Siblings...

We were watching Vi's great grandchildren Jarom (8), Ethan (7), Daena (5) and Cabryn (3) swimming in the pool around mid-day.

Vi laughed. "They like Cabryn and are kind to her... My sisters used to shoo me away, didn't want to play with me... I was the baby - I was a nuisance to them... So I played with the boys! (her brothers) - they didn't chase me away!"

The Best Music of All

Today Vi and I were sitting quietly at the Botanic Garden. She reminisced.
"My Mom used to say 'The Best music of all is Peace'"
I look forward to meeting Emily Jane Smith Clarke... she and I speak the same language.

Clarke Family "Plum Duff"

Vi and I sat together eating our salad lunch today while Glenn is playing golf. Afterwards we had a piece of the Plum Duff she made for our Christmas Dinner and then didn't have the room to eat yesterday.

"Ah Ha!" I thought "An entry I will make on her blog!"

CLARKE FAMILY PLUM DUFF

3 cups flour

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

150g margerine/butter grated into dry mixture

1 Tablespoon cooking oil

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

3 cups (about 500g) dried fruit (Dates, cherries, sultanas)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence

3 eggs

milk to make dropping consistency (about 3/4 cup?)

mix all together

pour into greased bowl

cover with doubled greaseproof paper held in place with string/elastic band

steam about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Take out of steaming pot, knife around to loose the edges, turn out onto a plate.

Heat 1/2 cup golden syrup and spoon over to soak into pudding.

This recipe used to be poured into a pillowslip corner and steamed when Vi was a child. We used a bowl this year and it worked well. We also made a 1-cup-of-flour mixture for the three of us.

Another Beginning

Violet Florence Clarke Bray is one of thirteen children.

She is my mother-in-law. She lives in a lovely apartment on our property built by our son, Douglas, when he first married. He has since moved to his own home and Violet and my father-in-law moved into the apartment. My father-in-law died last year and now she stays on her own. She eats dinner with us each day and lunch sometimes.

We see each other every day.

Vi often tells me this or that as we travel or work together.

I thought: "My memory is not good! I will not likely remember this! Let me start a blog and capture some of these things she is sharing with me!"

So... here is the start.