Manna from...

...heaven.

On the 14th / 15th November the heavens finally opened and dropped some desperately needed manna from heaven on our smallholding.

How much water. in the dam? Nada.  Zilch.  Nothing.

January 2017 was dry.  Dry.  Dry.  Dry.

The dam was so dry that even the bentonite "seal" cracked open

We were teased for a week beforehand as Norway promised rain. 

And I checked 4 different weather forecast sites - twice a day - for that week - just to make sure that no ruddy high pressure system got in the way of the moisture laden cut off low.

(https://www.weather-forecast.com/locations/Swellendam/forecasts/latest, https://www.windy.com/ and https://www.yr.no/place/South_Africa/Western_Cape/ and the weather ap on my phone.)

I was absolutely OTT, much to RMan's amusement.

He chose to wait and see what happened.  Not me.  I want to know so that I can make prior arrangements - like "RMan, please, pump the ruddy contents of the lower tanks to the higher storage tanks.  Pleeeeeease."  (He did 😀  T'was easier than having me constantly nag him...)

Norway's weather site predicted over 33mm of rain for the next week

The sky turned a promising colour...

When the sky turns this colour I KNOW rain is about to fall

...and, sure enough, the rains fell...

I haven't seen heavy rain fall on our patio for a long, long time

...and fell.

Our dam finally started filling up

The dam started filling up nicely...

Wow!! Doesn't that look amazing 😀

...but didn't quite overflow.  Plus, ALL our rain water tanks are now full again.

Filled to the brim with rainwater and run-off

Happy and contented - for now.  One good rainfall does not a drought break.  But it will certainly help to add some much needed moisture deep in the ground.

One of my favourite views of the dam

We have no further rain predicted for the next two weeks, and the dam has already receded as the bone dry banks absorb the water.

I spotted bees thirstily gulping and a Proischnura rotundipennis (damselfly)

But, enough water will remain so that the birds, wildlife and insects can wander over for a gulp whenever they need to.



P.S. kymber - thanks for all you've done so far, but please - don't stop the nekkid rain dances.  We were fortunate to have rain fall where we are, but the water catchment areas need rain - and LOTS of it...

Candied

I love ginger.

I especially love a bit of ginger with my meal (finely chopped raw ginger).

But, I also love candied ginger.

So, with some of the home grown ginger I've harvested I decided to make some of the latter.

First, I peeled the ginger - using a teaspoon makes that task easy.

Peel the ginger with a teaspoon

Then the peeled ginger was thinly sliced with the assistance of a mandolin.

When slicing the ginger with the mandolin, use a flat hand to
 hold it securely - less sliced fingers this way

This sliced ginger went into a pot with enough water to cover it completely.

Add enoughj water to just cover the peeled sliced ginger

After boiling for 30-odd minutes, the ginger was removed from the liquid in the pot and drained.  The liquid was reserved in a jug.

Peeled sliced ginger simmering in plain water

Using ½ - 1 cup of the reserved liquid add it back to the pot with 1½ - 2 cups of granulated sugar.

As the ginger simmers in the sugar syrup you will notice that it
 becomes more and more translucent

Heat gently whilst stirring until the sugar is dissolved and then add the ginger to that mixture and simmer gently for 30 - 40 minutes until the ginger is transluscent and glassy looking.

Sugar syrup soaked ginger draining before dusting with castor sugar

Remove the ginger from the pot with a fork and place piece by piece on a drying rack.  Allow to drain of all the excess juice overnight (any excess juice will cause the castor sugar to dissolve instead of adhering to the ginger.)

Homemade candied ginger

The next morning toss the now drained ginger in castor sugar and place in an airtight container.

I have found that leaving the candied ginger for a week or two improves the first taste of end product.
  
Then, climb in...😀

Shelf life - a good 9 - 12 months, if not longer.  If it lasts that long...  Just ensure that it is kept in an airtight container.

Ingredients for candied ginger:

400 - 450 gms (1lb) peeled and sliced ginger.  (Try and use young fresh ginger as it will contain less "fribrous threads".)
Water - enough to cover the sliced ginger
2 cups of granulated sugar
Castor sugar - for coating the cooked ginger.

Left over syrup from first boil

The leftover juice (from the initial boil) was added to the left over sugar syrup and reduced down.  That will be used for:

Adding to lemon and honey and warm water - very soothing drink for a sore throat
To drizzle over pancakes / waffles / fruit salad
In a salad dressing
Drizzled over roasted veg
To add to sauces for that asian flavour
With the addition of lemon juice, to glaze chicken (or our turkey this Christmas)

Be warned - this syrup will be concentrated - with a really good bite to the finished product.

Less waste, no landfill

My mission in 2018 is to become single use anything free.  I passionately hate single use plastic - in all it's forms.

Back in September 2017 I posted this pic with the question "Does anyone know their purpose...?"  Mum was the only one who came close with her comment: "Not a clue apart from wraps for sandwiches."

Cotton fabric and grated bees wax - sourced locally.

What is depicted in that photo (above) is some cotton fabric, and some locally sourced grated wax (shown here in a single use plastic bag 😞.  You see how insidiously it creeps into the home...?) 

Different sized pieces of fabric

The wax is, with the assistance of a cool iron, melted onto the fabric.

A piece of waxed wrap easily covers freshly baked goods from
 my bread machine

As kitchen towels were disappointing in their effectiveness for keeping freshly baked bread fresh for long, I have made various size wraps and have ensured that there is at least one large enough to adequately enclose my homemade bread / cakes from my bread machine.  

The addition of some spare buttons allows me to secure
  the wrap round my loaves

After 37 years of marriage (on 1st November) I have plenty of "spare" buttons so I have sewn a button on two opposite ends, and wrapped some string (which is easily replaceable as, and when, it becomes tatty) around them.  That ensures that the wrap won't open and holds as close a seal as possible.  

I have, over a year, purchased a number of different sized
 sealable containers in which to store leftovers in the fridge.
 These are just some of them...

I'm one happy little puppy.  Having sucessfully ditched single use plastic cling-wrap and bags for my lidded glass containers, I now have the means to cover freshly made sandwhiches, bowls of left overs, freshly baked goods and even half avocado's, lemons, etc. with an hygienic, sealed warp.

Cleaning is simple - merely wash in cool water, or wipe with a damp cloth.

My next mission?  Eliminating aluminium foil from this house...  (Christmas roasts, garlic bread, etc.)

Feedburner issues?

I had noticed a while ago that I was getting a lot of e-mail followers with the email address ending in outlook.com  The names of the people were strange also.

Then, Blogger stats were showing a surprising number of hits from Russia.

So, I removed the stranfge addresses and the option to follow by e-mail for a while.  When I reinstalled the gadget, the problem remained.

And now I see Russia / Rumania happening on Bloglovin too...

Does anyone see ads on my blog?  Does anyone see porn on my blog???  There shouldn't be any of either 😠

Please - let me know.  I don't like this at all!  And I need to know how to stop this / prevent this.  Do I remove "Follow with Bloglovin" or "Follow by e-mail"?  Will it help?  Anyone...?