Flash Floods and Favorites for February...........!!

The weather is such a mystery so far this year....... extreme heat, bushfires, hail, cold wet days, lovely sunny days and then flash floods......I was caught up in this one last week ...took a picture of the water and landslide over the road on my way down the mountain from Emerald... the rain was absolutely torrential....!

Flash flooding on the road.

While gardening this little guy ran across my foot....gave me a bit of a fright but I dashed inside to get my phone to take his picture....it's not a good shot as he was rushing to get away from me ... he was way more scared of me than I had been of him....the colours were amazing so I did a google to see what kind of spider he was.... St Andrews Cross spider...really love the diversity of criters that live in our permaculture garden ...a call out to anyone using pesticides or chemicals in the garden...Please Don't !!

St Andrews Cross Spider in my garden

This is what they actually look like when photographed correctly !!! ..just sayin'..

Professional look at a St Andrews spider...amazing

A lovely bunch of flowers from my man ....... we don't really do Valentine's day but they were a lovely surprise.

Flowers from the Willow Branch....  lovely florist and we always try to support the locals.

Currently reading this book for the second time.... one of the ladies at bookclub mentioned it and I knew I owned a copy but read it so long ago forgot the storyline....loving it second time around...funny about that. 

My interest of late has been spiked by the use of medicinal herbs... I follow this lady on instragram and managed to get hold of her latest book..... it's a little out there but has definately encouraged me to look at Herbal Apothecary and growing more of my own herbs.

Marysia is a Green Witch... all about gardening, weeds and herbs.. don't be fooled by the title 

I took a quick trip to Korumburra to check out a couple of local stores... Grow Lightly is a great community produce store....all the veg are grown locally and chemically free... great price and to top it off they have milk in glass bottles for just $3.80...
.............so happy to support local farmers.

Milk in Glass !!    .... Hooray

Sunday was my birthday... had a beautiful day and as always received  loads of love and beautiful gifts... very thankful for my wonderful family and friends.

61 now...officially in my sixties.

The latest Green Tea pic ..from The Borough Dept Store cafe.....
had the most delicious Ginger cake... highly recommend it if you are ever down that way.

The obligatory green tea pic... they just keep getting more and more quirky.  

Here's hoping Autumn gives us the beautiful late summer weather that is my favourite time of year. 

Autumnal April - Bliss.....!!!

There comes a time when you have to take a serious look at how much you are actually spending in the supermarkets and shops on food...  we have been spending an inordinate amount of money recently without any idea of how much is too much.....So we are trying to track our food money spending... I thought I would start with one weeks groceries and see if I could avoid return trips over the next seven days....I took a picture to remind myself what I had bought and was shocked to see (for someone who thinks she is conscious about not using plastics !!) the huge amount of plastic contained in one supermarket visit.  While I never use plastic bags to put fruit and veg in (usually not purchased from the supermarket but this was a test) the plastic wrapped meats ( I usually buy at the butcher), cheeses, pasta and roast chicken etc...... WOW all that plastic !!! While the menu planning did work and I didn't return to the supermarket for 7 days, the truth is I want to avoid the supermarkets all together...easier said than done but my meat and vegies will continue to be sourced from the butcher and organic store, need to find unwrapped cheeses etc..  Food for thought.

Supermarket shopping for one week.....SO MUCH PLASTIC.

The unseasonal autumn heat has thankfully settled down and beautiful mild days have been the norm....I love autumn..long shadows and falling leaves......planting out the vegie beds and growing our own seedlings and getting into the garden...I didn't like the shrub that sits alongside the deck and contemplated pulling it out, but decided to trim it into a love- heart.....'corny' right but I really like how it looks now and happy to not have to remove it.

Practicing topiary in my yard 

 It was a glorious day on Sunday so we took a drive to Noojee.....it was a beautiful trip...we had a picnic on the lawns behind the Noojee hotel....live music was playing as we sat by the river, we then took the dogs for a stroll on the Loch Valley tramway walk...followed up with afternoon tea (thermos and home made fruit cake..very 'old school') and enjoyed it alongside the old trestle bridge.

Trestle bridge in Noojee... amazing.

I posted recently about my wonderful Auntie who passed away from an unexpected stroke .... my cousin was very chuffed to see that they have made a memorial gate in her honour at the football club....so nice that the community remembered her in this way, for all her help and support of the sporting groups over many years....RIP darling Joyce  xx

The sign on the memorial gate in honour of my Auntie.

