Slow Living Month 11

Time to look back on a month that seems to have flown by with the blink of an eye. Our eldest completed his exams despite not being well, and the younger two and I have been furiously trying to finish up bits and pieces so we can enjoy the coming summer holidays.

NOURISH: 

Early this month we enjoyed lunches of decadent and delicious open sandwiches using garlic and herb, two peppers or honey and mustard flavoured cream cheeses. A much appreciated hand made gift from my farm sister. We topped them with lettuce from the garden and my home-made pickled onions and coriander pesto. 

My sister had also sent me some of her hand made houllumi ... delicious... we enjoyed that over a freshly picked spinach salad. Another of her cheeses was used with home made tortillas, filled with chicken cooked with onion and garlic from the garden. Her cheese also went into some tasty courgette muffins.
First courgettes from the garden went into Spanish omelettes, a simple yet tasty dinner.
My daughter spent a fair amount of time in the kitchen helping with baking: 
orange cake, pecan and carrot muffins, corn and chili bread, rosemary shortbread. 
The boys certainly appreciate her efforts.
Ooh...almost forgot....I made my first ever pumpkin pie and it was a winner even if I say so myself!

PREPARE:

Not much in this department except the usual chili and tomato jam and then yesterday I made a batch of apricot and ginger jam. 

REDUCE:
 Old stockings have been snipped up and used to tie up the tomatoes and prevent the wind from destroying them. 

GROW:
The granadilla vine is heavy with fruit and numerous new flowers appear each day. Every morning I run out to check on my squash for new flowers and fruit. Sunflowers stand tall in the garden and bees and butterflies are everywhere.

I planted a number of seeds shared with me from my sister in law's visit to my farm sister: scarlet runner beans, watercress, cucumbers,  safflower, lemon basil, fennel 
and mustard greens.  

We have been enjoying herbs, chillies, first tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, green beans, first courgettes and garlic from the garden.

CREATE:
 I have been battling to find the time to be creative but my youngest made this wooden stool at his technology class.

My daughter has been enjoying making some pocket money helping out at Sweetarts. She has natural creative flair and is loving working with Jacki and learning from her.

DISCOVER: 

I discovered "The Micro Gardener", a great website with ideas for the garden. A post on spring onions led me to discover that mine had gone to seeds and the seeds were ready to collect. I also made the "sensational spring onion salsa" as a side dish one evening.

I have downloaded a number of free books onto my Kindle Cloud Reader and have been trying to get some ideas for easy home-made Christmas gifts and holiday ideas.

ENHANCE: 
Our youngest attended his monthly Chaeli Campaign meeting and has continued selling bath sprudels to raise funds for the Chaeli Campaign. 
My daughter held her monthly craft workshop where she showed the girls how to make beautiful wooden hanging hearts, strung with beads and decorated with roses.
She and I have also begun exercising in earnest again and are enjoying the enormous benefits thereof. 

ENJOY:
 We enjoyed a number of outings; UCT Zoology Department, Newlands Rugby Stadium and the Cape Dairy Expo. 
There have been plenty of impromptu enjoyable neighbourhood dinners where we all just come together and share pot luck dinner, catch up and relax.
 We shared a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner too.
We visited the Cape Doctors Art Exhibition where some of my father's art was on display and last night we enjoyed an exhibition of the work of my neighbour's brother, Gavin Collins.

 Thank you Christine for hosting this great link up at Slow Living Essentials.