Little Blue Letters

Joan has been unpacking.

Amongst all the books and books and books, are great family treasures. One of my favorites so far have been these:

They are little and blue and typed on a typewriter both sides.

Letters to Narni and Joan from Natalie (Joan's sister) during her time working at the UN. Natalie worked as the secretary to multiple Secretary Generals and went all over the world doing amazing and glamourous things during the UN golden age.

I wonder what people must have thought of an official UN letter being sent to a property outside of a tiny country town in northern Queensland.

Her letters are written so well we spent a whole afternoon reading them like a novel.

Mollly's Recipes

Joan gave me the most wonderful gift last thursday, it is so beautiful,

Molly's recipe book.

Molly is my great-great grandmother.

I love her because she is my great-great grandmother, but also because she is Jesse, i was named after her (of course her really name in Jessie, but she decided to spell her name after her favorite uncle Jesse, we didn't work it out until after I was born and even then I think I would have preferred to be named the way she wanted to be named). We call her Molly because after she was divorced she didn't think mum was really right, and that Jesse was disrespectful, so we ended up with Molly.

So Molly's recipe book, it is circa WW2. there are beautiful recipes such as a rye bread recipe which was given to her by a friend during the bread strike of 1943 (of course I can't find anything about the brisbane bread strike of 1943).

I think it is fascinating that her recipes are almost all sweets, I guess most savory meals consisted of meat and three vege, it boggles my mind that she would have never tasted pasta when I eat it multiple nights of the week.

I have my very last university exam of my undergraduate career on the 15th of November, so on the 16th of November I plan to start cooking. And I'm looking forward to it.

Forms of Procrastination, Pinterst

I've recently discovered a new obsession. PINTEREST! It's like, you pin your interests (hence the name) on various virtual pin boards. It is very addictive, better than Facebook, and more regularly updated than blogs, it is sooo bad for my studies.

I find all sorts of fantastically wonderful things, such as absurd comics:

Cute quotes:

Awe inspiring pictures of bookcases:

And great cooking ideas:

It is truly truly bad for me.

But kind of awesome.

Quiet Baking

Living in a small Queenlander with a family of eight is awesome. However it does mean that my 'hobby' of baking cannot really be indulged after 8.30pm. I really don't want to keep my family awake or risk waking everyone.

That is why I love recipes that don't require loud appliances. So when I came across this recipe today I was very excited. So of course I baked it right away, and boy was it DELICIOUS!

Plus it only used a few utensils and average ingredients. AND it only. Took 5 mins to mix together and 20 ish to bake. Awesome.

I will definitely be making cinnamon brownies again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again.

Beautiful Weather

The weather today has been BEAUTIFUL, really warm, and might if it had followed dozens of hot days been considered hot. However since we are all embracing the warm spring weather it seems perfect!

In fact, to me it seems the exact same weather as the day just last March when Mum and I spent an entire day exploring Uxmal.

We had spent the day before taking a guided tour of Chichen Itza, which was interesting, but kind of horrible, the guide was showing and they took us to a separate huge  tourist restaurant for lunch. So the next day we decided to take second class buss tickets (no seat belts) to Uxmal. we were told it was much prettier and less touristy, it was  better than we would have EVER imagined. instead of hiring a guide we bought an archaeological site guide, we wandered and talked and debated over just how right we thought the archaeologists who wrote the guide were.

It was just an amazing day, we were able to climb over every building but one (as long as you weren't scarred of iguanas) we climbed,  we gazed, we walked... We were there for a good six hours and it was divine.  I only wish I could do it again.

Happy Images

This photo made me smile. I had to post it on Facebook for Louisa who has a 'thing' for mustaches. It makes me laugh to think of her reaction.

Blogging from my iPad... Because I can :D

Max's Birthday

It was Max's Birthday yesterday. It was a lovely and sophisticated day. It all started in the Morning when he refused to take a cake to school, even though I had already baked it (It seems he feels that the Kids at pine are being a bit spoilt and Max is trying to fix it by denying them cake, very Marie Antoinette).  He graciously waited for the afternoon to open his presents, which he did carefully examining each gift, because for Max it's not just about getting stuff.

We then had dinner which was a Donna Hay Chicken Spaghetti Salad with baby spinach leaves, Cherry Tomatoes and creamy basil dressing. Followed by a Poppy Seed cake, from a cake mix, the same that Kathleen had brought down the Sunday before for dessert. Unfortunately I messed up the cake and it feel apart abit when I took it out of the pan, I seem to struggle with packet mixes...

All in all it was a lovely Birthday, and very Max.

Dad says the Citroën looks awesome in this photo... Me too.

I still don't have my license though...

Eating and the Morals of Food

I like to eat. A lot.  I decided just last month that my new official hobby is baking. This is BIG for me, I have never ever had a declared hobby. Although I have always liked doing particular things, reading, talking, cooking etc., I have never said "this is my hobby, I will spend a large portion of my time doing this, because I like it". I think i've always just chickened out. I'm a flitterer, I jump from one thing to another.

