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Ginger Can Sew

Iris

I learnt something this week...I have an interest in natural and herbal remedy's and have collected a small number of books on these subjects. I've not actually made any of the concoctions from these books as they usually have a range of wide and varied ingredient list - usually containing something a little out of the ordinary. I have been slowly adding to my collection of medicinal herbs in the garden with a view to collecting the varied ingredients over time. Things like chamomile flowers and dill seeds are fairly commonplace. I have become an expert in weed identification as things like Chickweed and Dandelion and nettle (as long as they have not been sprayed) are common ingredients.
One ingredient that comes up frequently is Orris root and I wasn't really sure what it was. Whilst reading a Jackie French gardening book (The Best of Jackie French) this week I discovered that it was the root of a specific type of Iris. Our yard is full of Iris - although I don't think we have that particular variety - Pity.

The recipe was for potpourri and it mentioned that Iris have an amazing scent. So today while I was weeding the front garden bed I stopped to smell the Iris...  and it's true - they do smell lovely!

I mulched all our vegie beds today with some Lucerne mulch - after much research this seems to be a good all round mulch for both vegies and Roses - both of which we have  a lot right now. Everything that I planted in the past few weeks is going brilliantly - although I have noticed more evidence of snail and slug attack since the weather has started to warm up. I am going to try the 'beer' method of trapping them. Apparently if you submerge a small container at ground level filled with a small amount of beer the snails and slugs fall in and die!

All of my seedlings have emerged except the Coriander - even the apparently difficult to grow Parsley has come up!

Now to keep them healthy until the threat of frost is gone!

Afternoon Tea and Friands

Blueberry and Lemon Friands and Moroccan Mint Tea

Still on the topic of tea, my favourite time of the day (apart from first thing in the morning before anyone else is awake) is in the afternoon when both children are asleep - if only for 15 minutes - at the same time. It doesn't happen everyday but it is blissful when it does.

I like to sit in the sun on our deck and have a cup of tea and look through a book, perhaps write a little bit.

My book of the moment is this beautiful coffee table book:

If you like Vege gardening then this is a gorgeous and inspirational book.

The friands were a result of my spontaneous purchase of the day - a Friand tin. I really like friands as an alternative to muffins - they are something different and a bit lighter. I know that you can cook them in a  muffin tin as well but I wanted the real cafe-like experience. Blueberry and Lemon is my favourite combination.

On that note... the big boy is awake. That was my 15 mins!

baby B at 4and a half months

How does my garden grow?

Spring is definitely starting - although I am trying not to get too complacent and am expecting it to get cold again before it finally warms up.  I have been busy planting things that I can, trying to get on top of the weeds and mulching.  We bought a worm farm a week or so ago and it will be a while before we see the benefits but it is great to be able to feed vegie scraps to something!
I got out in the garden this morning and took some pics because it it a lovely day. I have a number of things on the windowsill germinating away. The standout winners have been the lettuce which sprouted after just 2 days. Still waiting for most of the rest but I have Tomatos, Zucchini, Cucumber, Capsicum, Basil, Coriander, Parsley, Kale and a few other random things in so they will be ready to plant out after the frosts.

Lettuce Seedlings

I resurrected my pea trellis yesterday and moved it to a different part of the garden. I have never had much luck getting the seedlings to take before now so we will see how it goes in this new position.

Pea Ti-Pi

Freshly planted Pea Seedings

The garden is starting to brim over with flowers in anticipation of spring. We have a lot of Iris in our beds and they tend to make up the majority of our flowers but I do scatter some Pansy and viola around the place to fill in holes here and there. I need to plant some more bulbs but that can be a job for next year.

A Lonely Pansy - Blueberry in the foreground.

I bought a blueberry a few weeks ago and I'm not really sure where I want it to live so I am going to keep it in a pot for now until I decide. If it goes OK in the pot I might just leave it there. I also want to get a small patio lime. I planted some Mustard greens just for something different. By the time my rocket seeds sprout and the cut and come again lettuce gets going we should be right for salad season!
I was very excited this morning to see my Rhubarb crown had sprouted!

