Hello hello!!!
Miss me?? 🙂
I had a really lovely time away – so great to catch up with family and a few close friends!
I am up to my eyeballs in photos… I’ve the last Overland ones to do, 1000 wedding shots to sort through and a bunch from my time away as well!!
I came home to beautiful ripe corn and a bazillion zucchinis!!
We are fanging through the corn nightly and its SO GOOD!!
I am experimenting with dehydrating the zukes with the aim to grind into flour. Apparently its a thing! Has anyone tried it before?
Jeff has been walking around the country roads as his hiking thing lately. We’re talking 20 plus km hikes. I really want to join in but my heel says… best not. (I am booked in to see a podiatrist next month so fingers crossed) So I am sticking to the 1-2 hour modest 8km hikes.
Anyways, Jeff has been grazing on blackberries and found a good spot along one of the roads so we drove over and picked 3kgs!!
Gotta love free food (you know, because at this time of year I don’t have enough veggies to sort out!!)
Anyway, these beauties are cooked and moolied (sieved) and I chucked them in the freezer to make jam when I’ve not got quite as much on my plate (so to speak…)
Time to dig up the remaining potatoes!!
This year the harvest was distinctly underwhelming compared to other seasons!
Not sure if its the seed potato, the weather or my soil.
Still plenty to keep us going for a while…
Will add some good stuff to this plot – maybe even some green manure if I get my act together, then will later top with straw to keep those pesty weeds low.
Pumpkins!! Green yellow and orange… hmmmm – and I have no idea what they are but they look fabulous!
Hey! How’s the price of fuel in your neighbourhood these days? Is it positively frightening??
Our car broke just before the wedding and in the week it was in the garage, fuel jumped about 20 cents a litre … we were sitting at about $1.92/lt before I left to the mainland.
In town yesterday it was $2.13.
Thats just regular unleaded petrol
The premium is now at $2.28 and diesel is $2.30!!!
We’ve got some serious thinking to do re our vehicle… its old and thirsty. So either changing it totally or getting a small run about car to do shopping and for Jeff to go to work in.
Ugh.
Or a pony and cart.
Or an electric bike.
Its especially rough on people in rural areas – Tasmania sucks when it comes to public transport. A car is a must really.
I ate part of that carrot in the photo!! So yes… carrots are getting to the nice picking point.
We’ve also had a lot of pears and I am looking to make a spiced pear paste (Tomorrows goal)
Colourful pickings!
While we are getting tomatoes, we are getting nothing like previous seasons either! Summer arrived too late.
Got the wheelbarrow of garlic and made a good start on cleaning them all up to store. We needed the wheelbarrow back.
I had back to back markets on the weekend… Elliot – which was pretty slow going. And unfortunately due to some insurance issues, they are closing it down until further notice which is a real shame.
The hall committee don’t want to put any effort into support of the market so… thats that!
I also went down to Sisters Beach where they were running an excellent little market at the back of the local shop.
An excellent array of stalls and lots of people coming through
Great atmosphere and I sold well.
I have some friends booked to come down to Tassie on their motorbikes in about a week… so have to get everything ship shape before they arrive!! So between that, the garden, the cooking and the 7 squillion photos to post process, I am going to be kept firmly out of mischief over the coming weeks!!
I hope you are all well, despite the world still being upside down and throwing up crazy challenges, parts of Australia being washed away in floods and Russia trying for WW3. (Its heartbreaking and horrifying seeing what Ukraine is being subjected to)
I guess its too much to ask for some smooth sailing for a while?
Drop by in the comments section and let me know how you are faring! Would love to hear from you
Cheers and Hugs
Missed you. Thought I’d been dropped from your email list. Glad you are back. Love your garden photos.
Hi!!
I had a bit of an issue with my blog site… it had been closed. I’d not renewed the $$ fee while I was away.
But all sorted now and back on track!!! 🙂
Thanks for saying hi!! xx
So glad to see you back. Your garden is amazing as always, especially the pumpkins. Fuel has gone out of sight everywhere. Dealing with hubby health issues and insurance – never fun. Now would be a great time for my company to decide to do 100% remote work again to save us $ on fuel….but still have to go to the office 10 days a month. I guess it could be worse. Texas weather can’t decide what it wants to do, but i do feel spring around the corner.
Hi Tracy!!
I hope things look up soon re hubby’s health! 🙁
Yes! We’ve proved that lots of places can work remotely so why not continue?
Its a nice feeling when you know spring is on your doorstep! Time to start the garden and all the fresh stuff again!
I am hoping for a long mild autumn and ease my way back into winter!
Thanks for stopping by xx
Seeing your garden pictures always helps get me through our long, cold winters. 💚We are coming to the end of winter and looking forward to spring and warmer weather. My tomato and pepper seedlings are looking good and I’m really looking forward to a tasty, homegrown tomato in a few months. Gas here in Michigan, USA is $ 4.25 a gallon😳. Luckily we bought a newer car last year as our old one was on it’s last legs so to speak so at least we get decent mileage.
Hi Pam! Its that time of year for you when you are just hanging out for the fresh garden tastes!
Good timing on the new car! Fuel everywhere is hitting the hip pockets badly!
Enjoy the journey into the new season! xx
Hi Lisa, I love your blog and missed you while you were away. Glad to know you’re home safely.
Hi Julie! Thanks so much! xx
Hi Lisa,
So nice to have you back. I’m sure your father, mother and sisters enjoyed having you back home to celebrate birthdays.
