Community Gardens update: Compost bays!

I'm quite thrilled with the recent progress of the gardens. Not only do I have an adorable little garden helper, but hubby decided to build me compost bays (at loooooong last!) Now, instead of dumping green waste, I can actually recycle and reuse it. So happy right now.

Take a look at the happenings of the week...

Miss 3 loves watering, and has taken quite a liking to watering only these capsicum plants :)

Apparently, our 2 bridges weren't enough. Great improvisation kids. But looks like we'll be using these for our compost bays. Sorry.

Thrilled that all 31 of my snow peas germinated :)

Hubby is paver cutting to finish off the pathway.

Despite a heap of dirt piled onto my garden, I'm so glad the path is no longer a trip hazard.

Paul and hubby did a brilliant job building the compost bays. I'd have hugged them if they didn't pong so much :)

At last, I can compost! I really, really hate waste, so this makes me very happy.

Back to the veggie garden, and at last, the tomato seedlings look like tomato plants.

The 4 zucchini plants are growing at a rapid rate.

This is a baby broccoli. It has 5 more friends too.

It's clean! Thank you Shane! Love your work.

Inside this string section, used for protecting my germinating beetroot and spinach, is one less seedling. "Look, a weed!" Miss 3 announced as she ripped out a healthy beetroot seedling.  

Bless her enthusiasm :)

And there you have it, your lot for yet another week. Glorious autumn days are delivering slow, steady progress.

Look forward to bringing you more soon.

Thanks for reading!

Sweet Potato Brownies

It's the age old dilemma; how to get toddlers to eat veggies, and healthy food? Well, let me tell you that these babies deliver on both!

My sweet Miss 3 loved veggies until her first birthday. For the next several months,  I was able to get green eggs (pureed spinach omelettes) into her, and mashed spuds. But that is where it stopped. Now, a fried chip and occasional carrot stick it is. Sometimes, she will share my beetroot smoothy- she loves my 'stawberry milpshapes' :) 

Miss 3 is not a big cake eater, so I really wasn't sure how much success I'd have making a very veggie filled brownie for her. I shouldn't have worried. It was inhaled! Masking veg with chocolate is a winner. Yay! 

These brownies are great for me too. They aren't filled with added fats, and if you use almond meal and eggs- that's the only fat you'll find. I was surprised that even my hubby likes them. Ok, really surprised! He is not a fan of healthy food at all, but these fluffy, chocolaty treats are apparently a winner all round :)

Here's how to make these babies (and thank you elavegan.com)...

ingredients: 

450g sweet potato, steamed to soft, skin on.

2 frozen, defrosted bananas.

1/2 cup honey, RMS or sugar of choice (I used honey).

1.5 cups oatflour, OR 1 cup almond meal & 1/4 cup coconut flour- I used the latter.

1/2 cup milk of choice.

50g cocoa powder.

1 tsp cinnamon.

2 tsp baking powder, OR 2 eggs. (I used eggs. More protein for a growing little girl).

1 tbs dark choc buds.

method:

Pre-heat oven to 180 C.

Cover a baking tray with grease proof paper.

Place everything into a blender and blitz until mixed.

Pour into prepared tin.

Sprinkle with choc buds.

Bake for approx 40mins until a skewer comes out nearly dry, and batter feels slightly firm.

Cool for 20-30 mins. 

Cut into squares.

Store in fridge, although they are great warm too!

These brownies really are guilt free, and go great with a cuppa for us grown ups too :)

Fresh from the oven...one piece for me, one for a sweet Miss 3.

Hope you enjoy these as much as we have!

Pesto power!

If you read the last community garden post, you may recall I was gifted with a huge tray of basil seedlings. Well, as I couldn't fit literally several hundred seedlings in the garden, especially not if I wanted any other veggie or herb, I decided to bring them home.

I LOVE basil! It's one of my favourite herbs, along with flat leaf parsley and coriander in salads. As I have over 100 seedlings, I jumped at the chance of making my fave pesto. It's dairy free, nutrient rich and a vitamin/ mineral powerhouse. Plus, it tastes Ahhhh Mazing!

ingredients:

an abundance of basil. if purchasing in store, 2 full packs

some parsley

1/4 red oinion

100gms walnuts

juice of 3 limes

olive oil-drizzled for 5 seconds

salt & cracked black pepper

15-20mls balsamic vinegar

method:

Literally bung it all in a processor and blitz.

You may need to scrape the sides down once or twice.

Store it in a jar in the fridge.

Too easy!

The fresh ingredients ready to go.

A bit of blitzing, and you have pesto!

