Around the grounds

I have been doing sewing, but I haven't had my camera out in the sewing department. I have however, had a bit of a walk around the garden with my camera so I can give you a colourful update about what's going on there...

How delightful and unusual for us to still have several sunflowers in our garden on the 3rd day of Winter. It's such a treat- these self seeded and I remember thinking "there's no way they will flower, but I am not pulling them out- just in case". Hooray for just in case!

In the past few days this tress has totally lost it's leaves- so now it's a leafless deciduous tree with a whole lot of bright, big orange persimmons on it. Also good on the 'cheer up factor' for the winter garden. The chooks are loving sharing the persimmon fruit this year- it makes me smile to watch them jump surprisingly high to peck at a soft one.

Several of our pomegranates have split this year. I'll need to keep an eye on them to make sure they aren't going mouldy or anything- in the meantime, the split ones are fun because various members of the family pinch a few seeds every time they walk past (again, including the chooks). I like doing that because it feels really healthy- like I am eating 'living food'. I had a go at making pomegranate molasses. Not sure what I'll use it for yet, but it looks amazing, deep red and quite thick. I juiced four pomegranates and added a bit of sugar and then reduced it over a few hours. The yield was less that 100 mils (because I wanted it syrupy)- so it's waiting for a pretty special occasion! 

The crab apples remain on the tree. They are on my 'to do' list. I'm keen to make crab apple jelly...there's a few other things on my list before I get there though.

We have had a bumper crop of all our brassicas this year. Above is the kale going crazy, below is at least 10 cabbages which I made into sauerkraut shortly after the photo was taken. I am having a bit of 'fad' for sauerkraut at the moment. Maybe it's my exchange student roots, or just wishing I was in Europe right now!

I love the idea of eating seasonally, I love growing our own food, but I tell you what, I have had my fill of cauliflowers and broccoli and trying to be creative with serving it...the ridiculous thing is, as soon as it's gone, I will quickly forget the overdose and have a bit of a hankering for it- just because it's no longer there.
Happy Winter.

Sunshine

This post is inspired by Thimbleanna, who showed us her new quilt recently- after  playing in the snow taking photos of it...

over this side of the world, this is how powerful our sun has been...

 Dried apricots- picked off the tree, cut in half and left out in the sun to dehydrate for a couple of days

same goes for our white peaches

and these were the surprise package of the season, dried cherries. We haven't done them before, they didn't take as long to dry and they are amazing- intense little mouthfuls of flavour. We will definitely do these next year.

Mr. Apple did most of these (I claim credit for the cherries!) , he's great at preserving. He cut the fruit in half, literally left it on our picnic table outside- no netting, nothing. In other years we have had birds have a bit of a go at the fruit as it was drying, but not this year. Ants weren't a problem either- maybe 8 days over 40 degrees (104 F) was too hot for the pests as well as me!
The apricots are quite a brown colour, not that pretty. Commerical dried apricots have sulphur and other things on them to keep their lovely orange colour, we choose not to do that- they might not look that pretty but the flavour is all there! These will be used in baking and school lunches and I reckon we have done enough to last until next season.
Now it's all about nectarines and plums and the last of the peaches at our place. 

Spring

Well,  I might be jumping the gun abit with the 'Spring' call, but gee, what a bit of blue sky, sunshine, fruit tree blossoms, flowering bulbs and a new lamb can do to cheer one up and inspire one to drag out the light cotton florals for a sewing frenzy!
But first, I was so keen on posting my bag early in bag month that I couldn't wait for good light to get a nice photo so I promised a better one, where you can actually see the feature fabric and get a vague idea about the shape of the bag...

The fabric came with a bundle that my crafty friend/ inherited cousin brought over with her when she visited from America not last time, the time before that...for one of her sisters weddings, no doubt, because there has been 3 of them in the past few years! She was silly  kind and generous enough to say 'Anything you want me to bring over with me?'...I can't remember the details of this 'shipment' but I may have just said something like '$40 worth of fabric?!'- the reason I think that is because I don't remember actually choosing these prints but just winning the lucky dip! Nat did a great job of selecting a variety of different prints and lengths she thought I would like and this was one of them.

