Simple Pleasures- Comfort Food

As we are completely immersed in our Winter with the cold and often rainy days then to be followed by some beautiful sunny blue skied days we just seemed to have a need want for what I call comfort food and yet a SIMPLE PLEASURE as well.

Now there is nothing more comforting on a cold wintry night to have some warm, smooth homemade custard and I would love to share the recipe with you. This is a recipe I have had for many years and it ALWAYS turns out.
Now I always make two jugs for our family of 14 and we love to have it with canned peaches.

Beautiful Custard~
Ingredients:
2 eggs
6 tablespoons of white sugar
3 heaped tablespoons of custard powder
3 heaped tablespoons of  cornflour
8 heaped tablespoons of milk powder
2 liter jug for stirring ingredients

Method:
1. Put sugar, custard, cornflour and milk powder into a jug and mix
2. Add eggs and mix in
3. Add cold water in very small amount and stir until it forms a FIRM not a runny mix.
4. Beat until smooth with a spoon
5. Boil water and pour into mixture in one continual stream STIRRING THE WHOLE TIME and afterwards for a couple of minutes.
6. If for some reason it isn't thick enough just put in the microwave for one minute ( I have done this maybe 3 times in over 10 years)

Another favourite amongst the family is Yorkshire Pudding once again it is a no fail recipe and no wonder as it is Tasha Tudor's form her Cookbook
We have this with our Stew recipe that is in this post

Yorkshire Pudding by Tasha Tudor ~
1 cup plain flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
2. In a bowl mix together flour and salt, then gradually add the mild to make a smooth paste.(I actually use our Kitchen Aid mixer with the whisk attachment for the whole process including the eggs)
3. Stir in the eggs and beat for 2 minutes
3. Pour the batter into a pan with a little oil (do not skimp here) and bake for 20- 30 mins
4. Cut the pudding into squares and serve immediately.

I am joining in with Dayle for Simple Pleasures this week

Blessings to you and your homes,

Simple Pleasures - Baby Love

Simple Pleasures for me this week consist of continuing to be so blessed by our little Trahaearn and just loving picking him up and cuddling him.

He is in constant demand among all his siblings and poor Daddy doesn't get much chance at all.

Looking at his little baby feet and hands, cooing and talking to him,  looking into those so intelligent eyes and being so thankful for the gift of new life.......

My life is full of Simple Pleasures!!

I pray you each are able to find Simple Pleasures in the many gifts we are blessed with this week with




Dayle at A Collection Of This And That
Blessings to you and your homes,

Simple Pleasures - Little Ones and Prayers

One of the greatest yet Simple Pleasures I have is when I see our children praying.

In fact I know it brings joy into all our children's hearts when they see the littlest one start to pray. They all smile and encourage the little one to do as much as possible.

The first prayers I mostly remember our children doing is the meal time grace, we say before meals.

The second most delightful sight to see is when our little ones make the sign of the cross.

As they say their night prayers it is like a little insight into what is important to them.
Our Corbyn is so funny to hear " Keep Mummy safe, Keep the new baby safe, keep Daddy safe etc", which is a great improvement on "don't let mummy be killed"

Of course our little Arwen says a few things I cannot interpret but Thank you for Mummy and Daddy in her little girl voice etc is top of the list along with 'love you Jesus'

I pray you each are able to find Simple Pleasures in the everyday this week with


 Dayle at A Collection Of This And That,  Blessings to you and your homes,

Simple Pleasures - Resting

Today as I have been resting all afternoon.
I have had  extreme nerve pain along my ribs in association with the baby over the last few days and it only seems to subside if I don't do anything at all, and lay down.

I have been treated to a lovely long lay down, complete with lunch, coffee and water on tap (so to speak) and a break while I have read a book.

In fact a very leisurely afternoon.

This for me is a simple pleasure although quite enforced. I really don't like doing nothing...nothing at all. Even this morning when I went for my ante-natal check I took a basket with reading material,  i-pod, crochet, embroidery and knitting, you know just in case and I did do some while waiting.

