Quiet Times

Thursday 25th October 2012

Things have been reasonably quiet here of late.  Apart from Emily and Dave visiting us the past weekend - that is never quiet, but always lovely to see them.

I haven't even spent much time in the garden.  Yesterday I did pull out the last of the beetroot and that will be preserved today.  Also the spinach had gone to seed so I removed that.  Later today I plan on getting in the garden and digging these areas over, and hopefully transplanting my Rosellas so they have more room to grow.

The tomato vine is still continuing to produce along with the sweat peas.  They have a wonderful smell and I love seeing them in the house.

I have planted some zucchini in the garden along the drive and in spite of the lack of rain the plants down there are doing really well.  I do have far too many pumpkins and will have to cull some of those before they get too big.

We have stray chicken at the moment and it loves to scratch around in my garden.  I have tried catching it but it is too fast for me.  Hopefully it won't cause too much damage to my plants.

I have some Queen Anne's Lace that keeps reseeding every year.  I love the bright white flowers and the fact that it is just there every year.

The rocket is doing well and I have even picked the small leaves for a couple of meals now.  This should be good once it really gets going and hopefully save me from having to buy as much lettuce.  The slugs keep eating my lettuce :(

We have even had a couple of cucumbers.  Judging by the flowers there will be a few more to come, which would be great as I would love to have enough to make bread and butter cucumbers and relish.

Ron and I spent a day last week having a big clean up around the place.  We took half a car load to the charity shop, gave a dinner setting to Emily, and a couple of trips to the local tip which has a trash and treasure shop.  It feels really good to have things cleaned up.

Everything is as it should be!  I hope it is the same for you!

Take care
Andrea

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Tuesday 9th October 2012

I have been absent lately from my blog as Ron and I took a few days off and went bush in the caravan.  He has been very stressed at work lately and needed a break, so we headed out to Emily's for a night before driving for what should have been only a few hours to arrive at our next destination.  Ron hates to stay on the more traveled (sealed) roads so we took a "short cut" (dirt road) of 40 kilometers off the beaten trap, but it really turned into a two hour trip as we got well and truly lost for over an hour.  Never mind, all in the spirit of adventure.  We did eventually at our destination of Leyburn and stayed for the night in a free camp!

The next morning we set off to meet some friends in northern New South Wales and spend a few days with them camping on a cane property.  Ticks can be a real problem on the east coast and even though I had bought our little dog a tick collar I discovered three ticks on her while we were away, so the only solution was to give her a haircut enabling me to check her more easily.  All we had on hand to trim her with was a pair of blunt scissors, but it was either her having a bad haircut or maybe getting sick.  The haircut won in the end and she didn't even mind.  I think she prefers having short hair in the summer so I am thinking I might keep it this way - but I will buy some clippers!

We came home on the Tuesday and I spent that afternoon and most of Wednesday washing, ironing and sorting.  We had plenty of it!  Wednesday was also Ron's birthday so we celebrated by having a lovely roast lamb dinner with Bec and Rana. 

Wednesday, however was a stressful day for Ron (work problems), so when I mentioned to him on Thursday that we should be up the beach fishing he made the decision to pack the van again and head back down to visit our friends - AGAIN!  We spent another three nights with them and arrived home again on Sunday.  This time we plan on being home a bit longer.  All in all it was good for Ron has he had a decent break and feels refreshed.

In between coming home and going again, I did manage to spend some time in the garden.  The seeds I had planted the week before had popped up!  This was thanks to the rain we had while away.

This is tiny rocket - the plants are more than twice this size now.



I have also had some plants come up where I have dug in some vegetable scraps.  I'm not entirely sure as to what these are, I am thinking pumpkin.

The weather has well and truly warmed up now so my English spinach is starting to go to seed.  I did pick some this morning and have plans of turning some of it into a pear and spinach salad for dinner tonight.

Spinach - the blue lines is string we have put up to keep our 16 year old dog off the garden.



