Makuru -winter in the South West of Western Australia 2023

 

We had a lovely week away in Kinjarling/Albany at the time of our 47th Wedding Anniversary. Strangely, it was still and warm and sunny, and everywhere was the most amazing blue. I have a strong emotional connection to this coastline and love returning to it year by year. DH's family lived here at one time, and the first thing we did as a couple was visit this coast.

Since getting home, I have been working on a series of reversible gift bags -one side Christmas fabric, one side generic. I have made 5 so far. I need eight, but it is getting harder to keep going now it is a bit repetitive. The idea is that we no longer will need to throw out shiny paper which is hard to recycle. 

The garden is responding to the seasons. This poinsettia is huge, even though I cut it back hard last year. I think it grows  up to get the maximum amount of light.

We have harvested the limes, which we juiced and froze.For the first time I experimented with freezing juice in glass jars and it worked out well. We did some flash freezing of slices for drinks too. 

 We are eating tangelos and grapefruit. The myer lemon has only a small crop this year, after I cut it back hard to reduce the spread of citrus gall wasp. I will be giving away grapefruit very soon -the crop is very heavy. 

The rains held off for quite a while, but last week we copped a bucketting. It was a bit disappointing to see how badly the gutters fared, seeing as we had them cleaned only a couple of weeks ago. I have actually been using some water from the smaller water tank on the garden, although it absolutely does not need it, just to create a space for the next rain events which are expected this week.

We are all sick! After 3 and a half years, we are sick with COVID. DH was eligible for the antivirals, and I am pleased to say he is doing quite well 4 days in. DD is crook too, and I tested positive on Saturday this week.  We have been taking advantage of the extensive selection of food in our freezer, pantry and larder as none of us find much energy for elaborate cooking. This is one of the real benefits of the simple living lifestyle- the preparation we did months ago and now being appreciated. Stock in the freezer, left overs saved for another meal, rice of all kinds- I rarely run out of something without having a back up somewhere. 

While I am sick, I have been reading books and here are some I recommend:

This is a fascinating book about indigenous astronomy. Easy to understand for a person like me without a lot of science background. 

This is not a cookbook but a rationale about why it is better to go slowly in our food habits -cook well not just to save money but to provide nutrition and flavour boost our health. I really liked it. If you can find them in your library I reckon you might enjoy them. 

Well that is about it for today. Thanks for reading

Bunuru - a celebration of many things!

It has been a succession of celebrations around here since my last post. Our son and daughter in law graduated with master's degrees in teaching from ECU and our daughter graduated with a Grad Dip in Information and Library Studies from Curtin. These were very happy moments of recognition of a lot of hard work and it was lovely to be able to celebrate together.

I love graduation ceremonies. Each person who crosses the stage has a whole story of struggle and achievement. The whole thing is full of hope in a way that is not often found. 

Our youngest grandson needs a pick up and delivery to a group event on a Thursday afternoons every fortnight. This gives DH and me a chance to spend some hours in the vicinity of the beautiful Swan Valley. We love this little cottage cafe in the middle of the vines, and take time to sit under the fig tree and enjoy our afternoon together. There are great plant nurseries nearby, and on-farm produce sales, and lots of wineries. We will be trying to make the most of our fortnightly visits out this way this year. 

I was very happy to get back to the West Australian Quilting Association monthly meeting after nearly a year. The whole thing is very inspirational. Here is the display of quilts donated to the Community Quilt group for donation to hospices, shelters and other needs in the community. I have now started my annual quilt for this group. 

This is the beginning of the donation quilt -potato chip blocks from a whole bundle of scraps that I cut up into 2.5 inch x 4.5 inches and have started sewing together. I am really enjoying the project and it is good to get my 'sewjo' back. 

I enjoy borrowing cookbooks from the library. Sometimes I make a recipe from them, sometimes I actually go out and buy the whole book! One such book I recently bought and will heartily recommend is the book Use It All The Cornersmith guide to a more sustainable kitchen.  (no affiliate link). 

