Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

Our fish tank has been overhauled.

For years, it was filled with Electric Yellow cichlids and a giant catfish. After the last of the yellows died, Pete decided he’d like a different sort of tank – this time housing a variety of African lake cichlids, all males, with just one of each species. The hope was that a tank without any females and other competing males would reduce territorial and aggressive behaviour, while still providing plenty of colour and interest.

As with all projects in our house, it’s taken a very long time – well over a year. Setting up a fish tank takes ages anyway – the water needs to rest for up to six weeks before it’s ready for fish. In our case, it was a much bigger job as the entire polystyrene backdrop had to be removed and replaced with large river rocks (known in the aquarium trade as “Lucky Stones”), and a new top had to be constructed.

The first step was to source the rocks – incredibly expensive to buy in aquarium shops, but an absolute steal if purchased directly from landscaping suppliers. This huge box cost us just $10…

Figuring out how to position the stones was a slow, thoughtful process. Good design can never be rushed. In the end, we finally arrived at a layout that Pete was happy with, and Uncle Steve (Pete’s brother) came over to help set it all up (bless him)…

It was a couple of months after the photo above was taken before we were able to add fish to the tank. Elvis the plecostomus (catfish) went in first – he’s strong and resilient and could cope with the less than optimum water conditions…

Fish are tricky pets to keep as they have quite a high attrition rate – of the seventeen that went in initially, we lost five within the first few months. A couple got sick, but the others became stressed and simply stopped eating – apparently a not uncommon occurrence in a community tank while the group dynamic is sorting itself out. We’ve added a few new ones since then, so currently we have sixteen cichlids plus Elvis.

Bulldog, Rainbow Fish, Sushi2, Tuna, Marlin, Columbus, Moby, Barry, Mad Fish, Stewie, Toby, Mack, Hal, Rick, Henry and Blackie. Columbus has done so well that he’s now on loan back to Labyrinth Aquariums to breed up the next generation.

The largest cichlids in the tank (Hal and Bulldog) have grown to over 5″ (13cm) in length. When we put them in, they were less than 2″ long. As you can see, they’re all doing very well at the moment!

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I’m back on coffee.

After weaning myself off it completely and staying “clean” for over a decade, I just couldn’t say no when my sons offered, “Can I make you a coffee, Mum?” Little buggers, I love them so much that even such a small gesture can make my heart race. Or it could be the caffeine.

Last month, Big Boy came home with a Nespresso machine, and that was the nail in the coffin…

Did I mention that he graduated with a Bachelor of Computer Science from Sydney Uni at the end of last year? One of the first bits of work he picked up (at the moment, he’s juggling three part-time jobs) was with EcoCaffe – the Australian distributors for the Ethical Coffee Company.

These guys make environmentally friendly coffee pods. Whereas regular Nespresso pods can take hundreds of years to break down, the EcoCaffe ones are made from vegetable matter and starch, and will completely biodegrade within 180 days. You can watch a video of the pods decomposing here. We’ve been throwing our used pods straight into the compost bin…

Naturally, we had to buy an assortment of different blends to try. Big Boy prefers the stronger brews, Small Man has one standard Espresso a day, and I’m quite taken with the Arabica…

I’m told that everything about the product – even the packaging – is environmentally friendly. According to the EcoCaffe FAQs, the pods are biodegradable to the strictest European standards…

Very importantly, the coffee is sublime. It’s really, really good. Each Arabica pod produces a smooth and flavoursome 40ml brew without a hint of bitterness…

I won’t be picking up barista work anytime soon, but I do like having a frothy topped coffee in my little Russian glass first thing in the morning…

If you do decide to try these, let me give you some tips from our short but slightly manic experience. Firstly, don’t buy too many packets at the one time – the pods have a 12 month recommended use by from date of production (which makes perfect sense when you think about it).

Secondly, because the pods are made from vegetable matter, they’re not quite as resilient as the metal ones, so it’s best to let the Nespresso machine cool down a little between shots – if it’s too hot, the pod can distort and then it won’t “pop”.

Finally, don’t be tempted to use the short shot pods on the long shot setting – they have a range specifically designed for the latter. We insert the pods and then give them a very gentle push on the base to make sure they’re sitting in the machine properly.

So…I’m allowing myself just one caffeinated shot per day – any subsequent ones need to be decaf. I’m hoping I can toe that line, I’m quite weak where good coffee is concerned! (Edit: it didn’t work out. I’m back on decaf full time now).

PS. Whilst Big Boy has done some work for these guys, I’m getting absolutely nothing for writing this post. Actually, that’s not strictly true. He did make me a cup of coffee. ♥

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 EcoCaffe (Australian website)

Ethical Coffee Company (International website)

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Have you ever heard of iFly Downunder?

