I love raspberries! Tasmania is a great place to grow raspberries – it has the right kind of weather – and I keep telling Jeff its the main reason we moved here.
Last season my two modest rows of raspberry canes produced a massive 31 kilos of fruit! (around 70 pounds)
My happy place
I still have several bags of frozen raspberries in the freezer ready for whenever I want to cook something ‘raspberry’
Raspberry muffins
Today ended up being a day to attend to the wayward canes. I went down to the market this morning to pick up some wheat and hay for the chickens. While chatting with a few different people, I learned that everyone was pruning and planting their canes! Right! Best get right onto that!
Two rows of canes to prune and cut outBefore
After
I still have to take the lines that run along the canes down and restring them tighter so they have something to give them a bit of support.
I also tied bundles of them together, which also helps support them – we get a lot of wind here!
Bunching them together
I pruned a lot of them back. Mostly it was easy to tell if the cane was dead and needed cutting out completely, but sometimes taking the tip off you can see the green in the cross section. Of course, those ones I left in to hopefully produce another great crop later this year
Not dead!
Quite a lot of new canes have been poking up through the ground in places that are not convenient. I got to, and dug a lot of them out by the roots. I ran out of time today, but I plan to dig another row and put these back in
Re-homing a bunch of canes
I cut out a LOT of dead canes.
I look at this and see compost
I figured I might as well drag out the little mulcher and put all these dead canes through and add it to my new compost bins.
The dry canes went through like a dream – a noisy dream.That’s a significant reduction in pile size!I will mix it tomorrow – one bin full already!
Well…That’s almost another tick off the long gardening list.
Lucky me! My fabulous husband went online shopping and bought me a surprise… two surprises actually! Compost bins!
He figured it would take too long to get around to building more and found these!
Luckily I collect weird things, like bags of chicken poo, so I was able to 3/4 fill one already with the hay/chicken poo mix from cleaning the chicken coop.
My chicken poo collection.
I have also dumped in a lot of worms, transported mostly from the original compost.
Looking forward to filling them up with more scraps & mulch etc.
It really was a fabulous day out there! When Tassie weather is on form, its gorgeous! I was in a t-shirt all day.
Jeff had begun to dig and weed the duck yard (we have never actually HAD ducks, but because this yard originally had a pond area, we figured ducks must have lived here!)
The weeds really had taken over as its not an area we use – its a chicken yard really.
I have plans for those big rocks!!Whatever this is, its growing very well. Happily it wasn’t too hard to dig up – just a lot of it.
Screecher, our one remaining original chicken, totally knows the ropes when it comes to us digging in the garden… snacks galore!
Sucking back worms like spaghetti!
The other girls got in on the act too
Poor worms
I thought it would be good for Pip to be outside for a change. He has spent far too many hours buried under the doona, the lazy cat!
Seeking entry into the back paddock!I think cats also photosynthesise!
Funny to watch one of the new chickens trying to get brave enough to get closer to check out what kind of weird bird he was!
She kept clucking at him as well!
We made quite a lot of progress over the afternoon, along with several chooks coming in to ‘help’ dig
Jeff & the Team
Rewards were plentiful!
I am pretty sure all the chooks had a great afternoon! So much enthusiastic scratching and scoffing of worms!
Scratch, scratch, peck peckOnce the new girls got the hang of what was going on, they were quite bold in the worm catching arena!On overtime now.
The sun was gone, moon had risen, about time to call it a day!
Last barrow loadNot quite a full moon yet
Felt so good to be out in the garden again getting some work done!
Disposed of several of these today!
So pleased with todays work!!
I should be able to finish off the last bit tomorrow afternoon if the weather plays nice again.
We are going to block the chickens access to this area next season and this lovely big space is destined to be one of my new vegetable gardens!
I figured I could have a good patch of corn, and also put the space hungry pumpkins and zucchinis in this area. Also along the taller fence to the right of the below image, I could plant a row of runner beans that can climb up the fence and do their thing.
