“We must give more in order to get more. It is the generous giving of ourselves that produces the generous harvest.” ~ Orison Swett Marden On the back roads around our own little farm, many farmers and those folks with large home gardens have set up roadside stalls to sell some of their surplus produce. I […]
Signs of Life
“Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.” ~ Orson Welles There have been some signs this week that my world is beginning to extend beyond the farm, my pyjamas and bed, as I edge ahead in my battle against Lyme disease. We had to get a new radiator installed […]
I’ll Keep This Short And Sweet
“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” ~ Barack Obama Not much time for blog writing today. A dear […]
Clearing Sales – and their special charm
“A bargain is something you can’t use at a price you can’t resist.” ~ Franklin P. Jones I had quite the romantic outing yesterday. It started with the Lismore Farmers Markets and their Saturday auction in the showgrounds, where we enjoyed an excellent coffee and perused the wares. We came away with a bargain lawn mower, […]
A Little Piece of Normal
“There is nothing that makes me happier than sitting around the dinner table and talking until the candles are burned down.” ~ Madeleine L’Engle, A Circle of Quiet While I’ve been in Brisbane this week for all my medical tests a dear friend took me for an early dinner. Collecting me from my front door she […]
Coffee with a (feathered) Friend
“Without birds, trees would be very lonely and men too!” ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan As I sipped a coffee yesterday, killing time, with worries on my mind, a little Mickey Bird (Noisy Miner) came to visit me. The Universe must have known I needed some company. The friendly bird stayed with me, singing cheery songs and […]
The Rock, the River and the Mountain
“…your memory is a warm stone hidden in my hand I’m always turning over…” ~ John Geddes, A Familiar Rain “I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but […]
Hooray for friends!
“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” ~ Elbert Hubbard Isn’t this the most colossal bucket of flowers for ten dollars? They are grown and sold by two elderly brothers who live up the road from us. You can read more about that here. I’ve had a lovely time […]
The ’10 Lovely Things!’ Challenge
“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” ~ Marcel Proust Yesterday morning my lovely husband set me a glorious distraction (for those of you who aren’t up to speed I am currently taking a savage amount of drugs to combat Lyme Disease […]
Wrong Numbers and New Friends
“Sometimes wrong numbers are the right numbers.” ~ Cecelia Ahern, The Time of My Life Late yesterday afternoon I tried to call my sister. My new drugs are kicking in and so my eyes were all twitchy and I was having problems seeing. Somehow I put in one wrong digit. “Hello?” An older woman’s voice, surprised, answered […]
Unexpected Blessings
“Women are never so strong as after their defeat.” ~ Alexandre Dumas I admit it. Yesterday, for a moment (or perhaps a little longer) I wondered how I would pick myself up and keep going. I cried. A lot. My doctor wants me to continue with another full course of the horror drugs which had me […]
A Comforting Realization of Life’s Truth
“There’s a flame of magic inside every stone & every flower, every bird that sings & every frog that croaks. There’s magic in the trees & the hills & the river & the rocks, in the sea & the stars & the wind, a deep, wild magic that’s as old as the world itself. It’s […]
Coming back to myself
“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.” ~ Nelson Mandela I am sitting in a cafe at Byron Bay, and it feels like a small miracle. After my six-week fever broke last night, and a powerful meditation shifted me past most […]
Lovely Miss Mae!
“Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.” ~Mae West Young Miss Mae is growing up to be an outgoing girl with abundant curiosity! She loves to play chasey and hide-and-seek with our two dogs, Harry and Bert. Never one to be shy she pushes to the front of the herd to say hello […]
Baked Passionfruit and Lime Cheesecake Recipe
“With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.” ~ William Shakespeare Birthdays deserve cake. For the past few days I’ve had my dear friend Carly staying with us here at the farm, so that we could see in the New Year together and celebrate her birthday. I’ve not been well on this round of lyme meds, […]
Easy Reindeer Cupcakes Recipe
“Reindeer are flight and motion and magic in moonlight beyond all recalling, made of Christmas dreams, spun from a place beyond all fearing.” ~ Anon A dear girlfriend and her young daughter dropped by a few days ago for a cuppa and a chat. It was a perfect opportunity to try out this Christmassy […]
My Best Friend, Bert
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” ~ Will Rogers I’m in Brisbane for a few days. I’ve got some work to do, and some medical things. Ben needed to go back to the farm so he took Harry the pup, and left Bert here […]
Easy Peach Chutney Recipe
“The single greatest lesson the garden teaches is that our relationship to the planet need not be zero-sum, and that as long as the sun still shines and people still can plan and plant, think and do, we can, if we bother to try, find ways to provide for ourselves without diminishing the world. ” […]
Easy Cheese and Herb Scones
“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.” ~ Henry David Thoreau A friend came over for dinner last night. Or rather, I should say that a friend dropped by our little farmhouse at dinner time. These […]
Baked Peaches with Walnut Caramel Crumble Recipe
“One day I would have all the books in the world, shelves and shelves of them. I would live my life in a tower of books. I would read all day long and eat peaches. And if any young knights in armor dared to come calling on their white chargers and plead with me to […]
Saturday Breakfast
“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” ~ Elbert Hubbard I’ll keep this morning’s blog short because I have to dash! I’m meeting my lovely friend Carly for breakfast at one of our favourite inner-city haunts, a cafe attached to a shop full of organic produce and delectable goodies. Of […]
It’s Friday – You’ll find me at the Mullum Markets
“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?” “What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?” “I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said.” ~ A.A. Milne It’s […]
Friends around the Dinner Table
“Some of the most important conversations I’ve ever had occurred at my family’s dinner table.” ~ Bob Ehrlich When I was younger I used to knock myself out throwing Dinner Parties. I would pore over cookbooks and foodie magazines, spending hours putting menus together, striving to get the balance right. I felt pressured to choose […]
Easy Lemon Shortbread Recipe
“Remember, ‘No one’s more important than people’! In other words, friendship is the most important thing – not career or housework, or one’s fatigue – and it needs to be tended and nurtured.” ~ Julia Child, My Life in France One of the things I treasure most about where I live is that wonderful sense of community. […]
Harry – Cafe Dog!
“Coffee is a language in itself.” ~ Jackie Chan Good Morning! It’s Harry here. Mum is meditating, so I thought I’d save time and write her blog so that we can go to the cafe faster. I love cafes. Ever since I was little I’ve been going. Especially first thing in the morning. So now I’m […]
Chronically ill and Happy!
“The individual who says it is not possible should move out of the way of those doing it.” ~ Tricia Cunningham I’m not happy because I have a chronic illness – I’m happy because I still love my life! It’s possible, and in fact I think it’s necessary, to find happiness when life has dealt […]
Getting ready for a bumper harvest!
“Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared and your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace.” ~ Kent Nerburn The picture at the top of the page is part of a stand of Bunya Pines along one of the fences at our farm. Each year the pines produce giant […]
Life without my computer…
At first I wondered how I would cope, but then this happened… Beautiful book. Cup of tea. Sleep. Visits with friends. Hand-written notes for my cookbook project as I snuggled under a doona on a cold, rainy night. And suddenly Sunday was over… Today I see my Lyme Doctor, obtain a raft of new […]
My Winter Solstice
Yesterday was the Winter Solstice – the shortest day; grey, cold and wintry. A perfect day for bonfires, for eating the luscious golden fruits from the orchard, and for curling up in front of the hearth to sleep away the longest night… ‘The Shortest Day’ by Susan Cooper So the shortest day came, and the […]
My story, interrupted!
