Water in the garden

We have had a good soaking rain. It has really perked up the garden, which was getting dry in the early heat.
There are zucchinis in places in the garden, but the one n the wicking bed is the best, when compared to the one which is in a regular garden bed.

I have been experimenting with wicking beds because of the problems I had last year in growing things over the summer in Perth.

The Zucchini has really taken off.
I had a cherry tomato in it, which died but I planted another which is doing better.
I also have some sage which is doing well.

This week I have pumpkin seeds coming up, and the carrots are doing well.

We have just pulled out the snow peas and will get that bed ready for beans next , I think.

Not perfect

Today I had a day off -no, I mean really off! No housework, nothing but craft.
This is what I did:
I finished my second quilt. I made the first one about ten years ago!

I started this last summer when I was on holiday. The whole idea is original -I had the angel fabric and wanted to make a quilt which would feature them.
Last week I decided on the backing and today I quilted it and finished it off.
There were a few problems on the way : I had not used the walking foot on my machine for so long I had forgotten how to put it on, and then it took ages to remember how to change the tension and such.

I am so glad it is done - it will be teamed up with my collection of angels when we put up our Christmas decorations. (Yes, that it another collection...but that it another story!)

The image on the right is the finished product -I need to get the right sized hanger for it.

There is something so satisfying in doing a project right through to completion. It is not perfect, but only God is perfect!

Patio time

Today we are looking forward to a sunny and warm 32 degree day. Time to brush off the patio's winter blues, and make it our summer living room again.
I love eating out here. I love having coffee out here.
I love the way the odd collection of patterns on the cushions make it homey.
I love the fact that, when I serve meals at our long table with the pew benches, we linger over the meal and chat more.
I love the fact that we live in a wonderful Mediterranean type climate, where this sort of thing is easy for much of the year.
So many things to be happy about!

Shady solutions

We used to have trees on the north of our house -palm trees and other scruffy types that kept the house cool in summer but also kept all the sun off the winter garden.

Last year the trees came out.

Now we are planning a pergola on the north side of the house with deciduous vines to shade the house in summer but let the light in, in winter. Realistically speaking, this will not be built for some time, so what to do?

One of the AussiesLivingSimply members had an idea, which sparked an idea in me.

We made blinds for the northern side out of shadecloth. I just used a staple gun (no, not the office type-bigger) to staple the fabric to battens, then my Darling Man screwed them to the wall. These will stay in place over the summer.

We are delighted with the result. We can see through the blinds from the inside, but they make the windows private from the outside. Inside the rooms, the effect is one of lots of light which seems to be bounced around the room. The room is not at all dark, like it would be with canvas blinds.

I don't know how much cooling they will do, however, as it has been raining ever since we put them up (LOL).

The same day we put up the blinds, my Darling Man put up a shade sail on the west of the house, over my new raised garden bed. We want to shade the dining room, which is our only west-facing room, and provide some protection for the veggies from the very hot overhead sun in the summer.

Today's the day

Inspired by http://littlejennywren.blogspot.com/here is a day in my life. Jenny's friends do this on the 14th of every month, but I can only do this on a Sunday so here goes:

6.30 am -woke up without the alarm, which is a real luxury around here. My darling man brought breakfast -a real feast of home made muesli and home made yoghurt, with strawberries and tinned peaches. Earl Grey tea in my favourite Royal Albert china mug.

7.30 am -fresh coffee in the lounge room. I am wearing my dressing gown and ugh boots (nice and warm). Darling Son and Darling Man are off to church -I am going to stay home this morning and get some jobs done that must be done today. We chat about the subscriptions we may take up next year to live music concerts -the Australian Chamber Orchestra was delightful, in its setting in the Governor's ball room, the WA Uni music society gives great variety... can we afford the WA Symphony Orchestra too?

8.30 -try on the frock I am going to adapt for the 1920s theme party next week in honor of my neice's 21st. Try out all the jewellery too. Fun!

8.45 -notice the washing powder box is low. Make up new batch - 4 cups Lux flakes, 2 cups Borax, 2 cups washing soda. Remember my sister in law wanted the recipe, so sit down at the computer and write to her. We have been using this recipe, which is Rhonda's, for over a year. It works well. As we wash in cold water, we dissolve 2 tablespoons per wash in about 2 cups warm water. This lasts for ages, and is so much cheaper than factory made washing powders. It has almost no smell -last year on holiday I washed in factory washing powder, and for a whole week i was struck by the strong smell of the clothes. I remember my amazement when I first discovered that it was possible to wash clothes with stuff I made up at home, from the kind of ingredients our grandmothers would have used.

