Spring Time Walk

A Spring morning walk through my garden.


Sunrise from my front veranda {looking towards the city}


Cherry Blossom { its has only ever gotten a couple of handfuls of fruit}


Fuzzy Green Apricots


Dark Pink Climbing Rose


Sunny Yellows {dont know what they are but they close at night}


Freshia's in the grass


Wax Flower




Small Japanese Maple


Arum Lilly in the damp shady side of the house


Large Japanese Maple shading the veranda & stairs




these 3 are Helleboure's they are all from the same plant, the flowers grow facing down


these Freshia's pop up every where


Heartsease like a tiny pansy


i dont know what flowering fruit tree this is


Daisy with a purple centre


Purple Wisteria


Gravillia, it is full of flowers & there are quite a few New Holland Honeyeaters flitting in & out


another flowering fruit tree


Waratah


this Waratah in my front yard is tall & spindly but it has 6 big flower heads on it


Daphne, has a beautiful perfume






Lavender


Jasmin on the wire fence, i lov the perfume from these, i always have a piece pinned to me


in a light breeze there were a shower of white petals fluttering down around me

Ice Cream

Mixed Berry Frozen Yogurt Ice cream


Baking Sunday didnt happen as it was way too hot to put the oven on, it was baking monday instead. both new recipes, Seville Orange Cake & Mixed Berry Frozen Yogurt Ice Cream.

Ice Cream

1 cup Milk
1 cup Cream
1 tin Condensed Milk {home made}
2 tsp Vanilla
Mix all in a metal bowl & freeze { do not over mix} mix again when partly frozen & freeze again do this 2 more times.

Frozen Yogurt Ice Cream

1 cup Yogurt {i used Easy-Yo mixed Berry}
1 cup Cream
1 tin Condensed Milk {home made}
2 tsp Vanilla
1 cup of Berries {i had berries left over in the freezer from something else}
i added the Berries in the second mixing

Condensed Milk

1 cup Powdered Milk
1/3 cup Hot Water
2/3 cup Sugar
2 tbls soft butter
blend all until sugar is dissolved { i just used my hand mixer}

these 2 recipes came from Simple Cooking blog thanks Julie :o)


Seville Orange Cake

Organic Beef

last thursday our first side of beef was delivered
4 boxes of cut & packaged beef.
nearly filled our big freezer, so glad we opted to get it in 2 deliveries or it would not have all fit.



it is without a doubt the best beef i have ever eaten,
melts in your mouth.
the only thing im not pleased with is, we told them we didnt want the polystyrene trays. i will be calling them before our next delivery to make sure this does not happen again.

Needles & Pins

2 Pincushions, the Red spotty one is my fav & i lov the Black Vintage Button
dont know what i will do with the Cherry one, it just seemed like a good idea at the time to make 2




my new Needle Case, one of these has been on my list for some time
just made out of 2 pieces of felt, the inside book part is of course Red
the Tree & Apple are also felt

New Roof & todays stuff

today the builder came & put up the new roof on our back veranda, as some of you may remember the old one blew off. well the new one goes all the way to the end of the house so no more getting wet. i can sit out there rain or shine & my no more running out there every time it rains to cover up my Ringnecks.


spent the morning knitting, my new friend Jacqui has asked for 5 knitted dish cloths so i best get cracking.

i also started a new crochet rug in Baby Blue & White { i needed a new project for on the train}

made vanilla ice cream from scratch, i got the recipe & inspiration from Julie at her Simple Cooking Blog, thanks Julie :o)

also made a start on a couple of new pincushions, photos later

tomorrow our first delivery arrives from Landtasia Organic Beef {link on the side bar}
1 side of Beef cut to our specifications, vacuum packed in meal size portions.

we haven't mowed the back lawn for quite a few months so all the grass is in seed & as i type this there are at least 30 rosellas & twice that of Red Browed Finches & House Sparrows all feasting on the seeds, its quite noisy with them all chatting away but its a nice site to see.