Here is a colander full of spinach picked this morning along with a handful of strawberries and some tomatoes.

The Pakchoy is also going to seed so we will have to start eating that soon also.  I did take some to a friends yesterday for her family.

The tomato vine is STILL growing.  It must be getting close to 3 meters high now.  Some of the tomatoes have started to ripen so we have been enjoying the lovely summer flavour of those.  I love tomato that has ripened on the vine.  The shop bought tomatoes just don't have the same flavour.

The single chard plant that I have is still continuing to produce leaves.  I love this plant as it is so versatile.  You can have it cooked in a flan, like we did the other night, in salads, steamed, fried with some onion or even on a sandwich instead of lettuce.  I have planted some more seeds for chard but they are a long time growing so I might have to relent and buy some seedlings.

The flan we had was made with some yummy home made short pastry, then filled with the chard fried with some onion and then some sour cream and eggs poured over and then topped with some grated cheese.  I am having the last little piece for my lunch today along with some homemade yogurt and the handful of strawberries!  YUMMY!!!!!

The few flowers I have growing are all looking lovely too.  As a child I remember my mother having the entire end of a patio growing with sweat peas and I can always remember the smell of those, so this year I thought I would plant some myself.  I was hoping to share them with my mother as they are one of her favourite flowers, but she is away at the moment.  I was able to share some with a dear friend who was having a bad day yesterday.

I also have childhood memories of the paper daisies (everlasting daisy) that used to grow wild around our house so I bought some of those the same day I bought the sweet peas.  I must have been very nostalgic that day!

I love the bright sunny faces of these flowers!  And they dry really well so you can have them around for awhile.

Along with picking the spinach, tomatoes and strawberries this morning I picked some more of my beetroot.  There isn't too much of it left in the garden now so I think I will most likely pick the remainder in the next couple of weeks and make pickled baby beets.  I will also have to pickle the bunch I collected this morning.

It amazes me that even though our garden is teeny tiny I am still able to put some home grown produce on the table most nights.  As I have mentioned before there would be no way possible for us to be anywhere near self sufficient for vegetables but the thrill I get out of growing as much as I can overwhelms that disappointment.  Here's to more planting  ;-)

Take care
Andrea

Birthday Celebrations!

Friday 21st September 2012

We have a birthday in our family today.  It is our youngest daughter's birthday, she is 19!  It only seems like yesterday that she was this small.

I just wanted to take this time to wish you a wonderful birthday Emily.

Going too fast

Monday 10th September 2012

I can't believe it has nearly been a week since my last post.  Time just seems to fly by these days and just to think we have the build up for Christmas yet. 

I was able to get into the garden in the past week.  My potato vines had died off despite not flowering.  I'm not sure what happened to them, but decided to dig them up anyway.  I went off and got a bucket to put all the potatoes in, but this is what you call optimism!  LOL

A very large bucket!  Once I started digging I realized that my crop wasn't going to nearly as good as I thought.  The following photo is REALITY people!

Still I was super excited about my very small crop.  I decided I am going to have a go at growing potatoes again next year, but might try a different position in the garden.


My smallest potato



My largest and smallest potato

There was enough to make an egg and potato salad for dinner that night and even enough salad leftover for dinner last night, so not a complete waste!

I also picked some more of my turnips, beetroot and snow peas.  My snow peas just keep on producing and while rummaging around in my fridge for dinner last night I found another zip-lock bag full, so I made a snow pea, cabbage and sesame seed salad.

The beetroot was pickled and put into the pantry.  I'm not sure what I am going to do with the turnips yet, but I think there will be more Chinese Mixed Pickles coming up.

With the warmer weather coming I decided I would like to have some dresses to wear, so this meant a visit to the opportunity shop.  I was lucky enough to come home with 2 dresses for $12.95 each.  I am an awkward person to fit for dresses but was really pleased with the fit of both of these.

This one is a cotton and spandex blend and with the crossover at the chest it fits me lovely!