However over the past year I have been doing increasingly more baking. It was a problem, mainly because I would use it as a way to avoide uni work or other things I really needed to do, but didn't want to. I was stressed before I baked and I was stressed after I baked, toped with a huge lot of guilt.

But when I decided to make baking my hobby it was as if it all fell into place, I could bake BECAUSE IT WAS MY HOBBY, and that was a perfectly legitimate use of my time, after all people who paint or garden for their hobby spend hours on it each week.  I never knew how powerful a 'hobby' can be.

So anyway don't be suprised that I start blogging about my new hobby a lot....

My friend from Highschool James, has become vegan. This was a very thought out decision for him, he started with a commitment to veganism for lent one year and never went back. It's interesting his views on the difference between being vegan and vegetarian. For me it's so wonderful to see something grip my friend and really change their whole world view.
Sometimes I wish I had the commitment to be vegan, well not vegan. I honestly believe that it is morally acceptable to eat animals and their products so long as it is done with the most care and respect. I think the whole animal should be used and that the killing should be done in the most humane way possible, this means away from the slaughter house. I believe that animals should live a fufilled life, they do deserve our respect both in life and death.

But what about myself? Am I truely doing the best I can to respect my own position in this world. I would say no. I should be treading as lightly as I can. For me this comes back to my eating habits. I think I eat well, both ethics and taste wise, but here's the catch: I eat too much. I've tried thinking about my weight, but I have a tiny voice inside of me that tells me that doesn't really matter, that i'm just trying to compete in a arena I don't belong in, the voice may be wrong but is sure is persuasive. So I think i'll try it from an ethical point of view, I should be eating less because I shold only be taking what I need. I think this might just work!

While I'm at it I think i'll also throw in some exercise... I actually like to exercise, I just don't I can tell myself it is part of my duty to appreciate my body and I will show respect to all those around be if I do.

and to really seal the deal: I'll make it my hobby!

That makes three hobbies now: baking, eating less, and exercising...

wait does this sound like a contridiction?

Kind of, but not... I just like to do three things.

Oh and I also love to share ;) 

Beautiful Moments at School

When J. started to cry and admitted it was mainly because he was worried about his Orange TicTacs he had lost while playing 'stuck in the mud'...

When B. called out to tell me everyone was ready to read and to remind me to bring my glasses...

Sitting in school meeting with A. on my lap and B. and E. snuggling in on either side...

L.'s enthusiasm in the Conflict Resolution session...

I.'s complete attention when reading Half a Million Horses out-loud for the Tuesday afternoon community session...

B. getting a little bit scared and asking if it is time to read The Giant's Necklace yet?...


Max's intelligent and insightful comments and analysis of the current conflicts...

The Vulture.

For as long as I remember Dad has recited a rhyme to us kids. It goes something like this:

The Vulture.
The Vulture eats between it's meals
And that's the reason why.
He very rarely ever feels
As well as you or I...

It goes on, but this is the part I remember the best and it's what I think of every time someone says the word Vulture. Just today I thought of it.  A mother of one of the Kids I teach said to me her child was sure my name is Jesse Vulture, "it looks sort of like an eagle". Despite her mother's diligence in persuasion she remains adamant that is my name, she even states that Maris told her it was and as you know "Maris is always right". Her Mum tried to put a positive spin on it and couldn't find one, but I'm cool with it. In fact I think it's a little bit of awesome.


P.S: Coolest looking vulture don't you think?

Two for the Price of One: Mother's Day and Dad's Birthday.

Dad's Birthday feel on Mother's Day this year, it was a lovely day of delicious food (venison roast; warm pumpkin, and feta salad with beetroot jam; pear, rocket, and blue cheese salad; and three milk cake with the thickest cream on earth for desert). 

The last time this happened, we were very young, digital cameras were the family's new toy, it was one of those nights which I will always remember which was full of unabashed fun!

These were the results:

Nathan, Alec and Me

 Alec, Simone and Nathan

Samuel 

 Robert

 Lucy

 Alec

 Nathan

 Nathan, Alec and Me

 Monica, Simone, Nathan, Me,  and Alec

 Nathan and Alec

 Nathan, Tom, Alec and Me

Nathan and Me

 Nathan, Alec, Me and possibly Simone's hands?

 Alec

 Nathan, Monica, Simone, Me, Alec and Peet

 Monica, Me, Simone, Alec and Nathan

 Monica, Samuel, Nathan, Me, Simone, Alec, Peet and Louisa

 Peet, Alec, Nathan, Daniel, Monica, Me and Simone

 Monica, Me, Simone, Peet, Alec and Nathan

 Alec and Peet

 Monica, Nathan, Me and Peet

 Simone

Simone

But do you know the best thing about having Mother's Day and Dad's birthday on the same day? They both validated helping with dinner as it was the other's day. We should do this every year!