Morning after the rain -just a few simple photos-

I love the way things feel after a good downpour, the camera doesn't capture what I see & feel, but I took a few photos to try to capture it a little bit anyways :p
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 View out the kitchen window, the light was so nice <3

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 The most sun we've had so far today, it's now very grey & overcast, which I love!

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Little drop of rainwater clinging to the clothesline :)

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I love taking photos, & I get urges to do it, I'm going through one at the moment, so depending on how much longer it lasts there may be another photo post or two. I'll add some different things before I post any more photos tho, to mix stuff up a bit.
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Later~

Today in the garden... -bugs, eggs & flowers-

While we were working out in the garden today (pretty much just clearing up stuff we didn't do correctly in the first place) Eli & I discovered a few interesting things, they include;
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This fantastic gathering of quirky little bugs, neither of us know what they are, but we're very much hoping that they're not going to harm the chokos ': ) 

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 A lovely bee, hopefully I didn't annoy him too much whilst trying to get this shot, I was kinda sticking the camera right up in his business :p

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 Mystery eggs, I hope I'm able to discover what they hatch into!

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& boom bam! Nasturtiums! :D These are the best flowers we've had so far, they just sprung up all of a sudden a couple of days ago :) Intense orange is intense >_>

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So that's what's going on in the garden ;p
G'night all~

:DUMP: random photos I've not yet shared...

These guys were my favourite dogs from Kybrooke, the boarding kennels I used to work at. I had some good times playing out in the yard with dogs <3

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 Awesome sammich is back!

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 Our dog Akira looking freakishly cute. Do not be deceived...

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Confession, I love fresh sheets, so much, I find them so lovely .___.

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 Poor puzzled Addi. I forget why she was confused, but it's likely that I was making a really weird noise at her to see her reaction :p

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 Kinda embarrassing, I had a bit of time one afternoon, & so decided to see what I'd look like as a 'vegetarian' twilight vampire. try not to judge me .___. 'XP

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 My friends papillon losing her shit cause Mr Green was trying to say hello (≧∇≦)

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& my good friend Sylvie. I've had her since my 11th birthday : ) She's a lovely girl <3

w00p, & I'm off!

Ja!

Super summer (or any other time) chocolate icy :D

Instant ice chocolate drink that's great for a warm summer day. It's chocolate, so really, anytime is good.

✧Chocolate Icy Recipe✧

Requires: A blender

Ingredients:

- 3 tsp organic Cocoa powder

- 4 tsp raw Sugar

- 1 cup Vanilla Soy milk (or rice milk, etc)

- 8 Ice cubes

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender & blend for about 40 seconds until smooth & sugar has dissolved. Enjoy!

Sooo easy, sooo tasty.

It's actually best served in a larger cup, cause then you can swish it around to mix it up since all the ice floats to the top.

Enjoy~

Pic - 'extinguish' - Trying some new things in Photoshop

Banana thicky ⎝(°∀°)ﾉ

Recipe -

Equipment needed - Blender

Ingredients:
- 1 large, Frozen Banana
- 2 Ice cubes
- 1-1.5 cups of Vanilla Soy milk (or vanilla rice milk, whatever you prefer)

Method:
1. Peel the banana, break it in half & stick it in the freezer on a plate for several hours (or overnight) The banana really needs to be completely frozen, not just cold.
2. Toss the frozen banana halves & ice cubes into your blender & add just enough vanilla soy milk so that some banana is still poking out.
3. Blend on medium-high until well combined & smooth, serve & enjoy!

This isn't called a thicky for no reason, it's much thicker than a milkshake, that's normal :p Don't forget to put the banana in the freezer well in advance, the night before is ideal.
This is probably now my most favorite way to drink banana :D Hope you all like it!

The finished drink, thick, bubbly & amazing.

o Yellow jelly fungi o

This morning while I was trying to escape the pleading eyes of my dogs I ended up outside on the balcony & noticed these funny little yellow egg-type objects all over the handrail of the stairs. I thought they were some kind of unusual eggs that some secretive creature had deposited during the night, but Eli quickly identified them as a type of jelly fungi :) The balcony is going on 20 years old & the handrail is exposed to the weather, so it's starting to rott, & that's why the fungi are appearing, to break it down & turn it back to soil! :3
I thought it was an interesting thing to see, so naturally I took a few photos...