But the rest I had this afternoon has allowed me to do a few thing this afternoon, typing this for example.

So I hope that some of you will enjoy some simple pleasure, called resting as you are able. I find I am quite relaxed from it.

To view some more Simple Pleasure that others are sharing, hop on over to Dayles Simple Pleasures.

Blessings to you and your homes,
 

Simple Pleasures - Routines

Every child seems to learn the rhyme for the chores of the week:

Monday: Wash Day
Tuesday: Ironing Day
Wednesday: Sewing Day
Thursday: Market Day
Friday: Cleaning Day
Saturday: Baking Day
Sunday: Day of Rest

In our modern day society I am not sure if the single daily tasks above fits in with how we run our homes BUT I do know that routines and how we use them in our home can lead to a far more pleasant and well run home.

I have planned routines for Homeschooling, for chores for morning and evening times and also for private devotionals and craft times. Sometimes just the creation of these routines helps me to focus on my tasks and sets out what are really the priorities for me and the running order of our home.

I also know that I am a happier and more contented person to have around when a routine is going smoothly. Unfortunately it seems my life revolves around creating new routines for our family and the situations we find our selves in.

However the fact that we constantly come back to a routine of one sort or another and that our  home runs better for that proves the fact that in our home at least routines are a SIMPLE PLEASURE that actually makes our life more SIMPLE AND PLEASURABLE

 To view some more Simple Pleasure that others are sharing, hop on over to Dayles Simple Pleasures.

Blessings to you and your homes,

Simple Pleasures - "Boo Boo's"

One of the sweet things as well as Simple Pleasures about being a Mummy to little ones is the fixing up of hurts.

There is nothing so precious of seeing a little one run to you with a 'boo boo' that needs fixing up of with a simple kiss. The need that only 'mummy' or daddy' can fill

Our little Arwen is the master of this at the moment. She can fall onto the gravel or trip over something, or have a little hurt feeling and be so devastated by the trauma that has happened as she runs (or is carried in by a bigger child) in with little tears streaming down her face crying like her heart will break.

She comes towards me, I take her in my arms and kiss the troubled area. Her precious face lights up with love and relief.
She usually then runs back out to play again quite happy in the knowledge that she is all better now.

Obviously there are more serious childhood injuries that need more attention but even these still need that 'mummy magic' of a kiss, cuddle and love.

How can this not be a Simple Pleasure in my own Day?

Once again I am linking to Dayles Simple Pleasures for this post, and I look forward to visiting you all and viewing your own Simple Pleasure

Blessings to you and your homes,

Simple Pleasures - Water...it's even hot

Today I want to share with everyone the Simple Pleasure of Water.

Now some of you may be asking, How is that a simple pleasure? Well I would like to show you!

As many of you know we live in Australia and some of you may not realise that we are not a country of immense water supply. We have many parts of  our country that are always short of water and we have just come out of a sever drought that has lasted many years.

Even so, many people are town and city dwellers who have not had any real severe water restrictions. Now having been a town dweller all my life and even our property is on the edge of a town I think I can appreciate that most people do not give water a second thought, except when the council imposes water restrictions and therefore gardens tend to suffer and cars can not be washed with a hose.

The difference is for me that I now fully understand and know how water restrictions affect your life.I think I can say I have an  appreciation  for the simple pleasure of water due to the fact that when we built our home we had to put in a bore for water as the town water supply stopped just short of our property.

We have had many opportunities to value  this precious commodity. Because our water is dependent on rain water seeping into the earth and for most of our time in Tasmania it has also been in drought we have had to learn to manage our water usage.
Perhaps this is not a problem for not so large families but for us it has been an effective look at how we use water.

We have in our family adapted strategies to try to deal with the whole use of water situation.
These may not seem like big issues for some, but we have quite a habit with conserving water now, which I believe is a good thing, that even when we have had an excess and our tank over flows we still are quite frugal with our water usage.