Mustard Greens with Curry plant in the foreground

We have a number of fruit trees in our garden, an old derelict Apricot which we never get many fruit from, a peach which has never fruited, an abundant plum and a Granny Smith apple which always gets coddling moth. I am going to try and combat the coddling moth this year and I have a few ideas up my sleeve.

Apricot

Peach

Plum

And last of all my favourite - the Jonquils.

Jonquil

on Mindfulness...

Source

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the

world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the

future. Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life."

Mindfulness can infuse everything we do, even if we tend toward doing.

Thich Nhat Hanh

A little getaway...

Chubby Baby Love

I didn't really understand the concept of chubby baby love before Baby B. You know some times when you hear people say things like "Look at those chubby legs... I could just eat them!". I just didn't get it. Perhaps H boy wasn't all that chubby?

Well Baby B is a different kettle of fish! He has these gorgeous rolls of baby fat on his legs and tummy - combine that with his beautiful soft baby skin and I could just eat him right up.

He is being exceptionally cute lately - all smiles and giggles and he is a very chatty baby.

I am really trying to make the most of this time with him - trying to live in the moment. I read a book once called "The Gift of an Ordinary Day" by Katrina Kennison about appreciating the everyday and remembering those moments that may not seem so special at the time but come together to form all the wonderful memories that make up a life lived. I think that is what is so special about blogs - they allow you to capture some of those ordinary everyday moments.

Knitting frustration

A little while ago I decided that I needed some fingerless mittens - so I went looking on ravelry for a pattern I liked. Knitting a pair of fingerless mitts is probably stretching my knitting skills a little - thus the title of this blog post!

 

I chose the Cupcake Mitts pattern because I thought they looked cute. I am actually quite surprised to find that it isn't at all difficult to knit on double pointed needles. I remember a time a little while back my husband saying to me "when you start knitting on more than 2 needles I'll know you have a problem" (problem/habit/addiction...). I guess I'm there now!

They are challenging to knit - I am learning a lot - including how easy it is to mis-read a pattern! But incredibly satisfying at the same time because they come together so fast.

How did the jelly cakes go you ask?  Well not as good looking as the ones from yesterdays picture but they definitely taste good. I think I let the jelly set for too long.

Cooking away the day

I have noticed that I cook a whole lot more now that I have a toddler. It seems to be the only thing that keeps him entertained for more than 15 minutes.

I absolutely dread rainy days where we are stuck at home - especially when he is being challenging and I am tired!

We went to the National Dinosaur Museum this morning for a look and that managed to entertain him for around an hour - after 4 laps of the exhibits. It was nice to go and have a look but I think it is better suited to school age children.

This afternoon we are going to have a go at making these yummy looking Jelly Cakes:

Source

 

I love sweet things that are easy to freeze - it means that you can cook up a largish batch and have some now and some in the freezer for those times when you need something different - or to pack to take on a picnic.
With only 4 weeks till spring (excited much!!!) I can see a lot of picnics in our future!!!

Ressurection of this blog

I have decided to resurrect this blog as I want a space to be able to write about our upcoming renovations as well as everyday things about the hose and family goings on.

I thought that it would also be a good place to journal about the things I am doing in the garden at different times of the year so as to serve as a reminder for upcoming years of things that I need to do.

I have been starting to get a good grip on the garden recently. It seems strange that it has taken me this long to get the hang of but I am finally beginning to understand the flow of planting and being able to plan for the amount of plants that I need to yield the right amount of food for our family.

A good example is the one zucchini that I managed to grow last year. I was dissapointed when bugs ate the other 3 plants but then the one plant we had managed to grow provided us with exactly the right amount of produce. We probably only eat 3 - 4 zucchini per week and the plant seemed to give us this.

I know that you can do things like canning but I'm not really into that. I don't mind making jams etc from excess fruit but I don't really like to eat canned things so it is better if we only have the amount that we need.

I have some plans for the next few months that I am putting into place slowly.

LAst week I bought bought some Onion, spring onion, lettuce, silverbeet, asparagus, rhubarb and seed potatoes.

I planted the Onions, spring onions, silverbeet and lettuce on Saturday morning - right before a full day of rain so they were watered in nicely. Earlier that week I had spent some time preparing the beds with some compost, dynamic lifter and wetting agent.

