Friday 29 March 2019

Energy - Tribal Whispers reflection

Energy is in all things like the winds and drifting clouds or the rocks and stones you often walk over in a brook or stream. Even the sticks that have fallen from the trees have their own energy. Right now as the grasses begin growing and the trees are budding the energy of Mother Earth is busy creating a beautiful Spring

(Art by D. SturdeVant)

Blue Planet Live

Blue Planet live
I was absolutely mesmerised with Blue Planet II live just last night on BBC ... wow I have seen the pups in utero of a ray with the scanner they used... and wow seen a whale shark.... and the turtle hospital retreat that has been lovingly caring for those turtles that where stressed and damaged by our foolish behaviour of plastic use and abuse in the sea..... But loved the Dolphins they are so smart ... now I see why they bow swim - swim in front of ships and large sea creatures like whales.... the current pushes them along with the forward movement at speed....We have an amazing Planet time we intelligently used our intelligence to value and respect it.... Thank God for dedicated marine biologist that care really care about the planet.. We all need to sit up and care as we could lose the most valuable possession we have our Planet Home...!
If you click on the link you can find out more and get a free booklet from the OU too.. great resource for schools.

Lovely Surprise

Found this lovely Sweet Jasmine when I came home from the hairdressers earlier... lovely surprise from my daughters.... I love the sweet perfume of Jasmine so looking forward to the blooms opening... it will remind me of my time in India. There was always the perfume of Jasmine in the night air round the ashram.

Having day of surprises - got a call from my optician that my new specs were ready, going for a meal with my family early evening and won £50 on the new lottery game... with a nice sunny day feels goooood..

Sarah Beattie is so knowledgeable love her posts on facebook

Sarah Beattie

"Yesterday's Mussaman Curry recipe and some time in the garden reminded me of the piece a I wrote about growing your own Thai Curry Paste:

Many of us grow at least a few herbs in the garden, in pots or on the window sill. Supermarkets sell us instant herb gardens: parsley, basil, chives and coriander in luxuriant profusion are available for the snipping. But they're not cheap if you have to keep replacing them. For something more sustainable, if you have the space, grow on your herbs in the ground or in larger pots. And be more adventurous. Did you know that you can grow almost all you need to make Thai curry paste? You don't need a tropical climate or even a greenhouse, a sunny window will do.

Lemongrass - otherwise known as Citronella - is an essential ingredient in Thai food. Dried or processed lemongrass is sold but neither the flavour nor the texture is right (dried is useful for soups or syrups when it is strained out before eating). Unless you have an Asian grocery store or a really big supermarket on your doorstep, you will struggle to find good fresh lemongrass at a reasonable price. However you can grow it from seed ( fine, if you don't mind waiting a couple of years for usable stalks) or you can buy a plant from a nursery (www.victoriananursery.co.uk or both do mail order). I have also managed to propagate plants by putting a very fresh stalk in a tumbler with a little water. Keep the water clean, changing it regularly and stand it in a warm light position. Eventually roots will sprout from the base - it will take a while and the top might start growing first! When you've got a nice lot of roots, pot it in a good multipurpose peat free compost. Keep it well-watered, in a warm sunny spot. Bring inside whenever there is danger of frost. You can transplant into your garden but every autumn you'll need to dig it up and bring it inside.

Chillies - you can grow all sorts of chillies in the UK in much the same way that you might grow tomatoes. If your garden is sheltered and warm you can grow them outside otherwise they are best in a pot or growbag inside or on the patio with a bit of protection. Thai chillies are often very small - in Thailand the literal translation is "mouse shit" whereas we more coyly call them "bird's eye".www.chileseeds.co.uk have a huge range so you can choose your varieties for next season's growing. For already established plants for this summer, visit your local nursery or the diy store, B&Q, have organic chilli plants for sale. They say that the cooler the weather, the milder your chillies will be. Keep picking to keep your chillies coming. You can freeze or dry any gluts. Feed plants with a seaweed based fertiliser.

Ginger - you can grow your own by potting a nice plump fresh looking rhizome (this is the pale brown root-looking thing you will find at the supermarket or greengrocer) in a large pot of well-drained multipurpose compost. Fill three-quarters of the pot, put the rhizome onto the compost with any pinkish nodes facing upwards. You can cover with soil or not. Water regularly and keep in a warm sunny place. Bring inside before the frosts. Ginger kept on damp sand will also sprout nice nodes of delicious pink ginger which you can cut off to eat.

Coriander - you use the roots, leaves and seeds of this easily grown annual herb in Thai cooking. To get an early crop, sow the first seeds in a trough indoors then sow again in the garden at regular intervals to get a constant supply. Place a cloche over the coriander in September to prolong the crop.

Basil - Thai basil is horapha which has a slightly liquorice flavour and they also use kraphao (holy basil). www.nickys-nursery.co.uk have seeds for Queen of Siam, Holy Red, Holy Green plus another 32 more basils...

Makrut (formerly Kaffir) Lime - citrus hystrix - both the glossy leaves and the knobbly fruit are used.www.crosscommonnursery.co.uk can supply you with a standard tree or a starter one. If you want the fruit with its fragrant zest, you might be advised to invest in the more mature tree. Either way, citrus trees will grow outside in a sheltered sunny spot in the summer but must be brought into the house or conservatory over the winter. In the extreme south you might get away with wrapping larger trees in fleece for the winter.

Garlic and Shallots - both of these alliums are easily grown in the UK. If you don't have a garden you can even grow them in pots from seed or sets. It is said that you plant on the shortest day (December 21st) to harvest on the longest day (June 21st).