Sunday Baking

i received a bag of oranges & a few Lemonades last week so they are the feature of Sundays baking fun.

first up was Lemon Curd made with the Lemonades
{ not tart like lemons but oh so good}
then used some of the Curd in Lemonade Tarts
Orange cookies were next on the list these are super soft melt in your mouth bite size morsels, dipped in orange icing.

the rest of the oranges were zested & juiced.
next on the list were Brandy Snaps, placed in a container & saved for dessert later on in the week, served with ice cream.
all of these were this weeks new recipes, also made Chocolate Chip Biscuits & still had ANZACS in the pantry.

Lemon Curd

3 Eggs
1/2 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Juice Lemon/Lemonade
Zest of Fruit
150g cold Butter

in a pot whisk eggs & sugar until smooth. add juice, zest & butter. cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until butter melts. reduce heat to medium-low. continue cooking & stirring until curd is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 mins {do not boil}. Curd should be thick.
now you can pour through a strainer into a chilled bowl, but i prefer the lemon zest to stay in the mix. into a chilled bowl {stick it in the freezer before you start}. Keeps for up to a week.

use for tarts, scones, cake filling, in slices or spread on fresh bread.

if anyone would like the melt in your mouth Orange Cookies recipe just let me know :o)

Hen House

may i present my new hen House




now all i need are the chickens

Hen House

A & I spent the day putting the Hen House together. wow was it hot, thank goodness we have a nice breeze blowing now. pics to follow
now its time to put my feet up & have a nice cold drink.

Gardening

Saturday morning was wasted as we had to catch the train up to Lawson to vote, they really need to make it so you can vote on the internet. we lived in Lawson for eight years & it has really gone down hill, i am soo glad that when we moved back to the mountains we didn't move to Lawson. its looking like a dump & if the drug deals are anything to go buy i am soo glad we got out.

we had a 1 1/2 cubic metres of dirt delivered {that is a lot of dirt} sitting on a tarp in our back yard.
i finished off the new garden bed & the boys barrowed in the dirt. finished off the last of the wood chip path that runs along side the garden beds.

& spent a good part of the afternoon digging up bindi's. you think there are only a few but when you get down there for a closer look, its never ending. it was also a hot sunny day, so we had a BBQ for tea with salad.

Sunday i repotted a few plants with the new mix.
Planted Bush Beans, Beetroot, Cauliflower, Endive, Lettuce & Carrots
also put in grow pots Tomato's, Break-o-day, Hardy Tom & Yellow Pear

i was excited to see the first snow peas & oh are they soo sweet, also the first of the sugar snap peas are just getting their pods.
this veggie business is very exciting.
Picked the first lot of snow peas, silverbeet & Nastrum Flowers for our salad to go with our tea.

Sunday baking- ANZACS, Snicker Doodles & the new recipes are Lemon Slice, Carrot & Poppy Seed slab with orange icing & Almond Fingers (wheat free recipe).
also made a pavlova base for Mondays dessert.
for tea- steak with diane sauce, coleslaw, mixed green salad & potato cakes {from leftover mashed potato} with a rice pudding for dessert {made from leftover rice}.

in between planing, picking & baking we had a lot of big storms, very windy & pouring rain.

Working on List/To Do List
Floor Rug* 14 colours down
Knitted Dish Cloths*5
Patchwork Quilt* still about the 1/2 way mark on the top stitching
Cross Stitch* still on the list
Hen House* the end is in sight {finger Xed for this weekend}
Pj Bottoms*mmm Red flannel with White spots
Apron*
Small 70's blanket* sewing together

Waffle Knit Dishcloth

here is the pattern for the dishcloths i made, it came from the Homespun Living Blog

Waffle Knit Dishcloth
from Homespun Living

i use 8ply cotton crochet & knitting yarn; additional yarn for colored stripe, if desired.
Size 4 1/2mm needles

Directions:

Cast on 38 stitches.
Knit 3 rows for border.

