Rust 'n' dust

Big boy!

2008-10-01T21:47:00.003+10:00

Mannie is doing so well. The little man is now about a month old, and has such an appetite!

Of course it's hard to refuse this little face..... If you look closely you can even see his little horns starting to come through!
When he's not downing a stubbie full of milk, he's nibbling grass.
Mannie's having heaps of fun chasing the chooks and hanging out with the other sheep and goats. What a life!

I have competition, and new tenants.......

2008-09-23T19:18:00.008+10:00

My darlin' and I went for a leisurely stroll down to our dam on the weekend. The kids were busy up at the house, DH had finished his chores (hence the grubby clothes and beer in hand) and we finally had some "us" time to have an uninterrupted chat. Or so we thought........... until a gorgeous blonde muscled in on my man!!!

She may be beautiful but she sure ain't too smart! Nothing a pair of wire clippers couldn't fix lol.....

Look who's moved in....... There must be a notice board in the animal world that has our address on it ..... These lovely geese have lived over the road from us for years, and have stayed on as various people moved in and out of the property. They seem to have decided that our dam looks pretty good after it's recent clean out and a good drop of rain. I think they're gorgeous.....

My new crafty blog

2008-09-09T13:01:00.001+10:00

Yep, I've set up another blog, not to replace this one just to tidy stuff up a bit. This one was getting a bit messy so I decided to make a new one just for my crafty stuff. I have called it Clever Chook, not cause I'm vain but because that's what my darlin' calls me! I also hope it keeps me more focussed on making stuff, cause I'm thinking of setting up an etsy shop. Let me know what you think......

http://cleverchook.blogspot.com/

A new addition to my flock.....

2008-08-29T09:44:00.002+10:00

On Tuesday I was sitting outside in the lovely sunshine, sorting a fleece ready for washing, when around the side of the house came my DH. In his arms was this beautiful boy! I must have smelt nice and sheepie because he snuggled in to me quite happily. DH found him abandoned after a fox had killed his twin. He was less than 24 hours old.Here he is watching DH prepare his bottle. At 4 days old he is drinking 6 bottles a day, 200 mls each. More than his own body weight almost!

Nutmeg made him welcome, washing his face for him. I have called this little guy Mannie. He is my only boy sheep ( hard to call anything this small a ram lol), and will be a nice friend for Pearl and Louie. They have been mothering him all day, but he sleeps in the bathroom at night.

Of course he sleeps a lot as babies do. What a sweetie......

Hey, this felting thing is pretty cool!

2008-08-19T15:21:00.003+10:00

Yesterday I decided to have a go at using last year's fleece from Pearl. As we did the shearing ourselves the fleece was VERY bitsy, lots of short bits. It was also filthy with our red soil, and had loads of debris such as thistles, burrs etc. After some net surfing to find out how to do it and six washes later (next time she's having a bath!) the fleece was finally clean. I carded it to remove any remaining organic matter and then had a go at dying it. I used food colouring as it is cheap and easily available. I just wet the fleece, added the food colouring and zapped it in the micro for 2 mins at a time until the dye was all taken up. It was fun, and very messy lol.... BTW that is purple not black, I was a bit heavy handed with the first lot!

This morning I pulled it into little tufts and randomly placed it on the bubble wrap to begin felting a bag. I got the pattern for the bag from here ages ago.

Because Pearl's fleece was so bitsy my bag was different thicknesses in places so I will make a lining to strengthen it. I haven't decided yet how to do the handles.

Turned out ok for a fully homegrown amateur effort. The colours are different to what I'd usually use so it was fun to try something new.

Revamped felt cushion top

2008-08-17T17:09:00.002+10:00

The cushion top I made in the felting workshop wasn't quite how I wanted it to be. The raw silk moon wasn't very visable under the felting. So I snipped away the felting, removed and ironed the moon and replaced it. I used the scraps of felted wool to make clouds and needlefelted it all in place. Now it looks right! Well, to me anyway....

Mongolian felt making, this is fantastic!

2008-08-17T12:14:00.000+10:00

I learnt to felt today!

2008-08-16T19:19:00.003+10:00

And it felt goooooood lol...... After many moons of reading felting books and looking at people's work on the net I finally had an opportunity to attend a real live felting workshop. It was so much fun, we made a cushion top and a scarf. Such a bargain, all the needfuls were included and so was lunch and morning/afternoon tea, all for $65! Here are my attempts.

The cushion top was inspired by my insomnia, so it is a cloudy night with a silk moon and some stars. The moon is a bit dodgy so I will probably add some embellishment to it to make it a bit more secure.
The scarf was heaps of fun to design, and I was pretty chuffed with the result.
The pic is a bit dark, it's a gorgeous rusty red with olive green vines and leaves. I am so inspired to do more felting now, thanks Cindy for teaching the workshop, and to Bron for letting me know about it.

And there's even more!!!

2008-08-14T09:29:00.002+10:00

I have been totally spoilt by Tan with a lovely rusty pinkeep and a sumptious melt that she made herself! It smells sooooo good....I wanted to show you the gorgeous cuckoo clock I received from my parents. It was my Oma and Opa's clock which they brought from the Black Forest in Germany about the same time I was born! Mum and Dad had it restored for me and every time the little bird pops out I grin, even at 4 am lol....

I was thoroughly spoilt by my lovely hubby, with dinner and a show on the Saturday night before my birthday. The show was fantastic, the local players put one on every year and it's all written and produced by locals. Lots of great costumes and songs with appearances by Abba, Gilligan, and the Beverly Hillbillies! The topic they chose was the development of a waste facility on prime agricultural land, one which we managed to block in the Land and Environment court! Great night! The catering is all done by community groups and the funds raised all go back into the community. My darlin' built me a new garden which am busting to plant out, and made me a rughooking frame. I also got a book on rughooking a hook and some soapmaking books. Boy am I going to be busy.....

But wait, there's more!!!!!!

2008-08-11T15:56:00.002+10:00

Christina and Karen's parcels arrived this afternoon, now I am really spoilt!!!!

Christina made me a wonderful altered art wall hanging, with is personalised with pics of me! Love the red arrow pointing at the number 40 on the tape measure lol.....

Karen sent me a divine painted box with a gorgeous stitchery lid and some rusty goodies too. This has been a fantastic swap everyone, thanks so much ladies.

Happy Birthday to me, I'm a hundred and three!

2008-08-11T11:14:00.003+10:00

Well, not really, I turn the big 4-oh today. I have been so spoilt by my family, and also by the wonderful girls in the P4P birthday club. Here's some pics of my loot!

From Relle, a gorgeous framed painted stitchery, two crow ornies and a lovely pumpkin scented melt which I have melting as we speak.
Lisa sent me a beautiful prim pinkeep, love the fabrics, and a cute little tape measure in a tin.
From Mill I received a lovely prim angel doll, how on earth did you get time to make her with the wedding? She's lovely! Amanda made me a fantastic art journal, so much detail, it's amazing. Must have taken ages!
And last but most certainly not least was the brilliant note book Leanne made me, love the recycled paper pages, and the altered art cover is divine, the poem is so sweet.
Thankyou all so much, I am feeling spoilt beyond belief!

Bring the tissues people......

2008-08-06T13:47:00.001+10:00

Fishpond

2008-07-17T21:34:00.003+10:00

You may have noticed the cute little fish banner at the top of my blog. Fishpond is FANTASTIC! I have bought books from Amazon many times and I've finally found an Aussie alternative. This is a quote from their site.
"We guarantee that Fishpond.com.au is Better than AmazonTM. If you order a book that is more expensive on Fishpond.com.au than AmazonTM, we will refund the difference and give you a 10% account credit."
How cool is that? There's a huge selection and free shipping on orders over $50. And if you click on the banner on my blog I get a commission (now that's cool!). It's great to be able to support an Aussie business and reduce all those carbon emissions used to fly your parcels from overseas. Check it out!

Me 30 years ago.....

2008-07-10T20:59:00.003+10:00

Finally found these pics taken around 1978-79, I've been meaning to blog these for ages. As you can see I had the same pets then as now! Check out the funky mini dress.... The first pic features Frankie the goat, the second one of many poddy lambs we cared for...

Look how grubby my jeans are lol......

It's cold!

2008-07-08T20:01:00.003+10:00

Bit chilly here in the central west.... Good weather for snuggling up in front of the telly, with any thoughts of style thrown recklessly out the window - big-time! A perfect night for granny rugs, fingerless gloves, a drop of red and a daggy beanie. And of course a cat lol......

Check out my buns lol.......