Located in Penrith (about an hour’s drive from Sydney city), it offers a 5 metre wide, 13 metre tall wind tunnel where you can literally go flying. We drove past their billboard advertisement in December, and it instantly became the only thing Small Man wanted for Christmas.

It’s not a cheap experience – $89 buys you two one-minute flights on a weekday morning – but it was enormous fun. Each flight is equivalent to a freefall skydive from 14,000 feet (and a whole lot less terrifying, I’m sure). Pete wasn’t feeling 100%, so he sat this one out, but the boys and I had an absolute blast!

We were asked to arrive an hour early to check in, suit up and receive instructions. Each flyer is accompanied by an instructor for both flights, and given the option to be taken to the top of the wind tunnel on their second flight for an extra $10. Big Boy declined, but Small Man and I jumped at the opportunity! Our instructor, the ever patient Matt, put on an aerial display at the end of our session that blew us all away. (Ha! No pun intended.)

Both my sons took to this as though they’d been jumping out of planes their entire lives, especially Big Boy…

Small Man couldn’t keep the grin off his face…

Neither could I for that matter – it was the most fun I’d had in ages!

Pete sat right outside the tunnel and took videos for us – I don’t want to wipe out your broadband with multiple large downloads, so here’s just one of Small Man flying high…

This was such a wonderful experience! I’m not planning to jump out of a plane anytime soon, but we’ll certainly be heading back to Penrith for another round in the wind tunnel!

PS. iFly have indoor skydiving centres across the US, Canada, the UK and Asia. Here’s a link to their locations page!

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iFly Downunder
Indoor Skydiving Penrith Pty Ltd
123 Mulgoa Road
Penrith  NSW 2750

Ph: 1300 366 364
International: +61 2 4761 1800
info@iflydownunder.com.au

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I’m supposed to be baking. Or tempering chocolate. After all, it’s only a week to Christmas.

Instead, I’ve been consumed by an urge to create shiny things. Many years ago, I used to make a lot of Swarovski crystal jewellery. I used mostly vintage stones, worked onto either sterling silver or rolled gold findings. I haven’t really made anything over the past few years, but as we’ve discussed before, old enthusiasms don’t die, they just go on the backburner for a little while. So even though it’s nearly Christmas and you’re probably expecting a recipe for a baked treat, here’s a tutorial on making earrings instead. Just for fun!

I like to use 10mm Swarovski crystals for earrings – the red ones below are a colour called Siam. I’ve also used 6mm silver rondelles, 22 gauge sterling silver head pins, sterling silver earring hooks, and a small spacer crystal (Swarovski 5305 in 6mm clear).

Tools required: wire cutter, flat nosed pliers and round nosed pliers.

Stack the crystals onto the head pin. I placed the large crystal at the base, followed by the rondelle and then the clear crystal…

Using flat-nosed pliers, carefully bend the wire, leaving a gap of a few millimeters between the top of the crystal and the bend…

Using round nosed pliers, turn the top into a complete circle – with your fingers, bend the wire half way around the nose of the pliers, then readjust the pliers and complete the loop. This takes a bit of practice…

Grasping the loop with one set of pliers, use the other set to wrap the wire around the gap between the loop and the top bead…

Carefully trim off the tail…

Holding the loop in the round nosed pliers, carefully and gently tuck the end of the wire in with the flat nosed pliers…

Open the loop of the earring hooks by gently bending the wire to the side. Never open a loop by uncurling it, as it weakens the wire…

Slip in the finished earring, then close the hook loop back up again…

If all the wire wrapping sounds a bit ominous, here’s a much easier method. Thread the beads onto the head pin – this time I used vintage Swarovski green tourmaline in 10mm and 6mm, with a small sterling silver spacer between them…

Using flat nosed pliers, bend the wire over as close to the top bead as possible (be careful not to crack the stone)…

Trim the wire about 1cm away from the bend…

Using round nosed pliers, slowly turn the loop. The best way to do this is in two stages – bend the loop half way by twisting the pliers, then readjust them and bend it down to the base…

Open the loop by twisting slightly to the side…

Slip the earring onto the hook and then close the loop back up…

I personally prefer wrapped loops, but they take a bit of practice and the simple turned loops are really just as attractive…

How are your Christmas preparations going? I really have to start baking soon!

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I’ve just watched this TED Talk by astronaut Chris Hadfield and found it so inspirational that I thought I’d share it with you.

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For those of you who aren’t familiar with Commander Hadfield, he’s a retired Canadian astronaut who last year spent six months in command of the International Space Station. Apart from his work on the station, he also chronicled life onboard the ISS and shared it with the world via Twitter and Instagram.

He’s an amazing, inspirational human being. You might also enjoy his rendition of David Bowie’s Space Oddity!

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