I also plan to boarder as much of it as possible with marigolds!
I am going to have to do my ‘proper’ post tomorrow. Its now gone into the wee hours of Saturday!
A young cousin of mine was having her formal dinner at school, so I went down to take a bunch of photos of her and the family!
Jeff and I then treated ourselves to going out to get some take-away for dinner and go to a movie! (Now You See Me 2 – which was good fun!)
So… I am going to leave you with a few of the snaps I took down on the beach at Fossil Bluff this afternoon. The sun had come out and we couldn’t resist getting out of the house to soak it up a bit! (Of course found a bunch of cool rocks and a few nice pieces of agate!
Yay for the weekend! Hope you’ve got some grand plans and perfect weather!
The day started dim and foggy when I went to let the chooks out. It weirdly seemed to get darker as the day went on instead of lighter! I posted the photo to facebook and mentioned this, when a friend asked me if I had slept the whole day and mistakenly woke at dusk. I am not known for my enthusiasm for mornings so fair question! (This friend is the one who helpfully and unfailingly asks if I have wet the bed if she sees me online before 8am – nice….) š
So – best cheer ourselves out of the gloom by lighting a fire and baking a chocolate cake!
Will share recipe at bottom of post – this one is a goodie!
I also made another mad chicken smash for the girls – I cooked some more of the old potatoes in a soup mix I had found out of date in the pantry, along with some noodles. I put it all on the fire to cook while I was doing other things. Why use electricity when we had the fire going anyway?
Kettle simmering as well as the chooks afternoon tea!
I also had a pineapple to cut & slice. I bought a real one since tinned pineapples seems either impossible to find, or if you find it, its a tin at half size for double the cost!
Fresh pineapples smells so good!
By this stage I had already done a few rounds of dishes – we don’t have a dishwasher, so I kept washing up as I was going along.
Then because I hadn’t done enough dishes, I decided to wash and de-label all these little jars
Best place to dry them was in front of the fire – along with a few pumpkin seeds I was saving.
Too lazy to hand wipe the jars
My idea for the little jars instead of throwing them into the recycle bin, was to fill them with seeds and make them look ‘cute’ for the market stall (If I ever get to go back again!)
I would still need to label whats inside, but just popped some washi tape around the jar to jazz them up slightlyPerfect for the big runner bean seeds that are too bulky for my normal seed envelopesSaving seeds – fireside perfect place to dry them
I also baked some of the pumpkin that I cut into the other day and later made it into soup
Lovely baked pumpkin (Ruby-frugalness creeping in with the use of the butter paper as baking paper!)
More dishes!! Who else hand washes their dishes?? I still have some sitting there leftover from having dinner and I am in no mood to do more before bed!
I am totally hoping the weather clears tomorrow so I can escape the house and do some outdoor stuff!
My Favourite Chocolate Cake Recipe
Ingredients:
1&1/3 cups Plain (all purpose) flour
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup buttermilk (you can substitute a tablespoon of lemon juice and top up with milk, mix and leave for a few minutes)(That is my money-saving tip of the day) š
2 eggs
125gms (4.4oz) Butter, melted, cooled.
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Chocolate Icing Ingredients
1&1/3 cups icing sugar
1&1/2 tablespoons cocoa
20g butter room temperature
Method:
Preheat oven to 180C (350F) and grease & line a cake pan (20cm diameter- 6cm deep)
Sift flour, bicarb, cocoa powder into bowl, stir in sugar
In a separate jug, combine butter, vanilla, buttermilk and beaten eggs
Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in buttermilk mix.
Notice lack of well…
Using electric mixer, beat until thick and creamy.
Pour into prepared cake tin
Precarious job cooking with one hand and photographing with the other – and not spilling anything!! Bonus points to me.
Bake for 40-45 minutes
Icing.
Combine ingredients and mix in a small amount of hot water to make into smooth paste and spread on cake.
