Orphanage

Hi Guys 😀

I've been a bit slow this month with getting a blog entry up. I was waiting for something interesting to turn up.

At the Royal Randwick Shopping Centre (Sydney, Australia), there is a photographic display up that has been there for a while, of the history of the Prince of Wales Hospital nearby, and it started out as an asylum for abandoned or destitute  children. 

For some reason, this is starting to catch my interest. Not sure why 🤔

Not a lot else is going on here at the moment.

I'm coming to a few basic conclusions with the cooking and baking that I've been doing this year. And then I'll move onto a cooking summer learning program (self directed).

What I have achieved this year is -

- a selection of basic main meal recipes that       can be done in a 2 cup food flask

- optimum temperature and time to cook             biscuits in a frypan on a Kambrook electric       hotplate or a Phillips induction hotplate

- the amount of rice required to fill a 3 cup          takeaway container, boiling it for 5 minutes      then placing it into a 2 cup food flask and        leaving it to soak/cook for 3 hours.

  This is half a cup of rice to 1 and a quarter      cups of water.

Take care 💜

(c) Katherine Stuart 2026

Dochas Books Film

Uriel's Machine

This month's been a bit quiet, after the trip to Darwin, "going home, so to speak".

But, a book that I brought back with me, and that I've started to delve into, is "Uriel's Machine", written by Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas.

It would seem that Uriel was an angel, and his machine seems to be a stone circle, many of which are historical sites of immense curiosity, particularly in the UK and other places in the northern hemisphere.

Was this device used to plot measurements from the orbit of the celestial planet Venus, such that a universal standard of length of a yard (3 feet) was obtained ?

Curiouser and curiouser   🤩 🌙☀️

Reading on .....

(c) Katherine Stuart 2026

Dochas Books Film

Darwin Trip - Aug 2026

I've just come back to Sydney, Australia, from flying up to Darwin, NT, Australia for the weekend to finalise some family business.

Going from a cold Sydney to a scorching hot Darwin was a bit challenging. Darwin was a balmy cool in the dry season before, as far as I remember, so the climate patterns are changing.

Plus, I saw a setting, red orange crescent moon with a brilliant, large Venus close by while I was there. First time ever seeing that. 

I think maybe there was a lot of fine volcanic ash in the atmosphere.

Oh well, back home now and getting back into the usual routine.

Take care guys,

Katherine

(c) Katherine Stuart 2026

Dochas Books Film

Reflecting

When I read Karly Lane's book, "A Stone's Throw Away", I had some sort of epiphany, and I'm not sure why. I can't see any direct connection, but there are some big clues.

The story is about a man who owns a piece of land in country Victoria, Australia, and marries a girl, who comes to live on the farm. But, he leaves to fight in the First World War with his friends, eventhough he didn't have to.

When he comes back, of course he has many trauma issues, and is pressured to stay in a hospital for a time for therapy. 

But, while he's away, there's a heavy rainstorm and his wife, who was coming to see him, disappears, no-one knowing where she had gone to.

One big factor seems to be the family of Irish descent who run the nearby town.

Another big factor seems to be the ownership of land.

Because a window of connection if you like, opened up in my mind concerning the house that I was renting when I was pregnant with my second child, and where I was living when she was born (in hospital). My first child was also there with me. The house was on the ourskirts of the town of Charters Towers, a historic gold mining town in North  Queensland, Australia. So it was semi-rural.

Maybe it's something to do with the house. 

Also Charters Towers has a strong Irish connection. If you've seen the film "The Irishman", which was filmed in the town, you can understand why.

Plus, the town was heavily involved in World War Two, being host to many US personnel, there being numerous airstrips built especially in the area. I don't know about the involvment in World War One. However, Breaker Morant was famously brought to trial in the town, to do with his actions in the Boer War, if I remember correctly.

Now this is a mystery to me.

There must be something to bring to light here. It's got me wondering.

But, big things move slowly .........

(c) Katherine Stuart 2026

Dochas Books Film

Black Sheep

Hi Guys 🙂

With the cold weather, I usually slow down,

so as well as the cooking regime,

I've been reading a few books.

Included, is John Farnham's "The Voice Inside", and Karly Lane's "A Stone's Throw Away".

But currently I'm in the middle of Judy Nunn's, "Black Sheep".

Which resonates strongly with me because it's a story about two young guys who form a lifelong friendship, one being a shearer and the other a grazier's son in the late 1800s, and my grandfather was a shearer himself, working the shearing seasons from St George in Qld down through NSW and Vic.

Happy Reading for those who are 🤩

Take care 💜

(c) Katherine Stuart 2026

Dochas Books Film

5 Food Flask Foods

I have been working on the system of making meals using the 5 x 2 cup food flasks and boiled water.

The flasks are for -

- Coffee

- Savoury Lunch

- Sweet Dessert

- Cooking Pasta or Pearl Barley

  (Rice needs to be boiled for at least 5 mins,

   beforehand)

- A Spare, which helps when rotating for the      next day

It's going ok so far 🤩

Coffee

- Instant coffee powder

- powdered milk

- sugar

- hot boiled water

Savoury Lunch

- carbohydrate - pasta, plain potato chips,          pearl barley or 5 minute (at least) cooked     rice

- sauce ingredients 

  - 1 Tbsp gravy or 1 Tbsp powdered milk or          quarter cup crushed tomatoes 

  - 2 tsp sour cream or half tsp curry 

    powder or half tsp dried herb 

  - half tsp salt - quarter tsp pepper

- quarter cup cooked pieces of meat

- quarter cup vegetables - 

  - diced onion

  - carrot

  - mushroom

  - baby spinach

  - 1 baby rocket leaf

Hot boiled water

  - 3 quarter cup if using quarter cup tomatoes

  - 1 cup otherwise

Mix all ingredients, place lid on securely, let stand for 3 hours, mix and serve

(c) Katherine Stuart 2026

Dochas Books Film

Body Deep Clean

Hi Guys 😊

My cooking is going steadily,

developing meals for the food flasks and

Melting Moments Biscuits mixture in the frypan.

But also, I've been doing a deep clean of my body to get all the micro-organisms out that shouldn't be in there.

I've been doing it now for many months 

and am getting some good results.

To do this, I'm using toothpaste.

Every night, I put half centimetre square 

amounts of toothpaste along the creases of my groin, which is a very effective area, I have found.

I was also, putting the same amounts along under my toes at night, and putting socks on to save getting it on the sheets. That also is a very effective area.

The toothpaste is absorbed into the body and tends to move upwards with the body's energy flow.

This irritates the micro-organisms, which then try to escape by coming up to just under the surface of the skin.

They then appear as an itchy area and can be scratched out.

I highly recommend this method,

as I'm seeing some noticeable improvements to my health.

Take care, everyone 💚

(c) Katherine Stuart 2026

Dochas Books Film