Caminho da Vida

2011-09-26T06:31:00.000-07:00

Lots happening at the farm... all 1/8 of an acre of it :)

I am loving having a strong set of arms (belong to my husband) who is happy to dig holes, move heavy things and is currently installing my fence between the lawn area and the vege garden area. All the posts are in now, just need two more recycled hardwood rails - from my BIL who is renovating his and my sister's house and ripped out some walls.

I have been busy in the kitchen...

Sourdough english muffins for breakfast this morning...

Sundried tomato and olive sourdough loaf....

And exciting to be bottling the first produce entirely from the garden! 4 size 20 jars of yummy rhubarb. I was given the plants from a special friend who was killed in a freak car accident shortly afterward and they are very special to me. This year I divided most of the original plants and they are doing so well. I always make sure I leave two leaves and one baby leaf on each plant when I am picking it.

Sourdough loaf (you need starter from a friend or watch multitudes of youtube videos on how to grow your own.

Feed your starter with a flour/water mix the night before

Before work the next morning....

1 cup starter

1 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar or honey (only if going to be a fruit loaf)

I put all these in a mixer with a dough hook and then add plain flour (mix of regular and wholemeal) until dough forms a lump and comes away from the sides.
Then place dough - still a bit sticky - in an oiled bowl and turn a few times to coat in oil (stops it drying out) Put the whole bowl in a plastic shopping bag and leave all day.

When you get home from work.

Tip dough (should have about doubled in size) onto well floured bench.

For a plain loaf - knead a minute or two then put in loaf tin

for a fruit loaf - knead a minute then use fingers to spread dough out into a rectangle. Sprinkle mixed fruit (I am using sultanas/raisings and dried plums at the moment) and 1 tsp mixed spice onto the bread, then fold it over and knead the fruit through a little. Place in loaf tin.

For a savoury loaf. Do the same but use sundried tomatoes and olives (no pits) chopped roughly and I use mixed italian herb sprinkle too. Place in loaf tin.

Leave for 1-2 hrs. (I have noticed that there is a warm spot just in front of my oven... not sure why, but tins go there while oven heats up)

Bake in a hot oven 200-220'c for 30-35 mins

Should pop out of tin straight away.

(loaves can also be made freeform on a pizza stone)

delicious toasted.... just had two slices of fruit toast to prove it.

Anyone have any other interesting sourdough recipes

Hannah xo

vege garden update

2011-09-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

Everything is growing, and currently it's raining and all the plants are loving it! In this bed all the potatoes are up and I have filled in their trench with the soil I had taken out of it. When they grow some more I'll pile up some compost and straw for the potatoes to keep growing and more of a harvest out of a small space.

In the middle I have just planted fennel, beetroot and climbing beans under the frame. On the end near us is some silverbeet from my sister which has just taken off this week, picked first leaves this morning to have on sourdough toast with poached eggs.

On the right from front to back is basil, carrots, eggplant, lettuce, okra, tomatoes and capsicum, more carrots and rocket.

The photo of the other garden didn't work but we are eating cabbage, broad beans, coriander, broccoli, celery, kale and onions.

In the very rear of this photo you can also see the great fence my hubby is putting up for me, it is to hold an antique blacksmiths vice from his great grandfather, and to seperate the vege garden from the rest of the yard. I am going to use the thickest straightest prunings to use as palings to make it look as natural as possible and will use it to grow something, maybe passionfruit? Any other suggestions...?

Upcycling - recycling but better.

2011-09-22T22:24:00.000-07:00

Rhonda over at Down to Earth posted this week on recycling and asked others to talk about their efforts. My house, and the majority of it's contents are recycled in some way, in fact it's only in the last year or so that I have ever bought new furniture (although I did buy new whitegoods when I moved into my house as I had given my old ones away a year before when I moved from Sydney to the south coast to board with friends.

My garden beds are recycled from old fences, rabbit cage from an old chook cage that was chucked out on the side of the road, Some of my plants are recycled (cuttings, saplings from other gardeners, even a mature pear tree that someone gave us in return for digging it out of her garden.) About half of my kitchen equipment is recycled, handed down by an aunt when she replaces things, collected at op shops and garage sales etc. Clothes the same. The list could go on....

Probably my favourite example of recycling/upcycling is my wedding. (click on hyperlink to go to photographer's blog) I got married in June and a lot of things were recycled. Candle holders from op shops and markets, vases from a friend at church, ring holder made from an antique prayer book by inserting a secret hole by cutting out with a punch. We also had a friend drive me to the wedding in a recycled boat (he bought it worse for wear and did it up) some friends were taking bets that I would fall in as there wasn't a proper jetty and we had to walk off the front of the boat

The most important upcycled item was my wedding dress. I purchased it over ten years ago (about 9 or so years before I met my husband but anyhow, it was a steal) in a second hand shop as it was beautiful and fit me like it was made for me... It was a bit old in style though - think lace sleeves with frills over your hands, high frilly neck. I unpicked the sleeves and worked out that I could modernise the dress by pulling it to the sides. Lucky for me I have an amazing friend who studied fashion design and together we recreated the dress....
And it was an amazing wedding!

This last photo is a photo of us recycling a shed - It was originally recycled with old corrugated iron roofing, built around an old cottage fireplace with chimney - to use as kitchen for a camp, and storage when camp not on.

It was blown down in storms last year in September (on father's day - Aussies will remember the weather on the south coast) and we rerecycled it.

Spring and all it's sweetness

2011-09-20T06:30:00.000-07:00

My garden is full of spring, new seedlings, lots of broad beans ready for picking, grass growing faster than it has through winter.... but my favourite thing is flowers... especially on the fruit trees. This is my nectarine, which is one of the last to flower. We had a couple of days of high 20's even up to 30 degrees celcius here in the last week, and it finally decided to bloom.

Also blooming is my new pear tree... and the most gorgeous baby pears forming after the flowers are done... I think it's a new favourite, they are just so perfect. The apple trees are just budding, small bunches of tiny buds pushing out of their branches almost miraculously.

Chamomile... looking forward to harvesting some of my own for tea...

Citrus... limes, oranges, lemons and more... the scent in the morning is divine. I am watching out for the descent of the stink bugs, but they haven't arrived yet and I am hoping that newspaper and mulch that has gone down over the last year may just have broken the cycle....

Roses... just because they're beautiful, and I think I pruned at the right time this year

Grapes... one vine already has tiny bunches coming out. The sultana I planted two years ago is growing leaves but no fruit yet... hopefully it still will.

Strawberries, mustn't forget them... have started work on a driveway of strawberries. Can't wait to see it complete, but as we have to kill off the difficult weeds and grasses that are underneath, it is going to be a work in progress for a while.

learning new skills

2011-09-12T04:56:00.000-07:00

A year or two ago I bought some cake decorating equipment at a garage sale. My grandma has a history of beautiful cake decorating, equisite fine lacework and my parents wedding cake (in fact every wedding cake of my aunts and uncles) my dedication cake and other special events were all celebrated with cakes she had made.

Today I spent the morning with a friend from church learning and experimenting with how to use some of the equipment I had purchased. These are the piped butter icing cakes, a sunflower, a flower and a swirl. Then we played with fondant, and I made a rose and a carnation. Amy my friend has attended two short courses and then taught herself the rest, and is very inspiring. She was very impressed with the supplies I had bought... and it may have inspired her to start attending garage sales :)

I had one of the cakes for afternoon tea with a cup of earl gray, and it was very nice.

Then while I listened to a uni lecture, I made cassoulet - I have been wanting to make this since we ordered it on our honeymoon in july and it was delicious, both then and now. I roasted vegetables to go with it, and the sage, leeks, kale, potatoes and sweet potatoes were from my garden! And served with my sourdough bread... The proportion of food from the garden is steadily increasing...

I didn't find this recipe on any of the websites, but the place we went served the dish with an amazing crumb, reminded me of farofa from brasil. The chef told me it was almond meal and sage in olive oil.

My version of sage crumb
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup almond meal
1 clove garlic crushed
small bunch sage leaves finely chopped
s and p
2 tbsp olive oil

Lightly cook garlic in oil then add other ingredients, turning to coat crumb with oil and prevent burning. Ready when fragrant and lightly brown. Serve generously sprinkled over cassoulet

Speaking of the garden, yesterday I visited a gardening friend and came away with a plum tree sucker I had been wanting ever since eating the fruit of one of the other trees, a fig tree, warrigal greens, leeks, carrot seedlings, mint, currant bushes, turnips, and land cress. Everything seems to be growing well, and the bunnies are enjoying the pepino leaves she picked for them.

ferment and family

2011-09-08T05:24:00.000-07:00

I got a wonderful gift from a colleague at work - some sourdough starter. Her sister has had this one going for almost a year, and got it from someone else before that so I have no idea how old it is.
It was not very exciting looking when I picked it up, murky white underneath, with watery liquid on top, and faint bubbles coming through, a bit of a beery smell....

I quickly did some research on tending for my new aquisition and headed home to feed it... after a while it started to respond, as you can see in this photo, full of bubbles - a sign that it is alive and well, as the yeast and bacteria eat their way through the new flour.
I divided the starter and with some started making pancakes for the morning, and with the other fed it and in the morning, mixed up dough for a loaf of bread. The pancakes were amazing.

Recipe:
1/2-1 cup starter
mix with one cup flour and one cup water
Leave overnight

In the morning mix in one egg
2tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

It's ready to cook, they were lovely, thick and moist with lots of bubbles. Delicious with fruit and yoghurt, or jam/syrup

The bread was delicious too... I will post recipe and photos soon.....

Also had a lovely time on father's day at local cafe with my dad, siblings and some partners. My nephew was only a few weeks old last father's day. He's a toddler now and thinks he's very grown up

Life

2011-09-05T04:34:00.000-07:00

My sister showed me this clip tonight....

Makes you stop... and think about life...

This young man was physically deformed by chemical warfare in middle east, but was found and loved and nutured by an extraordinary woman. He doesn't really care that he doesn't know his birthday or how old he is, he has a family. A brother who survived hell with him, a mum who rescued them, healed them and is their hero, and a future.

I am grateful for a husband who loves me, siblings and parents who live nearby and are part of my world. Friends who I love and support and who love and support me. For a garden where I grow food. I am grateful that I do not have to worry about my safety walking outside my house each day, that Australia is relatively stable financially, politically and otherwise. That I can legally attend my place of worship with other believers. I am grateful that I have a birth certificate and a baby book scrapbooking my entry into the world and my growth. I am grateful for the life I have lived and excited about the future. I hope I live it well and expansively.

fire's burning....

2011-08-31T14:06:00.000-07:00

We have been enjoying clearing up some of the remains of my recent kitchen renovations by making use of the firepit. it's a 44 gallon drum made from steel and cut in half that I picked up at the tip for $2 or so. I drilled holes around the base on the outside to allow for ventilation and propped it up on a couple of old bricks and hey presto - it's a fireplace. I have a grate I can put over the top to make it a bbq too.

