Today's baking experiment: Meusli Cookies

From a recipe passed on by a friend, who'd gotten it from her daughter-in-law ... so I have no known source of origin. It can be made into a slice, but since I'd thrown out my slice tray recently, I've made the mixture into cookies instead.

Note: For outside Australia you may substitute the S.R. (Self Raising flour) with an all-purpose flour product.

125 grams butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tblsp. honey

1-1/3 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup S.R. flour
1/2 cup cranberries

1/2 cup dried pineapple (chopped)

1/2 cup slivered almonds

2 tblsp. pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

Melt butter and honey; then stir in dry ingredients.

Bake at approx. 160 deg. Celcius (320 deg. Fahrenheit), depending on your oven, for about 20 minutes.

Note: Cool before removing from tray, or before cutting through, if making as a slice.

Have taste-tested the results now, and give it the two coffee cups thumbs up; they're very tasty!

The garden: Month of September

Well I still haven't gotten to my craft room yet, but since the beginning of Spring I couldn't help but start taking pics as nature did "its thing". There is always beauty to be found somewhere in the garden, and I love to go venturing around and taking photos.

While it's warming up fast here, others are cooling down. Here are some of my favourite snippets of colour, and vitality from Mother Earth.

Succulents in bud

nasturtiums, which the bees love

and orange blossoms,

johnny-jump-ups...

and after a shower of rain, the larger droplet to the left I can see reflections of the others.

freesias under the lime tree

and a dendrobium that I'd bought indoors for a few days .

Lastly, one of the colourful kalanchoes.

Paper Cutting: Scissors

I love how paper-cutting projects involve so little possessions to achieve a result. It must be one of the most low-maintenance crafts around. A pair of scissors (or a blade-knife, as I use most frequently), a rubber-mat and black paper for silhouettes, that's all there is to it.

This paper-cutting design reminded me of the many days I picked up a pair of scissors to snip embroidery threads; they became a cherised tool of trade.

The original paper-cut can be found within the pages of Geknipt, history of the papercut art in the Netherlands. It says this is the logo from NVVP Nederlandse Vereniging Voor Papier knipkunst, being the Dutch Society for Paper-cut Art; cut by To van Waning-Mijnlieff in 1985.

Thankyou to paper-cutters around the world for sharing your art; that can then be replicated by others who enjoy this unique craft also.

Des Meisenhelter: A life enjoyed, but not long enough

In no particular order, conversation, carpentry, landscaping, computer technology, the bushland, nature's bounty, photography, country music and reading; these were the things Des enjoyed so much.

We shared long coffees in our retirement with lots of varied conversation and laughs, enjoyed walking around our garden and looking for new things happening, and what needed to be attended to next.

We bounced off one another's creativity and admired each other's projects.

Des started writing some articles online also. This is the Helium link to Des' articles, a photo, with some of his own biography notes.

He worked with optimism through almost three years with melanoma cancer - this link being my article from December 2007. Des' final three months plummeted downhill fast and he'd wanted his last days here at home. I became carer for Des with daily advice from palliative care nurses until his final two days, when he needed to be back in hospital.

Des passed away September 25, 2010 aged 65 years. This post is to share with everyone my grateful thanks for emails and cards of support and encouragement throughout our journey.

There is an old saying "if you love someone, set them free" ... these photographs of the sea-eagle had been taken by Des one day when we were bushwalking a few years back, not too far from home. We were both so thrilled knowing the distance away that eagle was, with the 12 x zoom lens he used, these photos were prize snaps in our eyes.

In fond rememberance of a dear husband of 43 years, Dad to our two daughters, Renee and Natalie, and Pop to his three grand-children, Ashlee, Brianna and Aiden. Son-in-law to my Mum, Valda. Brother to Joan, Robyn, and Kim. We will forever love you Des.