9.00 - have started this blog, and am in danger of being totally sidetracked. Fortunately my lovely chiming clock has reminded me of the passing of time. I must go and get started on that dress.

9.45 -time for a cuppa again. Quick clean up of the ktichen as I go -breakfast dishes have been soaking in the sink so it only takes a minute. Time to set up the sewing machine - I have cut the dress down to knee length and am adding handkerchief points to the overlay.

10.15 and I have the lights on. The rain is falling - a real blessing as we had a very dry August. I had turned off the automatic watering again a week ago, as we had started to have a few showers, but was getting worried that the ground was getting dry and hard so soon. Some good rain will make the farmer's crops come on again for the last growing spurt before harvest. That means wheat and canola for the world, as Western Australia has a large export market for both of these.

12.0o noon. the dress is ready and the headband is done ( a bit wobbly) and I am now getting my daughter to add a band to her hat. Modelled my outfit and got some good feedback from the family so that was worth it. Son and husband back from church and visiting my elderly in-laws. Lunch is being made with the sandwich toaster.

OOPS - the big wind has shredded one of our shade sails. Well, it had done several seasons, so we will just get another.

12.14 -someone recently expressed amazement about the idea of a plastic-free kitchen and declared that it was not possible to do without plastic wrap. Found this link http://crazy-mumma.blogspot.com/2007/04/alternatives-to-plastic-wrap.html whilst waiting for Darling Man to make me an avocado and turkey toasted sandwich.

1.00 -checking out the simple savings forum. Decided that I should go and do some cooking -make some things for lunches this week as there is not much around. We rely on 'leftovers' but the only thing in the freezer is two boxes of pumpkin soup.

Think I will do some peasant veggie soup using the turnips from the garden and the bok choy and such, and I will make a quiche for tea. Whilst using the oven I will use up some things in the pantry to make muffins etc

2.13 sitting down for a while to rest while my cake cooks. The soup had onion. potato and celery which were not grown at home. My celery is not big enough yet. I grew the turnips, the bok choy and silverbeet and the parsley -big handfuls each.

3.15 dear daughter is making me a big pot of coffee. Chocolate cake to go with it. Quiche is in the oven. That's it -my back hurts and someone else is going to have to clean the kitchen!

So - I think I will enjoy a small piece of cake and some coffee and then read for a while.

5.25 -off to our Home Church group.

7.30 -arrive back in time for Doctor Who. We eat in the family room -this is why dinner has to be done early!

8.30-that is it. Time to finish my book, off to bed and the whole week starts again. Posted by earthmotherwithin at 5:49 PM 0 comments

The shed is up and set up too

Well, the guys came and put up the shed, so we spent a few mornings before work moving the stuff into it. Darling Man is very happy, and is even talking about "Organising" it.

The carport is now clear of junk as we have also had a skip delivered so that building rubble and other stuff can go out. Whilst my aim is to have nothing leave the site, this is not really always possible and I have come to terms with the fact that sometimes things will go to the tip. My comfort is that this is much less than we used to send there.

So here is a picture of the new addition, which has coincidentally made more light into the kitchen, which is a nice bonus.

We have decided that there is no point any more with what is left of the lawn so we will be turning the area, apart from a path to the clothes line, into more veggie patch (Happy Happy Happy...doing the happy dance!)

Home improvements -something finished!

We have at last had the front brickpaving completed. Yippee! This has been a long time in the planning, but it is so good to have it done.
The aim is to reduce our water use -the lawn which was here was not attractive and was a lot of work too.
My son can park his car here too.
Our water bill this time has shown nearly 30% less water than at this time a year ago, as a result of a number of projects we are doing now.
My Darling Man worked very hard to prepare this area so for Father's day we bought him a shed, which will be delivered this coming week.
However, he had more work to do to get a place ready for the shed, so he had to lay 58 slabs!
As the shed we bought was bigger than we had planned, he also had to remove our old rotary clothes line and put up a parallel line one (LOL!)
It is great to have all these projects completed. Thanks to my Darling Man, of course.

(I supply the ideas)