loving…simplicity and farm life

Posted on April 28, 2013 by cityhippyfarmgirl

“Often life’s pleasures pass us by simply because we don’t take a moment to focus on them… Make a point of noticing everyday something that uplifts your spirit or tickles your heart… Stop to breathe in the joy of this moment and then tell someone about it. Share your joy and revel in it. When your joy is savoured, and then shared, it is magnified…” ROBIN GRILLE

For me, there seem to be a lot of things to think about at the moment, and never quite enough time to do all of that thinking. What I have noticed lately though, is that life seems deliciously wonderful when those tiny moments of joy are grabbed hold of and held for just moment longer. Pausing a weary brain, and clearing a head full of thoughts.

A clear head… there is a lot to love of that.

Waking in the middle of the night, being showered in moonlight from a very full moon….loving every moonbeam of that.

Weekend away to a beautiful farm, where we were able to pick whatever we wanted to eat. With persimmons, pecans, eggs, spinach, sweet potato, tomatoes, mandarins, and home made blackberry jam from blackberries just down the hill to choose from…we all loved every second of it.

Dappled autumnal afternoon light hitting my kitchen table… loving that.

Dimpled baby smiles and cheeky chuckling boys…loving them.

Drinking coffee from my grandmothers 1960′s coffee mug. There is something about it that grounds me every time. The connection to her, the history behind it, the brief quiet time that is usually associated with it and importantly the lip. Nothing worse than a coffee cup with an annoying lip…loving drinking from that cup.

Moments of simplicity. Often far too brief lately, but jeez….loving them when they are there.

If anyone else would like to do a ‘loving’ post, please let me know, link back to this post and I’ll do a link up. I try to do one the last Sunday of the month (or you can simply write something in the comments). I would love to know about those little moments in your week that have tickled your heart.

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Have a look at what is tickling Kari’s taste buds at the moment.

Inspiration with The Sourdough Baker, Newcastle

Posted on April 9, 2013 by cityhippyfarmgirl

There is a heady smell of freshly baked bread in the air as I close the little gate to the garden. The nights dew still sticks to the grass, making a soft squeaking noise underfoot. Following the sourdough signs, the incredible smell in the air confirms that I’m in the right spot.

I’ve come in search of The Sourdough Baker in Newcastle. Currently baking at the Croation Sports Club in Wickham. Nestled in next to a community garden- sourdough and a community garden? It’s already making me smile and I haven’t even tasted the bread yet.

The Sourdough Baker is Warwick Quinton, who has been baking in all sorts of formats for the last few decades. I first heard of him through the wonders of Instagram, but several friends and family members had been telling me of delicious sourdough tales well beforehand. With his gorgeous partner Ginnie by his side and a handful of trusty helpers, the bread is woodfired and baked in “Bertha” the hefty black oven.

Watching the beautiful loaves come out of the oven, lined up the table, and sit in the early morning sunlight. I can’t help but feel a huge amount of bread happiness. It’s these sort of people that I find incredibly inspiring, making a business work out of something that is so obviously dear to their heart.

Any artisan work is a labour of love, and sourdough bread really is a wonderful example of that. That love is certainly here, as I bite down on my thickly sliced bread a little while later. I scrutinise the crumb and take in the taste. So different to my own loaves.

It’s good, really good.

Talking with Warwick on all things sourdough, I find out his methods are also completely different to my own. Reading The Sourdough Baker’s site days later and there were audible pops as my brain explodes just a little.

I knew sourdough was a flexible beast, with many variations on how to do things, but some of his methods I hadn’t even considered. Seventy two hours from beginning dough mixing to end, desem dough sourdough starter and slashing hours before going in to the oven, were just some of them. All bready tweaks that I think I would definitely like to play with down the track.

For a wannabe bread nerd I still have a lot to work on, so visits like this just fuel that wanting to learn. So many variations, methods and ingredients to play with. All things which after about three years of baking sourdough I still find incredibly exciting. As I sat later, chewing on sourdough and musing on all kinds of bready possibilities, ideas began to form. Mental lists of what to play with next and how to go about it were made.

And next time I’m in Newcastle? Well, I know where I’m getting my bread from.

