Spring Cookies

We had a spring service at church so I made these cookies for the potluck lunch. I got the idea and recipe off this blog. They are so cute, and relatively easy.  I just found it a bit time consuming to make sure the flowers were perfect. They get a pretty awestruck reaction too (apart from the people like my Dad who aren't that keen on eating flowers! ;) ).  

The flowers were fresh from my garden. Of course, they need a quick rinse to make sure they are edible. And they mustn't have had any nasty chemicals etc that might make them poisonous. I used violas (with one or two pansies) as that was what I had. But pansies do work well because they are bigger and take up more of the cookie. 

Leave them out to dry.

Bake shortbread cookies. Any recipe will do, but I like the original from the linked blog above.

Brush the cookies with egg white, then put the flowers on. Top with another layer of egg white and a sprinkle of sugar. 

Bake them again for a few minutes to set the egg white. I only baked them for 2 minutes, as I was worried about the flowers shrivelling too much.

Gently spread the flowers back out with your finger. while they are still hot. 

Let cool, then serve and enjoy the reactions of your guests!

Floriade

The annual Floriade trek to view the flowers, accompanied by a lovely picnic lunch in the park.

Mum broke her foot a few weeks before, so she had to get an electric wheelchair. We laughed at her a bit, but she secretly enjoyed 'zooming' around the park. (Mmm, top speed is about walking pace!)

Hubby and I amongst the flowers.

Lil' sis and I taking selfies!

The view from the ferris wheel.

For the Beauty of the Earth

 First proper post! :) 

We went camping the other weekend, so I thought I would share some photos with you. It was a lovely weekend. The location (Thomas Boyd Trackhead near Tumut) was magnificent. It is on the Hume and Hovell Walking Track. The campsite is down by the river, which so so refreshing after a hike up the hill. 

The water was sparkling in the sunlight and even though the water was quite cool, it was tolerable and you soon got used to it. 

We were told a local recently found a small gold chunk up stream due to the floods a year ago that stirred up the river bed. We thought we would give gold hunting a go, so we foraged through the sand and silt.  

In the end, this was what I came up with. I'm pretty sure most of it is not actual gold - the colour seemed too dark. But there were a few tiny specks that might of been real. It didn't seem worth the effort to get them home given that they still might have been false gold, so I returned all flakes to their natural environment. The hunt was still fun though. Maybe next time I will find a nugget so there will be no mistake!  

We had a bonfire at a friend's farm on Saturday night. It was magical. I am not a fan of the smoke, or the stench that is ingrained in you afterwards until you can have a shower, but it is so comforting just sitting and watching a camp fire. 

 The stars up above were majestic. I forget that we get so much light pollution in town, given it is not an enormous city. But when you are standing a paddock looking up at the Milky Way - wow. It is why I named this blog as I did, even though I only saw one or two shooting stars. If I had a better camera I would have loved to capture a photo, but my smart phone camera doesn't have a hope. That is, it is a great camera, I love it, but it doesn't have the settings to alter the exposure time. Maybe there is an app for that...

Anyway, although I don't love the bedding (my current camping mattress has a hole in it which makes sleeping less than enjoyable :( ) I do love camping and getting out in nature. A great reminder to take some time out and enjoy natural beauty.