new year

New Year, New Beginnings

| poppypeach

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This is the year 2017 and time for all those resolutions and all that jazz that never manifest. Last year I was supposed to play my ukelele but did I even pick it up and learn one song – no! I love my ukelele and it is so good to own one and I do need to make time to play if only there were more hours in the day, then maybe?

Now it is back to reality and to regular routine… I have my two subjects a week for this teaching period plus 3 assignments to complete in the next 2 weeks so my time is very limited to socialising and the like. I still need to get out and exercise for my mind, so time on my yoga mat and dancing are priorities. I am really enjoying studying and it gives me a sense of purpose and a goal (at the end of a very long tunnel!) My first group assignment is going along well and it was not as hard as I perceived it to be in fact communicating across the world online with different timezones is so do-able, every day it is done in business which makes me wonder why do business folks still have to have face to face contact and jet around the world constantly? Anyway, that is not my worry, I have to get this blog post written and get on with my reading and weekly tasks for this week for my Education degree…

Our new years eve this year was just the four of us enjoying a lovely dinner of DIY pizza, cocktails using Sonoma organic ginger vodka, loganberry liqueur from Whidbey Island distillers and lemon shrub I made over the summer and tonic water – they went down a treat. A collaboration with my hubby where he made the meringue and I decorated the pavlova sans the cream (as I forgot) turned out to be quite the success. It went down a treat and we shared it with our neighbour who also is a fan of Australia – my good friend in Australia said to me the pavlova was super easy to make and she is a Kiwi and it turned out to be so, though he did spend a lot of time with the hand mixer (I hear the Kitchen Aid is the biz!!).

For New Years Day we mixed it up a bit this year and we abandoned the idea of brunching with friends and decided to start the year off with something we have not done in the 10 years we have lived in the Bay Area. Why we have not done this is a complete mystery but as it turned out the 1st day of the year was a perfectly, clear, sunny day to walk the Golden Gate Bridge! Every time we drive over it seems so surreal that we are living here – well we live in the suburbs of San Francisco so it is not like living in a city! Anyway, I will not complain, I do love the sunshine 🙂 To start the year off on something new was a bold move for us and we plan to do many more adventures like this in the time we have left in the United States. That is if my plan works to escape and head on back home!

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The views from the bridge are absolutely spectacular and on a day with zero fog and sunshine, it was just amazing to see what this city has to offer. I loved the views of the bridge walking under it and I loved to admire the incredible engineering. The cables viewed from the walking paths with their curves were to behold and the view of the city just wonderful – it is such a beautiful bridge and a glorious bay it is no wonder that people love living here!

Here is a rare image of my hubby and myself finally in front of the Golden Gate Bridge – we had some time to talk about our future while we were away on vacay. Time alone without children screaming the background or media to distract us – now we know where we both stand it is up to us to take life where we want to go. The future can always be scary so a bit of investigation in the job market and where we are both going in life has to be examined before any big decisions are made! The love locks we found on the Golden Gate are from lovers who have used a lock as a symbol of their love and then thrown away the key – what a sweet gesture, I thought it was for suicide victims whew thank goodness they were not as that would be a lot of unnecessary deaths of couples!

I really enjoyed the light of the day the other day with the bridge and wandering along being together as a family. This holiday has really brought us together and it is so good to see the kids in a relaxed mode and enjoying each others company which is why I captured this pic of the two of them chatting away, they are both growing up so fast! Oh and check out the tunnel we had to travel through to get to the bridge, it is quite the adventure going into a little Hobbit tunnel.

So to new beginnings and how to move along 2017 in such a positive light! I plan to do more photography, ride my bike often (see this ride across the bridge for a bit of a long day of riding!) and bake more – this is a clafoutis that I made from apple and berries and it was divine. It is such a simple recipe I found in Sunset magazine using my Vitamix and oh yes I need to use my blender to make smoothies and all that goodness. Really it is so important to stay positive and full of light in the coming year and be there to support each other – I don’t want to mention here why but I think most people know the doom that exists on the horizon.

A piece a Week… NYE treats, a warm bulky knit hat and a Custom Draft Snake filled with Pinto Beans!

| poppypeach
In continuation of ‘A piece a week’ from last year I am taking the challenge to projects that I am working on to expand my knowledge of making. So with my craft room fully organized this year I plan to make clothes from the fabric in my stash and see what I can create and of course, learn!
I made some delicious treats for NYE for our neighborly celebration. For dessert this is a riff on Chocolate Crackles made with a mysterious ingredient I cannot find here called Copha. So I looked through Super Natural Cooking and made these from the Peanut Butter Krispy Treats recipe. This is using Almond Butter and Cacao Rice Puffs and they are amazing!!

