Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Reviewing 2013

I have been avoiding my blog for the last few months. Life has been challenging me. I injured my shoulder in March and I have spent my hours looking for a miracle solution. I have been told that surgery is the only option by the surgeon and doctors but the allied health staff have been aghast, insisting that I find another solution. They have implored me.
 
This has sent me into a confused funk, I have thrown endless dollars at alternative possibilities in the hope that my shoulder will recover and it hasn't.

I have been quite depressed about it as I contemplate surgery and then 6 months  rehabilitation including 2 months where I have to keep my arm immobile while I am dressed, washed, fed and cared for by my husband and friends.

I find this so hard to contemplate. I am the uber independent woman. I like to drive my car, flit about unencumbered, set my agenda according to what I want to do and when.
As I think about next year and try to plan, all I can think is that the first four months are on hold. That is one big hole in next year.

As I sunk into a deeper pit of misery, I lost sight of the wonderful things that I have enjoyed this year. I have just started a photo book of highlights of 2013 so that I can remember the good stuff amongst the bad.
Biggest negative issue has been my weight gain as a result of my limited ability to exercise since I injured my shoulder (20 March 2013).
So let us have some fun remembering the best bits of my 2013..

I have found three themes for this year
Connection, Creativity and Cooking
1. Connection - Reconnection..
I reconnected with Britta after 30 years- I met Britta while I was backpacking in Europe in 1983. We have been keeping in touch by email and met face to face this year.
 
I reconnected with Jenny and Karen after 15 years. We went to Uni together and lost touch due to personal stress but now we have we reconnected.
 
 
I reconnected with cousins in the UK - we keep in touch by email and it is so good to spend time together.
 

Creativity
Photography - I did a course where I learned about night photography, bokeh, light and depth of field. One of my photos was selected from 1000 entries in the Top 30 of the class.
 
 
In addition, I learned about shibori- inspirational indigo dyeing and folding techniques..

Photography Bokeh - that exciting technique of making the background light into star burst wallpaper...
 
Quilting a landscape wall hanging (below) and my niece Grace's bed quilt
 

Cooking
I joined a writing class this year and found my forte in making sumptuous gluten free cakes EVERY week...

I also revelled in making other beautiful food - I did love cooking in 2013..lots of it was very healthy
 

As I bemoan my physical issues in 2013, this has been an uplifting exercise of acknowledging the good stuff that has happened.

Wishing you all a fun and nourishing holiday season..
My shoulder operation is on 15 January so I plan to pack lots of good times into the next three weeks
Lots of love and best wishes
Jenny


Monday, August 26, 2013

what do I do?

In one week, I get on a plane bound for the UK and when we leave Australian Immigration, I have to complete a form and there is one box that has me totally flummoxed.

I don't know what to put in the Occupation box. Part of me wonders does anybody care or is it just me? I think it is because I have always struggled with this question. It defines who I am. It holds me back, it boxes me in and ultimately, it tears me apart. You see I have never really had one single word that described me..more especially right now fully.
 
If I go by what I am trained to do, what I have the piece of paper to say I am - I would write Social Worker but in truth I haven't been a social worker since 1987 so that won't do. Ever since 1987 I have written Manager in the box because all my job titles between 1987 and 2010 had the word 'Manager' in the name. But I am not a Manager any more because we sold the work I managed two years ago.

Now truth be known I am "In Transition". Since we sold our Business, I have been taking some time to decide what to do next - If they accept 'Unemployed' as a definition, perhaps I could put 'In Transition' in the box. I fear this is what makes me feel so stuck, "In Transition" is no wo-man's land, a place of uncertainty, a purgatory of sorts, floating about unsure of my direction.

If I look at what takes up the majority of my time I should put Home Duties (Cook, Cleaner, Mother & Wife) but that is not how I define myself. Oh no - I am not a person defined by Home Duties - no, no, no (well that settles that!)

If the question really is how do you earn money? I would write Company Director. We have a company with funds that pay my way.

But really the question What is my Occupation?

