the tiger-whisperers

Posted on | March 11, 2010 | 7 Comments

not content with sorting out kittens in bali, we today expanded our operations to include tigers in thailand.
specifically, the gorgeous beasties at the tiger kingdom in chiang mai.
at this park, they allow you to get right into the enclosures with the tigers…and pat them.
these tigers are all born in captivity and hand raised and handled constantly…even so, i wasn’t too keen to get right down and roll around with them.
i have seen what a swipe from a normal-sized house cat can do, and even though the chiang mai tigers are beautiful and friendly, i was still somewhat wary.
the handlers are very slick….they form a triangular wedge around you at all times, and they are very conscious of where the tigers are and which way they are oriented and where they are moving off to.
they slide out of shot magically when photos are happening and they have real respect and affection for the big cats.
and who wouldn’t….the tiger is simply beautiful and just breathtakingly magnificent up close.
these tigers were clean, healthy and relaxed and their enclosures were immaculate.
we saw handlers picking up leaves from the ground and there wasn’t a speck of dirt anywhere.
they also had large pools filled with clean water and we watched two tigers playing in the water which was adorable.
the tigers prefer swimming later in the day…when it gets hot. and who doesn’t?

i fed one of the babies his bottle, but no photos! damn!

well, without too much more yammering and bleating superlatives….because that is what tigers do to you…..here are the photos:

the five month old male:

the five month old female:

tiger toes:

babies swarming maurice…check out the one sneaking up from the rear!

a kitten rescue in bali

Posted on | March 2, 2010 | 7 Comments

last saturday night, six of us piled into the kijang and headed the 5 km into ubud for dinner.
the way lies through two small villages with plenty of rice paddies in between.
there is no street lighting.
the road is very narrow and twisting, so nobody goes very fast.
i was sitting in the front and even without glasses, i clearly saw a small white bundle in the middle of the road.
the driver slowed and as we approached, it uncurled itself and scampered to the long grass at the side of the road.
it was a very small grey and white kitten.

we had dinner, then two hours later we made our way home.
this time, i saw a small white thing on the side of the road, in the darkness, even with my terrible eyesight.
t took me a few seconds to realise it was the kitten.
it took me a few more seconds to realise there were no houses close by.
it took me a few more seconds to figure it was a tiny kitten, alone out there in the rice paddies.
by this time, we were pretty much back at our villa.
i walked into our room and was deep into some serious wailing and bawling, because i figured that little cat had absolutely no chance out there.

so, my wonderful husband says: hey, what’s up?
i sobbed out : the kitten.
he said: i’ll go back and get the kitten, don’t you worry.
so i gave him a lombok basket with a lid from our room, described where i had seen the kitten, and he went out and hailed down one of the guys with a motorbike and off they went.
half way there, they ran out of fuel.
guy number one calls a friend.
then a third guy who is coming from the opposite direction, stops and asks whassup.
he gives his bike to guy number one and maurice and off they go again.
they fish the kitten out of a watery ditch beneath the palm trees, where it has skittered off to as they approached, stuff it into the basket, then return on the bike.
then the second guy shows up with fuel, which maurice has to fight them to pay for (two bucks and nobody would take it until he insisted) and they all get home again.
upon arrival at the villa, he was immediately christened “steve” by miss djax, amongst much hilarity.
my husband is a hero.
sometimes, he is just so incredibly can-do and practical, when all i can do is cry and wring my hands.

we put the wet kitten into our big deep steep sided bathtub, with the basket to hide behind and another basket to hide in.
i wiped his eyes and nose, but he wasn’t happy about it.
i took 3 fleas off him and that looked to be about all there were.
we called for a warm scrambled egg and we fed him little bits of it through the night. he was one hungry cat.
in the morning he had bacon and eggs and the villa staff brought him a large bird cage to live in.
by 9am he had crawled out of the bird cage and out of the bathtub and was nowhere to be found.
we had closed doors to keep him safe, so i knew he wouldn’t be too far.
eventually i ran him to earth in our wardrobe, resting on some new white linen silk pants.
as the day wore on, he burrowed beneath them so he was sandwiched and cosy.

