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

5 Food Flasks

Hi Guys, 

So, I've been building up (making) the small oil burner jars to use if the electricity goes out.

But also, I'm developing a cooking system based on using 5 x 2 cup insulated food flasks. 

And then all I need is, to boil water and add it to the food in the flasks in the morning.

1 flask is for my coffee for the day.

1 flask is for soup or soupy stew for lunch.

1 flask is for rice for lunch. The rice has to            be boiled for 5 mins beforehand, though.

1 flask is for dessert at night. This is going

    to be creamy rice, sweet pearl barley or            pasta with dried fruit (still experimenting).

1 flask is a spare to make it easy for                      preparing the night before and washing-up.

Boiling water and rice may be possible with the small oil burner jars. I will have to wait and see.

Breakfast is just -

Hot chocolate in a normal cup.

Oats, shredded coconut, powdered milk,              sultanas and a piece of banana with hot          boiled water.

That's my State of Play at the moment.

Take care, everyone.

(c) Katherine Stuart 2026

Dochas Books Film

Oil Lamps

As everyone is, I suppose, I've been watching the developing  situation in the Middle East. Unfortunately, I think this is going to get out of control, and things will become hard for all of us.

I've been researching on YouTube as well as testing things in the kitchen, and I'm getting my head around the idea of slow cooking over small oil lamps made from small jars. It can be done with bread, so I think also for any meal that can be done in a slow cooker.

There's always a way.

Stay safe everyone,

and take care  🧡

(c) Katherine Stuart 2026

Dochas Books Film

Geometry 101

Hi Everyone 😄

As well as developing my baking this year,

I'm also going back to studying geometry from scratch, using YouTube videos.

This is, so that I can fill in the gaps of my knowledge.

Take care 💚

(c) Katherine Stuart 2026

Dochas Books Film

Christmas Pudding

Hi Everyone. 👋 

I hope that 2026 will be a year of progress for you all.

My program for this year,

is to develop baking recipes 

that can be done in a frypan.

At the moment, I'm working on 

Christmas Pudding 👍

which is working.

Here is the recipe, below -

1930s Hobo Christmas Pudding

from "Waypoint Survival" on YouTube

Cooked in a 16cm heavy-based stainless steel frypan, with a 16cm stainless steel bowl over it.

1/2 cup plain flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sultanas

1 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup water, hot, boiled

Melt the butter in the water in a bowl.

Mix all the dry ingredients, thoroughly, in another container.

Add the dry ingredients to the melted butter and water.

Mix thoroughly.

Grease the frypan with extra butter.

Place the mixture in the frypan 

and level it off with the back of a spoon.

Place the 16cm bowl over it.

Cook on the lowest temperature possible,

for 10 mins.

( maybe 9 mins, I'm still testing).

Enjoy. 👍

(c) Katherine Stuart 2026

Dochas Books Film

Christmas 2025

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

🌲🍀 

🥘🥗🌮🍧🧁🍫🥧🎂🍮🍬🥤☕️🫖🍉🍇🍒

Please stay safe everyone

Seasons Where the River Bends

Hello everyone,

This last month has been moving along steadily.

I'm progressing with baking the shortbread and flat bread in a 16cm frypan, and also a 25cm frypan. This has been mainly to gauge the optimum time at low temperature, for these things to be cooked correctly in the different sized pans.

On an equally exciting note, I bought a copy of Jimmy and Jane Barnes' latest cook book, "Seasons Where the River Bends". A truly useful and inspiring reference.

(c) Katherine Stuart 2025

Dochas Books Film

Staircase Maintenance Completion

Hi Guys,

One final varnishing of the rails and posts of the staircase had to be done, but now all is completed for this financial year. 

Onwards with developing my baking techniques, using the frypan instead of an oven. Very exciting 😀 

I am establishing an understanding of 3 fundamental baking methods -

-  Well method - with Flat Unleavened Bread

- Crumble method - with Shortbead

- Creaming method - with Melting Moments       Biscuits

Using the frypan, and saucepan, on very low heat, is working very well 👍

Stay safe everyone. 👋

(c) Katherine Stuart 2025

Dochas Books Film

Staircase Maintenance

Hi Guys,

It's been that time of year

when all the re-painting on the staircase

and restaurant tables had to be done

for the new financial year, 

and this work is starting to draw to a close.

Otherwise, I've been cooking flat bread 

and the Big Melting Moment biscuit in my new 16cm frypan.

Stay safe all of you.

Katherine

(c) Katherine Stuart

Dochas Books Film 2025

USA Chemical Plant Explosion

 Hi Guys, 

If you live in Sydney, Australia, then that petroleum vapour that you can smell at the moment, as of 3.25 pm here at Coogee, is most likely from the chemical fire at the Roseland, Louisiana USA, supply plant that happened 3 or so days ago.

This morning, around 11.30 am, when I was coming back from shopping on the bus and passed Maroubra Breach, the low lying, blue purple vapour cloud could be seen stretching from the east to the south east on the horizon en route towards us.

(c) Katherine Stuart 2025

Dochas Books Film

Sydney (Australia) CBD - Tue 19 Aug 2025

Hi Guys 😊,

I've been into the city this week to look for a small, stainless steel frypan that I can use to to cook big biscuits, cakes and bread etc., especially for the individual.

I found one that is 16cm, which should be suitable 👍.

