Bah bunkum

Today has been miserable and cold and it is hard to get motivated. In Australia houses are not that well heated as normally our winters are not so cold- well this year it is cold, drizzly and it is lasting much too long for my liking! I have been working on another cross stitched crosses piece- this time in different colours. I have also been playing around with the structure of lace- and am blown away at how balanced all elements of the lace structure actually is- no matter how much you zoom in. The images are based on a small piece of eighteenth century drochel lace- the linen is so fine that i cannot get a thread count with the naked eye- it is gorgeous stuff.

Omega i take you point about Arab nations funding Palestine- they have -but unfortunately the money is all holed up in the World Bank as any funding has to go via that regulatory body. Also legitmately earned customs income to Palestine has been held in the World Bank since March.


My friend in Palestine said the women had become very good at utilising recipes that created long storage for them -like home made cheeses in brine- and pickled olives. If I do go in September she is going to teach me some of those recipes. Oh and speaking of recipes- I have put two links in the side bar to food sites- Lucullian Delights and Travelers Lunch Box- both have more than simply food and are a delight. And I even have a recipe of my own to share. In this house no one eats cauliflower without white sauce with generous lashings of parmesan cheese ( I make special trips to Melbourne to get Parmesan cheese and many other Italian things). Anyway sometimes you simply do not feel like making the white sauce- but I have found a quick easy and yummy method- steam the cauliflower in the microwave, or however else you steam it. Mix in a bowl half a cup of sour cream with half a cup of milk and half a cup grated parmesan cheese. Place the cauliflower in a shallow casserole dish and dribble the sour cream mixture over and sprinkle with more grated parmesan some breadcrumbs and some dollops of butter and loads of freshly cracked black pepper.It got the thumbs up at this house anyway!