A little rain

You will not believe this.  Whilst much of northern Victoria and 75% of New South Wales are practically underwater, it is still incredibly dry here.  Here is a photo I took last week.  The sheep have gathered in a circular formation because we are feeding beans out to them to supplement the feed in the paddocks.

I know I'm always going on about rain.  On the land it can make or break your year: it can mean holiday or no holiday, going ahead with house rennos or not, being able to pay school fees or not.  I just hope that after the floods subside, that the country will flourish, and help those affected recover from more than ten years of drought.

In less weighty matters, look at the lovely apples on the tree.  And I take it back what I said about the tomatoes, they are coming thick and fast now, I'll soon be able to make sauce and relish.....

We did have some rain last Friday night and woke up on Saturday morning to no power, which goes beyond not having lights, stove or technology (we couldn't download the Saturday papers!).  It meant no water pressure (no pump), and no phones as mobiles don't work in the house.  Oh the silence.  It didn't come back on until lunch time.  There wasn't much rain, just enough to give me a few day's reprieve from watering.

We discovered this little fellow in a tree about five metres away from the house...

the dog sat and stared at it for hours..

He was gone the next day and hasn't been seen since.  Does anyone else find that bananas these days go from this

to this in ABOUT FIVE MINUTES??

I have been making frozen banana ice cream (just bung chopped banana in the freezer for a couple of hours then whizz in the food processor...it is surprisingly good), muffins for the lunch box and banana cake.  If you are not in the mood for cooking just put them (whole, unpeeled) in a plastic bag and freeze them for a later date.  They will only be good for cakes or muffins.

BANANA CAKE

1/2 cup sultanas

1 tblsp golden syrup

170g butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1 teasp vanilla essence

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 3/4 cups SR flour

1 teasp bicarb soda

Line a loaf tin with baking paper.  Preheat the oven to 180c.

Put the sultanas in a saucepan, cover with water and simmer for 5 minutes.  Strain off the water and add the golden syrup to the sultanas.  Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla, mix well, then add bananas and buttermilk.  Sift flour and bicarb soda and fold in gently.  Stir in the sultanas.  (Add a bit more milk or buttermilk if the mix looks dry).

Pour into prepared tin and bake for 40-50 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a rack.