I've recently joined a fabulous yoga and mediation studio in Warragul....finally found the right teacher who resonates with me and what I hope to achieve through Yoga and daily practice..... so far it's been a really great experience and I think I've learnt quite a lot about myself....I love it....Namaste !

What's Happened to Autumn ....!!

Is it just me or are we still waiting for Autumn....some of the trees have lost a few leaves and the pumpkin vines have all but died off ,thankfully leaving quite a few pumpkins......but what's with this weather....I love Autumn, in fact it's my favourite time of year.... but it's been so hot and dry here I just want some beautiful mild days and a lovely bit of rain. ... 

Spending so much time watering the garden....the droplets on this plant looked beautiful in the light

I found this picture of hand embroidery in a magazine....I just love it and would really love to learn how to do all of these wonderful stitches.... there is something so beautiful and timeless about this piece.........if I get brave I might give it a try when the weather cools down !!

I just love this embroidery....looks really difficult but I would love to try.

 Couldn't resist adding a couple of pictures of this little minx....she spends most of her time laying around wherever I am ..... 

Daisy in her usual spot on the couch.... !!

Daisy with 'Bed Hair"....she comes up for a cuddle in the morning.

 This week will find me in the vegie garden with more planting for the coming season....fingers crossed we get  a nice decent downpour. 

All About Autumn.............

You know Autumn's here when the apple tree branches are weighed down with the last of their fruit and the pumpkins are being harvested.  Have managed to give away heaps of the apples I picked...also cooked some up to freeze.  They are great eating apples too.  I tried to juice some in my juicer and after it made horrible brown foam I realised that you usually cold press apples.....lesson learnt!!  Wish I had an apple press....if I ever get apples on my own trees I will definitely have to look at getting one.


Cooked up some of the foraged apples to freeze ...... should make a lovely couple of crumbles with those

Pumpkins were a bit a problem this year....lots didn't make it to adulthood.....dropped off of the vines...the ones that did make it however are so appreciated....I love pumpkin.

Have got the pumpkins outside under the veranda for the next couple of weeks to dry them out before storing.

Cut up my first pumpkin for the year.....roasted some up and into the risotto !

The tomatoes this year have been quite disappointing also..... there are still quite a lot on the vines but they are still green and not sure if they will ripen up..... haven't been able to get enough ripe ones at the same time to make my sauce....2 years ago there were so many tomatoes (I was picking about 50 a day).. I didn't know what to do with them all.....it's funny how each growing season appears to be different.


Only 3 bottles of my homemade tomato sauce this year....tomatoes are very slow on the vine



Compared to 2 years ago when I harvested about 1000 tomatoes over about 5 weeks...!!

Did manage to pick my potatoes this morning.....I emptied the potato patch so that I could replant it out again to keep a constant supply of spuds coming along... I have two potato beds now so should hopefully get plenty...they are very easy to grow.

 



picked the potatoes.....will put into hessian bag and keep in a dark cupboard...they last quite a while that way.



I think Autumn in the hills is my favourite time of year....the leaves are all starting to fall and the slight chill is already starting to reach us even though the sun is shining...the air is fresh, it's beautiful. 

Let Loose in an Orchard......

For the first time in my life I've picked apples fresh from the tree..... the lovely lady who teaches the community writing group that I attend let me loose in her orchard. ..... I always bring her any goodies I have growing in the vegie garden and she said she would bring me in some apples but I said I was happy to go and pick them myself . ... She is widowed and in her 70's ( although very fit for her age) and the orchard has become quite overgrown and a little neglected but there were masses of apples just waiting to be picked......it was fabulous and I ate one straight from the tree and somehow they just taste so much better ...... simple pleasures I know but such a lovely experience.

The orchard is a bit overgrown but there was masses of fruit on all the trees... no pesticides so make great eating.

So many had already fallen wasted onto the ground...... such a shame.

Now I need to get busy and work out how to preserve some of them.....maybe apple sauce or cook them up and freeze.

Delicious apples......I even grabbed a couple of lemons and a few pears....

When I got home I checked the vegie garden and picked tomatoes, rhubarb, a couple of small eggplants and some new potatoes.  Beautiful to have so much lovely fresh produce around. 

Picked from the garden today

Only one little lonely egg today....the young girls still haven't laid any eggs yet but they can't be too far away. they are nineteen weeks old.... so hopefully egg production will be on the rise again soon.