There's something magical about flames, I can sit and watch them for hours, occasionally adding a log or repositioning... We have had a few dinner parties now outside around it with mugs of soup and fresh bread, cooking damper as the coals die down (delicious) or just enjoying it while people are arriving and chatting. an essential part of the backyard :)

Garden Lovers Fair and hummus recipe

2011-08-30T04:13:00.000-07:00

Last sunday I woke up, looked outside and felt a sigh of relief as I saw the sun. It was the sunday of the Garden Lover's Fair, annual fundraiser of our permaculture group, and the weather can be quite changeable at this time of year and the fair is amazing, the biggest collection of plant growers, seeds, garden supplies on the south coast, and this year we increased the focus on food products and sustainable living.

I spent a lot of time on the gate, and behind the permaculture stand, answering questions about growing food, living sustainably, meeting times etc, and eventually found some time to have a wander around, buy my spring seedlings (there's a store that does pick your own punnet - so I got a punnet with 2 each of tomato, capsicum and eggplant, and one with different herbs and some red onions.

Also got a strawberry guava and a lillipilli (native food producing plant) which I'm going to plant in my neighbours yard ( we have a hold in the fence so I can get in to water and harvest) and an orchid I have been wanting to get for a while... I then texted my hubby to say thankyou to him for buying me such a lovely gift.

One of the highlights was the cooking demonstrations that were put on by www.ifeelgood.com.au with a vege tagine, hummus and salad. I went home and made the salad and hummus monday night, and it was amazing...

1 tin of chickpeas drained

1/4 cup tahini (ground sesame seeds)

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 clove garlic

salt

Put all in a food processor and start it, slowly adding water to the mix until it is a smooth consistency and able to be poured (like thick cream)

Serve drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with paprika and served with flatbread to dip.

YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hello world

2011-08-23T13:04:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted on here... gosh in maybe over a year. life has been busy. Hectic. managing nearly fulltime work, parttime study and life is hard, but I have my eye on the prize, graduating at the end of the year. And I've also had another big thing happen this year... I got married.
So last weekend, despite the wet weather as we were staying in camping caves (giant overhangs that stay pretty much permanently dry) we went on our first hike on our own. Love hiking in the Budawangs, on the east coast of Australia, and the fact that it is only just down the road for us is amazing!

On the second night, I was very grateful that there were two caves, as a scout troop arrived to stay the night after we had settled down at Gadarra Point. They were pretty good, and it was funny to hear a family voice coming down the hill towards us (I knew one of the leaders) It was good to have a chat, and they showed us a track to a waterfall that isn't marked on the maps.

Well, I am going to try and post regularly again - once a week minimum and hope to see some of you here again.

Long weekend

2010-04-27T04:35:00.000-07:00

Grateful

For those who have given their lives that I might live

For those who are serving to protect lives and human rights around the world.

For an extra day off this weekend...

For sunshine and walks along the beach...

White sands walk at Jervis Bay, no dolphins today...

For history preserved for us to explore

For God's amazing creation

For water, gently flowing, making music, restoring my soul

Yalwal creek, track was massively overgrown, but fun, and had a snack on a log by the creek

For food shared and fun had

For family and friends

For memories

Amen

Light

2010-04-22T05:17:00.000-07:00

God is light, in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not walk in the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His son, purifies us from all sin.
1 John 1:7-9

This is my kitchen - window being replaced and enlarged. Lets in so much more light. Previously two small sash windows with wooden middle panel and thick wooden surround.

I have replaced it with glass... need to paint the surround, maybe first coat tomorrow morning

Easter Long Weekend

2010-04-21T06:39:00.000-07:00

Spent the long weekend at Colo River, just north of Windsor (Northwest Sydney) My mum and I have a share in a holiday park there that's a bit like timeshare but better. We pay an annual fee and get 2 weeks minimum of school holiday time plus can go any other time it's available. I had it booked for easter and had the most amazing week. I had friends come and stay with me, but also made some great friendships with the other people staying who are also shareholders.

Most people ate communally, cooking food on the barbeques and eating at large picnic tables, I think we only cooked one meal inside our cabin, the rest were all outdoor meals... delicious
I have found myself cooking on the Barbeque more since the weekend.

Fun kayaking, meeting a yoga swami living on the river and doing bush regeneration, playing cards, a little bit of study, a lot of fun.

On the last night my two gorgeous cousins came to stay and we had a lot of fun, watching 'cloudy with a chance of meatballs' on the outdoor big screen, kayaking, finding eels and lots of laughs.

Just what I needed to end a lovely holiday...

new things

2010-04-17T07:08:00.000-07:00

Sunrise is special to me, I think it is an amazing reminder of God's constant love for us. I find when I ge tup for sunrise, I feel like the day is still arriving and it's a package I am going to get to open, and wonder what it will contain, what I will get to do and see, and who I will talk to.

Just a reminder to make the most of the little moments....

You will never ever get them back.

Tell someone close to you that you love them, even if they know it!

Be kind to someone randomly

Try something new

Smile

Kitchen Renovations are Go

2010-04-15T15:34:00.000-07:00

Change.

I am slightly distracted from other things I should be doing by my kitchen renovations....

I have ripped out all the cupboards and a wall, plumber has removed taps and disconnected the oven - now for sale on Ebay. Wednesday was new window. Old one was broken sash window - sash and glass broken. Didn't let much light through. In this photo builder is cutting the window space larger to let more light in!!!! It looks so good now.

Spent yesterday jackhammering removing the tiles from the floor. So much easier than by hand! Thanks to a builder friend who lent me the (massive) tool. Luckily I got it all done in the morning and went to body balance class after lunch.... stretched all those muscles out before they could get too painful. The guns are massive today...lol.

So now only need to do the electrical work and paint the ceiling before the new kitchen goes in...

Have a happy day.

Hannah

long time

2010-03-17T05:29:00.001-07:00

Haven't been posting for a long time, I know I like doing it, but also don't want it to become a chore or take me from the things that are important. I am going to try and go back to the one post a week min, so watch this space for posts.....

Kim Chee - a first experiment in fermenting.

2009-09-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

Femented foods are very healthy for us, and were the original way of preserving food, as well as brine/salt preserving and drying.

Examples of some fermented foods are wine, vinegar, kombucha, tofu, miso, saurkraut, pickles.

Kim chee is the asian version of saurkraut and is really easy to make. I've had a recipe for ages and this week made my first batch. I got this recipe from Kendra Jane, who blogs at A sonoma Garden

She has the most beautiful photos and lots of posts with recipes and ideas.

1 head Napa cabbage, cored and shredded

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1 cup carrots, grated

1/2 cup daidon radish, grated

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes

1 tablespoon sea salt

4 tablespoons whey* (or use additional 1 T salt instead)

Place vegetables, ginger, red chili flakes, salt and whey in a bowl and pound it with a wooden pounder or a meat hammer to release juices. (See picture of my kimchee mid mashing)

Place them in two quart sized glass jars and press down firmly until all the juices come up to the top and cover the vegetables. The top of the vegetables should be at least an inch from the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days at which time you can put it in the fridge or cold storage.

I only made a half quantity, and was very relaxed with the amounts of different vegetables. I don't think it will really matter. It's sitting on my kitchen bench fermenting away, and tomorrow it will be ready to taste and then refrigerate!

Kendra jane explains that you can get whey by draining a quart of yogurt (make sure it contains the good bacteria-we use Pavels) through a clean dishtowel for a few hours. If you do this overnight you’ll end up with more than 4 tablespoons, but it will keep in the fridge for up to 6 months. And you’ll also end up with yogurt cheese as a by product, which is delicious and makes a great alternative to cream cheese

I have also in the past gotten whey from making ricotta cheese which I have posted about here.

I also use the whey in my breadmaking, it adds extra protein which is good for the bread dough and for you!

I'll let you know how it tastes tomorrow! Ps, the onions, garlic and daikon radish were all from my garden!

I 'm famous - sort of

2009-09-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

Think you've seen this photo before?

Well, maybe you have, but most recently it's featured on Angela's blog My year without spending. Angela is from that great continent of North America and blogs about her life, and is part of the compact, a committment to live a non-consumer lifestyle. As part of that she has a regular segment called "thrifty threads" and the other week she featured me!!!

Here is an excerpt of what she wrote.

Today's model is Hannah, who blogs at Caminho da Vida.
She's a regular reader and commenter on this blog, and some of you might
recognize her as the commenter "han_ysic." Hannah is from Nowra, a small town
about 2 hours outside Sydney, and the tagline on her blog is "An Aussie girl on the journey of living generously, living simply and living out my faith." She
posts about the things she's grateful for, her outdoor
adventures, and some
really good photographs, among other things. It's
winter in Australia right now, and some of
the snow images
in this recent post about being grateful for snow are
gorgeous.

Thanks to Angela for featuring me and for sharing about your journey of living simply!

It was great getting to know you a bit more as you prepared this post.

Spring is in the air

2009-09-09T21:43:00.000-07:00

Although the tulips are out and the apricots have blossomed and the mulberries are ripening on the tree,

There is another sign that spring is in the air....

The legs have been waxed!!!!

Photo taken halfway through, that hairy leg does not unfortunately belong to a gorgeous man sitting next to me.

Any thoughts on spring?

Grateful for stopping and going.

2009-09-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

This is Kieran, my friend's baby on his one month birthday.

Isn't the smell of a newborn baby something special?

Grateful for moments to breathe...

listen...

just be...

These were taken at Gymea baths in Sth Sydney on my way north, just before having dinner with a family friend. I think one of the best pizzas of my life - Crust on Gymea Bay Rd. Thanks for the pizza Sam.

Dropping into a friends and walking around the garden,

Being given some Rhubarb,

Sharing a cup of tea,

Helping fix a saxaphone... who would have thought.

A last minute call to go with my brother and friends out to Wandandian,

Watching them hurl themselves down a hill on mountain bikes,

Big kisses from his dogs,

Lots of laughs,

Hanging out with Kate, his amazing girlfriend,

The beauty of the bush, the way light streams through the trees.

Grateful for travelling and for coming home

2009-08-31T20:46:00.000-07:00

I was away for a couple of days with work recently, travelled to Newcastle for some training. We were blessed with an amazing view from the room where the training was held, right on the main Newcastle beach. I may have gotten distracted at times....

Grateful for the chance to catch up with Carli, a very old friend who is studying in Newcastle. She put me up at her place and we got to know each other all over again as we saw the sights, had great coffee by the beach, cooked dinner, went out on the town....

But always grateful to be home,

exploring new walks and undiscovered beaches,

spending time with friends...

Throwing birthday parties, BBQ's and enjoying eating outdoors as the weather begins to get milder.

