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Hello! I hope everyone’s festive season has been splendid!

What did everyone do? Big dinners? Family time? Something totally different?

Jeff and I had a quiet, normal day… unhurried but nice. We picked plums. Jeff cut some of the fallen tree branches off after we harvested and I dug up my garlic… and made soap. We had a nice steak dinner and ice cream custard and pudding for dessert.

Well… I am currently in super soap making mode. The Friday before Christmas at the cruise ship markets I sold nearly $900 worth of soap!!!! Insane day!! Never had a market like that before!! (All cash snicker)

Christmas Eve was also a good sales day, although not anywhere near as grand as Friday!! Basically I need to be making soap all of January fairly solidly to keep up. One local shop has about sold out and wants more and I have Steamfest in early March to stock up for.

I have mentioned I wanted to keep this as a side hustle yeah??

Hmmmm

Well… the above Mulled Wine fragranced soap didn’t go to plan. The colour was meant to drip into the bottom layer!!

Still looks nice enough.

White tea and ginger… sweet fragrance. Plus these moulds are so popular!!

Honey and beeswax. Apologies if Ive posted any of these before… I am on my tablet and can’t check back.

Melon… I am sure you guessed

Lemongrass and exotic lime. Double batch as the local shop wants this one.

Lemon verbena… and cute butterflies.

I sold all but two of my chai latte soaps in the two markets so thought it best to make more.

Double batch of black raspberry and vanilla

And then a double batch of eucalyptus

Belatedly realising that this fragrance might be extra popular with the international tourists.

I’ve also realised that valentines day and Easter will be here next so now is the time to make bunny and heart soaps… so prepping for that

I made a bunch of varying blue soaps… they are to be cut into little squares to be added back into soap for an interesting design.

And yesterday I worked on creating a layered soap in my slab mould.

I calculated for one and a half batches and divided it into four.

Underwhelming from the top…. I had to make each layer separately and pour… let set and then do next one.

Sneak peek.

I am looking forward to cutting them but will wait for the loaf to harden a bit so it’s easier to handle. Need to be patient since I put the effort in all day yesterday!!

Today I picked more raspberries but also squeezed in one more batch… oatmeal and stout with an oatmeal scrub and used Mediterranean red clay to colour it.

Nice and easy!

Well… its all a flying start. Clearly my recent B12 injection is kicking in haha.

Enjoy what’s left of the year

Xxx

Hi!!
Gosh… this time of year is mad isn’t it? Apart from Christmas, everything is growing and wanting picking… and getting ready for the last markets before Christmas etc.

Theres my wild looking husband who got into the raspberry patch while I was tackling another part of the garden!
We’ve had a bit of a constraint on harvesting as its been raining A LOT! (If you are not a berry grower – picking in the rain kinda guarantees your fruit to get mouldy quick!)

I have another market scheduled tomorrow… Cruise Ship again.
So I have picked more raspberries today and popped them into proper containers to hopefully sell along with some plums.
Oh yes… soap too!
The last cruise ship market was a washout mostly.
The weather was on and off again raining and the wind was horrible… they didn’t put us in the wet weather location either so it was a constant battle… and the cream on top was the cruise ship didnt dock!!! Argh!!
Fingers crossed for a better day tomorrow!

Right… you might have seen this mess before??
And this one?

Pulled two of the brick beds apart, tried to get the twitch out as much as possible and reconfigured the area

I’ve tried to leave more mowing space and also moved it from being completely under the pear tree.

I did a little digging to nestle the first brick layer in

I’ve saved some of the soil to sift and reuse somewhere too

Seriously though… who has time to sift soil???

Since I was too stingy to buy soil and too impatient to collect it etc I thought I’d make this into a straw bale bed for now.
Might take longer for the twitch to get up that far!
Unsure exactly what I will plant in here but I’ll figure out something!

I did sprinkle some blood and bone over it to start the conditioning process… watered it in a bit but I am being a bit frugal on the water as our bore pump is cactus… unlikely we will get the new one in before Christmas shut downs.