2008-06-25T09:00:00.003+10:00

I recently bought a breadmaker and I'm gradually working my way through the recipes in it's manual. These buns started life as a fruit loaf, but guess who forgot to press the button to release the fruit into the mix? So I had to quickly salvage the dough and mix the fruit in by hand. They turned out pretty well after all, Braeden (13) ate most of them. Boys are just bottomless pits! Braeden has shot up by 5 cm (2") since Christmas!

Note my sneaky addition of the kitchen timer to the pic in the hopes that no-one would realise a bun was missing? Guess you know now lol... Had to show it off anyway, I loooove this timer. I picked it up at the op-shop a couple of weeks ago for $2. It is a 5 hour timer, made in great Britain by Smiths. Works a treat, and nice and loud too.

Bean burgers

2008-06-24T11:48:00.002+10:00

Thought I'd share this recipe with you. I keep this in the cupboard for occasions when the carnivores in the family are having meat and three veg and I want something quick and easy for me. I always double the recipe....

Bean Burger Mix

Ingredients:
½ cup chickpeas
½ cup soybeans
½ cup raw peanuts or sunflower seeds
¼ cup toasted sesame seeds
½ cup rolled oats
¼ cup pea flour (I used soy flour)
1 tbsp dried parsley
1tsp salt

Method:
Measure first four ingredients into a bowl and mix together. Using a food processor grind ½ cup of this mixture at a time until it is the consistency of dried breadcrumbs. Be warned this is extremely noisy!!!
Combine ground beans with remaining ingredients. Store mix in an airtight jar until needed.

To make 2 large burgers:
1 cup burger mix
½ cup water
2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 clove garlic
1-2 tbsp oil to cook
Mix ingredients (except oil) together and stand for 15 mins. Cook over moderate heat for 5 mins each side, covering the pan to allow the burgers to steam and speed up cooking. Very yummy, especially on a burger with sweet chilli sauce and some sour cream...... yummmm.....

My new chook-chooks!

2008-06-11T12:52:00.002+10:00

I have 7 Isa Browns left from my rescue chickens, a few died of natural causes and Angel the cattle dog (who is anything but) finished one off. So it was time to get some more. Instead of propping up the battery hen industry by purchasing their poor worn out girls we decided to buy our new chickens from a reputable breeder. Last Friday we took delivery of my gorgeous new chickens.

They are White Sussex pullets. They are only babies so it will be a while before they lay. I have a rooster amongst them so hopefully we will have some chicks one day!
I rang my sister for her birthday and she told me what she'd ordered for my birthday in August. More chickens! They haven't hatched yet, so I won't get them for a while lol... We had chatted recently about Aruacana's which lay a blue egg, how cool is that? So Lisa is getting me six, yay!!!

Here's some info on the breed....

Aruacana
A very hardy and reliable breed, hens lay 180-200 pale blue to turquoise eggs per year
When the Spanish arrived in South America there was one tribe they could never subdue - the Aruacanas from northern Chile. But the local poultry crossed well with lighter Mediterranean birds. the new breed, with its unusual egg colour, earmuffs and beard, was first recognized in the mid-sixteenth century.

The pic is of Lavender Aruacanas (Sydney Royal Champion progeny). Mine are supposed to be lavender too, but they come in a few colours. May have to add extensions to the hen-house!

Well at least we'll be clean lol.....

2008-06-01T00:25:00.002+10:00

Is it normal for one person to do so many different things? Most people seem to choose a hobby or three and concentrate on doing them well. Not me, I flit from thing to thing like a voracious honey-bee in a flower garden. I sew, embroider, spin, make soap and candles, do punch needle and rug hooking, make prim dolls, knit, crochet, make braided rag rugs, and so on. And that's not to mention the preserves, bread, pickles, jams, etc etc etc. I just love producing things with my hands. I may not be an expert at any one skill but I never get a chance to get bored! I am in full-on soap mode at the moment. It's becoming an obsession. First it was the olive and lavender soap with oatmeal and hemp. Now I have produced a massive 3. kg lot of canolive soap which I am in the process of hand milling, or re-batching, into different varieties. Merran (11) and I made chocolate and vanilla soap today, and tonight I made a batch of cinnamon soap. It has real cinnamon and cinnamon leaf essential oil in it. Yummo! I had no idea how long it would take to melt down the canolive soap, it took about an hour. The first batch we did in a saucepan over a low heat. I was stressed out thinking it was going to burn. So the following batch I did in the Pyrex jug over a saucepan of hot water. Took just as long but not as scary. Apparently it can be done by double bagging the grated soap and immersing it in hot water. I'll try that next time.
This is the canolive soap curing so it can be hand milled. Who ate the top of the bread? Hot bread is just soooo good.......If I can't get the hand milling process sped up I'll just make small batches of the gourmet soaps. I made extra of the canolive so I can use it to make my laundry liquid anyway. Hmmmm, wonder how long this phase of my creativity will last?

Busy, busy, busy......

2008-05-21T16:09:00.002+10:00

It's been a busy couple of weeks since my last post. Of course the spinning has kept me busy as has a few weekend jaunts to my parent's place. Since then I have acquired yet another pet, this time from Geoff who we met through a great site - Aussies Living Simply. He was giving away a gorgeous Angora goat called Billie Jean, how could I resist?

Her fleece is mohair and should be a delight to spin. I have also been making candles and soap, I will show you pics of the soap when I cut it into bars. I made the candles from recycled old ones, they look pretty but don't burn terribly well. After a while they "drown" in the wax. Got a lot to learn there....

Off to peek at my soap, shouldn't really I know, but I can't resist!!!! Only made it today, from my parent's homegrown olive oil and lavender oil.... smells divine.

Wow, what a pro!

2008-05-03T13:46:00.005+10:00

Looking for spinning info on the net I came upon this, isn't it great! Something to aspire to lol......

The youtube member says this video is of Mrs Helen Maddrell (Isle of Man) demonstrating carding and spinning wool.(This was definitely filmed in 1938 - I have a letter written by her inviting my Grandfather to tea. And a letter from him in which he refers to the film of her spinning.)

How adorable is this?????

2008-05-02T00:05:00.004+10:00

Ok I've got the spinning bug bad now.... I was op-shopping (thrifting) today and came across a gorgeous little upright wheel. What's a girl to do??? Yup, wheel number two was soon on it's way to it's new home. After a bit of research on the net I finally found a matching wheel. Here's a pic, mine is missing the Lazy Kate on the side (where the extra bobbins go) and only has 2 bobbins. I am lucky to have a very handy hubby who will surely make me a new LK, if I ask him right lol......
Isn't it cute? The real selling point for me was that the action is just sooooo smooth. I found out a little bit of info about the wheel - Bressay wheels were made from 1971 to 1975 by Rotorua Woodcraft Ltd, makers of all kinds of small wooden items. These double drive wheels were based on a 100-year-old wheel brought from Shetland. They are made from Fijian kauri (dakua) with a veneer wheel. About 2000 were exported to the UK, Canada, Australia, and a few to the USA. Now who wants to buy my other wheel? In perfect order, Ashford traditional $175 lol....

I'm spinning around, get outta my way.......

2008-04-29T00:15:00.002+10:00

No it's not the Kylie Minogue song I'm referring to, I have spent this evening teaching myself to spin! Not as easy as it looks, I'm tellin' ya....... I have had my spinning wheel for about 2 years now and finally got around to having a go. Thank goodness for the internet, I found some great videos and sites that are so helpful. Books just don't do it for me I'm afraid, gotta see and do. Check out my results, not bad for a first go. (Ok, maybe the second go, or was that the fourteenth?) Not quite sure why it bunched up like that on the bobbin but I guess I'll work it out.

I also found some great tips on this forum that has info on all sorts of fibre arts such as spinning, knitting, weaving, felting etc. Can't wait now to have some hands on instruction from a real teacher ........

Happy blogiversary to me!!!! My 100th post.......

2008-04-28T00:24:00.002+10:00

I am truly hopeless with anniversaries. My hubby and I actually forgot about our's this year until about a week later! And it was only our second lol...... how are we going to remember when it's our 20th? Anyway in keeping with my live for the moment concentration span I missed the anniversary of my blog. Yes folks it's been a year already! But I didn't miss my hundreth post, and this is it! Yay for blogging!!!!!!!

Crafter's toolbelt

2008-04-27T20:26:00.005+10:00

I saw a great tutorial for this toolbelt here and decided I just had to have one! Now I have pockets for all my tools as well as the essential mobile phone and iPod lol....I have lost my mojo with sewing lately so I decided to get organised and tidy up the craft studio as well.

Buy this and help promote reconciliation!!!!

2008-04-24T10:44:00.000+10:00

Project number one!

2008-04-17T22:37:00.003+10:00

Here's my first project from the book I mentioned in my last post. These came up a treat and are so comfy. I might make the next pair a little smaller, I think I might have to felt these a bit more to make them fit my feet better. I tarted them up a bit with the button and topstitching, not too bad I reckon!

