Occupancy Certificate

We finely have our occupancy certificate, which in legal terms means we are now allowed to live in our house. So to receive this certificate we had to finish 3 main parts to a reasonable standard, and they where the balcony, the internal staircase and a wet area. The bathrooms are 3 and we have finished one to a reasonable standard, but we don't think it's finished to our standard yet and so we are still working on it and the other two, and hopefully all finished in the not too distant further. The stair case was nearly finished, except for the balastrading and that is more for the safety of ourselves and our two beautiful granddaughters, who for some reason love going up and down them whenever they come to visit. But our grand balcony is more or less finished just the ceiling and a paint job. What a pleasure to stand out there and watch the kangaroos and bird life or just to contemplate life its self. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful place to live.

Carrot and Cashew Nut Roast

Went to a winter solstice dinner a couple of weeks ago, and had a very nice time, but the idea was that everyone brought a plate to share, it was a wonderful foodie dinner, so my contribution was the Carrot and Cashew Nut Roast needless to say I was asked by a few of the group for the recipe, so here it is, I only wish I had taken a photo of the night as well as the food.

1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp olive or sunflower oil
450g carrots, cooked and mashed
225g cashew nuts, ground
100g breadcrumbs
1 tbsp tahini
1 1/2tsps caraway seeds
1 tsp yeast extract
juice of 1/2 a lemon
65ml stock
salt & pepper

1. Fry the onion and garlic in the oil until soft.
2. Mix together with all the other ingredients and season to taste.
3. Place the mixture in a greased loaf tin, I used a square dish and that presented very nicely.
4. Cover with foil and bake at 180 c or 350 f] for about an hour.
5. Remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes. Leave to stand in loaf tin for 10 minutes before turning out. I left mine in the dish for carrying and presentation.
ENJOY

Old Friends

Went to a friends 60th birthday party on Sunday, caught up with alot of old friends that I haven't seen for a good ten years, some have changed alot and then some, who haven't changed much. What I found interesting was how much I had changed, not in looks, I'm not concerned about that, but the path one takes in life. Fifteen years ago I became a vegetarian so my interests have evolved along that path into animal rights, veganism, etc. It's ten years since I left the suburbs to live here in this beautiful country town of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs, and the 7 acres we live on and, in our wonderful nearly finished mud brick home that we have slowly built over the last 5 years. Sunday was for me, an eye opener, we could still be suburbanites if we hadn't taken a chance and changed our outlook on life. My vegetarianism was the beginning or should I say Peter Singer's book on Animal Liberation was my awakening. Not one of my old friends has travelled with me on this path, which makes me rather sad, even Global Warming isn't part of their concerns. Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not really complaining, I'm just amazed that in the suburbs things don't change too much, so how are the issues of Global Warming or Peak Oil going to be tackled when issues of keeping up with the Joneses are still important. How do we get the messages across to these people, when even being a vegetarian is still unusual.