Returning home though it sounded like you had much waiting for your attention. Veggies look so fresh and appetizing. How nice that you are able to enjoy. Hope you will be able to spend time with your visitors as you are such a great tour guide.
Gas prices here have really increased too, along with groceries, home prices and everything else. All the effects from Covid and now the war. So sad what is happening in Ukraine. Just heard there are two young children with cancer that had fled their home to safety in Poland and will be flying to Sick Kids hospital in Toronto in the next 48 hours to be cared for there. Also that there are 30,000 jobs available in Ontario for Ukrainian people when they begin to arrive here.
Hopefully you can get some relief after seeing the specialist about your heel issue. Good for you though that you are still able to hike 8ks. I like to walk, but couldn’t imagine going 20 Kms. like our son is doing.
Hope you and Jeff had a nice anniversary last week. It was great to see you back this morning.
Love to you both. xoxo
Hi Judy!
It was lovely to get back to the old home town and catch up with family and friends!
Yes, horrific what humans do to each other. Glad Canada is doing some practical stuff to help!
We had a low key anniversary – digging potatoes!! haha. Fun but not totally romantic !
Catch up soon xxx
yay! welcome back! saw the site was “broken” and am glad it was sorted out. thought you might have decided to take a long break from blogging, so i’m very happy to see this post about that beautiful corn and buckets of berries.
we have big news here… my partner and i bought a house! not sure how with the way the market is (22 offers on homes, homes going $30-100K over asking, etc). i think it was luck and meant to be. we have the keys already but are doing a big moving day on the 27th when we have lots of friends able to lend hands for a few hours in exchange for food. i have a front yard and back yard to garden in! first thing i did was take some of the outdoor plants i have accumulated (its just a mile from where we live now). plus i wanted to tidy up my “garden” here so my landlord didn’t have a bigger fit when he showed the place. he had just upped our rent to $1200 a month 🙁 and after issues with the washer and me just being tired of renting in several states for the last 16 years, it was time to put our money into something we owned and could enjoy. got a voucher for a free soil test through the co-op extension that i’m going to take in once the soil dries. and i’m getting some good garden mix delivered maybe this week. i want to top dress some already established outdoor plants (roses, hydrangeas, viburnum, butterfly bush), relocate some plants out front for my iris collection, and be ready to “start” beds in other areas. anyway, exciting stuff. been very busy. and will need to travel out of state at the end of the month to help my mom pack and move. luckily spring is -just- starting here.
Hi Lee! Yes.. I panicked a bit when I saw the problem on the blog! Silly me. If I quit doing this I’ll be sure to make a proper announcement!
WOW!! A big CONGRATULATIONS on the house purchase! I am really excited for you! Everything is so different when you can do things your own way on your own place!
Sounds like you’ve got some great plans and things happening already! Only a week to go!! Hope the move goes smoothly.
Great time to move too, spring so you can really dive in and get things happening!! Fabulous! xx
Welcome back. Missed the daily photo’s and shares of your day. Those potatoes will make some hearty soups and dishes. Hoping you find pain relief and healing for your heal. We don’t want to miss any adventures.
Pears remind me of Mavis’s Upside Down Pear Gingerbread Cake. Save some pears for this delicious treat. It won’t disappoint.
Prices are continually going up in Oregon (USA) as well. Gas is over 5.00, lean ground beef is close to 10. So far no toilet paper hoarding, but restocking shelves for some products has slowed.
Hi Bea!! Oh yes… been enjoying those potatoes. I admit to being boring and only doing them steamed with butter and my garlic salt. Very satisfying though!
I’ll have to check and see if there are more pears down there. The spiced pear paste turned out well… sweet so will share it around as I am pretty certain I wont eat all that!
Thanks for the prices report too… its interesting to see what is happening around the world. Fuel is bonkers… and of course effects everything else.
I was happy to still find some minced meat in the freezer – want to make up a lasagne for when friends that are due to arrive Mon evening!
Ha! People are still probably working through their previous stocks of toilet paper!!
xx
Glad to see you posting again!
I’ve used zucchini flour for years; it’s great! Add it to soups & stews to thicken them. I also replace some of the buckwheat flour in savory pancakes or fritters with it. It is really good to thicken spaghetti sauce made with frozen home-grown tomatoes when you a) don’t want to cook it down forever & b) don’t want to drain them & waste all that summery goodness.
I’m going to give corn another try in my garden this year (Iowa, USA) & seeing your beauuuuutiful cob gives me incentive!
Thank you for all your posts; they are a ray of sunshine in this crazy world!
PS I wish more Americans would realize how spoiled they are with gas prices; our “highs” here are the equivalent of less than $1.40 per litre. (I know that doesn’t take into account currency conversions, but come on!)
Hello!! Thanks for stopping by with news 🙂
It was great to hear of your experiences with zucchini flour! Not least how you use it too. Really good advice/suggestions so thank-you!
Oh yes, the corn!! We are LOVING them! Totally give them another go. I put mine in a bit late since the summer got here late but they seem to be flourishing. The taste is amazing
Re fuel prices. Yep… I was impressed by the low cost of petrol in the States when I was there. Compared to us here…its pretty good. But its all relative I guess and when you are used to one price and it jumps a million miles people notice lol. I would LOVE to be paying $1.40!! I was too scared to look at the bowswers last time I was in town haha.
Enjoy your day! xx