I did it!!!!!

2008-04-17T09:14:00.004+10:00

Yay, I can make beanies!!!!! I came home from the expo very inspired with lots of ideas for new projects. So I finished my (Toddy's) beanie last night to clear the way for more creativity. I was pretty happy with it, and he loves it! Louie the lamb thought it smelt pretty good too lol.... I saw some skeins of handspun wool at the expo yesterday for $20 each, so that made my seven skeins for $3 a real bargain. There was some great stuff at the expo, and lovely people too. If anyone wants to check it out (Bron) it's on every day this week until 12 noon Saturday at Kinross Wollaroi school in Orange NSW. I left there determined to find a spinning teacher so I can make use of the coloured fleeces I've been given and eventually spin some of Pearl and Louie's wool. I am thinking of taking the girls to a coloured ram for a "sleepover" when Louie is old enough, much cheaper than buying handpun wool. I must learn to dye the white fleeces too, so much to do and so little time lol.... Off to check how my recycled jumpers are felting in the washing machine. I bought this book yesterday and I am keen to get started!

Wonderful wool and fabulous fibre......

2008-04-16T08:59:00.003+10:00

I am so into raw, natural fibres at the moment. I found this gorgeous handspun wool at an op-shop a while ago and decided to make Toddy a beanie.

He's been after a heavy, greasy wool beanie for yonks. I have only knitted scarves and one or two simple jumpers so the whole shaping thing is new to me. Oh well, worth a go. The wool cost me an unbelievably cheap $3!

I am off to a fibre expo today, I'm so excited.... I only had a very short time there last year and the goodies were divine, camel fibre for goodness sake! Never knew it was available! Can't wait to see what they have this year...... kids are on holidays but I managed to farm them all out so I have a whole day to touch and stroke and smell and..... ok I'm rambling but it's gonna be great!

Just for fun.....

2008-04-09T18:55:00.005+10:00

Haven't had a chance to do much crafting lately, so when the opportunity presented itself today I jumped at the chance. I've been dying to give this idea a go. Who would have thunk ya could make a hat from a recycled wool jumper? Well, the idea never entered my head til I borrowed this book from the library and found this pattern! So easy and just what I needed, a quick frivolous project just for me......
I just made the flower from scraps of felted jumper and added a bit of stitching. Whole thing took about an hour and was heaps of fun. I can see myself making a few of these for the chilly days ahead.

Pumpkin harvest time.....

2008-03-29T17:29:00.005+11:00

I love pumpkins, pumpkin curry, pumpkin soup, pumpkin scones, pumpkin and silver beet lasagne....... the list goes on, yum, yum, yum......

I think these gorgeous orange ones are a French variety. I bought a mixed pack of heirloom seeds so I'm playing spot-the-pumpkin at the moment lol.......
This greyish green one is the weirdest pumpkin I've seen. It's very hollow inside, not sure if that's due to the type or my gardening ability! The flesh is divine in the above-mentioned lasagne, and mashes well too.
My butternuts are nearly ready so once my computer and flickr are on speaking terms again I'll load some pics.

Here's the link for the Pumpkin Curry recipe, very hot but yummo!

The land of milk and honey.......

2008-03-17T09:03:00.004+11:00

Ahhhh.....bliss.... I love this life.

First the exciting news - we are the proud "parents" of a baby girl. Ian found her in the middle of the road with no sheep anywhere in sight, and no houses either! We can only assume that she fell off the back of a truck. Amazingly she is uninjured and feeding well, with proud step-mum Pearl babysitting her between feeds. Her name is Louise as she was found near Louis Ponds.

I have been indulging myself in homemade skincare products. I hit the op-shops, eBay and the library and have amassed a few great books on herbal/natural skincare. I have made Quince cleansing gel, rosewater toner and lavender moisturiser, and lots more. Just waiting on a delivery from this site which has great stuff dirt cheap! I have sourced beeswax from a local apiarist at the unbelievable price of $6 a kilo, it's $56 a kilo at my local health food shop. Great for adding to moisturisers and lip balm and at that price I can see some candles being made. I made rosewater yesterday, I nicked some open blooms from the council gardens lol..... they smell so good but would have been dead the next day so I didn't think anyone would mind. Besides I pay rates! I have also been making soy melts for the oil burner, so easy and much nicer than burning parrafin wax. I got the wax from here. I have experimented with loads of essential oils, I have about 15 different oils that I have collected. Got heaps of books on aromatherapy too. I would love to do a course on all this but they are so expensive to do..... one day.......

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-03-06T09:14:00.002+11:00

Here's a post for Ann..... I haven't uploaded pics to flickr for a while, so these are a few weeks old. Boy have I done some preserving since then! Tell you what, I was grateful for the garden when I ventured in to the 'Big Smoke' this week.... can you believe the price of veg? Must deter people from eating healthy... Came back and harvested beans, zucchinis, cherry tomatoes, silver beet, cucumbers, pumpkins, leeks, carrots, oregano and thyme. And of course collected the eggs. The herbs went straight to the dehydrator to stock up for winter, yummo! Still picking figs to freeze and jam later, need to get my second wind lol....

Well preserved.......

2008-02-24T13:10:00.003+11:00

What a bad bad blogger I am.....I have finally summed up the energy to put up a post. Why am I so tired? It's fruit time! Thanks to good rains we are drowning in mountains of delicious fruit. We have figs, plums, apricots, and peaches in abundance. So I have had the old Fowlers Vacola unit out and been bottling madly. I have preserved around 40 bottles of peaches and 30 of plums, and I'm starting on the figs. I have made at least 70 jars of jam and 10 litres of spicy plum sauce. That's not to mention time spent blanching and freezing beans, pickling onions and zucchinis and making pickles. All our friends and family are loving all the home made goodies. Thing is that they keep bringing me more fruit! I wish they'd bring more jars, the op-shops are totally out of them. Oh and did I mention the home made yoghurt and cheese? And then there's the ginger beer plant I have started.... Along with all that I have decided that the most economical, healthy and environmentally friendly option for me is to become vegetarian, so I have been trying out loads of great recipes. We just have so many vegies it's crazy not to use them! Yes I'm knackered, no I haven't had time to do much craft (don't worry swap buddies, I'll be done soon...), but I am loving the pleasure and satisfaction of a well stocked preserves cupboard.....

She/he/it has a name - and a friend!

2008-02-06T11:00:00.000+11:00

My budgie chick is still going strong.... something we are quite suprised about. Shortly after my original post about it the chick went all "flop-bot". It's neck looked like it was broken, it wouldn't feed and it's toes were curled up. I managed to drip a bit of food down it's throat and put it in it's nest. It lay on it's side..... sadly I went out to the garden and avoided checking it as I was sure it was dying. Ian eventually went for a peek to find it sitting up and chirping for a feed! Since then it hasn't looked back.

It flies out of the cage to be fed and hardly needs feeding by me anymore, much to busy flying around the room. Since it seems to be here for the long-haul I have relented and given it a name. "Squirt". Partly because what goes in comes out the same, and partly because of how tiny it is.

Squirt has been joined inside by Duncan. I am yet to take some pics of him. This little white fella is about 12 months old. Ian found him in the bottom of the cage looking very wobbly. We have diagnosed him as having a Vitamin B deficiency so the poor thing had a vitamin injection yesterday! I held him while Ian did the injection, I had visions of the needle coming out the other side! Oh, and his name comes from the Slim Dusty song "I love to have a beer with Duncan" cause of his weak legs and wobbly stumbling walk.....

Australia Day 2008

2008-02-05T12:30:00.002+11:00

Here's what Toddy and I did on Australia Day. The kids were all busy with their own social lives so we decided on a relaxing way to spend the day.......

The send off party.

Off we go

Don't leave us.......

Gorgeous Blossom

Over the bridge and into town

A refreshing ale at the pub
Homeward boundWhere were you?
We missed you....

Thanks Toddy and Bloss, that was beautiful.....

I'm ba-ack!

2008-01-31T10:29:00.000+11:00

Phew, school holidays are finally over! I have four whole hours to myself this morning. Don't get me wrong, having the kids home has been quite nice, but a girl's gotta breathe sometime. For the first time in history I have covered all the kid's books before school started. Rhys (15) decided he'd rather wash up and bring me cups of coffee than do his books himself lol.... who can blame him, I would have preferred something stronger than coffee lol.... darn contact! So I now have time to blog and catch up on some craft projects. The doll-house is tidied and ready to go. I wouldn't be blogging at all if the computer shop hadn't loaned me a computer. Yep, my new laptop has kicked the bucket! It is officially brain-dead. No signs of life at all. What is it with me and computers? I have had 4 computers in 3 years! Anyway, I'm here now so it's time to catch up........

