Spring in the air

 It has been a warm weekend, and the garden is sure it must be spring! I found the bottlebrush coming out in flower, when we were out weeding and feeding this morning. We have been trying to keep the weeds at bay -a difficult job at this time of the year, but good fun because it gets us out where we can find beauty like this. 

 My Irises are putting on a lovely show. DH has been breaking up clumps of these and replanting them in a row edging the patio -they are looking lovely. 

 My scrappy quilt got finished at last! This was made of the left overs from other quilts. I got it half made, then decided I didn't like it and put it away for a few months, but recently I challenged myself to 'just do it" and I am very pleased that it turned out so well. My DH reckons the orange block border looks like 'pindan' -the colour of the soil in parts of Western Australia. I think all the scraps together make me think of wild flowers. Maybe that is the name of the quilt- 'wildflowers'? 

Here it is on our outdoor table. DH worked very hard yesterday cleaning the patio and putting it all in order -we sat out there yesterday for afternoon tea. Very spring-like!

 Geraldton wax flowers also ready to bloom in our garden.

The quilting marathon has not stopped -the "Give More" quilt is now under the machine.

 It is coming along nicely. 

Hope you have had a chance to enjoy the outdoors, where ever you are this weekend, and that you too can do what makes your heart sing. 

Thanks for dropping by to read my blog. Lurkers welcome, but I like to receive comments too.

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?

mini makeovers

 Lavender and curly leaf parsley in a thrift shop crystal vase.

 Geraldton Wax flowers just opening, from my garden in a pottery vase.

 David Austin roses and some home grown lemons. The apples and rhubarb are for desert on Wednesday night -winter solstice -when we are having a few friends and family over to mark the longest night -which of course then is followed by days which get longer and longer.  

 One lovely russet coloured hydrangea in a thrift shop crystal vase on my bedside table. 

Some little posies to brighten things up, and a rug and some quilts in the TV room to make things a bit more snug. 

I have enjoyed being at home this week, playing house! 

It has been a big weekend

 First I went to the "Sorry Day" ceremony in Wellington Square in Perth, where we remembered the plight of generations of indigenous children who were taken away from their parents by force in years past. The Convenor of the "Bringing Them Home Committee" spoke movingly of the sad legacy of this policy which makes many indigenous families so poor and troubled.

There was hope too, however in the young indigenous dancers from "HALO" a leadership foundation taking young men who have a history of getting involved in the justice system, and giving them support to grow as leaders and as indigenous men.
This coming week is "Reconciliation Week" in Australia.

 There was a short walk for me this morning down by the Swan River in Guildford, which the indigenous people call "Derbal Yerragan" -a place where in the Dreamtime the Rainbow Serpent was active.

 DH and I also took the opportunity to visit one of our favourite Swan River cafe and wineries -Little River, where we ate yummy Duck Pate with fresh baguettes and salad. We also bought some of their very fine Shiraz and Cab Merlot wines.

Sadly the wonderful winter weather today hides the fact that the rains have gone away again. Our Weather Bureau now thinks we might have a 60% chance of a warmer but drier winter this year.

Finally we had our builders come back and complete the installation of the mantle for our new heater.  In our joy that this 2 day project was finally done -after 4 weeks- we put all the books back on the bookshelves and are really enjoying settling down in the evening with a book  and the new heater. Very Cosy!

Give more

I have just completed this quilt top, above which will be a banner to go with my "live simply" one. It has a lovely panel of a winery set among green vines in the middle. I was lucky enough to find some fabric which echoed the   vines which I set as a border, then added the flying geese and the words "give more". Then I finished it with an autumn leaf print.

It probably won't be pinned to a backing until next weekend, so this week I am just keeping it on my design board.

We have had a return to autumn weather here in Perth this weekend. DH and I were able to go for a lovely walk at our local beach today -it was a warm day. Any more of this and I will be watering the veggies again.