This one is a bit bright for my tastes but very comfortable so should be great for those hot summer days.  I have some kakhi wedge shoes that look fabulous with this dress.

I spent two days last week helping Ron on the building site.  Don't you just love those phone calls you get and you just know that they want your help.  Half of Wednesday was spent helping him stand the roof trusses and putting in the cyclone rods, and just when I thought Thursday was going to be nice and quiet I was asked to help him take roofing iron off the roof.  Some of the sheets were over 3 meters long, so not an easy task with the wind blowing.

I was lucky enough to be able to slip away on Friday to visit a girlfriend that I used to work with.  I hadn't seen her since I finished my job and it was great to be able to visit with her and her daughters and new grandson.  I took along my Wacky Chocolate cake for morning tea.

Wacky Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 cups SR flour

1 level teaspoon bi-carb of soda

3 tablespoons of cocoa

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon white vinegar

5 desert spoons melted butter

1 cup warm water

Mix all the ingredients together and then place in a greased tin and bake in a moderate oven for approximately 45 minutes.

I iced mine with creamy butter icing and then grated some chocolate over the top!

Take care

Andrea

Ramblings

Tuesday 28th August 2012

Well I have arrived home safe and sound from my trip to Darwin.  What an amazing place!  The weather was gorgeous and the city so clean.  I had a fabulous time with my Aunt and loved the warm temperature.
The sunsets in Darwin are amazing and each night it got better and better.

This was the first night and even though we were a little late there was still plenty of the red glow left.

The second night found us at the Mindil Markets, which are famous in Darwin for the food stalls and craft.  Nearly everyone at the markets made their way down to the beach for the sunset.

You can see the people sitting on the beach here.  As soon as the sun had set they all made their way back over the dunes to the markets.

The third evening we were at a restaurant have dinner and this was the view!  Why would you want to be anywhere else?

We did spend time exploring Darwin which involved going on a heritage walk around the city.



The old town hall that Cyclone Tracy blew down in 1974



Government house - stands on the top of a cliff and overlooking the harbour!

We also visited Crocosauras Cove to have a look at the crocodiles!  The photo below is some baby one.  They just floated on the surface of the water without any effort what-so-ever.  There was plenty of them also!

 The adult crocodiles were over 5m long and weighed over 700kg.  They laid so still it was had to believe they were alive.  They looked just like a giant plastic replica, but I wouldn't want to mess with one!

On the home front we are missing our little dog :(  She was taken ill on Sunday and I had to take her to the vet yesterday morning where they admitted her.  She has been vomiting for the past 3 days and we don't know what is wrong with her.  It is just like one of your children getting sick and not a happy time for us at the moment.  We aren't sure when she will be permitted to come home.

I have picked some more turnips from the garden and given some of them away along with some cabbages and snow peas.

I think we have probably harvested 3 kilos of snow peas off the 6 plants.  I get a decent handful most days and we certainly have more than we can use so I am happy to pass them on.

I have removed all of the cabbages and now have some cucumber, cherry tomato and beans to plant.  I have also bought a blueberry bush and will be planting it in the garden along the drive along with some pumpkin.  The citrus trees I planted earlier are flowering so hopefully this will mean some fruit for next year.  It is all so very exciting growing your own food and most nights we have something we have grown from the garden in our meal.

I love the change of season from winter to spring.  It is as though the plants are awake again.  My wisteria has just started flowering and the vine is covered with buds.  I love the look and fragrance of these blooms and each year I get excited to see how many flowers it produces.  It seems to be more and more each time.



I hope everyone else is enjoying the warmer weather and abundance of plants!

Take care

Andrea

Bags and bags

Monday 13th August 2012

Back to the bag making again!  I found a lovely free pattern on line for a Japanese Knot Bag and just had to have a go.  This bag was relatively easy to make and while I adjusted the pattern slightly, next time I will make the handle longer and the actual bag slightly bigger.  This would make a lovely gift for a little girl, with a few items put inside (ie. hairbrush, hair ties or even a little handmade hat)!

