Time Away.

Have just been out to turn on the sprinklers and hoses for the gardens and fruit trees. Everything is going well despite the high temps for this time of year. The tank is emptying fast so it looks like we'll be using tap water if we don't get some rain soon. It's crazy - we had a couple of years where it was almost non-stop rain and now we're all praying for it to fill our tanks. lol. I was speaking to a woman who lives about 20 k's from here who is on tank water only, and she's already anticipating having to buy water in the next month or so!

We recently had a lovely short break in Nambucca Heads on the N.S.W. north coast with my sister and brother-in-law. It's a good time to visit at the moment if, like me, you can't stand tropical humidity. It's a beautiful area and inland Dorrigo and Bellingen are well worth a visit. The two photos are taken from the look-out in Nambucca. Great views!

One of three kookaburras that pop in each day to visit my sister. A butcher bird also visits for a snack.








I'm going to include a recipe for a dessert my sister made while we were there and I can HIGHLY recommend it!!

                                    CARAMEL BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING.  
5 slices of bread - raisin toast loaf was used.
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
470 can of evaporated milk
1 cup water
3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
cinnamon

Method.

   *  Trim crusts from bread, butter bread lightly and cut into fingers.
   *  Lightly grease dish, sprinkle brown sugar over base then cover with bread, buttered side up
   *  Beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add milk and water, beat until combined.
   *  Carefully pour milk mixture over bread.
   *  Sprinkle with cinnamon.
   *  Place dish in a baking dish with enough water to come halfway up sides of dish.
   *  Bake in a moderate oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until custard is set.

******* Better make 2 because this won't last!!

Tuesday.

Wow the wind would blow a dog off a chain here today. The sun is shining and the temp is 31c. Already the smell of bush fires is being carried on this wind. :(

The veggies will struggle this summer I'd say, if this is what its like now at the beginning of spring. The tomatoes didn't do so well last year but we have moved beds and put in extra plants  in the hope that we will get plenty this season. I like to have extras to make pasta sauce etc.

So far we have put it tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, onions and spring onions, spinach, zucchini, more basil, peppermint, parsnips, beetroot and chilli.The strawberries are doing fine as are the fruit trees, with the blueberries starting to appear. The herbs are loving the sun and the grape vines are sprouting again. There is still more to plant but it can wait another week.

 




A few of our everyday visitors.

Beautiful sunset from our back deck.

Advertising!

  

Well it's Fathers Day here in Australia this Sunday. As usual we've been assailed with adverts left, right and centre. I must admit I find most advertising rather silly,and vaguely incomprehensible.

I mean really, have you ever bought coffee beans because George Clooney swans about trying to get his fix? Or cat food because Eva Longoria dances around her lounge-room? Evidently, according to the blurb, Eva is trying to make cat food "sexy". Sexy ????? Cat food ?????

Really clever ads (and yes there have been some) are few and far between. I do find the so-called ad-jocks are a little behind the times. "Sex sells" is an old adage that may have been edgy in its day but really ....sexy cat food????

So now to Father's Day. "Show your dad how much you love him". Hey I love presents as much as the next person - giving and receiving - but I didn't know that the giving of a particular gift was an accurate measure of my feelings for someone. Advertising always goes for the jugular; portraying you as lacking in some way if you don't use or buy their product. And you're not a good parent/child/friend/spouse if you don't max out the credit card on a gift. Hey that's how we all know how much you care - cause if you really care - you will buy, buy, buy! So does the kid who saved a few dollars love their dad less than the one who has a few hundred to spend on dad? Well that's the measure the ad guys use.

And that's what I find hard to understand. I know very few people who believe all that ; and yet someone must; cause these ad guys still have jobs, spending millions on meaningless nonsense that assaults our sensibilities and often tries to guilt us into buying their product.

    Will my husband get something for Fathers Day? I daresay he will. I also know the thing he will treasure the most is spending time with the kids. Something that can't be bought or measured; and no-one can make a buck out of it.

Follow Up.

Wow!! I was a little taken aback at how many people msg or rang me about the last post. Taken aback because, apart from a few close family members and friends this blog was started for, I didn't think anyone dropped in on a regular basis to have a read. I don't read stats (though I did yesterday and was quite surprised!)