Dictionary.com say this is defined as
1. a person's usual or principal work or business, especially as a means of earning a living; 
2. any activity in which a person is engaged.
3. possession, settlement, or use of land or property.
4. the act of occupying.
5. the state of being occupied
 
So I think the crux of this question is,  what engages me? well right now I am engaged in becoming a writer, a blogger, a photographer, a quilter and an artist.
 
Interestingly, I feel like all of those names define me except Writer - that is the one I struggle with, hide from and feel I am completely hopeless at achieving.
 
Besides, there aren't enough boxes to write all of these, so I am a Creator. Dictionary.com gives me some options here- a person who creates is a Creator but a female person who creates is a Creatress or a Creatrix.
 
So from this day forth I am a Creatress and in brackets (Writer) because I think if I write the word often enough I will eventually grow into my belief that I can do it..one day..It may sound pretentious, but I think naming ourselves helps clarify who we are in the world. I am going to try this one on for size. 
 
 
 
 


 



 

 


 
 
 
 

Saturday, August 24, 2013

one week and away

In one week, we will be heading overseas and I feel so unprepared. Normally I am over-organised and tightly prepared but this time, I am almost reluctant.

Last year my husband and I travelled for three months across Turkey, Greece, Croatia, Spain and Morocco with side trips to London and Paris and a final two weeks in New York and San Francisco. It was the trip of a lifetime with a wonderful balance of culture and art, together with planned excursions to walk and ride bikes, a meeting with old friends and a much anticipated art course in Marrakesh. Sadly it didn't all go to plan.

My hubby developed very painful bursitis in the hip the week before we left and after several cortisone injections found the pain beginning to diminish as we boarded the plane. He took time out to rest in Turkey and was just finding his energy return in Santorini when he injured his knee. The next month felt like hard work as I worried a lot and took the load helping him. I can see how I behaved like a warrior taking on the world, shouldering the burdens and pushing through to solve what needed to be done.

When we arrived in Marrakesh to attend my art course "Painting for the Petrified", I was thrilled. Our whole trip had been planned around the timing of this course.  On the first day, my leg became severely swollen. I had developed a DVT. Luckily, we were part of a tour so I was supported and assisted by our local guide who became my interpreter and lifeline to understanding the medical service in this foreign country.

When I was discharged from hospital, I was issued with sufficient injectable heparin to get me home and after an incredibly stressful negotiation with the travel insurance company in Australia, finally managed to resume our journey.

Back home, I was struck with a profound sense of vulnerability. I was well but my body had thrown me a curve ball, totally unexpected and out of the blue. I didn't handle this feeling of helplessness well. My body has continued to challenge me for the next twelve months. I have experienced a series of new, mysterious and unexpected body issues;
1.   First there was the pain similar to electric shocks in my jaw which turned out to be nerve pain related to my TMJ (temporomandibular joint or the hinge in my jaw). This resolved after chiropractic treatment but not before I was multi-checked by my dentist and a neurologist
2. My knee became severely swollen after a normal gym work out needing intensive physio.
3. After scrubbing the floor, my hand and two fingers became numb and tingling diagnosed as bruised nerve and took two months to heal.
4. Then my back went into severe spasm and took two weeks of treatment to settle and relax.
5. Just as I was recovering from all these, I slipped on some rocks while taking a photo and landed heavily on my elbow. After five months of treatment and rehabilitation, I have been told that I require shoulder surgery and six months rehabilitation.
 
I am struggling to accept my physical vulnerability. None of these problems on their own are big issues but together, in sequence, they have left me feeling a little fearful and unsure.

But in one week we are going overseas, to visit family in the UK, to reconnect with loved ones, to explore new scenery and take some wonderful photos, so I am having a wee chat with myself.. and this is what I am working on..

 I promise to
1. be mindful, stay present and enjoy the moment
2. loosen my iron grip of control and submit to the universe..
3. take care of and be easy on myself
 
I will let you know how I fare..



 

Friday, August 16, 2013

My feet

I have spent the last week trying to buy a new pair of walking shoes that will take me from pavements to hiking trails when we travel to the UK and Ireland in two weeks time.

