No Laundry Today

It has been overcast and rainy for almost a month now. There were two days of sunshine a few weeks ago - luckily they were on my days off so I could get some washing done.

But since then the skies have rained, sulked, blown a gale, sulked and rained some more.

We've also had a string of Summer storms, typical to Queensland weather (pre-drought years).

A Summer storm with a green-hail sky over Brisbane

Our dams which were dangerously low a few years ago are now filled to 80% - to a point where they are having to release water to ensure that there is capacity for flood mitigation.

Heavy clouds sulking in the sky.

My lawn is a swamp in some areas at saturation point everywhere else.

Swampy front lawn.

My plants are hankering for some sunshine and time to dry out. I am hankering for either some sunshine or a big water tank to capture some of the rainfall.

Handmade Christmas

My home is rather bare when it comes to Christmas decorations this year.

With such limited space in a little house we have no room for a Christmas Tree. A small tree would quickly be toppled and nomed by two wee kittens. We have very few table-top surfaces to place things on. Also, my collection of Christmas decorations is small. Too small.

But the few things I do have are handmade with love and with more olde world charm than tinsel glitz.

For example, my front door sports a wreath, tarted up with pine cones, macadamia nuts and pretty feathers.


And my wrapping paper is tissue paper, hand stamped with a set of stamps I carved myself...


And across the top of a window in the living room there's a 'Merry Christmas' made of painted wooden letters attached to tartan ribbon...


So. Very sparse indeed...

But the other half of my handmade Christmas is that so many of the wonderful gifts I've received from generous friends have been handmade.

First I received a box of handmade goodies from Metanoia, including a gorgeous little cherry blossom shaped pouch, a patchwork purse and handmade chocolates in the shape of crowns all made by her clever self. You can see some of her patchworking adventures on her blog, The Quilted Hen.

Cute purse/pouch handmade for me by metanoia.
It was filled with handmade chocolates. How good is that?!

Then poisoned_kitty gave me a gift that included home-made cookies and a very sweet handmade card proving that she is a stamping-embossing genius.

On Sunday night Foogyah girl gave me a very unexpected gift of Sweet Dal packaged in a cute cookie jar. It was squishy deliciousness and I'm guilty of already eating half of the lot! She's written an entry about it on her blog, including a recipe.

Then night_child80 gave me a little gift pack that had some handmade soap and mineral eyeshadow (bought off etsy - supporting handmade Christmas gifts!)

Li gave me a box of Lush goodies - one of the few companies that still makes it's products by hand and supports environmentally friendly products and packaging.

The extra effort involved in making gifts or sourcing and supporting handmade ones is so very appreciated.

MYO - Home Yogurt

Okay... so this blog has focused heavily on my garden recently. As a first time gardener everything about seeds, vegetables and flowers growing is fascinating me so I hope you'll forgive me for the one-track-mind. However, gardening isn't all I do around this place to steer myself onto a more sustainable and simple lifestyle.

Every Sunday I make yogurt to take in for lunches during the week using a 'cheater's device called an 'Easiyo'.

Sweetened Greek yogurt on top of smooshed mulberries.

Easiyo is a NZ company which has made home yogurt making easier. They sell a thermos-like device, canisters to fit it and little sachets of yogurt powder mix, containing the live culture, flavours and milk powder.

I've attempted making yogurt from scratch before but both times were failures... You see the trick with yogurt making is to keep your brew at the right temperature for the live cultures to do their work in turning the lactose into yogurt. If it's too cold, the culture will die. Likewise, if it's too hot.

The Easiyo device is half filled with boiling water and a custom sized canister, filled with the yogurt powder mixed thoroughly with water, is inserted. The boiling water gets the mix to just the right temperature and the thermos keeps it at that temperature while the bacteria do their thing.

Yummy, firm Greek yogurt after 8 hours in the thermos.

I do all this in the evening, it takes less than 5 minutes. Then in the morning I open the thermos, pull out the canister and find perfect Greek Yogurt every time!

You can buy all kinds of flavoured Easiyo sachets but I always use the unsweetened Greek yogurt. The fact that it is plain means I can use it for cooking, further process it to make soft cheese (haven't done this yet) or sweeten it with jams, sauces and honey.

Lunch - Greek yogurt with a generous dollop of Manuka honey.

Why bother with making your own?

1) Freshly made yogurt means the healthy, good-for-you live cultures are in the billions instead of the millions you find in yogurts that have been sitting on shelving.

2) It is cheaper. One yogurt sachet makes 1L and costs less than buying a 1L tub of cold yogurt from the supermarket.

3) If making from scratch, you know that your yogurt is entirely free of preservatives and other chemicals.

4) If making from scratch, you eliminate one more bit of plastic packaging from your household waste.

I live in hope that one day soon I will make yogurt from scratch, using lemon juice and milk to get a culture started. Given that my first two failed attempts were due to temperature fluctuations I hope the thermos idea will help moderate the heat so I will have success.

(Please note- I am not sponsored or supported by Easiyo in any way. I just absolutely love their yogurt maker! This entry is an honest review of their products from my perspective.)