I think they're kinda cute ^ㅂ^'

Nice start to the morning I think, we may be picking up the rest of the bamboo today too, it's looking like it's going to be a good day :D

Ja ne...

☆Special nori-wrapped potato parcel☆ -high iron & VGF

This recipe has been brewing in my mind ever since I embarked on my 'nori adventure' many months ago, & I'm happy to say that it is now complete. Here it is, nori adventure recipe number 3!

Recipe 1 
Recipe 2

Nori potato parcel

Ingredients:
- Oil for cooking
- 1.5 tbs of Nuttelex (or your preferred margarine)
- 3-4 sheets of Nori
- 10 decent sized baby Potatoes (or adjust amount depending on size)
- 1 small Onion - Finely sliced, then halved lengthways.
- 2-3 cloves of Garlic - Minced
- 1/4 cup Mirin
- 1/4 cup GF Soy sauce
- A pinch of Salt
- A pinch of Pepper
- 1/2 a Tomato - Sliced (to serve)

Method:
1. Wash the potatoes, then microwave or steam them until just cooked (but not mushy!) & set them aside to cool.
2. Prepare the onion & put it in a large skillet ready to be fried. Mince the garlic & set aside for later.
3. Once the potatoes have cooled, roughly dice them (fairly small), put them in a large bowl & set aside.
4. To the sliced onion add a few teaspoons of oil, a pinch of salt & pepper, & saute over a low heat until soft & light golden brown.
5. When the onions are ready add in the diced potato along with the Nuttelex, a pinch of salt & pepper, & half the mirin. Gently turn the potato with a spatula to evenly mix through the seasonings, try to avoid mashing the potatoes.
6. Once the Nuttelex has completely melted & the potato is well covered, pour over half the soy sauce & gently turn to coat the potato, & then gently fry for a few minutes turning the mix carefully.
7. Make sure the heat is very low, or turn it off if using a heavy based pan, & add the garlic along with the remaining mirin & soy sauce, & gently turn the mix to evenly distribute the garlic.
8. At this point taste the filling, it should have a rich, slightly sweet & salty flavour with a bit of heat from the garlic, adjust seasonings as you like.
9. Lay a sheet of nori shiny side down on a plate & put some of the potato mix into the middle & wrap it up. You can make it any shape you like, square or rectangle is probably easiest to start with. You may need to dampen the nori edges to make them stick down as you go. Once wrapped turn the parcel over & allow it to sit for a few minutes so it seals properly.

Now you're ready to enjoy this convenient, super delicious potato parcel! :D

 This is what the potato mixture looks like, as you can see you plop some onto your nori sheet & fold away. I found this a bit awkward, it'll take a bit of practice I guess.
You can add extras into the parcel at this stage if you like, I sprinkled over some sesame seeds, but I think some chopped nuts might be nice, it's a good chance to experiment.

 The rather wonky finished parcel, accompanied by vit C in the form of tomato to help aid iron absorption from the nori. I also drank cranberry juice along with it. You should get 3 or 4 of these parcels, depending how full you pack them with filling.

The amazingly tasty final product! If your your iron intake is low I would definitely try working nori into your diet, it's very high in iron & makes a great edible wrapper! Do try to include vitamin C in the same meal (orange juice, cranberry juice, tomato, etc) but avoid calcium & caffeine when eating an iron rich meal, as they can hinder your body from absorbing iron.

I hope people enjoy this recipe, I'd love to hear from anyone who gives it a go.

Later everyone. : )

2 new pics (could they be more different '^ㅂ^)...

'no milk'

 The BG is a photo I took of our kitchen

(my creativity knows no bounds! ( ﾟ∀ﾟ)ｱﾊﾊ八八ﾉヽﾉヽﾉヽﾉ ＼ / ＼/ ＼)

'How can I thank you'

Bye~

*･゜ﾟ･*:.*･onion friends*･゜ﾟ･*:｡:*･゜

*UPDATE*
Made some adjustments to this pic, including some colour fixing, & adding more shadow + texture. It never felt properly finished (maybe it's still a WIP) if I do more to it, I'll update again.

Enjoy peeps.
Later.

Less than this...