It was really interesting to hear the reaction from people; and lovely to see I have so many friends who think the same way.
                                          .........................................................................

I had a wonderful birthday with my family and friends; lots of laughs as usual. My eldest and his wife are overseas at the moment but will be home this week so we'll have a belated get-together then.

This photo I've included is one of my English cousins garden. They live near Norwich in Norfolk and we had the joy of spending a couple of days with Isabel and Ron when we were recently in the U.K.  They were wonderful hosts and a lot of fun; I love their zest for life. It is a lovely English garden and I thought you may enjoy a peek at one little corner of it. :)

Special People.

I took myself off to the shops today to buy clothes - a rare enough occurrence. I thought it would be rather nice to have a new outfit as its my birthday at the weekend and I'm being taken out for a meal. I have to really be in the mood for shopping and the mood doesn't strike very often. :)

Whilst out, I wandered into a gift shop and spotted some lovely things. Isn't it nice to browse around gorgeous bits and pieces? I decided to treat myself and when I took my items to the counter the lady asked if I would like them gift-wrapped. Quick as a flash I said "yes, thank you,  that would be lovely." As she was wrapping them she commented that they must be for someone special and I said yes they are............ me! Hahaha, her face was a picture. I assured her I would be very spoilt by my family for my birthday but that not enough people saw themselves as special; we often did nice things for others but not for ourselves. She had what is commonly called these days an "aha moment". She said what a wonderful idea, called the other lass over and told her and then said with a big grin on her face " You're right. I'm special too and I'm going to do this every year for myself."

How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself as special - special enough for gift-wrapping? :)  Are you uncomfortable with believing you are that special? Don't be! Oh yes, I know there will always be those, who in that lovely Australian vernacular, will rush in with the comment " oh boy that person is up themselves!" How sad! There is a big difference between appreciating yourself for the unique creation you are and being arrogant or conceited. The very sad truth is the type of person who makes that comment usually dislikes themselves and that's reflected in their negative comments. 

We're all amazingly, talented people of such promise why would we choose to see ourselves as anything else? So give yourself a gift and gift-wrap it if you want - you deserve it!!! :)

Getting Organised.

The gardens are all cleared out ready for new planting. It will be nice to get some things happening after letting everything go while we were away. We still have garlic growing as well as chillies and strawberries. Not bad for not being touched for a couple of months.

The furniture for the office is coming along beautifully so I thought I'd share some photos.

This will hold all my files, text and reference books as well as stationary etc etc. It takes the place of two smaller cupboards so will look a lot less cluttered. I just have to find some new handles. It will be moved into the house at the weekend so a huge clean out of aforementioned cupboards is required before then. Damn!

 This is the chair with its first coat. I'm thrilled with how it's coming up. Mark is a dab hand with a paintbrush. :) Now I have to decide what colour to cover the seat.

A Winters Morning?

Sitting in the 21 c sunlight having a morning cuppa it was difficult to believe we're in the middle of winter. The nights are chilly, and I do like a fire, but the days are glorious at the moment.

Sometimes I just sit; and wait; and listen. Before I know it my eyes adjust and I begin to notice all the busyness going on around me, down in the underbrush or quite close in the trees where I'm sitting.. The plovers wander about, and magpies, peewees, willy wagtails, finches, rainbow lorikeets, king parrots, corellas and cockatoos all visited this morning. If I'm lucky a kookaburra occasionally swoops in but more often than not I just hear them in the distance. Black cockatoos with their distinctive cry fly over often and sometimes grace us with their presence. It really is quite the little metropolis out there. lol.

Tomorrow is yard day. Our "get the garden back into production day." We'll finish clearing them out and fertilise ready for the next lot of seeds. Mark is off tomorrow so we should get quite a bit done. The chickens have been amazing - they haven't gone off the lay at all. I don't know how they keep going but they do.

I also want to undercoat a gorgeous old chair that I got at the weekend at a market for $10!!!! It has cabriole legs and a seat stuffed with horsehair! It is just beautiful!! It's sturdy and in perfect condition. I'm going to paint it and re-seat it and then it will go into my office. I have bought a new desk (well its antique) and a huge bookshelf cupboard thing that is in the process of being painted. The theme is french provincial. I like the shabby chic look but with a little less shabby and a lot more chic. :)) I think it will look amazing painted with a new seat.