And being inspired by the Watoto children's choir

These children are all orphans, some in the most horrific circumstances, but they have been found by Watoto, a group that house orphans with widows, who would otherwise have to turn to begging or worse and create families, villages and communities. I was overwhelmed by the joy of these children, the healing they show and their passion for life and for God. This picture shows just a tiny bit of their energy as they danced and sang (and tried to get us to join them)

grateful for the garden

2009-08-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

Thankful for chickens digging me up some sweet potatoes! I didn't even guess they would be ready. They were orange, decent sized and delicious.

Thankful for getting an egg from every chicken today - four brown and one blue/green (from speckles the bantam)

Thankful for willing teenage hands who were happy to mow the lawn in return for a free feed.

Thankful for the opportunity to invite said hands to church, and even more so that they came!

Thankful for the rain that fell last night (of course watering the garden will always bring that one on :)

Thankful for the bees and wasps, working hard to pollinate my flowers. Looking forward to apricots!

I could go on for so long, the garden is growing, the birds are laying, the fruit is ripening. I just need more time to get it all done. Last sunday I doubled the size of the no dig garden to surround the small walnut tree, need to do another layer on top before it's ready and then looking at planting a lot of my spring veges like beans and corn there. Can't wait to watch it all grow and then to eat it all.

Don't you love this image - Listening to Nature. It's by Rob Ryan who does the most amazing work with papercuts. Drop by and have a look.

Grateful for snow

2009-08-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

I am grateful for legs that can take me places I cannot go in a car or a bus.

Places where only footsteps go.

I am grateful for moments of quiet beauty,
where my breath is almost taken away by God's amazing creation,
where I am reminded of how great He is,
and that He loves me.

I am grateful that I have the resources to go and enjoy this.
That I have a great job that is flexible.
That the sun shone...

I am grateful for moments to have fun, and play and laugh
I am grateful for family and friends to share my life with.

long time - still here

2009-07-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

I am still alive. There's lots going on, but I was reminded that some people do read this, so I will try and keep checking in, at least once a week!

What's going on?

Fostering a (nearly) 17 year old girl.

Camp reunion in Bathurst

Church - running bible study and kid's program at night

Work

Moving furniture, and finally getting study/studio area under control

Permaculture group

New Chickens

Garden

Friends

I'm sure there's more....

Looking forward to this weekend. Tonight I am driving to Canberra to catch up with a friend, then Saturday is gma's 80th birthday, sunday taking J to the snow for her birthday and then coming back.

I think I'm going to start posting my thankfuls. Reminded by a good friend last night that this helps us get our eyes off the problems we are facing and build our hope and faith.

God Bless

A day at the beach

2009-05-18T20:40:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday (prior to the trip to the mountain in my last post) Vani my housemate, SJ my back fence neighbour's housemate and I went out to Huskisson, on the shores of Jervis Bay. Yet again I am reminded that I live in one of the most beautiful corners of the world.

Vani and I at Husky

(all the photos today were taken on my phone - I was surprised at the quality)

Me, Vani and SJ

Looking south towards Vincentia across the rock pools

Looking out into the bay - point perpendicular a faint outline in the background as the sun begins to set behind us.

Toby's Estate coffee from supply, some fish and chips by the water, and a walk along the beach - what more could you ask for of a weekend.

Why I love where I live

2009-05-17T22:03:00.000-07:00

Words can't compete with showing you. The shoalhaven from cambewarra mountain.

It's just amazing.

I have had a flatmate for the past few weeks which I'm really enjoying. Sheis in the area on placement and needed a place to stay. Her mum knew someone who knew someone who knew me. Turns out we have a few mutual friends from her uni course, one girl who went to my youth group in Berry - small world.

This weekend we took her to See where she's working. She was suitably impressed and possibly even more so by the devonshire tea by the fire inside at the tea rooms.

Us with my mum who came along too

And with some muffins she baked and I iced for family dinner the other week.

I always wanted to share my house with others, whether through meals, accomodating travelling friends, foster care, or flatmates. I enjoy sharing my house for the social benefit - sharing meals, company over a cup of tea etc as well as the obvious environmental benefit - a house with two people uses a lot less energy than two houses with one person in each.

It does take the right person to share a house, and so I'm glad we are getting on so well, and think I'll even miss the company when she's gone.

Saturday

2009-05-04T18:03:00.000-07:00

Arts in the Valley was on this weekend.

Arrived just in time to see these guys marching and playing.

They're from a sydney school that has a property in Kangaroo Valley and all the boys spend 6 mths of year 9 there with a mix of regular classes and outdoor ed - hiking, kayaking, ropes and mountain biking. Wish I could have gone to a school like that for girls.

There were artworks and performances in lots of venues around the valley but the pick was definately the sculpture exhibition at Wombat Hill. I think the garden outshone the scultures. And my neighbour Dora had a beautiful piece on display there too.

Loved the Autumn colours

And the afternoon colours

As we watched the sun go down over the river.

Anzac Day

2009-04-26T22:50:00.000-07:00

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.... we will remember them.

This year I decided to go to the dawn service at Greenwell Point. Karl decided he would join me and in the end there was quite a group of us. It was really special to attend, I had been to the midday events as a girl guide but never the early service.

The boss of the local parachute training school gave an address and I was really impressed with his talk looking at what Anzac day is and is not. The think I liked the most is that Anzac day is not a day when we celebrate our might and strength as a country, where we praise our victories. Anzac day remembers one of our countries greatest defeats, at the shores of Gallipoli on 25th April 1915. This is made more special for me as my great-grandfather was an ANZAC. He was in the ambulance corp and I have a copy of his diary where he makes his first entry on Anzac day, telling of how they ran onto shore dodging bullets and many lives were lost.

Anzac day is a day to remember those who gave it all. Their lives. So that we might live the life we do today.

Thankyou

Sunrise at Greenwell Point following the dawn service.

After the service we went back and had breakfast at my sister's place and afterwards Karl and I spent the day together. He took me to this place where he used to work.

And we drove around Kangaroo Valley and through to Berry visiting some old friends of mine for afternoon tea.

Later we had Michael and Erika, my old flatmates for dinner, and Erika brought Anzac slice. Very fitting.

And it must be said that Michael and I triumphed at the post dinner card game. Who would have thought you could win 500 by calling 6 spades ten times in a row:)

How great is our God

2009-04-16T19:02:00.000-07:00

View of the hills from the Hume Hwy between Gouldburn and Canberra early April.

I was driving to Canberra for a training course, left Nowra at 5:30am so this was soon after the sun came up. I love the gentle pastel colours, in fact I think I want to paint this photo. Maybe that can be my next art project.

It was lovely to catch up with Jill and with the Green family whilst there, although I didn't see family, those guys are family to me too.

And God was faithful when I needed to get from the training home to Jill's place and didn't know the way I was walking out to my car and walked past Jill's flatmate shutting up the shop she works in. I didn't have a clue where she works, so I was able to follow her home.

Steamer's Beach 4/4/09

This beach is in the Booderee National Park, at Jervis Bay, although this is south of the Bay on the ocean side. I went with a friend from church who is now my boyfriend. It's so strange to write that. I know my family who read this will want photos, and I'll see if I can oblige soon. I'm sure you'll all get to meet him in the near future. I can say that I didn't see this coming, but I'm very grateful that God has brought us together. I only pray that we will walk this journey together with wisdom, purity and grow in relationship with God as we grow in friendship with each other.

Hannah

Easter Hike

2009-04-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

Hello there,

Happy Easter!
I spent the holiday on a hike in the Blue Mountains with some friends from the camp I lead on in January. We went for two nights, and although it rained quite a bit, it was nice weather when we were walking and I had a really good time. On the last day we walked through an amazing rainforest beside a creek that had lots of beautiful waterfalls. You can see a couple of photos at the sites below. (Unfortunately I didn't take my camera and my friends haven't gotten photos to me yet.)

http://www.world-of-waterfalls.com/australia-bridal-veil-falls-govetts-leap.html
http://knol.google.com/k/david-iori/a-photographers-guide-to-evans-lookout/1kkkijplszxq9/2#

One of the special parts was on the Saturday night when we stood around in the drizzling rain and I told the others about how the ancient church celebrated (and some anglican and catholic churches still do) the night before easter sunday with a service of new light. They would gather in the darkness, representing that Jesus, the light of the world was gone, and light a new light, often with a flint. From that they would light the easter candle, which for the next year would represent Christ's life in the church. Then each member takes a candle and lights it from the easter candle and then renews their baptismal vows. We didn't have candles but it was very special to stand and each in our own words rededicate our lives to Christ.

Homemade Ricotta - simply

2009-03-25T22:36:00.000-07:00

Cheesemaking has always been on my list of things to do, and yet seemed scary with thermometers, tools, special things to add that you had to buy from victoria.....

When I saw this simple recipe for making ricotta on a blog that I follow (and forgive me because I can't even remember which one) I knew I had no more excuses. It looked too easy to stuff up.

1. Get milk. put it in a clean pot and heat. As soon as it starts to froth (but before it boils) cut off the heat if using gas, or take off the heat if electric.

2. Add one tablespoon of acid (either lemon juice or vinegar) per one litre of milk. Stir.

Within seconds this was what I saw in the pot. The curds (clumps of cheese) and whey (liquid) had separated and it looked a bit like off milk. funny that.

3. Get a strainer and line with cheesecloth, or if you're doing this after a meeting at 10pm at night and only the supermarket is open - a couple of chux type cloths.

This is what mine looked like before I poured the stuff in.

4. use a pot or bowl to collect the liquid that pours off. It's still very good for you. I used some that night to make up some bread and froze the rest for another batch in place of water.

5. Tie up the cloth around a wooden spoon so the mixture drains. Allegedly the more whey that is drained off, the longer it will last.

And this is the end result - Ricotta Cheese! I did it, and it was delicious. I put it in the yummy ricotta pancakes from Stephanie Alexander's kitchen garden book. Went down a treat.

If you've got some milk that's nearing the use by date. You know what to do!

Degas at the Art Gallery

2009-03-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I travelled up the Canberra to catch up with some friends and finally visit the Degas art exhibition at the National Gallery. I met one of my oldest friend's Rae and her boy X in the sculpture garden. It's such a great place.

X definately rated this sculpture, which was mirror like with every section creating a different shape.
Rae and her little man smiling, as we had lunch at the cafe at the portrait gallery (we were hoping to be done in the morning, but alas it was not to be, and we hadn't packed lunch!)

I love Rae, she moved into the house next door when we were both toddlers and we have been like sisters ever since. I know I don't need an invitation or a reason to catch up or even to crash at her place. Thanks Rae

My lovely cousins came to the gallery too, Mel and Bec. We had a lot of fun looking at the Degas exhibition, the children all get a treasure hunt book with things to search for in different pictures and there was a lot of information about Degas work and times. Unfortunatly it was the last weekend of the exhibition, so you can't go now, but it definately won me over to the value of paying to see a quality exhibition.

Another one of us at the lake. I really do love visiting Canberra.

And lastly, just my cousins. Thanks for coming girls.