Frankly, my feet are too big. They aren't gigantic on the spectrum of feet but they do not fit into the normal range of shoe sizes stocked by most women's shoe retailers. When I was growing up I was always confident that I was a 10 and a half fractional fitting. Now when I say that to retailers, they look at me perplexed, is that US or UK? I used to shrug and then I did a lot of research to find that I am in fact mostly a US 10.5 but because so many shoes don't come in half sizes I am a US 11 which is UK 8.5 and Eur 42.5 when the retailer has these in stock..

As I morphed into an adult, I dreamed of wearing a stylish pair of shoes. To find any that would fit, I had to go to the specialist shoe store. It was the shop for feet that are too big, too small, too wide or too narrow. One place in the city in a tiny arcade accessed only by lift. Even then there were usually just two possible contenders that fit my feet. Not any more because real shoe shops now stock all sizes, or at least on the day the stock arrives.

I have often requested a size 11 to be told, "we had one pair in that size but it was sold on the day they arrived". Do shoe stores honestly think there is only one person in Sydney with big feet? I know they cater to the average and that is why sale tables groan under the weight of excess average shoes.

Desperation has in the past led me to make very bad decisions about shoes and consequently I actually wonder if I know what is a good fit feels like any more. My cupboard holds several pairs that I swear felt perfect in the shop but now either squish and cramp my feet or flip-flop around giving me blisters after 5 minutes of walking. Sometimes, I am convinced that the shop attendant switched the shoes somewhere between the try-on chair and the checkout.

Today, as I trouped from store to store, I found that "no we don't make walking shoes in your size in the woman's range but the good news is we can fit you into a man's shoe". While, I have a wide foot by women's standards, my foot is narrow in the men's range.

Add to this, the anomaly that my left foot is half a size smaller than my right foot and on both feet my second and third toes are longer than my big toe. Oh woe is me..

Still recently I found that my feet don't like the shoes that I wear and I have suffered in the foot department. Perhaps because I am more active. I used to be a sloth. Having two bruised second toes is becoming the norm and I don't like this problem..

For years, I limited myself to four pairs of shoes. One pair for the gym, another pair of black lace ups for my day activities and  one pair of boots for winter dressing up and a pair of sandals for summer dressing up.

About 4 years ago, I lost a lot of weight and decided that I deserved a wardrobe upgrade and splurged on several pairs of shoes but they sit like unwelcome guests in my cupboard while I choose the ones that I know will be comfortable.

So today, after trying on countless pairs of shoes and matching them with different socks and worrying that my feet will swell when I walk, I have ended up with a pair of men's walking shoes, a little too roomy especially on the left foot and RED.

After years of having a wardrobe of black shoes, I now own a pair of red walking shoes and I think if I can just get the left foot appropriately snug rather than moving inside the shoe, I might enjoy this foray into new footwear. 





Thursday, August 15, 2013

far away, home, stillness & books

I am doing another four day August Break Catchup...
 
Day 12 Far Away
So excited that I learned to take a photo of the full moon this year-
this one was taken without a tripod-pressing the camera hard against my face..
 
Day 13 Home
Love that I work from home and have done so for more than 15 years..
the view from my window is mostly green -lots of trees and in different seasons, I see flowers or bare branches as well.
 
 
Day 14 Stillness
So glad this guy was sitting very still and
I could get a lovely closeup of him.. 
 
 
Day 15 Books
So many to choose from, here is a snippet of my inspiration
as I show you just one spot in my many shelves.. 
 

Monday, August 12, 2013

Lessons from Brene

 
Brene Brown with Jono Fisher of Wake Up Sydney (Photo by WakeUp Sydney)

Last Saturday, I had the privilege to hear Brene Brown speak at a session hosted by Wake-Up Sydney. She is a social worker who does research into vulnerability, shame and fear. I have been a fan of Brene's work ever since I stumbled on her first book "I Thought it was Just Me".

And even though I have read all her books and watched her TED talks, I am only now really getting what she has to say and seeing clearly how it applies to me. Sometimes, these things take a while to sink in.

