Starting to feel at home...

 Climbing cousin Elisabeth's chair... hmmm..

 One of the last days of our family Easter time.

 ANZAC biscuits, German style - Zuckerruebensirup instead of golden syrup, which gives a malty flavour.

 Walking in the forest.

 Making playdough worms and other creations.

 A 'new' doona cover and pillow case set for Nahlia, made out of an old single bed doona cover.

 Green Soup - spinach, peas and smoked ham.  Nahlia didn't like it as she thought it was green smoothie, but naturally it tasted nothing like that!

 Playing horsey on the trampoline.

Our latest batch of sauerkraut - one red cabbage and three white.  I'm hoping for pink-kraut, but it looks more like it will become purple-kraut!

 The pumpkins are sprouting!!  I planted out a mix of three Australian varieties - Jap (Japora), Queensland Blue, and a mysterious unknown one.  I'm excited to see how productive they will be here, given the limited growing months.

 Playing 'cubby house'.

 Reading 'Benjamin Blumchen' with Oma.

And so life goes on....  

When we arrived we had lots of ideas in our heads, and hearts, about what we wanted to do here/ how we wanted to live / what kind of job Ulf wanted to do, etc.  But as we started 'knocking on the doors' that would give us those dreams, we found door after door closed solid.  Ulf wanted to become a Waldorf teacher, but it doesn't seem possible for Ulf to study anything here full-time.  He's above the age-limit for financial assistance while studying, and we wouldn't be able to live without it.  If he worked full-time for a year or two to save the money needed to study, it would take that much longer to complete his study and start working as a teacher.   So now he's looking in other directions, such as an apprenticeship, which would give us an income to live on while he learned a trade.

In the meantime, Ulf has been looking for a job locally to provide for us until he begins whatever it is he decides to begin.  Ha ha.  But again, nothing has opened up for him yet.  He's also been using his time in his parent's garden, helping his father with whatever needs doing, repairing little bits and pieces around the house, being a Dad, helping with the care of his grandparents a little, and helping in the neighbours garden as well.

We have managed to work our way through our mountain of paperwork, which I mentioned previously.  All we have left to do is apply for my visa.  Yee-ha!

Nahlia has been having fun making new friends - last week we visited Ulf's cousin and their three girls, we met a family with two boys and a girl, and next week we'll start going to a Mother's Group.  She's also enjoying seeing her cousin Elisabeth and her baby sister Linn almost every week.  Nahlia loves going shopping with Oma (without Mummy!), and she's starting to repeat German words after Oma.  She also has three out of four of the her last set of baby molars through!  Yay!  Only one to go!

As for me, I'm finally finding my feet again; with my kitchen and household tasks in order, time for a little sewing, gardening a bit, and now starting to knit cotton dish cloths as well... don't worry, I'm not planning to knit myself a jumper any time soon!  I went to Tabita last week to help sort secondhand clothes which are shipped overseas to poor countries and missionaries working there.  It was nice to get out of the house and focus on something else for a while.  I'm also cooking for the whole family now and then - 6 adult plus Nahlia - which is a big help to Ulf's mother.

Ulf and I had our first date alone yesterday since Nahlia was about 9 months old.  We went to a cafe at an old castle - THAT was a lovely treat!

And for mother's day, I slept in while Ulf helped Nahlia paint me a card, and make me pancakes for breakfast! Yum.  :-)

"Begin difficult things while they are easy, do great things when they are small.  The difficult things of the world must once have been easy, the great things must have once been small.  A thousand mile journey begins with one step." - Lao Tsu.

'Passing the time'

 Nahlia modelling her new skirt... made out of my grandmother's hand-embroidered tablecloth.

 Mum took me to see the Phantom of the Opera... what a nice treat!  It's always fun to dress up occasionally...

 My first attempt at pumpkin sourdough bread.... not bad, but it rose even less than my normal sourdough does.

 Enjoying some Kombucha on a couch covered with fake grass... at a funky cafe in Yungaburra.... 'That Retro Cafe'.

 Nahlia first trike... the beginning of learning her bicycle skills.

 A picnic rug / play rug...

 Another birthday...

 ... which we celebrated at 'Koala Gardens' in Kuranda.