Its stopped working all of a sudden. I thought it was just the electrics… which it was but the fellow brought up the pump to check that we weren’t spending heaps on the new electric box if the pump was a week off dying too.
We got seven years out of it so not bad considering we got it online for about $1000 less than what we could buy it locally. We were quite pleased at how long its lasted.
So… we’ve been really happy with all the rain that has kept the garden going and the tanks topped up!

I better get to bed. Silly early start tomorrow!
xxx

Hi there!
I am sorry… will start with the sad and work my way up.
We lost our oldest chook a couple of days ago. She really was slowing up and when she couldn’t get up on her roost, we knew we couldn’t dilly dally longer.
Its awful when you have to do it yourself. 🙁
I hope thats the last for a good long while.

(Above: it’s s pig face. Mesembryanthemum-‘candy pink’ starts a mustard colour then turns pink, then yellow . Has all three colours on it at the same time!!)(From my friend Jude)

Raspberry season is upon us!
Kicking myself for not listening to the nagging I was doing about weeding and mulching

Its going to be an adventure every day I pick!!

So much fruit in there!

I pulled up one of the garlic bulbs!
Not all are ready but a lot more are ready earlier than usual

Went well in the spaghetti sauce with some fresh herbs etc

Speaking of fresh herbs…

More oregano for the drying nets

And I put the garlic scapes in the dehydrator. Haven’t powdered them yet

The lemon balm is trying to take over the world.
So we got in and did some severe haircutting

So much and it smells so good!

Now we can walk down the pathway again!

I also yanked weeds out of this area, then mulched

Stop for pea break…

Mulched and fertilised the butternut pumpkins.
Since planting them out they’ve been fine but not thriving along as yet. Hopefully they’ll perk up soon.

Cut back the oregano a little to free up space at the bee watering station

The chamomile I potted up looks so happy in its new home still

We have one chook who is broody… and she hasn’t given up. I piff her off the nest daily… she just melts into the ground like a big feather puddle… then when I give her a nudge she goes sprinting for the bonfire area to have a dust bath, bok bok bokking all the way like a mad thing.
Its funny to watch

Anyway, I need to go make soap. I am waiting on a fellow to call me about coming up to repair bore pump electric box as its cactus… and we NEED the water for the garden ASAP
Hot again and windy.

xx

Hi…
While I was in Japan I bought various craft stuff at the markets. I had a vague idea what I wanted to do with them, but they’ve remained in a little box until I had the time and motivation to whip something up.

Luckily one of my friends has a Wiggly Willow tree and I was able to snaffle some branches that had been cut down.

(Sorry… pretty average snap, but you get the idea lol)
I also think I need to fill the jar with sand.

I loved the little felt balls. This sweet lady at one of the markets was selling them for approx $3 per bag. So I got a bag and modestly filled it so I could fold the bag over. Nope. She insisted on stuffing it full to overflowing!! So funny.
I stuck to the three colours and I think they make an effective combination.

Another lady made these sweet flowers out of kimono fabric… and some balls so I got quite a few of those too.

And not least the little chime bells and ceramic owls!!
Overall I love the look. Its sparsely decorated – the Wiggly Willow really is a decoration on its own!

xx

Since we both have the snuffles, Jeff suggested an afternoon gluing stuff together!!
We hadn’t had a chance to get back to the Book Nook and continue for quite a while.

We played nicely together, sharing the glue and problem solving without tears, squabbling or divorce.

Jeff worked on the upper bookcase cabinet, chairs and table

Fiddly but not impossible

Its so satisfying seeing it take shape

I worked on the lower cabinet and bookcase

This kit is from a company called Cute Bee if anyone is interested. I think I bought it off Amazon tho…

The scary part is going to be attaching the third wall…

The railings are snugly in place

The table might have a slight lean… (only we are going to notice)

We put the vase on the table and pasted the ‘letters’ on too but we both agreed that we are going to leave out the dog that sits at the bottom of the table. It looks extra fake. I’ll take a snap to show you …. hang on.

