Money, Money,Money.........

 I'm going to open a great big can of worms here because there is so much information out there about saving money and being frugal...I watched a you tube from a Current Affair about a family who have a grocery bill of $270 per month and they have paid off their mortgage in 5 years on $40k total income per year.....I can appreciate their commitment and dedication to their lifestyle but for me the issue is LIFESTYLE.  I don't know how they have managed to do this...firstly I admit saving money is not my strong point.....but for me being reduced to budget meals that have travelled who knows how far with ingredients that contain  who knows what doesn't seem worth what appeared to be this manic need to avoid spending money.  I don't want to eat 2 minute noodles or have 50 cans of soup from Aldi in my pantry...I understand low income families have to make cost effective choices and low priced items become a necessity ...but this family appear to have chosen to work 3 days a week between them and have adjusted their spending accordingly I guess....  Along with many others I've made a conscious commitment to reduce my carbon footprint....eat organic food and ethically raised and treated animals...support local and community traders...avoid waste... we compost...we recycle...don't use chemicals in the home or on our bodies or in the garden........I don't want to waste money and have made a commitment to pay off our mortgage as soon as possible.....but not at the expense of our health and the planet..We live a fairly simple life but if we want to celebrate with friends by eating out occasionally we will, local businesses need our support....I am prepared to pay more for food that has been sourced ethically (fair trade) ...when I buy clothes or gifts I avoid items produced in sweatshops....I totally understand that low income families may not be able to make these choices but I would encourage even the most frugal out there to make decisions with their health and the environment at the base of their spending choices.


Poor Daisy was sick after her visit to the groomers....I think she reacts badly to the worming tablets.

Yesterday the girls had to be clipped and wormed and Daphne had to have her yearly heartworm and vaccination...all up cost $260 ....Yikes....but I have made a commitment to take care of my pets and it costs money... Keeping pets is not a frugal option , but I wouldn't be without them.


Daphne as always looks very nervous when I get the camera out....go figure



We've added 3 new garden beds to the vegie gardens ...garden boxes, soil and seedlings over $120...It still costs to grow your own.....could be done much cheaper I guess, but the boxes were on sale.

I certainly mean no offence to anyone out there who is struggling to make ends meet....I just think there is a lot to consider with regard to money....for me it is the root of all evil but unfortunately almost impossible to live without.....I want to enjoy the time I have on this earth while ensuring I take better care of it for the generations to come...My ramblings probably sound very naïve and may irritate those who have tight budgets...while every individual has the right to choose the path that best suits their finances and lifestyle.

Back from the Brink....

I've left the despair of the last few weeks behind me and am hopefully getting life back to normal...as normal as possible anyway.  Sunday saw us attending our monthly luncheon...a Sunday Solstice & Curry Munch !!  Hosts Jan and Al surprised us with a sumptuous range of dishes using curry sauces made from scratch...Beef Rendang , Chicken curry, curry Potato, lentil and eggplant dal....loads of goodies with rice and homemade pappadams...and raita !!  She excelled herself...also accompanied by a lovely shredded salad timbale with an amazing dressing supplied by the big K.   My offering was a Hummingbird cake to help celebrate a recent birthday....was asked to bring "The Sponge" but once again that was a dismal failure....go figure.

Smiles all round as we tucked into a Super Solstice Celebratory Curry Munch.

A variety of goodies on offer...all on my plate.

Forgot to take a photo of my cake until we had almost consumed it...it tasted pretty good if I do say so.

Monday saw me back to my usual routine...taking the G baby off to his sports morning...my Monday's with this little guy are so precious....he is our little ray of sunshine....the sport to learn this week was T Ball....he loved it...you can't see all of the other kids but there are about 8 of them in this class.


My G Baby all set for a big swing...he loves running around and always has a smile for the camera !!

Getting his achievement certificate for the end of term from teachers Jane and Helen.

Life is a bit upside down and turned around at the moment....but I've helped where I can ...done my best and will continue to support whenever and wherever I can.  I've sourced outside help for my dad to help him with his difficult journey ahead....fingers crossed he will be receptive to their efforts.  For now I will just keep smiling and getting on with my life....My man turns 60 next week and we have a large party booked at his Golf Club...need to turn my attention to that now.  Happy days ahead.

Lesson's from Life.......