Cacao Rice Crackles

3/4 cup almond butter
1/2 cup maple syrup (the cacao puffs are super sweet)
1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
2 1/2 teaspoons agar flakes
3 cups Cacao Rice Puffs
Combine almond butter, maple syrup, sale and agar flakes in a large saucepan over LOW heat and stir constantly until smooth, hot, melted and bubbling just a little BIT. Add the cacao rice puffs and stir until well coated. Transfer to individual baking cups using a tablespoon or more to fill. Refrigerate until completely cool, then enjoy! 
Makes around 30
Super tasty cacao crackles!
As the dinner was a eat what you like from the table type meal I made a broccoli cous cous with a harissa dressing which went down a treat. This was inspired by this recipe.
Broccolli Cous cous with the Harissa dressing on top – mix it through and it is perfect with smoked salmon and salad
The spread of tasty morsels on the table including a babaganoush dip, cheeses, olives for snacks
How can I forget the cocktails – this mint inspired vodka cocktail is from a recipe I found on Food and Wine making the base sugar syrup with the herbs and adding extra vodka and lemon pieces when serving – refreshing and you can drink a fair amount and be very happy! 
Vodka lemon mint cocktail
The kids were enjoying the time by the fire and eating popcorn with nutritional yeast and watching Elf – I have to thank my friends for recommending it as the best holiday film ever! The kids all loved it very much 😀
Super warm
Popcorn with nutritional yeast – oh so good!!
The night was complete success with our neighbors leaving around 9:30 very happy and ready to get their kiddos into bed though our pair were so keen to stay up until midnight so lucky for us we had some holiday films to get through with Santa Paws and cat videos on YouTube!
Happy New Year to all!!
We had a busy New Years day with catching up with friends for brunch, lunch and dinner and in between a bike ride to Shoreline. A wonderful start to 2015!
As it was the last weekend before school was back into the swing of things we decided to go for a drive to Elkhorn Slough to check out some wildlife – sea otters, birds and whatever else we might find. We went prepared after our chilling hike last week and the weather turned out to be absolutely stunning with sunshine and warmth. Such a perfect day for a walk in a very peaceful part of the world. We spotted a sea otter cleaning himself through this super scope and borrowed binoculars from the visitor center who were full of information. 

Checking out the sea otter!

Hang on and don’t fall in the mud

Selfie with a background sign

Sea otter skeleton at the visitor center

After our walk of about 4 miles we were pretty hungry and decided we wanted to check out Phil’s Fish Market. Man we waited and waited in line for maybe one hour and we were just about to faint when there was the cashier! Thank goodness we ordered and sat down outside with the aggressive seagulls and our food was with us in about 15 minutes. We ordered sardines with a lemon and caper sauce, a salmon burger, chowder in a bread bowl and the kids had fish and chips and squid and chips. What a feast – there was no dinner for us when we got home! I would say this place is well worth the wait and judging by the line even when we left it does not matter what time you get there, this place is very popular. According to the guy we were chatting to in the line Phil’s has been in Moss Landing for over 20 years and has always been excellent. Oh and keep a lookout for the black cat near the boat.

The freshest fish in Moss Landing

Entertainment with the fisherman

 I knit a bulky hat for our walk as last time we were hiking it was super cold – this time I did not necessarily need this as it was warm and sunny but I could not take it off because of hat hair! This hat is super comfy and warm and made from a hand spun merino my friend gave me from Australia – I love it! Super easy to knit up and fast as well.

With Mr Ash who enjoys Selfies!
Our farewell to Moss Landing

 A friend of mine at school ordered a custom snake at the holiday boutique and wanted it as a draft stopper so I filled it with a pound of pinto beans in between the stuffing! Here it is ready to go to it’s new home!

‘Drafts be gone!’

Oh and how can I forget our last day of the holidays and a ride to Shoreline again – 8 miles with the kiddos going at their pace still worked my legs! We stopped for a ice cream and sweets and headed back home in the cool evening air. We found this friendly ground squirrel wanting a snack!

Hanging at Ground Squirrel HeadQuarters at Shoreline