Fabulous February ...... !!

As always time gets away from me and now before I know it February is here !!  ..... Have spent a bit of time over the last two weeks getting out and about .... there are so many great places to visit in and around Gippsland..... A big favourite is the small township of Loch .....  what a gorgeous place it is ... wouldn't be a visit without a trip to my favourite cafe for a cup of tea !!

OLIVE at LOCH .... a lovely cafe

A fabulous quirky cup of Green tea.

The Baw Baw Sustainability network held their Creative Garden 2019 exhibition and I popped in to fellow blogger Around the Mulberry Tree, whose permaculture garden was among the many that were on display ..... included along with local artists creating their craft in the gardens..... Maree has a great productive garden and now runs sourdough making classes..... got to sample her bread and it was really good.

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The Mulburry tree after which she has named her blog.

Lots of nice things in her garden..

Sculptures look great....

 We also took a trip to Cape Patterson to walk the fur babies.....unfortunately it was non dog-walking season for the beach....who knew (probably everybody else except me !!).... thought if they were on a lead it was okay....so we travelled along to Inverloch and found a sneaky spot where we could walk them.....found these amazing shells on the beach ....the sea snail shells are so beautiful and had an iridescent mother of pearl glimmer...I've always loved shells,  they are works of art I think.

Shells picked up from the beach near Inverloch.

 My daughter and G-boy stayed over last Sunday and she decided to paint mandalas on a couple of the small rocks from my garden....I love these .... I had some wall paint sample pots for a small project I was working on....she did a beautiful job....very crafty

A pleasant way to spend an hour painting these..

 Today took a little trip to Jindivick to attend the market....it's small and not too busy.....Jindivick is lovely...unfortunately the smoke from a small bushfire in Noojee was thick....and the smell of burning vegetation was everywhere....it's a nervous time for those living in rural bush land.

The lovely town of Jindivick.

Finally as my 60th birthday draws ever nearer I will leave with this message..  :-)

Day's of Love, Letterboxes & Longing......!!

It was my 25th wedding anniversary on Wednesday so to celebrate I took my man away for the weekend to Daylesford....which happened to be the second weekend of the Words in Winter festival being held there...love it when I can kill two birds with one stone...I'd never get him interested in a writers festival !!...so he amused himself while I joined a couple of 1 hour sessions I wanted to attend. ...we spent the rest of the time idyllically enjoying the beauty and fabulous community that is Daylesford.

Getting there, I have to admit to an obsession of mine .... which along with old cemeteries...is loving the letterbox groupings that abound in country Victoria....I always look out for them and when they sneak up on us I shout out to pull over,  which never gives my man enough time or space to stop.....so we revisited these two near Daylesford just so I could take a couple of pictures....I love them...such a quirky part of the rural landscape.

On the Midland Hwy just out of Daylesford....

Just off Porcupine Ridge Rd.....I love them !!

We had two nights at The Hide studio Mt Franklin ...a beautiful self contained cottage on 44 hectares...complete with a frog filled dam, beautiful cattle, geese, native birds and about a thousand kangaroos...I have never seen so many...they were everywhere.... but still those wide open spaces set me craving !!

Beautiful accommodation at Mt Franklin ..the little cottage in the middle next to the dam

A trip to Daylesford wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Convent Gallery.....we had a lovely morning tea in the atrium soaking up the fabulous sunshine streaming through the glass...the weather was perfect all weekend....we were so lucky. Inside the gallery I was mesmerised by the incredible artwork of Barbara Hauser ..... Acrylic on Printed Fabrics.....they are so fabulous if I had the money I would love to own one of them....!!

 I can also admit I struggle to walk past a plant nursery without going in and buying a little something to plant when I get home...and this pocket sized nursery in Daylesford is just amazing....it's a work of art in itself and the plants and garden bits and bobs make it a treasure chest of goodies.....such a creative and fabulous use of space...rusty galvanised iron has been put to delightful purpose...everywhere you look there is a creative little gem waiting ...  If dreams were wishes I would love to own and work in this place..!!