Weaving Workshop

2009-03-05T19:57:00.000-08:00

I have posted previously about learning to spin. I haven't been doing a lot of that lately because I have been doing a weaving class, learning how to use my four shaft table loom. Denise, one of the amazingly talented women from the spinners and weavers is running a beginners class and I have joined. We are doing a sampler to start off with but at the next class i will be threading up to weave a scarf. First one may be for me, but then I'm planning to do some for others. It's such a peaceful thing, I can completely lose track of time.

Something I hope to do soon is be able to weave the wool I have spun and dyed into creations for gifts and to sell (down the track)

Some close up detail of the weaving

My loom, it's an antique but no problems working.

Some of the other ladies at the weaving class. Diny in black brings her small sampler loom to practice on but has a large floor loom at home. If only....

Stop

2009-02-26T17:32:00.000-08:00

My life gets really busy, Work, family, church and social commitments can really take over to the point where there is no time left.

My training is in the area of social work, and so is my employment, and one thing that we really focus on is reflective practice. It's all well and good doing the job, but if we can take the time to reflect on what we are doing and ask some questions - why do I do that? How does that make me feel? what am I trying to achieve by doing that? - If I can do this I have more control and start to work in a proactive rather than reactive way. I have a great manager who supports us working in a critical, reflective way and encourages us to take time to do our work well, not just do our work.

But, isn't life the same. Shouldn't we value our life enough to stop and look at how it's going, what we are using our time and energy for, and where we are going?

A friend of mine has set days each year when he reviews different aspects of his life. At the beginning of each calendar year he looks at his life, his life goals and how he is going with achieving them. Around Valentines Day each year he revealuates his relationships (including but not limited to his marriage) and resets his goals for that area of his life. Around the end of the financial year he takes time to look at his financial situation and his goals in that area. He also tells me that every now and then he sets aside time to be creative. To imagine.

I like that idea, and also work well with goals, but am not as disciplined as my friend about reviewing them.

Life: This year I have been to new zealand, gone campervanning, and hiked and camped in the snow. I have begun a weaving course to learn how to weave the wool I am spinning with my weaving loom. I took on the role of camp director for a camp I have been involved with, a role I have never done before. I bought a house and am working on converting the garden to a productive and attractive space.

Life Goals:

Go Hanggliding

Climb Cradle mountain - overland track (planned for October this year)

Write a book - need to work on that one

....

Relationships: I'd like to say I met the man of my dreams etc but it hasn't happened yet. Too bad it takes someone else to realise that goal. I did however do my foster care training and now provide regular respite for an adolescent girl who is in a long term foster care placement. I have developed new friendships and deepened existing ones and especially value my back fence neighbours who are like family.

Relationship Goals:

Be bolder in relationships with the opposite gender (and eventually meet a godly man who I love and spend the rest of my life with)

Be a better sister/daughter/friend

Build relationship with the girl I foster

Build closer relationships with my neighbours and those who live in my street.

Financial:

This year I bought a house, and have (with a little help from falling interest rates) been able to pay off a significant amount above the required repayments, saving up a reasonable emergency fund I am able to redraw and reducing my interest.

I have begun to sell my produce through a local cafe

I have joined the local community exchange (similar to LETS) which allows me to exchange goods and services with members of my community without using cash!

Financial Goals:

To pay off my HECS debt this financial year.

By the end of next financial year to have saved $20,000 and purchase an investment property.

To continue to reduce waste

To be generous in my life, continuing to support my sponsor children and financially contribute to my church and other ministries.

However, more than setting goals, I think it's important to set aside time that is to be still. To stop. It's easy to fill space with activity, with tv, with music, with books, with phone calls. It's almost as though we are afraid to spend time with ourselves. Are we afraid that we won't like the people we are?

I think it's important to take some time by yourself. Journal, paint, pray, meditate, just be. Be aware of yourself, of the world around you and of who you are. It might be hard at first, but generally you'll find that you aren't so bad and it's fun to hang out with you.

If there's anyone out there who this speaks to please leave a comment, share a goal or a success.

God Bless

Nowra Show

2009-02-17T18:28:00.000-08:00

Look at what I won. I entered a bunch of stuff in the show, some preserves, some craft, my famous bread and some things from the garden. Came away with a bunch of certificates and some prize money.

I have to make a confession, that the weekend of the show was such a heatwave that I didn't actually go. I will next year I promise.

One of the most exciting things was that as I was picking everything up the president of the show society, said to me that the entries in the produce (aka vege) section were of a very high standard and that the awards I won were well deserved. How cool is that.

I entered some of the items in the weaving because I'm a member of the spinners and weavers, and won a second for a scarf, didn't expect that as it was the first thing I ever wove.

I was excited I won the prizes in the vege section (first for collection of herbs, seconds for pumpkin 10-15 cm diameter and for runner beans) because I want people to see that you can grow things of good quality in the home garden. Yeah. Hoping to enter (and win) even more next year!

Guerilla Gardening

2009-02-17T17:01:00.000-08:00

I'm a bit of a fan of guerilla gardening, the idea of beautifying (often with edible plants) public spaces which are in disrepair. This is often done in secret or at night and aims to get the support of the local community to maintain the area. Sometimes it is done by secreting seeds, often in seed "bombs or balls" which have seeds and compost inside a clay ball which will remain intact until a significant rain event. (These are attributed to Fukuoka, a japanese natural farmer) Path to Freedom have an instruction sheet

Well, I'm very excited, because for the first time in a while, a show has come on TV that has got me wanting to sit in front of the box (well, I'll be recording it as I'm out at muso practice for my church on wed nights. Guerilla Gardeners airs for the first time tonight on channel 10 at 8pm.

Welcome to the show where six young warriors are armed to the teeth with attitude and gardening tools, working together to make-over the most barren and concrete-filled spaces in our cities. When the sun goes down and the city workers retreat to the ‘burbs', the Guerrillas undertake covert operations that transform the biggest eye-sores into an oasis of greenery and recreation for local communities and families to enjoy.

The Targets: Bleak public spaces, concrete jungles, disused land, roadside wastelands left by councils and developers who just don’t care.

The Challenge:Turn these eyesores into beautiful spaces for people to appreciate and enjoy.

The Guerrilla Gardeners"Ally – gardening guru, Lilly – 'Jill of all trades' with a penchant for power tools, Scott – construction expert, Pete – construction expert, Dave – keeping the public and the law on side and Mickie - the mastermind behind the disguises

With youth and enthusiasm in their favour, the six Guerrillas will stop at nothing to reach a potential site – they will abseil, rope and parkour (picture the opening scene of Casino Royale) to get to the make-over site on a 20 foot high ledge, or a gated median strip between a freeway and a tunnel. They routinely defy trespass laws and development consent in their quest to beautify our cities.

The Guerrillas have just 12 hours to transform the ugliest urban eye-sores into an oasis of greenery. And when the sun comes up and workers start to creep back into the city, they sit back and watch the reaction - job done. Our Guerrillas then blend into the morning crowd and head off to their mild-mannered day jobs.

Some of their best work is also done in broad daylight. Wearing hard hats and safety vests as a disguise, they perform their unique ‘raids’ right under the nose of police, council workers and government rangers.

Against the clock.Against the law?Guerrilla Gardeners – bringing your city back to life.

Doesn't it sound great!

A bike trailer

2009-02-12T20:43:00.000-08:00

I have a bike trailer! I am trying to use the car less. Especially right now, as I had a little but of a ding and it's going to be written off in two weeks. Still completely driveable, all minor exterior damage, but because it's old and it's not really valuable, the work to fix it would cost more than them paying me out. I considered buying it back off them and fixing it myself, but then found out friends who are moving to UK are selling their car cheaply, and it has roofracks with fittings for my bike (and of course the kayak can go up there too!)

So, I will be getting a new car, okay so it's older than my current car by a year, but new to me.

Now, back to the bike trailer. I have been riding around town and have a small rack I can put a couple of things on, but unable to put much by way of shopping. Couldn't afford a new trailer. Then my friend started up a local Community Exchange group. http://www.community-exchange.org/ This is a cashless exchange system, you join up to your local area and start transacting.

To join up you have to offer 3 things, they can be items or services (eg old magazines you are finished with, cutting people's hair, washing cars etc) Then you can get on and see what others offer. When you purchase something you go into debit and the person you buy off goes into credit, but you don't have to have enough to pay them, so you are encouraged to spend before you earn, so long as you are committed to earning credit in the future. I have sold some seedlings, and given haircuts, and currenting have some mending waiting to be done to earn credit. Michael had offered to make bike trailers for people so I decided to take him up on the offer. Check out his blog for more of his creations.

Well, I picked it up the other weekend and Michael fitted it to my bike, it's a converted golf buggy, the handle still on so that you can detach it from the bike when you're shopping and use it as a trolley!

I've asked Michael to have a go at making me a rocket stove next. Check out the exchange, the more people join and offer, the better it will work. Oh, and they are all around the world, why don't you see if there's one near you.

Thanks to my Brother and his Girlfriend, (aren't they cute) for driving me and the bike out to Michael's place. Of course we went for a swim at the beach down the road as well.

And we couldn't leave without a tour of Michael's garden. Here you can see his chook tractor, with a repurposed real estate sign providing some extra shade for the chooks in the hot weather, and lots of healthy corn.

Michael's 10,000 Litre tank is enough for his household use, they use town water to water the garden. Beacuse Michael is on the coast there is much more rain that at my place, only 15 mins away. Microclimates!
His garden was doing well, tomatoes had been burnt in the sun just like mine have, but lots of things growing well, especially his eggplants which were covered in fruit.

Summer days

2009-02-09T17:31:00.000-08:00

Sunny days of summer, testing out the equipment.. Jill's first sleep in a tent (22 and never slept in a tent before!!!!)

Me and Ally at Flat Rock, Upper Kangaroo Valler River, absolutely gorgeous!
Usually cooler than at home as it's up in the mountains, and always somewhere shady to sit, laze around on the rocks reading, talking, eating, or swim up to the rapids and make your own natural spa. What could beat that????

I guess Chinaman's Beach at Jervis Bay could also be considered quite stunning, white sand, cool water, gentle waves, and lots of coloured fish swimming around our legs.....

Or hanging out with my cousins at Colo River, teaching Emily how to jump off the rope swing, floating up the river, building sandcastles and playing boardgames on a picnic table under a tree.

I can't decide!

Catching up, no 1 (Pre Christmas)

2009-01-27T15:26:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted for a while. Everything has just been full on with Christmas and family things, camping, and running camp conqueror. I feel I am back to my life now, so there is lots to catch up on on the blog.

Firstly gorgeous Abby. She is my friend's baby, and this was the first time I met her. What a gorgeous little thing. I even got smiles (after mum had fed her!)

She even had her first visit to conqueror (where I know her mum and dad from) and I showed her where she'll be sleeping in a couple of years. It'll seem like no time at all Karl!!!

My sunflowers. Aren't they lovely. Of course they don't look like this anymore, they are ready to pick and store to feed to my chooks over winter.

