COLOURFULWORLD

Friday 1 May 2020

April Wrap-Up

In a much quieter month than usual of course, due to the current pandemic, the month started with me baking a Walnut cake to take to the clinic to farewell one of our Doctors, on Wednesday 2nd.
I saw the recipe on Catarina's blog (who reblogged from another blogger) and thought it looked easy and delicious. Recipe at the bottom of post.


The pink moon - when the full moon was exactly opposite the Sun and closest to Earth, was visible just after sunset on Wednesday 8th.

My street and the pink moon in the distance
The Easter long weekend from Friday 10th to Monday 13th, was spent doing a bit of gardening enjoying the warm weather, and finishing off some furniture painting projects.



This sideboard will most probably take new door knobs as I'm not too fond of the original ones that I painted



This little rocking elephant was on the verge just two houses down from me, awaiting Verge Collection by our local council. I went to get it, glued its trunk, sanded and painted it. It's now ready for my grandkids to enjoy. They haven't seen it yet, I  hope they like it :)

Jose has taken over the cooking and shopping, but I made Rice Pudding for Easter lunch to go with the meat stew Jose cooked.

I've also found a great and quick recipe for Artisan bread and I've been baking it once a week.
This week I baked 3 loaves - 1 sourdough, and 2 artisan breads and dropped a Sourdough and 1/2 of one Artisan bread to friends of ours who live in a Retirement village.
In exchange I was given a bag of persimmons from their garden.

Preparing the bread
The 3 loaves I baked - 2 artisan and 1 sourdough
Bag of Persimmons given to me by our friends

Our passion fruit vine is full of fruit and just a few flowers still in bloom. They are so pretty aren't they?


At work a couple of the patients presented us with their home made Anzac biscuits, delicious Raspberry cup cakes, Lemon cup cakes and one gave us a $40 voucher from a nearby coffee shop. Some were accompanied by Thank you notes, which touched my heart.


The kind gestures didn't stop there, as one day when I arrived home from work I found a beautiful card in the post box written by a young mother of 2 who I met through the "Buy Nothing" facebook group, thanking me for the friendship, which left me quite emotional. 
She was the one who made my birthday cupcakes. I had sent her a photo of them on my table, which she now displayed in her postcard.  
One of these days I'll bake her a home-made bread to thank her for the beautiful gesture.



Anzac day was celebrated on Saturday 25th. Sadly this year the usual parade and festivities were cancelled, but a lot of people chose to stand on their driveways or balconies at 6am and light a candle while listening to "The last post".


Crown of poppies in my street, and flags and poppies at the Retirement village where my friends live

Because we had a long weekend, on Monday 27th, Jose and I picked olives from our small tree by the driveway in the front garden. We managed to pick 7kgs! Jose is now in charge of changing the water daily for 1 month, before they get prepared.

The new neighbours moved to their new hourse at the beginning of April, but with social distancing I haven't seen them.

Our olive tree by the driveway and you can see house next door.

When we were picking olives the magpies that live in the trees in the park across the road, came to our driveway to get some olives. They love walnuts, so I got a few and they would come close to me and eat them.

The friendly magpies eating walnuts

On Wednesday's I'm the one that closes the clinic, and as I came out into the car-park last week, I was greeted with this beautiful purple sky, the sun having just set.


Our cats, either because they are getting old, or maybe because we are spending more time at home have become quite clingy. Fluffy, our ginger cat, just wants to have his paws over Jose when he sits next to him, or if he decides to sit on my desk he will put his paws over the mouse or the keyboard and type away, or he decides to sleep on my hand.

Fluffy lying on my keyboard


Fluffy, Twiggy and Shelley

























































WALNUT CAKE

1 juicy orange (zest, juice and pulp)

1 measure plain yogurt 

1 measure of grated coconut

3 measures of flour

3 sugar measures (I used only 1 1/2 measures)

1/2 measure of oil

4 eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tot of Port wine

2 teaspoons spoon cinnamon 

1/2 measure coarsely chopped walnuts


1. Turn the oven on to 180 C°, when preparation begins. 

2. Mix all the ingredients with a wooden spoon. It is not advisable to use an electric mixer.

3. Bake in a greased pan sprinkled with flour, and covered with parchment paper, during  30/40 minutes, depending of the oven.

4.  Test with a toothpick and if necessary, let it cook a little longer. 

Note: I used a cup as a measure for all ingredients. I only used 1 1/2 cups of sugar, and found it was sweet enough.
Enjoy 😃



34 comments:

  1. ...when I was a kid, I had a rocking horse like your elephant.

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    1. How nice Tom, I can't remember having a rocking horse ever.

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  2. Your cooking and furniture painting projects look like a very good way to pass the time while isolation is in force, though I gather that you are an essential worker who still has a non-online job. I wish you well as we continue trying to avoid the global pandemic.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. Yes I work 4 days a week Mae at a Medical clinic. The furniture painting is one of my hobbies and I find it very relaxing. Keep week Mae and have a lovely weekend.

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  3. Oh, that cake! Now I feel like I absolutely need a slice or two... :)

    You keep yourself very busy, Sami, working outside the home and all... You live a full life. That's excellent.
    :)

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    1. The cake was really taste Catarina, I'll be making it again for sure!