“Nourishing yourself in a way that helps you blossom in the direction you want to go is attainable, and you are worth the effort.” ~ Deborah Day I was going to keep writing about owls and fairies and those sorts of things, but I can’t this morning. Instead I have to go to work. Psychic […]
Real Friendship
“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” ~ Anaïs Nin My husband Ben, the dogs and one of Ben’s good mates went back down to our farm at the crack of dawn yesterday to check […]
Chocolate Covered Coconut Slice Recipe
“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” ~ Charles M. Schulz Chocolate and coconut is a heavenly combination, and this particular slice recipe delivers! It is quite light in texture, so it’s not rich and it’s not too sweet – a crisp biscuit base, a fluffy coconut centre and […]
Wednesday Blessings
“When people refer to ‘Back in the Day,’ it was a Wednesday. Just a little fun fact for you.” ~ Dane Cook It’s been a rough ride this past week or so. That’s why I’ve decided to gift myself an ordinary Wednesday! There’s a gentle rain falling, and I started my day by staying in bed, […]
On illness and being unreliable…
“I’m a very loyal and unreliable friend.” ~ Bono One of the issues you need to deal with when you or a family member lives with chronic illness is your unreliability factor. When I speak of chronic illness, I am talking about any condition that lasts for more than a few weeks, that doesn’t conform […]
Nana’s Passionfruit Slice Recipe
“Cooking is not about being the best or most perfect cook, but rather it is about sharing the table with family and friends.” ~ Skye Gyngell, My Favorite Ingredients This is an old recipe that my Nana copied out from her friend Dulcie, after a successful ‘War Wives Luncheon’ during World War Two. At least that […]
Celebrating the triumphs of friends
“I count myself in nothing else so happy As in a soul rememb’ring my good friends.” ~ William Shakespeare Last night I had the pleasure of attending the book launch of Charlotte Nash’s Ryders Ridge, hosted at that bastion of local writing support Avid Reader, in West End, Brisbane. Charlotte is a dear friend, and a […]
The Joys of a Shared Table
“The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from the mere animal biology to an act of culture.” ~ Michael Pollan If you had asked me to create a memorable meal when I was younger I would have had the cookbooks out in a […]
Please Vote for Me and My Blog!
“Friends… they cherish one another’s hopes. They are kind to one another’s dreams.” ~ Henry David Thoreau Hello Lovelies! I have a favour to ask of you. You see, I have entered my little blog, Cauldrons and Cupcakes, in the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Best Australian Blogs 2013 Competition. One of the categories allows people to […]
Rustic Potato Bake Recipe
“Look at that moon. Potato weather for sure.” ~ Thornton Wilder, Our Town I love cooking, and not surprisingly most of our visitors seem to end up dropping in around meal times. This creamy potato bake is easy to make (like all my recipes!) and I whipped this one up to feed the extra hungry mouths that […]
Nana’s Gingernut Log Recipe
A grandmother is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, and a little bit best friend. ~ Unknown I have been blessed to have grown up, and grown older, with two amazing women as my grandmothers. Now both of them are gone, although I feel them around me often, and I frequently draw on […]
Meet Red Bull!
“Anyone who doesn’t believe in miracles is not a realist.” ~ David Ben-Gurion Do you remember me posting recently about a very fat cow, who couldn’t possibly be pregnant, giving birth to a baby bull calf. He’s our little miracle, and he came into the world after we’d lost both of our young bulls to […]
Fear of Crossing Roads
“No one has traveled the road of success without ever crossing the street of failures.” ~ Unknown I have an embarrassing confession. I’m not good at crossing roads by myself. It’s a legacy of the neurological damage caused by chronic Lyme Disease and various co-infections. Like most things it’s worse when I’m tired or unwell. My reaction […]
We All Have Days Like That…
“I don’t understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little – if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that’s the day she has a date with destiny. And it’s best to be as pretty as possible for destiny.” ~ Coco Chanel Ah, it’s inevitable, isn’t […]
I could have been blogging…
but my brain doesn’t work right. So instead of blogging I’ve been meditating… napping… eating my own body weight in greenery… consuming medicinal concoctions that taste, let’s just say, questionable… talking to Upstairs… napping some more… and generally just lazing about. Thanks for your kind thoughts and healing energies. They mean so much to me. […]
The Needs Of The Few
A revered philosopher (Spock in Startreck II – Wrath of Khan) once said that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one, as Captain Kirk so handily pointed out. So what does this have to do with today’s blog? As I sat down to write this morning’s post, I […]
Cups of Tea and Connection – A Challenge!
