First Fire

Autumn.

The most perfect sunny days and cool nights.

My favourite time of the year.

We lit our first fire this Easter/ANZAC day long weekend.

It was lovely.

 Little Miss Mischief got up to this;

and also a little too much of this!

Abbey went camping - her first time out in the bush for 3 nights!

These are some photos she took with her camera.

She loved it. We missed her.

The tomatoes were pulled out, and new seedlings put in.

 I am a little proud of my home-made climbing frames for the snow peas. 

I found the wire on a nature strip - 3 large pieces!  Some one's trash was definitely my treasure.

All I had to do was slip a wooden stake through the wire and I had 3 frames for climbing vegetables!

Leeks, swede, cabbage, turnip, and snow pea seedlings in amongst the broccoli, onions, lettuce, spring onions, and beetroot.

Garlic was also planted out. 

I also had time to do a bit of this.

and this...

yes, 2 on the go at once!

I like a bit of variety....that's my excuse anyway....

A Healthy Chocolate Twist

Around here our favourite fruit - the banana, has had a massive increase in price (as a result of the floods). I was out shopping the other day and I picked up a bag of 'over ripe' banana's at a really good reduced price. They were going straight home to be made into banana muffins and a banana bread or cake.
Mr Google was as helpful as usual and I found this recipe.  

I gave it a little twist by adding 1 small grated zucchini and 1/4 cup of cocoa.

Yum!

More Autumn Planting

I struggle a little with what to grow this time of the year. 

Being in a cold climate not a lot grows during the cooler months. 

Currently growing in the patch are broccoli, spring onions, lettuce, basil, brown and red onions.

The beetroot seedlings are ready to be planted out, and the spinach, rocket, and compact silver beet seeds have begun to sprout. 

I have planted leek, more broccoli, mini cabbage, turnip, and chillies (which will hopefully be given away as Christmas presents) into containers and put them into the mini green house.

As an experiment I have also planted some butter bean seeds and will keep them in the green house during the cooler weather. I'm not going to plant them out into the vege patch and I'm really hoping that they will grow and produce beans for us. 

I have moved the green house into a spot that will get sun for most of the day, fingers crossed this will help the butter beans along. 

I'll sow more beetroot, silver beet, spinach, onion, and snow pea seeds this week.   

I really want to get some potatoes going also. I think I'm going to put them into large pots beside the green house and continually top up the soil to produce a larger crop. I'm still learning a lot about growing veges, and I'm not really sure if the potatoes will be successful this time of the year.

The pumpkins are still producing flowers and I have tried to self pollinate 2 or 3 female flowers to no avail. 

I think it is too late in the season. I should be grateful with the 3 pumpkins we received that volunteered themselves from the compost.

This week I'm going to rip out the tomato plants and prepare to plant out some garlic and the beetroot seedlings.

Blue Granny Stripe

I have finished crocheting a Granny Stripe blanket for a close friends' 40th birthday present.

I started it in January....and pottered along whenever I felt like crocheting.
It crocheted up quickly and the pattern is very easy!

I used Lucy's Granny Stripe Pattern from Attic24

Let's hope the Birthday Boy likes it as much as I do.

I think I am going to have to make one for us here!

I chained 147 for the width. I crocheted until I was happy with the length
and then added a border of 4 double  rows.

My Autumn Vegie Garden

Freshly manured and turned-over soil.

 My little helper...

who just loves water!

 Seeds selected and sown.

With the current new moon being in the first two weeks it is the best time to sow/plant leafy and fruiting plants. I'm also going to sow some seeds into little pots and start them off in the green house.

Grey and Grey

Something for me for a change...

 The pattern for these pants (which are very comfy and super quick & easy to make) came from this book;

This lovely neckerchief is going to get a lot of wear, I just love it.

Details are here

Green Tomatoes and a Pesky Possum

Our tomatoes have been disappearing off the plants overnight, I thought I was imagining things but I wasn't.  There is a Pesky Possum helping him or her self to the tomatoes, and just when they are turning a nice colour but not quite ripe.

I took this photo yesterday, still green.

 This morning I checked them and found this!

Yes Pesky Possum, these tomatoes weren't quite ready. I hope you have a belly ache!

This afternoon I went out and picked a large amount of green tomatoes.

They'll have to ripen off the vine and indoors so we get to enjoy them.

Sorry Pesky Possum, I think you've had your fair share.

These ones were picked three days ago.

Nature Strips

My post today is inspired by this post.

When I'm  in the car, I always look at houses and gardens. 

Call it what you like, I call it being a "sticky-beak"... it's human nature isn't it?

When we recently drove down a local road, I noticed this nature strip.

I thought to myself "What a good idea!"

Can you see what is growing?

(I apologise for the not-so-close photos, I felt a little strange sitting in my car 

taking pics of some one's nature strip...)

This is from the other side...still not close enough to really see, 

but it is pumpkin growing!

How good is that? Very productive I think!

rolling in the deep

This song is doing it for me right now ... just love it....

Tears of a Child

Bitter are the tears of a child: Sweeten them.

Deep are the thoughts of a child: Quieten them.

Sharp is the grief of a child: Take it from them.

Soft is the heart of a child: Do not harden it.

Pamela Glenconner

Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My Mother.
Anonymous