a sunday in autumn

We spent the weekend, well ok just Sunday, enjoying the sunshine that so kindly beamed down to us! The vegetable garden had been left to it's own devices for a few weeks and although it looked extremely lush in it's greenness, the weeds had to go. I wanted a quick compost heap to put the frosted bean and zucchini plants in, as well as the succulent weeds, so enlisted the help of my youngest Man Cub. He whipped up a great temporary star picket and baling twine set up. Next spring I'll just pull it all out and spread the compost over the garden bed....I hope! 

We picked a large bowl of tomatoes too. We have had a few frosts but the plastic cover kept it from killing the tomatoes - that had barely started fruiting, mind you! I really haven't got the hang of planting in this cold climate yet but instead of trying harder, I'm going to cheat and build a poly tunnel!! At least it will look a lot better than this small, messy and very temporary structure. Seems like we have quite a few make-do type things around here, which is true. But I do like to use what we have on hand - and they mostly do the job..........for a while at least!!  

There was time for some bike riding on another invention that my boy dreamed up - a modern penny farthing perhaps? Last year he built some other strange type of bike  - we have a pile of bikes and parts here that have mostly come from the tip but what a lot of fun and learning they have provided.

I re-made? re-fed? what do you call it when you decant the kombucha? We love the stuff and I make about 5 litres at a time. Does anyone have any ideas what to do with the discarded scobies? I throw them into the chook bucket but surely there must be something useful to do with them!

And of course after the weeding, a hot chocolate and rhubarb cake in the fading sunlight is just perfect for a job well done!

I hope to be doing some sort of crafting in the next week or so. This blog had been missing some creativity and so have I. Have a great week, friends!! 

happy birthday

Today is my oldest sons birthday. He's 22.

Not so long ago he was driving Tonka trucks in the sandpit and building cubby houses in the undergrowth. Now he's leaping tall trees and marrying a beautiful maiden.

Tomorrow he is competing in the Australian Tree Climbing Championships being held in St Davids Park, Hobart. 

I hope all the love and birthday wishes we showered him with today, give him the superpowers he needs to win tomorrow.  

Here he is with my soon to be daughter in love.

And here he is on his winning climb during the Tasmanian Championships in 2010.

Happy birthday, my love.
xx

fungal bloom

Aren't they Beautiful? I L.o.v.e fungi. 

Love to find them.
Love to photograph them.

Love to eat them.

While Joh was here we spent some time searching, photographing and eating some of the many beautiful 'shrooms that grow here in Tassie. We've had a bit of rain lately so there are loads of little red, white or orange caps sprouting under trees and in paddocks.

Of course, those red and white spotted Fly Agaric Amanita muscaria are toxic so we left them for the Elves to dance on and the slugs to devour. When we first moved to Tasmania I was delighted to find these fairy tale mushrooms growing in abundance and every Autumn they send me off into dreams of Faery balls and Elven frolics! I'm not sure if it's my European background or if everyone has a fascination with them - after all we do see them in so many story books, don't we?

 That last photo is of a haul of Saffron Milk Caps Lactaria deliciosus...... edible, spicy and delicious. Funny enough, they have been growing in our paddock since we moved here but I didn't know they were edible until Joh waxed lyrical over them! I had been happy just taking pics of these bright orange beauties but now I'll be bringing them in for dinner!

Just a thought though - please be careful picking wild fungi as there are many that are very similar in appearance yet might give you a nasty tummy ache or worse! This Saturday just past I had the opportunity to attend a talk and demo given by a long time wild mushroom gatherer and I now feel that I can at least pretty safely identify these edible ones from the not so friendly ones!

I hope you've enjoyed viewing these as I'll probably be posting a few more......;o) 

hello!

I've been busy...... and a little bit down. My dearest friend spent a lovely ten days here with me and when she returned to the mainland, I realised just how much I had missed her and would miss her. We've been very close for almost 16 years, living - until recently - only a few kilometres apart and we've shared a lot of inner thoughts as well as two pregnancies. We are unique and different, yet with many similarities. 

I miss her a lot. 

It's a funny old world, isn't it? There are some wonderful 'ups' when time passes at great speed - holidays and visits with loved ones are just a couple that come to mind right now. 