“A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be.” ~ Douglas Pagels Today I have a small challenge for you. It will only take five minutes, although you’re welcome to spend longer. My challenge goes like this: Take 5 minutes out of your […]
Meet Harry- it’s puppy love!
“Happiness is a warm puppy.” ~ Charles M Schulz Meet the newest edition to our family – Harry! Harry is an Australian Blue Cattle Dog – a working dog in the finest of traditions. Although I suspect he’ll go the way of all dogs in this household; an ‘inside dog’ with couch privileges and a penchant […]
What to do when someone doesn’t like you
“You have people come into your life shockingly and surprisingly. You have losses that you never thought you’d experience. You have rejection and you have learn how to deal with that and how to get up the next day and go on with it.” ~ Taylor Swift I’ve had so many private messages about this […]
We’re One! My Blog’s First Anniversary ♥
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” – Dr. Seuss Wow. That came around fast. Today marks the first birthday of my blogging career – a whole year of sharing words, images and my crazy life. Who ever knew it could […]
Rambo, the Celebrity Dog of MBK Thailand
“The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue” ~ Anonymous Those of you who read my blog will know that I have a soft spot for dogs. Although I love to travel, I eventually find myself missing my own animals, so when I’m away I […]
What Real Food Looks Like…
On Saturday morning at the crack of dawn my husband and I went into Lismore, a small country town about 25 minutes drive from our farm. We needed to buy some hay for our weaner calves, and there was a truckload of bales for sale at the showgrounds, which is also home to the Lismore […]
Simple Baked Camenbert Recipe
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.” ~ C. S. Lewis Our little farmhouse is as popular as any Byron Bay bed and breakfast come weekends,especially on Market Weekends! I’m returning home this morning, after a very big […]
That Sweet Sudden Grief…
“Grief can be a burden, but also an anchor. You get used to the weight, how it holds you in place.” ~ Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever I didn’t expect to be blogging about grief today. But grief snuck up on me last night and broadsided me. This morning I can still taste its bitter-sweetness. It’s […]
Flowers, Friendship and Gardens
I took a walk around my farm this morning. Spring is here, and after a little rain everything has burst into flower. When I was a little girl, my Nana always told me that hers was a friendship garden. When I asked what she meant, she told me that most of her plants had come […]
The Gift of Small Kindnesses
“When true friends meet in adverse hour; ‘Tis like a sunbeam through a shower. A watery way an instant seen, The darkly closing clouds between.” ~ Sir Walter Scott When someone is going through the bumps and difficulties of life, a friend can make their journey that much easier. We have become a society where […]
Breathing in Life…
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ~ Albert Einstein Yesterday was wonderful from start to finish. And yet it was also the most ordinary of days. I didn’t win lotto, there was no major excitement, no […]
Bittersweet cupcake celebrations…
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” ~ Rumi This should be a post about birthdays and love, and it is all of those things. But it’s also a post about love and loss, and the way grief can affect us. The Fourth of July has long been a special day for […]
Things to be thankful for…
“The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles” This morning I’m counting my Blessings. Such a simple thing to do, and it always makes me feel richer. I like to count them off on my fingers – a tangible act, and a way of really anchoring their truth in […]
Are you too NICE?
Kindness is a loving balm, understanding is a mental tonic, compassion grows our hearts, love is food for the soul, but niceness? Far too often niceness is a poison administered to ourselves by our own hand. There is a trend (and I recognise it because I once was in that same place!) where people beginning […]
Using your Internal Compass to Navigate Life
At any moment, you have a choice, that either leads you closer to your spirit or further away from it. ~ Thich Nhat Hahn Inside each of us in a compass. Although we can’t see it, it spins and turns in ways we can feel, if only we learn to tune in to it. The […]
Bread and Butter Pudding Recipe
In a recent post My ‘One Lovely Blog’ Award, I confessed that one of the fascinating facts about me is that I can make a meal out of nothing. Well, almost nothing. That talent came in handy last night when friends dropped by unexpectedly, at dinner time. Of course I invited them to stay. It’s […]
Please excuse me…
Some of you might have read recently about my use of affirmations (My embarrassing affirmation confession), so you’ll know that one of my favourites is ‘Something wonderful will happen to me today…’ So that was exactly what I was affirming to myself this morning, from the comfort of my nice warm bed, around 4 am, […]
My ‘One Lovely Blog’ Award
One of the things I’ve come to love about the blogging community is their generosity of spirit, their ability to connect us, one to another, and the crazy amount of awards that are out there for us to show our gratitude and appreciation to one another. I’ve recently been nominated for the One Lovely Blog […]
Hey Sister, You Okay?