Row 1: (right side): Knit.

Row 2: K 3, purl to last 3 stitches, k 3.

Row 3: K 3, (P 2, k 1) 10 times, p 2, k 3.

Row 4: K 3, (K 2, p 1) 10 times, k 5.

Repeat these 4 rows, 6 times. If a colored center stripe is desired, change yarn now and work rows 1 – 4, 2 times in desired color.
Change back to main color and work the 4 row pattern, 6 times.

Knit last 4 rows.
Cast off and weave in ends.

Fruit & Veggie Bags

Fruit & Veggie Bags

Are you sick of all those plastic bags at the fruit market, do you use them or do you just toss all your fruit & veg straight into the trolley & then at the register try & get all the oranges, apples etc to stay on the scale. I have done both, its true you can reuse the plastic bags, but how many people do reuse them, & im sure they multiply when your not looking. As for putting them straight into the trolley, im not a fan of that. Those shopping trolleys & baskets are putrid.

So to combat the plastic entering my home I have made my own Fruit & Veggie bags
I have been using them for a few weeks & they have worked out great supper light fabric , strong but thin enough to see your produce through them. With a draw string closer, & they wash up nice.

So I am putting a few up for sale
leave a comment with your email addy & ill get back to you or you can email me direct on GoingGreen.Life@gmail.com

These are for all those people who have a to do list as long as their arm, don’t have the time or know how to make their own.

They would make great Christmas gifts for the Green people in your life :o)

Fruit & Veggie bags come in 2 sizes small approximately 26cm X 30cm & large 30cm X 35cm

They are $3.00 each plus postage

leave a comment with your email addy & ill get back to you or you can email me direct on GoingGreen.Life@gmail.com

spring update

the rain disappeared after 3 days & now we are back to the warm spring weather again. Ive been sick since Wednesday with the flu, today I'm starting to feel like myself again except for the runny nose & the hacking cough I'm just peachy.
yesterday afternoon i decided to do a bit of spring cleaning. i dragged down all the bowls, jugs, canisters & other kitchen items from up on top of the cabinets. don't ya just hate the sticky dust that forms in kitchens. I'm pretty bad i usually only clean them every 6 months or so, or if i need to use something. everything was washed dried & rearranged back on the top by about 6.30pm just in time to sit down to tea {chicken legs, baked potatoes, peas & gravy}.


i also took down the autumn/winter wreath from the front door & made a spring bush one. don't know how long it will last, just giving it a mist spray every
morning.


some bush flowers for the kitchen
on the dish cloth front i have finished 5, i am a lot quicker at knitting them now & i don't even need to look at the pattern any more. i found this waffle weave pattern at homespun living blog http://homespunliving.blogspot.com
i lov how they have turned out. i have purchased a few other colours so i will continue on until i am sick of making them or the weather gets too hot.

On Saturday i went into spotlight to get some flannelet & a pattern for some Pjs, they had a buy 1 pattern get 1 free, so i also got an apron pattern {3 half aprons & 2 full aprons}.
Pj pants are on my to do list this week all my old ones are on their last legs LOL.

Baking Sunday* White Choc chunk biscuits * ANZAC * left over cake * & a new old item was Short bread haven't made this in maybe 10 years so it on the new item list.

the Radish & Cabbage that i planted on the 25th Aug, emerged from the soil on the weekend, i think it had something to do with all that rain we had. Praise to the rain gods :o)



Radish Shoots

Pea Flowers


Silverbeet

i was asked to see a pic of the 70s quilt on the bed so here it is.




Working on List/To Do List
Floor Rug* 14 colours down
Knitted Dish Cloths*5 Patchwork Quilt* still about the 1/2 way mark on the top stitching Cross Stitch* still on the list
Hen House* the end is in sight
Pj Bottoms*mmm Red flannel with White spots
Apron*