Garden Progress

2 Comments

After our visit to the Garden Expo on Saturday, we spent Sunday afternoon out in the garden.

Our first project was to remove the old bird netting from the peach tree and to prune it.  This is what it looked like before we started.

Peach tree
This is one of the nets which we bought at the Expo.

Fruit tree net
The nets will protect fruit trees or garden beds from birds and pests, including fruit fly.  I had been looking at them online but when I saw them at the Expo I decided to go ahead and buy 2 of them.  Here is the website.  We bought the 2m ones.

It is recommended that you do not put the netting on until after the fruit has set otherwise it impedes pollination.  Since it is likely that the time to install the netting will be while we are away, we decided to have a trial run after pruning the tree.

New netting
While this would be sufficient to keep the birds away, you need to gather the fabric up and secure it around the base of the trunk to be sure of eliminating any fruit fly infestation.  We will ask the housesitters to put the netting on at the relevant time and hopefully look forward to a crop of unblemished peaches.

We also pruned the fig tree, grapefruit tree and one of the lemon trees.

Next weekend I will be planting as I have ordered some rhubarb crowns and asparagus.  I had a phone call today to say that they are ready so I will pick them up on Thursday.

A Dose of Inspiration

2 Comments

The Duke and I went to the Queensland Garden Expo today.  It is a huge event which is held annually in Nambour which is a major town about 30 km from where we live.  We do not go every year, usually about every 3 years.

We checked the program of speakers before we left home so had a definite plan for our visit.  First, we wandered around some of the many exhibits to see what was on offer.  There are so many stalls that it is difficult to take it all in.  We bought 2 nets which are suitable for fruit trees or vegetable gardens.  They are small enough mesh to eliminate fruit fly so we will be using one on the peach tree this year.

Our other purchase was 5 hibiscus plants which we will plant in the garden in front of the house.  We already have 1 hibiscus and are keen to remove some of the other shrubs and make the hibiscus a feature in this bed.

I will tell you more about our purchases in future posts.

We took our drink bottles of water and some mandarins for a snack but we bought some lunch from one of the many food stalls.  We had satay chicken skewers with spiced cous cous.

Then it was time to join the queue for a very popular speaker – Costa Georgiadis from Gardening Australia.  The title of the presentation was, “Growing our food future. Simple ways to participate that bring us all along for the ride. So hang on!” – and hang on we did.  Costa is a passionate and entertaining presenter – even more so in real-life than on television.

It was difficult to capture a photograph as standing still is clearly not one of Costa’s strong points.

006
He really did wear that beanie!

009Warming to his theme…………

014And finally, presenting the ‘evidence’ to the judges.

This was the beginning of the presentation, where Costa showed the audience pre-packed, hard-boiled and peeled eggs packaged in a hard plastic case.  The one hour presentation absolutely flew and we really did have to hang on.  This was not a formal, staid lecture but more like a wild ride.

Some of the messages I came away with were:

  • We can all make a difference
  • Be positive
  • Engage with your community
  • Be innovative

It can sometimes be difficult to maintain your enthusiasm and passion in the face of the negativity that so often surrounds us but a dose of Costa was just what I needed get get me inspired to continue to push to grow and share food, reduce waste and packaging and encourage others to do the same.

Another First

6 Comments

Following on from my first attempt at patchwork, I decided to try my hand at some bunting.  My thoughts on making this is exactly the same as patchwork – it should be about using up the scraps that you have – not buying a bundle of mix’n’match fabrics for a ‘perfect’ look.

Miss O and Izz are here tonight and they were keen to help.  They both gave their opinions on the fabrics we chose to use and Miss O was able to turn the triangles after 2 sides had been stitched.  I completed the turning with the aid of a knitting needle to fashion the point of the triangle.  She also helped to arrange the sequence so that there was a good combination of patterns.

Bunting

This is what we ended up with – a couple of metres of decorative bunting in a selection of pink tonings.  There are large and small florals, checks, stripes and abstract prints.  Some of the fabric is very lightweight and other is quite heavy.  All of it has been salvaged from the offcuts of other projects – some new and some used.

