Monday, May 31, 2010

Another day….



Beautiful red bark of the Caoba tree, probably the same family as the redwood



This morning Sania's bike broke down so he called on Sasha to tow him.  We've been building our new house on our other property and because of all the rain the trucks have been getting stuck and need to be towed out by a grader, the children have enjoyed watching it.



Sania preparing his pony before our trail ride



At the stream



Papa came with us.  He always gives his hands and affection for both his children, at any moment.



More mud in the afternoon



Papa singing beautiful French songs in the early evening

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Beautiful Sand Art

Beautiful Sand Art - Endless hours of fun and creativity,  we bring in a truck load of sand and the children spend most of their days building dams, castles, tunnels, roads, volcanoes etc.












Saturday, May 29, 2010

Catching little fish

This morning Fabien prepared his delicious whole-wheat buttermilk waffles for breakfast.  He prepares the batter with whole grain flour and fresh buttermilk left over after making butter the night before and leaves the batter overnight.

Served  with bananas, fresh cream and agave or maple syrup. Recipe below post.



The children realized that their teddies that they fed Molasses to the night before were covered in Fire Ants.  They popped them in the washing machine for a good bath, whilst waiting for them we began preparing a gift for Papa's birthday next week.  We have made a few things already but I can't post them just yet.



Sania had a desire to go fishing.  The fish are so little and are an easy catch.  They like to observe them and then we set them free again.  Small pine cones as floaters.  The ducks are always curious.



We had many worms left so made a little worm box with soil like my dad did when I was little, (they were his pets).  Feed them vegetables every day, it makes amazing compost.



The children made a little fort around the sofa's with sarongs.



Late afternoon we admired the horses swimming back home to their night pasture.



Recipe for Waffles from the book "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon, my favorite recipe and nutritional information book.

  • 2 1/2 Cup Spelt, Kamut or whole wheat flour (I prefer Spelt)

  • 2 cups buttermilk, kefir or yoghurt

  • 2 Egg yolks, lightly beaten

  • 2-4 Tbs of maples syrup

  • 2 Tablespoons melted butter (preferably raw)

  • 1 tsp sea salt

  • 4 egg whites

  • pinch of sea salt


Soak flour in buttermilk, kefir or yoghurt in a warm place for 12 to 24 hours.  Those with milk allergies may use 2 cups water plus 2 tbs whey lemon juice or vinegar in place of undiluted buttermilk, kefir or yoghurt)  Stir in egg yolks, syrup, melted butter and salt.  In a clean bowl, beat egg whites with pinch of salt until stiff.
Fold into batter.  Cook in a hot, well oiled waffle iron.  Serve with melted butter, fruit, maple syrup, raw honey.

Note: these waffles are softer than those made with white flour.  however, they will become crisp if kept in a warm oven for several hours.

"Soaking whole grains and flour overnight in a medium like cultured milk or warm acidulated water activates the enzyme phytase, which then neutralizes phytic acid.  Studies show that salt added to the soaking medium inhibits this process, so the time to add salt to porridges and batters is just before cooking not during the soaking period.  Under the right conditions, phytase is also activated in the human intestine, which explains why some people do not develop mineral deficiencies on a high-phytate diet while others do.  However, extrusion - which is a high temperature, high pressure process used to transform whole grains into breakfast cereals like bran flakes and shredded wheat, totally destroys phytase but leaves phytic acid intact.  Therefore cold breakfast cereals deliver a double whammy of mineral blocking phytic acid without the phytase that can deactivate at least a portion of phytic acid in the intestinal tract. This renders certain proteins very toxic, essentiail oils rancid and many vitamins useless.  Cooked breakfast cereals are far more nutritions, even when not soaked beforehand.  Best of all soaked with quality fat of butter or cream.  The fact that phytic acid is a strong chelator has led to claims that phytic acid can be used to remove toxic metals." Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon

Friday, May 28, 2010

Trail riding fun with their ponies

[caption id="attachment_65" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Pony Love"][/caption]

We have five horses and five ponies on the farm. I've been a Parelli Natural Horsemanship follower for a while and my children share the same passion.  They have an incredible relationship with their ponies, Coco and Mitzi.  They are amazing little creatures and follow them everywhere.

I take the children  on a 3-4 hour trail ride every week , they love their wild adventures.  When it rains one of our pastures fills like a lake so they have fun swimming with them.



We found these at the stream during the trail ride.  When I was little, (in Zimbabwe) I used to play with the "Chongololos" all the time. I haven't seen them since so was surprised to find them - the children were quite amused and brought them home. They spent quite a bit of time watching and playing with them.

[caption id="attachment_68" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption=""Chongololos" Millipedes"][/caption]

Sasha and Sania's cute pony video was a featured video on Parelli Tube just recently, it's wonderful that they can be an inspiration for all.  Enjoy!!!

Cashew Fruit and Nuts


We visited the local village today to collect some cashew nut seeds so we can plant them around our farm, we have many growing already.


The Cashew tree is a tropical tree, native to Brazil, the Portuguese took it to plant in India where they spread through SE Asia and eventually Africa.  It grows very easily.

An edible apple fruit develops from the receptacle of the cashew flower, it’s high in vitamin C, (my children weren’t fond of it but the locals have the apple and discard the nut).  The cashew nut is inside a kidney shaped shell attached to the bottom of the apple.   There is a caustic liquid inside the shell that can cause severe burns so careful when handling.

Shelling the nuts is a difficult process:  Freezing the shells and then separating the shell from the nut before it thaws is one way to remove the nut, but gloves, long clothes and safety glasses need to be used.  Another way is to heat oil to 210 degrees celsius and drop the nuts for 2 minutes, cool in a bucket of water and shell them.  Roasting the nuts for a minute in a fire and then place the nuts into something absorbent to remove the last caustic liquid.





[caption id="attachment_59" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Cashew Fruit and Seed"][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_41" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Cashew Nuts Seeds"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_42" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Seeds have sprouted"][/caption]

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Beach Treasures


Arriving at the beach early morning as the sun rises, the water is like glass and the children are so excited to collect all the treasures they can find for crafts



[caption id="attachment_19" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Driftwood brought in after the storms"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_20" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Collecting Driftwood"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_21" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Sea creatures "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_23" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Making a fairy swing from driftwood"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_24" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="The fairy swing"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_25" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A sculptor"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_26" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Home for Gnome"][/caption]