in the afternoon, we took him to BAWA, the bali dog shelter.
turns out they look after cats too! who knew?
we had already been there earlier in the week to give them a donation…..under instructions from our friend miss kia in seattle….so they were the first place we thought of.

we greased steve’s way in with another five hundred thousand rupiah.
it will be enough to treat him and feed him until he is adopted.
they had vaccinated him, wormed him, cleaned his eyes, nose, ears, identified him as a 5 week old boy, and taken his temperature; all before we had finished filling out our donation receipt details.

we waved him good bye and left feeling as though things have turned around for the poor little midget.

here he is:

and here he is on my clothing….which is being disinfected in a bangkok laundry as i type:

and here is the gorgeous marmalade who lives at the bali botanica spa, posing on an emerald green cushion:

BAWA bali is funded by donations, so if you’ve got some paypal money jingling around, please consider them.
they are doing a great job there and it is uphill work….but in the 16 years i have been visiting bali, the positive change in attitude to dogs and cats is palpable.
and the change in the health and the numbers of the street dogs is also palpable.
i’ve committed to a regular monthly paypal payment for them.
it isn’t hundreds of dollars, but nobody can stretch a dollar like these guys.
a little goes a long long way.
and their tag line is hilarious: eat spay love.

the lazy way to visit bali

Posted on | February 24, 2010 | 3 Comments

i don’t think i’ve ever had such a self-indulgent, leisurely-paced time in my entire life.
the villa inmates lurch from breakfast to massage to lunch to naps to swimming pool to desultory shopping to cocktails at a very casual speed.
i am so relaxed that i can hardly type.

the weather has been great.
we have cool evenings and delicious mornings.
the heat and humidity builds up to a peak around 4 or 5 pm…by which time we are all looking for the pool and a cocktail.
the insects and frogs sing all night and we can hear the river rushing far below, from our rooms.
at daybreak, the birds start and there are faint distant rooster calls too.
it is all very soporific.

there is great activity in the village….they are building their ogoh-ogoh for nyepi.
every time we go past, the ogoh-ogoh has had another bit of paper or paint added.
it’s a shame we won’t be around here on march 8th to see the final thing.
it’s not all bad though.
by then we’ll be running around chiang mai, eating green curries and watching elephants.

beautiful words

Posted on | February 13, 2010 | Comments Off

enjoyment, happiness, delight, ecstasy, rapture, bliss,
beauty, form, attractiveness, radiance, purity,
compassion, warmth, kindness, caring, softness,
sensitivity, empathy, sympathetic joy,
generosity, giving, helpfulness, goodness, equanimity,
reliability, commitment, cooperation, participation, tolerance,
respect, gratitude, trust, sincerity, thoughtfulness, consideration, care,
friendliness, warmth, cheerfulness, brightness, appreciation,
truth, openness, honesty, vulnerability,
tenderness, affection, intimacy, love, embracing, caressing, sensuality, passion,
playfulness, spontaneity,lightness, exhilaration,
sparkling, smiling, dancing,
uninhibited, childlike, laughter, silliness, fun, humour, joy,
looseness, flying, flowing, delight, freshness, brilliance, sunshine,
curiosity, interest, investigation, exploration, discovery, mystery,
wonder, fascination, contemplation, inspiration, imagination, vision,
positivity, aliveness, alertness, exhilaration, energy,
creativity, growth, learning, choice, aspiration, limitlessness, realisation,
poetry, music, dance, colour, light, form, aroma, breath, flow
richness, uniqueness, specialness, individuality
adventurousness, risk-taking, fearlessness, courage
power, strength, stamina, persistence
purpose, direction, intention, volition, will, initiative
determination, enthusiasm, warrior, perseverance, tenacity, resilience, patience,
mastery, proficiency, skill, resourcefulness, effectiveness, success, achievement,
energy, vitality, health, aliveness,
strength, acceptance, confidence, patience, trust,
understanding, intelligence, perception, intuition, discernment, insight, wisdom,
meditation, concentration, focus, attention, precision,
quickness, sharpness, astuteness,
mindfulness, awareness, alertness, clarity,
fullness, completeness, depth, balance, integration, perfection,
humility, non-clinging, selflessness, egolessness, connectedness, unity,
contentment, calm, flow, relaxation, floating, ease, simplicity,
serenity, tranquility, harmony, peace, stillness,
freedom