Sitting in the Chatswood Concourse Theatre and hearing her live was such a treat. Brene is authentic and willing to share stories from her life which help us understand her research and make sense in our own lives. I laughed and I was inspired. I thought I would share some of my favourite quotes and insights from Brene that resonate with me.

“Don't try to win over the haters; you are not a jackass whisperer.”
As Brene says we spend more time trying to win over those people who dislike us, disapprove of or criticise us and we should think of them as jackasses. She says she has a very short list of those people whose opinions really count. These are the people who we can really rely on and yet we mostly take them for granted.

Further to this, these are the people who often-times get the blame for what goes wrong in our lives. As someone in the audience remarked "we run over those people we love, while we strive to win the approval of people who really don't matter."


“One of the greatest barriers to connection is the cultural importance we place on "going it alone." Somehow we've come to equate success with not needing anyone. Many of us are willing to extent a helping hand, but we're very reluctant to reach out for help when we need it ourselves.”
I put my hand up for this one. For years, I have played Super Mum, Super Boss, Super Person and tried to do it all, for everyone perfectly every time. When I do this stuff, I get overloaded, burning out, exploding or falling apart and blaming everyone for the pain I feel from my self-imposed exhaustion. Now that I am aware of this, I try and interrupt my pattern AND I am practising asking for help.


"Vulnerability is the first thing I want to see in you and the last thing I want you to see in me."
I have spent a lot of time in my life putting on my armour and going out into the world, protecting myself and making sure no-one can see the real me. When my hubby and I were having marriage counselling, our homework was often to sit together quietly and share our fears and uncertainties. It was a training ground for letting each other have a peek at our vulnerability. Amazingly, we both appreciated what we saw  and being vulnerable with each other brought us closer.

"Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”
Over the last five years I have been exploring my darkness. I have shone a torch on my demons, started owning up to my fears, naming my mistakes and then learning to forgive myself and others so that I can stand in my light. It hasn't been easy and the journey isn't over but I so identify with this message.


“Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.” 
For the last six months, I have been learning to write memoir, stories from my life. My best stories are where I have shown my vulnerability, letting my stories explore my inner world, my wonder and my frailty rather than trying to construct a safe haven within which I filter the view you get of my world.

Her latest book is called Daring Greatly and the title comes from a quote by Theodore Roosevelt which says that it isn't the critic that counts, but the person who steps into the arena and strives valiantly and at best triumphs and worst, fails while daring greatly..so this is my new mantra to go into the arena and strive valiantly every day.. rather than sit on the sidelines worrying that I am going to fail like I have done for far too long.


“Healthy striving is self-focused: "How can I improve", Perfectionism is other-focused:"What will they think” 
This is so hard to change but I am working on it. I find that my creativity dries up when I worry how my art, photography and writing will be received. It is so much better to have a go rather than hold back for fear of failure or not getting approval. 


"We live in a world of scarcity where there is never enough." She quoted Lynne Twist  who noticed that the first thing we say when we wake up is "I didn't get enough sleep". The last thing we say when we go to bed is "I didn't do enough today". Brene recommends we keeping reminding ourselves, I am enough.


If you are interested in learning more about Brene Brown, she has several talks on TED as well as three books; "I thought it was Just Me", "The Gifts of Imperfection" and "Daring Greatly".



selfie, taste, red & play

Another August Break 2013 catchup..and I have been playing with filters on my photo program..

Day 8 Selfie
 

 
 
Day 9 Taste

 
 
 
Day 10 Red

 
 
 
Day 11 Play

 
 

Friday, August 9, 2013

closeup, diagonal & skyline

August Break Catch Up and I am cheating - all of these pictures were taken this year but not this week!

Day 5 Close Up
I love taking closeups so this was a hard one to choose...so here is something I haven't posted before. This was taken in an aquarium..



 
Day 6 Diagonal
I almost chose this one for the next category of skyline..




Day 7 Skyline
I couldn't resist this rural skyline..and what a sky!