It is a quick and fun project which uses a relatively small amount of fabric and produces an almost immediate result.  A perfect school holiday activity if you have small helpers!

Something from the Garden

11 Comments

Back to one of my favourite topics – eating what is in season.

Last night we had salmon for dinner.  While the salmon is not strictly local, it does come from Australian waters.  It is farmed in the clear water of the Huon River estuary in southern Tasmania.  The salmon could hardly be considered a budget meal as it costs about $10 for enough for 2 serves.  We always barbeque the salmon and season it with a little salt and some lime juice to enhance the flavour.

Dinner
I served it with pumpkin mash, stir-fried pak choy, balsamic roasted cherry tomatoes and avocado slices.  I poured some of the balsamic/tomato juice over the salmon as a glaze to finish it off.  All of these ingredients came from our garden so you can’t get much more seasonal or local than that.  It also means that a meal of salmon is quite a reasonable price.  What would you pay in a restaurant for a meal like this? $30 – $35 perhaps?

Not every meal contains as much of our own garden produce but I do try to include it as much as possible.  Tonight we are having pizza which will be spread with mango chutney (made from the neighbour’s mangoes) instead of tomato paste and have balsamic roasted pumpkin as the main topping.

We have had a bumper harvest of pumpkins this year so I am constantly looking for creative ideas to use them.  As well as the ubiquitous pumpkin soup, pumpkin mash and being used on pizza topping I have also made some pumpkin scones recently.

What do you have a glut of?  Do you have any pumpkin suggestions?

Hello Again

Leave a comment

I think I am finally back on track and hope to have regular blog posts for you most days.  I have finally caught up and replied to all of your comments.  There has been a lot going on and I am working on a few different projects as well as the routine stuff and a full-time job.

Since I buy a large percentage of my groceries from bulk bins and bring it home in reusable bags, I decant it all into sealed containers in the pantry.  Even though it is all in reused jars I like the idea of having matching containers.  In order to achieve this I have tried to limit myself to just a couple of different jars and I am quite pleased with how it looks.  The labelling has been a bit hit and miss though.  The Duke finds it a bit intriguing that the raw sugar lived in a jar labelled ‘Quinoa Flakes’ and so on.

Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on improving the labelling.  The catalyst was the fact that we will have housesitters staying here while we are on holidays in a couple of months.

I have not finished it completely but enough is done to give you an idea.

Pantry storage
I have also labelled the spray bottles in the laundry that have pre-wash spray, diluted clove oil and window cleaner in them.

It amazing what we just accept as the norm in our own homes but it is an interesting exercise to stop and think about how a stranger would view your ‘systems’.

Housekeeping – How To?

14 Comments

What is housekeeping?  The literal definition would be ‘keeping house’.  According to the wonders of Google it is ‘the management of household affairs’.  This is a fairly broad definition but allows for everything from shopping, cooking, providing meals to cleaning, organisation, paying bills and filing.  Does this sound familiar?

I am not planning on getting into a debate over the merits of mothers who stay at home versus those who do paid work or male versus female workload within the home.

My interest is more about what you do, how to do it and where you learned the skills/methods that you use.  Today I was at home and it was a sunny winter day here.  I took the towels and bathmat from the bathroom and hung them on the line where they could air thoroughly and dry.

Towels
This got me thinking about how often I wash the towels and why.  We have one towel each and a bathmat and these are washed once a week.  I do this because this was the routine my mother used when I was growing up, and I suspect, her mother before that.  That is not to say that that I have religiously followed everything my mother did.  An example is the 3 pegs on the towel:  I do this because I can’t stand the way the towels go out of shape if you just peg them with a peg at each corner.

We have a climate where it is possible to line dry the washing virtually all the year round.  As you can see from the photo the line is undercover which gives protection from the rain and when it is cold we generally have the fire on at night so the washing is finished off indoors.

So, where did you learn your housekeeping routines and skills?  Have they changed and evolved over the years?  Do you ever discuss things of this nature with others – friends or family?  Have you intentionally taught your children or do you just expect that they will work it out for themselves.