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For recipes, sourdough tales, bread making classes and general information, have a peek at the…

The Sourdough Baker

the best city bicycle- part two

Posted on April 4, 2013 by cityhippyfarmgirl

A few weeks back I put the call out for a little help on the bike purchasing front… What was the best bicycle for a city gal wanting to get around on two wheels?

Turns out I had quite a lot of choice, and so I slowly narrowed it down to two, with 5062 hours of research and the help of you- my awesome readers. Every piece of advice was duly noted and I can confidently say, without everyone’s advice there is no way I would have found the bike that I did.

The cool looking retro bikes were trying to entice me but it’s a trusty 21 speed hybrid Malvern Star that finely came through with a skidding halt to my back door step. Despite being daunted by all the seemingly excessive gears, after two rides, (yes, two) I got them. I understood the gears and can confidently say….I love them! Gears are amazing and make bike riding a joy… who knew?

This little bike has everything I wanted- stand, mud guards, step through, basket, rack, upright position, 21 speeds and a comfy seat, (without a crazy price tag.)

The first few rides were a little daunting, the footpath getting a good workout along with the breaks. Every car going by seemed to be a potential to, well… die! However I’ve decided that if I’m going to ride in Sydney I just have to get more confident. It’s a busy city, with not a lot of apparent love towards bike riders, (and just quietly, more than it’s fair share of hills.) But it’s my city and there is nothing to say, I can’t make that all work for me.

Early morning rides to city farmers markets? No problem, with my basket on the front and my bell finger at the ready, ting ting…out of my way drunken Friday night partiers, city hippy farm girl coming though on her bike…ting ting.

Taking the bike away with us last weekend, I got a different view of what it’s like to ride around another city. Newcastle this time, which is incredibly flat and bike friendly. Peddling furiously to make it to the beach in time to watch the sun sneak over the water I had a moment.

I got it, I really did.

With the wind on my face, the light slowly touching the scattered clouds, my breath catching a little as I peddled faster and faster. I had time, I knew I could get there before the sun snuck over the horizon. I kept going faster though, not because I had to, but because I could… and that’s a pretty wonderful feeling to have.

My top tips for anyone looking at getting a bike in the city.

Research…and research your butt off. Ask oodles of questions, try the bikes out and take your time making a decision. You want to use it, not for it to be an expensive ornament. The low gear retro bikes look amazing, but if you don’t live in a flat cobblestone city, maybe think again. If you are going to be riding up any sort incline, gears are your friend. A superb wonderful friend, that you will love getting to know.

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For an interesting comparison on riding in a different city, have a read of Richard Tulloch’s cycling in Amsterdam…44,000 bike spaces to park in!

picnic

Posted on March 24, 2013 by cityhippyfarmgirl

It was the perfect antidote to a pretty stressful week. A celebration of our city living community. A chance to get together, share food, swap stories, let the kids run loose and put all my worrying tiring thoughts on pause for the afternoon. I needed that.

It had been awhile since the last one. With Autumn’s Equinox and the tail end of a Sydney summer- it seemed like a good excuse for a laden food table and a chance to watch some colourful bunting flutter gently in the breeze.

Thankfully, it takes very little to get a great bunch of people together. A group email invitation to a chosen loved spot. Invitations to invite other friends along with them, and suddenly there is a big bunch of lovely people. Ukuleles, hula hoops, bare feet and rampant yodeling are always actively encouraged at these sorts of things. This is what makes living a busy life, in a small space, in a bustling city… ok. Actually it’s more than ok, it makes it wonderful.

the best city bicycle

Posted on February 28, 2013 by cityhippyfarmgirl

I’ve got wheels on my mind at the moment. Two of them actually. I want to get a bike and the whole research into exactly which one to get is BENDING MY MIND.

Having not owned a bicycle for the past twenty years, I’m a little bit out of the loop. I have sweet images of me tra la laaaing along with my basket laden retro looking ladies bicycle.

Ting, ting goes my bell…excuse me, coming by.