Monday, August 5, 2013

circle and yellow and love

I am running behind on my August break 2013 and somehow doing three days at once feels OK

Day 2 was Circles

 
Day 3 was Yellow
This was an amazing and inspiring morning
when I heard one of my favourite people speak.

 
 
Day 4 was Love
 
Yesterday, I spent the day with two friends from University. We met 35 years ago and through various changes in our lives lost touch 15 years ago. It was wonderful to be reunited again. The blessing of such friendships is that time falls away and it was as if we had been meeting for lunch every week for the last 15 years....Love enduring friendships.
 


 
 


Thursday, August 1, 2013

August Break 01

I am joining Susannah Conway's 2013 August Break In this project, she provides a photo prompt and we take a photo and share it on our blog, thereby joining a community around the world clicking on similar topics for one whole month. You can just do a picture or add words so I will see where this journey takes me and how much I stay on script for the whole month!

For today, 1 August the prompt is Breakfast.

At home, most mornings, I have a very similar breakfast; museli, fruit and yoghurt. Always with a takeaway coffee and often with the papers to read as well. But when I go out for breakfast, I mostly choose eggs.

Here are some photos that make me think of breakfast..

 


 
 


 


Monday, July 29, 2013

learning to love winter

When I was a child I thought that the only season worth loving was summer. I have no idea where this came from, but I remember feeling cheated that my birthday was 9 days into autumn instead of being earlier in the summer season.

Now I still love summer but I so love the other seasons too. In fact, these days, I prefer the gentleness of autumn and spring to the harshness of summer and winter in Australia. Although this week, you would be hard pressed to think of our winter as harsh. Today, it is warm and sunny and the air has barely a whisper of chill in it. Nothing like the winters that I experienced growing up in the country town of West Wyalong.

As a child, when I woke in winter, I would always look out the window to see if there had been a frost. I would be so excited if the grass was white, Hooray, this would make the mile and half walk to school an exciting adventure. Dressed in my blue uniform, woollen jumper and long black socks, I would pick up my small brown globite suitcase to walk to school with my brother and sister.

Blue blue sky and bright sunshine belied the freezing cold air. Our breath turned white as we laughed and talked. We pretended that it was smoke and we tried to blow rings like we had seen our parents do at parties after a few drinks.

But that wasn't the best bit, no, it was the crisp ice encasing the grass or covering the tiny puddles that were most fun. We would race ahead to be the first to put a shiny, freshly polished black shoe onto the ice and hear it crackle and snap. Sometimes we had to be quick because as the sun rose in the sky, it melted the ice and the satisfying sound was not there any more.

When I was a teenager and staying with friends on their farm, I would love being called out to help with animals in the frosty dawn. Rugged up with scarves, beanie and thick coat, feet encased in woolly socks and boots, I thrilled to the feeling that every part of my body was warm except my face. The chilly wind made me feel alive as it caressed my face and nose .

A few years ago, when we did a bushwalk in the New England National Park in winter, it was bitterly cold. As the track turned a corner we were rewarded with a waterfall, completely frozen in time. We stood silent and in awe at the majesty and beauty of the ice which had frozen mid leap from rock to rock. I couldn't believe it, here was my childhood dream magnified a hundredfold.

Today, I give thanks for winter, the chance  to walk briskly in the fresh air, to snuggle under the doona and sleep more soundly, and all the while to lay dormant waiting for the bud of spring to arrive.

frost in the country 2001

Thursday, July 25, 2013

lessons from baking

I used to be such a crap cook, especially when it came to cakes. Well maybe not consistently crap but I was certainly never considered a fabulous cook. I was always envious of anyone who was creative in the kitchen and made food that was not only attractive to look at but delicious to eat. I sometimes wonder if it is because of the models I had growing up.
 