Next thing is going to take a bit of time. I haven’t gotten around to working on the tiny books.

So I need to cut out all the covers and paste them on to the boards that Jeff snicked out of the templates and sanded ready to go.

It will be fun arranging them all when done.

So… we’re getting close and we’re still enjoying the process. Every time we have a go at it we make good progress, so its not a project that has to take as long as we’ve taken haha.
Its only a matter of finding time to sit and enjoy.

xxx

We lost another chook!! 🙁 🙁
Our feisty little Japanese bantam Nihon. Poor little thing, she started looking a bit sad and we were thinking of taking her to the vet but she passed away overnight.
All other girls except our old girl are looking fine and happy. So not sure what went on there.
Ugh… I am over loss this year. I especially dont like the ‘Mystery Deaths’

The self seeded carrot patch with the beetroot is steaming along!

The recent rain was a real bonus.

Since this photo, something nibbled and pruned my tomatoes!
Not sure if rabbit or birds. Bit frustrating as they were looking so fabulous! (All these bar one are from laterals)

I might have to go down and put guards around them all until they get bigger.

Rhubarb going fine

Zucchini are getting bigger but I think need the wire taking off and a little more TLC

Loving having rocket again!!

The cherry plum trees are laden.
The big one might need a severe pruning as the big trunk has split, so we are going to have to do something about it. Its so old, but we dont want it coming down on the water tanks. Could do without that challenge

Hot house still hasnt been tidied up again….

But I spotted baby tomatoes so I am excited.
And we are eating lettuce each night. And I snicked a couple of basil leaves to use in my salad too.

Another lateral ready for planting!

Peas!

We will have to net the corn as its out the back here and we have bunnies everywhere this season.

They will stop being cute if they eat my corn.

An overall look at the garden at the moment.

Apple cucumber… can’t wait for them to climb up our bamboo lattice!

Potatoes flowering

The whole plot is looking encouraging.
Flowers around are pretty.
Jeff picks them almost daily for Pip…

I made a tiny pot of strawberry jam out of these… am enjoying it every morning on my toast! Its beautiful!!

Slow day for me. I caught Jeffs cold… such a pain! Who has time for that nonsense??
I’ll have to hunt out some lemon and do a honey and lemon tea to soothe the throat.
Then I might look at the appalling state of the soap room and see if I can make sense of it!
Enjoy the rest of the week
xx

Or maybe it was the week before?
I am losing the plot!
As above… plot lost.
Below… Plot found.

Corn planted!!
So much twitch in this plot. Always makes a short job agonisingly long.

Nightmare.
It had been hot for a while, windy and no rain, so the ground is cracking and we needed to fill the tanks and water the garden a lot

Lots of nice peas… and weeds!

I actually think the garlic is about ready to pull up!

The bulb sizes are really good already!
Then I cut off all the scapes which are still sitting in a basket forlornly waiting for me to dehydrate them

Potatoes coming along well

Even better this week as we’ve had lovely rain!

Why plant carrots when they do it themselves?

My beetroot patch has lots of carrots and tomatoes…

Its all flourishing

One of the lateral tomatoes. I have updated pics and they are really seeming to be thriving now.
Plus we finally cut the feathers of Pot or Kettles wing so she seems to be not in the garden anymore… helps when things aren’t dug up the little wretch.

I spy… blueberries!

Jeff is excited…. His favourites.

The apple cucumbers have taken well.

Hothouse is jungle and I need to get in there to trim and tie up stuff again

And the broccoli is going mad!!
Will update this weeks garden soon! Its all grown about 4 foot
xx

Hi…
I had my first Cruise Ship Market last Wednesday and it went really well.
I was a bit nervous… more just wanting to know about location and setting up etc.

The Burnie City Council with a lot of volunteers, arrange this for the 42 cruise ships visiting town over the next few months.
Not only do they have the market, but they have a spot for tour vendors to meet clients and go on local adventures and other volunteers are visible around the Burnie streets to ask questions or directions.
Even the Mayor (My cousin Teeny!!) greets them off the ship in the morning!

