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. 

Wedding Bliss .....and Baby News !!!

Two weeks ago my baby girl got married and announced she is having a baby girl !! ..... Wedding guests got a wonderful surprise as the celebrant announced their baby girl is due in May....it was a truly beautiful wedding ....Flowerdale Estate in full bloom and the sun shone all day.    So lucky !!

Me the proud mum.....walking my daughter down the aisle.

Giving my girl away.....her lovely man waiting at the altar. 

The big announcement.....they are so excited.

The happy couple.....the roses on the arbor and surrounds were so beautiful.

The gorgeous garden and amazing tree at Flowerdale .

The kiss......and the cake....fresh flowers and three different flavours....scrumptious.

My girls....My eldest daughter (Matron of Honour) and the Bride......and the bride's best friend (Bridesmaid).

My beautiful family.....my husband now in trouble for not buttoning his jacket !!

The amazing pavilion where we held the reception....all the roses on the property were in full bloom....!!

The Tables....waiting for the guests.

Like most country weddings it involved an overnight stay for many of the guests....

so lovely to see the newly weds next morning at brunch.....

Before they headed off for a honeymoon in Thailand.

The new mister and misses.....complete with matching t-shirts and baby bump 

I was joined at brunch by one of the resident Maremma's ....... I LOVE DOGS  ... just sayin'......!!

 I've been incredibly lucky this year with two weddings.....

both of my girls now married to lovely men

.... and a new grandbaby on the way....

....fabulous.

Goodbye July ....!!!

I seem to have completely lost track of time...It's the last day of July !!!  Where did the last three months go??...I've been remiss and not found the time (should read not made the time !!) to pop in here and share what's been going on....I like to think of my blog as just my memory of what's been happening and also a bit of a photo album. ... Just had to update my mobile phone which died and my first thought was..'Oh no' what about my photos!!...thankfully all good but was a reminder to put up pictures here that I will always want to look back on.  Digital images are great but if you haven't printed them..(and not many of us do that anymore)...and something happens, they are lost.  Here's a little bit of what has been happening recently.

Mid May we celebrated a beautiful wedding when my eldest daughter married her best friend...my fabulous G-boy did a great job walking the bride in and giving her away .... a heart warming marriage ceremony followed by a gorgeous afternoon tea to celebrate.... shared by immediate family and closest friends in a romantic cottage on a strawberry farm in Wallan....perfect!! 

The cake 

My daughter made her own cake the night before ... and iced it the morning of the wedding

I decorated it with flowers and strawberries and little cactus from the garden...simple but elegant I think!!

The buffet table....delicious and divine goodies.

Gorgeous home made delights....by both of my daughters and her future mother in law....(just simple fingers sandwiches made by yours truly)...I did do flowers and table decorations though !!

My G-boy proudly walking his mummy to her future husband......so CUTE !!

 My daughter was lucky that a very dear friend and wedding guest is now a photographer and kindly took fabulous happy snaps on the day.....you can see more of Dani's photography on her professional website HERE ..We were so grateful for the great pictures she took....so creative and got the feel of the day exactly how it was....joyful.

Just love this "artistic" shot by Dani....highly recommend her for any photography needs, big or small.

Congratulations to the happy couple.......love them to bits.

We have another wedding this year when my youngest daughter ties the knot in November....so  lots to look forward to !!

Early July I took myself off on a 6 day yoga retreat at Mission Beach QLD....Quite an adventure....Yoga three times a day...very extreme location in a rainforest at the top of a mountain...(really large hill actually..but felt like a mountain walking the 600m from carpark ...very very steep and a tough climb)...full of wildlife at your door....cassowaries, huge lizards, monster spiders you name it....and it was all vegetarian meals!!....Really delicious and I have often thought of trying to be vegetarian....but boy I really missed proteins...eggs will only go so far....Food for thought because I think I would struggle to be totally vegetarian.... Organised through Robyn ...(my Yoga teacher when I lived in Emerald)...along with 22 others... the experience was really amazing and I learnt a lot more about myself than I thought possible. ....Namaste !

The wonderful Yoga studio....

Three yoga sessions a day in the studio....7am Hatha Yoga , followed by pre lunch Yoga Nidra and pre dinner Vinyasa Yoga.  Really beautiful experience included essential oils for Chakra healing.