In my early life, because my parents who were GPs in a country town worked long hours, we had “help”, Mrs Evans who cooked lunches and dinners for us. The most memorable of these meals were burnt chops and boiled vegetables, alternated with tasty stodgy options such as macaroni cheese.
Then my adolescence was spent at boarding school where meals ranged from the unappetising slivery tripe and tapioca pudding at the least favoured end of the spectrum to chicken schnitzel and chips followed by ice cream and homemade caramel sauce at the other.  
My grandmother loved to cook but she favoured scones, rock cakes and meringues. I used to love our annual gorge when she gave us each an ice cream container of meringues for our Christmas present – oh so predictable but always devoured and enjoyed.
My mum was often too tired from work to cook. While she could make an extraordinary marshmallowy and crisp pavlova, she was also relieved to find that birthday cakes could either be made simply with the addition of one egg and a cup of water to the packet you bought from the supermarket or once we were at boarding school by simply phoning DJs, a department store in the city and having a gorgeously rich concoction delivered.
I wanted to be a good cook and I don’t know why I found it so hard to make something that looked good and tasted fabulous. I used to dread the idea of having to create a cake for my son's primary school cake stall. While I mostly managed to make something edible, my icing made it look as though the cake had barely survived its rugged journey into the world.
Lately, I have realised that I didn't have the right attitude to making cakes. I have a fabulous recipe for a boiled orange and lime cake which is universally loved by everyone who ate it. However, every time that I used to make the cake, I would baulk as the recipe called for 3 eggs and 4 egg whites. The little voice in my head would go really that is 7 eggs, yikes, that is so extravagant, how can I get away with less? Then I would just use less eggs and wonder why it took forever to cook and refuse to set firm. Being stingy is not a good approach to cooking well.
Being overweight for years, I decided we shouldn’t eat cake or biscuits or anything with such vast amounts of sugar and butter and eggs so for a long long time, I refused to make cakes unless it was a special occasion. Even then I often I resorted to packet cakes because it was easier, faster and more reliable. Part of me became quite critical of people who baked regularly and often, "so unhealthy", said the voice in my head.
So now, what has changed so that my writing class is wowed by the yummy cakes that I make?
I have to say that the thing that has changed is me and my attitude and I have learned some important lessons along the way.
1.       Keep it simple
I used to look at the picture of what I wanted to cook and be inspired, hmm how to be easily seduced into failure. Now I look at the list of ingredients and what is involved and work out if I am up to the task.
2.       Allow enough time
I have learned to treat baking and cooking as a meditation. Surprisingly, I can’t do ten other things at the same time, as much as I try. Beating and whipping take time, folding needs to be done gently. Amazingly, you have to leave the cake in the oven for at least the time it says it will take to cook!
3.       Learn what works
I have a handful of recipe books that I know always work for me. They aren’t complicated and don’t require 57 ingredients and 12 bowls to make. They may not win Masterchef but they will impress my family, my guests and people in my writing class. I have been known to surf the net for a recipe and find one that works, this is where I use the first test to decide – is it simple enough?
4.       Don’t take short-cuts with time, ingredients or instructions
Like my story about being stingy with ingredients (oh I really do have to watch that part of my brain that goes wooah to 2 cups of sugar in a cake!) , this also applies to those steps that say beat for 15 minutes (15 minutes why can’t 3 minutes do? goes my busy mind) Well I can certainly attest that the step for pavlova that says beat egg whites until soft peaks form, really does means beat it for that long. I know because I did add the sugar too early (more than once) and ended up with a sloppy mess that flowed off the plate rather than perky shiny mounds of sweetness that should have been the precursor of a pavlova.
5.       Stay present
I am an introvert. I do live in my head. I am constantly in conversation with myself about the ten other things that I need to do but my cooking won’t work if I am not paying attention. Last week, I was making the delicious lemon and ricotta cake and it called for vanilla essence. When I tipped the lidful into the mix, I thought, that looks a bit dark – oops, oh no coffee essence, the bottle is identical and where was my attention? Luckily I could scoop out the essence as it sat quietly on top of the sugar and no-one was any the wiser. Now I think of baking as meditation and creativity and a reward based behaviour to boot.
I am sure that I have learned more but this is a start. So if these are my lessons from baking, what are yours?
a successful pavlova Jan 2013

Thursday, July 18, 2013

I'm back

Well, here I am, back again after almost 3 months sabbatical. Thank you to a few of my friends, loyal followers of my blog who have told me that they had missed my catch ups.

