Numb

As I sit here at my computer to write to you all, I am trying to put the right words together after the awful sadness that has just occurred.  In the early hours of the morning 12.35am (3.35am AEST), a group of eight men were executed by firing squad on Nusakambangan prison island.  Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were two Australians among those eight who lost their life today.

The two men had spent the last ten years rehabilitating and had repented and been genuinely sorry for what they had done and had recognised the pain they had also brought upon their family and friends. I am not usually at a loss for words, but today I am and that is OK as I think most Australians will be feeling a lot of different emotions racing around their bodies and I suppose that is the natural process of grief.

Even though we didn’t know these two men we had been on a journey with them for the past ten years and I think that is why it has affected so many of us. Numb, that is how I am feeling, numb and exhausted as it is over. We all have to process this in our own way. Over the past months I have prayed for these men and cried many tears but today I feel numb and still.

I am grateful that they were at peace with God and with themselves and I pray for the families who will be suffering right now. I am thankful for the miracle that occurred with the ninth person to be executed saved at the eleventh hour. That miracle saving Mary Jane Veloso is amazing and she is so thankful, it was wonderful news. I am thankful that the person who actually did the crime spoke up and saved this woman as she was innocent.

A lot of people will be questioning God at this moment and there will be many angry with Him at what has occurred but I feel that is wasted energy right now. We can all be thankful that Andrew and Myuran knew God and were at peace. We can pray that the death penalty will be abolished as nobody has the right to take a life but God, and above all hopefully we can all learn from this that taking risks in other countries that have different rules than we do back home is a risk and you have to think to yourself: ‘Is my life worth it?’ Something for us to think about.

                                                  Art work by Myuran Sukumaran 

Rain, Sore feet, Gratitude and Zingy Lemon Slice

Wow, I can't believe it has been two weeks since my last blog post. It sure has been very busy with Easter and then my birthday and a village banquet happening on the same day. Then, applying for a job and going for the interview one day and then getting the job the very next day. And then starting work of course, so time has been a little limited but it has been great and it has been good to be physically tired, not just mentally tired. It has all been "good exhaustion."

This week has been a week of rain, rain and more rain and it has also been the week I officially started my new part time job and that is where the sore feet come into it hahahaha. Yep, standing for many hours will do that to you but it has been great to get back into the work force and also back to working closely with the public. Communicating all day with them is what I love to do. The last ten months have been difficult health-wise but it is such a blessing for me to see my health improve over the past few months especially.

After searching for work for the last six months and now finding a job I can tell you the gratitude has been flowing non-stop. When you are over a certain age it seems to be increasingly difficult to get a job and there is supposed to be a "no judgement" rule. But let me tell you, it does exist and it is horrible. You see, after the age of forty you are not only dealing with your body changing in all sorts of places and growing in all other directions but you are also dealing with hormonal changes and eyesight changes and you also have to compete with all the twenty somethings out there. I can tell you, your self-esteem takes a bit of a battering and self doubt starts to settle in. That's when you have to pull out the big guns, that's when you need to surround yourself with people who will build you up and help knock that self doubt on the head. It isn't easy at any age but when you are getting older and are middle-aged (there, I said it), applying for jobs is pretty hard and you really have to dig deep for quite a bit of courage.

No matter how old you are, the excitement you get when you get that call from your new employer is so wonderful. That is why I say gratitude has been on my mind and heart as I really was and am so grateful to have my new part-time job. I love that I now have work/life balance, something I have been chasing it seems for a very long time. It is so funny but I said to my husband the other day that all the things I have prayed for have come to fruition, which is pretty amazing. So I guess my faith has grown deeper over the past year, which is generally what happens when you go through pretty tough times. I was listening to the radio the other day and the person said "when you pray, pray as though what you're praying for has already happened." It isn't easy sometimes but I am getting better at it but still have a long way to go.

One of the things I love to do when it rains is cook and bake, and this week on a very cold and rainy day I baked a delicious zingy lemon slice. It is scrumptious and I look forward to sharing the recipe in the future and I can tell you it will be worth the wait.

Baby it's cold outside and hearty chilli, veggie and tomato soup

Well, I am not sure about you but boy oh boy am I feeling the cold today, it is freezing. It is almost like the cold weather has come upon us very quickly with no gentle hints of cold at all, just cold and it really is. This kind of weather always reminds me of making delicious soups or casseroles and snuggling up on the lounge watching a movie or reading a good book or magazine. When I was younger I dreaded winter and could not wait for the summer to begin but now that I am getting older I am really starting to enjoy winter and the cold it brings. I love winter fashion, it is so much nicer than summer and I love any reason to wear a hat, gloves and coat, which you can't do in summer unless you want to lose 20 pounds.