Tag - you're it!

2008-01-16T15:26:00.000+11:00

Thanks Robby for tagging me to tell five things you may not know about me. I have been very slack getting around to doing this post. The main reason is that everyone else sounds so fascinating! I've been wracking my brain trying to think of something worthy of writing about. Here's what I came up with.

1. I have panic attacks. They usually occur when I am in a group of people I don't know well..... I get very, very nervous. I am useless at small talk and I never know what to say. This could have been aggravated by the fact I grew up on a National Park an hour from the nearest town (Hillston - pop about 1000) and regularly cut off by flood waters. We were so isolated we did school by correspondence and got flown to Royal Far West each year so we could be assessed for health needs and to give us some respite from the dry outback. I guess it gave our parents some much needed respite too. The rest of the year it was just our family and the occasional visitor. I also got panic attacks when going to places more hilly than a tabletop. That's what growing up in the outback will do to a girl.

2. I collect walking sticks. I have over thirty of them, all different sorts. I just love the history and functionality of them.

3. I've been engaged three times. The first to a guy I went out with for five years when I was a teenager. He decided to sow his wild oats somewhere else, in fact in lots of other places. The second time was to my ex-husband who also had some planting to do. Finally my gorgeous man who is only interested in the sort of ploughing and planting done by his draught horses popped the question. Actually he popped it 2 weeks after we met. (The question that is, oh and a few champagne corks lol....) I made him wait for a while though, twice bitten = very wary!

4. I am the world's worst housekeeper. Honestly.

5. I love animals. Ok you knew that, but you didn't know I have sat in a creek skinning a rabbit and plucking a duck whilst camping with fiance number one. Not doing that again, nup, no way! No wonder it didn't last. I do love camping, haven't been for years, but when I do I'll take my own food so I don't have to gut anything!

Ok, now I have to tag 5 others.... will have to get back to you on that one, baby budgie wants a feed!

Changin' chairs....

2008-01-14T20:16:00.000+11:00

Ok this is what I have now, six 1920's high back oak chairs. They are nice, but way too curvaceous for my taste. I bought them about 12 years ago along with a great old wind-out table. The chairs were positively dangerous they were so rickety! So in my wisdom I had them restored. Over-restored. The guy who did them was highly recommended to me, however since then I have learnt a bit more about antiques. For instance he should have "filled" the timber before staining. And that bright yellow stain is just not authentic at all. Then he put a high gloss finish on them. Would have been much nicer with a warm wax finish. And let's just say the seats were a disaster! He actually measured new seats for them but when they were upholstered the guy upholstered the wrong side. Now anyone who knows old furniture should know that hand made stuff just ain't symmetrical. So none of the seats fit properly. Anyway I don't like the fabric now. So they have to go.
I had a chat to my local antiques lady and she suggested I go visit her "source". Bushy has a huge shed full of chairs and is willing to do a swap. He just happens to be in need of six oak chairs to match a table he has restored. So his shed is my playground.... I get to pick whichever chairs I want and he will do them up for me! I haven't actually been there, but Toddy went and took some pics..... no drooling please.......

Another sleep snatcher.....

2008-01-12T13:40:00.000+11:00

This little guy kept me awake last night too..... well my concerns that the cats might decide to make a midnight snack of him did anyway. Mumma budgie decided that two babies was one too many and this one had to go. So she booted him out of the nesting box, onto the aviary floor about 4 feet below. Twice. It was way too hot to risk him being dehydrated, so in goes Ranger Mon to rescue the baby budgie.... So into the cage he went to be hand reared inside.... He is in there, honest..... look closely....

Ok try this one......

Pretty cute hey?

Awwww........ he had a feed (baby bird instant cereal stuff), and then a stretch......

Then like all babies, it's back to bed.......

Adventures of an insomniac......

2008-01-12T02:35:00.001+11:00

Ok, I'm pretty used to the tossing and turning thing now. I haven't fallen asleep before 3am since a zillion years ago. But some nights are more eventful than others. Tonight for example. Which is why I'm blogging at 2.38am. It's a hot night here, and in my current "green" wisdom the aircon has been turned off for the night. After listening to my ipod go into sleep mode, and with the music still soothing my weary mind, my peace was shattered by the bark of my dog, Angel. Reluctantly I found my slippers and the torch and headed to the door to investigate. I shone the light across the yard to discover a large horse standing near the kennel. Which would have been fine except for the fact that he was trying to drink from the bucket of water I had put there for the goat. Poor Victor had tangled his tether around a stick and had nowhere to go! And the horse (Nugget) was trying to "taste" him! Well, the goat was bellowing which set off the sheep, the dogs were barking and all five horses came over to check it out. There was nothing else for it, I went to rescue the terrified goat. In my pyjamas. At 2am. Over the wire fence I climbed, mosquitoes attacking my bare arms and legs, watched by the very amused equines. Now, trying to disentangle a panicky goat with the help of five horses is not easy. They would not shoo no matter how much I waved the torch with my free arm, making what I was doing a tad difficult, and I'm sure much more entertaining. Even less easy was lifting said (rather heavy)goat over the fence while he insisted on pulling with his full strength away from the scary horses and towards a delicious patch of grass! Lifting each front leg over the wire and pushing my shoulder into his rear end was more successful. Once he was over you would think my troubles would be too. Not so lucky I'm afraid. Never let a hungry goat near a rusty bath tub full of succulents. Straight for my Aloe Vera he went, with a glint in his eye that told me my Zygocactus were next on the menu. And here's me tugging on his chain and trying to climb the fence at the same time. In my pyjamas. At 2 am. With five horses snickering- no giggling- in the background. And did I mention the sheep bleating and the dogs barking? As I stumbled over the fence, cursing just about everything, I longed for the peacefulness of my usual insomniatic night. Finally I put Victor in his pen with Pearl the sheep and threw them a biscuit of hay. That shut 'em up. If only those horses would stop their darn laughing!

It's not always easy being green

2008-01-10T12:49:00.000+11:00

Kermit was right, it's not always easy to be green, but as he says, it's what I wanna be....... Luckily for us there are more and more companies bringing out "greener" products, which makes it much easier. I have changed from mainstream skin and hair care products to organic/herbal/natural products and have found them to be excellent. They are readily available in health food shops and online, are comparable in price and there are many high-quality products to choose from. Best of all they don't have the nasties like SLS in them.

Dangerous Beauty
“Scientist Warn Of Harmful Ingredients in Our Shampoos and Cosmetics”
by David Lowell Kern
New health concerns are being raised over some ingredients in hair shampoos, skin creams, toothpastes, and other personal care products. According to researchers in the United States, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan, these ingredients may be linked to premature baldness, cataract formation, environmental cancers, contact dermatitis, and possible eye damage in young children.

To read more click here

Ok, I'm evangelising here, nothing worse than a reformed beauty product addict lol...but seriously, why risk health concerns when alternatives are available? And those essential oils smell sooooo good......mmmmmmm off to massage my hands with some organic rose scented cream........

Don't hate me cause I'm beautiful.....

2008-01-08T19:11:00.000+11:00

I'm surrounded by posers........ every time they see the camera they go into super-model pose! Then they start demanding smoked salmon, organic wheat grass and spring water... of course the choices depend on their particular species, but who can deny them? Not me, I'm a sucker for a pretty face.....

Great blog!

2008-01-03T08:49:00.000+11:00

Wow, I love this blog , I am going to be spending so much time there! Here's what Ree says about herself-

"I’m Ree, a.k.a. Pioneer Woman. Welcome to my frontier!
I’m a thirty-something ranch wife, mother of four, and moderately-agoraphobic middle child who grew up on a golf course in the city. I attended college in Los Angeles and wore black pumps to work every day. I ate sushi and treated myself to pedicures on a semi-regular basis. I even kissed James Garner in an elevator once. Now I live in the middle of nowhere on a working cattle ranch. My days are spent changing diapers, chipping dried manure from boots, washing jeans, and frying calf nuts. I have no idea how I got here, but you know what? I love it. Don’t tell anyone."

Check it out, Ree is a talented writer and a brilliant photographer, and she's hillarious!

New Year, new look.......

2008-01-03T08:34:00.000+11:00

Happy New Year everyone! Hope it is a great one for you...... as you can see I have changed the look of my blog. I also renamed the blog "Rust 'n' dust", but it is still at the same address. The banner shows some prim angels I made and the cottage on my parent's farm. Man it was hard to find a blog template that my text colour showed up on, I still haven't worked out how to change the text colour for all posts in one go and I was not going to do them one by one lol.... Anyway, the whole effect turned out pretty good and is in keeping with my resolution for a greener 2008. It's a bit easier on the eye too. I also added the cute little clock just for a bit of fun, love those widgets!

My gifts to Mill.....