This is little Ze, who is living in Jordan with his mum and dad and sister now. They came to visit just before Christmas, and came around for breakfast. His big sister A helped me feed the chickens and water the garden. (Which is all being eaten now, but I don't think they'll let me post any to Jordan to share :)

Christmas Eve we had a party over my back fence for the young adults from my church. Great night, with good food and even better company. Geoff my neighbour and Jonina my lil sis in the photo above after a feed and my bro in law Glyn and friend Bec below.

It's great having such an active group it's very welcoming, and a big range of people who come along, which grew to a large part out of our bible study group.

Probably one of the most sad things that happened before Christmas was saying good bye to Leah, my colleague. Leah and her Husband Tim are moving to Sydney to work with children and and young people at a church up there. That's an amazing opportunity for them but means that I am once again the youngest person at work by about 20 years. I love working with my colleagues, but it was amazing working with Leah, catching up socially and doing coffee which I will miss a lot. I will be coming to visit you soon!

Me and Leah at work Christmas Party

Back

2009-01-26T22:27:00.001-08:00

I'm back from holidays and camp and everything else, and a proper post will be coming soon..... Just need to find my camera cable to down load those photos.

A Christmas Poem

2008-12-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

What will this Christmas mean to you as pressures come your way?
The shops all hope for bumper sales, but notice what they say:
'Use credit cards for purchases with their extended pay',
But then your debts will quickly mount right up to Christmas Day.

We ask ourselves what food to eat and what gifts shall we buy?
And what can we afford to spend when prices seem so high?
We need to plan for everything for everything costs more.
These are the Christmas questions that we really can't ignore.

The Christmas cards are on display and there are special stamps.
The travel agents focus on their fine resorts and camps.
It's good to get away a while and share a family break,
But do be sure to pay your way for everybody's sake.

We trim our Christmas trees and use our other decorations.
We really are so busy making all these preparations.
We welcome family and friends to show we really care,
And catch up on each other's news which we are glad to share.

But pause awhile and be aware that Christmas was foretold,
For in the Bible we may read the prophecies of old.
The saviours life, also his death, are forecast and fulfilled.
The gospels then record it; that's the base on which to build!

It's nice to hear the carols but do grasp the words expressed,
For in that 'lowly cattle-shed' God gave his very best.
He sent his own beloved Son, His precious gift to all,
His 'shelter was a stable and his cradle was a stall'.

What did the angel really say? Whatever was the reason?
The 'good news of great joy' explained the reason for the season.
'A Saviour has been born to you' and 'He is Christ the Lord'.
He's 'ever to be worshipped', to be 'trusted and adored'.

The angel choir then praised the Lord and sang of 'peace on earth',
But that hope seems in vain without response to Jesus' birth.
Our 'peace with God' is found through Him; for that we need to pray,
Then there is hope for human peace when Jesus is 'The Way'

Ask God to help you understand His special revelation,
How Jesus came, lived, died and rose, to offer us salvation.
And if we really understand the Bible's presentation,
Then we will have the focus for our Christmas celebration.

Remember those across the world who face such desperate need.
The aiding agencies all help and for donations plead.
Lets count our blessings in our land and generously give.
Live simply so that you can help the ones who barely live!

Poem written by Rev Perry Smith of Belmont NSW. He is a dear friend of our family and gave me the poem he wrote for his christmas cards this year. I thought it was worth sharing.

Merry Christmas All,

The alphabet will continue after Christmas.

Love Hannah

E is for Eggs

2008-12-15T19:45:00.000-08:00

Eggs aren't the only reason I keep chickens, but they sure are a good thing! I have 3 Barnevelder Chooks *who feature in the picture up above called Milly, Molly and Mandy (but don't ask me to tell them apart and two bantams (an aracauna and a leghorn) named Speckles and Sadie.

I love having chooks and have written about the benefits before on another blog. I have the big three in the run, and occasionally let them out in the evening, when I can be there to supervise (any mulched area is gone, which is okay when it's around a tree, but somewhat of a problem when it's my potato bed)

The bantams live in the chook tractor, and after my first attempt to let them have a wander ended with me chasing Sadie around the garden looking like a headless chook myself. I move them every two weeks, letting the spot rest for a week or two and then digging some new garden bed. I am currently just planting heavy feeders like corn in there, perhaps some brocoletti, or silverbeet next, and eventually that will be the area of the garden that is rotated each year.

The brown egg is from the Barnevelders, they were bred to lay these lovely brown eggs, and I usually get one from each every second day. The little white one is much smaller than the bantams usually lay, but they had stopped for a week or so altogether, and were to the point of getting threats of going in the pot when this weeun appeared. They are back to normal size again now (about 40g)

The chooks are also just great characters, always say good morning, interact with humans as well as each other and process my lawn clippings and vege scraps into dark rich soil which I put into the vege garden.

If you have any questions about keeping chooks, send them my way.

D is for Decorating

2008-12-14T21:39:00.000-08:00

I bit the bullet and got out the christmas decorations over the weekend. Oh and I did buy some cinnamon spice candles and some star lights. I don't think the lights will come down after christmas finishes, they're too nice.

This is my dining room, with the star lights over the curtain railing and an advent decoration on the table, four candles to symbolise the four weeks leading up to christmas.
I decided not to get out the christmas tree, as there's nowhere to put it where you can see it from the road. If I was having Christmas at my house I'd put it up in the back room though.

This is the advent decoration up close, some christmas cloth underneath, and a couple of decorations on top. They are real pine branches from a tree near church, it was happy to have the prune, and they make it smell like Christmas :)

But my favourite is this, a dutch nativity. The top is like a fan, and it twirls around by the air movement created by the candles, a lot slower than it looks in this photo, creating gorgeous patterns in the room, and although you can't see it, inside there is a complete nativity scene, mary joseph and baby jesus, the wise men, shepherds and the angels. One of my brilliant sisters found this for me, and I love it.

Hannah

C is for Circus

2008-12-01T18:55:00.001-08:00

Three weekends ago (Was it only that long ago?) my family went to see Cirque de Soleil in Canberra. It was our birthday presents from mum. My Brother Bohdan and his girflfriend Kate and I went down the dirt road through Nerriga and stopped at Bungendore for breakfast...Yum

Bohdan and Kate

Then mum shouted us all lunch at the national library cafe. Yum again.

Me with my grandy's. See the stained glass windows in the back. Well, I had to go into the library and check who did them, because I recognised them from the art gallery in Melbourne. I was right. They have amazing designs, kind of medieval art slash indigenous inspired. Bold colours and shapes.

My other grandma and great aunty audry came too!

Me and my siblings Jonina, me, BIL Glyn, Miriam, Kate and Bohdan outside the tent.

Funny story about Jonina and the Icecream man, remember to ask me when you see me next.

The show itself was amazing as usual... the human body is an amazing thing. Music, costumes, muscles...

This girl was a one handed balancing contortionist. It was amazing what she could do.

There's a lot of drama in the shows, clowns, characters, song and dance. All in french so you don't understand the word, but you don't really need to.

This is the Dralion. Combination of chinese dragon and a lion.

On the way home we caught up with Rae and Duane and Xavier Green, fresh off the plane from NZ. great to see them and have a meal together.

B is for Bread

2008-12-01T17:15:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to start baking my own bread for a while, but the whole hours of work and kneading was not the most appealing thing in the world.

So when I came across the idea of no-knead bread with next to no effort involved, just a bit of time to do all the work, I had to give it a go. I found this website to be the most helpful, as it explains the why not just the how.

Basically put 3 cups plain flour, (I have been using 2 cups no-name and one cup of wholemeal organic flour) 1.5-2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp dried yeast in a bowl and mix. Now add 1.5 cups water and mix (I find I have to add just a bit more water to make it all come together. It should be sticky to touch, with no dry bits of flour left.

Cover this with gladwrap and leave overnight (I do the first step before going to bed at night, it takes less than 5 mins)

Optional step - in the morning get a spoon and beat the mixture down before covering again. Last loaf I made I forgot to do this and it had no discernable impact on the loaf.

The Yeast doing all the work

The following evening I heat up my baking dish - a rectangular cast iron casserole dish in a very hot oven, around 250 degrees celcius. It must be a dish with a lid. Initially I used two smaller dishes, hence the two loaves below, but now am just using one larger one, it's about 4 litres in size I'm guessing.

While that heats, I shake flour over the dough in the bowl, use a wooden spoon to pull it away from the sides and then tip it out onto a floured piece of baking paper. I roll it around a little to ensure that the whole loaf is floured and then when the dish is hot I flop the lot into it, cover and leave in the oven 30 mins.

Using the lid creates a steam like effect, that gives you a loaf like a bread artisan would make. After 30 mins take the lid off and cook for a further 15-20 mins at the same heat. Tip it out onto a wooden board, and listen to the crust crackle as it cools. It will be hard to wait, but if you can leave it for at least an hour it will be the best loaf you've ever eaten. Delicious plain, toasted, with oil and dukkah....oh the possibilities.

Loaves just out of the oven. (Can you hear them crackle)

Just looking at them is making me hungry, oh and the fact that it's lunch time

And this is the inside of a loaf. We have a woodfired sourdough place that sells loaves which don't taste much different to these for 6-7 dollars a piece. I reckon this one costs under a dollar and takes about 15 mins maximum time to make (plus 24 hours where you are not involved.)

I gave Allison some last night, and she said it was amazing. So amazing that she doesn't want the recipe, she just wants me to make it for her. Anyhow, hope some of you try it out. It really is failsafe. Well so far at least, and i'm on my third loaf and more coming!

A is for active

2008-11-30T15:51:00.000-08:00

I saw another blog using the idea of the alphabet to head her posts, so I am going to try, that I will make my way through the alphabet of posts.

Active, because I had an active weekend. On Saturday morning B, D and I got up early in the misty rain and drove through fog to do Drawing Room Rocks walk. It wasn't really raining much at all, the wetest part is brushing past all the heathy plants once you get up on top of the hill. The mist clings to them, hits your leg and runs down. I had my goretex jacket and some gaiters so my top and my feet stayed nice and dry, my legs however were soaked.

I am quite proud that we surprised ourselves by how quickly we did the walk, only half an hour up and a bit less back. No stops required. We have to plan a harder walk next time.

At the top it was a complete white out, that is, we were in the middle of the cloud. It made sitting on the chair look quite interesting, we thought we could just insert our own background. When I get photos off D I'll share.

Sunday morning B, A and I went rockclimbing, down at Thompson's Point, near the university. It was raining the night before, but obviously not all night as it had dried out enough to climb. Thinking back, it was the first outdoor climb I had done since starting a coaching course at Hangdog Gym in Wollongong that I did for a month or more, and I could really tell the difference. B is going to do a mountaineering course in NZ in Jan so she was wanting to do some training hence the walk and the climb. The exciting thing about the climb is that there is a grade 15 climb which I had never succeeded in climbing, and yesterday, no problems. It was amazing how much difference a little bit of climbing made to what I could do. I was all ready to go on for something bigger but we ran out of time.