I was looking forward to Saturday. In the last few weeks I’ve supported a friend through the end stages of terminal cancer, holding her hand til she passed, ridden the roller coaster of supporting an addict in recovery, and juggled my daily work and writing. Saturday was this wonderful window of calm in front of […]
My Embarrassing Affirmation Confession
You affect your subconscious mind by verbal repetition ~ W. Clement Stone Affirmations are a known powerful tool for change, and are used by many people for creating positive shift and personal growth. Louise Hay has made affirmations a modern-day medicine for the soul. (You can sign up for her daily affirmations here) An affirmation […]
Bert says sorry…
Hello, I’m Bert, Nicole’s trusty secretary… And I’d like to say sorry. You see Nicole wouldn’t play with me this morning. I tried my best to look fetching, but she kept ignoring me. I even tried emotional manipulation… But she was still ignoring me! When she went to do her yoga stretches that was […]
What does Happiness look like to you?
In our age of overwork, stress, social isolation, time pressure and exhaustion, it is increasingly important to know what fills you back up again, what makes you smile, what brings joy and happiness into your life. What does happiness look like to you? If you don’t know, make it your mission to find out, and […]
Nothing Grows Well in Depleted Soil
Today it looks like I’m blogging about farming. But I’m not really. I’m blogging about you. Read on… Life on the farm is always varied. Yesterday we went down to the flats by the river to inspect the pasture regrowth. Once upon a time (long before us) this paddock was heavily cropped, year after year, […]
Soul Mates – How to Recognise One
A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge. Thomas Carlyle You might wonder what a Soul Mate relationship feels like, what it looks like, and how you’ll know… Let’s start by looking at what a Soul Mate relationship is not. A Soul Mate will not share every view, feel as you do about everything […]
Dare to Love…
Love. It’s what we all want. It’s what we all need. I urge you – dare to love. It’s not hard to do – the act of loving is hard-wired into us. All we need to do is be brave enough to open our hearts… Love is the greatest feeling in the world. Love is intoxicating, […]
Byron Bay Bluesfest – An Easter Tradition
“If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph: THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD WAS MUSIC” ― Kurt Vonnegut “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” ― Bob Marley Sorry, I’m late posting today. Big night out for me last night, and there […]
Making Friends with Fairies
I remember when I first started to channel. This was twenty years ago, and I had read the first chapter of a book called Opening To Channel by Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer. Of course I was so eager to begin I never did read the rest of the book… My sister dutifully guided me through […]
Everybody needs a place to call home, or, my little farm and what it means to me
One’s home is like a delicious piece of pie you order in a restaurant on a country road one cozy evening – the best piece of pie you have ever eaten in your life – and can never find again. After you leave home, you may find yourself feeling homesick, even if you have a […]
A Cup of Tea and Comfort…
Living and working as a psychic can be quite draining, although I love what I do. It’s not dissimilar to any other ‘caring’ profession, where you are totally focused on the needs of others, in a way that leaves little time for yourself. I’ve learned that the best way to avoid burnout for me is […]
Easy Lemonade Scone Recipe – for when friends drop by!
I call this recipe my ‘Hurry-Up Scones’. I have much fancier recipes that call for delicate hands, careful measuring and so forth. But I don’t have time for that today. The phone has rung, friends are on their way, and my cake tin is woefully empty. Hurry-Up Scones to the rescue! Here’s the basic recipe: […]
Coconut and Jam Slice Recipe & Country Funerals
Our town had a funeral this week. This is the sort of funeral I don’t mind – an old lady, well-loved, dying of old age after a full life. Country funerals are always well attended, and country people are big eaters, so there needs to be plenty of food at the wake, especially for the […]