Well today the residents of Norwich House were pretty boring and unbloggable. Sure – stuff happened, but nothing remotely worth noting here.
So I decided to share a quick post about the day we took Pip for a walk at Black River Beach. (Read earlier post here if you missed the story on Black River Beach)
We chose Black River because in the cooler months, hardly anyone is on the beach, so Pip could romp about in the sand and not freak out at beach-goers and their dogs.
Following ‘Dad’
Its a short walk up through the (empty) camping sites as they close the roads further back during the off season
Looking wistfully back towards the carWait for me!
Gotta keep checking that ‘Mum’ is still there
Its always such a nice view to come up over the path and small dunes to see the beach and sea
Ready to play in the sand
First, a reassuring pat from Jeff
And probably a nervous wee in the worlds biggest kitty litter tray
It was really great how Pip was just happy to follow us about on the beach.
Pip is pretty good at posing for me – got him used to the camera right from a kitten!
Driftwood offers a higher viewpoint
Jeff kept pointing things out to Pip. He would go over and investigate – but not sure if he was truly impressed with the shells or not! š
Strolling on the beach – not another soul in sight!
Pip gets a fair bit of freedom on his long lead, and he was happy to stay walking along with us – but we are not confident enough to let him loose.
Sun comes out on this fabulous beach!Time to turn for home?
Cat-on-the-shoulder-selfie. This is a lot more awkward than you might think!
By about this stage Pip was making his feelings clear, that it was time to head home – by heading home!!
I guess we should follow!!Paw resting timeSticking close to me
Now that we are in winter, we should pick a nice sunny day to take Pip on another outing!
I tell you one thing… he sure slept well that night!
Naughty Ruby dipping her home made biscuit into her tea! (altho she will have to nibble it down to size first!)
We went to a bit of a gathering the other evening – lots of people, kids and food. I was watching one young girl with equal degrees of fascination & horror as she climbed on tables (all four limbs) and seemed to be on a feeding frenzy – withĀ the need to maul every bit of food she could reach!!
We don’t have kids – but I can’t judge one little bit. You should see the lack of manners our Siamese has!! I swear he would nick food off your fork as it travels from your plate to your mouth if he could!! (Put the same food in a cat bowl and say its for him and he will disdainfully walk away shaking each paw and give you a Look.)
This child triggered a memory of a story Ruby told me about when she was staying with her Aunty Mabel in Melbourne. Ruby was 9 years old – so we are talking about 1925.
Finding colour in winter is getting harder!
Aunty Mabel took Young Ruby across town with her to go to an afternoon tea at her future sister in laws place. Apparently the whole tram trip over was one long lecture about how she was to behave, finishing off with theĀ fervent instruction “And whatever happens – DON’T dip your biscuit in your tea!!!”
The ultimate disgrace!! I swing back to 2016 in my mind and try to think of a situation where you would be in disgrace for dipping your bikkie in your tea!! (Note to non-Australian readers – Biscuit=cookie)
Afternoon tea went well. The future sister in law also had a daughter the same age as Ruby. This young girl announced to Ruby that “I’m not allowed to dip my biscuit, but you are” Ruby realised that this girl had,Ā had the same lecture before their arrival.
Young Ruby whispered back “I had better not” Present Day Ruby says she certainly didn’t want a lecture all the way back home again!!
Ruby’s winter tomatoes going surprisingly well!
A number of years later, when Ruby was nursing, she recalls an evening where she took a break – with that tea and biscuit – and a photographer happened to be about. Guess who was in the local newspaper dipping a biscuit in her tea?? Apparently the Hospital Matron was Not Impressed.
Ruby in her early nursing days!! I tease Jeff about wearing something like this to work instead of the uniform he has!!!