the oily edition

Posted on | February 8, 2010 | 4 Comments

if you are not getting an electronic copy of this wonderful little magazine emailed to you regularly, then you are missing out on some wonderful industry information!

the latest edition has information on organic macadamia oil, creating a signature scent for your spa, and ideas on ramping up your production.

get yours here from my favourite suppliers, the sydney essential oil company.

carbon neutral schemes

Posted on | February 7, 2010 | 3 Comments

we were the first soap company in the australasia-pacific region to get carbon neutral status for our manufacturing.
the carbon credit company we used at the time was climate friendly.
i think they are a good company who do good work.
and if a company isn’t sustainable these days, then what hope has it got for the future?

it is time for a renewal with climate friendly, and i have been considering our expenses incurred reforesting our own land in malanda.
to date, we have spent over $40,000 on gardening….labour/plants/watering.
thousands of trees and plants have been put in, the vast majority of them being australian natives, suited to this area in particular.
in the long term, this will have a very positive impact on the local fauna….we are hoping to attract the endangered and rare lumholtz tree kangaroo with our planting efforts.
our carbon neutral status was nowhere near $40,000 to obtain.
nor can i look out my windows and see where that money went.

so, i have decided to pull my official carbon-neutral status and throw that money into our own reforesting fund.
i feel it will go further here….for a start, i’ve got no administration costs!

i invite your comments and thoughts on this.

my daegu soap

Posted on | February 6, 2010 | Comments Off

i improvised this soap on the last day of the workshops, after being presented with:
korean rice wine (makgeolli) that had been reduced slightly
pine needle powder (khaki green)
red korean cosmetic clay
brown rice powder

i don’t have any cut pictures….just a few hours after pouring this one, i was back on the KTX train to seoul.

it is my tribute soap for daegu, made with beautiful authentic korean ingredients:

korean soap bloggers

Posted on | February 6, 2010 | 1 Comment

i am all over the korean soap blogosphere!

1)
http://blog.daum.net/taven1/36?srchid=BR1http%3A%2F%2Fblog.daum.net%2Ftaven1%2F36

2) http://blog.naver.com/ecolrune

3)http://blog.naver.com/jhk77?Redirect=Log&logNo=60100916599

4)http://blog.naver.com/coolej74?Redirect=Log&logNo=90078438022

5)http://blog.naver.com/001029jj?Redirect=Log&logNo=50081845585

6)http://www.cyworld.com/applemintt/3393458

7)http://blog.naver.com/chuchunim?Redirect=Log&logNo=50081992656

http://blog.naver.com/sypark2008?Redirect=Log&logNo=110079830534

9)http://bellusvita.egloos.com/4658839

10)http://blog.naver.com/jhk77?Redirect=Log&logNo=60100916599

daegu soapmakers M&P art

Posted on | February 5, 2010 | 3 Comments

in daegu, i was presented with gifts of of beautiful M&P soaps that are like large gems.
there are some very talented soapmakers there!

check these amazing soaps out:

daegu workshop

Posted on | February 1, 2010 | 10 Comments

hello to the fantastic soapmakers in daegu! i miss you already!

what a lovely, friendly, clean, city…and what welcoming, generous, beautiful soapmakers!
i had a fabulous time in daegu and met so many charming people….i cannot wait to come back and visit again.
i had a lot of fun at the workshop and i hope the attendees did too.
they are all avid soapmakers and there were lots of good ideas floating back and forth.

