The new journey!

So it has been two years since I last posted and what a two years it has been. Sold the family home and spent the last couple of years renting, looking after two great kids and juggling full time work, it hasn't been easy! Really the last few years have been about getting through, day by day but now I am a Westie, meaning I have moved to the Western suburbs of Melbourne from the East and absolutely loving it! I am all ready for the next chapter.

So what will the next chapter look like?

• Exploring the Western Suburbs of Melbourne and all they have to offer.
• Getting involved with what I can already see as a vibrant, engaged community - helping kids to settle in.
• Looking at sustainable living while not impacting too much on the day to day. My partner and I have just bought an old house originally built in about 1900 (pictured in header). It has been renovated and extended but we would like to put in our personal touches with both design and improving the sustainability of the house and garden so looking at:
• energy efficiency of the house to help keep the energy bills in check
• solar panels
• an edible garden, with composting and worm farms and maybe a few chickens
• already has three water tanks
• and last but certainly not least, upcycling vintage furniture and other items.

Sammy the dog with our vintage dining table

 All the while juggling a busy lifestyle with kids, dog, family, friends and my job (I am sure there will be a few good posts about this, with me pulling my hair out)!

And keeping in mind how busy life is still want to try as much as possible to enjoy the day to day, enjoy the journey.

Garden to plate - tomato, coriander salsa

It has been so hot in Melbourne and the heat is going to continue for another few days. The heat is really starting to effect me, the kids and the garden. My poor herbs, are dropping, even though I water them daily and they are in the shade.

Luckily I was able to get enough coriander and probably almost our last crop of cherry tomatoes for the season and make a refreshing salsa. This one is well worth making and can be eaten by itself or goes well on garlic / herb bread, lamb or chicken.

For the one pictured above I used:

14 cherry tomatoes

2 tablespoons of fresh coriander

2 avocados (have to try growing these next)

1 glove of crushed garlic

2 tablespoons of lime juice

A pinch of salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy!

New direction - house to home, garden to plate

Now the extension is finished I have been thinking what next with the blog? As many of you know even though an extension or house might have finished being built there is still lots to then do to make a house a home. This is what I am now going to focus on.

I had a good Summer break with the kids and now they are back at school and kinder, I have had a little head space and time to reflect.

A big thing for me is making our house a home, somewhere we feel comfortable, have fun and enjoy. Somewhere family and friends love to visit and spend time with us. The same goes for the garden, we would love a mini oasis in the middle of suburbia.

Over Summer holidays I quickly realised a few things, to have a comfortable home you want it to be cool and shaded. There is lots of  sun about and so was glad we got the solar panels in. For the garden water is obviously a necessity so hence a good size water tank. Other factors will come into play in Winter, so I am looking at sustainability measures to make our house comfortable all year around. This will also help keep the heating / cooling bills down.

The other thing I took in is with a lot of entertaining and the kids being home over the holidays we wasted a lot of fresh food by buying too much and then it spoiling before we ate it. So now I not only want to make a beautiful garden but a productive one. This has started with my bumper crop of cherry tomatoes which the kids, hubby and I not only enjoyed eating but the kids loved planting and picking them too. This also brings up the topic of fun things to do with the kids around the house and garden, another focus for my future posts.

Over Spring and Summer we have been working on our garden and thinking ahead we have started to plant tress that will not only grow to hide the fence and look good but will eventually grow fruit, our mini orchard in the middle of suburbia (see picture below-planting was something Hubby and son enjoyed together). 

So with all this in mind I hope you can join my journey of making my house a home and my garden a productive one. I am also aiming to come up with some great recipes, that use the fresh produce we have grown. I would love it too if you could share ideas with me along the way. So stay tuned for my garden to plate posts.

Dreaming of Spring lunches

We have had a long miserable Winter in Melbourne but now in August can see the days getting slightly longer and hopefully warmer, so am dreaming about the Spring outdoor dinners, or long lunches in the garden.

These settings really appeal for a Spring lunch or tea party. Would love to do something like this for my friends and their daughters. Though my six year old is a red girl rather then pink.

I love this idea for my book club. Maybe a Spring time lunch for our next meeting.

 

The three images below would be great for a Summer party - 

Images from Delish.

Will be looking to make these pineapple drinks, yum! Bring on the long warm days.

Wrap around deck tour

Our wrap around deck is finished, well built at least and so thought it was time to share, so come along for a tour warts and all.

