***
Earth's crammed with Heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes-
The rest sit round it and pick blackberries.
***

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning-

Gnocchi!!

Our dear friends Fernando and Daniella from Spain (born Argentinians) introduced us to the wonderful taste of Gnocchi. Both are half Italian. It is a cheap but tasty and very jovial dish to eat together. Typical Latino. Our last meal with them in Spain was a cooking lesson by Fernando and then we shared the end result together. Sweet memories!! Well tonight I made Gnocchi for the first time with a Bolognese sauce. It is a long process but very rewarding when you manage to form the balls just like Fernando did. Salude to all who makes us smile!!


Fernando, Daniella and Santiago


Busy cooking away in their kitchen.


Good Spanish wine, excellent Italian food and amazing International fun with friends!!


Concentrating very hard. In my own kitchen.


Pre- boil. Shaped by the hands of an amateur.


The end result. Not cookbook caliber but enjoyed by the family.

¿Qué piensas de mi primer intento, Fernando?

Love sweet love

Some of you know that I am in Aged Care. Some of my clients live on their own with just a family member popping in regularly and some still live with their partners. One of my favorite and dearest clients is a lady of 93. She lives with her second husband in the house he moved into with his first wife. They got married after both their partners died. They are going for 30 years now.

He moves around very slowly and she either stays in bed or sit for periods on the veranda if she feels up to it.

They move me to tears, not because they are old and slow but because of their amazing love and respect for each other. When he goes to the room after she had her breakfast which I have prepared she will greet him with. 'Hallo my love, I've missed you.' He will respond in the same manner and being concerned about her well being. The other morning when I got back in the room he was sitting next to her on the bed, she with her head on his shoulder.

They are so much in love still. When I mentioned it to her that I find it so beautiful she held my hand and said, Carina, 'He is my world'

I shared with her a family crisis and she told me to keep on praying, God will sort it out. I only see her on a Wednesday and after receiving good news I went there on the Friday and found them watching tv in the lounge holding hands. I had to go because I felt bad about her well being. She was quite stressed out about the matter. Anyway when she saw me she immediately said to me 'You've got good news and took my hands, pulled me down towards her a gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek. Thats the kind of person she is.

Won't the world be a much better place if we can all have such love and respect for each other.

Amen :)