day one, i asked the group if they used wooden moulds lined with plastic, like we do.
no no….they all have the most fabulous silicon moulds! all made in korea! really, the best quality silicon i have ever seen and i have been looking for a long time.
so, naturally, i am reconsidering my mould options and may give silicon another go (after my all-round horrendous, not to mention excruciatingly expensive, foray with hawthorne bay moulds in australia, i was put off silicon for ever. or until i saw this strong, dense, pliable, korean silicon).
one of the big suppliers of raw materials and cosmetic formulation education in daegu was kind enough to permit me to tour his premises after the workshop, so i could see the moulds.
they have many many kinds AND they make their own.
there was all kinds of soap imaginable, and a very tidy and clean and HUGE supply room.
they have a large classroom area also and i think they have a lot of fun.
mr yu very kindly gifted me with a 3 kilo mould and mr young kim is waiting for my exact mould measurements so he can obtain a quote for me.

we talked about beer soap on day one and someone asked if i could make soap with makgeolli, which is a very traditional korean drink: fermented rice wine, flavoured subtly with pine needles, and has a slight fizz.
the answer of course was YES, but i would need someone to boil the makgeolli and get the alcohol and fizz out of it.
i considered a very korean soap….maybe some pine essential oil, some rice flour, some nori, and the makgeolli.

on day two, i was presented with a bottle of pine needle powder (this is ingested, to treat asthma) and is a khaki green colour.
i mixed it with a little chromium green and water and set it aside.
also, some brown rice powder, with a very fine exfoliation.
some very soft red clay, from korea…..very similar to the french red that i use often.
and lastly, a small bottle of makgeolli, reduced down to make what i was calling “makgeolli essential oil”!
i made a basic soap and drew off two parts to swirl.
in the main part, i put some titanium dixoide (to whiten slightly), the brown rice powder and the makgeolli.
i mixed my pine needle mixture into one part and got a lovely soft, natural green colour.
i mixed korean red clay into the other part. and then i poured on drizzles of colour.
the essential oil blend was made by my host and i don’t have notes on it…but it was lovely.
i have photos of the soap in the mould and with any luck, someone will post a photo of the cut soap to the workshop flickr group i am setting up.

i’ve been soaping with top quality, arometherapy grade oils all week….including luscious rose, sourced directly from bulgarian distillers. such an extravagant treat to work with! the scents rising from the hot soap pot were simply dreamy. i was a blissed-out soapmaker!

the daegu soapmakers were a merry and generous crowd and i was showered with many beautiful and thoughtful gifts.
such kindness….i was undone. what truly lovely people!
and many people showed me photos of their beautiful cats! i was charmed!

right at the end, a local soapmaker offered to give a demo of some of her techniques.
two moulds were set up, and lots of mixing proceeded.
did you know that it is very relaxing to watch soapmaking?
i enjoyed it very much.
she was a very energetic presenter and she talked non stop…she apologised for having no english, but the language of soap is truly international and i could see perfectly what she was doing.
she had some great tricks for swirls and layers and special effects requiring a steady hand and nerves of steel!
she only had small paper cups to work with and it was a spur of the moment demo with no preparation, but she did an amazing job and i just loved watching it.

thank you to everyone in daegu who made my visit such a positive experience.
you were all wonderful and i very much hope to visit you again in april.

hello to the wonderful seoul soapmakers!

Posted on | January 28, 2010 | 3 Comments

hi everybody!
i didn’t forget about you!
the link i promised you for the place to buy oxides and ultramarines is here.

the mineral colours i used during the workshops:
chromium oxide
titanium dioxide
hydrated chromium oxide
yellow oxide A31 (sorry, i misnamed this)
red oxide (blue shade) (and misnamed this one as well)
blue ultramarine

i also like the purple ultramarine and black oxide from this company.

happy soapmaking to all of you, and thanks for making it such a great workshop.
and please send me photos!

seoul-mates

Posted on | January 26, 2010 | 2 Comments

i reckon i could live here.