With a few simple ingredients, you have a delicious, nutritious spread that goes great with pasta, salad, on toast...

Perfect nutrient boost for the winter months.

As I can't eat much animal fat anymore, 

I added my pesto to a healthy salad with a small amount of lean chicken.

For the family, I made a simple chicken/pasta bake with some pesto, mayo and cheese stirred through before baking.

I'm told it was delish!

Enjoy!

Community garden update: Veggies!

Good morning lovely readers! I'm a bit excited to bring you the latest installment of the Community Gardens happenings. If you cast your mind back to the last gardens related post, you will be thrilled to know that veggies now exist in the veggie garden!

Take a look below at the progress, and lamentations, of the past 2 weeks.

A trip to Bunnings for seedlings, and a wonderful donation from Let Us Grow hydroponics, and I was ready to get stuck into mass planting.

The tray on the left is a crazy quantity of basil seedlings. The plastic sleeves on the right contain mint, coriander, 2 types of parsley and chives.

Basil in sleeves ready to plant, and several lettuce and celery seedlings already in place.

Slight segway, some angsty teens have had fun tagging away.

Hubby is assessing the damage of a large, fallen tree near the bike track.

Hubby had to work out the best angle off attack as the tree was balancing near a rather large mystery hole: we've never quite understood how/why the hole is there.

A small bit of cheer- flowers blooming after the last massive flood drenched them. 

There is hope.

Hubby doing his best to cut down a tree that is balancing under tension.

Back to the veggies, and here we have the freshly planted out bed.

Poppa Ian gave hubby some company, and offered his keen eye, as the lattice was assembled ready for peas/ beans.

The foreground shows the basil seedlings in place.

What can't be seen is 3 tomato seedlings planted under the trellis. I grew them at home in peat pots to transplant here.

Yay- first peas and beans in!

And now, we are at this week.

A very brief visit this morning before the rain bucketed down revealed some carpet had been thoughtfully thrown into the creek.

This section was crumpled over. Who knows what joy was derived from the experience, but kids/teens (?) ripped up the corner section of the garden bed and threw the carpet in the creek.

*face palm.

A walk through the bike track has discovered so much destruction.

So be it. We will work to the demography we have, not the one we wish existed.

Kingy may be evolving into an overpriced, overcrowded little suburb of Tweed, but bored kids will always exist whether you accept it or not, so we will work on making the gardens/ bike track safe, and accessible.

Back to the garden again. Thankfully, the left side of seedlings has settled back into to growing after a child (?) pulled them all out- a discovery I made when at band practice Tuesday evening. Lucky I still had the watering can in the car.

All going well, these capsicum will grow and produce a bountiful harvest.

The dwarf beans and peas have leapt out of the ground.

I planted the remaining lattice length with snow pea seeds- snow peas being a personal fave of mine. This rain will be great for germinating these babies.

The bath tubs are filled with 4 types of chilli bushes (bottom) with marigolds filling the gaps, and the dry herb bed has rosemary, hot and spicy oregano, and 2 types of parsley. 

I aim to also get some sage.

Last week, I sowed some beetroot and spinach seeds. Despite kids walking through the garden, most of these seeds are germinating. Hopefully, the predicted rain keeps up so that these babies have a chance to grow. All I want to plant this season is some broccoli. Then it's sit back (and weed, fertilise, water!) until harvest time.

Look, if I'm to be 100% honest, it's easy to get discouraged with the gardens. Lack of finances, budget cuts and crazy weather, on top of willful destruction, unsupervised kids...it feels like a battle we can't win. 

But then something inside me arcs up. Though the pace be slow, we WILL continue! Property prices in Kingscliff are literally skyrocketing! We have 7 acres- land hard fought for and purchased miraculously. We will do our bit to steward this land, even if no one else gives a flying woop.

And that, dear readers, is your lot for the week.

Stay tuned. More to come. I guarantee it! 

Turning pain into positive.

It's official. I can't even eat a family fave, shepherd's pie ever again. One meal was enough to ruin the day. Stupid pancreas or whatever organ isn't working properly. The pain is bad. Not hospital bad, but still pretty much up there on the 'how to poo on your day' scale. I had a blood test this morn, which included a test for autoimmune pancreatitis. Answers would be pleasant right now. Still awaiting my sedated, camera down the gob into my gallbladder and pancreas test.

And yeah, I've kinda been a bit upset with my dad. Was it dementia, was it old, hurtful dad resurfacing on our crazy road trip to rescue him? The one that scarred my young soul and left me feeling forever inadequate. Today, a card arrived for my Sarah, my baby from my first life. The surname on the envelope was wrong, so I opened it, thinking he'd meant to send it to my sweet Belle for last week. Nope. Poor dad. Wrong surname, wrong age. I can't stay angry. His memory is only working in patches. And that breaks my heart.