Shopping & Sewing

8 Comments

Firstly, thanks for your kind comments on my ‘Hollywood’ outfit.  I am really pleased with it and quite looking forward to the occasion.  I am considering keeping the skirt as well as the top because I am thinking that there could possibly be other occasions for which it will be suitable.  Also, I dislike being cold and it can be quite difficult to be warm and glamorous so this would definitely fit the bill.  I could even add leggings under the skirt.

I am not keen on shopping but sometimes it has to be done, so yesterday we made a bit of a pilgrimage to a couple of the larger shopping centres which are about 30 minutes drive from where we live.  I won’t bore you with all of the details but I did manage to buy this piece of fabric at Spotlight.  I will make a camisole to go under the black top of my Hollywood outfit.

Fabric

While I was at Spotlight I also bought a round plastic tablecloth.  It was reduced in price and I had a discount voucher so ended up being priced at $5.70.  It is to go on a plastic outdoor table that previously belonged to my mother.  I wanted a permanent cover on the table so I decided to cut it a bit bigger than the table and attach elastic to the outer edge.

Here is the piece I cut off the cloth.Excess tablecloth
Coincidentally, there is a discount clothing store in the same complex as Spotlight and The Duke bought some new underwear and discarded several pairs that were looking the worse for wear.  I salvaged the elastic and used that to attach to the plastic cloth.

Elastic on cloth

Here is the finished article on the table – and no sign of the Bonds underwear elastic!

New table cover

Project 333 – Cinderella

12 Comments

The whole essence of Project 333 is about owning clothes that you wear and love.  As well as considering things like the style, colour and size of your clothes, you need to make sure that that your clothes are appropriate to your lifestyle.

So, what happens when life throws you a curved ball?  I discovered this week that the work conference I am attending in a couple of weeks includes a gala dinner with a “Hollywood Glamour” theme.  I don’t own a full-length frock, I’m 5’2″ tall, do not plan on wearing high heels and I have 10 days to create a red-carpet look!!

I canvassed a few options – buying in the city where I work, buying online, hiring or buying secondhand – either in person or online.  If I had a bit more time I may have bought this frock online.  I would have chosen the jade green.

I decided that my first choice was to see if I could find something secondhand so I went to the Lifeline charity shop located not far from where I work.  It is in the middle of the city and generally stocks good quality items.  I did not have any particular idea of what I wanted so was open to all ideas.

A skirt caught my eye.

Skirt
I did not try it on straightaway but turned my attention to finding a suitable black top.

Top
The skirt is clearly meant to be mid-calf length and it is slightly big in the waist for me, however, by allowing it to sit on my hips it becomes a floor-length skirt.  The top is a crossover black knit by Alannah Hill embellished with feathers and sequins.  It has 3/4 sleeves with drawstrings at the elbow.  The length is perfect as it covers the top of the skirt but is short enough for me.  I will either buy or make a camisole to wear under the top.

Shoes
Teamed with my existing patent leather heels and a small black evening bag, I think I will be ready for the red carpet!

My shopping spree cost me $52 – $25 for the skirt and $27 for the top.  I am not sure about the skirt but I can definitely see a place for the top in my wardrobe.  It could even go with a pair of jeans.

 

Simple Pleasures

9 Comments

I have been absent a bit recently for no reason other than the fact that I have a life to live as well as a blog to write.  I am busy at work and it is a little over 7 weeks until our overseas trip and the days are filling up fast with appointments as diverse as dentist, retirement seminar, work conference, tax accountant, haircut and so on.

I am able to work away from the office some of the time and yesterday was one of those days.  After spending the best part of the day at my desk, I ventured outside in the mid-afternoon.  This is the peak season for the citrus that thrive in our climate.

Citrus trees
The netted tree in the foreground is the mandarin.  The birds do not touch the oranges, lemons or grapefruit but they love the mandarins.  It may be because of the thinner skin but the scrub turkeys would take them all if it were not for the protection that the netting offers.

I picked some mandarins for our lunches and then took an opportunity which was too good to pass up.

Winter's day
I sat one the step in the winter sunshine and savoured a sweet, juicy mandarin picked straight from the tree.  Delightful!

By the way, this photo was taken yesterday and it has not been edited or altered in any way.  That is really what the day was like – perfect.