Bike Planter 2.

We've just finished popping the plants in the baskets. I chose ivy pelagoniums and geraniums for their hardiness and trailing. Since we often get temps in the high 30's and low 40's I'm afraid the English cottage garden plants I'd prefer are just a no-go.

They're peeping over the top but in a very short time they'll be trailing over the edges and looking pretty cheery under the gum trees. Do you know I couldn't find ivy, just plain old ivy, for love nor money. I even went wandering around the streets in a nearby town to see if I could pinch some from someones garden. :) I thought a few long tendrils would go nicely and "hurry" along the look. Oh well will just have to be patient. I've put a few pretty foliage plants in too; same family so should be quite hardy.

I'm thrilled with how it turned out. I can't wait for the plants to grow bigger and with the sort of warmth we've been having through the day they should be spilling out all over the place before long at all.

Bike Planter.

Good morning and a chilly morning it is too! I'm sitting in my office looking out at the fog. An insipid sun is trying valiantly to warm the place but as yet it's losing the fight. :) It's Saturday and we're expecting about 20c; gotta be happy with that for a winter daytime temp! It's surprising how quickly it warms up once the sun is up completely.

Once it warms up it's out into the garden today, however there's not a lot needing to be done in the veggie patch. I bought some colourful plants yesterday to go in my bike baskets. That's the latest project here - a bike planter for down the yard. I'll whizz outside shortly and take a photo of the bike and the baskets I bought to go on the front and back. They'll be painted an off -white, as will the bike, and then I'll plant some hardy (hopefully) plants in them. It's a lovely old bike - a bargain on Gumtree for $20! The guys have stripped a few things off it so it's bare basics and ready to go.

The baskets should look lovely when these get a little bigger and start to cascade over the edges.

A Berry Good Day.

Its raining, its pouring. Well not quite, it's sprinkling at the moment. The few heavy falls we had overnight were much needed  though it rained on the parade (s'cuse the pun) of a couple of family members who were hoping for a motorbike ride today.

For me, it's tucked up inside and having a quiet day I think. The dog is curled up in her little bed beside me in the office and it's looking like it could be time to put the fire on soon.

I made a Berry Clafoutis a few weeks ago; might just make another for desert tonight. It's a nice warm desert on a cold and rainy night. Lovely with cream or ice cream.

Can recommend this Banana and Raspberry bread.
I was very good and had just one - no - two pieces. I sliced the rest and individually wrapped half and popped them in the freezer. It freezes beautifully.





Ingredients.
150g butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 ripe bananas, mashed (1 cup)
2 cups S.R. flour
1 T.spoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen. - thaw frozen on  paper towel before using)

Method.
Preheat oven to 180c.   Grease and line loaf tin.
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating mixture after each egg.
Stir in mashed banana. Sift flour and baking powder over banana. Stir until just combined. Add raspberries.
Bake for 45-50 minutes. Check skewer comes out clean. Cool in tin for 10 minutes then lift out and cool on wire rack. YUM!

Mid-Winter???

Arrggghhhhh!! Don't you hate it when you write a long post and it disappears into the ether!? I've been up since 4am so I guess I can excuse myself - I obviously hit the wrong button.

It's hard to believe we're in mid-winter as the weather has been gorgeous; 24 here yesterday! We've had weeks of day time temps of around 20c and though it dips overnight it hasn't been too bad. Winter popped in for a quick visit the night before last- it was only 2c here so quite chilly when I got up. We had a small frost, only the second since we moved here almost 4 years ago. It can get cold enough but seeing we live on a rise or at least a small hill, usually a breeze keeps the frosts away. I remember growing up in an area where the ground would be thick with frost and the water pipes would freeze overnight! Our hands and feet would sting with the cold. My father told me oranges need a couple of good frosts to sweeten then so I was thrilled to see the white ground. No frost today though; it was 11 when I got up and it's quite windy.

Our mini frost.












It was a perfect yard day yesterday so edges were snipped and I whizzed about for a few hours on the "dear oh dear" (the John Deere ride -on mower) We got a trailer load of "woof wood" (Mark says that's the noise it makes when it catches alight. lol) and it's all stacked ready to go. We moved branches that had been blown down by a wind and stacked it ready for a bonfire. We might wait until Jordan returns from Canada and have the family out for dinner and a sit around the fire.

We had a guy move the container for us this week in preparation for another shed to be built. There's always something going on!

Today is gardening, planting and making a few pizza bases to freeze. In this weather I usually sit the dough in a window to rise. :) The wind has gotten up quite strongly now though the sun is still out and a visitor who's just dropped in for a morning coffee tells us the weather is supposed to turn nasty this afternoon. Best finish this and get outside to start the day.

Week's End.

After much ado with a new computer and printer/scanner we're back up and running. (Thanks to our son - yet again!!) Technology really hasn't come that far if the equipment gets more difficult to use instead of easier!

I'm able to load some of the photos I'd taken to go with the previous post. :) The vegie stock and quick fruit cake mentioned are here as well as one of a little visitor we had a few months ago. He spent a few days with us before moving on. Hopefully he'll drop in again.