I'm supposed to be starting work placement at Kingscliff Primary School tomorrow. Based on how I've physically felt all week, and now today, I'm extremely nervous, especially about my ability to endure a whole day.

Top this off with discovering yesterday kids(?) had pulled out a whole line of veggie seedlings at the community garden. Don't even talk about the foot prints through the seedlings! Footpath people! Last week, some others tagged the bridge in bold, black spray paint, and you wonder why the heck you are bothering.

This is why.

Pain is the perfect fertliser for growth. You're either gonna grow bitter, or grow in strength. I know what I choose. 

Be thankful when that stuff gets piled high! It's the perfect environment for great things to happen.

Sure, it's unpleasant to have smelly doo's dumped upon one's head. And yeah, it may for a season send people running. But watch them flock back in droves when the garden of your soul starts blooming again.

I'm now in a position where I actually have to slow down. This darn body is changing in many ways, so why don't I stop fighting it, sit back, and be the me a busy schedule suppressed? Novels don't write themselves, and paintings needs an artists passion.

I dearly love my dad. But this recent road trip revealed many things, especially how many dysfunctional behaviours I had adopted from him without realising it. It's time to break that cycle and embrace a new way of thinking. I am actually looking forward to living in a new level of internal freedom. 

I'm passing my Learning Support Officer course with ease. However, now may not be the right time for work placement. And you know what, there is no hurry. For now, it's one day at a time.

And as for the garden...we will just keep moving forward. It will flourish and succeed. Sure, kids get bored and destructive. Nothing new there. If we keep pressing forward, it will be a place that attracts the right people, and blesses many.

So, for now, I will sign off and rest the body I'd rather trade in. And chat with God. Seriously, doing this alone would be mental!

Before I go, let me share photo's of some beautiful, inland trees.

I love that these trees are older than some homes in my town. 

Their beauty comes from having endured decades and decades of different seasons. 

I personally draw strength from that.

Gorgeous Glen Innes in autumn.

Hubby and Belle enjoying a glorious autumn day under a towering tree.

Thanks for sharing my journey with me x

In honour of you, dad.

This has been quite a hard post to write. 

I wasn't emotionally ready to attempt it until yesterday. However, after hours of writing, I deleted the lot.

I've decided to keep it simple, as much as possible. It was an epic 8 days!

So, here goes...

Prelude: Dad drives to Wagga Wagga every year around early March to shoot. Dad loves his guns and loves his shooting- clay targets with double barrel shotguns. This year, he swung by Melbourne to visit his sister, who was in the latter stages of dementia and non responsive. It really hit him hard. When I rang him on his 87 birthday mid March, he was depressed and despondent. 

In April, Aunty Rina died. Dad rang to inform us, and ask if we were going to the funeral. But as it's the other end of Australia, I gave my apologies. He understood, and said he would train it down and send our love.

And so it begins...

On Saturday April 29, at around 3pm, I received a confusing, disjointed phone call from dad. It took some effort getting coherent information from him to work out what was going on. Turns out, he was attempting to drive to the funeral, and had got himself a bit lost along the way. Understatement actually. Dad knows the way. Very well. And I haven't known him to be this down for years (dad has suffered extreme losses- a grandchild who died at 16 and two daughters who died several years later), but other than fairly normal age related forgetfulness, he is pretty well wired. 

I was so alarmed after the conversation, I told my eldest daughter, Lizzy, and my hubby about the call. They shared my concern. We discussed flying down to meet dad, but something just didn't seem right. As he's only recently purchased his new (2nd hand) car- a purchase I was against, we didn't even know his rego. So, the decision was made- we would drive down to find him, and safely take him to the funeral in Melbourne.

Enter break neck speed packing for a much colder climate, a funeral, and a week on the road. Add some food, and a few possible locations dad offered as clues, a few blankets and a slightly confused toddler, and we were on our way by about 4:30pm, with no solid idea of where exactly we were going. 

My hubby, me, Lizzy and Belle crammed into our very packed car and just drove. A late night, very winding road provided an abundant of wildlife and a car sick toddler who threw up. The idea of driving straight through to find dad was aborted due to this, and me- my back was still giving me grief after my recent pancreatitis episode. 