1. We really look at our clothes before putting in for a wash: is it smelly is it REALLY dirty and deserve a wash yet. Of course our little children are notorious for finding any patch of dirt/mud etc and getting dirty, so obviously we do not let them go around in filthy clothes. But it is an exercise in discernment.

2. We only shower/bath every second day, for most of us who don't need to have showers daily. Of course we are masters at the so called in our home "bucket bath/sailor bath" that we use on non shower days.
Before you go ....ouch, that is a deprivation, I would like to say that every day showers is not the NORM for everyone in the world and really is a very modern convienience that I think many take for granted and an expexted RIGHT in our society.

3. When we wash up in the sink we use a VERY minimal amount of water and woe be it to anyone I see using too much water.

4. Our dishwasher was, when we bought it the most conservative on water at the time only using 9 liters of water per wash.

5. When washing hands etc I still monitor the use of water as I think that most of us just run water without thinking.

6. Our hot water has been an interesting issue as well, a whole other story but let me say I am very thankful for this other seemingly simple pleasure.

So I hope you have enjoyed and appreciate how blessed most of us are to have the opportunity to have running and mostly abundant water as a SIMPLE PLEASURE in our lives.

Could I just ask also for a quick prayer that even as I type this we have been without water, except what has been in our tank - 2,500 liters, since Saturday.
Today is  Thursday and we have 1000 liters left: we have reduced our consumption by not washing....ouch that is beginning to hurt with piles of clothes needing to be washed and been EXTRA frugal with water.
Please could you pray that our bore man can have our bore man has our bore operational by this afternoon and we have water by tomorrow morning.

Once again I am linking to Dayles Simple Pleasures for this post, and I look forward to visiting you all and viewing your own Simple Pleasure

Blessings to you and your homes,

Simple Pleasures - Books

This week for my Simple Pleasure I would like to share my love of books.
Of course long time readers of my blog will know that I love books and children's books especially.

I think that reading opens up such a world of opportunity for anyone who chooses to read. We have so many choices in reading material that I cannot believe that anyone would find it difficult to really find a type of book they like.

For me this really is no problem. I have so many different types of books I enjoy. Some are old friends that I visit again and again. These are both fiction and non fiction. I am always open to new 'friends' too

But the thing I love about the Simple Pleasure of reading is the joy I see in the faces of our children as they too discover new and interesting worlds and facts.

To highlight this just yesterday our 10 year old who can read but hadn't developed that real desire and love of reading finished the first book in a series of books that his sisters and I have read recently, The Mismantle Chronicles.
This was the first book that I saw that joy light up his face. He couldn't wait to share bits and pieces from the book, and to ask questions about characters and what might happen.

 It really was a beautiful day as far as book loving goes for as well as this triumph we had a situation where nearly everyone was happy to sit together in the family room and read another family favourite collection, Asterix and Obelix series and the Tintin series. 
I was able to do some hand sewing and cuddle our sweet little Arwen.

Books and reading has been a major part of our family circle experiences. For many years we have read aloud together and shared the same books over and over again. It creates a wonderful sense of completeness to have each family member read the same book and then be able to share the best quotes and talk about shared experiences.

What simple joy and pleasure to be involved in a family activity that can unite us all together and can give such Simple Pleasure.

Simple pleasure because we can all be with each other each doing our own thing but united in an enjoyment that can be created over and over again.

Once again  linking to Dayles Simple Pleasures for this post.
Seriousl I love looking for the simple pleasures in my life.

Blessings to you and your homes,

Simple Pleasures - Swings

Who cannot enjoy the simple pleasure of swings?
The motion of forward and back, the rhythm that comes from being on for a while, the gentle tummy sensation that exists for me every time.
I don't know of  a time I haven't loved being on a swing. I simply love the thrill of this oh, so simple and yet very calming activity.

Even now (as the photo above shows) I still love the swings. If we go to a playground I ALWAYS have to have a turn on the swings........that is after I have pushed little ones and the other children have had a turn.
For me it is just an expression of freedom! The ability to soar up into the sky and yet still know that the earth is safely below. Even when we have little babies I want need my turn on the swing.

