What I'm reading....

Our book for Bookclub this month was Butterfly by Australian author Sonya Hartnett.....story about the coming of age of a 14 year old girl in Melbourne in the 80's.......I could really relate to this book, loved a lot about it but the ending left me really dissatisfied.....I don't like books where the author leaves the ending to your interpretation.....I'm a "needs to know" kind of girl............Other than that it was a good read....I'm sure the ladies at bookclub will all have something to say about this one.

Butterly by Australian author Sonya Harnett......good read !!

 With Winter well and truly under way, the Solstice has already been and gone.........it's lovely to start the day with a warm lemon and honey drink.......squeeze a lemon (straight from the tree in the garden) into warm water, stir in a bit of honey and drink first thing....very cleansing and good for the soul.

Warm lemon and honey , great way to start the day..........

Have just finished doing a great meditation  that I have downloaded off the internet......"ask for nothing and receive everything you need"......really beautiful sentiments in the meditation, includes sending out healing energy to your family and  friends, those in need and also the planet......receive back the joy of knowing you are helping those you care for and those who are less fortunate than yourself....heal your body, soul and spirit, with the power of your mind...amazing !

My Daughter's New Camera..........

 My eldest daughter has a fabulous new camera which she received for her 30th birthday from the family.....takes the most amazing photos and she is snap happy with pics of my gorgeous G-baby....

G-Baby taking after Poppy on the golf course...only mini golf at this stage...

G-Baby on the beach in the beautiful glow of late afternoon winter sunshine......

What great memories ........he is a beautiful little boy, only 2 but so much personality......It's great to be a nanny ....he's our first G-baby and very adorable...as you can tell by the pics....love to all the grandparents out there. 



Love Food, Hate Waste campaign...

As always still trying to do my bit for the planet, environment and now also my pocket....in the past I have been known to waste food, throwing away things that I could have put to better use if I was better prepared and more aware of what I was doing......life changes and my lifestyle has changed now in so many ways.....anything that can't be salvaged is either fed to the chooks, put in the worm farm for those guys to digest or else put into the compost.........had a few left over bananas that were on their last legs and turned them into a delicious banana cake....very easy recipe and would have cost less than a dollar to make....I was pretty impressed with myself...

Yummy banana cake made from the bananas going brown in the fruit bowl..................

 Then I had a barbeque chicken which we had used all of the meat from and decided that instead of tossing  it into the bin....can't feed it to the dogs, chooks or worms........I would make it into stock.....added a few vegies and boiled it up and used it for last nights risotto ......only problem is I have the left over cooked remains and had to bin them....don't know of any use for them...anyone out there use the remnants for anything useful...............??

Left overs from making the chicken stock........any ideas what it could be used for.....???

Am always now looking for ways to make our food go further..........using local organic foods wherever possible, free range, organic and locally sourced chicken and meats also.......it can be tricky but well worth the effort it in the end.....wishing good health to all.

Beating winter blues'........



Wow, winter has hit with a vengeance....so surprising that the sun can be shining beautifully one day and temperatures drop and rainfall starts next day and bang.....it's winter...I work from home so the cold weather wintery blues certainly take their toll on me....not a lot happening in the garden, plants are very slow to come along, not like the glorious bounty of summer crops.....have started growing my own seedlings to see how I go....bought a tiny plastic greenhouse and if I have any success and the seedlings take off, I will look at purchasing a proper greenhouse......would love to have stacks of seedlings and plants on the go...still a lot to learn but putting seeds into soil and adding water can't be all that hard - can it???

My itsy bitsy greenhouse......the start of bigger things maybe.

So far so good....spinach and leek seedlings have started to pop up..