Yellow Thai Curry
400ml coconut milk
3 tbs yellow curry paste (see yesterday's Red paste, just add 1 tbs mild Madras Curry Powder to the paste)
350ml vegetable stock
150g carrots, sliced
225g oyster mushrooms, sliced
250g beancurd, drained and cubed
handful of spinach, washed and dried
3 tbs light soy
1 tbs palm sugar

Spoon off the top of the coconut milk and put into a hot wok. Bring to the boil. Add the curry paste. Stir fry for 1 minute. Add the remaining coconut milk, stock, carrots and mushrooms. Cook 2 minutes. Add the beancurd, spinach, soy and sugar. Cook another 4 minutes. Serve."

Tuesday 26 March 2019

Tranquil morning French reading Bay of the Somme

Last week when in Belgium visiting Boshra and the girls Family Link Up I picked

up a couple of rather good magazines in Brussels train station. One in French and the other in Dutch. Both these languages I need to expand upon for future visits and out of a desire to join the polyglot development of the girls Leen & Celine with more and more exposure to international languages. So this morning over two cups of coffee and the tranquillity of a sunny spring morning have homed in on rather an interesting article in Femme Actuelle Senior on the Bay of the Somme River. The magazine is brilliant with a good selections of articles on health & well being, places to visit, home and family, decor and gardening, great recipes... and how to enjoy sex now elderly lol This article on the Somme was on the follow on page to achieving orgasms and detecting true orgasm by the reaction in the pupil of the eye. (if my translation holds up on this! & if one does keep ones eyes open at that moment!) So back to the Bay of the Somme and some vocabulary learning. I am sharing some slides I have been working on. Here is a wonderful link to learn more about the Somme and places to visit.. it really is pulling me to do this visit and explore. Visit the Somme The link can be read in French or English.

I am loving the facts on the phoques, the seals and the young seals are so adorable. You can learn more on this link Somme Bay - Refuge for Seals

So where is the Bay of the Somme here are slides with google maps to help you locate the site. and the Wikipedia facts are: - {The Somme is a river in Picardy, northern France. The name Somme comes from a Celtic word meaning "tranquility".

The river is 245 km (152 mi) long, from its source in the high ground of the former Forest of Arrouaise at Fonsommes near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. It lies in the geological syncline which also forms the Solent. This gives it a fairly constant and gentle gradient where several fluvial terraces have been identified.}

Now back to article on the pupils of the eye observations :-)

Monday 25 March 2019

Honour what is most sacred......

Tribal Whispers

Another new week begins, the last week in March. Time goes so fast we hardly have time for ourselves. It is important to honor what is most sacred in our everyday lives. Take a pause in your day to sit and rest your body, give gratitude and think of all the things that are sacred in this day

(Art by Maximum Mix on Etsy at Whitefeather Gallery)

Friday 22 March 2019

Good Recipe from my Belgium magazine I bought

COMBINEER SOEP EN PASTA TOT DIT ULTIEME EN ULTRASNELLE BORDJE COMFORTFOOD

Goedgevoel Magazine online

You can opt to translate but there is also a good film to guide you through making this comfort food soup with pasta.

Love this technique for cards and prints

‏ @LouiseSlaterArt

#handmadehour Contact me for a trade catalogue if you’re looking for greeting cards stock  #justacard Photo by @SingleMalt_TPot

Latest Knitting project

This is a chunky knit but knitted on the vertical for the front and back... so fun... and the range of yarn colours are brilliant lots to chose from and may lead to me knitting a selection for the whole family. James C Brett

Thursday 21 March 2019

Belgium Dutch Course Success for integration.

👩‍🏫Well impressed with the integration to Belgium course for migrants and refugees.... the authors of this course have a good recipe for success..... When I was waiting at Leen's School could hear mothers from Vietnam, Nepal, Pakistan, Syria and many countries of the world ... speaking good fluent Dutch........ So Proud of Boshra too with all her hard work to learn....and Leen speaks heel goed too. Family Link Up

Good Heart Shines

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, text

Bridget Cook-Burch, Author, Speaker, Activist

Choose to shine brightly today

#WednesdayWisdom #liveJUICY

Meeting Interesting Creative People

💞💃 why I love to travel as you meet such interesting people on the way... http://danielaluquini.com/ love being round creative people with a passion to share others creativity to the world.. Thanks to a lovely embroidered hairband that @Daniluke was wearing I admired & then we got talking.... So looking forward to meeting up again for more sharing ... Very interesting lady..... and she was interested in my Family Link Up project too.

Good Reading to share

Some good articles in these magazines..... Do we really want to brexit from Europe...??? I do not for sure ... I love integration not separation... I will share more from my reading over the next few days.... I am still landing back home after a great few days with my Family Link Up in Belgium where ever family is - is home.... was actually asked to stay in Belgium by ticket officer at the station ... he said why not stay all the time with us.... my answer was would love too lovely country with lovely houses I was seeing too.
I love the way folk can flick into fluency in all the languages.... Dutch, French, English and other European languages....

No Escape from Brexit!!!

No escape from the "B" word.... no matter the language....

Brilliant Birthday

🎂💃Never did I think on my 65th birthday that I would have a robot flirting with me hhh on my wait to board the @EurostarUK Both the robot & the staff were lovely Thanks all for my first trip ever on @Eurostar you helped me see my lovely Syrian family. Family Link Up

Sunday 10 March 2019

Birthday soon

💗yes it is getting close to my birthday but still not officially recognised as an OAP even though 65yrs .. wow can I believe it 65.... love my card from my grandson and yes lots of love been round sharing a cup of tea over the years... My mother was one to put the kettle on for a cuppa to sit and talk round problems and good life events.... love the scarves my Grandson has sent too... Thanks Sam... 💗