Month: January 2020

Raspberries are coming along steadily… really stocked up on Jam now. And eating them sprinkled on ice cream almost every night.
Happy Days…

We visited Sharon the other day… picked up some goats milk for the soap, dropped off some veggies, got fed buttermilk pancakes… the usual haha
Also was given different cheeses that she has been making.
Ricotta, (made into some cannelloni dish and already scoffed) and this lovely chevre! Today I rolled it up into this log and sprinkled with fresh herbs and my garlic salt.
Tried it out on some bikkies. Yummo! Hard to know when to stop!

Zucchini’s are appearing at a steady rate… the snow peas are still overwhelming!
Anyway, have been busy today – Jeff is trotting off on the Overland. Quick decision… there was a spot available Sunday, so he got his gear together, we shopped for food and we are heading out in the morning.
I plan to hike as far as Kitchen Hut with him. We’ll part company there and I want to head back via the Face Track.
If everything goes as we discussed, I’ll be back Friday to collect him.

Early early horribly early start tomorrow morning so I am off to bed!
Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend
Cheers!

My herb spiral has come a long way!!
I planted some portulaca on the bare side.

I still have more seedlings so need to find a spot for them. They are so pretty.

So – I gave up on the strawberries here. They just did not want to do anything. So pulled them all up.
The black peppermint seemed to take off fine.
I dug up the plot, moved the pine needles, found a frog, then planted lettuce – both seedlings and seeds.

(My friend thought it might be a pobblebonk. Greatest name for a frog or what??)(Eastern Banjo Frog)

Then – thoroughly tired of this ugly area, I covered it in cardboard and straw!
Have decided against building the last bed in the gap.
Part of it is laziness a reluctance to dig into the slope again to level it and part of it is because the bed would need to be cut down to fit and I would rather use the timber as is to make a full sized bed elsewhere.

I’ve been well watering it in – put some marigolds in (after the photo was taken.) Thinking I might get some soil and put in more patches of flowers

What a difference from 6 months ago hey?
Now I have to decide what to do about the path…

The feverfew has taken to the area like a duck to water!
Am really pleased with the chamomile too

The other little pretty daisy like plant I got a while back is going along nicely… hasn’t gotten a lot bigger but its happy enough

Little Moo is a pretty big fellow now. He is back in the next paddock and comes over for his treats (at the moment lettuce leaves) and head rubs and pats!! Big Sook.
He was so happy when a couple of the neighbouring cows came over in typical curiosity… so he licked one of them for about 20 minutes haha

I look at this cucumber daily. It should be ready soon.
Having thoughts about planting more seed directly as all the cucumber plants are as slow as molasses! Not even putting out climbing tendrils.
Weird season.

The two capsicum plants are doing really well… they will be long yellow ones – or should be.
The other seedling I bought is about a metre high and so far no flowers or fruit!!!

More pesto coming right up!

A steady supply of zucchini now happening.

Golden nugget pumpkins…. still unsure if they’ve pollinated

Enjoying the summer flowers appearing.

Hope you are having a lovely week.
Cheers

Hello!
The other day I went for a hike over Anniversary Bay and did the loop up and around following the Postmans Track.
Probably at least 17km. So a good healthy outing!

I went with my friend Nardia (on right) and her friend Lara who I met for the first time.
Weather was perfect for hiking.

We decided to do the coastal route up as the tide was low when we started out.

You don’t have to wonder why its called Rocky Cape NP

Finding the pathways over on the coastal route is a bit of ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’

Of course everything takes so much longer when you stop to obsessively look for cowrie shells!!
I think Nardia found the most! We were too tired at the end of the day to compare cowrie numbers!

(I didn’t keep it but the spikes were such a pretty purple!)

Don’t fall on the spikey rocks!

So hard to leave the beach… I might find just one more cowrie!

Rocky pathways

Yeah – pretty sure there is a path in there

Slightly overgrown in places.

One last stretch of beach/coast before walking up into the hills again

We found a real tangle of nets and rope. Would like to have moved it off the beach but it was a bit heavy to take with us!

When we got off the beach, we had to start off hiking doubled up as the scrub completely enclosed the path! (This bit was actually a bit more open than before – I failed to get a photo)

Looking back over the coastal route!