So...Spring. A few weeks ago, our neighbour rang us (which is odd, because we live pretty close and usually he would pop over). He said 'our sheep has just had a lamb'- I said, great, we might come over and check it out. I assumed he rang because he thought the kids would be keen on a bit of baby lamb spotting, but when we got over there he was on the phone again  and I realised he was actually really excited, like a proud new dad ringing lots of his mates. It got better when I asked 'how long did she labour for?' and he informed me that he had no idea he didn't realise she was even pregnant (in his defense, she is a very very woolly sheep).  They are new to farming, having sort of retired to their place from the city. They are wonderful community minded neighbours...who I don't think read my blog!

 They also have new chickens, which are very cute as well.

And if that is not Spring-y enough for you...

Hopefully now I have found my camera, and camera battery, and sewing mojo, I will be back before too long to show off that sewing frenzy I alluded to. Although, some items have already been gifted without photos...hmph, and I call myself a blogger!

Nuts

These are some of our papershell almond havest...which we picked in the height of Summer.

Left a few months to dry out, the outside bit is then easily peeled off revealing...

Almonds...then this layer is peeled off- and hmmm, I must have put the camera down to join in and 'help' at that (the eating) stage!

In Production

I could show you abit of sewing that is in production... which is fun, because lately I have been sewing and have several things in production. At times I frustrate myself because I am not a 'linear' sewer, you know- start a project, finish a project, move on to the next project...but I am comforted to note I am in good company. I wonder if Nikki's floor gets as messy as mine!


Anyway, I have distracted myself- I could show you sewing in production, but that's not my plan, I am taking you on a little walk around my backyard and showing you some fruit (and nuts) that are in production.

Chestnuts- aren't they funny looking fellas! Many of the plants in our garden are not considered 'ornamentals' but seriously- I call them 'productive ornamentals'- because I think that they look great. And fruit tree blossom- oh my, how that makes me happy!

Pomegranates- I think I will have a go at making pomegranate molasses, or syrup this year- any one else made that before? If you have- any tips?

Quinces. I think I will go will 'quince jelly' as well as some in the Fowlers for later in the year. I'm keen on making quince jelly rather than paste because I just chop them all up (skins, pips- the whole shebang) and put them in a pot with a little bit of water, cover them with a lid and slowly simmer them till it's 'mooshy'. Strain through a 'jelly bag' overnight (I use a piece of muslin fabric)- then find a recipe that gives you a ratio of this liquid to sugar, and often I reduce the sugar a bit. 
Some people find quince paste is dead easy to make but I reckon I was scarred for life (at least for a few years) when I made it and painstakingly stirred it for, I'm sure it was hours...as it thickened and thickened- and then, in the when it was so so close to being ready, it burnt (so really, that sentence should read- when it was actually over ready and should have been taken off the heat already!). I was abit beside myself! My friend has made it in the microwave and reckoned it was a cinch, but, like I said, I am not up for trying it again just yet!

Apples. I realised my children were spoilt for (some types of) fruit when we had friends from the city stay with us and we were picking apples and pears- our kids would walk along, pick one, if it wasn't 'to their taste' (too sour, too floury, too tart, too dense- don't think I've ever heard a 'too sweet'!) they would piff in and pick another one. My friends children were looking on- in retrospect I realise they were waiting for me to pull out the 'don't waste fruit' lecture which was obviously familiar to them because as their mum cottoned on to the 'gee, if we chucked out an apple, we'd get in to trouble' looks that were being thrown around and  I heard her talking about how it's okay because there are heaps of apples and it won't be wasted, really because the pigs will get to eat it!

