Gardening

Cake and rain, a good combination!

It has been raining for hours here, it’s beautiful. The tomato and corn plants are very happy!

Now for the Christmas cake saga. I didn’t read the recipe properly, so ended up with 2 cake mixes, not one as intended. No big deal, I just separated the mixtures into 2 lots. The first lot I discovered I had used too much self raising flour (sometimes I do wonder whether my brain is fully functional!) The cake turned out light, a little crumbly, but perfectly acceptable for morning tea munching.

The second cake presented with more of a hitch in the form of a malfunctioning oven. My 2 year old Westinghouse decided to go out continuously during the baking process, I had to keep lighting it to try and maintain the temperature. After about 5 hours of this, the cake was done! This is the cake you see above, so despite the oven it seems to have turned out better than the first one. Now I’m waiting for a technician to come so that I can fling money at him and get the oven fixed.

That makes this years tally – one dead washing machine, one dead hot water system and a broken oven.

Next adventure – Christmas Pudding (at least I don’t need the oven for that!)

“Porridge is knowledge!”

by Kelly 3 Comments

A woman I used to care for in a nursing home would often say “porridge is knowledge!” (RIP Ludmilla – lovely lady). I myself am so enthused about porridge that I’m posting about it today. I think of it as a sort of all round superfood. It is very cheap, very healthy, and very filling. Not to mention it tastes good. If you’re also a porridge enthusiast here is a brief historical account and some Scottish recipes here.
Just don’t you dare make it salty like my mother in law used to! YUK!

We are so blessed to have had a lot of rain at this time and the garden really has some marvels to show for it. I don’t know that it has ever looked as lush.

The rather unattractive colourbond back fence is now completely dominated with flowering jasmine and dolocus.

And, most exciting, there are more than 3 apricots on the tree this year! Now the challenge is to convince the birds that we actually love them more than they do.

SPRING!

by Kelly 2 Comments

I’m so glad that Spring is here, how I love it! The garden is blooming with many varieties, here is the first sparaxis.

My Mum used to call these “ pigface “, I don’t know the real name. We had many of these on the farm when I was a child.

Love the vibrant colours of the gazania.

A curious but content onlooker.

The giveaway is still running, have you entered yet?

Garden Harvest

by Kelly 3 Comments

Fresh, totally organic and straight from the garden, just beautiful! Gardening has been such a tough slog here, trying to grow things in a drought with water restrictions and horrible, horrible clay soil. But we have our small victories and these are one of them. Husband has just put in a plum and a persimmon tree as well as a couple of climbing roses. Planting anything is a gamble here without the free use of water (even with our own water tank, its uselss without rain to fill it!)
We have so many plans for gardening and growing when we get our “dream” acreage, and for the time being we live in hope that the drought will finally break.

I love Autumn!

by Kelly Leave a Comment

The little african violets that frazzle and seemingly die over summer have once again returned with their lush growth and vibrant purple flowers. I’ve spent the morning outdoors raking up the chookyard and laying down fresh straw. We had rain (hooray!) yesterday and lastnight, so the garden is a welcome sight this morning. I had to tell the boy to leave his bookwork and come out into the sun before it disappeared. He willingly obliged and is still out there now. Husband will be pleased to see a wheelbarrow load of compost fodder when he gets home from work.

This striped lily is so pretty, I’m not sure what its called.

Yesterday I finally got around to visiting Stitchery Blue in Williamstown – wow, what a beautiful shop! I think the owner and I share the same taste, I just wanted to buy everything. I was very restrained however, and bought a pattern for some baby/children’s hats and a couple of balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. I can honestly say I have never used a finer yarn, I feel like knitting just so I can touch it!

Although the shop is pricey, the staff were very friendly and helpful, it has a great, bustling atmosphere and there was a steady stream of customers. I highly recommend a visit if you’re in the area.