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..  :-)

2018 Hopefully a Year of Abundance ..............!!

How distracting life becomes when it takes us away from spending time doing what we enjoy....The start of the year has unfortunately been filled with nothing but bad news about family and friends....Illness and loss has pervaded the first few weeks but life being what it is we continue to try and make the best from awful situations.  Loving thoughts to all friends and loved ones who are going through difficult times.

On a lighter note the New Year has bought forth an abundance of life into my garden....even my fruit trees have started to produce fruit...and like all other vegie gardeners the zucchini and tomatoes are rampant.  We planted a small but mature little peach tree that had two buds on it several months ago and they turned into two lovely peaches, the birds didn't find them and we picked them yesterday.....they were delicious!!  A sign of things to come I hope....as the Apricot tree was laden with fruit but was useless as they had a brown fungus on them which we will have to watch next year.

Yesterday's haul from the garden including the Peaches and the fist of the pears, passionfruits and eggplants !!

The chicken coop got a revamp last month....we have raised the enclosure fence...the new girls..even with clipped wing....managed to get over the small fence....we have also netted the roof to keep out birds who eat their food and poop in the water....we hope to put raised garden trugs in there along with the chooks, to grow berries that we wont have to share with the wildlife !!

The new fenced enclosure attached to the chookhouse to keep out wild birds and keep the girls in.

Planted pumpkins along side their chook house to try and create a bit more shade.

In just over 18 months that the garden and trees have been planted it has all grown incredibly well...the red soil we have in Gippsland must be doing the trick....even after all the really hot weather we didn't lose too much....kept the water up to the plants and heavy rain last night seemed to have made it all look quite lush today.

All of the pink flowers in the front have self seeded...not sure what they are called but they look lovely...I love anything that self seeds 

You'll have to excuse Daisy taking a PEE on the path as I took the photo !!!

We have over 17 fruit trees planted in our small suburban back yard....our whole block is only 800 sq metes....we put in the Avocado tree that you can see above surrounded by hessian...it's been in since September but is the only tree not doing very well... keeping water and food up to it but it is struggling....Just have to wait and see.

It's a little late for New Year wishes but I hope everyone has an abundant 2018 !!

Everythings Super....!!

A weekly catch up of all things super....firstly that amazing super moon...unfortunately it was pretty cloudy where we are so viewing wasn't the best....but there were amazing images circulating...It really looks spectacular....

The Spring garden is going 'super'....so many beautiful colours in the yard which seem to have popped up from nowhere...the bees are loving the flowering sage, borage and lavender ..

Picked most of the broad beans...still a few left in the vegie patch...and also dug up the rest of the potatoes...a couple of artichokes which I am going to practice on ...rhubarb and a little cauliflower.

This year I am growing beans between the corn.....supposedly they will use the corn stalks to grow up alongside of them....will see how that goes....some early zucchinis popping up too.

Little blue thing on the bottom is a sprinkler head...should make things easier

 My hardworking man has very kindly installed a watering system in the top garden to save me having to drag the hose through the garden beds to get there...hopefully it will also reduce the water usage as he has put drippers on the fruit trees and tomato plants and little spray heads in the garden boxes.

Drippers on the root line of this apricot tree.

 But the really super exciting thing is I have some tiny little apples on a couple of the apple trees...and also both pear trees have quite a few baby pears on them. ... they are mature trees but have only been in the ground since the start of the year so they may fall off before they ripen...fingers crossed I get a couple to keep growing....even just one would be fabulous.

Tiny little apples appearing on the apple trees......

Also baby pears have popped up on both the William and Packham pear trees....fingers crossed

The weekend also saw us attending our usual get together for a 'Super' Asian style luncheon...J & A stole the show with a fabulous chicken satay entrée that was voted 'dish of the day'. ... the Big K & Robbie provided all of the main which was Changmai slow cooked pork (fabulous) and a chicken dish with Asian greens, rice and Roti bread...the delightful J&M provided a lovely rice pudding dessert with lychees, lemon curd & passionfruit.

 

 

The super spread from the Big K and Robbie.

Hoping things are just 'Super' for everyone out there....happy gardening !

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

Keeping it Simple......