Love, love , love this nursery......!!

So much to look at and so beautifully done.....!!

 We had a great weekend away to celebrate which left me longing for all the beauty and creativity that I saw and experienced.....but I feel wonderfully inspired and motivated to get fired up on my own creative projects that always somehow wind up on the back-burner !!  

I'll finish off with a pic of the beautiful bunch of anniversary flowers from my husband.. second time around for me and third for him.... 25 happy years...can't really ask for more than that.

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. 

The January Whip Around... !

I say it all the time...but I can't believe how fast time flies and January is already done and dusted...It's been busy especially the CWA volunteering on Australia Day....and preparations for the town's Ficifolia Festival.  CWA have a big weekend planned on 11th & 12th at the hall and I'm busy with recipe in a jar and preparations for the garage sale......AND... Zucchini's are everywhere at the moment ... followed closely by some early tomatoes...so bring on the bottling !!



Zucchini's all sliced up with onions ready to be pickled.

All pickled and in the jars.... !!

January also saw me continue on the mosaic which I haven't touched since before  we moved over 18 months ago....it was originally going to be for a covered external wall in our old house....wasn't sure where it would go here, but have decided we can hopefully waterproof it somehow and hang on the outside wall when it finally gets finished...it has been a very long project...like all my projects !!



Finally making some progress with the mosaic.

One of our small apple trees (an orange Blenheim) ... only been in a year produced about 10 apples...they were a bit scrappy but the birds decided to leave me these five and along with our rhubarb I managed to make an apple & rhubarb crumble...so excited to have fruit in the garden even if at this stage they are minimal.



Apples and rhubarb from our own garden...so exciting

Homemade crumble....it was surprisingly delicious ..!!

 The zucchini assault continued all of January.....this lot turned into Zucchini Relish ...even managed a few red capsicums from the garden as well....it's been a zucchini fest !

Zucchini and capsicums from our garden....onions, vinegar, sugar, turmeric etc.....equals relish.

Bottled up into jars....most of these get given away as gifts..... one can only eat so much zucchini !!

This month I discovered the local op-shop warehouse....they have some amazing stuff in there...picked up a dozen fowler jars...$1 each... they have heaps so I will be back....also vintage tortoiseshell knitting needles...I have been on the hunt for these for ages...couldn't believe it...I had been looking for some on Ebay and the few I saw were very pricey....I actually paid extra for these at the op-shop because they were so cheap !!...they were a real treasure to find.

Fowler jars and vintage knitting needles.... I just need the top bar for the jars.

My neighbour Les introduced me to his 'lunar planting guide' that he bought off the internet....I made a copy of it for myself...he swears by moon-planting so I am going to follow the guidelines and see what happens...There may be something in it.



Some More of the Same....

It's just another day in Pleasantville....it's the usual busy run up to Christmas now with lots of planning underway....we are doing quite a bit of entertaining over the next few weeks...need to get organised....still have lots of time for the garden and growing stuff.
Day 2 of the sprouter...looks incredible...these little guys grew overnight...it is really quite fascinating to watch what happens with just water.

They grow at an incredible speed...should be ready in a day or two.

Pickings from the vegie garden this morning...I know I bang on about it but it still surprises me every day that I can grow my own food...if a non green thumb like myself can do this anyone can...

Leeks, beetroot, kale, cauliflower and finally broccoli heads for the table...

 The girls also got into a bit of gardening action while I was outside...look at those little feet up on the furniture...we have a bit of fresh soil lying around the yard and they can't seem to stay out of it...

"Who me....What dirty feet"......

This project of mine is probably the world's slowest mosaic.....have set myself the target to have it finished before Christmas...there I've said it ..... I am the great un-finisher.

When both panels completed will read "Live a Simple Life"...it is taking ages as I have too many things on the go...

Should be picking up my greenhouse on the weekend....I am really excited about it...growing from seeds will be so much cheaper and much more rewarding I think...and the ladies are still on the eggs so hopefully chicks by cup weekend......enjoy your day !