Garden wedding

2008-11-11T21:58:00.000-08:00

A young couple from my church got married on the weekend. It seems like a few weeks ago that they announced their engagement, but it was actually almost a year. It was at a friends property in Kangaroo Valley (One of those freaky parts of the world that's always green, reasonable weather - if I wouldn't have to drive over a mountain to get to work I'd live there.)

The wedding aisle...

Catherine and Naomi, two of the bridesmaids singing a song Naomi wrote as the signing of the register happens

Cam and Brie, the happy couple

And straigt to wedding photos. Aren't the bridesmaids dresses lovely. I think I want one.

Warning! Giant Strawberry!

2008-11-11T20:59:00.000-08:00

Actually it's just a normal sized strawberry. The title should actually be miniature apricot. Yesterday I picked, and ate my first and only apricot that grew on my tree!
It was tiny, but it was delicious, and I hope next year to have a bigger crop, but it couldn't get much more delicious.

I also ate my first blueberry off my bushes, but I neglected to take a photo of that. Just thought I'd share as it was very exciting. It fell off in my hand, and I was afraid I'd knocked it but then thought it looked quite yellow and tasted it to see.... It was ripe (hence the already bitten into nature of the poor thing.

Goodbye Grandies

2008-11-06T19:19:00.000-08:00

my little sister J and my grandparents

For those who read this blog regularly you will know that my Grandparents have been holidaying nearby this year, which has meant that we have been able to spend time with them visiting and having them for dinner.

They go home tomorrow which is sad, but they're probably over us and our crazy lives, and grandpa needs to take his tomato seedlings home and plant them out. (He couldn't leave them in Canberra in case they didn't survive so he brought them on holidays and they were moved in and out of their cabin depending on how hot or rainy it was.

Them going isn't too said though, as I'll see them on Sunday as we are going to Canberra to see cirque de soleil. My other grandmother is coming as well and it should be a great day. I've got a packed weekend, back fence neighbours for dinner tonight, garage saleing, wedding and a 21st tomorrow, canberra Sunday and monday morning an interview with the newspaper for the permaculture group.

See you next week...

Hannah

This Morning

2008-11-06T16:35:00.001-08:00

I love my mornings, it is my productive time. This morning I got up, read for a few minutes then made fresh lasagne sheets with my pasta maker all organic and lovely yellow colour. I chopped up the leeks and eggplants and capsicum ready for cooking tonight as well and covered them.

I then made my breakfast, homemade muesli with organic natural yoghurt and preserved quinces (heaven in a jar) and took it into my front garden to eat while I read part of a chapter from The Purpose Driven Life. I try and read this book regularly as it challenges me where I am becoming complacent in my faith and my relationship with God. Today it was on authentic worship - more than music. Worship is about being a living sacrifice. Living in a way that says I believe in a God who loves me. Living in community, Living creatively, Living fully.

Then I cleaned up a bit, got ready for work and fed my chookies and watered the pots. And raced to work as time got away from me.

100 foot salad

2008-11-04T22:51:00.000-08:00

Took this photo as a joke, but really like it.

This salad is almost all from my garden (Beetroot from a friend's garden and potato was bought)

But the ingredients that didn't travel were...

Lettuce (two varieties)

rocket

celery

broad beans

mint

dill

coriander

chives

mizuna

eggs

And it really was delicious, and lasted well, I had the leftovers for lunch today (two days later) and still crisp and fresh and yummy.

Permaculture group and Basketweaving

2008-10-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

The first meeting of Shoalhaven Permaculture Network was a hit. There were over 30 people (I was hoping for 15-20) and everyone was keen to keep coming and make the group work. I invited everyone to introduce themselves and we had people who have been gardening for over 60 years to one lady who is gardening for the first time and has one tomato plant (That's her at the back right of the photo.) I gave a brief introduction to Permaculture and then people broke up into small groups to discuss and brainstorm what they wanted the group to look like.

It was interesting that the groups all had very similar responses, looking at continuing with the idea of a monthly meeting, and planning weekend workshops to get practical skills shared.
For me it was encouraging to see the interest, as it confirmed my feeling that there was a need for a group like this in my area. Both for people already living this way to share things with each other and for those who want to learn to do so.

That's my grandpa in the centre of the photo. He is my inspiration, he was famous in Canberra for his front yard garden, and producing food in my backyard was never a strange concept thanks to him. My grandparents are holidaying in one of the coastal villages near my town, so he came along to support me.

This week I also spent an afternoon with a friend to learn the basics of basketweaving. The one above is hers not mine, and I was so grateful to go out, and to make a new friend. Her and her husband are so inspirational, living a simple life, choosing to work jobs that make them feel excited and working for themselves as well.

This one is my creation. It is now finished, but I didn't take a photo so I'll add that in a future post.

And lastly Elhi, in her studio/sunroom. I have been madly weaving since, and feel a walk to the nature reserve near my house coming on to collect more supplies, I think I'm hooked!

Colour inspiration

2008-10-27T18:18:00.000-07:00

These roses are so rich that they almost look fake.

They are heavenly to smell, and I think I could almost eat them...

The rose bush is as old as the house I imagine, and I've always wanted these roses in my garden.

They make me smile.

A very Gardening Saturday

2008-10-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful weekend, visiting some friends (and their gardens).

Firstly thankyou to Sue, who came and found me at the Markets so that I could come visit her. Sue and I are both part of Aussies living simply, and it was great to meet her and her husband and see their garden and their home.

They have the most amazing stockpile, inside they have dried foods (they have adapted fowlers jars to vacuum seal their dried fruits and veges) bulk rice, groceries etc. They have bulk wheat which they grind themsleves for bread and scones in an electric mill. Under the house is the cellar with the bottled food.

They had a shed which they lived in while building their house, this was the preserving area, with converted shelves to hold hundreds of bottling jars, fowlers and pressure canning units, dryers and more.

Then the garden, which was full of food. They grow much more than they can eat and give the surplus to the local meals on wheels group. Her husband has a shed full of old engines and toys. I was so impressed I almost asked if they would adopt me. :)

Sue's Stockpile. Fruit, veges and soups. (She can bottle veges and meat as she has an american pressure canner, which can cook foods at much higher temperatures.

Sue's Garden, potatoes, beans, tomatoes, onions, broad beans. She has runs for the chooks, areas for berries that is netted in and an orchard.

What an inspiration! When I grow up I want to be like her.

Also on Saturday I went to Feedback, a gardening group based in Nthn Shoalhaven. They were wording on establishing a permaculture garden at a rural property that had recently been completed.

There was a large group, adults and children, and the garden was almost done by the time I arrived with my gift of banana trees and lebanese cress for the garden. We finished up the work and then went for a bushwalk.

The creek we crossed to enter the property, there was a causeway to get over.

The landscape was a mix of open paddocks and pristine rainforest. Some of the group are keen bushcare volunteers and were pointing out plants and picking up weeds to destry.

Imagine this for a view out your loungeroom window!

And sunsets like these....

Tempting, but I do love my house, and my crazy community.

After the walk we had a pot luck dinner, delicious with homemade sushi, dolmades, salads and curries. Thanks Janet for inviting me, I'll definately be coming back!

Lastly, I'll add in a photo from Sunday...

I went to my workmate's for lunch and after we ate, her husband decided to sew a cover for his new camera lens, I couldn't resist a photo!

Have a lovely weekend everyone.

Hannah

A fun night out, and a beach trip

2008-10-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

The other Friday was my back fence neighbour, Allison's birthday. We had a BBQ with friends from church and then headed out to the local! Berry Pub. It was Karaoke night, and I made my debut public performance. It was much easier than singing at church, all you do is stare at a tv screen and sing.

Alison, the bday girl and SJ posing for the camera!

SJ is a work colleague of my friend's who came to stay for a week. Only problem was my friend had to back to work sat and SJ didn't start til tues. So Saturday pm I took SJ out to the beach. By the time we got out there it got cloudy so I swam alone while SJ walked along the beach. Then we went to the opening of a friend of mine's art exhibition and on the way home I took her to a local museum that has a mangrove boardwalk which is really nice.

The reflections are amazing and as we were walking the tide was coming in and all the fish swimming around the boardwalk. (Mangroves have arial roots that stick out, and it was amusing to watch the fish try to swim and keep running into the roots)

SJ and I on the boardwalk. (The sun had decided to make and encore appearance)

As we were driving into town some friends rang and said they were going out to Huskission (where we had just been) for dinner, so we dumped my car, got in theirs and went back out for a lovely dinner by the water, and dropped in on one friend's dad's bday party on the way home. We told them it was to use the pool table, but really it was for the pavlova!

Whilst in the poolroom however, we came across this beautiful portrait of my friend!

Note that my friend is 29 - we were very impressed.

Local dinner

2008-10-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

Have been enjoying meals from the garden lately. Not 100%, but all the greens, and all the eggs, and now some fruit. I have harvested 3 paw paws and one more to go! They stayed green all winter without growing or anything, and finally now are ripening.

Harvest of broad beans, snow peas, pawpaw and eggs!

The Pawpaw was delicious with yoghurt and honey - all organic.

I enlisted my brother's help cutting the salad, it was a vegetarian meal as his girlfriend doesn't eat meat.

Lastly, I had to bring a baby photo to work recently, and because I was the only person with a colour baby photo, I took a photo of my photo and printed it on black and white. I succeeded in confusing most of my workmates. Thought I'd share the photo with you. See, I was cute back then too!

What to do with a swarm

2008-10-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

I was at my friends in Sydney on the long weekend, and while I was there I was able to see the process of rehoming a swarm of bees in a new hive.

I didn't know that generally each spring a new queen is born and the colony divides and becomes two. The group that swarm generally swarm in a nearby tree, and whilst swarming are reasonably placid. If you don't get them into a hive they continue to swarm and can pose a danger to neighbours, so you have to get them quick.

My friend's dad here is packing the smoker, using pine needles he collects while working on his bush regeneration sites.

My friend Clarissa is preparing the sheets for the new hive, with prepared beeswax attached to the hives for the bees to build up and fill.

Once suited up, remove a sheet from an existing hive above the queen excluder thingy (the honey in the sheet gives the swarm incentive to move in and make themselves at home.) An new sheet is put in to replace it.

Now climb up the tree (this is a persimmon tree) and cut off the branch with the swarm on it. Carefully descend the ladder. My friend's son is the one handling the bees, he is learning the skills from his grandfather and the new hives will be his. It's great that the skills and traditions are being passed on.

Now get the branch over the new hive and shake them in (note it's an up and down action rather than side to side - the aim is to get them in the hive not on the grass) Look for signs that the queen is in by looking for bees flying into the hive as well as out through the base.

Get the lid on and congratulate yourselves on a job well done. I took photos and later Persimmon cuttings, and tried to avoid the bees. lol. They were actually quite placid.