Two drawings in one day!

thas what uhm talkin' bout

Even if you live to be 80, that's only 80 summers, enjoy it people (▰˘◡˘▰)
(holy crap I dun made a picture Σ(゜д゜;))

Ja.

･*:･Summer in the garden･*:･ -updates & photos-

So I went out & started taking photos yesterday afternoon, & half way through the camera battery decided to throw in the towel :p I threw it on the charger & went about doing other things. I kinda ran out of time to make up the post yesterday, but here it is now...

PHOTOS（･∀･)つ...

 Salad greens! These are some of the first plants we started growing, they're doing very well & have provided us with plenty of delicious greens for sandwiches, salads, etc :) Some are starting to flower & will eventually go to seed (we plan to collect seed from as many of our plants as possible) There are other clusters of salad scattered around, & they're all doing well too ^_______^

 This is one of the random beans my father gave me, & since I planted it it's pretty much gone crazy, it's already climbed half way up the balcony ':) It's gotten bigger than I expected & I'm thinking I may have planted the rosemary a bit close... woops, I'm sure it'll be fine tho :p

 Yes, this is our first bamboo plant :D We got this one from bamboogrove, it's an Old Hamii (old ham-i-eye) aka. 'sweet shoot' bamboo, it has construction grade timber & edible shoots (although it will be a couple of years before we can take any). I already love this plant, it's beautiful & seems to add to the atmosphere wherever it goes :p

 This little sapling is a baby tree [:D & this happens to be one of the plants I am presently most excited about. This tree is commonly referred to as a drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera), they are lovely little trees that have a variety of uses, predominately in the kitchen because most parts are edible & highly nutritious. I managed to buy some seeds from ebay.com.au if all places, & happily 3 of the 4 seeds I have planted have sprouted! I'm very much looking forward to seeing how these progress <3

 Mini greenhouse is mini, this handy little thing belongs to Eli's Father, but he doesn't have the room to set it up in his garden just yet so it's hanging out with us for a while. I certainly have no complaints, I've already put it to use to try to get some quicker germination happening. I've put in seeds that haven't wanted to germinate out in the open & also a few that I hope will sprout more quickly if they're in a greenhouse (just cause I want them asap :P) I think this is a brilliant little thing, & I'm pretty sure you can find them (or something similar) at pretty much any hardware store.
***Disaster struck yesterday when strong winds blew the mini greenhouse over & scattered the soil & seeds! D: So a warning if you get one of these, weigh it down!

 I'm calling this 'the new U', it's the newest garden bed we've made up. We made it by layering materials. From memory it's, newspaper, old leaf/bark/grass rakings, compost, cardboard, & pea straw on top. Then we saturated it & now we're leaving it to sit & break down for a week or 3 before planting it out. I'm planning on making another similar bed soon, I'll get photos & make up a step by step post so anyone who's interested in trying it knows where to start ;3 These u shaped beds (similar to keyhole beds) are great cause you can get right in & easily access all your plants without trampling the soil \[:D]/ probably my favourite kind for open areas :)

 Trays, boxes & pots of various plants at various stages sitting around doing their thang. Some of these need to be planted out, but many still need to grow some more. I'm trying to compile herbs to make a convenient herb bed at the bottom of the stairs, & I'll post about that when I get around to it. Some of the plants here are thyme, chilies, coriander, capsicum, tomatoes, squash, comfrey, globe artichoke, watermelon, leek, basil, salads, etc etc etc...

 A young corn plant & some friends that are sprouting up round it :) This is an indian variety of corn, better used for maize I think, I'm not quite sure why we planted so many of these, but I'm sure they'll be useful ':)

 A young pumpkin & a nasturtium, which is a companion to many vegetables & has edible flowers :) Companion planting is a really great technique to employ in your garden for many reasons, I'd encourage everyone to give it a try, & here's a companion plating guide to help out ;)

 Comfrey & mint happily growing together, these aren't listed as companions, however they like similar conditions (partial shade + moist ground) so I have them plated near each other. I'm not sure how any other plant could dislike comfrey anyway, it's so helpful :p I bought both of these as small plants from the St Andrews market & they've both really taken off since I planted them [: ) I used a bunch of the mint last night to make mint yoghurt to accompany a tasty Moroccan-style curry we had for dinner.