it’s immaculately clean everywhere….no litter at all.
people drive considerately.
there is no honking and swerving and changing lanes.
the streets downtown are wide spacious boulevards.
there is minimal pollution in the air……the sky was bright blue, even if it was sub-zero temps most of the day.
everyone is polite and pleasant.
the strawberries and cherries are INSANELY fragrant and sweet. i’ve never had such good strawberries in my life.
and you can buy great big packets of kimchee and wasabi flavoured toasted nori sheets for practically nothing.

i’ve had a very cool day; quite literally, at first.
for the first time in my life, i headed out wearing a hat…woolen socks…two layers of silk knit….a cashmere pashmina…and a jacket….and i needed it all.
i took a very brisk frozen-nosed stroll to the hyundai department store and did some window shopping. i took some photos of frozen decorative kale in planters, and some surreal sculpture outside the posco building.
then i dived down the escalators to the enormous coex mall that rabbit warrens along for kilometres and has simply everything.
i stopped for a fresh mango juice, which was probably insane seeing as
how they are falling off the trees at home, and imported at enormous expense here.
after a couple of hours of people-watching, i headed back to the hotel for my lunch meeting and then on to the college offices to finally check the equipment and raw materials for tomorrow.
i was organised enough to bring a selection of electrical adaptor plugs, so i can power up my bamix immersion blender.
i could make soap with a pot and a broken stick if i had to, but it is nice to have familiar equipment when you are demonstrating and you want it to be simple and nice.

my host and i had a very interesting chat about the vibrational energies of essential oils….he is doing a lot of research into the personalities of the oils.
he actually gave me a sort of tarot card reading, but using cards with essential oils on them.
VERY COOL!!
i asked “where will my company be in five year’s time?”
and i shuffled the cards, then turned up patchouli.
he said patchouli is very grounded, very close to the earth, very stable and very comfortable.
it also blends well with everything, so he said this means my business can stretch into new directions all the time and thrive….because of the solid, grounded foundation.
it sounds great to me!

i had a sniff through many bottles of essential oils, sourced directly from distillers all over the world.
he has been travelling and buying for a long time and everything was absolutely top-quality.
i have never….never….smelt such delicious peppermint, aniseed, rose and geranium.
the peppermint was extraordinary….so sweet and fresh…..just divine.
and the rose otto and rose absolute came directly from bulgaria, where he leads a group of students every year at rose harvesting time.

i offered to help pack and carry stuff downstairs to be transported to the lecture rooms, but was told, no, the men can do that.
i tell you, this place is marvellous!
so i came back to the hotel, made a few phone calls, then sashayed downstairs for a massage and then a bath in a huge hotpool made of hinoki wood. very relaxing.
now i am upstairs, eating seaweed again, and thinking about a very early night in preparation for tomorrow.

korea soapmaking preview

Posted on | January 22, 2010 | 8 Comments

i have been busy making samples of all the soaps i will be demonstrating at the workshops in seoul and daegu next week.

there are pictures here, with descriptions.

for example:

chocolates and roses

Posted on | January 21, 2010 | Comments Off

shipped today:
a valentine’s day limited edition soap, with vanilla, tablelands honey, patchouli eo and a little kiss of rose absolute. … available exclusively at the perfect potion.

korea: soapmaking workshops

Posted on | January 18, 2010 | 9 Comments

i have been invited to korea to teach a couple of advanced soapmaking workshops at a big aromatherapy college up there.
these are all aromatherapy students who have already completed a basic soapmaking workshop.
i’m not sure how many will be attending…but i’m guessing LOTS.

i’ve been working on my workshop plan and i’ll be talking a lot, plus demonstrating making 22 different types of soap over 2 days, which will give a thorough overview of how to use various ingredients and how to do different techniques for various effects.
i’ll be soaping like an absolute madwoman and talking the whole time to get through the program.
the workshops are in seoul and daegu, and the organiser has already asked me back in september.