I refuse to think about the horror stories that friends keep sharing with me of how unbike friendly Sydney actually is. I’m also trying not to think of the seemingly vast amount of hills I’m suddenly very aware of in my immediate area. It’s now I start thinking, moving to Canberra might not be such a bad idea. Flat, tree lined cycle ways everywhere I needed to go. Melbourne I think would also be good, Amsterdam (for obvious bikey reasons) also fantastic. Byron Bay was also very bike friendly.

Alloy, inches, step through, speeds are all things that I wasn’t thinking of a couple of weeks ago. One helpful young bike enthusiast showed me a lovely looking bike with 21 gears. I know I sound like a big girly girl, but what on earth do I do with 21 gears? Last time I was confidently riding the streets with the wind in my hair, my bike had a back pedal break and that was it. If I wanted to get up a hill, I pedaled harder. (For the record I did, briefly have a three speed bike after this one, but by that time I had become a ‘cool’ teen and cool teens most certainly didn’t ride three speeds, so it didn’t quite get the mileage that I think my parents had hoped for.)

Oh just get on there and ride, someone helpfully tells me. Half of me says, what’s the worse that could happen? The other half of me, tells me in great detail all the horrific worse things that could happen.

And so I sit, in biking limbo. Unsure of which way to venture. With twenty tabs open on my computer, all with a different view on the best city bicycle to own . I know one thing is for sure though, it looks like there is going to be two wheels on my horizon.

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Does anyone have any biking tips for me? Brands they have been happy with, biking stories- horror or happy (I’m brave, I can take the horror ones) or just some general biking tips for riding in the city?

the coat

Posted on February 17, 2013 by cityhippyfarmgirl

Opening the bag up, a familiar musty smell hits my nose. Stronger this time, as years have gone by now without having opened it. Not a terrible smell, just stronger than before.

There had always been a slight smell, even in the early days. I liked to imagine that smell was a build up off life. A life that had seen years and years of fun nights out and cold winters. Parties that ended days after they began. Mornings spent in bustling coffee shops, weekends in smoky darkened bars listening to sultry singers and political arguments.

This is the life I imagined my coat to have had before I found her.

I nearly didn’t find her though. I almost missed her altogether. A rushed weekend train to Amsterdam, a drizzly grey afternoon that was sneaking into a winter’s night. A clunking stuffed overnight backpack hitting into ready to go home vendors. Then suddenly I saw her, fluffy cuff sticking out, whispering to me to save her from a sea of old military jackets.

I tried her on. A good fit. Handed over some notes and away I went with a spring in my step and a coat on my back.

Time ticked on. The quiet of walking through soft German snow, the laughter of a noisy English pub evening, the intensity of long serious Italian conversations over coffees, and also teary farewells- the coat was there. I felt good in it and it suited my life at that point.

Back to Australia and another chapter of my life began in Sydney. With warmer weathers, balmy winters and softly falling snow just a distant memory. The coat got packed away. Promises of a triumphant return never eventuated, and slowly the packed away bag gathered just a little more dust.

Why was I clinging on to the coat? Was it because I really loved it, and thought I would sincerely wear it again if we ever moved to a colder climate? Or was I simply clinging on to it, as there were so many fun happy memories attached to it, (both of my own and imagined from another.) I was older, greyer and certainly plumper than when I first wore the coat, would wearing it still feel the same as it once had?

I couldn’t decide, and time carried on. The dust gathered, until finally something changed. A whispered change, just like the first whisper of when I saw that fluffy cuff.

It was time. Time to pass on that coat with the happy times sewn into its sleeves… to someone else.

I hope someone else can sense the good times that were had in it.

time to lay back…

Posted on February 10, 2013 by cityhippyfarmgirl

wool

running and happy squeals

accompany snatched handfuls of food when whizzing by

a simple plum and nectarine tart is whittled down to crumbs within minutes

a new red hooking project begins

capes flutter in the wind

time to lay back and ponder the clouds

letting the mind just quietly wander

…oh when was the last time I did that?

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What are you up to this weekend?

DSC_0371 copy

land of the clear blue waters…and markets, so many markets

Posted on January 13, 2013 by cityhippyfarmgirl

Byron Bay. Land of the clear blue waters, green rolling hills, steady stream of campervans, surfboards, sandy thonged toes (flip flops US readers, flip flops!) and markets…lots and lots of wonderful markets.

