FEJOA CAKE

COOKING WITH JACK JACK

COOKING WITH JACK AND NANNY

LETS HAVE SOME FUN!

FEJOA TREES

LEAF OF THE FEJOA

When our girls were little we planted two trees outside their             bedroom  window to give them privacy from the neighbours and also to   provide some shade in summer. Both Jen and Cindy left home many moons ago and the trees have only just started to do the job they were supposed to do years ago.  The trees are FEJOAS pronounced with a Y  as feyoa as in  Jana is actually Yana.  The past few years they have produced fruit which we basicly left. Last year our maori neighbours from a few houses up the road came and asked if they could have the fruit as they knew we didn't pick it, so they stripped the tree bare.  This year we decided to look for a recipe for fejoa jam,  the only recipe I could find was for a fejoa loaf.                                                                                                                                                

FEJOA FRUIT

                                                     

Last week whilst Jack was here I decided to try making a fejoa loaf, so asked Jack to help me. Firstly Nanny had to peel and chop all the fejoas.  Ouch my aching hands and arms, then we measured out the butter, sugar and water and put all this ingredients in a saucepan to boil.

 

MEASURING THE BUTTER. IS THAT ENOUGH JACK JACK?

 

. PEELING THE FEJOAS WITH JACK LAUGHING AS IT HURT NANNY'S HANDS

MORE PEELING WHILST JACK PLAYS WITH THE SCALES

IS THAT ENOUGH YET NANNY?

JACK SUPERVISING NANNY STIRRING THE POT.

THE MIXTURE BOILING ON THE STOVE.

After the mixture boils for five minutes we set it aside to cool. Then add flour stirring it in so it doesn't go lumpy and beaten eggs. Jack thinks this is so funny, then we are ready to pour the mixture into the pan and cook it in the oven.

NOW WE LINE THE TIN  RIGHT JACK JACK?

WHAT A GOOD LITTLE CHEF POURING IN THE FLOUR

HELPING HANDS

ADDING THE EGGS

IT LOOKS SO FUNNY NANNY

POUR THE MIXTURE INTO THE CAKE TIN

SCRAP THE SAUCEPAN CLEAN

MMM  LOOKS DELICIOUS

SHOWING OUR CAKE TO MUMA

YUMMO! A PIECE FOR EACH HAND.

Thank you to my little apprentice chef Jack Jack we made a delicious Fejoa cake.  We will be keeping that recipe.   

MMM!                                                            

CATCH A FALLING STAR

Last Friday night I arrived home from babysitting at 11.30pm to my sick puppy.  So we spent a good hour out the back whilst she ate grass to try to make herself feel better.  I gazed up at the night stars when all of a sudden a tennis ball sized star shot across the sky which appeared to be about tree level. It was amazing but I forgot to make a wish. Grrr! Ever since I have had Catch a Falling Star music going through my head.

                                   Catch a Falling Star

                                   ~ Perry Como

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Never let it fade away
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Save it for a rainy day


For love may come and tap you on the shoulder some starless night
Just in case you feel you want to hold her
You'll have a pocketful of starlight
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Never let it fade away
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Save it for a rainy day


For love may come and tap you on the shoulder some starless night
And Just in case you feel you want to hold her
You'll have a pocketful of starlight
(Pocketful of starlight, hm,hm,hm,hm,hm,hm)


Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Never let it fade away
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Save it for a rainy day
(Save it for a rainy, save it for a rainy, rainy, rainy, day)


For when your troubles start multiplyin' and they just might
It's easy to forget them without tryin'
With just a pocketful of starlight


Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Never let it fade away
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket
Save it for a rainy day
(Save it for a rainy day)
Save it for a rainy day

Apparently there is an annual meteor show around this time called April Lyrids. A falling star has nothing to do with an actual star.  These amazing streaks of light are caused through tiny bits of dust and rock called meteoroids falling into the Earths atmosphere and burning up. The trail of light the burning meteoroid produces is called a meteor.  Meteors are commonly called falling stars.

