The challenge of taking a moment...

It is hard to believe that Christmas and summer holidays is upon us and 2014 only a breath away. With the mad dashing associated with last minute organising, seeing friends, collecting family, it can be hard to pause and look back upon the year.

Yet it is important to stop. To be thankful, to appreciate, and to love. How can we see what we have and have achieved if we don't actually take a moment to think about it?

So stop - even if only briefly, and look around you. Smile, breathe, and welcome 2014.

Take care and be safe these holidays. We'll see you in 2014, bigger and brighter than ever.

Coffee - making the most of a special little bean.

There is something truly pleasurable about arriving home to find a delivery of coffee beans, expertly chosen and freshly roasted, waiting on my door step.

Perhaps it is the knowledge that tomorrow I'll be sitting down with a freshly made coffee, its heady aroma gifting me a moment of peace in a hectic day. Such simple things make life that little bit more special!

It could also be the pleasure of having such beautiful coffee sent to me, with me barely raising a finger. I didn't get in the car and make a special trip to the shops or do the madcap 20 minute run around at lunchtime. My secret? I ordered it online.

There's something else though too. I love buying from specialty stores - artisans that care about their craft - small locally owned businesses. I used to buy coffee from the supermarket. It wasn't until I tried beans from a specialty store that I realised what I had been missing.

So what's the difference? Quality. According to many online blogs like coffeegeek, roasted beans have a premium shelf life of around 2 weeks. After that, the quality starts to fade. Bottom line is, not only do you want high quality beans, but you want your coffee beans freshly roasted.

There are a couple of local specialty coffee retailers offering online shopping and home delivery. Tasmanian Coffee Roasters, based in Hobart, and offers lower prices for online shoppers. I recommend you use their online shop to decide your order and then call them on the phone. In Launceston, Ritual Coffee has a coffee club offering members a new roast, delivered on the first Monday of every month. Both offer the highest quali1ty coffee, delivered to your door.

And if you're after tips to store your coffee, Coffeegeek and Wikipedia recommend storing your beans in an airtight or ceramic container in a cool dark place (like a cupboard!). Use the beans within 2 weeks or so, but if you need them longer, try freezing them. If you're using ground coffee, the shelf life is even shorter - so buy in smaller quantities if you like your coffee at its best.

Life's too short for bad coffee. And now you have no excuse.

The special gift of being a mum

Life is funny sometimes. When I look back at life when I was single, or newly married, I wonder how I filled it. It felt busy, rushing around seeing friends, going to dinner, playing sport, sleeping in... How that has changed with 2 beautiful little ones in our lives!

Life is more packed, yet slower. I know that sounds contradictory, but you have to slow down with kids. Time spent talking over breakfast, and packing school lunches, making block towers or reading books before bedtime takes priority over washing, doing the accounts or grocery shopping. That is where it tends to get busy - that mad rush between the kids going to bed and my crashing on the couch at night!

Yet, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love being a mother. Seeing life through the eyes of a child. Feeling their arms wrapped around your neck and kissing you good night. It swells your heart until your body feels like it will burst. Unconditional love and trust.

Being a mum has made me a better person and I have a much better perspective on life. Yet I can't help but worry for them, and every other child I see in the street - are they cold, are they happy, do they feel loved? The rewards of parenthood comes with its burden too!

My 5 year old daughter is more excited about mother's day than I am this year. Each day she tells me something else that I can do this year for Mother's Day 'Mummy, we can sit at the proper dining table and have candles', or 'Mummy, we will give you an extra special cuddle'. Her excitement makes it fun, and makes it much more real. It seems that I have already had my gift for Mother's Day.

Real strength: the power of community

Sometimes it is easy to wonder if there is such a thing as a real community these days.  With 24 hour news, social media and the internet, our own local communities can seem irrelevant.

However, our local communities are not weak, insignificant, or meaningless.  We only need to look at the recent bush fires around Tasmania to see the power of local communities: people giving, volunteering and helping others to get through difficult times.

It is easy to get on board when the news crews are there.  The test is when the news cycle has turned to the next tragedy, the next hot spot, and the rest of the world moves on.

What has really struck me (and made me proud to be a human being!) is seeing the plethora of small, grass roots' efforts to help local bushfire victims.  In my community of Taroona, the local bakery was donating their tips to the bushfire effort, while the Taroona Community Association held a fundraising auction last weekend.

There are more, but the point is that none of this would happen without people deciding to do something in their own way.  They’re not screaming about their efforts on the news, on facebook or twitter.  They are just doing it because they care.

This is not to say that Tasmanians are more caring or altruistic than other people.  My family in Queensland has been flooded for the third time this year, and they have also experienced the generosity of spirit of their local community.

What is important is that perhaps it is through these difficult and dark times that we see what we really have, and what is important: community.

Hello Possums - Lyn Long and the Possums playcentre

In the small community of Taroona in Hobart, around 20 kids are buzzing around excitedly.  They are brandishing their latest creations: paintings, a Santa's beard to trim each day in the lead up to Christmas, and self portraits. 

It is a happy place, and it's hard work to get my kids out the door.  My 4 year old loves her weekly trip Possums, and my 2 and half year old can't wait until next year when he can finally start.  I found this baffling at first, as neither of my children have ever been this enthusiastic with daycare.  While they are happy at care, they love Possums. 

