Green Shoots

my little Peas have emerged from the soil this week im very excited :o) the silverbeet has also starting popping up.

Pea shoots


Silverbeet shoots
the Monday was a holiday so we went down to Penrith, the new Anaconda store opened up, lov that place we purchased a lot of our camping gear from them last year. the new Spotlight store had their grand opening, what a night mare i have never seen so many people & the lines were a joke, Wendy & i just had a quick walk through & we were out of there.
Harvey's & Domain had their 2 years interest free thing on again. we came home with a Dyson vacuum, our old Vax just wasn't sucking that great any more, it was 12 years old so had a pretty good run. the vax will go down to the garage to clean up all the saw dust & what ever else is down there. we also came home with a tv for the bed room, that was something A has wanted for quite a while.

opened the Dyson up on Thursday & vacuumed all the floors, the dust container was pretty much full at the end, the sucksion is awesome. i would highly recommend a Dyson. we didn't get the top of the range, i don't like turbo heads as they get hair & cottons wrapped around them, just too much of a night mare for me. we purchased the DC19. its the cheapest one in the range {$599} we got it for $399.i wanted it because of the new carpet head, its flat so it will go under the couches & my desks with out any problems.



Thursday also saw me painting the second coat on the hen house frame.


in the afternoon i made a Key Lime Pie, equal amounts of tart & sweet, soo Devinne
Friday i went for an interview at Nepean Hospital in the food service department, not too sure how i went, was very nervous.

Grace Bros are having their stock take sale,so went in to have a look. i picked up two square casserole/pie dishes in Red of course,{22cm & 27cm} at 60% off. i have oval ones but the pastry i buy is square so now there will be no wastage when i make my chicken & meat pies. also picked up a lamington tin @ 30% off.

Rainy Day Sewing

it pretty much rained all last week, so i was inside most of the time. Monday i sat down to make a couple of bath mats with some of the old towels i have in my linen press. i cut out all the fabric squares, Tuesday i put together 3 panels & then on Wednesday those 3 panels became a single quilt top & finally on Thursday i used the left overs for a mat.
the 2 Aqua flower & the Red fabric came from a freecycler the Aqua damask was a table cloth that i had already cut up as an apron {it had quite a few thread bare holes in it} & the yellow gingham came from my stash, the whole thing will be backed with a white sheet.
i lov it when you start out making one thing & it ends up being something else. over the next few weeks i hope to get the quilt backed & quilted, well fingers Xed :o) not sure if ill keep it or sell it.

Sunny Saturday

lovely rain all week, woke up Saturday to beautiful blue skies. time for a coat of paint on the hen house frame. Dulux colour "Pea Green" using Wattyl Solaguard so no need to prime, as it was still cool only got the one coat on.



8 loads of washing {dried to just damp}, weeded the garden, cleaned out the Ringnecks cage {9 Rosella's came to clean up the seed that i dumped on the grass}, turned the compost, cleaned out the boys bedrooms {a few things to put up on Freecycle}, Bed of Roses at 7.30 on ABC {my new fav show}.

as its Sunday & raining i baked early this morning, Kiwi & Banana muffin made in a baking tray, Ginger Nuts { i make them soft } & the usual ANZAC & Choc Chip & thats it as i ran out of flour Grrrrrrrr.




Wendy, Gary & Dad are coming for tea & a Games Night {one of our Fave games TV Trivia}. Dinner will be Potato Bake, Baked Sausages with onion & gravy, Honey Carrots, Peas & Crusty Rolls. Kiwi & Banana Muffin with pouring Cream for desert.

First Day of Winter

Woo Hoo i lov winter its my most fav season of the year. lov the cold crisp days, warm woolly clothes, a warm fire, steaming bowls of food with crispy bread, curling up with a blanket & a good book, day trips over the mountain on snowy days for snow ball fights, going back to the car for hot chocolate & a warm sweet roll. all these & more say winter to me & i just love it.

Today had me dragging out the bread machine, haven’t used it in a couple of years. After an hour of searching couldn't find the manual so on to the net to see if could find one. I was in luck as someone had photocopied one & posted it, so 30 mins & 23 pages later i have a copy with recipes. Printed it on pink paper in the hopes that it wont get lost {fingers Xed}. Now its working away making us a nice crusty loaf to go with our tea.

As its baking Sunday ill be making a date & walnut slice, snicker doodle cookies both new recipes also choc cip cookies.