it is quite chilly in korea right now…i hope that by the weekend, when i depart here, it will still be hovering around the current 1 C mark and not the plunging diabolical – 16 C that i noticed a couple weeks back.
i simply don’t own the right sorts of clothes for that kind of caper!

they have made moulds to my specs, which are 1/4 the size of the moulds i use here.
each will yield me 24 bars and be nice and light to handle.
i am leaving the muscles behind on this trip as it was short notice…so the mould size took some careful plotting.

overall, i am really excited about the whole project…soap AND travel, what more could i want?

rainforest stage 2

Posted on | January 14, 2010 | 4 Comments

this time last year, 350 little trees went into the top half of our retired dairy pasture land.
today…another 350 were planted in the shade of the stage 2 trees!
big thanks to mum, maurice, peter, trixie and elizabeth who did all the actual planting, while i wrote up my workshop plan for korea (but that’s another story).
we received a slightly different mix of trees this year….lots of sarsparillas….diversity is good.
i’ll have a complete list in a few days.

start with some little rainforest trees…kindly granted to us by the fine folks at TREAT.

get the ground ripped in rows:

get a truckload of straw bales for mulch. (if you look at the very bottom of the hill, where that lush patch of grass is…that is stage 3 which will be planted out next year. elizabeth estimates just another 150 to 200 trees will do the trick there. then i suppose it is time to start looking at the other side of the place….).

mum and elizabeth planting a tree. repeat 350 times:

some of the stage 1 trees are already eight or nine feet tall.
in another year or two, we’ll be positively fighting off the lumholtz tree kangaroos with sticks!

fish pond

Posted on | January 4, 2010 | 4 Comments

my little fish pond is settling in quite well.
it’s just a concrete bowl with the spiky looking plant in it, plus some miniature waterlilies that i thought had all died some months ago.
we moved the pond so it got a bit more shade, and they all came slowly back.
i’ve got just the one fish in there….i’ll get him a friend or two one day soon.
i suppose goldfish like to have little fishy companions.
anyway, it all seems to be healthy and happy and green there….i’m delighted because i am a terrible killer of fish, usually.
i’ve got a chipped bowl in there for the fish to hide under when the cats decide to go fishing….or “just drinking water from here”.

getting rid of stuff

Posted on | January 3, 2010 | 1 Comment

decluttering is the big thing lately.
there are a million blogs and books about it…and in general, i’m all for it.
less stuff seems like a good mantra to me.

i satisfactorily cleared out several somewhat clogged departments in 09 (kitchen, office, wardrobe, bathroom, selected parts of the workshop) and i am always peering around me for more more more stuff that can go on to a new home somewhere away from my home.

a couple of weeks ago, i zoomed in on my champion juicer.
we bought this for a vegetarian food shop we owned ten, no it was TWELVE, years ago.
solla sollew, it was called, and we went horribly broke in a year, but learned a lot about business and ourselves. but i digress.
the juicer has been mostly in storage since then.
o sure, i’d trot it out now and then to juice carrots and celery, or the husband might come home suddenly with bags of cheap oranges and demand a fountain of freshly juiced oj in return…but on the whole it was mightily unused.
partly because there was nowhere for it to live.
i started to think about selling the juicer….release it into the wild!
i wanted to make sure it was all still running perfectly, so i dragged it out and set it up.
it looked kinda small in the new kitchen….well, not tiny, but manageable.
so, i ran a few carrots and apples and some celery and ginger and parsley through it.
mmmm, delicious.
we drank those for a few days.
cleaning the juicer was no longer a massive chore, now that we had a decent sized sink.
we bought bigger bags of carrots and apples and celery.
and got accustomed to seeing the juicer on the bench.

this afternoon, i decided that tofu marinated in tamari and chilli , then grilled and served with thai style coleslaw and some cold cooked kipflers in a sweet curry vinaigrette would be nice for dinner.
hmmmm, some almond and macadamia nut butter would be just DELICIOUS on those slices of tofu….
the juicer has an option for nut butters…..
it was but the work of a minute or two to produce two cups full of fresh warm mixed nut butter.
i added a few drops of rice bran oil and some sea salt and put it reverently into the refrigerator.

