Saturday, December 27, 2008

i have itchy fingers....


well xmas is over for another year ... and it was all that it should have been ...relaxed ,good food, children, and plenty of family bonding...bliss. there is something about being relaxed that brings out the creative persona in us .i am going to crochet a hexagon rug in retro colors this time and keep all the rounds in one color so this one will be a little quicker ... anyone who knows me knows i have a thing for crocheted blankets.. this i think may stem from my nana who was a master crocheter and who i spent nearly all my early life with .. i also have a thing about hexagons whether it be fabric or wool..but i bet you all agree the fun is choosing the ingredients ...

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

i still can't get used to a hot xmas

i find i still can't get used to a hot xmas . i yearn for the cold at this time of year .. seeing your breath when you talk..marks & spencers yummy traditional treats ... the shoppers panic .. twinkly lights from windows at 4 in the afternoon...ice on the windows... frozen milk bottles on your doorstep .... i could go on for ever.. now i settle for cooking dinner in a sarong [ and sometimes a sweatband ]
breakfast at the beach and a swim in the turquoise water of the indian ocean...maybe see a dolphin or two... see my grandchilren and children running thru the waves ...then dinner late afternoon ...and games...then a nap...and a late night .. bliss .. but it would be perfect if it snowed...merry xmas to all and a safe and happy new year...

Sunday, December 21, 2008

fresh eggs and fire up the barbie



fresh eggs from my own girls ... thank you. i love easy sunday's and as the grandchildren stayed over last night we had breakfast on the barbie .there is something about eating food outside .. it somehow tastes better and there wasn't a scrap left.... also hot buttered toast yum...
also thank you all who posted a comment about pud ..your words
have helped more than i can say ,bless you all...

Friday, December 19, 2008

i miss you

apologies for the lack of blogging ,but this week has been a bit of a sentimental one. you see two months ago i lost my little companion of 15 yrs. she battled cancer and it eventually consumed her and she had to be put to sleep.. i thought i was actually getting over it but then i had to visit the vet with my other dog -elsa and the whole thing started again ... the pain that comes after losing a loving companion for so many years is so overwhelming at times and truly makes you so sad ..so bear with me and as my nana said to me... never remember my death but always remember my life... love to you all and especially you my dear little pud i miss you every day ......

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

a perfick end to a perfick day....

nearly forgot ..... dear pat [ of powderpuff fame] was my chauffer
for the day and when we got back to her place she gave me this... oh my ... what at taste sensation !she really is naughty giving me this ... this ice cream is heaven on a stick and thank you pat for sharing it with me. for those of you who are not australian - maggie beer is an aussie icon in the cooking world .she lives in the barossa valley and has books a restaurant and a cookery programme and a food line .. good on ya maggie keep it coming yummmm...

sock day at gwens







here we are at gwens [on the blue chair ]beautiful home set on a couple of acres of native bushland .thank you gwen for the lovely day and the beautiful lunch so lovingly prepared .i was so thrilled that the girls had made such progress from the week before. they were all totally comitted to knitting up to the heel flap.

Sunday, December 7, 2008



some girls love diamonds... nah not me... give me worms anyday ...these are for the garden of course .if every home had a worm farm there would be no such thing as kitchen waste.anyone who abides by the permaculture principals has to have a worm farm for the whole sustainablity thing and they make compost much quicker and the part i like- you can give them your paper bills to eat... yumm....


meet the family... here is bambi he is the youngest of the herd and the naughty playful one .he is the prettiest and is also very friendly and fond of the grandchildren .one of their most endearing qualities is the love they show little children. in the photo you can see wobbly in the background and when they rest they fold themseves up almost like an ironingboard... well i'm off now to buy them some cider vinegar .i mix this with some molasses and garlic and add it to their alpaca muesli that they have once a day .the muesli supplements their diet the molasses for their coat and the cider vinegar for minerals and lastly garlic for the pesky australian flies and mosquitos ... talk soon


meet the family... here is wobbly ,he is the matriarch of the herd and a total worrywart. he is on constant alert all of the time to guard all of his underlings from any harm ... foxes won't come near , he keeps away snakes as the movement from them roaming around helps prevent that and i can't even let my elsa near for fear of her being rolled .the cats get out of the way . so he does a good job .as well as all that they have 3 little places where they all go to the toilet. i know you don't talk poo on a sunday but this is quite important .they have their three toilets which is a space of their choosing and always use them.a little heap develops with no smell and no flies... i call this alpaca gold as you can scoop it up and put it straight on the garden with no burning it's magic!!!


meet the family..... the alpacas .here is suzy she is a blue eyed white and is supposedly deaf but i sometimes wonder .she is also sterile [something to do with the white gene] but she is so sweet and gentle and the nuzzles she gives my small grandson are so lovely i wonder if she would have made a lovely mum...