I enjoyed having the gazebo up… even if it needs a little taping up now haha
It gives me a shop like feel under the canopy and I could hang my lovely banner.
(Note lengths of flax to make into cordage for those moments of not being busy…)

In this location we had a lot of local passers by too which was fantastic.
People on the cruise ship were a real mix… Mainland Australia, Canada, USA, Europe.
Everyone was super friendly and ready to chat and seemed to be having a wonderful time.

I think my ego might have gotten a wee bit inflated though as I had so many wonderful comments about my soaps. Felt pretty nice!

OK… I did get one grumpy person and one busybody annoying person.
The grumpy one didn’t seem to understand my ‘Cash Only’ status. (Not owning a mobile phone means no electronic payments no matter what card you wave at me)
Busybody annoying person took it upon herself to butt into the whole transaction-that-wasn’t by forcefully telling me I would HAVE to get a phone and HAVE to get a square etc etc before marching off feeling her civic duty done.

Wish I could tell her I did my best ever sales at a local market… in cash that day… (so ner ner)

Most people had a giggle at my Cash Only sign … the second line if you cant read it in the picture says “Soap maker Lives in the Dark Ages”

In fact… a few people loved my soaps so much they went on a cash finding mission just so they could purchase some! Very heartening.

Overall so far, I miss out on very little sales wise due to only having cash transactions. If Maureen is with me, she has a square to use and kindly lets me use it for my customers.
But for now… I will stick to my dark ages. There isn’t that much margin in the sales – adding one more cost isn’t something I really want to do… not least trying to learn how to work the thing and relying on coverage in rural areas.
The only times I ‘suffer’ from not having a mobile phone is when I am dealing with Telstra or the bank.

Actually my next investment is going to be a 4 wheeled cart. I made 64 trips to the car loading, unloading, reloading and unloading for the last market.
Thats silly. And annoying. And I get sweaty! (lucky I am surrounded by pretty smelling soaps haha)

Above… soap workshop soaps!!
Saturday was excellent with 4 ladies coming in to learn soapmaking. One lady returned to do it all again. She has made soap at home but was feeling she would benefit from coming again.
An extra lady popped in in the afternoon to watch some batches being made as she did the course a while back but was feeling less than confident about forging ahead alone.
She went home, made soap and sent me pics today and they looked great!

Jacki… who also does the cruise ship markets selling her fabulous reversible bucket hats did the above very bright and pretty soap!

Maddi wanted to go all natural with lovely clays to colour her soaps.

Dawn (my repeat student) wanted to know how to do layers…also with lovely natural clay colours. She had fun getting the offset layers which looks so effective

Terrianne wanted to do a drop swirl but also wanted a chunky built up top… which ended up working really well. She even added sprinkles to the top!

Some had mixture left over so we filled pretty moulds

My Demo soap to cut was Blueberry Jam and it worked out pretty cool

Then my demo show off soap showing the cool design technique

I love cutting these ones!

Planning to deliver most of the students soaps on Friday morning.
And in the interests of keeping stock up since I have 6 more cruise ship markets and a church market next weekend, I whipped up a simple quick batch yesterday… Saffron and Honey with the saffron to colour… no fancy work at all!

Hope you’ve all had a lovely weekend

xxx

Hi!
We got back off the mountain safe and sound after a fab three days.
Since then I’ve been running my tail off prepping for the first cruise ship market which was yesterday.
Today I am working through a fair sized ‘To Do’ list but thought I’d quickly say hello with a few snaps

I am keen to get some time to post process all the photos and make a proper post telling the story.
Until then…
The track in was hard work for the first part.
A lot of up… that kept going up, but the subsequent walk into Pelion was pretty cruisy.
Hot day but still some mud puddles on the track

The native Waratah was just coming into bloom which was nice. They end up quite red. I might have some other pics of them … still have to go through them all properly

Above pic is not long out of Pelion and as you can see… nice and flat!