I remember when my husband and I travelled to Holland to visit his mum for her 80th birthday and spend Christmas there. I remember thinking this is the coldest I have ever felt in my entire life and I remember thinking that my nose was going to fall off and I was so scared. My husband reassured me that my nose would not fall off and everything would be all right and it was. By day three, I was getting used to the cold weather and acclimatising and actually enjoyed it. It was lovely getting all rugged up and going for walks and going to cafes with open fires and having hot bowls of Dutch pea soup called ‘Erwtensoep’ which is served with beautiful dark rye bread and slices of speck (yummo!). Or having mugs of hot chocolate warming you from the inside out. The best hot chocolate I had in Gouda when we were there in 2012 was from a department store called V&D and they used real chocolate pieces and boiling hot milk and mixed it together, it was divine. The funny thing is we never put on any weight when we were over in Holland as we did so much walking and sightseeing that everything we consumed was used as fuel for all our walks.

When my husband and I left Sydney for Holland we had two suitcases, which is quite standard but when we were packing to leave Holland to come home, we somehow found we needed to buy another suitcase so we bought two extra suitcases and you know what? They were jam-packed. That's the funny thing about holidays; you always come back with more than you left with. We bought lots of souvenirs for family and friends and chocolate from Belgium as we had also stayed in a place called Malmedy in the Belgian Ardennes region (see picture above). And, if you are in Belgium it would be a crime not to buy chocolate. One of the things I bought in Gouda was a new coat, which is really beautiful but so heavy that when I put it on I need to stand next to a wall otherwise I will tip over. Am not sure what I will do with the coat but I am sure it will come in handy one day hahahaha.

Autumn and winter remind me of driving up to the Blue Mountains for a day trip or long weekend and walking around Leura and stopping to have a hot cup of tea or coffee and admiring the beautiful scenery and creation because it is amazing. If you have never been to the Blue Mountains, please do yourself a favour and go the next time you are in Sydney as it is well worth the drive, which doesn't take very long. One trip there I distinctly remember was a little holiday my husband and I had back in 2011. We decided to have a short break before the wedding, as we were exhausted from working and organising the big day so we had four days away in Leura. We stayed in a beautiful old place called Leura House which was built in the 1880s, you can check it out Here. When we arrived we checked in and then went to have dinner at a beautiful French bistro called the Bon Ton Cafe and had a lovely meal there and got nice and toasty by the fire. When we got back to our room after dinner we decided to unpack and get all our belongings ready for the next day and so on. My husband (who was then my fiancé) unpacked his clothes and put them away in the wardrobe. I was searching for my clothes and said "darling where did you put my clothes?" to which he replied “what clothes?" I said: “my clothes, the ones you were meant to put in the car with your clothes." And then there was silence… yes my husband who was then my fiancé did not pack my clothes that were hanging in the clothing bag, so all I had with me was a tracksuit, underwear, pyjamas and socks (wonderful). The next day I went shopping :-)

I thought today I would share with you my favourite winter soup recipe (well, one of them as there are many). This is the recipe for my Hearty Chilli, Veggie and Tomato soup and it really hits the spot on a cold day.

Hearty Chilli Veggie and Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

1 large pot, enough to hold at least 4 litres
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced

2-3 tablespoons of garlic infused olive oil

1 small birds eye chilli chopped fine

1 bunch of chives chopped fine

2 sticks celery chopped

2 large carrots peeled and chopped

1 small to medium sweet potato peeled and diced/chopped

2 zucchini cut in half length ways and diced

2 handfuls of fresh green beans chopped

300 grams of pumpkin peeled and diced in to cubes

2 to 3 handfuls of baby spinach

2 litres of chicken stock (any stock can be used)

½ teaspoon rosemary leaves

4 bay leaves

small bunch fresh parsley washed and chopped (dried can be used as well ½ teaspoon)

Small bunch of fresh basil washed and roughly chopped

2 to 3 tins of diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon tamari or gluten free soy sauce (you can add more if you would like it saltier)

Additional Cayenne pepper if you want it spicier

Method:

In your large soup pot place the garlic infused oil and put on a medium heat. Then add the diced chilli, onion, garlic and chives and sauté for a minute or two and then add all the chopped veggies and sauté for 5-10 minutes or until they get a little soft and caramelised on the edges.

Next, add the stock and the tinned diced tomatoes.

Then add the bay leaves and fresh and dried herbs and cook for around 30-45 minutes with the lid off.

Add the tamari and stir and taste and if more is required add another teaspoon but that should be sufficient.

This is the time to add any additional cayenne pepper if required.

Now you can add the baby spinach leaves and cook for a further 5-10 minutes. If you don’t have baby spinach leaves then silverbeet will work just as well and you can also use kale, although that will require a little more cooking as it is a little tougher. So if you are going to use kale add that to the pot when the veggies have cooked for 30 mins and then cook for an additional 15-20 mins.

I have this soup on top of brown rice for lunch or dinner and it is wonderfully warming. If you want to add a protein you can add kidney beans or chickpeas or lentils.

Enjoy

© Lisa Maree van der Draay 2015. Except as provided by the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, communicated to the public without the prior written permission of the publisher.