Farewell to Autumn......

It's wet, bleak and miserable in the hills today......Autumn is certainly on the way out as Winter lets us all know she is just around the corner....no complaints, we've had loads of beautiful sunny days and mild temperatures this Autumn....I've planted out plenty of seedlings and am currently looking around for a greenhouse....nothing to  big, just enough to propagate my own seeds...hopefully save money by not buying costly seedlings to feed to the snails !!....Growing  vegies certainly makes you very aware of the change in seasons....The chickens also react to the seasonal changes....yes they were moulting...lots of lovely new feathers now...but not many eggs....its gone from feast to famine...only one or two a day...makes them all the more precious don't you think.

The beautiful birdlife around here ..... they love the bird feeder in my garden

Autumn's carpet....I love it .. unfortunately my husband doesn't and they eventually succumb to the leaf blower....

The neighbouring Golden Beech sheds into our yard....it's so beautiful, wish it was on our side.

Precious goodies from the girls....the fewer fresh eggs it seems, the greater the enjoyment...go figure

Next week we welcome winter .... the season of lazy days in front of the log fire....loads of pumpkin soup and freshly baked bread.....knitting ...umbrellas .....new gumboots...big puddles... and loads of warm cuddles.....

A Few Things For Friday.....

It's chilly today but at least that big golden orb is shining upon us.....a quick check around the garden today and I notice those damn sneaky snails are back......I don't know where they go but as soon as I put in any broccoli seedlings....there they are chewing away, destroying them overnight !!  Time to get out the traps from last year...top them up with beer and see how it goes.

Bloody snails....that's all I can say....they are so destructive !!

 Planted out some nice little natives that I picked up at the Foster Market a few weeks ago....hope they do OK...it's the first time I have bought tube stock....it's cheaper than buying more established plants...fingers crossed these tiny plants will thrive were I planted them.

 

I finally have the recipe that I mentioned in my March post....my beautiful sister in law passed away at 41 from breast cancer 14 years ago....she made the most amazing sponge cakes for everyone's birthday...my brother found her recipe book....all of the recipe's passed down to her from her grandmother.....I am going to try this sponge for mother's day....not sure how I will go because Kerry learnt by watching her grandmother and the instructions are very brief...."beat egg whites"...for how long??? could be a bit of trial and error with this.....I truly hope I can do justice to her amazingly light cakes......and try to recreate some of the beautiful memories she left us with.

Hope I can get this sponge to work from this recipe....bit light on with the directions.!!

Last weekend was our turn to host our friends luncheon....we take turns each month to host a Sunday lunch and cook something we have never cooked before...each couple bringing a different course....we did a Rustic Autumn Luncheon......my man, who is not so good in the kitchen, but very handy with the Weber..... made the chicken recipe below...I did slow roasted lamb.... fig & prosciutto pizza with gorgonzola..... and fresh beans from the vegie garden with bacon & mustard ....lovely entrees, salad and desserts provided by the rest of the gang.....all was delicious and we settled in for a great afternoon.

Smiles all around as the crew tucked into lunch......all served up on my beloved vintage dinner plates collection .....

The chicken prepared by my man as per this recipe....his amazement when the cooked chicken came out of the weber looking exactly like the picture was priceless..(unfortunately we didn't take a finished picture in the hurry to get it on the table)....there is a whole lemon in the cavity of the bird and you squeeze this lemon over the cooked chicken and bread before serving....it was so tasty.


The chicken all prepared and on the sourdough ....ready to be put into the Weber.....

This weekend will be full of preparations for Mother's Day....the family are all coming here for afternoon tea on Sunday....hopefully the weather will be kind to us...Mother's Day holds a poignancy for us as it no doubt does for other's who have lost loved ones... my sister in law is always in our thoughts particularly on Mother's Day and now we will also remember my friend Heather who passed away in March leaving her three children ...it will be a difficult day for their family...our hearts and thoughts are with them.

Monthly 9 Link Up - April.......

We are well into Autumn but the chill in  the air today makes me think Winter is not far away.  I am joining in with Christine with my monthly 9 link up for April.

Nourish:  I thought I would share something that I chanced upon here  this blog is enchanting and an  absolute "feast" for the eyes....I spent way too much time scrolling through all of her posts...the photos are just mesmerising...I love it...nourishment for the soul !!

