fluff balls

The little silky chicks have been oh so busy growing, can you believe they looked like this only about 6 weeks ago! they are the funniest little fluff balls and great little garden companions.

A crafty little corner

 Ive been working on my hand stitched 'A Gardeners Journal' quilt, this block is almost finished, just the applique left to work on.
The more tiny squares I stitch the less tedious they seem. I suppose I'm getting more patient, enjoying the process and knowing that with so many little pieces I really couldn't rush it if I tried! I just surrender and feel happy with each days tiny bit of progress. It will be truly special to me when its finished and I will appreciate it all the more after all the (im)patient waiting.

 I love this bird bath. It makes me want a bird bath for our garden

All my current handwork projects now live in basket draws next to the couch, perfect to keep them tidy but within reach for when I have spare moments to work on them. Its so nice to have room to put things finally! 

I'm enjoying these geranium flowers gathered on an evening walk last night.

I only had Rhylee in daycare for the morning so we took a nice big walk together. We went past a garden absolutely packed with fruit trees. There was no grass at all, just trees and more beautiful trees! 

I love seeing others growing their food, how fun to daydream of what kinds of fruit each tree grows, how I would enjoy it all if I lived there. 

Ive just started watching 'The Good Life' on you tube, I really enjoy it and it inspires me. Benny's lucky were renting this house or else the front lawn might soon be dug up and replaced with yummy leeks!

Home tour- our new kitchen

The weekend has been busy and fun!

We've been un packing, spring cleaning, having friends over and of course gardening.

Here's the new kitchen. It was tidy yesterday I'm sorry you missed it:)

(I may or may not be planning to use that excuse for the rest of the house too)

 I'm loving our new little kitchen. It hasn't taken much at all to make it feel homey and warm.
 The island in the middle is on wheels so we can shift it to the most useful spot and it has a marble top so that hot food from the oven can get put straight on it. handy!

 I also love having a double sink. My aunt Jo gave me the lovely beach picture for my birthday and now finally I could put it up:)
Perhaps my favourite thing of all is having a rainwater tap. I don't miss bringing in bottles of rainwater one little bit. I use rainwater as much as possible so this really does save me a lot of effort each day. Not that I minded, but its definitely nice having it right there when I need it.

Ive been doing some more preserving and I've found some more second hand jars. I love how the jars look on top of these cupboards, they make me think of the store stump in the brambly hedge winter story book.
I can just imagine pulling them down on cold winters evenings.
I cant wait to fill them all with beautiful colours.

I also made 7 jars of sugarless strawberry honey jam which is delicious.
I think my favourite thing about providing food for the daycare children is having a constantly overflowing fruit bowl in my kitchen. Even this week when our main fruits are watermelon and strawberries (both kept in the fridge) there is still plenty to look pretty on the counter.

So there you have it, I do hope you enjoyed your tour:)

{this moment} Home!

(Finally we have space to spread out and call our own! Bennys parents place is finished and looking fantastic so there is much excitement in these parts and many a moving box. Heres a little peek at our loungeroom, more to come when everythings un packed)

kitchen and garden (where does one end and the other begin?)

Last night I had my very first go at preserving (canning)

I did some pears. I was pleased to learn that sugar isn't necessary to preserve them and they can be in just straight water. I used some lemon juice to ensure they had enough acidity for the water bath sterilisation method and a little honey for flavour. When I went to use my new (to me) pot I realised that it was so big it didn't fit on the biggest hotplate on our stove. Benny's dad suggested putting it half on two hotplates to speed it up which worked great. Being that it was my first ever go I plan on opening them soon just in case I didn't get it quite right. Pears and custard on the weekend Dad?

Here's my brekkie salad from the garden this morning. I cant wait for tomatoes and cucumbers to add!

Ive got about 20 tomato plants in at the moment and I'm wondering how many plants people usually have if they want to preserve enough for over winter.

Not that I could squeeze too many more in my little garden but just to get a bit of an idea about how much I might get and how many jars I might need.

This tomato was a winter one. I was quite amazed to have tomato plants in the garden over winter!

 It didn't do much when the weather was cold but now that were getting a little warmth its thriving so we should have some early tomatoes not too far away. mmm, I can almost smell the delicious tomatoes!