Of course, sometimes it is just a matter of revisiting cookbooks I own, and trying something new. We have a small group of friends which meets on Friday nights where possible, to eat together. We each bring a course, and that way it makes it easier for the host. These brownies (without the hibiscus leaves!) were well received. The book is Annabelle crabb and Wendy Sharpe's book "Special Guest -recipes for the happily imperfect host". (no affiliate link). 

My DH painted my sewing room door and installed the perfect sign! For a quilter who loves vintage sewing machines it is a wonderful thing and it gives me joy. I have a whole page on this blog about my machines here

Giving me joy is the health of the indoor plants I am gradually collecting around here. While summer sees some of my garden under stress outside, and I am battling pests and fungus and rats (grr!) I find that it is important to allow the season to be what it  is, and to sometimes retreat indoors and just read books! I trust you are also finding moments of joy and celebration in your life. Maybe leave a comment and let me know? 

 

Simple days, getting simple things done

Our days have been going on in the usual way, with simple things taking up our lives. We are most grateful for our happy, quiet home.

 In the last few weeks a number of important milestones have been passed -DH and DS both had birthdays, and DH is through his hand and back surgery and well on the mend. We have both had our flu injections for this year -DH got one for pneumonia last year so probably doesn't need it to be done again this year. We are not yet on the list for the COVID vaccine but I will be lining up as soon as I am called. 

The tumbler quilt top I started some time ago has become a flimsy over the last couple of weeks. I will always remember this one for the way my 3 year old grandson enjoyed turning the handle on my Accuquilt Go as I cut the tumblers, and them put them up on the design wall. I am planning to use a collection of orphan blocks on the back. I am trying to think of a name for the quilt, but given the helper I had I am thinking of it as 'tumble tots'. 

It  has been school holidays and we have been having a 'sleepover' with the older grandchildren as a special treat. I took both Miss 8 and Mr 6 to the local pool and they had a wonderful time. The pool is geothermally heated at a constant 32C and it is quite wonderful. When DH is a bit more recovered we both will be using the pool again for our 'walking in water' exercise regime -it is good work but kind to arthritic joints. 

Miss 8 continues to progress in her scrunchy making skills with my sewing machine. I think we have made 3 so far, and each one requires less of my attention.

I took advantage of an early in the season rainfall to start putting plants in the verge garden. After the hot dry summer the earth was absolutely rock hard out there, so I bought an auger attachment for DH's drill to help me dig the holes. I had a couple of indigenous plants ready to go in, and have some more to plant this week. Once the rains fell the earth softened a bit and I hope that gradually we can turn this semi-desert into living soil again. In a couple of weeks I hope DH will be able to help me get a trailer load of mulch to protect the bed and feed the soil a bit. 

 We are eating the butternut pumpkins I grew under the citrus out the back, and just this weekend started harvesting the limes. The myer lemons are colouring up, and will be abundant very soon. I managed to get abut 7 good pomegranates from the tree this year -a smallish crop, but I have frozen some kernels for salads later in the year. I have some rocket now growing -it needs cooler weather -and some seedling celtuce coming up from one I let go to seed. I have prepared some of the raised garden beds in preparation for winter crops. 

The nasturtiums are returning to the front garden, and the autumn flowering daisies and salvias are in bloom again.  

Finally, here are a few good articles I found about simple living and growing things 

Simple living vs Minimalism

Why we should embrace regenerative gardening 

The self-sufficiency myth

https://www.treehugger.com/embrace-regenerative-gardening-5176159

Delightful happenings to balance the rest!

 I hadn't meant to leave it so long to make a new post, but it has been a while. Nothing to hold me back excep the number of truly delightful things which we have been enjoying lately. Let me tell you about some of them.....

The most wonderful holiday

DH and I got away for a few days to our favourite holiday place -Kinjarling/ Albany on Western Australia's south coast.  We were between two bouts of surgery which DH had scheduled -he is getting both hands worked on to relieve carpal tunnel syndrome, and also surgery on his back to relieve pressure on his sciatic nerve. As he was not driving much, we took the opportunity to use a free bus ride there and back. I didn't want to drive all of the way. (DH has had his second surgery now, and is at home and recovering well). 

This free travel to our regions is provided by the WA state government to 'seniors' like us. We enjoyed the relaxed 6 hour journey very much, and hired a car in town. 