Prepare:  I thought I had prepared my harvested pumpkin for storage....I left them outside for 10 days to dry then bought them inside and stored them in the laundry cupboard...that was two weeks ago...I noticed this morning that they are growing fluffy fungus on the stalks...I think it is too warm in the laundry....have read that you can wax the stalks so I am going to remove the fungus and coat the stalks with organic beeswax....hope it works...anyone else ever had this problem?

horrible fluffy fungus growing on the stalks of my pumpkins....all suggestions welcome.

Have added new mushroom compost / soil mixture to a few empty garden beds to prepare them for the autumn / winter planting....hopefully lots of goodies sprouting here very soon.



two beds almost prepped and ready for planting...just need a nice day to get out there and do it.

 Reduce:  I managed to have a wardrobe cleanout...not that I had all that much to get rid of as I am not much of a hoarder....but it was good to sort out things I haven't worn for ages.... and the charity bins were happy to get them.

Green:  As always am avoiding plastic wherever possible...juice and milk are in cartons, all food is stored in glass jars...even only buy take away drinks in glass bottles.....still haven't found a way to totally avoid gladwrap......will keep trying to come up with options...wish they made recycled plastic wrap...now there's an idea !

Grow:  Have my seedlings waiting patiently to be planted .  Baby capsicums were pickled , filled and bottled....last of the tomatoes have been put in the freezer...things are a little quiet in the garden this month......the lone fig however now has many friends....hopefully all will ripen up soon...


Lettuces, beetroot, broccoli, silver beet.. ,all waiting patiently in the greenhouse..

Onions , leeks, kale and chard .... bugs have already attacked the kale .....hopefully it will be okay when planted..

The first ripe fig....the start of things to come....he looks a bit like an ant eater... !!

Create: I managed to knit the cushion I planned in my March post.....that was one of my projects I wanted to finish...there's always May !!

Finished the knitted cushion from March post....a gift for my daughter.

Discover:  This month I discovered Pinterest....I know ....I'm pretty late getting on board but you could lose days looking at that stuff.......some of the photos are truly bizarre...there seems to be a bit of a fascination for people to put their pets in ridiculous outfits and odd places....I'm an animal lover and I'm not sure if it is cute or cruel ????......it's definitely odd.

I don't know.....kind of cute but also disturbing !!

This one seems a little cruel...don't know how they got him into that little jumper...he doesn't look terribly impressed

He looks like he is saying...okay you've had your fun, know get me out of here !!

 Enhance:  Then you finds things like this on Pinterest....this would certainly enhance my backyard

Then you see gems like this.....how beautiful does this look outside...

There seems to be a bit more than moulting going on in the hen house....this girl is the bossy chook and usually spends her time pecking at all the others.. ...looks like the other girls tried to enhance her tail....she has a big bald spot...maybe there is a pecking order challenge going on....has this happened to anyone else's feathered friends?



Quite a bit of feather loss on this poor girl.,...not sure if its moulting or hen pecking

Enjoy:  April was  a lovely month...Autumn is one of my favourite times of the year....the smell of wood smoke in the air as everyone around lights their open fires....we had a lovely trip to a winery...then celebrated my son in law's 30th birthday at a micro brewery in Mornington..a sunny afternoon.....beer tasting paddles and woodfired pizza's ...my man was in heaven.....needless to say I drove home !!

Hope everyone out there enjoyed April as much as I did.....May is our birthday month....my two daughters and step daughter all celebrate this month.....keep warm and stay happy !!

Size Does Matter ?............

An interesting visit to the hen house this morning...one of the girls has laid an enormous egg!!  not sure how she got that one out......doesn't fit in the egg cup....laying has slowed down over the last week or so....the girls are over two years old now and production is on the downturn....may need to get a few younger birds in and give some of the old girls away.

Ouch....one of the feathered girls is laying ostrich eggs !!

 Managed to finish off one of the projects for the month....some of the baby capsicums have ripened so I made these....was a bit fiddly but they turned out great....have a  mix of unused feta and cream cheese ...need to come up with a way to use the leftovers now....any suggestions?

Cored and boiled in sugar and vinegar......then into the fridge for 48 hours to pickle !!

Rinsed then piped with feta and cream cheese mix....home grown causes size inconsistencies !!

 

Into freshly boiled jars and covered with oil.....should last in the fridge for a couple of months

Still working on a couple of April projects...hope to have them finished before May !!.....Hope April has been good to you too.