Hen House

yesterday i planted out some carrots & silverbeet, my little veggie garden is getting full. i cant wait until i see some tiny green shoots emerging from the soil.

A & i finally made a start on the new hen house, we had started one a couple of weeks ago but decided to knock it apart & start again, this time i had a better plan in my head. we measured, cut & labeled all the pieces then put together the front wall on the veranda. the back wall was next then stood them both up & add the floor joists & side rails. i think it is coming together very nicely & just how i pictured in my head.
A borrowed the nail gun from work & just before we were finished for the day the hose popped off the compressor, so ended the rein of the nail gun & back to hammers to finish off.
i was going to paint the frame today but its cold & a fine rain is falling on & off. so a tarp to cover it so it doesn't get water logged before the paint goes on.
From a sunny Autumn day to a cold wet Winters day, don't ya just lov the mountains :o)







anyone who pops in id lov it if you stop & say hey :o)

Seed Day

i spent most of today in the garden, planted out the sugar snap peas, snow peas, spring onions & english spinach. also planted some flower seedlings that i have been growing in trays {fingers Xed that the snails & slugs dont eat them all}.
found a mouse living in the vacuum cleaner hose on the front veranda, its an old vacuum that i use to clean up all the bird seed from my cockateils, wasnt too happy about that jumping out at me i can tell ya.
spaghetti & meat balls for tea to night , just have to go & find the recipe.
tomorrow i will be writing up my second shopping list.
over the last couple of weeks i have priced every item that i buy from all the supermarkets, using my master list, i also go online to check out this weeks specials. so now i just have to write my list for each place & then i get the best price & im saving money, it just takes a little bit more leg work, but i can use the exercise.

Baking Day

Sunday has become baking day, i make all the biscuits, cakes & slices we need for the week.
i try to make at least one new thing a week,
this week it was 2 Orange & raisin slice & melting moments cookies, i have not made either of these before.
the slice was amazing i got the recipe from 'the sweet grass ranch' a working ranch in Montana where you can go & stay.
i also got their recipe for their spinach-mushroom egg bake, just like a quiche with no pastry base, i made it for tea on Saturday & everyone loved it {& leftovers on Sunday}.

• Anzac biscuits

• Coconut cookies

• Choc Chip biscuits

• Melting Moments

• Orange & raisin slice

Garden Day Monday

spent the day in the garden with J. moving hay bails {huge rat living in them}, trimming the jasmine on the fence, moved the trailer, made a veggie garden, cut back the lavender that was getting out of control, pruned the jacaranda so we can walk under it with out leaves in your face, mowed the lawn, raked the grass {our mulchie mower is out of service},sowed flower seeds into egg cartons & made a compost heap.

Going Green

i think that i have always been a little bit Green, have always been a country girl, even when the country was far away.
i have felt my life changing over the last year or so.
i feel i am turning into the woman i new that one day i would become.

i lov my new Green spotty apron. the fabric was $3 at Vinnies, i think Linen is my favorite fabric for aprons it falls so nice.



My Better Life List

1. living a better life is at the top of my list.

2. saving water- with my front load washer {only washing 2 days a week}, a bucket in the shower to water my plants, only washing up once a day, rain water barrel.

3. buying eco cleaning products-washing up liquid, washing powder.

4. cloth shopping bags- always.

5. recycling everything possible.

6. Saving electricity- changing to energy saving light bulbs, turning off the lights when we leave the room, turning off appliances at the power point.

7. Only buying Australian fruit & veggies, this also goes for dried fruit & nuts, bread, dairy products & meat.

8. Australian food stuffs- i have spent quite a lot of time in the supermarkets reading labels, now i pretty much only buy products made in Australia.

9. Changed from an electric kettle with a stand by light to a gas kettle.

10. Bucket as our garbage bin- have never purchased garbage bags, i use to use the plastic shopping bags but i cut those out in 1998 when i sewed my first calico cloth bags.

11. Baking from scratch- have always done this- cakes, biscuits, pies sweet/savory, slices, bars, chocolates, pizza, pasta- plus 100 other from scratch meals.

12. i will be trying out cloth pads instead of disposable ones, as well as cloth wipes.

13. we are building a hen house & i will keep 6 to 8 hens for their beautiful eggs & meat & in return they will eat up all our kitchen scraps.

14. Line drying our washing- i have always liked hanging out the washing & love the smell of fresh clean clothes straight off the line.