The weather is notoriously unpredictable on our south coast, but this year we got uninterrupted magnificent blue skies and warm temperatures (not hot like Perth has been). 

Albany has beautiful scenery, and is renowned for the colour of the waters inshore. We spent the time sight seeing, eating at cafes and restaurants, visiting art exhibitions and reading books. It was wonderful! 

A wonderful kid

DH and I have three wonderful grandchildren. Two of them are at school these days, but Mr 3 years old is in need of a babysitter day on Mondays. He comes to us and we have a whale of a time. At the moment he really likes to make cookies. I think we will work our way through most of the recipes in my Cookie Recipe Book -especially the ones with icing, cherries or lollies on top. 

A new mattress

It was playing with the grandchildren that brought us to the awareness that our mattress was in need of replacing. They were playing a game called "Veranda Santa", (from the show Bluey)  which involves lying on beds while one of the kids sneaks in and puts 'presents' under our pillows. The kids said that the mattress was sloping to one side, and in fact when we looked, we could see that the edges had deteriorated. We had a great deal from a mattress company which makes them locally, and we are really enjoying it. 

An election

I volunteered on two occasions to hand out 'how to vote cards" for the Greens at my local State election. I have done this kind of thing before, and enjoy it as a way of contributing to our democracy.  As it happened, the election resulted in a huge win for the local Labor party and I am pretty OK with it, even though the Greens candidate I was helping is probably going to lose her seat in the upper house. Labor is pretty progressive party. 

And the rest of the stuff

Dh and I went to a rally in Perth to protest at the sexual assault of women and the way in which we all live with a daily fear of being attacked or harassed. When a couple of assaults were alleged to involve our Federal politicians -one allegedly happened in a Ministerial office- the women of Australia said "ENOUGH". Rallies were held all over Australia, and the political revelations of more mysogyny and harassment are daily occurrences at the moment. It seems like a lot of women are no longer going to keep men's secrets but instead will be shouting them from the rooftops. We don't want women's testimonies to be disregarded because there is no 'evidence' , we want laws which will actually provide justice for women even while upholding the right to a fair trial for the perpetrators.

So that is a bit of a summary of life with us. Thanks for reading this far. Please leave a message or comment if you feel like it. 

An Island Get-Away

Off the coast of Fremantle in Western Australia is a very special island. The locals call it Wadjemup. The others call it Rottnest Island. It was named by a Dutch explorer called Willem de Vlamingh in 1696  who charted a lot of the Western Australian coastline, a long time before Captain Cook turned up in the east. 

It had a sad settler history: used as a prison island by the white authorities, there are many indigenous people buried on the island. They were removed from their lands and never saw their families again. 

In later years the island has been set aside as an A Class Reserve (like a national park) and is administered by the Rottnest Island Authority. It is a tourist hot-spot, where people can have holidays and go for day trips. There are very few vehicles on the island, but it is a great place for bike riding, snorkeling and fishing. There is a ferry service which takes you there. 

We were able to spend a few days there this weekend, staying in a self-catered cottage. As it was our 43rd Anniversary this week, it was a great opportunity to get away and have a break from everything.

We took a bus around the island, getting off and stopping as we liked.

The weather was cool but very sunny and the place looked stunning. The crossing from the mainland to the island is often rough, but we were very lucky and had smooth sailing. This was lucky as I am a pretty terrible sailor! 

One distinctive feature of the island is the presence of a very local marsupial called the Quokka. It is a very gentle little animal, and a great favourite with the visitors. 

Enjoying life

After a few days of rain and cool temperatures, we have had sunshine and warmth again, which is perfect for getting started on the winter planting. I have put in loads of garlic, and also some pak choy. Garlic is a great crop for a small garden like mine, because it is relatively easy to grow and yet is very expensive to buy. It stores well and I use it constantly in my cooking. 

 I bought some flower seeds because I felt that there were not enough things to pick for a vase. This is in anticipation of using some of the extensive collection of vases that I have, but also because I think I have too many vases and should clear some out. 

I have also planted mizuna, radishes, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, beans and peas. 

I really enjoy gardening at this time of the year, but there is so much to do, to get the soil prepared, and to move the pots around to get maximum sunlight. Now is the time that 'full sun' becomes prized, after a summer in which shade is premium. 

