from the kitchen today

visual treats as I work over the kitchen sink. geraniums and crab apple blossom in antique bottles

a window view

....from the kitchen window sill. Glass bottles containing pink geraniums, and the flower of the south african fig, also known as 'pig face'..

our radical solar powered clothes drying apparatus

sans the energy guzzling clothes dryer, my ad hoc line that i've been using for the last ten years at this property is my preferred method of drying the washing. I don't have to explain why.

October, and the garden is in full bloom . The lilacs scent are heavenly, not only to us, but also the insects. The bees in particular, who seem to get drunk on the sweet scent .

making the dairy free cheesecake

whipping up the chilled coconut cream for the topping

the entire cake is made from a variety of nuts, fruit with maple syrup used as the sweetener

 finito!

wild weather and books

 

Continuing unsettled weather, in particular the high winds, made it unsafe to walk outside today. So, being confined to stay indoors, I pottered around with my grand fathers cabinet, and arranged some books inside .

 

 

Really miserable weather - cold and windy with hail pelting down this afternoon. I decided to get working in the kitchen, and created a batch of scones. Two batches were in order as is customary in our household; a plain version to serve with coconut whipped cream and strawberry jam, and a savoury cheese and chives version spread with a little margarine. The oven heats up the kitchen nicely, while the warm scones accompanied with a piping hot tea, heats up our satisfied bellies on this freezing day. 

penguin and friends are the only ones warm today

You can tell the weather's bad when a post each day is on the agenda. Ironically, just as I started photographing, the sun shone brilliantly through the windows. The glistening wet foliage outside freshened by the cleansing of the rain that has been in pursuit all day.
In continuation of yesterdays post, a peek inside a new acquisition in the form of an Edward Ardizzone book that we happened across on a Brunswick Street stroll.