(c) Katherine Stuart 2025

Dochas Books Film

Santorini - Livestreams

 Hi Guys,  😊

It would seem that now both the previous Santorini Livestreams, presented by,

- Webcam Greece,      and

- Alexis Place

are no longer.

So, this discontinues my coverage on this topic, for now.

Things seem to be escalating in the area of global weather and natural phenomena in any case. So, maybe it's better to sit back and look at it all as a whole.

Including, keeping an eye on the possible major earthquake etc that has been predicted for Japan this month.

Stay safe everyone. 🙏

(c) Katherine Stuart 2025

Dochas Books Film

Santorini - Electrical Disturbances

 Hi Everyone. 😊

Summer is definitely in full swing at Santorini, with clear skies and lots of sun the last few weeks. I can only imagine that it would be relatively hot as well.

I haven't seen a lot of volcanic activity lately, though the gas vapour is continuously rising more or less, from the lake and the island.

Something interesting that I have noticed, is that preceding the rising up of magma, as opposed to phreatic (steam and ash) events, the town lights go dim (during the night) and can't be seen by the livestream camera.

The most recent of these was on -

Tue 8 Jul 2025

Though the magma is only just coming up to below the surface, as indicated by 2 glowing lights in the water of the lake at night, one in the middle of the Northern lake section, and, one near the ferry wharf.

The glowing light in the Northern lake section rose up higher and brighter as a ferry passed by, then receded as the ferry moved further away. The ferries here, are large and generating a great deal of electric light energy.

A day of volcanic smoke followed.

I'm watching -  Alexis Place Livestream,  

for now.

(c) Katherine Stuart 2025

Dochas Books Film

Santorini - Increasing Electrical Activity ?

 Hi Guys 😊

Just a quick note -

The "Santorini Earthquake Crisis - OIA Blue Domes ..." from Web Cam Greece, 

seems to have dropped out, because it was continually looping.

This looping is not unusual, but it did go on for a lot longer and they may have decided to stop the feed.

"Live views of famous Blue Domes, Oia Santorini" from Alexis Place OIA Santorini, 

is still livestreaming, but also experiencing looping, though usually intermittent with an occasional electrical shorting out sound which is very loud.

I have come to understand that the Blue Domes are acting as a conduit for an electrical stream, which is being drawn from the atmosphere above and being released into the lake below.

I think this is what is causing the cameras to loop, amongst other things.

I suspect that this electrical stream is increasing in strength, greater than has been previously the case.

Electrical activity can be produced by the compression of rock.

Is the pressure in the magma chamber under Santorini going up a notch ?

Is this the calm before the storm ? As, everything seems otherwise stable on the surface, Santorini enjoying a summer of clear sunny weather lately.

(c) Katherine Stuart 2025

Dochas Books Film

Santorini - All's Quiet

 Hi Guys. 😊

The latest from Santorini, as far as I have been observing, through the -

"Santorini Earthquake Crisis - OIA Blue Domes .... * Livestream

is that all is fairly stable and relatively calm, and has been for a while.

The weather appears to be the usual hot, dry  climate experienced at this time of year.

But, every now and then, there is pressure build up and smoky haze is expelled from underground, as has been the case for the last couple of days.

Gas vapour is still continuously coming up through the water of the lake.

However, lately sometimes a bright light can be seen glowing under the water, in the middle of the lake at night. This seems to be encouraged by the presence of a particularly large and electrically active ferry passing by. This ferry, I've noticed, attracts electrical discharge through the lake water, towards it, as it approaches the NW entrance, when leaving the island. So much so, that it now leaves the island from the wharf, in a circular fashion around the North of Nea Kameni etc, to the more Southerly entrance at very slow speed. It still enters the lake from the NW entrance, and at normal speed  This may be, to minimise any electrical discharge in the water, towards it. When going in the other direction, this interaction must not be happening.

I've come to understand that, the high level of volcanic chemicals that are in the lake, are helping to create the electrical currents. In particular Potassium Permanganate, a pink substance, and the Manganese within it.

This chemical, I believe, is that which is in great concentration in the air over part of China, at present, and causing the intense electrically charged red lightning storms there. I think this is where they have been having intense earthquake activity, so this gas may have been released as a result.

Great environmental change is upon us.

Are we ready ?

Stay Safe Everyone. 🙏

(c) Katherine Stuart 2025

Dochas Books Film

Santorini - Another New Island #5

 Hi Guys, 

There is definitely another small new island mass coming up above the surface of the lake.

It's about halfway between the settlement of Fira and Skaros Rock. Maybe a bit closer to the Rock.

It looks like it has two vents, which were emitting small amounts of vapour this morning, around,   

6.20 am,  Thu 22 May,  2025,

Santorini Time,

when it was clearly visible (if you zoomed in - 

on,

"Santorini EARTHQUAKE OIA Blue Domes" YouTube Livestream.

The island seems to have 3 parts now, whereas last time that I saw it, it only had two.

All very interesting.

😊

(c) Katherine Stuart 2025

Dochas Books Film

Santorini - Another New Island #4

 Hi Guys,

I've been trying to work out where the new little island/s went.

It would seem that they were maybe, one or two mega cruise ships, sitting broadside to the camera !!

This is very confusing. But, I've found that on many occasions, what is seen, can easily have two explanations.

😆

(c) Katherine Stuart 2025

Dochas Books Film