Arwen on the swing that has been the scene of many happy memories

Even as I love this activity our children, like so many others have had a swing set of their own. In fact I do think we are on our 3rd swing set (which is in very dire need of replacing).

Children love to be on the swings and I have spent many an hour outside pushing them on them. From the time our oldest was two and we got him that first swing set for his second birthday, children and swings just go together for me..............and singing.

Ahhh, yes singing. Strange as it may sound the corresponding activity for swinging is singing.

After Kynan received that swing set for his birthday we were blessed with our son Braedon. From that time on I sang songs to them as I pushed them on the swings.

However the standard, well compulsory 'swing song' is the one I have made up from way back then and gets added to as we have more children. This is the song were I use the children's Christan and middle names and  make a rhyme from it.

For example:
Kynan Blair...loves the fair
Dum, diddle, umpt, dmpt, umpt, dumpt
next child's name
Dum, diddle, umpt, dmpt, umpt, dumpt
and down the line we go.

This is a very happy memory for me as I sing it to each new set of 'swingers' in our home and is once again a treasure Simple Pleasure.
         
I am linking to Dayles Simple Pleasures for this post

Blessings to you and your homes,

Simple Pleasures - Wild Flowers

I have always loved wild flowers.

One of my fantasies has been to be able to sow a whole field of wild flowers that we can then walk through and pick, bringing these beautiful flowers inside to brighten up our home. some of my faovurite movies or old TV shows are ones that have wild flowers in them and who can watch the Little House on the Prairie series and not want to run down a hill covered in wild flowers like the Ingalls girls.

When we lived in outback NSW I would love to go out to the country and pick the wild flowers. I spent many happy afternoons with our family picking them and then bringing them home to hang up to dry.

How I remember the beautiful look of hanging flowers to dry in our laundry. I have always wanted to have them hanging in the kitchen like the old fashioned ones you see.

On our property we have been blessed to have had some wildflowers grow here as well. In the summer we have an abundance of white daisies that grow all over, unless our menfolk mow them down. I frequently ask them to leave me just a patch of the flowers.

I have also been blessed by children  who also love to pick flowers, wild flowers if we have them or the single rose or Camellia that is growing at the time.
I adore these simple gifts of love that they bring to me and their faces light up as they show me their offerings, or their 'come and see Mummy'

There are so many different varieties of these beautiful flowers that our God has provided for our enjoyment.

So today I would like you to enjoy the simple pleasure of WILD FLOWERS.

 I am linking to Dayles Simple Pleasures for this post

Blessings to you and your homes,

Simple Pleasures - Washing Lines

For me the hanging out of washing is and has always been a simple pleasure. Although we have a lot of washing now and often the children do this for me, it is still one of the most treasured of household tasks for me.

I love the fact that I am outdoors and that if I am truly blessed there will be a breeze blowing as I hang the clothes out.

When we had less washing and children obviously, I would hang out our clothes in a very specific order. From Stephen down to the smallest child. All the jeans/ skirts/ outer layer clothes would hang together and then the singlets, underwear, socks paired together even, hankies and other odds and ends. I loved looking at it like this and would fold up as I took it in.

For many years I wanted a clothes line that was an old fashioned line and not a rotary one. When we moved to our property we had no clothes line and Stephen looped up some rope between trees to hang our washing out. How I remember the joy of hanging out the washing on those early days as I walked over to the where it was.

I loved the sense of simplicity and pleasure to be able to do this as countless other women have done before me.

Some time later my husband and older boys built me a magnificent clothes line that holds a huge amount of washing, and I still love the opportunity to be in the outdoors enjoying the time supplying this beautiful service to my family.

If you asked our children what is my favourite household task I am sure they would all agree the simple and mundane task of hanging washing would be what they would say.

So I would encourage you to take simple pleasure in the humble washing line.

I am linking to Dayles Simple Pleasures for this post

Blessings to you and your homes,