2007-12-27T16:30:00.001+11:00

And here's what I sent Mill.......

I am sooooo spoilt.......

2007-12-27T16:05:00.001+11:00

I have been the lucky recipient of some gorgeous goodies in our P4P Advent Swap. Thanks Tea for organising this...... Each person sent 24 small pressies to their swap partner, one to be opened each day until Christmas. At least half had to be handmade. Then on Christmas Day we got an extra special pressy! My wonderful, talented and generous swap partner is Mill (in the middle with the cowboy hat lol...) Here's what she sent me, thanks so much hun!

Grow baby grow.......

2007-12-20T12:16:00.001+11:00

The garden is growing like crazy, we have had the odd drop of rain, and the high organic content in the soil retains moisture really well......

The big picture..... lots of recycled materials to make the beds and supports..... not so pretty on the eye but soothing to the soull..... think I'm turning into a greenie lol....

The tyres have pumpkins, melons and rockmelons......

Above are my beans, theres a few peas in there too and some carrots still to come up....
Corn, lettuce and a trellis with crystal apple cucumbers starting to climb......

Love this 5 colour silverbeet, yummmmm

Zucchinis, I have six plants so we have heaps!

And just for fun my lovely gourds......

My Xmas pics......

2007-12-09T12:58:00.002+11:00

If you click on the slide show, maximize your window and click original view you will be able to see the pics up close.............

Furry ornies and my raggy tree skirt......

2007-12-08T22:02:00.001+11:00

I love Christmas decorating, but it is a "trifle" tricky with my little helpers...... Nutmeg decided that the reindeer atop my tree was fascinating and must be hunted down!

Cinnamon thought impersonating a panther was a good idea...... Nutmeg wasn't so sure.....

Put the two together and the tree became a wonderful playground! But not for long, I have my trusty "Puss Off", a concoction of citronella oil and water in a spray bottle designed to repel even the fiercest panther...... My real Christmas ornies are too precious to be hunted by this dastardly duo. The girls may adorn my bed instead......

BTW I made a raggy tree skirt! Turned out pretty good I reckon....

Mmmmmmmmmm apricots..........

2007-12-08T21:52:00.001+11:00

We are lucky to have a lovely neighbour who allows us to pick her fruit in exchange for a few jars of jam - thanks Nan!

After bubbling away on the stove for a bit I bottled 11 jars of jam....

The best fruit went to making dried apricots, gotta love the dehydrator! Lots of work but well worth it for the tart yummy treats.....

There's plenty more where that came from, we'll be picking apricots for weeks, and then there's the plums and figs, not to mention the peaches Mum grows...... There's something very satisfying about looking at a cupboard full of hand made preserves.....

Pretty pleased with this......

2007-12-06T21:34:00.001+11:00

For the longest time I have been searching for a clock to suit my primitive decor. They were all too small or too cutesy. So I made my own! Well sortof anyways....... I bought a very modern stainless steel rim, white faced, big numbered, cheap clock. I pulled it to bits and painted the face and rim matte black. Gotta love spray paint - too easy. I sprinkled the face with cinnamon, letting a little float on to the hands. Then all I had to do was hot glue some rusty stars (some of which I painted with the spray paint) onto where the numbers should go. Put it all back together and wahlah! A prim "rusty" clock........ gotta admit I was pretty pleased with the result!

Great skirt tutorial........

2007-11-26T12:32:00.001+11:00

Been looking for a pattern for one of these for ages. I have tried on heaps of tiered, gypsy or peasant skirts over the years but they are always too short on me, making my legs look stumpy. This tutorial is great, you just enter your measurements and it calculates the size of each piece! There is a choice of two lengths as well..... Now excuse the pics, I have had this fabric in my stash for about 10 years and I still have 10 kgs to lose on WW so those two factors combined don't make for the best shot lol...... However I was really pleased with the result and it is soooooo comfy, great for the hot days ahead. Now I know the pattern works I might just splash out and buy some more fabric to make another couple.

Clever composting

2007-11-26T12:05:00.001+11:00

My brother Nick and his wife Kirsten have a great site with loads of cool links for organic gardening and permaculture. Check out their how to make compost video, isn't Kirsten just so cute? I just wanna put her in my pocket and take her home! Then she can turn my compost for me lol........ Nick (clever boy) has designed a compost calculator to make it easy to work out how much of each type of material to add to your compostto ensure success. Check it out, definately worth a look.....

Nick's serious pose

Love that hat K!

Harvest....

2007-11-21T13:57:00.001+11:00

I just love eating from our garden....... Here's a sample of recent harvests.....

Broadbeans, snowpeas, peas, radishes, carrots and lettuce
Shelled peas and broadbeans
More carrots, beans and snowpeas + multi-coloured silverbeet and broccolli.

I also have pak-choy, rocket and herbs ready to eat, and have loads of seedlings in. The kids can't wait for the watermelons and rockmelons, but aren't so keen on the idea of pumpkins lol...... The beans are up, and the tomatoes are starting to flower, zucchini are fruiting, and everything has just taken off with the warmer weather. I am busy seed saving radish seeds for sprouts, and chive and onion seeds for future plantings.... very satisfying to sit back at the end of the day and survey our efforts. Hmmmm, now what's for tea?

Not prim, but so much fun!!!

2007-11-15T09:11:00.001+11:00

I made this for myself yesterday, sooooo not prim but OMG I love it! Been wanting to make one for ages, now I just have to finish his twin..... If you want to know how to make one go to http://www.craftbits.com/viewProject.do?projectID=1104

I got the socks from Big W, 2 pairs for $3.97, this guy's brother will have the spotty body and stripey limbs. I can see how little kids would love these, they are so cuddly. Seeing as I don't have littlies the cats have now got a new friend, and don't they just love him!

I have been crafting - honest!

2007-11-13T14:13:00.001+11:00

I know I haven't posted anything crafty for AGES, but I have a good excuse.... I am part of a great swap on http://forums.delphiforums.com/passionforprim/start which has kept me rather busy. It is an advent swap, each of us sends 24 little presents to our swap buddy, one to be opened each day leading up to Christmas. At least half have to be handmade by the sender. The final gift for Christmas Day is to be extra special. I haven't made the big gift yet, but the other twenty four are on their way - look out Mill! Here's a teaser for you - Can't wait to start opening mine lol... I love presents.....

Worms, worms, worms.........

2007-11-12T13:29:00.001+11:00

A wonderful way to compost organic matter is to make a worm farm. Of course you could buy one ready made but as usual we decided to make our own lol... luckily we had an old laundry twin-tub sink that we could use. We covered the drainage holes with mesh to prevent escapees.

Cut a hole for a PVC "tunnel" between the two sinks and used silicone to seal it.
Added lots of bedding, we used straw and horse dung, other alternatives are shredded paper etc....Bought some composting worms, these are not the same as garden worms, and are great little workers.

Added some food and the worms to the sinks and covered with damp hessian. I have spared you the pics of the food as we are using our worm farm to dispose of dog poo! This means we won't be able to use the castings or worm wee on our vegies, but it will be fine to use on the flower garden. A great way to fertilise the garden, clean up the yard and reduce flies.
A lick of paint so it is less visible in the yard and a piece of tin for a lid and it's all done! The cupboard below provides great storage for the bucket to collect the worm wee. Shame I forgot that dog wormer kills all worms, so I will have to wait for a while before feeding the worms their special food.... until then it's kitchen scraps!

Gourdgeous!

2007-11-08T17:12:00.001+11:00

I looooove these..... I was passing the second hand bookshop last week when I noticed some gourds in the window. I got these beauties for just 50c each! The lady who grew them didn't have enough water to clean them properly so I will have to get the bleach and a scrubbing brush onto them. I have no idea what to do with them, I just love their shapes and colour. I have three gourd vines growing at the moment, I had a dozen seedlings but most didn't survive the transplant shock or the dreadful drying winds we've had. Hopefully my seeds will arrive soon and I can plant some more direct now that the weather is warmer.

It's raining, it's pouring.........

2007-11-08T17:06:00.001+11:00

As you would know Australia is in the middle of one of it's worst ever droughts. We are lucky to have a good bore we can pump from, but there is nothing like rain. The past week has been gorgeous, lots of overcast days and over 2 inches (50mm) of rain! And it's still coming..... Nutmeg is only 12 months old and is very curious about all this strange stuff outside. She's an inside cat so she hasn't been out in it, but as she's a water lover I'm watching her whenever the door opens!

Boy, he's getting game now!

2007-10-26T20:42:00.002+10:00

My apologies for the lighting in this shot..... This is one of our gorgeous king parrots that visit us most days. This young man is a chick from last year, he has decided to really get friendly with us. Toddy (Ian) and I were sitting outside late in the afternoon and he actually landed on his hat! Since then he loves to swoop us when we go outside, just saying hello, and will eat out of our hands. We feel so honoured that a wild thing like him has much trust in us......