I guess every generation feels that the new generation lacks the discipline of the former one. Ruby’s mother kept a leather strop hanging by the fireside in the kitchen. Her hand only had to generally twitch in that general direction for the children to shape up. If things got really bad, she might actually take it down and bang it on the table. The sound was always enough to stop whatever shenanigans the siblings were up to. Ruby said they never got hit with the strop, but certainly felt their mothers hand on occasions with a spank on the bottom!
Men could work in the paddocks and swear if needed, but they never did (swear) in front of the women and children. Ā Communities were smaller and people relied on each other for support and business – that meant being respectful and behaving in a respectful manner to those about them. It made it easier for people to live comfortably in their environments with other community members.
Families would come to visit, the husbands would go out onto the farm for hours, the mothers would have tea and talk inside while the kids were given a bit of bread and jam and sent outside to play.
Children did a lot of entertaining of themselves outside. Ruby was describing some of the games they used to play – Black Pudding (which I knew as ring-a-ring-of-rosy) ball games, hide and seek and those such games.
Surprising little blooms up in the back yard
I was surprised to learn that they didn’t play beach cricket! The reason?? Balls were too easily lost in the water! The little things we don’t think of, as now we would buy a bag of cheap tennis balls just for the occasion… a lost ball for Ruby and her sister and brothers meant no more ball games until a birthday or Christmas where you might be lucky to get another one! Broken or lost items had to be mended or you went without. It made them be very mindful of taking care of their things right from the start.
Broccoli old and new doing fine
We live in a society were it is all too easy to replace lost/broken items without a thought – where in Ruby’s day, when you wore the elbows out on your cardigan, you didn’t throw it away and replace it. Nope. You took the sleeves off and reattached them on the opposite sides to start wearing out the other side!!
I can’t begin to tell you how much I would not do this. I may knit, but I have an allergy to sewing!! š
How how was discipline in your childhood? Strict? Lax? Smacks didn’t really bother me, but I hated being yelled at – I dissolved! One of my sisters, well… you could yell at her until you were blue in the face and she wouldn’t care! But a smack!! She couldn’t hack the pain! My smart mother dished out the punishment where it was effective!
Probably the most effective punishment we all agreed on over our afternoon of dipping biscuits in tea was depriving a child of a luxury or outing. All generations from Ruby to me agreed that it was the thing that worked very well when put to good use! (A holiday at my grandparents was cut extremely short because of my & my sisters appalling behaviour. We didn’t think Mum and Dad would follow through with their threat but they did!! We didn’t forget that ever!!!)(Although I am fairly certain it wasn’t my fault!) š
Despite being winter, the herb garden is still going strong
Hello!
Well… the pantry is nearly under control. Its already pretty fabulous to walk in and know where stuff is, grab it and walk out!! š
Tonight we are feeling rather full and content, as I decided to to make a lamb roast for dinner. Along with the beef in the freezer, we had also bought a lamb.
First stop was the herb garden Ā – rosemary & oregano for the cooking and mint to make some mint sauce.
My garlic of course
I usually cut up some garlic, then stab holes in the top to poke the garlic in all over it. A bit of oil on top, garlic salt, plus the chopped up herbs and into the oven it went
Ready for the oven
Next step – vegetable garden foraging
Fresh carrotsFresh broccoliStill tons of parsleyCut into one of my pumpkinsGood colour!
I love being able to create a dinner almost entirely out of the garden!
Ready for baking
I hadn’t made mint sauce in an eon… I know its supposed to go on the meat, but I have always loved it on my potatoes!!
Old fashioned herb chopper
Mint sauce is pretty easy to make – if you haven’t and want to, simply chop up a good handful of mint, boil the kettle. Put a couple of spoons of sugar in a bowl and use the hot water to dissolve it. Add your mint, then add splashes of cider vinegar to the mix and taste test until you like it. Sometimes you have to do a bit of a balancing act between the sugar and vinegar.
Fresh!!
The thing I really love about roast lamb, is leftovers! Cold lamb on sandwiches with home-made relish!!
Ahhhh – the good life!