 & this is our mighty potato patch [:o To get this started we loosened the ground, planted a few varieties of potato & covered the lot with straw. As the plants grew we piled straw up around them until they got a bit bigger, now we're just leaving them to do their thing & (hopefully) produce a butt-load of taters. I love the lush, green spud patch, I think they're quite a pretty plant, & when potato season is done (if they ever stop growing ?_?) We'll be left with a really well composted bed, ready to grow the next veg :)
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...& some very pretty potato flowers d(*⌒▽⌒*)b

That's the lot for now :) Hopefully we'll see some produce by the end of summer/early autumn, till then I'm just gonna keep planting...

Ja ne everyone (｀-´)>...

Neha's Recipes -Youtube cooking channel-

In my previous post I mentioned a cooking channel I had come across recently on Youtube centered around Indian food, the channel is called NehasRecipe & this lady very kindly shares a number of amazing Indian recipes :) Unfortunately the video & sound quality isn't the best, but I'm kinda hopeful that it will improve if the channel becomes more popular :p I dunno tho... Personally I'm keen to try just about all the things she's made so far, once I'm a bit better & I can handle some spicy foods, I'm definitely going to give some a try (`･ω･´)


I'm particularly interested in this one...

Enjoy everyone :D
Ja ne ヾ(●⌒∇⌒●)ﾉ (& yes I have recently discovered cool text emoticon things...)

Fist full of greens (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

I'm back to blogging again after another dry patch ':3

Lots of things have kept me away, but I'm back again & I have no intention of stopping any time soon c:

Many many things have been going on during my absence here, my health has been up & down, however thanks to new medication I'm starting to feel a lot better :) I'm seeing a very highly regarded Naturopath named Vagif Soultanov on the 14th of this month, & I'm desperately hoping he can help me using natural methods so I won't have to keep swallowing these icky pills [: / but for the time being I'm just really glad to be feeling better :)

I have been cooking quite a bit, & I've made up a few things recently which I'm pretty much kicking myself for not documenting (I tend to forget recipes I improvise very quickly) :s As usual I've been browsing cooking vids on Youtube & I managed to find an interesting channel specifically for Indian food, but I'll share a link to that in a later post...

& of course the garden! Things are progressing slowly, but we've really increased the diversity of plants now :) All of the planst are still young & we haven't had much yield other than some peas, snow peas & lettuce, but we're both really enjoying the garden so much we don't mind if it takes a while to start producing ^_____^ I'm going to go down & get some photos to show how things have progressed & share some of the plants I'm most exited about [:D

For now though, here's a quick shot of the impressive stack of greens I collected to go with my breakfast this morning :)

The greens are all going nuts & we seem to be having less & less problems with slugs, even though we have never sprayed anything on them, not even home-made formulas, so I'm mighty proud about that! We have tried a couple of techniques to help the plants early on (which seem to have worked) & I'll share those in a later post. Salad greens are amazing, & I'd encourage everyone to have a try of growing their own :) Salad greens are quick & easy to grow, & if you choose a loose leaf variety you can snip leaves as they grow & more & more will grow back, sometimes they can produce for many months.

Alright, I'm going to head off & get some more photos together, I hope everyone is doing well & feeling great, I'll be back with more later...

Ja ne~ ;3

Doodily... (((Minecraft RC2 seeds :)))

Doodily is a funny word, & for some reason a friend of mine keeps saying/writing it in messages etc, I don't know why, but I figured I'd see what kind of world it would generate in Minecraft :p


The 3 doodilies...


#1. doodily (< All lower case
Plonks you right in the middle of some huge snowy plains. I ran East (& slightly south) for half the day & came across some pumpkins, so naturally I built me a snow golem :p Along the way I saw some cool caves & a large ravine, all in all a good turn out :)

#2. Doodily
From snowy plains to tropical island, this time I spawned on a small island surrounded by a bunch of other islands, some were teeny & a couple were quite big & had some impressive natural structures, including waterfalls :) I think there may have been 5 or 6 islands in total, I travelled to all of them easily within the first day.

#3. DOODILY
After all that I'd had high hopes for shouting doodily, but this one was a tad boring, just an average forest. To the east was a desert (tho happy I did find 2 sheep up in a tree :p) & to the west are a pack of wolves & eventually swamp, pretty tame stuff.

aaand 2 more good ones...