and i’m not quite ready to let the champion juicer go.

blogs i like:
unclutterer
zen habits

arancini

Posted on | January 1, 2010 | Comments Off

arancini is italian for “little oranges”.
i made them to take to our italian friends’ place to see in the new year.
they are delicious little crumbed fried balls of rice/cheese/peas/saffron/herbs….well that is what i put in mine, anyway.
i’ve made millions of these tasty little brutes in my previous life as a cocktail party caterer.

you’ll need five cups of cooked arborio rice.
i like to add a generous pinch of saffron threads to the cooking water, so the rice turns yellowish and fragrant.
let the rice cool a bit.
now add a couple of beaten eggs, and 1.5 cups of mixed shredded cheeses…..i use cheddar and parmesan.
grind puh-lenty of black pepper and sea salt into the mix.
add lots of chopped fresh herbs (parsley/marjoram/oregano/chives/mint/basil….all yummy) and a few good pinches of dried mixed herbs.
add a couple of finely chopped scallions and a cup of frozen peas.
you can also add half a cup of finely diced ham….perfect for post-christmas parties!….but we are almost out of ham around here, so i didn’t do that this time.
now, feel the mixture….if it seems a little loose, add a handful or so of breadcrumbs. taste it and make sure it is salty enough. o, i like some chili flakes in there too. add to taste….or not….either way, they’ll be good.
mix it with your (clean) hands and really mash it up thoroughly.

roll the mix into balls about the size of…..a little orange! really, any size from cocktail bite sized to scotch-egg sized is just fine.
now flour them, then egg-wash them, then breadcrumb them, and set them on a tray.
refrigerate them until you are ready to deep fry them.

serve them with…..tomato relish. homemade tomato sauce. yoghurt and garlic sauce. or anything else you can dream up.
they are also pretty fabulous on their own.
serve them hot or warm or even room temperature.

favourite things of 09

Posted on | December 31, 2009 | 5 Comments

a random round up of some of my favourite people/things/places of 2009.

gudrun sjoden’s catalogue

rajasthan, particularly dungapur.

the perfect potion’s four season’s soaps

villa awang awang with good friends

reliable inexpensive prescription glasses online

lily allen

terry nisbet …you know why, nizzy!

my new kitchen (this will probably be a favourite for years and years to come).

the best driver in bali, my friend pak rai.

tofu and mushrooms at lau’s kitchen, melbourne.

gran torino …does clint eastwood ever make BAD movies?

a return to 1999 prices for veuve clicquot….at least locally. let the good times roll.

kittens.

a friend’s kittens and flowers.

i could go on and on and on…it has been a delightful year.
i wish you all the very best for 2010.
may everything that possibly can be wonderful….be as wonderful as it possibly can be.

the skogkatt

Posted on | December 31, 2009 | Comments Off

in nov 08 we adopted a beautiful fluffy 18 month old boy cat from the local RSPCA …brought him home and named him norbulingka.
sometime in the first half of the year, my mother was at the vet and noticed a large poster with various cat breeds depicted upon it.
she came by to tell us our norbu was in fact a norwegian forest cat…or a skogkatt!
his ancestors were a naturally-evolved breed of hardy little brutes who sailed with the vikings, had waterproof fur, ran down trees front paws first and probably singlehandedly started the huge norwegian frozen fish export industry.
we were suitably impressed.
we were also impressed by his gorgeous fluffiness, having been only short hair cat connoisseurs to this point.

apparently, you know you’ve got a real genuine wegie or skogkatt on your hands when their coats change dramatically from summer to winter and back again. they are said to look like two completely different cats.
well, the first year, we were too vague to really notice.
and this summer, we’ve been watching and waiting for a decrease in norbu’s magnificent ruff and trousers and tail…..but nothing has been happening. he remained as furry as ever. and he looked kinda warm. we began to doubt his wegie-ness and wonder what kind of siberian ragdoll mongrel had been foisted upon us…..and suddenly, over the last three days, an amazing transformation has taken place!
his coat has slimmed down amazingly, especially his beautiful ruff.
o he’s all short back and sides for the wet season!