There's also the times when you just wish that the days would pass by rapidly.... when life throws you lemons and you aren't able to turn them into lemonade quickly enough! 

And that's why I've been a little quiet in this space lately - I've been thinking. Musing. Just stopping and existing. No creating happening here right now. 

I've come to the conclusion that no one else ever really knows how it is inside me....or you. Not even those that are closest to us. No one. We are all in our own little world within this larger world. Our very own little world that only we will ever inhabit. For some it's a placid little world yet for others there's a roller coaster of highs and lows. What I might view as quite normal, you might feel affronted by, and s/he may not notice at all, and s/he may hate it and so on. 

No one else will ever truly, fully know me because my thought life is uniquely my own and shaped by my feelings, world view and a whole host of other randomness.  

But good friends understand us a little better than most.  

And thats what makes them so very special. 

easter for us

Easter for us means getting up extra early, getting dressed and waiting (im)patiently for every one to hurry and come outside to hunt for egg filled baskets. 

It means hunting under bushes and flower patches, in low growing shrubs, around any grassy tufts or hillocks and definitely in the veggie patch. You just never know where that Easter bunny hid your basket while you were sleeping!  

All of us join in - from the oldest to the very youngest...and every one has their own special basket, filled with chocolate delights and coloured hard boiled eggs. Well, maybe the youngest doesn't....yet!! 

We search and if we are lucky we find our own without too much searching..... but if we find someone else's we quietly walk away and let them have the joy of finding their own basket hidden amongst the greenery. 

There's always a little something else in the basket too - a small handmade notebook or a windup buggy or even a pretty hair clip.

Most of us stayed awake, but for this little one it all got a bit tedious and she had a quick nap! 

When all the baskets have been found - but before ALL the chocolate has been consumed - we head indoors for a breakfast feast.

Cheeses, olives, crusty breads and fresh hot cross buns, washed down with hot chocolate and more chocolate bunnies then we need! Good food mixed with love and laughter, family and friends. 

Of course, this year we also had a new Elf to cuddle and admire and squeeze and kiss. 

Oh yes, I l.o.v.e family celebrations. 

hottie cover

When you have a larger than average family, friends, acquaintances and relatives are often very generous with hand-me-downs. We've been very fortunate and have been given loads of lovely clothes over the course of our childrens' growing up years. Sometimes there's a great selection for everyone and sometimes we've had tremendous fun dressing up with clothes that the children think are only worthy of the stage! 

Now that I only have four at home and all of them are a bigger, the Well of Unlimited Clothing is getting a little dryer. And thats OK - we are no longer struggling with many mouths to feed and there are other families with greater needs than ours. 

Sometimes, there is something in the bag that I really love but the child it fits doesn't. In this case, a chenille skirt that wasn't quite what my Fairy fancied........ became a fluffy hot water bottle cover! A bit of cutting and a few seams on the sewing machine and we are well prepared for chilly winter nights! In fact, I'm now searching through other bags of clothes for another un loved skirt....or shirt....or jumper....!!

I'm linking this with Linda's Creative Friday this week. I haven't done much in the sewing/creative department lately, but I thought I'd show off this one small bit of creativity that I have managed!! 

visiting

Last weekend we had a visit from a Tiny Elf and her mama. She is adorable (the Elf, that is, although I am partial to her mama too!) and there was a considerable amount of vying amongst younger family members for cuddle rights! 

I managed to get a nice snuggle while the rest of the clan chuckled over her new look in the gnome hat that I finally finished for her. I made a size for a 6 - 12 month old so it's still a bit big, but she still looked rather cute with the ears turned up. 

The Best Man stopped working and went for a wander in the great out doors with her - she looks quite happy sucking her fingers and dreaming right along with him! 

Alas, I did not knit her pixie hat - it came from a market stall and is just the cutest thing!! 

My apologies to all of you that are not related either by family or friendship to our new little one. I have had a few gentle reminders that I need to post some more pics for far away loved ones to drool over and am merely satisfying their requests!! 

I will be a bit sporadic in this space this next week as I have a very dear friend staying here over Easter - and we have a lot of chatting to do..........!