Friday, December 5, 2008




those feet [sorry paws ] belong to portia the persian who is now an older lady at 12 yrs old .she totally rules the roost and these are her dishes...


look at these feet or should i say paws... have you heard of pussy willows ?.. well these feet are made from them heaven......

here is a special bouquet for julia and lurline who have been such good girls [albeit a little competetive- but in agood way ] in their sock knitting well done you make me proud!!!

for dear mildred thank you for making my first week blogging such ajoyxxxx

meet the family-here is kitty as you can see she is rather laid back- a true aussie!! she was found as a stray a tiny bundle of only about 4 weeks old .there were three of them that had been dumped at the side of the road a little way into the bush ,but i could only catch her because she was the smallest. the vet said she probably wouldn't survive. well god was good and here she is! the cobwebs she is wearing in the photo came from outside somewhere and she wore them nearly all day.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

i like a challenge....




i love to cook but as my hubby is away a lot there is only me to cook for and i cannot abide take out. so i set myself a little challenge .my book arrived two days ago and i have had to read it to let the theory sink in and i am quite excited. the book is called table tucker and written by a young mum who is sick of getting ripped off with the supermarkets but also wants to heal the world - my kinda philosophy.but you actually save money too, your weekly shop comes to around 90.00 or so and Penina Petersen write out your shopping list right down to the last onion!! check out her website http://www.tabletucker.com.au/ for more info .here is the menu that i have cooked up ; chicken kiev [ you make it yourself but with cream cheese instead of garlic butter ] with baked seasonal vegetables [tonites dinner ]and for tomorrow bacon and egg pie with a parmesan salad.[here i did not use any pastry just baked it like a quiche ] so tomorrow the dinner is made so a night off-- more sock knitting time

Wednesday, December 3, 2008




meet the family- the cats.this is jasmine in her teacup bed , her favorite spot. then of course she always seeks out the wool epecially if it's debbie bliss cashmerino aran....

Tuesday, December 2, 2008


sock in progress.little mulberry hands to match ....



a pair i made earlier...


another picture of lovely hanks ....


hmm... now which shall i choose? these are hanks of jitterbug sock yarn ,it makes it really hard to choose ... maybe i have to knit them all!! gwen actually bagged a bright hank and was thrilled with the way it knitted up .when all the girls finish their first sock we shall have a gallery showing .

sock knitting

well here we go ... i am teaching a sock tutorial at lurlines place today . it is the method by cat bordhi using two circular needles instead of four separate needles. it is sooo much quicker and you can watch tv at the same time.i am totally addicted and to think i promised myself that i would never knit socks after seeing my mum knit them for years .i'll take a few pics of the girls and their yarns.

Monday, December 1, 2008

isn't she lovely...



this pretty brown eyed lady is not part of our family but i just had to take a photo .she belongs to a neighbour and i have seen her produce two lovely calves.i understand that she is an A2 cow.this means that she still has the A2 protein in her milk.this milk can be drunk by people who may be lactose intolerant as the protein in the milk becomes totally digetstable .the milk is how milk should be- rich,creamy and beautifully tasty. in the eastern states A2 milk is now available in the supermarkets but is not yet available here unless you have one of these beauties in the back yard...

meet the family



her name is pet lamb and she is a [extra fine] merino . she does not however know that she is a sheep.pet lamb thinks she is an alpaca and she is their constant companion. pet lamb came to us about 4 years ago when we were thinking of a natural lawnmower for our acreage.my husband was at work when a ute came in and she was tied up with gaffer tape in the back as she had just been bought from the market for the families weekend celebrations and was due to be spit roasted.... say no more she came home with him in the back seat of a british leyland mini ,and she has lived the life of reilly ever since.when you become a RESPONSIBLE pet owner you quickly discover that it,s not all plain sailing. MULESING [thank goodness pet lamb had been done] is a sore point at the moment .i can see the pros and cons of both sides but as a animal lover there must be a kinder surgical procedure ,but having witnessed a poor merino in a state of fly strike mulesing has its benefits.anyway i am quite happy that we have pet lamb the way she is.....