Patterns on the sand

I was absolutely fascinated by the beautiful patterns the crabs make all along the sand at Mission Beach...truly amazing...it looked like masses of flowers or fireworks spread as far as the eye could see.

The view of the rainforest from the balcony of my cabin...lots of wildlife going on in there !!

Cassowary walking along the path

Picture of the cassowary who thankfully didn't tear me to shreds when it walked past...did give me the 'stink-eye' though!!  ...  they are rather intimidating up close and personal....but so spectacular to see and hear them walking about the place. 

Brooks Beach 

A few hundred metres from the Resort is Brooks Beach....happens it's a local nudist beach...and 'No' I didn't join the few brave Yogi's who took a skinny dip!!  I had a fantastic and challenging time...learnt a lot about myself  and feel I came back a more balanced and somewhat humbled human being. 

All About the Boy....!!!

My G-boy turns 7 next week....it's hard to believe how quickly time goes and how fast they grow up.  He's currently into bugs, insects and all assorted creepy crawlies.....I caught up for an after school date so he could see me on my birthday....took his GG (great grandma) along for the trip.

My gorgeous grandson and his new friend......

Milkshakes and iced coffee after school...
and a catch up with my favourite little guy.

I couldn't resist sharing the pictures of his cubby house reno.....my daughter has moved to their new home and the old cubby in the yard was in need of some TLC.....amazing what a bit of elbow grease and a huge slice of imagination can produce !!!....

Poor tired old cubby that hasn't been played in for quite a long time....

His cubby house post renovation.......amazing what a few old bits and bobs can do..

Travelling from Joy to Heartbreak........!!

A very busy time this past week......a wonderful celebration on Saturday at the engagement BBQ of my daughter and the lovely  man in her life...a beautiful day that they had both spent so much time and energy preparing and everything... even the weather...was perfect. They now live up country so we stayed the weekend at a lovely guest house in Benloch with my eldest daughter and her family...such a nice break.

Check out the bride to be's new blog here ..hopefully she learns to cook..!!

The engagement sign my eldest daughter and I created....she did the fab lettering and I did the chalk flowers...
made to match her engagement invitations..

The oh so cute cake and a snippet of the pink DONUT wall....delicious !!

The happy couple....can't wait for November 

Sadly my man and I then had to travel to Sea Lake for the funeral of my much loved auntie who passed away unexpectedly from a stroke....she was an integral part of the small community there and it was so wonderful to see well over 300 people at the service in the community hall...she was an avid supporter of all the town activities but the sporting clubs in particular..she sold the tickets on game day, volunteered behind the club bar and prepared meals for the teams after training..at 81 she was fiercely independent..spent most of her time maintaining her beautiful lush garden..a rarity in the dust bowl that is Sea Lake..and visiting and taking care of 'elderly' town residents...the funeral cortege drove down main street to the cemetery and shop keepers lined the street......to know her was to love her and the town will sorely miss her vibrant personality. 

Rest in peace darling Joyce...the world shines a little less brightly with out your amazing sparkle .

This poignant wreath in club colours hung in the ticket shed where she sold tickets every game day.

I always like to finish on a positive note so I thought I would include a picture of the basket of goodies delivered to Aimee yesterday....includes a jar of my man's beetroot... I have finally gotten him interested in getting involved with the produce !!!

Eggplant, celery, rhubarb, cherry toms, passionfruit, spring onions, zucchini, pears & Bonza Beetroot !!

Trying To Catch Up......

So much has happened over the past few months and so much of my life wasn't my own......the responsibility of looking after elderly parent's is often overwhelming and can become all consuming.  Things are slowly getting back to normal and I am starting to relax and get back into the swing of things.....the things that form the simple life that I want to lead....I'm getting the Spring garden planting going so next post will hopefully be a garden update. 

 

Over the last two months I tried my hand at making Kombucha....I purchased the mother scoby at the Warragul Farmers Market and followed the instructions and made Kombucha tea and produced a "son of scoby".  I passed the "mother" onto my daughter and then started a second bottle with "SOS".  Next time will try a second ferment process by adding fruit which will give the Kombucha a fizz. 

My homemade kombucha tea....mother scoby in the bag to give away... the gift that goes on giving.