Passionfruit. Now there's an ornamental flower- if I was sensible enough to put tags on my blog I could show you because I am sure I have posted a photo here before. I can't wait until these turn purple. Mmmm, mmmmm.

Avocado. Yes, we have frosts and yes we can grow avocados. Some varieties do better in cold climates, but if you protect the tree for the first few years while it gets established. This is the first year this tree has fruited and it's got about 4 on it, I think. Well done tree.

Persimmon. I am generally happy to leave persimmons as an ornamental- although I really like them dried (possibly because of another scarred for life experience maybe). My grandma had a persimmon tree in her front yard when we were growing up and we did not know what it was- it was an astringent variety so if you tasted them too soon (before they were 'mooshy') our  faces did involuntary contortions because, well, of the astringency- or as wikipedia would say, because of the 'dry, puckering mouthfeel'! 
As an ornamental they are really amazing- they will get much more 'orangey' than this, the leaves will fall off the tree and (often) the garden won't have much colour- until you see the persimmons and can't help but smile! I often think they look like they are waiting to be sketched because they are so interesting.

Madarins. Just starting to ripen. Hurry up, I say, because these are a family favourite.

Kafir lime. We don't actually eat these but I wanted to include this photo so you can see the funny bumpy skin. I use the zest of these, and the leaves in cooking often combination with green chilli, coriander, fish sauce and coconut milk. 


I mentioned that most of our garden doesn't have 'ornamentals'. One exception is the bulbs I mentioned in my last post- well, imagine my displeasure on Anzac Day when I got home from the Dawn Service (first one I have ever been to) and our six 'free range' pigs were 'free ranging' through my newly planted daffodils. Yes, it's happened before- but I didn't have lovingly planted bulbs then.


Oh- and because it's getting closer to the time of year when you plant bare rooted fruit trees, I should remind you that you can get them here, from us! 

Life, oh life, ooooh, life.

Today is the first time in a really long time that I have been in my home by myself. 
Ohhh, I love a home day by myself. I am one who relishes my own 'space' and tends to feel claustrophobic when I look in my diary and realise that I might have say, 3 nights out this week, or 3 out 4 busy weekends for the next month. So today I was happy to send the kids to school and wave the farmer (who rarely leaves here during the day) off.
I am still in my PJ's and my breaky dishes aren't done, there is a list, I am a list kinda girl...but I don't think much will get ticked off it today and that's just fine!


It's been a strange and intense few months and I haven't had, or made the space to blog. 

Our set up means one has to be intentional about their computer use. The computer doesn't live in the house, it lives in what I call the 'sunroom' (and the farmer calls his office, and my crafty friends think of as the craft room and our longer distance friends might refer to as the 'guest quarters'!). And our computer is old- actually it's not that old, but it's slow (things just don't seem to last as long these days, do they?) as is the internet connection. 
What I am saying is, it's a bit of a rigmarole! 


Most significantly, my friend died.
I don't feel like it's my story to tell, so I wont go on about it (although I don't think my friend would mind because she was all for raising breast cancer awareness). I am aware that her young girls and husband are trying to get used to working out how their life goes on without their mum/ wife being there. I just wanted to acknowledge her, and them, here, for a moment. 


My community has been flooded, A and J had two weeks off school because we couldn't get into town. They are back for two weeks and then have two weeks school holidays. I don't think those two weeks were 'a holiday' for my children. They filled sandbags and helped prepare for the water. On three occasions we boated in to take supplies to my parents who were isolated on their farm- a whole day affair each time (usually a 10 minute drive). They saw a lot of people with an unusually high level of stress and anxiety. They saw their grandparents have water through their house and choose not to evacuate. 

There is usually no water anywhere near here.

They also did some fun things- one day I had 8 children from 5 different educational institutions at our house and they filmed each other and put together a local 'news bulletin' . My neighbour is a wonderful kinder teacher and comes up with some great suggestions of cool things to do! Miss A (she's 9) rediscovered the tree house decided to renovate...with the assistance of her dad and brother they decided to 'go up'- so now we have a two story tree house. We preserved peaches, picked tomatoes, apples and pears, read alot and overall had a pretty nice time hanging out with each other. 