Farmers markets, artisan designer markets, Christmas markets, and just well…markets. They are all there. Not just within Byron Bay, but also in the surrounding townships. All really worth a visit, as I am yet to find one I didn’t like.

Seeing such thriving popular markets makes me really happy. Local food fare seems so very easy and accessible to get in this area. Small local businesses are supported, local farmers are embraced, little ideas get run with, getting a chance to grow, and amazing food really is everywhere. Spending time up in this area was a lovely gentle reminder of why I think shopping like this is important. If it can so easily be done in a smaller community, why does it seem so hard living like this in a big city?

Mulumbimby saw my first raw vegan Black Forest Cake. Just quietly, I’m usually a little hesitant with vegan dessert options, (cardboard, stodgy and tasteless are words that usually spring to mind,) but this was delicious and I stand so very corrected. I don’t think I could ever be a long term raw vegan but I’m definitely going to explore those two eating avenues a little further.

Alive Granola (raw, vegan, dairy, gluten and sugar free) was another delicious vegany find. I’m hooked on this stuff thanks to my friend who introduced me to it. I’m going to have to recreate it somehow now, as my stash now has dwindled.

I also finally tried a chocolate pudding fruit, black sapote. Does it look like chocolate pudding inside? Yes, it most certainly does, and unfortunately I don’t have a picture to prove it. (Have a look here if you are interested though.) I really can’t compare this taste to anything I have had before. Funnily enough I could certainly see it being used in raw sugar free vegan desserts, it would be absolutely perfect for it.

The Byron Markets also have the famous organic, dark chocolate doughnuts. Worthy of a long drive? You betcha. All doughnuts were definitely not created equal, and these superb little creatures live high on the mountain of ‘BEST DOUGHNUTS EVER’.

Chai being my tea of drink these days, I knew before going up there that a few of my favourite tea companies were located in that general area. Well I was in for a treat, as I found more, and also found a new favourite. I’m picky with my chai. It can’t have liquorice root in it, and I would prefer to be able to see the spices in it, not all ground up to a dark fine powder. This one was perfect. Gives me a lovely little kick start first thing in the morning.

Handmade goodies are also a big highlight in this area. We picked up one of these sweet little softie dolls for a certain little ones first birthday next month (oh eek, nearly a whole year!) I could have bought a whole heap of them as I really couldn’t decide.

Then just like that, our time up in Byron came to a close. Land of the clear blue waters, green rolling hills and surfboards was feeling all too brief. Promises of we’ll be back soon, promises of return to pristine beaches, and promises of coming back to visit all those markets.

Mulumbimby Farmers Markets

Byron Bay Farmers Markets

Bangalow Farmers Markets

Byron Bay Regional Markets

hello 2013

Posted on January 1, 2013 by cityhippyfarmgirl

The holiday break

saw time slowing down

family recharging time

new foods being explored

time with loved ones

reconnecting with dear friends

cool swims in blue pools

walks on beaches collecting, collecting…always collecting

long chats over long coffees

short chats over new toys

belly laughing baby giggles

baby legs finding a new footing

time to inhale

exhale

hello 2013

a gathering

Posted on November 8, 2012 by cityhippyfarmgirl

Last weekend we had a gathering

an afternoon to come together with shared food, simple decorations, no structured time, one table, lots of rugs and plenty of conversation

“All ukeleles, hulahoops, guitars, fire twirling, bongos, bubbles and barefeet are actively encouraged…”

an open green space giving shade and freedom to

20 adults and 28 children

When city living can feel so incredibly rushed, hurried, structured and small. Gatherings like this are like a breath of fresh air.

Recharging the batteries, giving adults time to stop, slow down and talk. Children time to do what they do best…run off and explore, creating their own games.

I absolutely adore afternoons like this…

Thank you friends.

Cityhippyfarmgirl

CITYHIPPYFARMGIRL

Category Archives: out and about

loving…simplicity and farm life

Inspiration with The Sourdough Baker, Newcastle

the best city bicycle- part two

picnic

the best city bicycle

the coat

time to lay back…

land of the clear blue waters…and markets, so many markets

hello 2013

a gathering

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