After Dad's funeral my husband took me away to Lakes Entrance for the weekend. ..... It was a wonderful break...so relaxing.  .... The weather was ordinary but everything else was lovely.  Lots of delicious food and great cafe's.... Boat trip to Metung in the morning and AFL Grand final on Saturday afternoon and lovely market on the marina on Sunday morning.

Always a great surprise to see how cafe's serve up the green tea.....although milk was an odd accompaniment .

The boat trip to Metung was a real surprise...... it's a great spot and the pub had a fantastic outlook over the water and great food.  They also have a pet pelican in the yard who was incredibly tame.  .

 

This guy was so tame he walked right up to you...could have watched him all day.

 End of September saw us having our usual "monthly" luncheon with friends.  It was at our place this time and the theme was casual and bring a one pot dish to share....we had some fabulous food and Janine's chicken was absolutely amazing.

Dinner in our al-fresco with the gang....a great afternoon of delicious dining as always.

My man and I went shopping in Warragul to get goodies for the luncheon as we provided a starter (crumbed flat head fillets) and a cheese platter.  .......off to Stella's Pantry for some amazing cheeses and also stopped in at the Bean Scene to get some freshly ground coffee. ......  we stayed for morning tea and I ordered green tea (no surprise there as I don't drink coffee)...and it was served in the most amazing tea device......I love how serving tea has come back to being the pleasurable experience it once was....call me old fashioned but for me it's all in the presentation....although nothing beats a fine bone china cup .

 

Have to admit I had to be shown how to work this gadget ....but what a great idea.

 Most importantly .....this month my GBoy lost his first tooth.....so much excitement....the other kids at school told him you get $5 from the tooth fairy....Wow when did that happen ??

My gorgeous little guy...so excited because 4 more teeth are wobbly... !!

On the subject of teeth....the fluffy girls had a trip to the vet's for their injections and the vet advised they both needed their teeth cleaned....Daphne has been the first to go and have a clean....which turned into "13 teeth needing to be removed"....she is only 7 years old ....poor girl...thankfully dogs have 42 teeth so she still has some left... Maltese x are prone to tooth decay...Daisy is going next week...she is only 4 so fingers crossed not too much damage already done.

 

Daphne giving me a look....I already feel guilty !!.....she is still cute
...even though in front she has one tooth up top and two at the bottom

What To Do About Must Haves .....!!

The no plastic July challenge is coming up....I am going to get involved this year and give it all I've got...some great information shared by Tammy from Gippsland Unwrapped is terracycle ... it's a great website to join to help with recycling the things that seem impossible to give up...like toothpaste !! I have very sensitive teeth and no amount of home made paste is going to help with that.  I find there are some things that are unavoidable and the angst associated with "what to do with the packaging" has been a genuine concern.....at terracycle  you can drop off or send your items to them (for free) to be recycled...I love this.

Empty toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes, dental floss cases can all be recycled

I run a small business from home and receive quite a few express post bags and mail satchels (completely out of my control as people send water testing kits and samples)... this plastic can also be dropped off / sent to terracycle for recycling....there are several other product groups that can be recycled including plastic cleaning product spray packs and pump packs.... well worth joining their project and making sure that the things you find difficult to replace without the use of plastic can still be recycled and not sent to landfill...

Plastic satchels, post packs can be sent to terracyle where they are recycled.

  

Something that I always find poses difficulties for eco solutions is parties....I threw a surprise 60th birthday party for my lovely brother on Sunday....catering for 35 poses lots of decisions regarding plates, cutlery, cups, decorations etc....I decorated with paper lanterns I had saved from my gboy's baby shower over 5 years ago!!.... re-purposed decorations from his birthday party in March and my daughters party last month...she also had left over paper plates (pink with white polka dots no less) , napkins and plastic forks....they were all going to be binned so I had to weigh up the choice of them going into the bin or being used for my brother's 60th...it made sense to use them and I added some bamboo paper plates which are sold as eco but I still think china plates, cutlery and cloth napkins would have been better.....but it seemed so much worse to throw unused items away rather than use them....the rubbish that went into our bin at the end of the day was upsetting though!

Speeches .....I think Rob has forgiven me for surprising him with a 60th Party.

I'm sure difficulties will arise in July but I hope that I can find solutions to drastically reduce (if not completely eliminate) the amount of plastic that enters and leaves our home.