We reached our ‘halfway point’ and decided to hike back instead of calling Nardia’s husband for a pickup.

According to the sign we had another 3 hours hiking ahead.
I had never done the inland side of the Postmans Track… I was keen. (Until the first hill five minutes later)

Pant pant puff puff.
I suck at hills

Luckily Nardia was still snapping away. I just put the camera away as it was really weighing around my neck.

As always, the rewards for slogging up a hill are great!
So beautiful!

We started out at 2pm and got back to the car at about 8.30pm, slightly footsore/legsore but in pretty good spirits.
Always brilliant to share the gorgeous countryside with like minded people who oooo and ahhhh over rocks, shells and views, just like me! 🙂

Must do it again… maybe after a few days rest though!
Cheers

Hello!
The other morning we woke under a shroud of smoke.
Seems like we’ve joined the rest of Australia in hazy conditions. Some smoke was from some local fires that are now under control.
The majority was from the mainland fires and held here as we had an overcast day.
It has cleared since then.

I’ve hiked about 28kms in the last two days and my legs are… feeling it haha
I also feel too tired to get into photoshop to post process photos for a proper blog post so… sorry! There will be a delay!

One of my readers, Pat, asked for more information about the facebook page that is gathering crafty people to make wildlife carers products.
The link is here for those who are interested in getting involved. Thank-you! (Hopefully I got that link added correctly!)

I nearly have a sunflower!

My friend Nardia sent me this, this morning!
Look! My snow peas are famous!!!!
They look rather amazing in this dish!

Anyway, I am going to toodle off into bed for a good nights sleep… I have a few plans for tomorrow in the garden so lets see what happens!

Hope your weekend was great
Cheers!

(Thinking about strawberry milkshakes…)

Saffron and Honey.
(With the calendula petals on top)

Hello. Weekend is upon us again. Any plans?
At this stage I think we have a walk planned on Sunday.

More lavender – the colouring is rather subtle though.

A new batch of Applejack Peel. Smells so lovely. Have cut it tonight and the patterns are nice too.

This was from the batch of White Ginger and Amber fragrance.
I also made a batch of ‘Dragons Blood’ tonight. Mixed the red into the ochre – Not a bad combo but you’ll just have to imagine it for now 🙂

I made another batch of raspberry jam today with the latest two picks. (about 3lb of fruit)
Then outside to water and picked over a kilo of snow peas! Will have to call some cafes and restaurants in the morning to see if they want to buy them. I don’t fancy advertising them to chase single sales of 100gms each. People can be so unreliable about getting back to you and keeping meetings!

My carrots are getting bigger!
These, some of the snow peas, the below onion and some of my garlic landed in tonights stir fry dinner!

Now – on to some serious stuff.

You’ve probably noted that Australia is on fire.
Right now my best friend is preparing with her family to defend their home as the fire is heading their way. Her husband is group captain of a large area of rural fire brigades. They’ve got their defenses in place and a plan. I am so worried for them but there is not a thing I can do to help… which is awful.
Its terrifying stuff. You may have seen some photos.
The other day one of their local volunteer fighters was killed. A freak tornado-like wind picked up the back of the 10 ton fire truck and upended it onto the cabin. Young married chap with pregnant wife. Heartbreaking.
Two trucks were literally blown over in this manner and other firefighters were taken to hospital.

Thousands on the coast have fled to beaches to escape the flames and entire small towns have all, but been wiped out.

If you are not familiar with the size/geography of Australia – here is an interesting comparison that might make the scale of what we are going through a little clearer.

NSW – New South Wales is just one state in Australia.
The bushfire season started in September which is just not normal. Our worst months are January and February – December being our first summer month.

Our firefighting forces – paid and volunteer – are stretched thin. As you can imagine, volunteers are losing wages or money if self employed and are, quite frankly – exhausted.

Firefighters from Canada and New Zealand have been sent and I think a bunch from the US have just landed.

Google ‘Mallacoota’ for some images that look like we are going through Armageddon.