Was it really only three weeks ago I was thinking how perfect my simple life had become....I should have known better than let the universe see my contentment....life since then has thrown some huge challenges my way...one of which was flying to Qld when my elderly father was hospitalised after driving himself and mum all the way from Melbourne towing a caravan....getting very sick along the way. ....Hospital advising him he was not fit to drive and I had to fly up and drive them both back home....Hervey Bay to Melbourne (2000km)  in 3 days....exhausting....poor dad is perhaps suffering some early dementia as well as poor health...it's heartbreaking to realise he isn't quite the same person he used to be.

Then one of those nearest and dearest to me experienced breakup, heartache and life changing decisions have been made...The lesson for me from all of this is I don't have the power to fix everything....I have to be a bystander as those around me suffer...I can only offer my heart and support...at the end of the day I am powerless, and just hope my love wraps its strength around them.

The sun still came up today....it's bright and crisp outside....I've cleaned up the chicken coop...the poor feathered girls have not had their usual attention, so spent some time with them this morning.  The vegies are growing...there is the beautiful smell of open fires permeating the breeze....it's so good to feel the magic that this lifestyle gives me is still here.

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.....

How The Mighty Have Fallen......

I'm sure you've all experienced beginners luck at some stage.....well I sure have...or else there was divine intervention !!  I blogged recently about my amazing luck with the very first attempt at making a sponge....it was fabulous and I was beyond happy......take two....tried to make one for my daughter's birthday on Sunday....went as per the recipe this time...no forgotten egg yolks tossed in at the last minute....sadly this is the result....looked good coming out of the oven but, OH DEAR.......as the seconds passed she deflated like a hot air balloon....as did my joy !!  I'm not put off yet...I intend to give it another go and make the same mistakes as I made the first time....who knows .. ..anyone else had this problem...are sponges as difficult as every one says.... ??

It was a very sad looking sponge.....not sure what went wrong....perhaps the angels weren't on my side this time..

You Learn Something New Everyday.....

I love following other blogs .... there is such a diverse community of bloggers out there ......I find out so much information it's incredible.. ..While I mostly follow like minded blogs, occasionally I stumble across some really interesting characters out there ..one of the blogs I love dipping into every now and then is this one.....he is very entertaining and has a huge following....his latest post was a you tube clip of singer ....Paloma Faith....I have never heard of her....maybe it's just me??...but I think she is fantastic....I did a bit of youtubing and found heaps of her music....I adore this one....there is so much information being shared on blogs....what a great online community blogging has created...



Then I went way down a rabbit hole and found this beautiful blog which is so full of fabulous and creative posts......very inspiring......I could certainly spend a lot of time here a story about Ajanta an ancient Buddhist temple that originates from 230BC......incredible...I so want to go there ...it's on the bucket list that's for sure.

Mother's Day Moments.......

First off I need to say I am not a cake baker....the handful of cakes I have made in my lifetime usually came from a packet (with the exception of a family fruit cake I love to make from scratch)....so it was with great trepidation that I undertook the somewhat daunting task of trying to recreate the much loved sponge cake of my beautiful sister in law who we lost 14 years ago....Unbelievably it turned out ....considering I was just about to put it in the oven and realised I had not included the egg yolks and whipped them in at the last minute.....I thought it was destined for failure....I think mysterious forces were assisting with this little project.

My amazement when I took this out of the oven was incredible...I was speechless.

It was such an emotional moment for me when I creamed the cake this morning....incredibly the smell of the sponge transported me back in time as the smell was so familiar....olfactory senses are truly amazing.......it brought back a lot of memories and I have to admit I shed quite a few tears....I still have to pinch myself that I made a successful sponge on my very first attempt.....It meant such a lot to me to be able to complete this cake as a tribute to her memory.

It was extremely satisfying to manage to recreate this old family favourite.

After noon tea ......family favourite finger sandwiches...there would be uproar if I didn't serve these !!

 It was a lovely afternoon and one I will always remember.....sometimes small achievements can mean so much.  I will certainly try to continue the tradition of making the birthday sponges from now on.  I hope everyone out there had a truly memorable Mother's Day.

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.

Much Ado about Rats ......