Meteor Alerts
The Lyrid Meteor Shower
SpaceWeather.com Global Notes: This is a northern hemisphere shower.
Every year in late April Earth passes through the dusty tail of Comet Thatcher (C/1861 G1), and the encounter causes a meteor shower--the Lyrids. This year the shower peaks on Wednesday morning, April 22nd. The best time to look, no matter where you live, is during the dark hours before dawn. Forecasters expect 10 to 20 meteors per hour visible from dark-sky sites.
Lyrid meteors appear to stream from the bright star Vega in the constellation Lyra:
In fact, Lyrids have nothing to do with Vega. The true source of the shower is Comet Thatcher. Every year in April, Earth plows through Thatcher's drawn-out dusty tail. Flakes of comet dust, most no bigger than grains of sand, strike Earth's atmosphere traveling 49 km/s (110,000 mph) and disintegrate as streaks of light--meteors!
Lyrid meteors are typically as bright as the stars in the Big Dipper, which is to say of middling brightness. But some are more intense, even brighter than Venus. These "Lyrid fireballs" cast shadows for a split second and leave behind smokey debris trails that linger for minutes.
Occasionally, the shower intensifies. Most years in April there are no more than 5 to 20 meteors per hour during the shower's peak. But sometimes, when Earth glides through an unusually dense clump of comet debris, the rate increases. Sky watchers in 1982, for instance, counted 90 Lyrids per hour. An even more impressive outburst was documented in 1803 by a journalist in Richmond, Virginia, who wrote:
"Shooting stars. This electrical [sic] phenomenon was observed on Wednesday morning last at Richmond and its vicinity, in a manner that alarmed many, and astonished every person that beheld it. From one until three in the morning, those starry meteors seemed to fall from every point in the heavens, in such numbers as to resemble a shower of sky rockets..." [ref]
What will the Lyrids do this year? The only way to know for sure is to go outside and look.
Experienced meteor watchers suggest the following viewing strategy: Dress warmly. Bring a reclining chair, or spread a thick blanket over a flat spot of ground. Lie down and look up somewhat toward the east. Meteors can appear in any part of the sky, although their trails will tend to point back toward the radiant--i.e., toward Vega.
Vega is a brilliant blue-white star about three times wider than our Sun and 25 light years away. About 14,000 years ago Vega was the North Star. Earth's spin axis wanders: Now it points at Polaris, then it pointed at Vega. You might have seen Vega in Carl Sagan's movie Contact. It was the source of alien radio transmissions to Earth.
next time I must remember to make a wish and catch it and put it in my pocket for a rainy day.

four legged and feathered family members

Recently I went to visit a cousin who just lives close by BUT I hadn't been to her house for over 20 years.  As I am the youngest in my whole family my cousin wasn't sure how I would be with her two dogs, as I wasn't allowed to have pets growing up. Mind you they were only little dogs and they were both really cute.


My brother brought home a stray kitten one day but that disappeared quickly.  So you could say I have made up for the lack of pets as a kid by having a menagerie of pets now.


Over 12 years ago I decided I wanted a little black and white fluffy dog which I was going to call Jamie.  I searched all the pet shops for ages trying to find a doggie that spoke to me 'take me home'. Until one day I found a litter of golden coloured fluffy dogs.  So I took the family out to look at them and every dog had poos on it except one. That was the one I decided to adopt and take home, she cried all the way home in the car.  We decided that she didn't look like a Jamie so her name is Maizee, she was such a tiny fluff ball.

                           Maizee watching the world go by 


   
Bruce had been wanting a chocolate labrador for a while so we kept an eye out for one.  We saw one advertised in the paper an hours drive from here.  So one day Bruce and I set off to look at these chocolate labradors and adopted a cute one which we called Maggie. On the drive back  I had Maggie on the floor near my feet and she kept biting me all the way home. Maggie turned out to be a kelpie X and nothing like a labrador. Maggie and Maizee became really good friends and loved to sleep together. Maggies favourite pastime was chasing a ball, she had endless energy for this.  Unfortunately poor Maggie contracted a disease which had the vets puzzled, had so many tests, skin scrappings, injections and special washes. Nothing worked and she lost most of her hair and had a weird smell.  She only had a short life. R.I.P. Maggie Lee!