It was a lot of fun, but I think my yard is too small for bees so I will leave them up at Illabunda and just put in my order for honey :)

What hasn't lost value

2008-10-13T15:58:00.000-07:00

Looking at all the financial reports it's easy to become fearful, to retreat from community, to worry about the future.

At church on Sunday my pastor made a really great point. He said that this week (while his stocks were losing value) he made a list of all the things that hadn't lost value that week. Here's some of his list, and some of my own.

A life hasn't lost value this week.

The power of the cross and it's salvation hasn't lost value this week

Family hasn't lost value this week.

The importance of friendship hasn't lost value this week.

The encouraging power of a hug hasn't lost value this week.

The impact a thankyou card can have hasn't lost value this week.

The beauty of creation hasn't lost value this week.

The joy of eating a meal from my garden hasn't lost value this week.

Living a simpler life or living a life of faith means that you live according to a different economy than the one dictated by Wall St. I am affected by that one, but I am not rich or poor because of how much money is in my bank. I am rich when I have friends and family that I love and that love me. I am rich when I walk through my garden and pick food for a meal. I am rich because I can see the sunset, and swim in the ocean. These are the things that bring me peace and joy.

What for you hasn't lost value this week?

Visiting Friends

2008-10-07T17:02:00.000-07:00

Lanterns catching the sunlight

I need to do a few posts to catch up on my weekend. It was a long weekend here, I think for Labour day so I headed up to Sydney to catch up with friends and family. First stop was Thirroul, north of Wollongong to visit Sharon, a friend from youth group days. We had lunch and caught up and I had to share this photo of her studio with you. I must get my back sunroom to look like this.

From there I headed up to Sydney and had dinner and stayed the night with my aunt. We cooked a delicious baked dinner, and watched a movie, then chatted until we were falling asleep.

In the morning I went to my old church, Sydney Christian Outreach Centre. So nice to catch up with lots of people. With travelling and buying a house, I haven't been there for almost a year, so there were babies running around that were in tummies last time I was there, and a few girls who are definately grown up into young women now! Best was to catch up with my closest friends, Angie and Miranda.

Angie and I at Parramatta Lake

Sunday afternoon I spent with Roberta, a gardening friend over a cup of tea and checking out the changes to her garden. Thanks Roberta for the pepino, tansy, sweet potato, rosemary and rocket cuttings.

Stayed the night with Miranda, her sister and their housemate, and then headed over to Clarissa and Eric's in the morning. Clarissa is another gardening friend and has been caring for one of my old chickens, Speckles since I moved to Nowra. Speckles had been working for her keep as a show chicken, going along to permaculture displays to help teach people that they can keep chickens at home.

Recently Clarissa contacted me to say that some of the other chickens have been picking on (well actually pecking on) Speckles. So as my chook tractor is now functional the intention was to take Speckles and another bantam back with me.

Rebecca and Penguin (approx 4 weeks old)

We also enjoyed a local lunch. Bread from the bakery down the road, eggs lettuce and tomatoes from the garden. Capsicum and cucumber from a friend of my who grows locally as well. Delicious. After lunch we went over to visit Illabunda, a property owned by Clarissa's parents which is being developed into an eco village.

When I was living in Sydney I would help take tours around the property during open days, and there was a giant clumping bamboo which they planned to cut out the middle and make into a kids cubby house.

One year down the track, me in the bamboo house. It's really magical. If I only had the space.

While we were at Illabunda we also dealt with a swarm of bees, we not necessarily including me. But that's for another post. After picking up some plants from Clarissa's garden and going to Permaculture Sydney West, I drove me and the chookies home, and went to bed. I think I need a holiday.

Councilor Brumerskyj

2008-10-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

Well, my brother is officially a coucillor. This is him sitting in his seat at the council table (for USA it's local government, I think equal to Alderman) He has wanted to do this for 2-3 years and was the mayors running mate which helped his campaign.

The mayor is the guy in robes, and is an old friend who used to work with the youth group of another church in our area that my church had a lot to do with (ie our youth group would show up with water bombs and attack their youth group)

To his left is my pastor, who as the head of the local Minister's group was called to robe the mayor and pray for him. Turns out local councils are based on the bible, when Moses appointed 12 judges to look after all the civil matters of the people!

And this is my brother and Mum, very proud of her son!

Congratulations Bohdan.

WOOD:WOOL:CLAY

2008-10-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

This is our local art's centre, comprising 4 galleries, art teaching rooms, studios and a community radio upstairs. Last week was the opening of wood:wool:clay an exhibition of the local pottery woodwork and spinners and weavers.

Now I must confess. I was meant to have artwork in this exhibition, but completely forgot to take it in on the day it was supposed to arrive. Luckily I walked past the gallery during my lunch break on the day of the opening and so remembered to go.

These gorgeous shrugs are handspun and knitted by Yuriko. Shes a member of at least two of the groups and I think won the prize for the most exhibits. Aren't they gorgeous!

This is a spider web and it is knitted (the spider was needle felted.) It was amazing to see these be knitted at a recent meeting, although the display did cause some controversy, some people feeling it was a bit modern and something more traditional should be placed as the centrepiece of the exhibit. I loved it, and the way light was used cause gorgeous shadows on the wall.

I'll put my stuff in next years exhibition. Hopefully have some weaving by then too!

Independance Days Challenge Update

2008-09-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

Planted: Eggplant, tomatoe, chamomile, oregano, banana passionfruit, lemon grass, strawberries and corn.

Harvested: Broad Beans, spinach, strawberry (just one so far) salad, snowpeas and herbs

Preserved: Lemon Butter, Pasta Sauce.

Stored: Local Cheese - (Disappearing quickly) Seeds, Woodchip mulch

Managed: Spread Woodchip mulch in chook run in anticipation of the return of the chickens

Prepped: Planted more seeds - and potted up volunteer tomatoes seedlings to give away/plant.

Advocated for local food economy: Followed up all the people who signed up for permaculture network, and having our first meeting at the end of October!!!!.

Reduced waste: Compost, church scraps, mum's scraps, Neighbours scraps.

Cooked something new: Broad Beans! Loved them. Steamed then mixed with a little butter with pasta, baby beets and wilted spinach. Mmmm

Spring (and a parcel in the post.)

2008-09-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

This is my granny smith apple, three of the apples have sprouted leaves, two have flowers. The other two I'm not sure... Pretty good for a first go at grafting.

My raspberry plants have all sprouted. I may not get much this first year, hoping that future years will bring lots of fruit...

And my parcel from Diane at Pebbledash. She made the stamps by hand. They are so pretty and came wrapped up with a lovely tag.

Have been planting lots of seeds, waiting for it all to come up. Digging up more garden space. Actually gave up the spade and reverted to the mattock, so much easier and goes deeper. I planted some Golden Nugget Pumpkin Seeds that Tracy sent me in her Pay it Forward gift. Hoping they grow lots of yummy pumpkins.

My citrus trees are all full of blossoms, and smell divine. I have been spraying them with White Oil every two weeks and fertilised and mulched and they are all sending out new shoots as well, which all look very healthy so far. The lemon is a bit sad at the moment, I hacked it back severly as most of it's foliage was diseased and it seems to be responding well. Hoping to get an even bigger crop this year.

I also scored a whole lot of wood chips that had been dumped at the wrong address and they didn't want them. They are going down in my chook run. I think I'll have to keep the chooks in there, they are too distressed in the chook tractor, and I'll get a couple of Isa Browns or Bantams for the tractor.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Hannah

What happens when you put your hand up

2008-09-18T21:51:00.001-07:00

Last Saturday I really started doing something about the Permaculture Group. Wednesday this week I met up with someone I have been chatting to online for a while who has bought a block of land to start a community garden. Some of the plots are going to be leased out to different community organisations. I explained that the group I was starting had no money to rent a plot but could be interested in supporting an educational garden where people can be inspired to do it themselves, where people who come and lend a hand share in the food that is produced.

After an hour over lunch we are looking at running some workshops and introduction to permaculture/gardening on the site to start something. Karen told me she was feeling overwhelmed by some locals who are concerned the site is going to be used as a big commercial site (based on hearsay and not true) and was feeling like giving up at some point. Now she is excited again. There is a school starting a community garden in the area and they are keen to do a course so I may be very busy this summer. It'll be fun.

Need to rally the troops for a herb spiral working bee! Let me know if you are interested in joining in!

This is part of the block of land. Prime growing land in our town on the old floodplain (now levees have been built) I can't wait.

Artiste

2008-09-18T21:51:00.000-07:00

My Brother's Girlfriend Kate is in her final year of school. Yesterday I went to their art exhibition of the major works for their Higher School Certificate. She had a theme of the Performance, exploring the idea of being watched. My favourite is the ballet shoes, just cos they're gorgeous.

I feel so blessed to have Kate in my life. I said at her 18th Birthday that I really feel I haven't lost a brother in their relationship, I have gained a sister. And Kate loves doing crazy stuff with me that my sisters don't so much. It's just all good.

PS. Kate is also an awesome dancer. Her composition work scored 100% and she had to go to callbacks in Sydney! Congratulations.

Kate and I at the Art Exhibition.

Garden Update

2008-09-16T19:00:00.000-07:00

My seed tray. These are the cucumbers which will all need potting up in the next day or two. (I may have planted too many, but will overcompensate for the potential slug attacks and if I get too many I'll give them away or swap them.

The squash have appeared now too, and so have the leeks, Nothing yet from capsicum or eggplant. It may still be too cold for them, although the last few days have been summery, we are back to cold weather again.

This is my newest garden purchase. A birdbath. It was on special. Really on special. And I love the solid lines. Haven't seen the birds in it, but I'll keep my eye on it on the weekend.

I just need a ground one for the frogs and lizards now.

And finally some harvest. I am picking snow peas and lettuce/rocket/endive etc nearly every day. Brocoletti slowing up now, but still producing enough to pick a bit, I pick regularly to stop it going to flower (then it stops producing) and keep it in a container in the fridge until it's ready to use.

Happy gardening.

A wonderful open garden

2008-09-15T23:19:00.000-07:00

Do you know what these birds are???

They are guinea fowl. Aren't they cute!

They just run around the place at my friend Tina's garden.

This weekend she participated in the Australian open garden scheme, run all over the country showing off beautiful gardens.

Tina has 2.5 acres of gorgeous gardens. Natives around the borders that make me want to convert to bushcare (no- not really, but maybe to plant a few myself) Then she has a large traditional garden and a huge permaculture garden with orchard and veges and the bird enclosures.

This walkway is covered with vines of grapes, passionfruit and kiwi fruits and herbs grow underneath along the ground. Tina's garden uses a lot of stacking techniques, even though she has a lot of space.

I sent an email out to my permaculture contacts inviting them to come along on the Sunday, and four people came. Ken and Diane also go to my church, they loved the garden. This photo was taken after the bucketing rain had diminished slightly. It didn't stop the keen gardeners.