 

Now this deck was started late October 2011 and has only just been completed in that the roof on the pergola was put on last week. I can not believe how long it has taken but there have been reasons such as drainage issues, Christmas break and more. So considering it has taken so long and I have mentioned it in a few posts, thought it was about time I shared pictures, even though we still need: to finish oiling the deck, painting the pergola and getting some wooden trims put in. 

This is where we sat and had our coffee this morning while we watched the kids playing in the garden.

This is the view from where we were sitting.......

.

Now once I finished my coffee and got out of my chair and walked to the edge of the undercover area this is the view.....

 Then perspective from the garden....

And moving around the corner down to the laundry....

Looking back from the laundry door.....

So there you have it. We love our new deck and so do the kids. As you can imagine they love to run right around it out the sliding doors next to the dining area and right around to the laundry. I love the fact too that I can sit at the dining table or in the family room and watch them play.

Hope you are all having a great weekend as you can see from the photos, here in Melbourne it is a beautiful sunny one.

Also if you want to find out what Hubby and I spoke about over coffee this morning - A Coffee Chat - Too busy for child's play?

Agapanthus add to decorating

The sun finally shone in Melbourne for the first time in a week today and so managed to get out into the garden.

I am loving the explosion of purple the Agapanthus provide and so I thought they would go well indoors too, adding to the 'look' I love for my house.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Wattle tree - to go or stay?

We have a large Wattle tree in the corner of our back garden and at this time of year I think it looks spectacular. I love the smell of wattle it makes me feel like the end of Winter is near.

The issue is with this beautiful tree is that Hubby wants to cut it down and I do not. Not only because I love the wattle flower but the tree gives great shade over the children's play area in what is a north facing sunny garden.


For me too I struggle to cut down any tree no matter what size and with a large one like this well what can I say, I would cry. I grew up in the Adelaide hills where there were large gums everywhere and I just love them - the smell, the noise they make in the wind and the wildlife they attract.

In hubby's defence the tree does drop a lot of bits and pieces and he has had to cut it back from annoyed neighbours properties.

Luckily for me the local council have strict laws about removing trees, especially natives and it will cost quite a bit. So I have been given a year to improve and use the space under the tree and then we will discuss again.

Any ideas for what I could do in that corner?

A drive in the country for garden ideas

A jaunt to the country, well in this case the outer Melbourne area of Warrandyte, (so not really country but fresh air, orchards, rolling hills and a river) was great for inspiration, relaxation and just getting out of Melbourne a little.A visit to a local orchard and after seeing these fruit bins think we will be heading back soon to buy some fruit to use as herb and vegetable planter boxes.

Also love this setting and beautiful deciduous trees for Autumn colour...

And to add to this can't go past a visit to an Antique store, this one in the main street of Warrandyte even has a gorgeous rustic entrance.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend.

Summer colour a great distraction from the build

Already mid way through January, so by now was hoping to have a build date for stage two of our renovation, our rear extension - but alas we don't. I was told yesterday by our Building Manager that he hasn't confirmed a carpenter yet, the first trade we need on the job. Others are lined up but can't do anything until the carpenter has started. I am assured though it will be sometime soon, whatever that means!

Good thing is every time I go to the fridge I get a glimpse of the calendar my kids gave me for Christmas and it instantly cheers me up. The picture for January is of a Provincial market in France, love the colour and the gorgeous terracotta houses that surround the market square.

A wander in the garden in its full Summer bloom also helps. These beautiful Saliva's greet me as I come in the front gate......

and this gorgeous fuchsia hangs over the iron railing on the front porch.......

a wander around the back garden and I smell and admire the Lavender.....

and love the tall Agapantha flowers against the green backdrop of the Canadian Maple and Jasmine.

Autumn in the Garden

Happy Mother's Day to my Mum, my Mummy friends and all the Mother's out there.

In Melbourne it is a beautiful Autumn day, the kind of day that I love to spend in the garden. The perfect temperature to get out there and enjoy it.

Looking at it today and watching the kids running around it really hit home for me that this time next year a chunk of the garden will be gone and in it's place our extension. This will mean a garden re-design and the removal or cutting back of a couple of trees, but I am happy to say the Maple will still be our centre piece and I am determined to keep a herb and vege garden. It also provides an opportunity to look at some sustainable gardening practices such as permaculture as part of the design.