QUEENSLAND.

All our love, thoughts and prayers go to the people of Queensland. Just thought  I might leave the blog until tomorrow - sometimes we need a moment to take in all thats happening in such a tragedy.

Almost Gardening.

Woo hoo. Two of the gardens are finished and the dirt arrives Wednesday. It was a dreadfully hot and humid day to be sawing and grinding the tin but it got done with just a few stops because of rain. I didn't get to paint the sides of them because of the rain but will hopefully get that done before Wednesday.

I'm painting them the same lovely green colour as the big shed - I'm not that pedantic - we just happen to have a bunch of green paint :) We've put the beds right beside the tank as this will be the primary water source and it can gravity drip-feed  them. We're on town water here but we won't have to use this at all.

The soil we ordered is rich in mushroom compost and all sorts of yummies so can't wait to get my hands dirty.

The beds are high enough that I won't have to bend too far to work on them and there'll be pavers up the middle and around the sides to make it easier to push a wheelbarrow about.

The other two should go together tomorrow so then it'll be almost planting time. It'll be a learning curve to go from one raised bed in suburbia to 4 in the country.(and thats just for starters). I didn't have rabbits, 'roos and cockatoos to contend with there. I often think of my father who could just about grow carrots in cement; I wish I had taken far more notice of what he did. He only used companion planting and made his own compost and even sea weed fertiliser. My great-grandfather was evidently an award winning vege gardener - I'm hoping genes will out. He dropped dead in his garden though - lol - I'm not in a hurry to emulate that!! 

SITE   MANAGER.

The weird shed thing was removed from the back of the main shed the other day and the replacement colourbond is coming this week so the shed will be water tight again. We're also looking at ordering a container this week as well for general storage; at least we're not pushed for room here.

Must tell you about the ginger beer - will leave that until tomorrow.

I'm baaaack!!!

Well here I am. A little worse for wear but back on board. It's been a busy few days; we've had a lot of visitors; that's been lovely.

The strange contraption behind the shed is going at the weekend if the weather holds. Its an attached shed to the normal shed and it will need a truck to lift it and cart it away. In its place is going a container to store whatever bibs and bobs one puts in a container. That's Mark's area but I'm pretty sure i'll be snaffling a little corner of it. We have plotted the gardens and Mark has gone off to get the last lot of tin sheeting. The wood we bought yesterday for the corners  is waiting patiently by the tank and tomorrow we build! We had a lovely outing to Bunnings yesterday (to O.S. visitors Bunnings is a large D.I.Y. store). I'm sure we've paid a few salaries there in the last few months. LOL. I love that place!

The chook yard move has been put on hold until the gardens are done. They have a new hen house and a huge pen so we felt (no -  Mark felt ) they could wait. I reluctantly agreed and acknowledged I am getting a little O.T.T. about the girls comfort. As Mark said  "They're only chooks." I did think that was just a little rude but he's allowed his opinion. After all  "he's only a man". lol.

Hey check out the crop circle in our back yard. We have 2 at the moment with a third one coming along. :) Its where the septic irrigates - looks affective and so green against the dry grass. Doesn't take too much heat to brown off the grass in Aus but on the flip side its doesn't take much rain to make green and gorgeous again.

Off to put the chicken on to roast. Baked dinner tonight and then a show to watch at 7.30. Quiet night in. Lunch out tomorrow but hopefully a lot of gardens made before then.

What a start!

Well what a start to the new year! Have been flat on my back with some virus since New years Day. Horrible feeling, couldn't eat (that's a killer!) and dreadful headaches. Feel much more alive now  - a bit washed out and "foggy" in the head but thankfully it's almost gone. Another quiet day today I think.

To date this year (3 days) my girls have given 10 eggs. I'm going to keep count and see how we go; they're really very reliable layers so far. I couldn't imagine having any more chickens  - I'm flat out using up the eggs I get. I have a dozen for Mark to drop to a friend tonight on his way to a meeting and still have a dozen left in the fridge. Mark cooked some up last night for an easy dinner for himself and Kim but with another 4 this morning I'm going to have to get baking this week.

I'm going draw up plans for the girls new home that's being built on Wednesday. I saw a great name for a chicken house on another blog just recently -Chookingham Castle - lol love it.

A friend offered us some great sheets of tin for our raised beds so there's another job for this week hopefully.

Our other house finalises in a couple of weeks so its time to clear the garage out where we've been storing a bunch of stuff. Mark and one our sons got everything down from the rafters the other day. Son said Carter hadn't found that much stuff in King Tuts tomb. lol. Major de-clutter coming up.

 The ginger beer was a bit of a disappointment. It wasn't nearly as "bitey" as I'd hoped. I'm going to start a new plant with fresh ginger as soon as I'm finished here; hopefully that will be a little zingier. And my first foray into meringue making wasn't a complete disaster. I've only ever bought them because I couldn't be fussed making from scratch but with so many eggs thought I'd give it a go. According to Jamie Oliver they can be "tricky buggers" and he's right. You wouldn't think just a couple of ingredients would be a problem really. :)

New Things.