My trip to the henhouse this morning was met with what I thought was another dead little rat (or big mouse) in the chook house......until he moved slightly when I tried to pick him up on the rake....I was suddenly mortified that the poor thing had been laying  there slowly dying....I know all of the people out there who have been raised on farms etc. will think I am clueless and won't understand why I am upset over a dying rat.....but I had not thought about the suffering.... We have put bait stations in our back garage as the rodent population was making their presence felt ... I thought I was OK with this as I was told the rats go away to die...I didn't realise they would die slowly and painfully....this feels very inhumane and while other's will say that I am killing them any way what's the point...my problem is that seeing the rat motionless but alive was disturbing....so as usual I googled to find a more humane solution....I went here.....they suggest catch and release (which I have done in the house for mice) but we tried that without success in the garage...also tried the snap traps ...but I think we have clever rats as we never caught a single one....the bait has been very successful to date....but now I don't know... while searching for solutions I found a website that is dedicated to photos of rats cuddling things....people have rats as pets......it's a dilemma ....so I'm putting it out there....what does everyone else do?.

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.

A Beautiful Autumn Break......

We took a quick overnight  break down to our holiday place on the weekend and went with a group of friends to a local winery for lunch....Waratah Hill (near Fish Creek)...can't believe we have never discovered this little gem in the 6 years we have been holidaying only 10 minutes away....the sky was overcast but every now and then the sun made a quick appearance before slipping away again.....the scenery was spectacular....South Gippsland's rolling hills, already green and lush after the scorch of summer.....it was Autumn at its best.

The beautiful rolling hills are an amazing backdrop for this boutique winery....

Shared Mezzo platters and.local wines..,the sparkling was my favourite...not much of a wine connoisseur I'm afraid.

Daisy taking a sunny nap on the back of the couch....I felt I could use one of these after lunch !!

It was so nice to get away ...even if it was just overnight .......with all of the fighting and troubles  overseas.....it makes you appreciate how lucky we are to live here...we should all take every opportunity to enjoy life....the simpler the better....good friends, good food....good times.

A Really Good Friday.......

While I am not a religious person and Easter doesn't really hold the same significance for me, I do love traditions....my man is from Scotland originally and was raised a Catholic.....he isn't particularly religious any more but still can't bring himself to eat meat on Good Friday...funny how religious traditions stay in your psyche .......so after we polished off a couple of HCB's for breakfast (delicious by the way)..... my daughter popped in for brunch and we had a few more.... then my man had a salmon sandwich for lunch (I had left over beef casserole, I know...seems sacrilegious) .......It was a bit chilly here today so we lit the fire....opened up a bottle of wine... some meat free nibbles and settled down for a lovely late afternoon relax......I cooked up some beautiful fresh flathead tails for dinner....it's pretty easy to keep my man happy .... all made for a really Good Friday.......it's nice in a way to keep his Fishy Friday tradition ....no offence intended to any Christians !!

Thankfully Fishy Friday doesn't exclude wine and cheese....they are my Good Friday tradition.

Hot Cross Buns......

Made my own hot cross buns from scratch....admittedly I used the bread maker to make the dough

....and I still managed to make a big mess when I made the paste for the crosses and the glaze which I managed to flick all over the stovetop....still, you do get a warm fuzzy feeling when you make things yourself instead of buying them from the supermarket....who knows what's in them...I use organic ingredients..same recipe as raisin loaf but added dried apricots......Hope they taste as good as they look and smell.....that's breakfast taken care of....enjoy the Easter break.

Managed to make a mess of the stovetop....ooops !!

An odd assortment of shapes ....but I love that about homemade things...just a little quirky.

What I'm Reading This Month......

Bookclub book for this month is The People's Train by Tom Keneally....haven't had the chance to read anything of his before but I am told he's great and I will enjoy it....I really hope I do as the last few books have been a bit disappointing.

Bookclub book this month....fingers crossed !!

Also in the stack to read....finish the Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan....have read her books before and enjoyed them...this one however is a bit of a poor mans Memoirs of a Geisha....except it's set in China and not Japan...it's an easy read and quite interesting....These few borrowed from the library....Bellagrand by Paullina Simons...enjoyed her earlier books..see how this one goes....Sustainable House...see if I can pick up any more ideas...and lastly Simply an Inspired Life...about consciously choosing happiness...always up for a bit of self improvement...

Books to get through this month....really hope there's a treasure among them.

 Beautiful blue skies and sunshine for the last two days....gorgeous autumn weather...lunch today fruit, cheese and hummus with rice crackers....sat outside in the sun...perfect day !!

Beautiful sunshine and delicious healthy lunch.

The hot cross bun dough is humming away in the bread maker and I will finish off the buns and into the oven tonight....fresh buns for breakfast....wishing a safe and happy Easter to all !!