I am trying a new pickling recipe for my beautiful kalamata olives. This one has a very strong salty solution - you let this draw the salt out of the olives, and then rinse before bottling in olive oil. If it works it is a lot less work than soaking in water that you change daily for weeks and weeks before bottling. . Our tree is having its 'off' year this year, so we will only have a couple of bottles. 

We had some friends over for a party to celebrate DH's retirement.

I enjoyed trying some new recipes on them -this cake is a Nigella recipe made with coconut oil.

I also grilled and marinated eggplant to serve as part of a platter of antipasto. It was quite a hit. I am pleased as it is easy to do and gives me another eggplant recipe! 

Note to self: plant eggplants and zucchini in the spring! 

We keep lots of water baths around the place for the birds and insects. This arrangement of home made table -made by DH from a cast iron sun umbrella stand and some wood from a pallet, supports a china bowl which I found in an op shop. I am proud of our recycling efforts here! 

This week,  I put it here to replace a rather wobbly plastic bird bath, which was not attracting the birds, near the bottlebrush and in full view of the dining room window. I am hoping that the sturdy and stable arrangement will finally encourage the wattle birds who frequent our garden, to have a bath in it. Our large ceramic bird bath near the mulberry gets pretty regular use out the front, mostly by the magpies, so it would be great to see this get used too. I have one by the back patio which Dora likes to drink from. Why she would prefer this to her clean water inside, I am sure I don't know! 

Dora is always finding new places to sleep out her days! 

We have some huge pomegranates from our tree. I have been happily pressing them upon friends as I already have de-seeded and packed lots into the freezers. I am also gifting limes to all who will take them off our hands, as the Meyer lemons are just about ripe and the tree is absolutely laden with them. There are plenty of other citrus not far behind. We have been collecting jars for DH's marmalade. Now he is retired he will have more time to put up some jars. We love it on toast but it can also go in puddings and cakes. Jars of marmalade make great gifts too.   

If you can grow some food -more than you can use yourself, so that you can offer it to others, there is a great satisfaction and a sense of abundance. This is the simple life I dreamed of nearly a decade ago, when I started this blog. Over the years the garden has matured, and I have learned some skill along the way. There is still much to learn and improve upon, which gives me a continuing sense of curiosity and learning. 

Proud family time in Melbourne and country Victoria

We spent a few days in the lovely city of Melbourne, catching up with some exhibitions and friends.

The biggest reason for the visit, though, was a very important graduation: our son and daughter in law have completed their studies and graduated on the same night, from the same university my husband and I graduated from nearly 4 decades ago!!!

It was a wonderful celebration.

What a fantastic achievement -not only did they finish their studies, they had 3 wonderful children and held down some challenging work situations at the same time.

Of course we had to go up to the country town where they live, for a quick visit with these same 3 grandchildren -now 6, 4 and 1.5 years old. This drawing is of me! I assure you the eyes are 'sort of green" and the hair is 'sort of grey and white". LOL

The exhibition on at the Immigration Museum on the topic of love, was moving.

The National Gallery of Victoria has a splendid exhibition on at the moment -frocks from designers over more than 100 years! On display among their usual paintings and sculpures, these designer gowns from fashion houses of significance, were truly wonderful.

We loved the whole thing but it wasn't long enough with our family or with our favourite city either.

It is always good to be home.

Now to re-adjust to the 3 hour time difference! 

Spiders in the kitchen! Scary ones!

I warned you it was scary! Just look at those teeth!
Every time the grandchildren come over from interstate, they like to decorate my kitchen with scary spiders which are here to scare Pa. He is scared, but DGS took his hand to make him brave when they went inside to make a cuppa.

We have had lots of fun riding the bikes to the park nearby. These bikes were bought at the tip store - DH did a good job of cleaning them up and they were worth every cent of the $10 we paid for both of them

We went on nature walks and collected things in a basket

DGS helped to make the best bread ever!

We had two birthdays whilst they were here: DS and DH both had birthdays. I made these chocolate muffins for DH and they went down a treat.

We played lots of games.

It was so lovely to have them here.

In a few months we are going to visit them where they live!