This Week…

A very cozy week…

Mr. Walker was not home on Monday. I made this delicious Dutch dish for myself since Mr. Walker is not a big fan of ‘Dutch Cuisine’.  It takes, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, raisins, pineapple, old cheddar cheese and a little bacon and than snarfled up with smoked sausage. Ha, real winter comfort food that sticks to the ribs. Mr. Walker, btw, came home late, said that something smelled very good in the kitchen and had a bowl full of leftovers…

The weather is still quite sunny and crisp. Charley enjoyed the sun and watched over her territory from her favorite spot..the garden bench on the deck. You can tell what she is thinking: ” Oh, if only I could climb trees and teach those darn squirrels a lesson.”

I came back from my knitting circle and thought to myself when I saw my bag on the kitchen counter: ” That looks odd…”

Here the finished result. It is supposed to be a cat. I have my doubts but it still looks adorable, right? Got the pattern here and changed it a little so I could knit it entirely on 4 and 5 needles…I avoid sewing seams as much as possible;0) It started its long journey to Australia, to the sweetest crazy cat lady and she can judge if this is a cat..

Started reading E. F Benson.I am a big fan of his characters Miss Map and Lucia..so delightfully ridiculous and funny!

My course Mindfulness started with a lecture about..Mindfulness. It was very interesting and it gave a good taste of what is to come for the next weeks. I really liked the teacher and met some kind fellow students as well.

And of course, I spend a lot of time in the studio. This sight makes me very happy.

The Wonderful Cathe was so kind as to allow me to use one of her photos for my drawings…here a first sketch.

And this drawing is almost done and will travel to Edmonton.

T was een goede week met vreemde breiwerkjes, Hollandse stamppot zuurkool (smul!!!), Charley die wilde dat ze in de boom kon klimmen om eekhoorns een lesje te leren, fijne boeken van E.F. Benson en veel tekenwerk natuurlijk weer.

Love and Liefs, Johanna

Happy Times

The weather is finally cooling down. Even had a few walks in a sweater..such bliss!

I love the softer light and the cooler temperatures energize me.

I feel sorry for the people who find Fall depressing. To me, it is harvest time, Mother Earth has been working hard and providing well. Time for her to take a rest and dream sweet dreams.  ( oh my, I am getting all poetic here!)

It is time for cozy evenings,

knitting without sticky hands,

and pies.

Baked a ton of little dessert cakes for the Yearly Neighborhood Picnic…what a splendid party that was!

And enjoyed making Autumnal Arrangement in my flower vases.  What a beautiful word: Autumnal…

De herfst komt dichterbij en ik geniet van t koelere weer, de prachtige kleuren en t zachte licht.

Love and Liefs Johanna.

Summer Garden and “Something for the Weekend”

I do not have a veggie garden anymore but these few pots and containers are very satisfying too. Johanna’s homestead..says Mr. Walker ;0)

  

The squirrels really enjoy my strawberries. Thank goodness the shops are full of Summer Harvest.

  

I love crumbles and have many recipes for them. This is my favorite summer version, a very healthy version!!! You can use any kind of soft fruits but the blue berries is a must since it will give the dish its natural sweetness.

Summer Crumble

• 2 Apples (Peeled, cored and sliced)
• 1 Cup blue berries
• 2 Cups strawberries
• 2 pears, peeled, cored and chopped
• 2 Tbsp tapioca flour/starch or corn starch
• 1 Cup almond flour
• 1 Cup ground flax seed
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp agave syrup or honey
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 Cup canola oil
• a little (almond) milk
• I used a shallow oven proof dish of 9X12X 3 inches.

Pre-heat oven at 375F/ 200C

Grease the dish lightly and mix fruit. Dust the fruit with the tapioca, that will bind the fluids of the cooked fruits.

Mix all other ingredients into nice crumbles, add a little milk if it looks too dry. Divide the crumbles over the fruit. It might not look that much but the baking powder will double the amount.

In the oven for about 25 min. or when golden brown.

Nice as dessert, breakfast, with a cuppa tea/ hot cocoa….or whenever!

Ik heb geen moestuin meer maar een hier en daar toch even wat groente en fruit..Meneer Walker noemt t Johanna’s boerderij. Als je t recept kopieert naar Google Translate, dan krijg je de Nederlandse versie.

Love and Liefs Johanna

 

How Was Your Weekend?

 

How was your weekend? Here at the Walker House all was peaceful and quiet.

It rained a lot, quite cozy. So we slept in a little and some of us more..

So no eating at the patio but breakfast was very good.

And this egg cup makes me very happy.

I had my fist Calligraphy Lesson and believe it or not…this sheet is the result of two and half hours of hard work. I know now about pen angle, height an direction, nibs and marker paper and  a whole lot more. I loved it and look forward to the next one.

Lots of reading.

Some crocheting.

Got rather excited about this pumpkin growing in my ‘urban veggie patch’!

And I baked a cake ( you might have spotted it already on the breakfast table) This is a gluten free cake, very good but GF cakes never look so pretty. The cake stand makes up for that;0) For gorgeous cakes look at these beautiful blogs by Kerry and Karen.

So what did you do?

Ha, we hadden heerlijk weekend met regen, lekker ontbijt en cake, lezen, haken en mijn eerste kalligrafie les. Wat heb jij zoal gedaan?

Love and Liefs, Johanna.