Halloween display.....

2007-10-26T20:32:00.001+10:00

I know we don't celebrate Halloween much here in Australia, but I couldn't resist.... I bought the hat, boots and Jack-o-lantern from the last Chocky Crow Auction (www.thechocolatecrowtrader.com) I designed and made the gourds in the basket myself, if anyone wants the e-pattern send me an email! My Dad bought me the great rusty old camp oven and we picked up the little copper kettle at an auction not long ago. The ceramic pumpkins are op-shop treasures and the other bits I have accumulated over the years. I bought some divine prim Halloween patterns from the girls at www.theprimitivepear.com but I didn't get time to make any yet...... hopefully next year! I do have a prim witch ornie but she lives in my kitchen. It is a German tradition to have a kitchen witch for luck, I guess it saves me being the only witch in the house lol.........

I made a barn star!

2007-10-26T20:22:00.001+10:00

I am so impressed at how easy this was to make. Believe it or not I made it from a cereal box! I got the template here

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=160166827867&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=006

I enlarged it 200% so the final star is about 20cm across. I will have a go at making a huge one soon, love those. All you need is a craft knife and ruler, some cardboard, black spray paint, spray adhesive and cinnamon. Of course you could paint them any colour you like, but I love the faux-rust look. Only took me about ten minutes to make this one and I already had everything I need. Considering how pricey the big barn stars are this is a really cheap way of making heaps of them!

A few bits and pieces

2007-10-24T21:12:00.001+10:00

My fave food in the world is sushi, but living in a small town we don't get to indulge very often. For ages I've had a sushi-making kit and recently I took the plunge and had a go. Here is the result, not bad for a first try.... It was divine if I say so myself, the tuna was amazing!

Just a bit of eye candy for the prim lovers out there.

I have acquired quite a few cream stoneware pieces so I put them all together with a few cinnamon sticks and some antique egg-beaters.
These tags are great, my friend Ang made them and I have been trying to find a spot for them to show them off properly. I joined a few sticks together with the hot glue gun and some calico strips, and put them in a rusty tin with a rusty pie plate. I put in some gravel to give it stability.

I looooove a good clearing sale......

2007-10-01T15:21:00.001+10:00

Ian and I went to a clearing sale on the weekend, I love these sales, usually they happen when someone sells a farm so there's some great old goodies. This sale didn't have much, but we did get a couple of things, including this table.
We salvaged these great weatherboards from our old house. They still have some of the original green paint on them. Ian cut them to size for me and fitted them as a shelf for the table.
A good drink of linseed oil to revive the timber and it was all done! We think the table came from an old school house, it is covered in kids names lol..... I love having bit of history like this in our home.The table is in my kitchen, we have so much more serving and preparation area now, it's fantastic! Please excuse the washing up on the bench lol, I was a bit busy lol...... No doubt the stuff I plonked on the shelf below the table will be rearranged, but for now I reckon it looks pretty good! Not bad for $55 and a couple of hours work.....

Aaaaaaaarghhhh computers!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-10-01T15:11:00.001+10:00

It's now 7 long weeks since my new laptop went back to the shop for repair, and I'm STILL waiting! Not happy......Needless to say this has affected my blogging somewhat..... I have been promised a new one as they have tried to repair it three times, the first time I brought it home, turned it on and blue smoke came out! Thank goodness my hubby brings his work laptop home each night so I can use it then, but I don't get the time to do much then. Hopefully my new laptop will arrive this week.

Enamelware & more......

2007-09-18T18:20:00.001+10:00

I love old enamel ware. I have been picking up enamel goodies for a while now, mainly from op-shops, and have acquired quite a collection..... so much so that perhaps I need to find another spot for some of it..... I do love it on this old dresser though, especially with the rusty stuff and the prairie doll.......... I think my favourite piece is the measuring jug, it's certainly had some use!

The old cheese grater has a tea light candle in it and looks really pretty when lit. I picked up the shortbread press (centre bottom shelf) from an op-shop a couple of weeks ago, it has Scotch thistles on it. The spice carousel came from an oppy too!

Dream on........

2007-09-18T18:08:00.001+10:00

Last Sunday on a very wild and windy spring day Ian and I took Merran to her school fete. For a change we were boy-less, which made for a quite relaxing time and gave me an opportunity to have a bit of fun too.... Here's what I got up too.....
I loooove snakes (non-venomous of course).... This guy is a Black-headed Python from the Northern Territory. He still has another metre to grow so he is only a young one, but still a decent size. Thank goodness the handler let me hold him, or I may have just jumped into the snake pit!

A shame that the snake and my puddy tats probably wouldn't get along, otherwise I may have snuck him home..... I s'pose the fact I'd need a licence to keep him (and $2500) put a stop to that idea too!

I won an award!!!!

2007-09-12T18:02:00.000+10:00

Thanks Michelle and Nette http://www.theprimitivepear.com/ ! These lovely ladies have given lil ole me an award, the "You make me smile award". If you haven't checked out their site yet, do it NOW. You won't be disappointed, these girls are my crafting idols........

I made a gourd garland!

2007-09-10T19:19:00.001+10:00

I haven't been crafting much of late but I was inspired to give this a go today. I bought the gourds a couple of years ago and had them in a big wooden bowl. I wanted to be able to see their lovely shapes more so I strung them on a rusty wire with some cinnamon sticks and pine cones. Thanks Ian for drilling the holes! Looks and smells great above my kitchen window, very prim..... I have some gourd seedlings coming up in punnets at the moment. Bit too early to plant them out, don't want to get them frost-bitten, but it won't be long before they are rambling all over the place. It will be exciting to see what type they are as I bought a mix of heirloom seeds. Once they are picked it will take a while for them to dry out enough to use for craft, but when they do - look out!

Cute little guy....

2007-09-10T19:09:00.000+10:00

I love living in the country..... Today Ian dismantled an old tank stand to reuse the railway sleepers for garden edging, little did we know that these little guys had made their home there. Growing up on a National Park I have a great affinity with our native critters. If you want to see where I grew up click here- http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/parks.nsf/parkContent/N0037?OpenDocument&ParkKey=N0037&Type=Xo

After a quick photo session on Rhys' hand we returned this little guy to his mates in the hollow log. I just think his fat little tail is so adorable. He has the stickiest little feet which makes me think he is a type of gecko, and the softest pink belly........

How gorgeous.....

2007-09-09T22:18:00.001+10:00

Just had to share this. After an afternoon of planting we were lucky enough to get 4 mms of rain, not much but enough to give everything a drink and create this lovely double rainbow......

Chicks.....

2007-09-09T22:05:00.003+10:00

Woooohooo you should see my chookies now..... actually you can lol.... hard to tell the battery hens from the original girls....... their combs are bright and perky and we got 10 eggs from 11 birds today!

Apologies for the quality of the next pic, a bit tricky trying to photograph the baby budgies in their nesting box while fending off their protective parents...... This is the bird's first clutch and the first prospective money-spinners for Braeden (12) who breeds them.

And so it grows on.......

2007-09-09T21:48:00.001+10:00

Yum, yum, yum.......... I can't believe how easy and successful this no-dig gardening is........I found my first pea-pod today, can't wait to munch on those, and have been nibbling my baby carrots (some call it thinning lol....). We had a gorgeous salad of chillean lettuce, parsley and chives drizzled with Mum and Dad's homegrown olive oil and some balsamic vinegar with our dinner last night. It was delish.... of course the yummy quiche made from our free range eggs wasn't bad either! Wonder what the poor people are doing........ After checking the supermarket prices for veg today I am soooo glad we have started our garden, who wants to pay the ridiculous prices they are asking when you can grow your own and eat salad that's been picked 5 minutes ago? Added another layer of tyres to our potatoes today, and planted out our 5 colour silverbeet and coriander....always something to do lately.........

Peas

Chillean lettuce

Chives

Broad beans

Nutmeg the vegetarian......

2007-09-08T19:49:00.001+10:00

We really do have the strangest animals here...... Braeden (12) didn't finish his dinner the other night, so up hopped Nutmeg to finish it for him. However all that was left was the broccolli which she polished off very quickly! Truely though, our critters are just nutty, we had a bonfire last weekend and it was all we could do to keep Caramel the Jersey cow from jumping in the fire! She loved it, jumping about like a crazy thing whenever the sparks flew up........ Nearly put us off our marshmallows - NOT!

Bye-bye Midge....sob........