15. Freecycling items we no longer need.

16. Fruit Trees- these are something i have wanted for a very long time & now i have a few in really big pots, i cant wait till my lemon tree gets its first crop.

17. pots of herbs- nothing like fresh herbs to cook with.

18. Growing flowers from seed- i never new how rewarding it would be, seeing their sunny faces smiling at me.

19. Planing my first Veggie Garden- i have grown veggies in pots before but making a garden is much more exciting.

20. Composting- having a go at a compost heap.

21. Sewing- i have always sown things but i have stepped it up giving new uses to old towels, clothing & sheets.

22. thinking about what i spend money on- do i really need it, can i do with out it, do i have something else that can do the same job.

i am very passionate about all these things & i find my self thinking about other things i can do.

Changing your life for the better takes time, but it all starts with the first step.

now its May

looks like i missed all of April & now its May :O)
finally have my desks set up in my craft room, i love, love, love them.

A also up graded my computer because my hard drives failed, he was able to save all my stuff so that was Awesome, {i love him so much}

Earth Hour

Last night was Earth Hour from 8pm to 9pm, so off went the TV, Lights & Computers.
i am sorry to say that no one in my street participated.
Later on my BIL rang up & when asked did they turn out their Lights said "Me turning off my lights & TV for an hour isnt going to do any good" upon hearing this i made a new page for my "Go Green" book. {His statement made me sad}.
So today i made a canvas for my wall to remind anyone who sees it that

1 Person can make a Difference

Easter Show

We went to the Easter Show on friday, left the house at 8am & got back at 12.30. it was a super long day. we had heaps of fun. my high lights were the Rodeo {dont ya just lov Cowboys} & the Sideshow Freaks{Psycho Sideshow}, Betty Brawn {strong Woman}, Ruby Rubber {contortionist}, Space Cowboy {sword Swaller}, Shep {Traps & battery lifter} [It will make your eyes water], The Great Gondos {clown}. The Coca-Cola freestyle trials was awesome as well, those 2 boys were amazing. I think the Boys liked the Xtreme Korruption the best with the Toyota V6 HiLux Utes & extreme motocross team & not to forget the Bouncin' Bobcats. DS #2's high light was the show bags LOL
The wood Chop was as great as always but we only stayed for 2 as it was really hot in the Chop stadium. Last but by no means least the fireworks & lazer light show was fantastic.
It truly was a great day out & well worth the $107 to get in. I think Bull Riding is my Favorite Sport :o)

New Desks

My long awaited desks are now stained, varnished & put back together. Now they are just waiting for me to move out the old desk. each one has a shelf & a draw {love the sleek handles} they will sit back to back. all i need now is a stool if i want to sit down.

Go Green

im a little obsessed about the way we live & our impact on the big blue marble we call home, & why shouldn't we be. we are killing our planet & once its gone so are we. so im trying to live a better life, teach my children a better way of doing things, in a hope that's its not too late. here is a little book that i made last wednesday & one i hope to add to.

Good Bye Summer

its the first day of Autumn, a top of 17 here today so it feels like Autumn.
*A & J fixing J's bike lots of new parts.
* S on his computer playing 'Half Life' on his friends server {on line playing}
*as for me im about to go & stain my new desk
pics to come :o)

Random pages

just a few pages, i have a lot more but these were the first 3 in the folder
*the Apricots from the 'Harvest' page were sooo sweet
*the 'Train' photos were taken in 2005 at Linden station, we have a crappy ticket machine, it only takes coins & is limited to 14 different tickets that you can purchase.
*the 'Wash Day' photos were taken at the beginning of last year, now i have about 30 different coloured singlets & i pretty much wear them every day.

been busy doing nothing

wow its been nearly a year since i have updated this......
but you know how it goes running around, getting stuff done. people say what have you been up to & i always say,' nothing much'. by the end of the day im slowing down & getting tired & what did i do all day, a million little things & nothing to show for it, so its always the same ' nothing much'

*still nothing on the job front Grrrrrrr

*A & i went to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show last week, it was Awesome. the Guy who played Frankinfurter was fantastic

*DS #1 finished year 10 last year & started work on valentines day

* A came home yesterday with one of my new desks, lov lov lov it & the other one should be finished next week sometime, too exciting

*on the weight loss front, i now wear size 10 jeans

*i started a thankful journal this year, im really likeing it. some days it lots of things & others its just one

*my first class this year is a card class, should be heaps of fun

*well thats it, ill see about posting some pics later on