"Seriously, it is a Happy Monday."

Hello and a super Happy Monday to you.

Wow doesn't the weather being cooler make you happy. It certainly does for me. I feel as if I can get things done. We have been super busy here at Kainga.
Planting perenials, a Raspberry Bush,restoring some old chairs, reading lots and lots,brick paving ,baking bread and cakes etc just to name a few.

Last Friday we had our first monthly sewing day for the year. I started a new project. I found a packet of 144 of these bright squares brand new never been opened in Good Sammys the week prior for a few dollars. I will show more when it is finished. Getting a bargain and a day with like minded people makes me happy.

I didn't do a posting last Monday because quite simply I had the house to myself. The first time in months so spent the day cross stitching and reading. A computer free day which was so relaxing. I was planning to post about the cross stitch pattern I received from The Prairie Grove Peddler and the lovely pink box Lucy made for me while she was in New Zealand many years ago. So it is being showcased today. Lucy with the help of her Aunty Chris decorated the box and filled it will shells they found on the beach and inside as well was some Bath Bombs. You can see I kept one,the little pink one at the front.

Bath Bombs.

1.5 cups bicarb soda
half cup citric acid
1 tspt lavender oil
4 tsp almond oil
food colouring
dried flower petals,can use fresh lavender and rose petals.

Combine the 2 dry ingredients, add oils and colouring. Add the flowers. Mix with your fingers into the shapes you want. Wrap in cling wrap. Leave them for a day in the cling wraps, then for another day with the wrap removed.

Place in bath and sit back and relax.

I had a walk around the garden this morning and picked some roses. They smell divine. I have missed the perfume of roses. Look what will be waiting for Ian when he gets home from work today. A Banana cake. I haven't cooked one of these at all last year because of the high cost of bananas. So with them in plentiful supply and very reasonably priced. I even managed to pick them up for 99 cents a kilo the other Sunday in our local supermarket.

I found this recipe in the Bream Bay cook book.

Banana Cake.

2 cups sugar
8 ozs butter (250g)
2 cups hot water
Melt together and cool.
Mash 2 to 3 bananas.
Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons baking soda.
Mix together and add to above.
Beat in 2 eggs.
Add 4 cups flour and 4 teasppons baking powder.

Put mix into greased 9 inch round tin.
Bake 160 degrees C, for 50 minutes.

Now I found out after pouring in the mix that my tin was slighly smaller so added the left over mix into 7 muffin tins so I basically got two cakes for the price of one. We will eat the cake now and the muffins can go in the freezer for later on in the week.

The bell has just gone of on the oven. Buns made with Chia seeds and Quinoa Grain. Later on today I plan to make some Pumpkin soup. We were given a pumpkin on Friday. I will be trying a new recipe,the one that is in this weeks Seven Days tv magazine. You roast the pumpkin  garlic etc in the oven then blend them together. It sounds yummy and will be the perfect accompiant to the buns.

I am pretty exicited to be having a go at something new this week. I have been to the Chemist to order some Alum for the project. Of course the staff didn't know what I was talking about so I asked them to ask the Chemist. The one that is not a local didn't have a clue to what I was talking about. Luckily the hometown Chemist knew straight away what it was. Fingers crossed the Alum will be here in a few days.

Happy Monday
Bev C