We booked accommodation as we drove. I picked a winner the first night, a Deer Inn at Armidale that let us check in after 10pm. It was then I realised I was wearing the only jeans I remembered to bring. Then a Bates Motel replica the second night. It came complete with a patron cleaning his gun in the carpark, and a room so dim, it absorbed the light and gave us nightmares and feelings of hopelessness and despair. From that point, I was banned from choosing.

A miracle happened very early the next morning though- after countless attempts to call him, dad answered! Our stopping proved wise- we had to back track and get to another freeway to find him. So,  after pleading with dad to stay put, we made yet another quick getaway and drove for 2.5 hours in hope that he had stayed put, and was where he said.

We eventually found dad in Cowra, 11 hours drive from his home in Brisbane. He had lost a huge amount of weight, was dehydrated, confused and disorientated, but thrilled to see us. It was now Monday morning. Dad told us he left early Thursday morning. He had been zigzagging for 5 days, disorientated and confused :(

As an ex dementia/ aged care nurse, I'm aware the importance of basic nutrition/ hydration, so that was my focus. I also figured dad was utterly exhausted, so plenty of rest was important too. 

While it was a relief to have found dad, and know he was safe, we still had a funeral to get him too. Dad's physical abilities are very limited. He is extremely deaf, and his mind was not in a good place. He needed our support. He was panicky and distressed right up to getting to the funeral. But once there, he was relaxed, chatty and praised my Lizzy for driving him safely there to all who would listen.

Enter the shift.

Memory lapse time. 'This getting lost business is a bit of a joke gone bad. I know my way around! Funeral? When was that again?'

Grateful dad became snappy Cranpa and cranky dad. Did we take his keys and phone?! Why were we keeping him away from his gun-club- he had to get back for work you know! 

The next few days were utterly exhausting. Dad's agitation grew.  


We attempted to get him to enjoy a slower trip home to enjoy a rare holiday with 2 of his granddaughters and us. Nope. Not having it.

We were still worried about him, so even though he hated it, we made sure we rested  a lot and ate well. Still, we rushed to appease him. But not quickly enough apparently. Someone had set his mind on home, and we were keeping him from it.

After a heated discussion one early morning, when at just on 6, an already dressed dad was raring to get a move on, I tried to explain what had happened the past several days and why we didn't want to rush. That did it- infuriated dad and shut him down. I'm told by Lizzy, he huffed the whole way to the next town as she drove. And judging by his sullen expression and leaving the cafe so he didn't have to look at us, I don't doubt it. He took the keys off Lizzy too.

And, that is where we lost dad again. At Coonabarabran. 

Because of his mental state, I called the police. They must have felt it was serious enough to meet us, take dad's details, and try to catch him. Considering his head start though, dad was at the advantage.

Shell shocked, we decided to head to Armidale and stay at the Deer Inn again, just to stop and breathe for a day. And relax enough to erase the memory of watching our Cranpa and dad drive off like an angry teen. 

Lizzy cried herself to sleep that night. Belle wanted to know where Cranpa went. I barely slept, worried sick he'd run off the road or was lost yet again. Hubby shared our stress.

Home last Sunday evening, we are still processing the week. We are all so very tired. Our car has a severely cracked windscreen from truck filled country roads. We are yet to properly asses the damage from a sheet of corrugated iron lost from a truck on a Melbourne freeway. Lucky us ran over it- we had no choice, dragged it for a few k's before hubby got us safely off the road. Things are clanking and scraping. But at least the car still drives. 

Positives are this:

• We found my dad and got him safely to my Aunt's funeral in Melbourne. And he beamed with pride to have us with him.
• My Aunty blessed me with many gifts over the years, but her wedding night gown is the one I'll treasure forever. It was just as important for me to be there to honour her I realised. 
• We met relatives we hadn't seen for decades, and have contacts.
• We got to see some amazing scenery and despite the chaos, create some great memories.
• My Lizzy pushed past her driving limits, and covered hours and hours of driving across some remote Aussie country. I'm so proud.
• I discovered how absolutely amazing my husband really is. His wisdom, calm nature and driving skills were invaluable. He's my rock.
• We all discovered how far we will go for family. Over 3, 500 k's in fact.
• Dad actually made it home safely, my brother informed me from Brisbane. 

After all this is said and done, whether dad was cognitive or demented during part or all of this, I choose to forgive him. 

Had we not have found dad, the outcome wouldn't have been positive. We know that. We also knew he would be crushed by grief had we not have got him to the funeral. We honoured him, and showed our love through actions.

This whole experience has made me aware of so many things, and teased me with glorious places I really want to live. 

It's definitely changed my outlook as well. Family matters. Forgiveness does too. 

Love you dad, 

and honoured to have shared this time with you.