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  4. Terrific re-cap ~ I love how that elephant rocker turned out, so sweet! All your projects are wonderful ~ and so are your kitties! Blessings ~

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    1. Thanks Karen. I quite like the elephant rocker too. My grandkids haven't seen it yet, I hope they enjoy it.

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  5. Oh Sami, you had me at Rocking Elephant. I WANT this to add to my collection of rocking horses. Now I wish I hadn't seen it (grin).

    You had a really good month considering we are in lock down (or social distancing). I actually LIKE the knobs on that buffet. However, it certainly makes the vintage piece look quite modern.

    You will never go hungry with all that fruit and veggies you have growing in your yard. So glad Jose is able to stay home. One person dealing with the stress of this virus is enough for one family to endure. PLEASE stay safe and careful, dear friend.

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    1. I had to grab that poor elephant, it was just 2 doors down, what a pity to go to the dump. Now it looks brand new, and I'm sure my grandkids will love it when they see it.
      Keep safe too Elizabeth.

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  6. Your furniture turned out so well. Nicely done! And that cake looks really good -- thanks for sharing the message. I adore all the cat photos but especially Fluffy, who reminds me so of Gypsy. Those marmelades are so sweet!

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    1. Thanks Jeanie. Yes, Fluffy our ginger cat is very friendly and the most social of the 3.

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  7. I took a slice of the cake. Yummy.

    Aw on the kitties. So precious.

    Have a fabulous day. ♥

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    1. Thanks Sandee. I've also posted on your Friday cat page :)

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  8. Dearest Sami,
    That was a lot of friendly interaction between people!
    Yes, we all have been cooking and baking more at home, which is a positive thing.
    Your touch ups for old furniture are a great way of spending time, with good results.
    Love your kitties, they can be so lazy, lingering around.
    They love to be near the trackpad or keyboard and at times, yes they type or start something that you yet have to figure out getting rid of or closing...
    Sending you hugs,
    Mariette

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    1. Thanks Mariette. It's nice to have some pets around to keep us entertained :)

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    2. Thank you for joining the Feline Friday Blog Hop.

      Have a purrfect Feline Friday and weekend. Big hug. ♥

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    3. Thanks for hosting Sandee.

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  9. I love what you do to rather plain old timber furniture. From dead tree material you bring it alive. Mostly people are being kinder do each other, which is a nice thing, and people seem to be extra kind to you, which tells me something.

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    1. Thanks Andrew. I too find there has been a lot more kindness going around. Have a lovely weekend.

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  10. Gostei de ver a recuperação dos móveis e o bolo deve de ser delicioso.
    Um abraço e tenha um bom 1º de Maio.

    Andarilhar
    Dedais de Francisco e Idalisa
    Livros-Autografados

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    1. Obrigada Francisco, bom fim de semana.

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  11. The walnut cake looks truly delicious. I suspect that in many households a little too much baking is going on during this period of enforced confinement. I know that is true in our house! There seems to be a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel, however, in terms of returning to a semblance of normalcy.

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    1. Thanks David. Actually this is the first cake I've baked since lockdown, I try not to eat too many sweets.
      Our State of Western Australia, along with a couple more states are doing quite well with no cases at all in a few days. This weekend a few of our restrictions are being lifted which is now. So hopefully not too long until we are back to normal.

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  12. Uma fatia, por favor, desse belo bolo. Quase consigo sentir o aroma...
    Bom 1º de Maio
    Beijinho

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    1. Estava muito bom Paula :) Bom feriado para vos.

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  13. Still quite a full month Sami. Love your painting endeavours which reminds me I have a white Queen Anne set with six drawers I need to talk to you about, I'll call you 😊 I think your grandchildren are going to love the rocking elephant, it's so cute, bet you can't wait to see them 💙 So happy we can now catch up in groups of 10, it's my sister's birthday tomorrow and I can now have them around for a birthday lunch. Your new neighbour's house went up pretty fast didn't it! Take care Sami I'm sure it won't be long before we can catch up xox

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    1. Thanks Grace, I think the kids will love the rocking elephant :)
      Enjoy the birthday get-together, so nice that some restrictions have eased a bit.
      I just looked, the house started in mid October last year, so it took 5 1/2 months, pretty quick.
      Have a lovely Sunday.

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  14. Reads Like A Solid Month To Me - Beautifully Illustrated

    Cheers

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  15. A busy month …
    That cake looks so delicious …

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thanks Jan, I'm not usually a cake baker, but this cake was very nice.

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  16. That was a fun post .... I’m expecting to see a post typed by Fluffy soon ;)j). ....I’ve never known of anyone who had an olive tree in their yard, that was fun to think about. I guess I always just thought about them growing in an orchard, large scale. Dumb thinking on my part, because I know apple trees and orange trees (etc) grow both large and in peoples yards, olive trees are just so exotic to me. I enjoyed reading a bit about your day to day life ... one of the best parts of blogging for me! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks Sallie. We planted the olive tree as we saw many olive trees around our suburb, so knew it would survive. I think the European immigrants might have brought the habit of planting fruit trees and vegetables to Australia as in many suburbs where they lived there is at least a lemon tree in the backyard. Our house actually belonged to an Italian old man, and we certainly have many fruit trees in our backyard :)

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