- uRaP00p00faceFACEman! (< zeros are used not the letter 'o'
Head north for a bit & you'll come across loads of cool mountains intensely populated by lovely fluffy sheep :p

- PokemonistheBest
Intense mountains with steep cliffs, made me kinda dizzy. Head north east (carefully) & you'll find loads of cool stuff, including pumpkins :D

***Please note these seeds are for the newest pre-release of minecraft (RC2) which you can download HERE if you would like to test it out, & just for good measure, here's the Minecraft website.


Have fun Minecraftn' everyone! :D


Ja~

Etiko - Fair trade fashion :) ::: Looks good, feels good

My sneakers have needed replacing for a while now, but I didn't want to wander into any shop & buy a pair of sneakers that have been made in a horrible sweat shop from cheap materials that contain many toxic/animal derived components (like I did with my last pair -___-')

After looking around for a while online I managed to find one Australian shop (stock is from the UK) which sells nice clothing & footwear that are fair trade, organic & vegan, & they are called etiko :) I have ordered a pair of etiko low cut sneakers, & if they're as comfy as they look I'll be back to grab a few more items later on :3

So maybe head over to their site & check out their lovely products, & if you're interested in buying something remember to check the sizing charts, because UK sizes are used :v

I know many people may think the prices for fair trade organic clothing, food, etc may be too expensive, but honestly, these prices are more accurate & fair. Products sold by large companies are only cheaper because they exploit people, animals & the environment, & they mass produce a product, which often isn't even very good quality.

I think most of us need to rein ourselves in a little & rather than buying a dozen cheap items, maybe just buy a few quality items that you know haven't resulted in the exploitation of people, animals & the environment.

Another strategy to consider (especially if you don't have much money) is buying second hand :) I can't tell you all how many amazing things I've found at local op shops, I consider them to be an invaluable resources for just about everything. Personally I find shopping at op shops/second hand stores to be far more interesting too, you can find awesome unique items, save money, & of course you're reducing, re-using & recycling all in one go, which cuts down on waste :D I'd say that more than half of everything I wear has been purchased from op shops, & people often compliment my clothes, so there's no need to think that something second hand won't look good :p

Alrighty, that's my rant for the day :p

Hope everyone is feeling fine,

Ja ne.

Fun Minecraft seeds I have found :)

Recently I decided to play around with the option to generate a world from a seed in Minecraft, & happily I've found a couple that are pretty cool :D

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***NOTE: I just discovered (& this may be common knowledge to everyone else) that seeds seem to work differently between different versions of Minecraft. I recently downloaded the newest pre-release, & none of these seeds work :( These are only good for version 1.8.1
So if you're frustrated that certain seeds aren't working for you & you can't understand why, it could be that you're running a different version to the one the seeds were made in >_> Bugger!
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1. I<3uLet'sformBabby!

This one spawns you amongst some trees, I went east (towards the rising sun) & found some pretty awesome mountains!
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2. u4meuntilip33

Just north (face the rising sun & go left) of the spawn point across a small river is some of the coolest landscape I have ever seen, complete with lavafall c: As you can see in the pic an unlucky piggy got too close, & I got me a pair of cooked pork chops /'XD\
Also beware - there is a huge drop right near the spawn point, so be careful not to fall in, unless you want to die, in which case employ no caution whatsoever :p
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3. 3atAbabby&callMEg1b1

Quite simply the most forest I have ever seen 0_0 I travelled east all day & by the light of the rising moon all I could see were more trees ^_____^'

There were also quite a few cool little water filled caves, & a decent supply of mushrooms ':)
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4. wackyspazzyyamyam

I didn't explore this one as much as the others, but I might go back & have a better look around. There was a cool little cave with a lovely view right near the spawn point tho, & it even had some coal :)
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To try one of these seeds, open Minecraft, click on 'single player' - 'create new world'  'more world options...' & then copy the seed exactly as you see it, ie. If you wanted number 2, you must type in u4meuntilip33 then click 'done'. Give the world a name if you like, & then click 'create new world' & it should generate the same land as you see in the pictures ;3
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The texture pack I was using here is called, Adventure Time Craft, & you can find info & the download here > > > LINK. Enjoy everyone~
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That's all for now,

Ja~