The day after Oma asked for some broad beans I noticed the first flower so Oma, your broad beans aren't too far away either!

My apple peeler, corer, slicer had a broken handle so Benny surprised me with a new and improved stainless steel handle that he made at work.

with all the apple peels and cores (as you can see, apples have been especially popular around here lately) I've started some vinegar

Lately I've been doing some woodworking.

Ive been working on the play stands each time I visit my dads shed and there coming along nicely but last time I decided to have a go at some chopping/snack boards for the day care children.

You see a while ago when i was ridding my kitchen of plastic i got rid of the children's plates. I can be a bit 'ruthlessly efficient' in donating things we don't need, to the point that some times i get rid of things I kind of do need!

So these are used in place of plates now. The idea came from Melanie of Our Ash Grove a few weeks ago.

I made one to represent each of our animals

(a rabbit, cat and chicken)

and then a random sheep because its what I thought of at the time

 Dad showed me how to use his edge trimmer to round the edges. Now that i know how to use it I will definitely use it again, it gives such a nice soft finish.

I planned on adding faces with my wood burner when I un pack it but now after seeing the children's way of adding faces I think there perfect just as they are

Garden Update and a Preserving (canning) bargain

just for the fun of it, heres my veg patch not long ago when id only just started it!

 My little veggie patch is thriving all the more now that the sun is warming it more each day. I spend so much time out there pottering about and just sitting, dreaming of how it will look when it all gets bigger.
Its all quickly growing right before my very eyes and most days I discover something new.
There is a steady supply of new shoots (loads of self seeded tomatoes), fruit tree coming out of their winter sleep and beginning to grow new buds, leaves or blossom.

Ive been thinning out my first planting of carrots as I went a bit over the top with them, not knowing how many would sprout. It was nice to pull out the excess and see what growth had been happening underground. Now all the excess shoots have their very own uncrowded beds and plenty of room to grow.

 These are the first potatoes I planted.
 I planted them in a deep hole and only partly filled it until they had shoots. Each time they shot up I filled it a little more and now they are above ground level already. Ive planted quite a few potato plants since so i should have a nice sized crop to harvest in a few months time.

 These two beds of broad beans are doing well and I've changed the shapes of the garden beds to allow just a little more planting space.
The bed up the top has lots of little basil seeds that have sprouted and are making me so excited for pesto in the not too far off future. I LOVE basil!
I keep sneaking in more seeds into every spare garden space because I cant resist the thought of abundant delicious basil to dry, freeze and use all year long! Besides, it makes me so happy to walk past and smell it in the garden.

 Behind our back fence is a vacant block and it has a huge fig tree (you can see it in the back ground here, when it was dormant)
Its a nice big old tree, all wild and untamed.
Best of all, were welcome to whatever fruit we can save from the birds! Hopefully that's at least some

Here's my latest thrifting bargain! Ive been looking into preserving (canning) jars for a little while to have around in the hope of having excess food from the garden to put away for later. I also want to use the jars for storage of all sorts of things in the kitchen etc.
The two main sorts available in Australia seem to be Aussie made Fowlers Vacola and U.S made Mason.

Mason jars have screw top lids which would be easy to use for storing things (other that preserving/canning) But their lids contain BPA and they have to be imported. There still affordable but I prefer to get things made locally to reduce carbon footprint.

Fowlers Vacola jar lids need a clip to keep them on if not used for preserving but I can get stainless steel lids with a rubber seal on the outside of the jar so chemical safety wise they are a winner.

I think ill end up with a mixture, using different ones for different things.

My mind was certainly made up what to get first when I ran into this lot of Fowlers Vacola  at two of my favourite thrift shops. I found lots of jars for $1.50each at the first place and was rather excited at my bargain.... I then headed to another place and got some 20c jars and a $5 steriliser! Yay!

The most expensive part was the stainless steel lids, clips and rubber sealing rings which i got new but still, I'm very happy with it all! Ill be doing a trial run soon with some cheap bought fruit or veg to make sure I've gotten the hang of it before I use my beautiful home grown produce. Oh and because I'm not patient enough to wait to try it all:)
Some jars of pears and apples will be going to my parents. My dad was telling me how when he was little they lived on a farm and didn't go into town often for shopping.
His mum (my Ma) used to preserve apples and pears from their trees and they were a treat over custard in the middle of winter