The last round of spring onions were so rewarding and I am looking forward to having that again. Hopefully the onions will be the same.

I have the seed potatoes out getting some light to help with the sprouting and I will plant them next weekend.

I also put some radish seeds out - I know you are meant to grow radish from seed but I have not had much luck before now.

More to come with plans for the garden...

Michelle Bridges 12 Week Challenge

Well until today I had never heard of this - but someone pointed me in the direction on facebook and I have spent the day unable to get it out of my head.

It kind of seems just what I need right now. A little bit of direction, a lot of encouragement and a bit of fun thrown in for good measure.

I love Michelle Bridges - her training style, her energy - so I thought this would be perfect.

I am just going to set myself a small goal - I want it to be entirely achieveable and to be able to really get back into the swing of exercising regularly. But I'll talk about that a bit down the track I think.

I have set up another blog - Watch Mummy Run because at the end of this 12 week challenge - that is what I want him to be able to do - Watch his mummy run and cheer her on from the sidelines (or from in his pram!).

I will blog about the challenge in that blog I think.

Wish me luck!

Good Intentions

I had intentions of writing a nice long post - because it has been a while. Except that I just got back froma walk and then I did some spur of the moment strength work out the front and as I sat down with the best of intentions - I suddenly got tired.

I think I am going to reattempt to do the 500km thing - I was doing it last year - aiming to 'travel' 500km - through walking, running, cycling etc.

So aI guss I want to post some details and that on here but I'm just not up to it tonight.

I also think that I am going to do a half marathon some time in the next 6 months - possibly the Canberra Half - but that is not a huge event - I need something with some atmosphere - so possibly something in Sydney.

I need to work out a training schedule and build it up slowly. All I know at this stage is that it will be before August - mainly because we are most likely going to start thinking about having another Baby at the end of the year.

Why go and get all fit again and then have another one? Well I didn't cope that well with pregnancy last time - I had some hip and lower back problems etc. When I fell pregnant lst time I was the fittest I have ever been - so essentially I would like to get back to that again.

It will also give me a good base for staying fit during the pregnancy- something I wasn't able to do last time as muchas I would have liked.

So I need to get myself focussed and stay there.

I'm thinking of taking this back to my Fitness Ambition blog - just because it feels more appropriate there.

Many thoughts - must go and think!

At the end of our week

And so wraps up the first week of Childcare for Action Man and work for me. We have both had a surprisingly great week. I think the key to that being that I have been super organised and Mark and I have worked together as a team to get things like dinner and the cleaning organised.

It just makes life so much easier to have a great partner in crime - especially when there is a baby involved.

When the house is a bit of a mess I feel out of control and I didn't really want to cope with feeling like that as well as working and getting us where we needed to be on time. Those three days of the week when I work are going to be a bit of a write off I think because once we get home, get dinner done, clean up from dinner and make lunches for the next day, there isn't much more I feel like doing apart from sitting down on the couch.

Part of the daily routine is getting all of the clothes and bags and bits and pieces ready for the next day before we go to bed. That way there is no rushing around in the morning and we can focus on eating a good breakfast and getting ourselves ready for the next day, I like having this calmness to the morning.

Action man had a great week at childcare and seems to love it. He loves playing with the other kids and the carers there just seem so brilliant. There wasn't even any tears! Having him at the childcare centre that is located in the grounds of my work just makes it that much easier. It means less stress for me because I know he is right there and it takes less than ten minutes for me to get there if need be. I am glad that we waited until now - when he is 11 months old - to start at childcare.  It would have been much harder when he was younger.

I had a brilliant week at work and have just slotted back in right where I left off. I haven't really forgotten anything at all which is great!

I get a lot from work I have decided - it is an impotant part of my psyche. Although I miss him a lot while I am there I feel like there is a little part of me back - the bit where I get to be the intelligent, clever girl who know things about physics and radiation and is making a difference in the world. Even though I still consider being a mum my first and most important job - it is nice to have this other side. 

Just the routine that my job enforces onto us is something I enjoy - I think I like the structure.

Yesterday I disted off the bike and had a go for the first time since I broke my arm back in May 2008. I was a bit wobbly to start off but soon got the feel for it again and ended up going out for about 12km. Felt great straight afterwards but my legs ached all day yesterday from using muscles that haven't seen work in a while.

