I have all this news to catch up on and Murphy’s Law, I have
misplaced (not lost I promise!) my camera cord...which means I have a heap of
pics to upload and no connection to do it. That will teach me for being slack
over Christmas and New Years! So I will steam along anyways, trying to be as entertaining
as possible and if these posts are adorned with pretty pictures you will know I
found it...if not...I’m looking still.
It is now the 13
th January and the chilly nights
are back. I have been so busy in the last few weeks the poor gardens have gone
a little wild but there is certainly some yummies in there. The wind has beaten
my beautiful sunflowers so much they have lost most of their petals and are
looking rather dishevelled but with any luck I will still get lots of seeds
from them. Every few days I give the corn a little squeeze to see how much they
have plumped up.
The celery, peas and beans are looking and tasting fabulous
and I’m hoping to touch the first of the tomatoes to my lips soon. I would have
to say that the “Orange Blossom” variety has grown the best here so far, even the
ones in the basket are oodles ahead of the others. The best spot for growing
them would have to be under the stairs, followed by the hanging baskets under
the veranda.
I am thinking that maybe the new garden is just too exposed to the
weather for things like the tomatoes and I would be better off planting
something a little hardier instead like... railway irons. When we get nice
weather its beautiful here but we also get such strong gusts at times I’m surprised
anything is left on its feet including Sugar and the chooks. Luckily we are
made of tough stuff on the west coast and that includes
our hens too! Sooo, what else have I been up to? Usually the pics remind me of all the little things I want to tell you...
Well, Christmas and New Years were quite cool actually, lots
of different things happening and a lot of fun. I enjoyed the company of family
I don’t see often enough, made homemade kites and took them to the beach, was
entertained by Papa making balloon animals, had numerous random visitors, eaten
and got merry, laughed, sung, played with Whipple and been to learn to swim
classes. I have made new friends, found old ones, shared meals and bartered
things I don’t need for things I do. I have learnt, been inspired and given
from the heart an received from it also.
My latest adventures have been in the kitchen. I have been
given a dehydrator to use and the box of fresh veges I was given the other day
was a great start to experimenting with drying different foods. At the moment it
is loaded up with fresh plums, halved and stoned, four trays full of them.
I
guess I didn’t consider it much before but presently I have small jars of dried
tomatoes, apples, broccoli and spinach in my pantry and I keep looking around
for new ingredients to try out, I didn’t realise you could dry so many types of
food. Later in the week I will be making pumpkin flour and pineapple pieces...It’s
all rather exciting!
A few days ago I made a lovely tangy, sweet spiced vinegar
for some pickled onions. I only had a small bag of onions but I ended up with three
jars worth which I thought wasn’t too shabby.
The problem will be waiting at least three
weeks before sampling them.
With the leftover spiced vinegar and some fresh veges
I made fourteen jars of mustard pickle yesterday and it is absolutely delish. I
am going to happily smother cheese and crackers or cold meat with it, even the piece
of bacon and egg pie I had earlier was slathered in it, yum!
Today I went on a
mission to pick blackberries. My limbs are now torn to shreds and covered in scratches
and welts but I have ten jars of fresh blackberry jam to show for it.
Luckily
the canes aren’t too far away so I was able to limp my way home after slipping
on some large flax leaves and sliding down a bank on my derrière. To add to my
joy, I stood on a rusty nail that went straight through my sneaker and into my
foot. I think I will have to console myself with fresh bread and jam...