It was lovely to watch the sun rise on this brisk autumn morning. It doesn't matter what the time of year there's always something to enjoy and appreciate. That got me thinking about how different we all are and how enjoyment varies from person to person. We love the peace and quiet of where we live. The wildlife, the scenery and generally just living a simple life that's very focused on enjoying each day. However some people find their peace and enjoyment in the middle of a busy city or by the ocean or a lake. We can find a quietness of spirit in the most unusual places; it all depends on our individuality. None is better than another. We have this perception in society that "different" is wrong or somehow not good enough. Different is just different. In it's most simplest form the definition of "different" is unalike or dissimilar.

I personally love the city; I love the vibrancy, the easy access to whatever I need or want. I think Sydney and London are two of the most fabulous cities around and yet the quietness of the countryside is what I need to live a truly authentic life.

I think wherever you live or whatever life you have chosen for yourself if you see each day as an adventure and something to be really appreciated you can't go far wrong. :)

Vegie stock brewing.

  Finished product; a freezer full of yummy, fresh additive free stock.



                                   
                                 
                                                 Quick fruit cake.

                                                                               Our little visitor.

'ere I is.

Just popping in to say hi. As you know I initially started this blog, not only as our record of our tree-change but also to keep distant friends and family up to date with what we were up to. I sat and read through the entire thing the other day and and frankly (yes at risk of sounding quite self - indulgent) I really enjoyed going over not only what I'd shared, but also the other memories it evoked.

So I've decided to continue with my ramblings for a time. Eventually I'll have it printed in book form so when Mark and I shuffle off the kids and F.G.C.'s (future grand-children)  will have a reminder of us and our decision to live " The Good Life".

Today I'll be in the kitchen for a little while. I have a fruit cake in the oven to cut up into portions and freeze.  A friend gave me the recipe and its just so ridiculously easy.

Soak 1 kg mixed dried fruit in 500 ml iced peach tea overnight. Mix in 2 cups S.R. flour and pop in a lined tin and into a preheated oven 125c for 2.5 hours. Now how crazy is that??!!!

 I also have some vegetable stock simmering, courtesy of veggie scraps. I just freeze bits and pieces; ends and small bits of carrots, turnips, pumpkin etc; tops off celery, really anything in the veggie line and pop it into a ziplock bag in the freezer. When I have enough, into a pot,cover with water, a few bay leaves, seasoning, bring to a boil, simmer for an hour and Bobs your uncle. Some gorgeous stock. I freeze in 1 cup quantities but like a lot of other things you can pop some into ice cube trays so you have a smidgen for whatever. Since we grow most of the veggies it's not only very economical but covers my pet obsession - I know what has gone into it. :)

The chickens will get the left-over veggies, along with the days scraps so its a win - win all round.

Onto some more Basil Pesto now, this one with cashews instead of pine nuts. Yum!!  I made some earlier in the week but its all promised so I need to get some more happening.

I've been taking photos as I've gone along but for some reason my new laptop isn't reading the SD card. :(

Will try to sort that out and will post them when I can.

Off to pick some basil. Have a good day.

Tuesday.

It's been a rather hectic four or so weeks. So much has taken place it takes our breath away sometimes.

Our kids have returned safely from Europe with amazing stories and adventures that have given them such a taste for more travel. It was lovely to see them come through the gates at arrivals, tired but happy.




The weather continues to be unpredictable. Thankfully the fires have abated; that photo is sunrise on a rather smoky morning. We've had some crazy heavy rain storms and the tank is now full again; for now! It's pouring at the moment and thunder is rolling around the mountains. Morning storms somehow always sound threatening.

All the vegies survived a hectic hail storm and we're harvesting some gorgeous tomatoes, lettuce and beans already.

We've been getting a lot of work done about the place. My wonderful bird tree is no more. It was dangerously close to the house; a big no-no in the wild winds we've had and also a fire threat. We had an arborist take a look and he found two Bracket Fungi. Given that the tree was huge and they can drop limbs in dry times; this could be doubly dangerous. The fungi eats the tree and makes the inside sort of like polystyrene. We felt  sad to see it go but really had no choice. That afternoon the birds came circling around looking for it and screeched their own dissatisfaction with the situation.

The ground here is very rocky and the former owners seemed to delight in piling up rocks all over the place. Some of them are as large as a mini minor and as gorgeous as they are we don't need all of them here. We had a wonderful man named Clive come the other day. Clive brought his little backhoe thing and moved tonnes of rock to the front of the property to be picked up and trucked away. We picked well as Clive is also an artist and came up with some great landscaping ideas for around the septic system and down the back corner where the secret garden will (one day) be built.

I've been thinking hard about the direction of this blog. I've enjoyed recording the first few years of our tree change. It's a lot of fun to go back over it myself and remember the beginnings of our adventure. However I'm feeling I want it to go in another direction now. The adventure will continue of course; living here has stretched us and taught us heaps - and not just about growing veggies either :) We're not going anywhere; we love where we are and what we do.

I'm sure I'll pop in occasionally though. For me this blog is like a dear friend whose company is best enjoyed with feet up and a cuppa in the sun. :))