changes he's making, he wants the great man to seem to be in mid-debate, his hands about to raise to emphasise a point.
It seemed so mundane - husband & I were standing there in our work clothes, I was clutching my work gloves and secoteurs because we were about to tackle some pruning at mother in law's place while she is away. She hates it when we prune but it has to be done, spring is in the air here and the peach trees are already in blossom. We attacked the hibiscus which has not been properly pruned for years (decades, probably) when they're supposed to be cut back hard every winter. Then we tried to feed it all through the marvellous muncher, but found it has met its match - hibiscus is too wet to mulch, it clogged the mulcher and NOTHING worked. So all that work - we have to bundle it up and cut it down to one metre lengths in the next few days or mother in law will find it all when she returns and know we've been cutting back. Seriously, despite the severe trimming we've done, there is a good chance she won't even notice!
My hands are scraped and bruised, skin dry so I used my home-made body scrub when I got home and the scratches now have stopped stinging and my skin feels soft and not in the least scaly. I love it!
I wasalso in cooking mode today, plus despite spring being in the air, it is still wintry casserole weather. I made another slow-cooked Moroccan dish (beef with vegetables and home-made preserved lime) but tonight felt even more tempted so I've begun making Nipples of Venus (did you see that scene in Amadeus?). I'm playing with the recipe, doing a rum-flavoured dark chocolate ganache which I'll carefully shape then dip in a blend of mostly white chocolate with just enough dark to give it a pale skin tone. Then maybe, just maybe, I'll dip the tips of the truffles in pink castor sugar for that naughty effect... an innocent look freshly born of sea-foam, but very adult and knowing on the inside.
I saw the recipe in a friend's cookbook written by the same woman who wrote "Chocolat". Just reading that recipe book was inspiring. And not a little bit scary, all those calories in detailed description.
I'll let you know how they turn out. I've never made chocolate truffles of any kind before, so there's nothing like starting with something tricky.
Enjoy your Sunday, everyone.
Marg