How to leave comments on homespunblissblog

I value comments left by readers as a blog is in its very essence an attempt to establish a community. Through comments on blog posts we can initiate a conversation. Ages ago I turned off security to make it easier for you to comment.

Sadly today I have had to turn the security back on as I am being inundated with spam comments. And some of it is very bizarre! I will attempt to go through all my posts and delete them lest they spoil the experience of my blog for you.

Never fear you can still comment. Anonymous comments are available for people without Google profiles. It would be great if you could leave a name in your message however.

To leave a comment follow these steps.
1. Under the blog post click on the word comments.
2. Type your message in the comment box that pops up. You might need to scroll up or down to see it.
3. Choose profile type from the Comment as list.
4. Click on Preview or Publish.

If you chose anonymous you will be asked to complete a word verification that looks something like this.






Type the letters and numbers you see and click submit. Your comment will publish.

Apologies for the inconvenience and thanks for your support.

Bonus win: a large fruit & veg tray

We won the fruit and veg tray at our local pub a few days ago.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit how many times we have won the raffle this year. Usually we don't win anything but we've certainly been on a date night winning streak!

The magnificent tray we won this time is keeping us well stocked in fruit and vegetables. So far I have cooked corn and zucchini fritters, sweet potato curry, beetroot and orange salad. The lemons have contributed to pesto, hommous and the odd cocktail or two. We're all set for the long weekend ahead.

We have also won the meat tray 3 or 4 times this year. Disturbing for a couple of vegetarians though that is.  One tray included a bottle of local red wine and another a dozen free-range eggs. They got put to good use by the two of us. As for the meat itself, it has been enjoyed immensely by Harry, Benny, Lily and Riley. They say thanks :)

Quinoa salad for lovely autumn lunch

Here's a salad with a difference. Try this for a lovely balance of colour and flavour.

Boiled and cooled quinoa

mandarin pieces

baby spinach

green beans

steamed pumpkin

pumpkin seeds and walnuts

cheese - try feta, Cheshire or haloumi

Toss everything together. Serve cold or warmed. I drizzled a little orange infused olive oil over it.

Variation suggestions include boiled egg or chunks of salmon.

Outsmarted by a cat

Without a hint of surprise or irony I admit I have been outsmarted by a cat.

Months ago I realised that the glass of water I placed by my bedside each night was being sampled by a cat.

How did I discover this you ask? Hmm, the sound of lapping in the night.
The number of nights that passed before I realised what was happening: unknown!

Then I thought that my love of all things vintage had solved the issue!! So simple, buy a vintage, hand crocheted, beaded jug cover (although not easy to find at times) and place over glass.

Whilst effective for a while ... I discovered one morning that Lily had devised a plan to outsmart me! Determined to gain access to the glass of water (despite a very large bowl of water left for her, Riley, Harry and Benny in the kitchen) Lily worked out she could hook the crochet with a claw and drag it off the glass. I thought I was so clever and that my forbears had more than flies in mind! This morning, the most recent event, Lily took one lick at the water in the uncovered glass and wandered off. She enjoys the challenge! Although to watch her, no effort is involved.

So my advice, keep your glasses of water covered. Beaded jug covers will deter insects and possibly, some cats. However if you find your glass open to the elements, refresh!!

All the glitz and spectacle of a country show

Good friends from Sydney joined us today at the Moss Vale show.

Cooking up a storm today

Free from study at last, I have spent most of today cooking.  While studying I became keenly aware of what I missed most: cooking, gardening, sewing. All creative pursuits rather than analytic.

The sun has just come out, but earlier it was raining so I opted for cooking not gardening. I like cooking on a Sunday as it makes the working week so much easier when good food is ready to eat on the run.

After eating nothing but store bought bread for months I set the bread machine to dough to make plaited herb bread. I cut the dough into four proportions, rolled each flat and spread a mix of dried thyme, chilli and olive oil, and then rolled into a long sausage.  It was very easy to twist two long rolls together. I left the plaits on top of the warm stove until more than doubled in size, then into the oven.  They smell wonderful. 