This was amazing to see, but as we lived among wild kangaroos in Melbourne, we realised quickly that these were not real kangaroos...  :(

 Having a splash in a wading pool, Kuranda.

 It started with a new phone cover, then the creative splash went onto a new purse, which I really needed, and finished with a tissue holder..... which gave me a three piece matching set in my handbag!  Totally unplanned, I just followed where the creativity led me!  So fun!

 'Maya Chocolate Pie'... my raw birthday cake..... *drool*!

Reading about peaceful parenting... with Nahlia! Ha!

Loving the water yet again.... enjoying Lake Tinaroo.

Having fun and making friends at Playgroup!

A beautiful sunset at my Mum's place.

... So this is how we've been spending our last few months in Australia!

And now, with four weeks to go until we fly out of Australia, we're slowly getting excited!  There's many little things to do before then, 'tying up loose ends', finishing a few last sewing projects, visiting friends in the area, and plenty of sorting and chucking, and then there's the packing, packing, packing!

Banana and Goat's Cheese Wrap

How simple and how delicious!  Even without the goat's cheese, this spelt wrap filled with a single banana makes for a divine and healthy snack!

Wheat-free and sugar-free!

- --- -

My first attempt at making Chevre was a success!  The cheese didn't set as the recipe intended, so I used lemon juice and heated it slightly on the stove until it seperated.  I didn't press the curds into a solid either, so I ended up with a spreadable soft cheese with a lovely texture and rich flavour. 

Homemade Ice Cream

My last WWOOF host taught me a traditional recipe for homemade ice cream which uses 4 raw eggs, cream, sugar and your choice of flavouring.  Preferring to avoid sugar and raw eggs, and being a bit of a kefir junkie, I decided to find a way to make kefir ice cream without an ice cream maker and which also appealed to Ulf, who loves the creamy flavour of ice cream.  This is my first attempt at something between straight kefir ice cream and the traditional version.  And it tastes amazing...!!!

Banana Kefir-Yoghurt Ice Cream

Combine in a bowl:
3 bananas, mashed with a fork (or two large ones)
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
1/4 cup agave syrup (or you could use honey instead)
1 1/2 cups natural yoghurt
1 cup kefir

In another bowl, beat 300ml cream until aerated and doubled, NOT whipped.
Gently fold cream into first bowl and freeze 6 hours or overnight.

YUM!
P.S. Ulf loves it too!

Pumpkin Cake

Here in Quaama they have a large pumpkin harvest ready for eating, so I thought I'd try and use some up in a yummy way! 

Start with 3 eggs, beaten until light and fluffy;
beat in 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup oil, and 3 cups cold pre-cooked mashed pumpkin, and 2 teaspoons vanilla essence;
sift in 3 cups self-raising flour, 4 teaspoons mixed spice, and mix well;
add 1 cup sultanas (or chopped dates) and 3/4 cup chopped walnuts;
pour into two greased loaf tins, bake at 170deg for 50 to 60 minutes.

 The result was delicious and if I'm not looking at it, then I think that I'm eating banana cake!

Garden Tea Party

I love tea parties, so every year I celebrate my birthday with one!  This year I tried a new German torte recipe - Raspberry Torte with Joghurt-Cream.... yum!!  It's five layers took me four days to put together, but it was well worth the effort.  I also loved the idea of hanging my mother's, grandmother's and great-grandmother's hand embroided doilies as decorations.  Lovely!  I realised later that they were there celebrating with me through their beautiful work and fine stitches. 

Oh, it was a lovely day, and one to be remembered for great friends, delicious food, beautiful 'things', a swim in the pool alone, and a gorgeous pink sunset to end the day was a gift from heaven.  I am happy!  My last birthday tea party in Lilydale and it couldn't have been more lovely.  Thank you.

Almond Butter

I've been having fun making almond butter today - or almond spread, as there is no butter in it.  It turned out relatively well, just a little too much salt perhaps!  The amount below is derived from 3 kilos of almonds, roasted!  A friend of mine told me how to make it a while ago and I've been making it ever since!  It's a great alternative to bought peanut butter, which has a lot of sugar and other things in it, and we love it!