                                        enjoying a cuddle


                             
Then the kids all had their pets. So we had a cockateil Moe owned by Jen, a budgie Woodstock owned by Warwick and a rabbit charcoal owned by Cindy as well as the two dogs. The poor rabbit cooked in the sun and lived up to its name charcoal. After that Cindy decided she wanted a cat. One of my friends cats kept having litters which she gave away.  It happened to be Warwick's birthday the day we adopted the cat which Cindy called Zoie. So she decided to give it to him as a birthday present but he didn't want it. Anyway Zoie turned out to be a boy but as he was used to the name he is still called Zoie.  He cost Cindy an arm and a leg, as he got involved in a cat fight which damaged his left eye.  After two operations the vet had to remove his eye as it couldn't be saved. So he is a one eyed cat with a girls name. LOL!

our one eyed Zoie                           

Maizee and Zoie have a funny relationship, they can be good friends sleeping close by one minute then fighting the next just like kids. Also Maizee seems to get rather amoures with Zoie thinking she is a boy and does naughty things.

The kids all moved out taking the birds but some how we were left with Zoie.  As I missed the birds so much Jen bought me a budgie for Christmas in 2005 which I called Joey.  The following Christmas I decided Joey needed a companion so I bought a yellow budgie and called it Elfie. Strangely enough the kids have all had several birds over the years which don't seem to last long but my  two are still alive and flying.

Joey seems to be the boss of the cage and tends to bully Elfie quite a bit by pushing her off the perches.  They are both very distructive, no matter what I put in their cage it gets wrecked.

Joey and Elfie

I keep checking pet shops for the black and white fluffy dog

I wanted before adopting Maizee but still can't find one.  Never mind Maizee has brought me so much love over the 12 years, I wouldn't change it for the world.  She is looking like a little old lady lately with thinning hair and has less energy.

Easter Bunnies

                                                                    circle of bunnies

This Easter I decided to make all the grandchilren something as I think they usually get far too much chocolate, then feel sick after eating it.

So I remembered seeing a little bunny made out of a washer on my mother in laws dressing table at the club. Jen also decided to make her Easter presents, so we got together for a sewing day.

I embroidered felt faces then tied the waher together with a small egg in the middle, and sewed it together.  The kids all thought it was good and once they ate the egg wore the washer on their arms.

                                          7 bunnies for the grandkis and one for Bruce

THE NEW IRON

On Good Friday Bruce put the ironing board up then switched the iron on. It flickered on then off.  Oh no what was he going to do, shock horror we don't have a spare one which surprises me as we have spares of spares.  One of our spare rooms is virtually taken up with spares or extras of food items etc. as you will never know when the shops are going to be shut.  HELLO! most shops are open until late so all you have to do is go out for the item you require. But no panic mode sets in if we don't have a replacement straight away.

Anyway we had a very busy weekend and being Easter weekend the shops WERE closed Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We made it through until Monday when Bruce went to the supermarket for some items and bought a cheap iron for $17. He tried it out that night complaining that it didn't feel right as it was too light.  SoTuesday we had to go into the cbd to purchase  another iron. I was exhausted and dreaded the thought of traipsing around the shops to compare prices for the best deal.

Luckily enough we started at Myers where they had a small range but reasonable prices. We stood there for a while checking out the wattage as the more grunt the iron has the better it lasts. The sales assistant came up to ask me if we wanted any help.  At this stage Bruce almost laughed as I DON'T IRON. Anyway we finally decided on the right iron for us, took it to the counter to pay and the lady still directed her questions to me. LOL! In the end we got a good deal as the shelf price for the iron was $90 but rang up at $69 on special.

So now Bruce is happy with his new iron.  And guess what WE HAVE A SPARE IRON lol!.

