Count to 10 and eat a pikelet!

What a week-end. Phew I'm glad it's over quite frankly! As the saying goes " The best laid plans.........." Don't you find there are just some days you would really hope never became the subject for the Ground Hog Day movie!!

Mark and I spent the morning in the garden; putting in some more tomatoes, capsicum, onions,and carrots; seasol-ling everything in sight and generally tidying up around the fruit trees and some other trees we planted further down the back. The heat will be upon us soon (I have it on good authority that summer will get here.) and so we fed, watered and mulched to keep them nice and healthy to withstand the crazy temperatures we get here. We companion plant  and were having a bit of a laugh as I tried to work out where to put some of the new veges. Good grief some of them are almost as prickly as human beings when it comes to who they can live happily near! I plonked some marigolds about all the gardens to ward off a few pests - hardworking little treasures that they are - and picked a big bunch of agapanthus for the family room.

The fig tree that delivered one solitary little fruit last year now has about a dozen of various sizes, some quite large, and more coming on.

The blueberry is still delivering but honestly few make it through the door. lol. I do love standing by the tree and eating a hand-full of fresh little berries; smirking at the birds. Haha - not a one for those thieving creatures this year!

The grape vines have gone mad but are a little too young to get any good fruit yet; maybe next time.

I finished up in the garden and came inside to cook whilst Mark did a few last bits and pieces. After a difficult week-end it was lovely to potter about the garden and then the kitchen. I could feel the tension ease as I got out the mixing bowls.

It's easy to get caught up in things and throw away your peace. For me just getting my hands dirty and looking with satisfaction at a job well done puts things back into perspective. Working about the kitchen makes everything a lot rosier. It's important to get your equilibrium back by doing something you enjoy.

I made some things for Mark to take to work and then just popped on some pikelets for afternoon tea. A tray  with a nice hot cuppa, some pikelets and jam (lemon juice and a dash of sugar for me - yum) and a relaxing chat on the deck.

Deep breath - ahhhhhhh - life really is O.K.

Simple Saturday.

           It's not what happens to you, but how you react that matters.   
                                            * Epictetus *


                      

Monday.

My brother is very ill in hospital; there'll be no posts for the moment. Please keep him in your prayers.

Simple Saturday.

A photo, a quote maybe. The KISS principle is alive and well on Saturdays.

Looking Back.

So here we are 12 months on. On reflection it's been the busiest, most fun, most frustrating year of our lives.  It's been such a time of learning; a time of establishing even more firmly in our lives the belief that life can be simple and abundant.

We've had successes and some failures - though the "failures" are just an integral part of the learning curve. We began this venture with a vision to be as self-sufficient as is possible for us.(self-sufficient.......ish)
 I guess it's not what everyone would choose though more and more are. We, like so many people all over the world, have turned our back on the "gotta have it" mentality (I don't know that we ever really bought into that rubbish anyway). There is so much more to life (and to us) than owning "stuff". To be present  - I mean REALLY present in the moment is an art well-learned, and one I'm still to master completely. :)

So what are some of the things we've learnt??? For me - I've been able to grow so many  more veges and fruit; quite a few additions to my vocabulary (bumble foot springs to mind), cured a chooks foot with natural remedies (this is where bumble foot comes in)  learned how to make things I never knew one could make at home, coaxed the girls through the moulting period with barely a drop in production (eggs I'm talking about) found out I need to duck when walking under the tree where the bird-feeder hangs, been glad I decided to stockpile essentials so I didn't have to go to the shops for bits and pieces; and learned that its O.K............no .......essential to relax after a big day with a cold drink and feet up watching the birds and wildlife. A surprising lesson was that it's further for people to drive 20 mins in the country than it is to drive 20 mins in the city. :) There is so much more that we've done, achieved and learnt, for just one year it seems the list is huge.

We love our new life and the people who've come across our path because of it; interesting, clever people who have something to share and teach us. I've always appreciated the fact that I have a clever husband who is able to do most things but he has really come into his own out here. I come up with these ideas - not always practical and just a little crazy at times - but Mark finds a way to sort it out. Very handy man to have around. I think I'll keep him. :)

This is the crop of garlic drying a few weeks back. I had bought the cloves at Gloucester Organic Market ages ago. Garlic does feel like it takes forever to harvest (about 8 months for these) but its worth waiting for. I use to grow them in suburbia but only a few because of space. I think I got over 100 if I remember correctly. Given the amount of rain we've had here I was very surprised to get such a good crop.

I attempted to braid them (attempted but didn't do it very well) and hung them off my undercover clothes-line until we got some dampish weather so now they are strung up in the laundry cupboard. I never could braid Kim's hair when she was little - time hasn't improved my technique. :) The smaller ones I'll use and mince some of them, the others will last quite a few months.




I ran out of liquid soap in the laundry and kitchen a couple of days ago so thought I'd try to make my own. After consulting various recipes it seemed the easiest was just a cake of pure sunlight soap, grated and mixed with hot water. I did one cake to 4 litres of water, glycerine and lavender oil. I just winged it with the glycerine and lavender. It looked a bit like, well never mind, but the consistency wasn't pretty. lol. I scooped some into a pump bottle, about half filled it, topped it with hot water and gave it a shake. Viola! One less thing I have to think about.

                                       The beginning on the left and the lovely goop on the right.
                                                                                              

The end product. We'll see how it keeps. It's in the blue bucket with a lid on and the date that it was made. I know there are other ways to make it and I will experiment when I have more time but for the moment it will do just fine. :)




It's a new year for us and a new day tomorrow. See you then. :)

Spring time is busy time.

Sorting out the garden and keeping up with the mowing - just two things to keep us busy at this time of year. Planning ahead in the vegie garden has been a big learning curve. I think for some it will be either a feast or famine. At least I'll have a better idea next year.

It's such a pretty time of year. We've got a few grevillias about the place; lovely bright red and a gorgeous magenta one.

The dog fence is going up at the moment so Bonnie has her own little place to run about.

I'm looking at overhauling the blog. I started it as a personal record as well as a "drop-in" place for my os cousins and relatives to catch up with what we are up to. Whilst it's served its purpose in that respect I've been thinking about how I want to use it from here on. It will still be our record of our journey but I want to expand it. Recipes, how to's - all sorts of stuff.  Yes there is probably a plethora of blogs and info on anything you can think of but not from my perspective. lol. 

I'm looking forward to updating and expanding; I hope you'll hang around. Stay tuned. :) 

Sunday.

Excuse me ..........who stole spring????? I have the fire going and it's pouring outside. Ah well, it's Sunday of a long week-end, and all is quiet here. Am about to watch a movie, what a great way to spend the day.
Kim and some friends had a spa party last night and it was 2 o'clock into bed so about the only energetic things I'll do today is retrieve the eggs, grab some potatoes and make stir-fry for dinner tonight. It was scream watching the girls in the spa; it was so cold and they had the spa so hot the steam was rising. They looked like those Japanese monkeys who sit in the hot springs - except these ones had a wine glass in hand. lol.

    

We're all going to lunch tomorrow in a little town not far from here; there's a nice little quirky restaurant there and all the family will be together. Nice!

The rain halts things a bit around the place but it doesn't matter; the sun will be back again soon enough.