here he is, looking all moody and complex:

the frugal life

Posted on | December 28, 2009 | 4 Comments

just waiting for a new pair of reading spectacles to arrive by mail:

the Wet

Posted on | December 26, 2009 | Comments Off

boxing day, 2009 and it feels like the wet has finally begun…..after an unusually dry year here.
after days and days of horrendously oppressive build up, the skies opened this afternoon and it has been belting without restraint down for 2 hours so far….and no sign of letting up either.
o the relief!
simply glorious.
it’s deliciously cool, about 24 celsius here now.
our water tanks haven’t gone into overflow mode yet, but they cannot be too far off.
the rain was hammering down at such a rate that our gutters were overwhelmed and water was just pouring off the side of the house.
the garden smells beautiful…petrichor anyone?…..and i am so happy for the little rainforest trees down the back.

the next 350 rainforest trees are scheduled to be planted on january 14th….so a couple of weeks beforehand we’ll have to get the slasher in to take down the long grass, and do some strategic poisoning of noxious weeds (lantana and tobacco tree mainly).
this is all assuming that the rain today isn’t a false start!

we are living on leftovers, just as planned….baked ham and salads….but i am making some fresh cheese biscuits in a little while.
these are very short, melt-in-the-mouth, rich, buttery, tasty little brutes…..i got the recipe from a soapmaking friend (it’s her dad’s favourite) and adapted it slightly.

christmas menu

Posted on | December 24, 2009 | 2 Comments

it’s about a million degrees celsius here at this time of the year….the traditional northern hemisphere type of christmas dinner is completely out of the question!
i’ll be starting the day with a trot around the lake as usual and maybe a swim afterwards.
i’ve decided on a baked ham and some simple salads, then fruit and cheese and then coffee and christmas cake biscuits, glazed with ginger icing.

the butcher in yungaburra cures hams once a year and they are so good, they are ridiculous.
for me, it just isn’t christmas unless there is a baked ham…..and we will be eating ham in various guises (sandwiches, soups, pastas, omelettes, salads) until the new year at least.
for a glaze this year, i am doing a mix of brown sugar, apricot nectar, sweet sherry, balsamic vinegar and five spice.
this evening i mixed the glaze and then reduced it to a thick syrup.
tomorrow, i’ll baste the ham with it, just thirty minutes before it’s finished baking.
i’m hoping for a shiny, sticky, spicy, sweet, tart effect.
it will be a bit different and i think quite fabulous.

we are having my favourite summer salads:
kipflers with herbed mayonnaise
tomatoes/red onions/basil with a red wine vinaigrette
coleslaw
nothing earth-shattering there, but it’s all good simple stuff we enjoy.

then cherries and grapes with some king island brie/blue/camembert and walnut and prune paste and some homemade plain crackers.

a bit of veuve clicquot and alicante bouchet to wash it all down and maybe we’ll open the already-chilling 1996 de bortoli noble one to go with the cheese, if anyone is still thirsty.
and i think a swim at the lake in the late afternoon should cool everything off beautifully.

and of course, we get to eat delicious leftovers on boxing day and probably all weekend too.

i wish you all a very merry christmas!

triple your soap giveaway WINNERZZZZ!!!

Posted on | December 17, 2009 | 2 Comments

i do apologise for being a day late with the announcement!
it’s been going wild over here with the soap orders!

my lucky winners are:

1. michelle latham of NV, USA!!
2. michelle vivado, australia!!
3. libby van shaick, australia!!

your orders and prizes have all shipped today….congratulations to you all.
and a million thanks to all of my other lovely customers who have helped us get to the 8 year mark.

keep looking »

hi, i'm patti flynn

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