This bag is made from furnishing fabrics so it is very durable and completely machine washable.  I especially love the lining fabric.  It is so bright and cheery!

I finally managed to reverse sew (unpick) the shopping tote I posted about awhile back.  I cut down the sides and remade it again.  This was gifted to a friend for her birthday and she is going to use it to put her folders in for college.  I love the way this turned out and will try and make more.  What a lovely bag to take shopping and put groceries in!

I also managed to find the time to cut down a top I had made myself last summer.  I had originally made it way too long and as a consequence I never wore it, so now that has been rectified I just need the weather to warm up so I can wear it.

I love the soft colours of this top and of course I have to wear a cami under it.  One thing I didn't like though was sewing with this material.  I hate slippery material to sew with and because I don't have an overlocker I have to zig-zag each edge so it doesn't fray.  Does anyone have any tips for sewing slippery fabric?

I also managed to make this cute key keeper for a girlfriend's daughter.  It is her birthday next month and she will be 17.  This little guy will fit into a standard envelope easily so it won't cost me a fortune to post.

This little guy doesn't take too long to make either!  Another free pattern if anyone wants to have a go at this guy.
I was able to harvest a colander full of greens this morning.  This will be placed into the refrigerator for dinner one night this week.

I also picked some marigolds that I will dry and then plant.  I love these cheery yellow flowers.  I doesn't help that yellow is my favourite colour.  What is your favourite colour?

On the crochet front.  The start of another ripple blanket saw me make a trip to Spotlight this morning to purchase some more wool.  Luckily they are having a 30% off sale at the moment as I walked out with 14 balls.  Stay tuned for a sneak peak at this project.  (I need another project like I need a hole in the head - what am I thinking?)

Take care
Andrea

Quality Time

Monday 6th August 2012

I have just spent three days last week staying with my daughter while her partner was away.  We had a lovely time together and had time to explore her local area.  Unfortunately while I was there we had some REALLY cold weather!  I don't cope with the cold at all.  Thursday morning was -3.5 C, not cold for some but definitely too cold for me.

Frost on my car!

One of Emily's requests while I was there was to teach her how to crochet.  She had already bought some yarn so I took out one of my crochet hooks for her to get started with.  To date she has learnt how to chain and do double crochet (USA single).  After four attempts at trying to keep it neat she is well and truly on her way to making her first item, a scarf.

Love the look of complete concentration.

On Wednesday, I made the 40 minute drive in Dalby to meet her for lunch at the coffee club.  While I was there I had a look at a fabric shop and bought some more fabric for my bags and a pattern for a dress.  I have a wedding to attend in March next year and will need something to wear.  I will need to make some adjustments to the pattern as I am only a size ten but have a large bust so hopefully a friend of mine will be able to help with this task.  It is hard to believe with the cold weather we have been having that soon we will be looking for nice cool dresses to wear.

Dalby was established in the early 1840's and some of the buildings reflect this.  I really enjoyed my stroll around the town in the lovely sunshine.  You can see the lovely blue of the sky in the photo below.  The cars for the variety bash were in town.  This is a charity that raises funds each year through an unusual car rally to help sick children.

The back of an old hotel

I brought Emily home here with me on Thursday night and we made a trip to the other side of Brisbane to Ikea on Friday.  We had a lovely time together with lots of laughter.

We had lovely weather here on the weekend with Sunday getting to 25 C.  I spent some time in the vegetable garden, removing the lettuce that had gone to seed.  As the weather is starting to warm up I have put in seeds for more lettuce, chard and silver beet, cucumber and rosella.

Rosella is a plant that is related to the hibiscus and you use the calyx from the plant once you have removed it from the green seed pod.  It makes lovely jam, tea and cordial.  The rosella originated from Africa and I have had no trouble growing it in my area.  I can't wait to harvest them!

How are things going in your garden?

Take care
Andrea