There was some crafting- I got knitting, me knitting deserves a whole blog post all of its own! I started and finished a present for a new little baby who was born last week who I am looking forward to meeting. And there was even some rag rug sewing up. One day I will have a rag rug!



Our longer term plan is to build a house down at mum and dads- can you guess what we are calling this green bit of land on a farm that dad reckons was 80% underwater? 
Potential house site!

I am not telling you how many unread items are in my google reader...but it's alot. I've missed my bloggy friends and have appreciated those of you who know where I live emailing me 'checking up' messages, thank you.

the arrangement

We are lucky enough to live close by to great friends who are biodynamic dairy farmers. We have 'an arrangement', we swap our produce for their milk.
Sometimes the 'vegie box' is more abundant than others, sometimes it includes honey or jam and occasionally a cake or some bread. I feel really grateful to have such excellent quality milk, I do appreciate it. Mr. Apple has worked in the cowshed a reasonable amount, although not for a while, after his first few milkings he commented on how content and settled the cows seemed, really calm compared to other dairys he'd worked in. Our farmer friend is a pretty calm bloke, so the cows probably pick up his 'vibe'.

It's blackberry season here, I did a bit of jamming before Christmas but need to crank out the preserving pan again, we've put quite a few blackberries in the freezer- they'll be turned into cakes and muffins during the year.

We are spending our days kicking around home, hanging out- by ourselves and with friends, it's really nice. It was cooler this week so I baked bread and slow cooked lamb shanks for dinner (pretending it was Winter!). No craft has been done- I don't think I can count the ongoing 'mastery' of 'chain stitch' in my crochet...or complete failure to progress from there. I will be inspired by Lissanne though, because she 'got it' today...maybe I will get it...one day!

Making

Mondays and Wednesdays are my usual 'work outside the home'days. It can mean that I get over excited about Tuesday and try and cram too many things in. I will initially think, ahh, Tuesday, I can take it easy abit, and then, I will start 'taking it easy' and that will lead to me creating a massive list in my head about all the things I want to do.

Take today for example, today is the first day we have a pretty decent crop of apricots to pick- so I think- 'great idea, I'll make jam'. The apricots are now picked (not by me, I probably should mention, in the interests of full disclosure!). They are now waiting to be washed, cut up and made into jam.

And then I remember that the fruit I have soaking in (3 different types of) grog is ready to mince and go on to the next step of my fruit mince tarts for Christmas. So I have made the pastry and minced the fruit...and walked outside and realised it's really hot (and look up the forecast and it's going to be 36 degrees). So that's as much of that as I am going to do today because I am NOT putting my oven on in this weather.

The natural thought progression then moves onto hot weather, inside, creative pursuits and I think, yep, today I will make progress on my list of things to make before Christmas. That might involve; a library bag, 3 more toiletry bags, 3 nighties,, and a few other things. There has been action in the sewing room, not of which I am ready to show because they are all presents and I forget which relatives read or know about my blog and don't want to pre-empt the gift giving. 
What I can show you though, is the 'was going to be a gift' dress, I saw the intended recipient on the weekend and I think it will be too small. This is the second Oliver and S 'Ice Cream Social' dress I have made.
I vaguely remember a few years ago there was an ice cream dress bloggy sew along, well, not out of character for me I am a late comer to this pattern. I really enjoyed sewing it, it was the first Oliver and S pattern I have made and I have just bought two more I liked it so much.
I liked that I understood what it was  telling me to do (sometimes took a few reads, or me to clarify it with my sewing 'help desk', but, for example once Karen cleverly advised me that I was looking at the wrong page and a good trick she finds is to follow the instructions in order!). When I had to match up notches, there they were, in the right spot.