So where have I been? you may ask. Well nowhere special, I just needed a break from blogging while I recharged my batteries and tried out some new creative pursuits. Hmm I probably should have blogged about that but I didn't seem to have the energy as I was dealing my High Priestess of Self Protection- (remember her from last year).  She has been visiting regularly and sitting on shoulder giving unwelcome direction..I have asked her to take a back seat for a while and so here I am.

My main focus of the last six months has been a Memoir and Non-Fiction writing course conducted through the publishers Allen and Unwin. It has been a fantastic experience and enormously rewarding.

Our teacher, Patti Miller of Life Stories has skillfully guided our small group to have a deeper appreciation and understanding of how to write well and to publish a memoir / non-fiction book. Our group of nine has grown close as we have had to regularly share our writing and give each other feedback. I have been thrilled to find that my writing has improved immensely and I plan to share some of my stories with you over the next little while.

I also developed my baking skills while doing this class. "What baking for a writing class?" some of you may cry. Well yes. It started out as a brazen attempt to bribe my class mates into giving me good feedback on my writing and soon transformed into a weekly kitchen meditation as I searched out and tried new recipes. Nothing like an appreciative audience to transform me from hopeless cake maker into a culinary angel.

Two of the group are gluten free so I have expanded my repertoire of flourless cakes exponentially over the last six months. I am pretty sure that I have also expanded my waistline through our weekly indulgence in sugar and spice.

So here is tomorrow's creation. It is Donna Hay's Lemon Ricotta and Almond Cake from her Winter 2013 magazine along with several other delicious flourless beauties. Her recipe is for small cakes but I made one large one and it looks divine.



Lemon, Ricotta and Almond Cake

120g unsalted butter, softened
275g cups caster sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup grated lemon rind
4 eggs, separated
240g almond meal
300g ricotta cheese
60g sliced almonds
icing sugar, for garnish

Directions: Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Grease a cake pan. Place butter, sugar, vanilla extract and lemon rind into a large mixing bowl. With electric mixer beat until mixture is light and fluffy, about 8 minutes. Add the four egg yolks and mix for about 2 minutes until completely combined. In another bowl, with clean beaters, beat 4 egg whites until they have reached stiff peaks.  Add the almond flour, fold until combined.

Add egg whites & ricotta and continue to fold batter until all ingredients have come together. Pour into pan and layer with almond flakes in a pattern. Cook for 45 to 50 minutes or until the cake is firm to the touch and when a skewer comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely in pan. Once cooled remove and sprinkle icing sugar.
Recipe adapted from Donna Hay Magazine July 2013


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

52 Photos Project

This week's photo prompt for 52 Photos project is Self Portrait. Here is a selection of ME.







 
 

52 Photos Project

Monday, April 8, 2013

52 photos project 50

This weeks prompt on 52 Photos projects is Tangerine - a colour.
As I am not usually attracted to the colour orange, I was wondering whether I would see something to photograph. We have been away for a week or so over Easter and the afternoon light highlighted two gorgeous Tangarines in the garden that I just had to capture. So here they are

Bird of Paradise in bloom March 2013

Resin globe catching the afternoon light March 2013
 
 
I will be back again soon to share some more photos from our holiday over Easter.


52 Photos Project

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

52 photo project 47 (10/2013)

The prompt for this week on 52 Photos Project is Light. As always I found it hard to choose just one. So here are some of the different lights I have captured. This first shot is of a wishing tree that was covered in twinkling lights.


The second is a street light at dusk. I love the tiny touch of the dying light on the building as well.

 

 
The third was created when I was learning to capture streaming car lights at night.. woohoo
 



52 Photos Project

Sunday, March 10, 2013

52 Photo Project 45 (9/2013)

Horizon is the prompt for the 52 photo projects this week. Tonight I have returned from a night photography excursion and I am so excited to include one photo that I took tonight from Observatory Hill in Sydney.


The ones below are from previous excursions. Here is the Sydney Harbour Bridge also at night but not tonight..


and the fabulous New York skyline captured at twilight last year.



52 Photos Project