Cheers
Of course gravy and cheese sauce to finish it off!! That’s local lamb (Cousins farm) 5 different vegetables from my vegie patch (Potato, pumpkin, broccoli, carrot & garlic) and three different herbs – Rosemary, oregano & mint! (yeah yeah – indulge me while I have my proud gardeners moment!)
The thing about clearing out a pantry – apart from how long it takes – is that your lucky chickens start getting real variety in their scraps.
Take for instance today – the above ‘chicken smash’ contained unmanageable potatoes (ie small, weird or old) half a box of out of date raisins, an opened packet of rice noodles, a teriyaki packet recipe base (long out of date) a few biscuits that had been hiding and had gone stale and the remains of some cereal that had also been there too long.
The girls were very eager
There was a lot of snatching and running
Anyway – I started with this:
And so far have gotten to this point:
Surprisingly little out of date stuff that had to be thrown away/composted or chickenified. I still have the top shelf to go and I have to sort all my containers into order!
Mostly its getting things back into their proper places. My mother totally didn’t give me her tidy & organised gene. Sigh. Aesthetically Relaxed is all very well… right up to the point you can’t access a walkway into your pantry. Then things have to get Serious. š (like I am serious!!!) ha!
Whatever – I am sure by the time I am finished, it will totally stop that twitch that Jeff has developed every time he goes into the kitchen. Snicker
Evenings are lovely by the fire. I am back to the knitting as its hard to know where to stop with the crocheted rugs. I want to get a few of these face washers completed, as they will be part of Christmas & birthday presents – and cotton on small needles takes me an eon to finish.
Hope your weekends have been fantastic and your week starts brilliantly! (Well… as good as a Monday can be anyway)
Well I made a grand start today on clearing out and sorting the pantry.Ā Part-way through, our young cousin Abbey dropped in to say hello. (She moved to Melbourne and has been home for a short while) So we had a beautiful relaxing afternoon by the fire catching up. Abbey also brought with her a freshly made apple crumble!! Scrumptious!
So tomorrow will have to be the day to finish sorting out the pantry problem. I did, however, discover enough egg cartons to sink a small raft.
I will have to bring the chickens in so they can see the job they have ahead of them to fill up this lot!
Yesterday I made a “Busy Day Pudding” or as it is known in my family “A Pints and ozzes pudding” (I had pronunciation issues as a kid) (I pronounced the old fashioned measurement pint as in ‘pinto’ without the ‘o’ and an oz (ounce) … well… as ‘oz’ š )
Anyway, its a lovely old fashioned steamed pudding so I thought I wouldĀ write downĀ the recipeĀ for those interestedĀ since I have nothing else fabulous toĀ share tonight.
Along with some dodgy photos. š
Busy Day Pudding
Ingredients:
Pudding:
1 & a half cups of self raising flour
3 tablespoons of cornflour (cornstarch)
1 teaspoon salt
2 oz (60 grams) butter melted
2/3 cup of milkĀ *** (that would be two thirds of a cup NOT two or three cups of milk. As a teenager venturing into the kitchen for the first time, this was a trap I fell into. I dumped the first two cups in then called to Mum to announce that ‘It was a bit sloppy’ So avoid my mistakes, cranky mothers and a family that never lets you forget it. š )
Sauce:
1/3 cup sugar
2 oz (60 grams) butter
3 tablespoons golden syrup
1 cup water
Method:
Sift dry ingredientsĀ then mix in butter and milk. You will end up with a pudding ball… place that in steamer bowl
Put larger pot of water on stove and heat to boiling while making your sauce
Put sauce ingredients into a pot, melt butter and bring to boil.
Pour boiling mixture carefully over pudding
Pudding should swell and bob to top
Carefully place uncovered pudding steamer bowl (sorry – no idea what the technical term/name is for this bowl!!) into the larger pot of boiling water. Put lid on larger pot and steam pudding for about 30 minutes