Beautiful Mt Oakleigh in the late afternoon from the veranda of Pelion Hut

We camped which was nice.
The whole point of this trip really was a scouting trip to know where to start and what the track in was like as a Japanese friend really wants to hike in to see the ‘Japanese Gardens’

So my next proper post will be one with all the ups and downs so she can read and make choices about if this is the adventure for her!

Still love these pink trees!
After a pretty good nights sleep, we got up leisurely… waiting for rain to stop and just relaxing.
A spot of brekkie and we headed out. Jeff went on his own so he could stretch out his pace and climb whatever mountain he desired.
I just wandered off towards the Japanese Gardens with a small pack and enjoyed stopping lots to take snaps and enjoy not rushing or having a big pack on.

Jeff actually decided against doing a whole mountain climb and I met him coming down from the gardens. So he came back up with me and we had a bit of a sit down and picnic at what I class as the prettiest spot on the Overland.

Its the rangers that dubbed it ‘The Japanese Gardens’, but its so beautiful. Looks like it has been created rather than sprung up naturally.
All the beautiful moss, boulders, rocks, shrubs etc. Just the path is man made but it makes the best place (er… weather depending) to sit and enjoy fabulous views.

The Arm River Track is a great option to have a bit of a peek into the Overland without having to commit to the week long trek – or a consolation prize if you can’t get passes as these days its insanely popular, so booking can be tricky.

Hope you are all having a lovely week.
xx

Well, the day didn’t have a brilliant start… last night when locking the chooks up I saw one of our girls had a lot of blood and trauma on the back of her neck!!
Jeff got home from work this morning and took her to the vet (because I cant go to the vet)(or past the vet) and it turns out it was a tumor that erupted. So chookie has gone over the rainbow. We feel bad we never noticed a thing!! They were all feeding and hanging out with us like normal.

These are a few little snaps from Jude’s garden. She has so many interesting plants!

I am still going up there once a week to help out. Often coming home with a swag of plants to… plant!

Mamma bird in a fairly well hidden nest! Apparently she got a watering before Jude noticed her spot.

Even the leaves of plants are pretty!

A while back we stacked this lot…

When my friend Jaana and I have a free day at the same time (rarely) we walk over to Anniversary Bay and picnic on the beach and catch up on news!

Its always a lovely day out.

I never get tired of the sand art.

And you never know what you’ll find on the beach!

Coming back from one of our hikes I spotted the little Blue Wren admiring himself in someones car side mirror!

He had already made use of our car mirror and made a lovely mess!

Yesterday I did more planting… and mostly tending to the hothouse

A few weeds were creeping in and the tomatoes needed pruning and tying up

The second patch of lettuce is finally growing. I was worried there for a bit.

Par-cel.

Giant Japanese mustard… wow it gives a lovely kick and I love it in the salads

Messy…

More under control but there are some little tomatoes I would like to plant out later.

This lot of lettuce thrived in this spot and we’ve been enjoying eating it recently

I somehow have a potato.
Why do I always have a potato???

Decided the basil was ready to just be in the ground…

Fingers crossed for future pesto… and a lot of it!

Cuttings. Couldnt resist another tomato lateral… hate throwing them away.

I was given some teeny tiny tomatoes… so I’ve repotted them and hopefully they’ll have a chance to expand

Still loving my watering system to bits! Thanks Dad!

Two of the late sprouting butternut pumpkin seedlings… thought they could go out. I’ve got more but I have to think of where they can go… which probably means more work prepping a patch.

These two beauties are ready to pick!!

And… planning on a mini adventure tomorrow!

My fitness is… lacking but hopefully it will be nice to get out.
We are planing on getting to the Arm River Track and hiking in to Pelion Hut (which is Day Three on the Overland Track.) No payment required so thats a plus.
Its one day in. One day to take a day pack and pick a mountain to climb. Then one day back out.
I’m just finishing sorting my pack and the food and we should be right.
Jeff is sleeping as he just came off a nightshift!
Its a long drive to the start… well over three hours. And its a fair hike in. But… we’ve got lots of daylight now so even my slow self should be there before dark!
Hope everyone has a great weekend planned
xx