I think I am going to make it a regulaer weekend activity though!

Hope you all had a great week as well!

raggy goes to childcare

This is the small cuddle toy that my little one has taken a liking to and we have 3 of them that we rotate so that they all wear evenly and in case one gets lost.

He only has it when he goes don to sleep and then the raggy bear lives in his bed all day - waiting for the next sleep. He is a very sleepy bear!

On Wednesday raggy bear is going along to childcare with the Action man and so he needed a name tag.

I found these old sew on tags with our last name on them in his grandma's sewing box after she died and I kept them thinking they may just come in handy. And so they have!

Only problem is that now I want more quaint sew in tags - I only have a limited supply!!!

99 things

At a time when people are reflecting...... this was a bit o' fun...

Things you've already done: bold
Things you want (or might want) to do: italicize
Things you haven't done and don't want to - leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog.

2. Slept under the stars.

3. Played in a band.

4. Visited Hawaii.

5. Watched a meteor shower.

6. Given more than you can afford to charity.

7. Been to Disneyland/world.

8. Climbed a mountain.  Does Kosioscuko count?

9. Held a praying mantis.

10. Sang a solo.

11. Bungee jumped.

12. Visited Paris.

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.

14. Taught yourself an art/craft from scratch.

15. Adopted a child.

16. Had food poisoning.

17. Let someone else take the credit.

18. Grown your own vegetables.

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.

20. Slept on an overnight train. -

21. Had a pillow fight.

22. Hitch hiked.

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb.

26. Gone skinny dipping.

27. Run a marathon. Does Half a marathon count?

28. Ridden a gondola in Venice. -

29. Seen a total eclipse.

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.

31. Hit a home run.

32. Been on a cruise.

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language.

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. - I don't ask for much.

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing.

40. Seen Michelangelo's David in person.

41. Sung Karaoke.

42. Rode a camel.

43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Been on an African safari.

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.

46. Been transported in an ambulance.

47. Done something illegal. - ahem

48. Gone deep sea fishing.

49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling. -Loved it
 
52. Kissed in the rain.

53. Played in the mud.

54. Gone to a drive-in theatre.

55. Been in a movie. Does a TV ad count?

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout cookies. -

62. Gone whale watching. We didn't see any whales

63. Received flowers for no reason.

64. Donated blood.

65. Gone sky diving.

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.

67. Bounced a cheque.

68. Flown in a helicopter.

69. Kept a favorite childhood toy.

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.

71. Eaten caviar - over-rated.

72. Pieced a quilt.

73. Stood in Times Square.

74. Been on TV. see above - TV ad

75. Been fired from a job.

76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.

77. Broken a bone. - Only a small fracture.

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.

80. Published a book. - but let's just start by writing it shall we?

81. Visited the Vatican.

82. Bought a brand new car.

83. Walked in Jerusalem.

84. Had your picture in the newspaper.

85. Read the entire Bible. - almost

86. Visited the White House.

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.

88. Listened to Tibetan monks chanting, in person.

89. Saved someone’s life.

90. Sat on a jury.

91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.

93. Lost a loved one.

94. Had a baby.

95. Seen the Alamo in person.

96. Baked Bread

97. Been involved in a law suit.

98. Owned a cell phone.

99. Been stung by a bee.


What about you?

patta-a-cake patta-a-cake

bakers man,
Bake me a cake a fast as you can!

Since getting my new toy for christmas I have been making mental notes of things to cook that I haven't been able to due to substandard equipment.

A sponge cake was on that list of things. So this afternoon I whipped one up to see how it would go.

The mixing part was easy enough, however the recipie said to cook it for 15 minutes - after 15 minutes I still had a rather soft looking cake so back into the furnace it went. Another 10 minutes went by.......

I got it out to be on the safe side and it promptly sunk in the middle on the top.

It is a little dense but quite tasty with Raspberry jam and whipped cream in the middle for after dinner.

In the recipie book I used there are another two spone recipies - I am going to try all of them.

I just wish I had caught a picture of my two boys with their piggly fingers in the whipped cream middle when I wasn't looking....