tortillas

We have been living through another heatwave and facing catastrophic fires conditions; Code Red for 3/4 of the state yesterday. Just crazy; my brother is snowed-in in London and friends on holiday in Hamburg have been experiencing record snow and lows!
Too hot to cook? Bring on the burrito. The only cooking required is a few minutes on a hot pan per tortilla and some pan cooked meat if you want it.

Perfect vego food. Raw and healthy. Its B2s favourite dinner. Grated carrot and cheese, strips of red capsucum, cucumber, diced tomatoes and lettuce. Easy garden fare. Topped off with yoghurt guacamole spruced up with loads of chopped coriander, spring onions and chilli and if you like, some free range spicy chicken pieces.

If you're using store bought tortilla breads, then you have to give these a go. The day i tried my own tortilla bread i was a convert to the extra half hour investment. You won't believe the difference; flaky but feather soft and much more filling than store bought breads.I gave up the store bought breads for a few reasons mainly due to the plastic packaging and the distance traveled to get here and then there's the preservatives and basically, lack of quality product. Hmmm, tortilla for breakfast sounds goooood.

Tortilla:
3 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
11/2 tsp baking powder
7 tablespoons oil
1 cup hot water.

Mix for 3 min.
Rest for 10 min
Dry fry on a very hot skillet turning four times

Makes 8

cunning cloches *with update

we've had some pretty foul weather these last few days and yesterday heavy rain, hail and frost were all expected. I'd even heard rumours of overnight snow and its raining heavily and hailing again. Great for the reservoirs and the water tanks but not such good news for all the tender seedlings that I had moved out into the vege beds in great faith this early in the season. Hail is definitely a new tomato killer, all that ice on the ground forms a lovely layer of frozen air and kills them off, just like frost. Panic! Bugger. Damn. Fowlers no.31 preserving jars to the rescue! These makeshift emergency cloches kept the seedlings toasty warm overnight and i slept through the hail and storm and sit here listening to the lovely sound of water rushing everywhere secure in the knowledge that these early outers were safe. Hoping the peas and beans survived the night.


* Im so so glad i did this. More hail came bucketing down a few hours after i posted. It was pretty decent stuff.

Haiku Friday

bare arms, bill posters.
cafes spilling, warm breezes.
springtime is in town.

rain gardening

Its not generally my favourite way to do it, but time was running short, plus Im pretty stubborn and I had committed to getting it done this weekend.
Boy in bed = time to do stuff = plant artichokes; they're the funny looking short pale grey frondy things that appear quite limp . i planted a row of five behind and three in front. They should look quite striking in this spot, me thinks.
Didnt count on it being quite this wet.

I have discovered over the years that whenever i dont let self imposed limits stop me doing any kind of stuff, im always really pleasantly surprised at how i feel afterwards. Its really empowering to not let minor discomfort stand in the way of achievement. Also, being outside in the rain getting soaking wet always throws me back into childhood.

Sadly you cant see the rain still dripping from my nose nor just how much trouble i had taking a shot that wasnt all nostril or feet using a camera that inverted me and moved the image in reverse.

Im hoping they like this spot out the front of the house by the road and that not too many teenagers give them a thwack on the way past nor that they get suddenly repossessed at their peak and turn up on someone elses' table.

garden tour [with Gnome]

This is my blatant attempt to win a fantastic cook book from Mad Gnomes. Check it out. Some great giveaways in swap for a Gnome pic! This gnome is carved from a dead tree that still has roots in the ground and he wears his original bark coat. He looks a bit cranky (a mad gnome?) and sits amongst the agapanthus that line the driveway keeping a lookout...

Actually, while i was out taking a photo of our gnome, I had thought a garden tour may be of interest to some of you. I know i love to see where everyone lives, locate your stories, gardens, vegetables and lives, its the nosy parker in me.
The vegetable garden is not very abundant at the moment, offering us kale and potatoes, rocket, carrots, cabbage, lettuce and the last few yellow pear tomatoes each day. These tomatoes are the only ones i have 'wintered off' ( well actually just couldnt be bothered pulling them out).

The citrus are producing like crazy; on the go and in the fridge are oranges

mandarins which are small but sweet and juicy and grapefruit and my favourite lemons are about to ramp up into full production mode.
Courtesy of the Gnomes in the last day or two are some artichoke plants and 20 odd rabberry canes. Sweet. Looking forward to joys of both of these. I need to get them in the ground today.
These pics were taken just now so you can see its not pretty weather for gardening but i promised myself to get them in this weekend as we leave for holidays in 2 weeks.

I do believe that its something furry not slimy that is ravaging the rhubarb, decimating it. Im not sure if its got much of a fighting chance? I will cover them with some wire and see how it fares.



The dragon at the bottom of the garden has shed its skin and is looking rather wiry and cold; fitting for a dragon no? and the only colour left are the azaleas in the japanese stone garden.

The solar cels are still ticking the meter over but the boat that simon has been building since before we met is a little behind schedule, what with a new persons added to the mix, full time fathering, building the studio and the garden always needing something doing and wood chopped...
Its not the boat we intend to use on our big adventure!
ahh winter...sometimes i love it...

Haiku Friday

ignorance is bliss?
do nothing, watch what happens.
Local soloutions.

keeping cool

well the house thermometer blew its stack by half 8 yesterday morning with a record inside reading of 27C. i blew a stack by half 8 last night when the temperature outside was still 43C. Its just incredible. I cannot remember a day when the mercury hit 46C (114.8F), maybe thats because yesterday was the hottest day on record for 70 years!

Im not looking forward to a week of 40C plus (104F). The creek is bone dry and the leaves are starting to curl and crackle. Im up early to water the vegetable garden and we have been dragging drip hose around the garden to water the citrus and other fruiting trees.

Our house is built on passive solar principles and the architect (yup, Simon)determined to have no air conditioner, instead relying on the siting of the house in a valley which catches the breeze, the rendered cut rock face and earth which forms the wall and foundation of the lower length of the house, venturi air flow effects from the upper level windows and doors and downstairs air temperatures and the deciduous trees surrounding the house (and the odd wet towel or two). But natural methods are only good for so long....We are all pretty mutch wandering around in our knickers tossing soggy cloths at each other. Dinner was definitely a no cook affair of vegetarian burritos with guacamole. Going to work has never looked so good! The split system air conditioner i was thinking about for the studio, to run off the pv solar, the reason d'etre for the building of the very non passive solar designed studio; to act as a location site for the cells, is looking better by the minute! This is nuts.
How are you keeping cool?