Patience Paid-Off

One thing I have gleaned about gardening is that it requires a bit of patience, especially if you grow things from seed as I have been doing.

There is no instant gratification for the work and care you've given and often the 'slings and arrows of fortune' take away the prize leaving you miserably staring at a dead plant.

"Sometimes you break absolutely everything - your back, your heart, your nails. The whole experience hurts. This is not the Summer I signed up for."
Alys Fowler (on a storm which demolishes her garden)- The Edible Garden.

The hope of every gardener is that the fruits of their labor (literally and figuratively!) and the patience of waiting for germination, growth and then flowering/fruiting will pay off.

This week in losing one zucchini to the constant soggy weather in the last week (bad mould spores on both sides of the leaves) I have felt more keenly the satisfaction in and blessing of those things that have gone right.

Like my cornflowers (aka bachelor's buttons).

I planted the seeds back in late April, in seedling trays which sat on my kitchen bench. Each morning I watered and observed and marvelled as they sprouted out of the ground.

I then moved them to an area I thought they would be safe from kittens - ontop of the washing machine. But I found one morning that Fuu had yanked a number of them up, not to eat but rather just for fun.

So I moved the remaining fellows into my sewing room only to have Willow knock the tray onto the ground when I was lax at closing the door. With less than half of my seedlings left, I moved the tray outside, only to lose another half of that lot to sudden changes of temperature and sun.

There were 6 seedlings left. I planted three with the oregano in the back yard and the other three in the front garden.

Then I watered.

And waited.

And watched.

And waited.

And eventually I was rewarded with the gorgeous, delicate blossoms in the vivacious blue known as cornflower blue.

First one....



Then a few and now a great number at once. They are so beautiful I cannot resist photographing them over and over.


For the last three months I have had cornflowers gracing my garden and I am thankful.

How does your Garden Grow? (Dec 10)

Things gone right:

I have corn! Little silky threads peeping out from halfway down the plant. I'm so excited to watch the growing process of a plant I've never seen up close before.


My watermelon seedlings are also coming along nicely.


The nasturtiums I repotted when they were on their last legs have thanked me by growing madly and giving forth the most glorious flowers. (Note to self- eat more salads so I can use the flowers before they wilt.)


The sage I planted a few weekends ago have now germinated while the thyme seeds from a month ago have finally shown some growth.


The poor Rhubarb plants which suffered badly in the recent floodings (no drainage holes in their pot) have started to bounce back. I love to observe the pretty blushing of their stalks...


The white pettipan squash seeds planted in my recent plant-athon has sprouted with the rapid growth I have come to expect from large-seed plants. I never cease to wonder at the act of germination and how one plant may take days while another takes weeks.


The basil I planted in July has finally gone to seed. The flowers are so pretty and apparently edible, though I haven't given it a try yet! Does anyone know what point I should stop eating the leaves on a basil plant gone to seed?


Things gone wrong which I haven't taken photos of are:

• The big gaping holes in the leaves of my struggling sunflower plants.
  
• The bare lemon drop tomato plant in the front yard which has been attacked by green bugs and grubs.
  
• The disgusting mould that took one of my zucchini plants.
  
• The weird purple mould on the lucern hay I use as mulch in both the front and back gardens.
• The toppled pot of freshly sewn chives seeds with dirt and seeds spilled. (A local cat or possum?)
• The two tomato plants in the back yard that are hanging on to life enough for me to keep them but not offering up any sign of flowering or fruit for the last month.
  
• My frustrated face when I want to buy a deep planting trough to lay out some carrot seeds but can't because Christmas eats my money.
  

A Very Gardeny Weekend

Though I did other things this weekend, such as making kiwi-fruit jam and some cross-stitch, it seems what I have done the most this weekend is garden.

Transplanted:
Capsicum seedlings
Nasturtium seedlings
Marigold seedlings


Seeds planted:
Summer flower mix
Lettuce
Zinnia flowers
Rockmelon (hales best)
White pattipan squash
Thyme
Sage
Bronze fennel


Thinned out:
Strawberries
Watermelon
Sunflowers

Phew! No wonder I feel that contented kind of tired you feel after a good dose of physical work.

A Sanity Day

Yesterday I took a day off work to relax and get my sanity back in balance.

And what did I do?


Washing, wash-up dishes, bake cookies, bake cake, bake bread, make yogurt, clean house, gardening, embroidery while watching Alys Fowler's 'The Edible Garden' and spent time with my kittens. I feel happily grounded, sorted and neatened again.



I found nasturtium flowers growing on my young plants, as well as three gorgeous big sunny, yellow ones on my zucchini plant. I grabbed a paintbrush and attempted to assist the pollination process with the zucchinis. I sure hope it helps because I'm dying to get some vegetables growing.


We finally bought a mower so our yard now looks like a lawn rather than a meadow. I preferred the wild meadow style until a particular weed with little seeds that attach to everything started getting out of control. We now have a small mountain of grass clippings and no compost to put them on.

Jam drops with difference conserves -
raspberry, cape gooseberry & fig with ginger