A couple of months ago I bought a cute pan to make 8 small loaves.  At first I didn't know what I'd use it for, but I bought it anyway ;)  Since then I have been making individual serves of zucchini slice: today's version includes zucchini, carrot and potato, a little grated cheese and slivered almonds on top.

I experimented with pumpkin and corn muffins too. Starting with a basic, unsweetened muffin recipe I added corn scraped straight off the cob and mashed pumpkin.  They look good don't you think?

These savoury loaves will be great for lunch with salad, or with a poached egg for breakfast.  I swapped ordinary flour for gluten-free, high protein besan (chick pea) flour to lessen my reliance on wheat and add nutrition. Add baking powder to make it self-raising and you can use it any recipe.  You'll find chickpea flour in health food stores or Indian grocery suppliers.

I haven't been eating cakes and biscuits so I miss baking them. I have baked some tiny muffins using honey, blueberries, strawberries, and buckwheat flour. These muffins are not very sweet and so tiny even eating 2 is significantly smaller than an ordinary muffin. A nice little treat! Besides I am taking these to work tomorrow to share.

One of our chickens died this week

We lost our Scarlet on Thursday. We are very sad. Taking on animals you know little about is a challenge and a risk. It involves a steep learning curve, lots of love and fun and a few heartbreaks. The heartbreaks are so wrenching: for me they involve so many feelings of failure, inadequacy and guilt. I keep on keeping on though. After indulgent wallowing for a while I usually pick up, decide its worth it and plunge in again. That's not to say I'm reckless, not when an animal is depending on me, I just have never entirely given in to the 'it's not worth it" feelings.

When I discovered Scarlet was sick my neighbour kindly offered to put her down for me as I clearly couldn't do it.  I declined though as I needed to make sure I tried everything to save her. The next morning I did take her to the vet and she was put down humanely. I am glad I went down this path because I now know it wasn't my fault she was sick and I learnt a lot which I will share here in the hope that it may help others.

But firstly a little about Scarlet. She was a lovely little white hen, although ended up a sort of dirty orangey colour because we have red soil here that stains everything. She, along with Scully and Kate came to live with us just a year ago at 20 weeks old, point of lay. She lay little white eggs - always easy to tell from the others'.  She was a very quiet, even tempered little thing, never one to make a fuss. And she loved green leaves of any sort. She would sneak into the vegie garden and eat still growing celery leaves or come running at full tilt when I hung a bunch of leaves in the coop. The other girls ate them but not ever with the passionate enjoyment of Scarlet. Aah sorry, making myself teary again. You know at the end of the day, for us, backyard chickens are pets. They give us eggs, convert scraps into fertiliser but also keep us entertained with  their clucking, their dashing around and derring do. Just the other day Kate, who is quite tall, had had enough of Benny the dog sniffing around her, lifted herself up, spread her wings and chased him right across the yard.    
Scully has an amazing set of lungs and always something to say.

So, what happened to Scarlet.

On Wednesday evening I went to lock them up for the evening and Scarlet wouldn't go into the coop with the others. She dashed all over and just refused vehemently. Not like her. As I was chasing her I noticed she had a prolapsed vent, not good. I won't go into gruesome detail, if you are concerned and want to know more check this link. Essentially the inner part of her bottom popped out. I brought her inside, cleaned her up, followed instructions to pop the prolapse back in and kept her in a box in the bathroom all night. The next morning the prolapse was visible again and her tummy was red hot. Vet time.

Sometimes prolapses can be fixed but not for Scarlet. The verdict was a systemic health issue, most probably cancer. Poor little thing, there was no saving her.

So what did I learn: birds don't show they are sick until the situation is dire.
Modern commercial breeds are often developing cancers as they are bred to produce lots of eggs and be culled at a young age.
I hadn't gone for heirloom breeds because I don't want a rooster or to breed my own chicks but apparently there are lots of older breeds that are not classified as heirloom, are hardy and long-lived, better for pets and for sooks like me who love them. So one day I will find a breeder and bring a different type of chook home to live with us.

Meanwhile I will look after Scully and Kate as best I can.

Goodbye Scarlet and thanks!