Windowsill of Joy – 28 March

Windowsill of Joy for today, thinking of friends and neighbours.

We have been spoilt with sunshine lately but this morning was a bit grey and cold. When I went in the kitchen I saw the coffee grinder my old neighbour Joan gave me because she knew I loved the bright colour. I thought of all the cups of tea we had shared together.

The ginger gems are based on a recipe from my elderly neighbour who lived on the other side of me, Phil. A very unusual recipe for banana loaf I thought, including boiling the eggs butter and sugar. I thought that will never work, it did! I have made it with coconut flour and dates instead of refined sugar and ginger from a neighbour who dropped it in the letterbox just before the lockdown commenced. Cooked them in gem irons, another thing I had never heard of until being in NZ. But what great things they are, they make the best Yorkshire puddings.

The purple flowers were a gift from a neighbour and the pink naked ladies from the garden, not planted by me but a gift from a previous resident. The greenery is kawa kawa, complete with holes to show it’s healthy, as the insects want a nibble. Some feijoa foliage and some other native greenery and berries. A smidgeon of cotoneaster and an old coffee pot. Another friend showed me how to weave the flax one afternoon.

Kiwi garden staples of feijoas and chillis and the wonder New Zealand’s own throat lolly, the Kurol. If you have never tried one you have a treat in store…

The journal was one of those unexpected gifts that friends just sometimes give you because they know you will like it, I find they are often right.

The old tea towel has New Zealand native plants decorating and is in aid of save the children.

I think the wooden kiwi was from a balancing set, he looks ready to tuck in for afternoon tea or smoko without a cigarette.

Click here for the recipe