2007-09-08T19:42:00.001+10:00

My darlin' had to say goodbye to our feathered friend Midge the magpie last week. We have hand reared him for the past year after he was blown out of the nest as a fledgeling. Whilst he was a joy to have around we decided that it was inhumane to keep him in a cage so he has gone to stay with a WIRES carer until he can be released. She will look after him until she thinks it is time to leave the avairy door open. Hopefully the local magpies will adopt him.... meantime if you hear a magpie wolf-whistle at you just say "Hi Midge!"

Spring has sprung!

2007-08-30T20:15:00.001+10:00

My Mum always says this every Spring....

"Spring has sprung,

The grass is ris,

I wonder where the birdies is?"

Well, the grass has risen here, and there are so many birds about. It's a hoot watching the grass parrots, magpies, rosellas, galahs and king parrots. They are all very passionate at the moment! There are lots of noisy squabbles over nesting sites. The garden has gone mad, everything is starting to erupt with flowers. It is sooo much fun this time of year......

My first Sweetpea flower

Not sure what this bush is but it sure is pretty!
We planted two of these dwarf peach trees on the weekend, hopefully they will do ok, must mulch them....
Mum's elderly neighbour gave me some cuttings of this plant, once again don't know what it is, but it must be happy living in my rusty old clawfoot bath.....

I love daffodils, I have a variety of them planted around the base of trees, they are gorgeous...

Just for fun, some wormwood planted in hubby's old workboots.....

Wherever you are, enjoy the seasons, I know I do!

How cute is this?

2007-08-25T20:10:00.001+10:00

I was lucky enough to receive this gorgeous piece of family history for my birthday recently. My Oma (Grandmother) was given this from her brother in 1953! He made it from cardboard and painted it..... I have always loved it and as Oma is getting on she is giving her goodies to those who loves them. She is 86 now and amazingly her brother Franz who made it is 92 and still going strong.... It is great to watch, when the breeze catches it the couple cut the wood. I have to find a suitable stick for them to cut to complete the scene. I feel so lucky to have such a gorgeous piece.....

Merran's windchimes....

2007-08-25T19:59:00.001+10:00

Mez and I had a lovely time last weekend re-making some windchimes. We started with 2 old broken windchimes, one with pigs and the other with fish. We added a piece of old wood, some keys and a couple of pieces of curtain rod. The whole lot was joined together with waxed string and buttons! It makes a gorgeous soothing noise, I love listening to it and remembering the time Merran and I spent together making it........

Pictures, yay!

2007-08-16T17:14:00.001+10:00

I'm still on my darlin's computer, but I've worked out how to load my pics. So here's Pearl at the beauty salon lol. For those that are wondering why we trim her wool like this, it stops her from getting grass etc caught in her wool near her eyes, and keeps her rear end clean to stop the flies harassing her.

The "before" shot, cute but oh so woolly!

Pa, my Dad doing the hairdressing. He breeds stud sheep so he has the gear and know-how. Thanks Pa!

After - my baby looks so grown up now!

Today I planted the first of my heirloom potatoes - in tyres. I have never grown potatoes before so it should be a bit of fun. I have Sapphires, King Edwards, Desirees, Brownells, Red Stars, Royal Blue and Nicolas. The Sapphires are purple all the way through, should make for interesting mash lol. I laid the tyres on top of newspapers, half filled them with hay, added some compost and threw in 2 potatoes per tyre. Then I covered them with a thick layer of hay - now to wait for them to emerge so I can add another layer until each stack is about 4 tyres high. Should have heaps of yummy potatoes for Christmas........ For any Aussies looking for heirloom vegies go to http://www.diggers.com.au/

My seed potatoes are busting to get into the ground, look at those shoots!

The first layer, all done.

After dragging carts of hay up the paddock and chucking tyres over the fence I'm pooped, who's for a home brew?

M.I.A.

2007-08-15T20:38:00.001+10:00

I have been absent from blogging this week as my new laptop shorted out! I am now using hubby's work computer which I can only get onto in the evenings. I am suffering withdrawals, but I'm getting loads done lol..... Hopefully my computer will be back in action in a few days as I can't add new pics on this computer.

I have been busy planting seeds in punnets in my temporary glasshouse. This gorgeous structure consists of 2 glass doors leaning against the Northern side of the house. I have onion, and spring onion seeedlings growing nicely. Today I planted the following in punnets:-

Mixed cherry tomatoes

5 colours of tomatoes

Ornamental gourds

Mixed chillis

Jalapeno chillis

Capsicums

Coriander

5 colour silverbeet

I also planted some more radishes direct in the tank garden. I can't resist them so I am eating as many as I plant! Victor the goat and Rabbit (the paint horse) love them too lol...

And the exciting news for the week is that my broad beans are flowering and my sweetpeas have buds - YAY! Oh, and my chookies are laying 2 eggs a day, that's 100% increase lol, so they may be coming back on the lay.

Pearl the lamb had a haircut on the weekend, my Dad cut the wool around her face and crutched her. I will post a pic ASAP, she looks hilarious..... Dad also vaccinated and drenched Pearl and Victor, I think they were glad to see him leave lol.....

We are currently nursing Vixen the drafthorse, she went through a barb wire fence and grazed her inside leg really badly - more vet bills, but she'll be ok. Thank goodness drafties are so placid, she just stood there and waited for us to get her out.

Have a great week everyone!

Look what my baby made me......

2007-08-06T17:32:00.001+10:00

My son Rhys (15) has been busy at school making me this gorgeous clock. I just love it, I'm so proud of him, I think he's so clever. He gave me the clock for my birthday, more than a week early, he couldn't wait! I must admit I was a bit teary when he gave it to me, such a proud Mum I am.... Rhys has always liked working with his hands, he's a very practical child .....oooops, young man..... My clock takes pride of place in my bedroom on the mantel piece (surrounded by pipberries of course) so I can hear it's soothing ticking at night.

King parrots

2007-08-03T08:58:00.001+10:00

We are fortunate to have these gorgeous creatures visit us most days. I made a simple bird feeder from baling twine and a plastic pot plant tray. I drilled holes for drainage and added a horse shoe for weight. The parrots love it, getting up to all sorts of antics hanging upside down on the string etc. They provide us with hours of entertainment.

Female on the left, male on the right.

I love their gorgeous feathers, if you look on her back you can see the blue under her wings.

What a pretty boy! He has such a lovely red beak.

We often have up to 5 of these birds visit at any one time, depending on the season. They bring their offspring home to show them off to us........

Chickpea and Pumpkin Curry

2007-08-03T08:36:00.001+10:00

I made this for tea last night and it was yummy... I pureed the leftovers with some extra coconut milk to freeze as soup.

Chickpea and Pumpkin Curry

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 kg Butternut Pumpkin, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped

1 onion, cut into wedges

285g jar of mild Indian curry sauce

1/3 cup coconut milk (I doubled this amount)

400g can chickpeas

50g baby spinach leaves(I only had silver beet and I used the whole bunch lol...)

Coriander leaves to taste

1/2 Lebanese cucumber

2/3 cup plain European yoghurt

1 tablespoon fresh mint

Heat the oil in a large non-stick fry pan over medium heat. Add pumpkin and onion and cook for 8-10 mins until softened.

Add the curry sauce, coconut milk and 1 1/2 cups of water. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 mins or until the pumpkin is completely tender.

Stir in the chickpeas, spinach and coriander. Cook for 3 mins to make sure the spinach is wilted, then serve with steamed rice and cucumber yoghurt.

Cucumber yoghurt

Seed and finely chop half a Lebanese cucumber. Mix with 2/3 cup plain European yoghurt ( I used Greek) and a tablespoon of finely chopped mint, and serve sprinkled with a little extra mint.

Pretty multicultural really - bit of Indian, some Lebanese and some Greek lol....... Is this what they call fusion cuisine?

My girls

2007-07-26T19:25:00.001+10:00

My chookies are looking soooooo much better..... the new girls from the battery hen farm are getting new feathers and are so much more confident and happy. They have learnt to come when I call and rush to get their scraps. The older girls are still hen-pecking them a bit but are gradually accepting them. The newbies - all six of them - all sleep together in one little nesting box (made from recycled eskies). I go out there each evening and rearrange them, I'm worried that they will suffocate each other! With any luck the girls will start laying again soon, I have only been getting one a day lately...Ian has been threatening them with "the pot" but I have it in our pre-nups that my chookies will retire to our old-folks home lol.....

Their new feathers are starting to come through....

The older girls stick together!

Some pics from the garden........

2007-07-25T11:18:00.001+10:00

The sweetpeas are galloping up the wires, the carrots, broadbeans, radishes and lettuces have gone mad and everything is growing, growing, growing! We have had gorgeous weather here the past week, still frosty in the morning but glorious all day, great growing weather. Hopefully the warmer weather will last for a while so Ian can build my shade/glass house...... I need somewhere to raise my spring vegie seedlings......