Goodness here we are on the other side of Christmas day already. We had just the best day; lots of laughs, good food ( if I do say so myself - lol) and good company. It was lovely celebrating in our new home; a very special Christmas.

It's all quiet here today. Mark's at work; he has only two days left and then is on a few weeks holiday - both of us can't wait. My daughter has just left for work and my few chores are over. The chickens are fed and happy -they've had lots of leftovers for treats. I'm so excited they're getting their new chook yard next week, I've enlisted one our sons to help us so we can get it done quickly. :) Plants watered, washing out, and house tidied.

I made my very first batch of ginger beer this morning. I've no idea how it will go but I'm hoping it will be zingy - i love a ginger beer with bite. I made it with powdered ginger not fresh but I'm told it doesn't make any difference. Just to be sure I'm going to start another batch with fresh.

Today is the day I've set aside to re-assess my goals and aspirations for the new year. I don't call them resolutions - there is such negative connotations to that word. :) For me another year always seems to bring such promise, an excitement that anything is possible because its all new. I have a mental list of things that I want to personally achieve this year and will nut those out on paper. I like to write things down so I can refer back to them and make adjustments where and when I want to. My list is fluid - gone are the days where I was a perfectionist and so very hard on myself. Life is, by choice, much more simple and uncomplicated.

I know one thing will be setting aside time to learn; I love learning new skills and try to do something each year. One of my presents from Mark is two day courses at a farm that practices permaculture etc and has, just this year, become totally self-sufficient. I was over the moon - can't wait to go.

The road we've started on to simplifying life will be a long and very interesting one I'm sure. There are all sorts of things to learn and fascinating people to meet; but the journey, as with all journeys, starts with a decision. A decision to step back and take back the beauty of life. We have a limited time on this planet and I want to make every second of my glorious life count. Setbacks and pain are in every ones past and future but "you don't get the rainbows without the rain." (lol - not mine but its a good one!)

One More Sleep.

Merry Christmas to those who have taken the time to drop in for a little visit.  I hope you have a wonderfully fun, peaceful and above all safe time with your family and friends over the Christmas break.

We're full of plans for when the new year arrives and Mark is on a few weeks holiday. I'm looking forward to putting in the gardens and building the girls a new and improved chicken run. Mark is going to continue painting the interior and we'll get new carpet in the non-tiled areas. We've just put in some gorgeous light fittings in the lounge-room today.

For the moment though all that can wait as we sit back and enjoy Christmas.

To my dear friends and family in the Northern Hemisphere - enjoy the white Christmas and forget how much of a nuisance it can be. :)

To those in Aus - one more sleep!!!! :)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Countdown.

We were in the car and off to the grocery store by 6.30 this morning. Not my idea of fun but when we were driving out and cars were grid-locked in the car-park trying to find a park I was more than happy we'd made the effort. It took ages to pack all the goodies away - I'm sure, like everyone, I could feed a small country out of my pantry. Tonight Kim is having some friends over for a spa party and stay-over so I doubt the house will be quiet enough for an early night. They'll all be gone by lunch-time tomorrow so I can do some early preparation. :)

 I can remember as a child my mother and Nana in the kitchen from early morn until lunchtime "slaving over a hot stove" (no air-conditioners in those days) and it seemed to me everyone had a relaxing time except them! I'm very blessed that when I asked my daughter recently about perhaps having a traditional baked dinner she said "No way, how is that family time if you spend your Christmas in the  kitchen?" Having said that I'm doing 6 different salads, 3 meats plus prawn skewers and 3 deserts. I use to put the weeks menu on the fridge to avoid that "whats for dinner" question 4 times over and have just put up the Christmas Day one. I think there's more on it than there use to be  for a whole week. :)

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve here in Australia. I'll make the ice cream pudding - vanilla ice cream, mixed peal, glace cherries, almonds, pistachios, white choccy, brandy, cranberries etc. Top with fresh berries, bit of icing sugar and away you go. I can also do the Parmesan vinaigrette for the chick-pea salad and lemon caper butter for the prawns and cook the rice. On the day we have canapes mid-morning - this year simple ones  - smoked salmon, philly and chives and roast beef with a nice mango and mint chutney on bruschetta and then just before lunch I put the salads together (there's a bit of fiddling with prosciutto, pears and mango for the various salads but I usually have a few willing hands to help.)

This year, though 2 of my 3 kids don't live here, they will be staying overnight, as well as Scott's lovely partner Raeleigh. There's the spa if it gets really hot (first Christmas in years without a pool - surprisingly not missing it at all!) as well as some new inter-active electronic thing that promises to move a few of the recently acquired kjs! Karaoke for the brave; or inebriated. A game of soccer or tether tennis or just hang about watching sat. TV. Perhaps a few calls to our O.S. rellies. Chatting over a drink and leftovers. ( can we really fit another thing in?)

I love a stress-free Christmas! I've learnt  it's a choice. I'm sure we all have obligations that we don't really enjoy around this time of year ( yep!!) but I think its up to you  how you handle them. I adore my husband and family and am really grateful to have the kids come home for Christmas. For me that's what its all about; anything else doesn't really matter.