Catching up

Our lovely grand daughter's picture is now resplendent in a frame I found at the op shop this morning, and in pride of place on the mantle. We are glad to be having extra time to see her as my son and daughter in law are having a well needed break back home in Perth from studying in Melbourne. Tomorrow we are going to have her dedication at their church.

It has been a busy last few months for me but I have finally finished my stint of working two jobs so this weekend has been great to start catching up with all the things I have been wanting to do for a while now.

I am having some time at last to sit with a cup of coffee and read a new recipe book -again from the op shop. It is a Delicious magazine publication called "Let's Do Lunch" -and I got it for the princely sum of $2.99. Some really nice ideas for easy lunches in here - I always like salad ideas, and there are some good cakes too!

 I have been experimenting with a new configuration for my sewing. Marguerite McManus's book on ergonomics for quilters got me thinking about having a table which would enable me to sew at the right height for me. This is a little cheap folding table from Office Works. It is a bit flimsy to look at, but I love being able to sit with my feet flat on the floor and my arms at a comfortable height when I sew.

My "50c Army" friends (you know who you are) will recognise this -a slow cooker full of apples. I am experimenting with the idea which I picked up on their forum. I did try preserving apples last year, but they were not as successful as the pears, and I decided that I would be better stewing and freezing them rather than preserving. So if this turns out to be succesful I will be taking advantage of the granny smith apple season to put some of these away. Stewed apples on my breakfast muesli sounds pretty good.

 After last night's rain , the garden was a picture in the winter sun this morning when we were out gardening.

My DH told me that our rambling garden has been a hit with a young neighbour, who told his mum that "If they ever don't want to live there next door, I would like to live there." Why? "Because of the garden!"

I am sure a little chap like him would love to go exploring here.

This is the kind of garden I love -fruit trees, aromatic vegetation, herbs and flowers all mixed up, growing together so there is hardly a space between the plants. Abundance! I hope to be able to make more time for the garden over the next few months too. We bought a couple of rhubarb crowns today, so have great hopes for lots of lovely rhubarb this time next year. Maybe that will go well in the slow cooker, along with the apples?