I had a quick burst of zucchini's which now unfortunately seem to have halted...I think it's the weather...very hot and very windy days are not the friend of many of the vegies in the garden.....did manage to make a vegie lasagne using up the four zucchini's I had managed to grow...had a mixed "left over" vegie layer, pumpkin, tomato and zucchini and a spinach and ricotta layer...topped off with cheese sauce.... washed down with a glass of sav blanc....not too shabby !

 

Last night's vegie lasagne....wasn't brave enough to make my own lasagne sheets just yet !

All the vegies are good for you....not so sure about all that lovely  melted cheese though.

The old charmer over the back fence is back from his Queensland holiday and popped his head over when I was out feeding the feathered girls......he had a couple of ears of corn he had grown so I swapped him for a capsicum from my garden.....he also bought over  a pile of silverbeet that went to seed while he was away which he tossed to the chooks....we talked tomatoes and cucumbers before he  headed back home....my tomatoes are a bit lacklustre.....there are tomatoes but the plants are still very small....hhmmmmm....I am blaming the weather again !!...although old Les tells me it's because I'm not planting basil next to them and using magnetics like he is.......maybe next year.


Tomato and chilli from my garden....swapped the neighbours corn cobs  for one of my capsicums.

 Today was also bath the dogs day......they hate the bath and it is quite the struggle....I think I get more water on me and the laundry than I get on them....final result is two lovely white fluffy girls....impossible to get a picture of them together....they won't sit still long enough....they are a pair of characters and nothing alike in personality...one easy going and one very highly strung...I have a favourite...I know ...it's wrong....but they don't know so it's ok....I love them both.

Daisy always smiling...

Daphne  nervous as always....

A Return to Simple Days....

Such a lot going on at the moment..... hopefully all will calm down soon and life can get back to the simplicity that I love.   Moving house is certainly one of those times when you can take stock of all your "things" and realise you don't really need as much "stuff" as you think you do.  I hope to clear out all unnecessary "things" .... and reduce us down to mainly just the essentials.
There is a lot to do before we move in just 7 weeks...the time goes so fast and I really need to find the time to just stay in the moment and enjoy life.
We celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary last weekend....unfortunately too busy helping my beautiful girl move house herself to get up to much celebrating...but we will hopefully take time out this weekend for a nice dinner for two.

Beautiful bouquet from my lovely man for our anniversary...hyacinth's  my favourite flower

 Managed to squeeze in a trip to the clippers for my fluffy girls....Daisy looks so funny when they trim all of her hair and eyelashes away....all eyes and nose.

Gorgeous Daisy after her haircut......I much prefer them shaggy . but she looks lovely and clean

 With our impending move I needed to sort out which chickens would be coming with us as we are moving to a much smaller yard.....I decided to keep the three youngest girls who I have raised from eggs, as all three lay eggs every day... my two lazy light sussex and one 4 year old isa have been retired to a small farm....and no that is not a euphemism for putting them down....they have literally gone to live on a lovely little property with 13 other chickens...four horses, three cats and three dogs....I know they will be happy there among a pair of staunch animal lovers. 

Three younger girls are coming with us...

Have not planted any vegies in our patch so nothing is growing and I miss it so much not being able to go outside and get food from the garden......can't wait until I have things up and running at the new house....hopefully in time to have some goodies in during Spring !!

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.

One of Those Days ......

Yesterday was one of those days.....the ones were nothing seems to be going right... one of the light sussex has gone broody again just 14 weeks after the last lot of chicks....  a few of the said chicks flew over the coop fence into the yard... they got into the greenhouse and ate all of my seedlings....and destroyed the strawberry bed...... one of the old girls doesn't look too well and she has been laying soft shelled eggs which keep breaking.... A zucchini bush has developed mildew on the leaves....  . the tap on the water filter started leaking and dripping all over the place... argued with the guy I work for.....this was all before breakfast......then while I was having breakfast  I saw this little worried face watching  me.... somehow your pets know when your not happy....made me realise none of the things going on were insurmountable....just annoying.



The beautiful Daisy........she was worried....doesn't normally put her head on the table.

Broody hen is now in the broody buster ( my husband's trailer).... today I will clip the wings on the teenagers...separate the sick chicken to see what's going on with her....pull out the mildewy zucchini plant ... salvage any seedlings from the mess and save what I can... and get the water filter repaired..... then off to writing group.

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 !