We know it is winter by the fact that the days are getting shorter and shorter. Yesterday the family came up with a lovely idea to gather together on the winter solstice for a Yule Feast. We are going to have our new 'log fire" in operation, and lots of candles to defy the long night - and yummy winter food, on the longest night which will be on the 20th June.

From that day on, I always feel that I can eagerly watch the days gradually get longer, with each morning a minute or two earlier than the last. I do hope we get lots more rain though -our Perth winters seem drier than they used to be.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. See you soon!

My new role-Nanna!

She is here! My first grandchild -arrived last Saturday morning early in Melbourne. I was lucky enough to be able to fly over for the weekend and meet her for the first time. My son and daughter in law are now celebrating the first Mother's Day at their place and of course, I am now having my first Mother's day as a Nanna. In a couple of weeks my DH and I are going back to Melbourne so he can meet her too, and we can take longer to be with her. 

It has been a very big week as a result of all of this happiness, of course.

This weekend we also celebrated my DH's aunt's 90th birthday. It was good to be able to celebrate that too. 

Today I am enjoying some lovely new CDs and DVDs...I have jazz, guitar music, and tangos! I also have the first 7 episodes of the Miss Fisher's Mystery Mysteries series 1. This TV show is based upon the Kerry Greenwood novels based upon the 1928 fictional detective with a passion for justice, fashion and men! It is really interesting to watch the differences between a TV series based upon a novel you know well -how they can't get all the characters in the TV series, or manage all the complexities. The fashion is lovely on the TV series, but the books are much more complex and more enjoyable as a result. 

All in all there has been a full amount of positivity around here this week -which is a lovely lead up to Mother's day. I hope you are having a good one too. 

200th post-progress slowly

This is the 200th post on my blog! I remember DD showing me how to set it up years ago, and how excited I was to get started. It has become a wonderful tool to record my progress towards a simpler life, and I have met many wonderful internet friends as a result.

This week we have been doing all sorts of things -some leading us closer to simplicity, and some look like they are taking us away!

On the positive side, the Myer lemon crop is being slowly processed. I love my Myer lemons, but they are a crop that arrives all at once, rather than in dribs and drabs throughout the year. For that reason, we have a new Eureka lemon in the front garden, because it tends to crop over a wider time frame.

I have juiced a batch of lemons, and frozen the juice in ice cube trays. These become a wonderful resource for cooking, for hot lemon drinks in winter, and for flavouring iced drinks without making the drink more diluted.

I have zested and frozen about a dozen lemon skins.

I have also sliced and frozen slices of lemon.

But there is as many lemons on the tree left as I have processed till now! 

 Our new gas heater has been partially installed. The new heater was a necessity as our old one will be obsolete when the State Government changes the gas supply. We took the opportunity to have a gas heater installed which looks like a log fire, and yet has a 4 star energy rating.
For purely decorative purposes, we have also built a fake chimney and are having a mantle installed.  This is the picture about half way through the process - we hope the installers will come back this week and finish the job.

 I have been using one of my most useful acquisitions -a set of jewellery pliers- to fix a couple of Op Shop necklaces. One of them needed re-stringing, and one of them needed to have some beads removed. I enjoy having a variety of accessories to dress up basic outfits, and I find that having the basic skills to fix something from the Op Shop, or to change it in some way, really is very useful.

On the (slightly) negative side, I have started a second job before my first part time job was finished. This means that for the next 10 or so weeks I have a more than full time job. Obviously this is not really a Simple lifestyle. Fortunately they are both quite complementary positions, and my DD and DH are stepping up to take over some parts of the household work, so that we can get through this time. I anticipate my good old slow cooker will be getting work out over the next few weeks. There is nothing quite so encouraging as coming in after a hard day at work, and finding the wonderful smell of a slow cooked casserole to greet you, with dinner all done.

I find I am already missing my 'quilting day' but I have spent this afternoon sewing, so it is all good so far.

Thanks to all those who have subscribed to my blog and left comments over the years. I do appreciate your encouragement.