POTTY MOUTH

                                                           NO SWEARING


A favourite saying in my house is "what would your mother say if she saw you doing that?" Yes my Mum would be horrified seeing how her daughter has grown up into a POTTY MOUTH. As kids we used to get into trouble saying 'I'm a guts',  damn and bloody were considered swear words.


It wasn't until I married that I was influenced into using more colourful language which I used to find offensive. Recently I have been dropping the F-bomb quite a bit and also after being taught by my husband I"ve got something in my pocket for you, showed it in front of my eldest granddaughter.  As they say monkey see monkey do.  Now she goes around saying I've got something in my pocket for you, and gets herself into trouble because of me.

                                        FLIPPING THE BIRD


Nanny now realises what a bad influence I have been and want to SHOUT OUT  "I AM SORRY TO ALL SEVEN OF MY GRANDCHILDREN" for being such a POTTY MOUTH. from this day forward I will try my hardest not to drop any swear words in front of the kids. I also ask that the adults don't make anything explode  delibrately in front of me which scares me and therefore makes the F-bomb slip out without thinking.


Chris I am a nice person, just don't know whats got into me lately.   I will try my hardest to return to being meek and mild.

RUBBISH

 On Easter Sunday my family met down the local park for a picnic.  As it was a long weekend the rubbish bins obviously hadn't been emptied for a few days and were overflowing.

We all took our own food to eat and at the end of a lovely day we went to add our rubbish to the bin. My future s-i-l was verbally attacked by a woman sitting at another table who told him to take our rubbish home.

Well aren't the bins supplied for us to dump our rubbish. We not only put our own rubbish in the bin but the previous persons from our table who left their rubbish behind.

We too could have just walked away leaving all our rubbish on the table to be blown around the park but we did the right thing by binning it.

So take a chill pill you stupid woman and mind your own business.

Keep Australia Clean      

KISSES

How do you prefer to kiss?

Growing up in my family we always kissed each other on the lips and thought  it to be natural.  Bruce's family on the other hand  have always given a peck on the cheek.

  I find it funny when you see someone air kissing another persons cheeks not even touching each other, are they afraid of catching coodies?  The younger generation seem to rush up to a friend in a shopping centre to greet them with a hug and a cheek kiss. Until recently I have never greeted a friend this way just kept it for family members.  Then my best friend and I started on special occassions greeting each other with a kiss. It felt really strange at first but has since grown on me.

                                                              pucker up baby!


 Recently I had a discussion with my husband and daughters about kissing. They all think kissing on the lips is intimate and should be kept for your partner. Whereas I don't agree and see nothing wrong with a short kiss on the lips.  Its not a full on pash just a quick peck on the lips.

                                                       plant a big sloppy kiss here!


So what does everyone else think.....cheek peck.....lip kiss...or air kiss

XXXXXXXXXXXX    MMMMWWWAAAAAA    XXXXXXXXXXX

NEIGHBOUR DAY

Sunday 28th March was Neighbour Day in Australia.  We haven't been able to attend it before for various reasons, so this year Jen, Jack and I decided to venture down to check it out. It was held at our local park which is half way between Jens house and mine., so we both walked down to meet each other there.

I arrived first and saw the covered bbq area decorated with streamers and balloons but wasn't sure if it was a private birthday party or the neighbour day.  As I sat at a table waiting for Jen and Jack a lady came up asking if I wanted a sausage. I explained I was waiting for my daughter, so she moved onto the next lot of people.

preparing sausage sizzle

A short while later she came back saying come over and meet some people whilst you're waiting for your daughter.  So she introduced me to the group cooking the sausages and then some other ladies sitting at a table.  Jen and Jack arrived then we all enjoyed some lovely sausages. the other ladies told me about a group at the local neighbour hood house telling me I would be welcome to come.

Jack and Nanny eating                  

                                          Jen enjoying her snags

                                              

Jack went off to play whilst I sat chatting to everyone and finding out about whats been happening in the neighbourhood.

Ready, Set, Go!

It was a lovely day which we all enjoyed. I am looking forward to joining my group after the school holidays and catching up with all the people again.