The toll on our wildlife is horrendous. I can’t even think about it properly.
Numbers like half a billion lost have been thrown about.
Wildlife carers are in full force doing what they can. My friend introduced me to a Facebook page where people are sewing, knitting and crocheting items to donate to carers.
Joey pouches are in big demand. Bags that hold animals like baby kangaroos, wallabies, possums, wombats etc.
Bat-wraps are another item sorely needed. I never knew about these things! The photos of little bats in their swags are very cute. But sobering to realise we are losing thousands of them 🙁
One that I can do and just started today is crocheted nests – for birds and small wildlife. I’ve got plenty of spare yarn – and hopefully once one is done, I’ll get faster at it.

Anyway, thats all from me.
Its going to be a rough weekend for a lot of people – it would be amazing if we could get through it with no more loss of life.

Take care all
xxx

Hello!
On the first day of 2020 I decided to pull up the white garlic patch.
It was all starting to look a bit done – and the bulbs were certainly big enough.

I was smart enough to bring the wheelbarrow down this time!

Of course, they have to be artistically laid out so I can get a nice photo to show off with!
Seriously. Pretty pleased with this lot. 🙂

I left them out to dry a bit so I could brush more dirt off, but of course there was a sprinkle of rain. So I’ve put them on a table in the bbq area for now. Will have to sort something out in the shed to hang and dry.

We are getting a few plums. Most have not even started to ripen. The birds are getting into them too – we won’t get many for ourselves.

The birds got back in and dug up the Hugelkultur bed. Sigh. Poor struggling pumpkins. I’ve renetted it.

The second potato patch is lush!

One remaining apple cucumber on the second hugelkultur bed – which is somehow growing random potatoes and tomatoes!

Galahs having an afternoon siesta waiting for the chickens to get fed again.

Blackberry from the back paddock coming in. Might as well get the fruit before cutting and digging it out!

I filled the garlic patch with all the butternut pumpkin seedlings I had! I think its too late in the season… not that there was any choice with the weather… anyway, whats the worst that can happen?

Weeded one row of tomatoes.

Time for a manicure?

Nice pickings yesterday

A few roses have bloomed. I need to cut back the rosebushes hard once this season is done.
And the day lilies are out! Love the orange!

Today I watered a lot of the garden and cleared the dining room table!! 🙂 Well… its not totally cleared but its an improvement.
I did more soap (lots to be photographed) and spent a fair bit of time picking raspberries.
More jam in my future?

Hope the start of your year has been excellent!
Cheers!

Hello and Happy New Year
I hope 2020 is a wonderful year for you all.

The other day Jeff was all fired keen to dash back up to Weld River for some more sapphire hunting. Well, why not?
It was a hot day, and hot days are wonderful if you can spend them in a river!

We found lots more little sapphires that I have yet to photograph. Nothing that will make us filthy rich, but its a lot of fun.

We walked quite a way up river this time and found a nice spot that was easy to sprawl out and fossick.
Not to mention cool off when necessary:

We saw a decent sized tiger snake on our walk back to the car! :O Annoyed I still didn’t get a photo to impress you all haha
Thing was, it slithered under a rock, the rock we were standing on ready to jump down and I had no way of seeing if it was just waiting there for me or had another avenue of escape! In the end I made an ungraceful leap for it, turning and backing up to see if anything fangy was coming. Nope. Lots of holes in embankment so it would have just disappeared into the cracks.
Jeff followed me down and all ended well 🙂

I’d been meaning to snap the rock fish – so we stopped at Derby for the photo!
Some clever clogs recognised the shape in the rock and took advantage.
The little sleepy town of Derby has woken with a vengeance in the past years.
They’ve created world class mountain bike tracks and people come from all over to use it. World championships are held here.
The place is teeming with people on bikes – lots of families, kids etc. Lovely to see.

Back home, New Years Eve was a quiet one for us.
I picked some strawberries and made us fresh milkshakes with generous amounts of ice cream in them.

Found Pip had opened my kitchen cupboards and got himself in… and wouldn’t come out until I got the camera out for a name and shame moment… little snot of course jumped out.

I had a couple of dead bananas that needed to be made into a cake… so I did that. As well as baked some bread and did two batches of yet-to-be-photographed soap.

So… what to do on the first day of 2020?
Getting out of my PJ’s would be an excellent start!

Love and best wishes to you all as we head into a brand new year!
Thank-you so much for continuing to follow me along with my stories xxx
Cheers