Sweetpeas

Peas and Chillean Lettuces

Broadbeans and Radishes

Carrots

Rhubarb.

A friend gave me this plant, a "pup" of a plant grown by his Dad since 1953!

It has two lovely new leaves...........

Parsley

Strawberries

Daffodils starting to come up

Merlin deep in thought.....

I am a bag-making machine!!!!

2007-07-20T16:36:00.001+10:00

I am having a real run on bag-making lately............

For ages I have wanted to try felting recycled jumpers, so I finally gave it a go.

This bag is the result, only took an hour to make and so cuddly to use in the winter.

As you can see I have lined it, and added some interesting vintage buttons to jazz it up a bit!

Now I'm off to get ready to go to the pub.........

A tad chilly!

2007-07-20T16:24:00.001+10:00

It's been a little chilly here of late with many days below freezing....the kids thought it was hilarious watching our outside cat Rascal trying to get a drink from the horse's trough this morning, poor boy was ice-skating lol........

Blossom and Vixen proving the theory that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence - or should that be whiter?

Poor Victor shivering... he does have a little house to go in I promise!

My vegie garden, thank goodness I planted frost hardy vegies lol.......

All these pics were taken through my windows, I wasn't going out, too cold for me!

My op-shop quilt.

2007-07-14T16:48:00.002+10:00

Are you all sick of quilts yet? Lol.......Now that I have finished Merran's raggy quilt, the next project is to reconstruct the quilt I bought from an op-shop last year. This quilt cost me $9 AUD, so I was happy to pay such a small price for something that will take a little work. Whoever made it must have done a sampler quilt course, but not known how to finish it. Every block is a slightly different size, and it was joined together with extremely uneven sashing in the light blue colour. The blocks themselves aren't too bad, although I have to completely remodel the one on the bottom left hand corner as it was cut crooked. The maker had actually overlocked the edges of the quilt, cutting it in the process.
I'm not into pinks so I will put the quilt together with navy sashing and tea-dye the lot to tone down the pink and antique the lighter blocks. I think the navy will show off the blocks quite well. Not sure how I'll quilt it, probably just in the ditch around the blocks. Hopefully it won't take me as long to get done as the last one!

At last!!!!!

2007-07-14T15:58:00.002+10:00

It's been school holidays here for the past 2 weeks, the kids go back to school on Tuesday. Being a realist I decided housework was a waste of time with 4 children in the house and also that I needed some sanity saving sewing time. With this in mind I could justify finishing a raggy quilt I had started 2 years ago for my step-daughter Merran (10). The fact that it's been very chilly here and Mez has had a cold only gave me more reason to finish it! Luckily Ian had a couple of days off so I trotted out to the Doll House to do some patchwork. When I started this quilt I was really winging it. I had seen a couple in magazines and kinda worked it out but I made the mistake of having the wadding the same size as the top and bottom squares. This made it extremely difficult to snip to get the raggy effect. I also used a recycled flannalette sheet as the backing. Not a great idea as every square stretched! The quilt was tossed aside for a very long time. This time I made the squares of wadding an inch smaller then the purple and flannalette squares. It was soooooo much easier, both to sew and to snip. I think Merran likes it by the grin on her face! This pic was taken before I washed and tumble dried the quilt, the pic on the bed shows the raggy effect better.

Please ignore the texta marks on Mezza's forehead!

Don't you just love the lumpy bumpy kid-made bed lol...

Now, to just get time to paint her room......

My coin purse....

2007-07-05T21:49:00.000+10:00

My wallet has a broken zip so it's off to the cobbler's to be fixed. This left me with a need for a coin purse, so here's what I came up with. More Kindred Spirits fabric, a bit of pellon, some lining fabric and a zip was all it took. Oh and of course the trusty Featherweight.....

Just whipped this one up........

2007-07-05T20:34:00.001+10:00

I made this doll this afternoon. It's nice and warm in my doll house and the weather was very bleak here so what better to do than some sewing? She's made from a pattern by Not Forgotten Farm, with my own touches. Very quick to make as the body is the clothes (except for the skirt) and you just paint over the fabric to create the head, hands and feet. I needle felted her raw wool hair on and printed a feedsack apron to tie on her. I love how she turned out!

What a bargain!

2007-07-05T20:24:00.002+10:00

I answered an ad in our local paper and picked up this beauty..... It is a single bed size handmade bow-tie quilt. Actually it is a quillow, it has a pocket on the back so the whole quilt can be folded into the pocket to make a pillow..... a lovely old man was selling up some of his stuff so he can go on holidays to Canada, and this was one thing that had to go. His SIL had made it, I hope she doesn't realise he sold it! She's done a great job, machine quilted around the bowties and hand quilted in the plain blocks. She also hand tied in between! Certainly much more work in this than the $45 AUD worth I paid for it.......

I love the quilt on my queensize bed as a topper. The gorgeous teddy bear on the bed is George - named after George Clooney for his dark eyes and strong jaw lol....... He and I have been through a lot together, I bought him after my first marraige broke down, so he has earnt a permanent place on my bed!

Kindred Spirits Bag.....

2007-07-02T21:47:00.001+10:00

I've had the kit for this bag for a couple of months now and finally made it this weekend. I love how it turned out. I am a huge Kindred Spirits fan, love their fabric and patterns, so this bag was a must for me. Even the lining and inside pockets are gorgeous...... I machine quilted the handle and sides, hand quilted around the designs on the front and back pieces, and added the button closure.

Now the only question is, is it daggy to carry a handmade bag?

Who cares, I love it!

Front

Back
Lining and inside pocket.
A close up of the handquilting and embroidery.

2007-06-28T17:43:00.001+10:00

How cool is this? If you'd like to make one check out this site........
http://www.blyberg.net/card-generator/

Comments......

2007-06-25T16:26:00.001+10:00

I have found it very frustrating that I can't reply to the comments I get on my blog. Sure, I could just post a comment as a reply, but there's no guarantee that the commentor would read it. If anyone knows how I can reply directly, please let me know. I feel like I am ignoring people! I checked blogger help but couldn't find a way to do it, so any help would be appreciated. Til then, please know I do appreciate your comments, they make my day!

Punchneedle projects.....

2007-06-25T16:11:00.001+10:00

I have been enjoying doing punchneedle for a while now, but I haven't got around to displaying them properly. The colours are a bit bright at the moment so I will tea-dye or coffee stain them.

This one is my favourite.

This is the first one I did. The colours are way too bright for me, and I will paint the frame black to prim it up a bit.

I love this one too, can you see a theme starting? Yup, I love crows.......

I have bought the large needle for my Cameo punchneedle tool so I will have to experiment with that soon too. Right after I finish my crcohet rag rug, etc,etc,etc

The new arrivals.....

2007-06-19T20:12:00.001+10:00

My five girls are gorgeous, but they don't keep up with a family of six's egg needs, especially when they are "off the lay". So we have taken delivery of six 'rescue' chooks from the local egg farm. These girls were headed for a dreadful fate as they were past their peak and up for replacement. So we happily gave them a new home, and they will give us eggs in return.

These are the five "originals".

Rascal the cat likes to share their scraps, they don't seem to mind!

Here are some of the new girls. They are moulting at the moment so they are pretty scrappy!

After spending their lives in tiny mesh cages, the dirt feels a bit strange under their feet..

A nice warm chook shed & loads of hay to keep them warm.
These ladies are used to a constant 22 C, not the minus temps we get in June!

My swap to Robby......

2007-06-19T19:36:00.001+10:00

In an earlier post I showed you the gorgeous prim bear that Robby made for me in our Christmas in July swap. This is what I made for her.

I used a Dirty Crow Inn pattern and a vintage quilted pillowslip for the stocking.

The candy canes have German glass glitter on them. I had a ball making this, I made one for me too. The one pictured is actually mine, I added a rusty star to the tag on Robby's stocking. Now on to the Advent swap!

Tomato heaven.......

2007-06-19T11:53:00.001+10:00

This year Ian and I planted a Black Russian tomato for the first time, and boy did it pay off! We ate gorgeous dark red juicy sweet tomatoes for months. I had so many I ended up making semi-dried tomatoes using my dehydrator, yummo they were delish! Eventually the frosts came. Even though the bush was still flowering and producing, we pulled it up. We had been told that hanging it upside down would allow the fruit to ripen. Well a couple of weeks later the fruit was still green. I harvested over three kilograms of green tomatoes from the bush and then had to find a recipe to make something out of them......So I made Green Tomato Pickles. We now have ten jars of yummy pickles, a stash that is quickly diminishing mind you lol..... We have been enjoying them with crusty bread, chunks of cheese and thick slices of ham.......

So yummy, doused in homemade olive oil and accompanied by a lovely glass of red.......

My sweetie with ONE bush of Black Russian tomatoes!