I enjoyed the detail of the 'v' on the pocket, not too tricky at all (amazing what following instructions can do for you!). I hadn't done that before. 

These are not my preferred choice of fabrics and colours, but that's okay, because I wont be wearing it. I did it with the intended recipient in mind she likes butterflies, pink, yellow, girly, pretty things. I do find it much easier to sew with fabric I love though, colours I love. I mean, this was okay but wasn't my favourite.


On that note, I might go and get on with all the days 'making'...I possibly should include- make the dinner, make the clothes clean and dry and folded, make the place abit more presentable generally- but I don't find that making half as much fun!

Paddock to plate

I love those particularly abundant times of year when the garden is offering plenty. Especially when the plenty has a relatively short season (eg. asparagus) so we never feel the weight of 'what are we going to do with all these...insert name of vegie'. The short season means the produce isn't taken for granted. Berries and cherries are always pretty special too. If you ever wonder why raspberries can be expensive, spare a thought for the picker- and hope they are getting a decent cut of your money. They a little, fragile and tricky to pick compared to many of the larger most robust fruits. Paddock to plate in under 10 minutes. Nice. Sent from Yahoo!7 Mail on Android

makin' bacon

The pigs have had their worst day. 
Last year we got a mobile butcher to come and do the butchery type things. 
This year Mr. Apple and the 2 neighbours decided they could handle it...
This year I teamed up with some books, google and Pete (the Italian friend) to learn how to make bacon (pancetta, apparently).

It's been salted, now it's hanging and next week it's going to be smoked (above mentioned neighbour has a home made smoker, I wonder how that will go!).

As we speak

Welcome to my house.

Oh- wait, did I say welcome? I must have been mistaken...

As I sit here there is a lot of noise around me.
Chainsaws, trucks and other nasty loud things.
'They' are chopping my trees down.
Someone 'just doing his job' is chopping our trees down. 
And creating a lot of noise pollution in my usually quiet neck of the woods.

I don't like it.

A neighbour had 8 over 50 year old eucalypts cut down by the same people last week...no permit required. 
next post...the therapeutic benefits of having a blog?!

Pause

I don't think I have been accused of being too quick in my life. Ever. Until the last few days (I secretly quite liked it!). It has been suggested that I am whipping through the Tanya and Nicole/ Julie and Julia project too fast. 
And, perhaps that I have got off to a head start because I actually have the book in my possession.
It seems, my postie is more efficient than some and others, well, it sounds like they are having a very disciplined wait until Mother's Day.
I did assure those commenters that I have been getting my confidence up with some of the smaller projects and that things will find a more reasonable pace soon.


But I will tell you about something entirely different today. 
Compulsory acquision of land- you know, like in the film, the Castle.
Well it's happening to us, to our farm- just a small bit of it, but our farm is only small to start off with and it all counts.

Can you tell how much fun is had in and around this tree.

Well, it's going to be cut down (probably- no details have been finalised). My children and their friends have spent hours up this tree, having all sorts of adventures (and surprisingly, no broken bones).
These trees?

Going as well.
Oh, I can feel my blood pressure rising as I start to think about it.
I feel- powerless, frustrated, sad, annoyed and a trillion other emotions in the mix as well.


We live in a farming area that has irrigation channels. Farmers irrigate their crops using this water. Some bright spark (?) has come up with the idea that if the channels are lined with plastic less water will be lost through it seeping out... (lined with plastic? Really? I wonder what will happen to the plastic in 10 years...)
Our house is basically right on the channel (you can see the house in the bottom photo). Over the next 3 months workers are going to be on our place (7.30am- 6pm because they have a tight time frame), rebuilding the channel and lining it with plastic, chopping down our trees and then they are going to fence it off and 'compensate' us for the land (to the tune of 30-40% of the land value). Apparently, according to the Water Act, that's all okay...they don't need our consent.


Just telling you how I feel.