Jo, Lyn and Karin

As with so many things, it seems that the answer is people. 

Lyn Long is one of those people.  Having overseen 22 years at Possums Playcentre, she has taught a significant portion of the local community. 

Lyn loves kids, and it shows.  A teacher by training, she spent time in Burnie and then at Fahan girls school. Fahan wasn't necessarily an easy job - teaching religious education on a Friday afternoon to year 10 students - but she loved it.  Perhaps it honed her patience and sense of humour...!

In 1988, a group of parents started the Possums Playcentre as there was no pre-kinder program in the area.  Lyn joined Possums as a teacher two years later, after she'd started her own family.  While Lyn had only intended to stay for a short time, she still hasn't left.  And now she sees the children of the children she taught coming through.

What does Lyn love about children?  'I love their enthusiasm, and love of learning.  Their sense of achievement when they've done something, like hop on one leg, or when they've finished a painting.  Children are so honest, and so giving.  It helps perhaps to have a bit of an inner child too', she says, with a twinkle in her eye!

It is a love to which the children respond.  And this love is reflected throughout all the Possums staff  - in Karin, Jo and Lucy.  These ladies not only bring out the love of learning in children, they inspire the rest of us to be better parents.

For more information on Possums Playcentre, please click here

For the love of food... meet Sirocco South

It's one of those warm, sunny Sunday mornings, when the sun embraces you like a long lost friend. It's only just gone 9am, but the Farm Gate Market in Hobart is already buzzing with people.

Mic Guiliani and son Max are already at their stall, packed with fresh pastas handmade that morning: sauces, sweet cannoli, freshly picked swiss brown mushrooms and wild asparagus.  Their business, Sirocco South, epitomises why farmers markets are booming -they reconnect people with quality local produce and providores.


Mic Guiliani was always going to be involved with food.  With a father from Apulia and a mother from Benevento he grew up cultivating, cooking, preserving and making the most out of local ingredients. One of his enduring memories as a child was walking with his grandmother along the railway lines in regional Victoria, harvesting wild asparagus. Now he takes his own family, using his grandfather's knife, to collect wild asparagus and mushrooms growing in the pine forests in Tasmania.

Mic draws inspiration from traditional recipes, handed down through his family, as well as bringing together modern influences and local produce.  There are dishes like wild rabbit with figs and spices, vegetarian, Moroccan goat or smoky wallaby lasagne, sauces such as the classic ragu, or shiraz, olive and pine nut sauces.  Sirocco South also makes a gluten free beef lasagne.

Sirocco South however, is a family affair.  Jo, Mic's wife, is a chef by trade, and has worked overseas and interstate. She is responsible for the mouth watering cannoli. Despite buying them a number of times, I'm yet to really try them as the kids get to them first!



Ravioli and Cannelloni

Sirocco South is now being sold through a small number of shops around the state: Aproneers, Greens Beach Shop (Launceston), Callington Mill in Oatlands, and Vines and Designs near the Copping Museum.  It seems that a love of cooking and sharing good food, is a great recipe for success.

You can find out more here, or visit them at the Farm Gate Market every Sunday.  Sirocco South will also deliver free of charge for bulk orders over $150 to the Hobart area.

 

From international banker to jewellery maker: the story of Yin Mei Kelly and My Sinfonia

 When Yin Mei Kelly made her first sale at the Woodbridge market, sitting at her little card table beside a vegetable stall, she may not have realised just how far it might take her. Two years later, she is a successful designer maker, selling online and distributing into six boutique stores around the country. After talking to her for an hour however, I'm not surprised at anything!

Born and raised in Singapore, Yin Mei worked as a banker and later, a Manager with Accenture, an international business and IT consulting company. After working on a large banking merger however, where many people lost their jobs, Yin Mei decided it was time to take some time off.

It still seems a long way from a life nestled in the countryside of southern Tasmania!

She laughs that her change in lifestyle took her by surprise too. Planning on a move to Melbourne, she and her husband bought their property while on holiday in Tasmania. 'When I saw the countryside in the Channel area, my jaw just dropped'.

The move to Tasmania has had its challenges. Arriving in mid-July, to a house needing renovations, seems madness for us seasoned locals - let alone for someone who had not experienced a winter before. 'We had one gas heater for 3 weeks, with a director's chair, while we waited for our furniture', Yin Mei reminisces. 'I can laugh about it now!'

Experiencing the seasons, having a garden, pets, the quiet, are all new experiences which Yin Mei has had to learn about. When her friends visit, they marvel at the space, and the children love the animals and lifestyle. She cautions however that while it is quiet, it is busy. Running chooks, lambs, ducks and cats and a vegie garden can be quite demanding!

Yin Mei still tries to visit Singapore each year. 'It is my roots' she says. 'And my parents feed me up, and my friends take me to all their favourite places so it is also a lot of fun!'

But how does a banker end up as a jewellery designer and maker? Watching a lady make jewellery in Richmond proved the inspiration. Yin Mei had never done handicraft before, other than some self-described 'horrible' knitting for scarves. Well, her scarves may be bad, but her jewellery is a delight! 

Delicate, feminine, and inspired by the 1920s, it is easy to see the appeal of Yin Mei’s business, My Sinfonia.  So how does Yin Mei remember her feelings at her first sale that day in Woodbridge?  Relief! 

To visit My Sinfonia and Yin Mei's beautiful range of jewellery, just click here