Tina asked me if she could give my name out as a contact for permaculture, and she inspired me to get organised. I did up a brochure and a sign up sheet and came along for one of the days, talking to people and signing them up for the group. There had been an article in the local paper about the garden and a few people said the only reason they had come was because it mentioned permaculture. Lots of people keen for a group so today I have sent an email out to everyone asking when they would like to meet and what they are interested in, or have skills to teach others in. Hoping to start in October!!!

In this photo you can see Tina's mandala garden. At the front a frog pond with strawberries around it, and there are 6 beds around it in a circle. All have wire guards to protect the tender veges from the chooks and in the background you can see the fruit trees with frames for netting to keep the birds off.

Here is Tina in the pink shirt giving a tour for some of the visitors. There were also homemade scones with jam and cream, pumpkin scones, delicious soup.... really a great day!

Local Elections

2008-09-15T16:43:00.000-07:00

My brother Bohdan campaigning at local council elections

There's been some discussions lately on blogs about building community and getting involved. I'm very proud of my brother who has run for council (local government) in the elections this saturday.

He has wanted to do this for a number of years now, and was running under a mayoral candidate who looks like he is winning. He is at 31.7% and the next closest is the current mayor at 25.1%. They are 2/3 through the votes and then they have to sort out preferences but there is a strong push by the other candidates to remove the current mayor so they will probably give their preferences to each other. If Paul (the mayoral candidate) gets in, then my brother will receive Pauls votes for Councillor and will be elected, and only at 22 years old. He will be a councillor for the next 4 yrs, and he's really excited about it. Both he and Paul are keen to talk with me about sustainability and community issues, so there really is hope that we will see some change.

Congratulations Bohdan and Paul. (even though it's not official) Here is the official website where you can check out the counting progress.

Easy Dinner with friends

2008-09-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

I had Allison over for dinner Friday night and was inspired by Melinda to bake dinner.

If I remember rightly this has onion, garlic, potato, sweet potato, turnip, carrot, beetroot, brussels sprouts, capsicum, beans, mushrooms, parsley and beef in it. The root veges went in first after being salted peppered and olive oiled and the others followed about 20 mins later. One pot dish, and it was delicious. served it on cous cous and had leftovers to take to work.

We then settled in to watch a movie, of course we needed hot chocolates with marshmallows (Allison likes to pose :)

And also this weekend we tried to make caramel chocolate tarts. I think we didn't cook the shells long enough, and possibly the recipe called for more butter than it actually needed. I'll try again soon, it was still delicious.

Each day the same, Each day new.

2008-09-10T21:25:00.000-07:00

Where I live we don't get to see the sun set over water so this was pretty special. Shot this while campervanning round NZ in April this year.

Sunset at Pancake Rocks, South Island, New Zealand

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.
Psalm 113:3

I have heard it said that all artists are only copies of the master, who paints his pictures through out creation. Never the same, and sometimes only for a moment. Don't forget to savour the moments.

Hannah

Parcels in the post.

2008-09-09T22:38:00.000-07:00

I received two parcels in the post this week. The first was my pincushion and needlebook swap through Rhonda's Down to Earth Blog. I love the pincusion in a cup, it's big enough that I shouldn't lose it! And love the sewing themed fabric.

Thanks Jenny

My swap for Jenny (with a roses theme) is in the post. I hope she enjoys it, and posts a photo to Rhonda's blog, I always am running late and forget to take one.

Now this is from Tracey at Sunny Corner Farm. It's my pay it forward gift. Handmade and absolutely gorgeous. The scarf is made I am guessing from the wool from her sheep and appears to be nuno felted (correct me if I'm wrong Tracey) and the birds are felted as well. They are in different poses, sitting, streching wings to take off and mid flight. They really are alive. Tracey also sent me some handmade soap, some seeds (including seeds for Golden Nugget Pumpkins) and a EarthGarden Mag, with an article on Golden Nugget Pumpkins. I'm just working out how early I can plant them.

The idea with pay it forward is that some one makes a gift for you and in return you offer to make a gift for three other people. I posted about this a while ago, but didn't get all three gifts taken so if anyone would like a gift, please leave a note in my comments. Or just leave a comment anyhow, I love knowing there are people who enjoy reading the blog :)

Hannah

Harvest Update!!!

2008-09-09T20:55:00.000-07:00

I forgot to add this in yesterday. As of this morning my harvest is at 17.5 Kilos this equals 38.5 Lbs. I said earlier that my goal is 50 by the end of the year. If that was pounds I'd be laughing, but I actually meant Kilos which means 110lb.

Harvested Brocoletti, not sure how much more of this I'll get, they don't seem to be forming as big sprouts as they were, and keep trying to flower more and more, probably spring doing that. Also snow peas, more and more of them coming. 3 eggs, and I'm going to be selling the extras at the markets so the chickens should more than pay for themselves plus earn money. I'm thinking that will balance out their food first then think about paying for all the plants and seeds I keep buying.

Independance Days Update

2008-09-09T00:32:00.000-07:00

Planted: Daikon Radish, Silverbeet, cucumber, capsicum, eggplant, squash, quince tree (into the ground) cape gooseberry, bay leaf tree, sage, dwarf beans, midgym berry,

Harvested: Snow peas, lettuces, herbs, oranges, eggs

Preserved: Lemon Butter, Tomatoes.

Stored: Cheese, borevos (sp?-south african sausage) Chorizos, dried figs.

Managed: Cleaned out garage somewhat, although it's getting messy again!

Prepped: Picked up four car loads of straw left over after dressage championships. Bought Blueberries and Passionfruit.

Advocated for local food economy: Made contact with local museum which is organising a garden day to go and talk to people about permaculture. Also going to a friend's garden open day and will be signing people up for local permaculture mailing list and talking to people.

Reduced waste: Straw.

Cooked something new: Vege Curry, Banana Bread. (both great but the latter spectacular!)

Growing Challenge Update...

2008-09-08T20:16:00.000-07:00

We receive buckets of rain - last week, pretty much didn't stop from thursday morning to saturday evening. And then the sun came out on Sunday for a beautiful day.

Thought I'd show you all my newest seeds, at the front rocket and lettuces, in the middle asian greens, and at the back daikon radishes, parsnip and silverbeet. They're all growing like mad. The soil is enriched with chook poo.
This is warrigal greens, new zealand spinach, probably known by other names as well. It's native to Australia, and is a spinach like plant that is perennial and grows as a bush rather than like traditional spinach. You do need to cook it before eating, but then it's delicious.

Broad beans are podding up and the bees are loving them, their flowers are gorgeous, and the plants just don't stop growing!

Jonquils.... That's all I need to say for this photo.

These are my first nasturtium photos, both the flowers and the leaves are great in salads, and give a peppery taste similar to rocket. And the flowers make me smile.

This is a photo of the whole back garden, you can see the nasturtium at the very left, then daisies in front of lettuces and snow peas, broad beans with onions and tomatoes behind (see what I mean about growing, they're about 1.3m high in places and still growing. Foot steps with lettuces between them and then the brocoletti and shallots. There's also Kohl Rhabi, parsnip, rocket, curly endive, parsley, coriander, thyme, silverbeet, rhubarb, garlic and vietnamese mint (just planted from cuttings I got last weekend rooted in a cup of water for a few days.)

This is my first apple leaves. This is one of the five I grafted and it seems that four of the five have taken and are growing!!! My first attempt at grafting so I'm very proud of this.

This is the first of my asparagus spears. I planted three crowns during winter, and I will let all the spears grow this year to allow the roots to fully grow. The guy at the store who sold them to me said that once they grow I can trim the fronds and use them in salads and pasta dishes and they do taste like asparagus.

The tamarillo tree is starting to grow some new branches and look a little less like a stick in the ground, but the nectarine looks as though the rain hit just as the flowers were about to open and they don't look great any more. I'll expect nothing off it, and if anything comes it'll be a bonus.

Does anyone else have experience with wet nectarines?

Neighbourhood Networks

2008-09-03T00:15:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned before that my Back Fence Neighbours are the best?

Monday Jeff called and told me he was at the Equestrian Common in Worrigee (Where I used to keep my horse BTW) and there was oodles of straw left in the yards after the local pony club hosted the national dressage championships on the weekend. He was there with most of the neighbourhood who were carting home loads of straw and manure.

Jeff thought I would be interested but wondered if I would have trouble transporting it. He said because I only had a hatchback.

I think hatchbacks have a misconeption as being small cars. I think compact enclosed utes that can be used for transporting humans if necessary is probably a better description....

This was my car full of straw....

And this is the pile it made after I pulled it out of the car! Probably 2m by 1m by 1m tall in the middle.

I've picked up 3 loads so far, and I will go back for one more tomorrow. Supposedly some company will be clearing what remains thursday afternoon. My front garden is about to get mulched. hehehe.

What was rather ironic was that I had reached the end of my straw supplies over the weekend and had bought a new bale for $13 - should be illegal to charge that much! and then Jeff called me soon after I got to work.

Youth Group

2008-09-02T22:51:00.000-07:00

The youth at my church ran the service last saturday night. It was a great sermon, and probably the highlight was an item they did during the music part. They had the majority of the youth group on stage looking very smart in black and white, some playing drums and some singing as a choir. They played a song off the new Hillsong CD, I think the last one on the album, but it was so great to see all the kids up there.

Sharna, who also helped lead the singing that night was one of the drummers. She also plays bass, What a girl!
I love the fact that our youth aren't just a ministry of the church, they are part of the church, and involved in so many areas. Most of the kids who were on stage are involved in leading christian groups in their schools or helping teach sunday school. A lot of the kids in the youth group don't come from families who attend church, this is a decision they make for themselves, and they are amazing kids.

Our youth pastors (a married couple) preached the sermon together. Really great. Go Ruth and Steve.

Jervis Bay sightseeing.

2008-09-02T00:26:00.000-07:00

Had a friend visit this past weekend, lots of fun. Hannah (yes, her name is Hannah too) is from Tennessee USA, but we met on a Glacier in NZ south island. Spend the day walking around chatting for hours, and on the bus on the way home realised that we were both called Hannah. Anyhow, kept in touch, and it so happened that she needed to escape the country briefly to allow a working holiday visa to expire and so came to hang out here.

Point Perpendicular is the northern tip of Jervis Bay, the most beautiful place in the world. This lighthouse isn't in use anymore, but was an important lighthouse, the bay used by the Navy and as a refuge in times of storms (They originally built the lighthouse further north and it was demolished as it was leading ships to the rocks rather than away from them.)

There are three of these gorgeous sandstone cottages in a row, look like they were picked up from a street in Sydney in the Rocks and plonked down here at random. They are stunning, and you can just imagine people living in them at the turn of last century.

After looking around the lighthouse, I took Hannah to the spot around the corner where people rockclimb, no-one out this day. It's quite a challenging spot, only a couple of climbs under grade 20. I haven't done any of these yet, but they're on my wishlist. There is a sliver of rock, about 15metres high, and we found the path to get out onto it. This is us standing on top, it's about 2 metres wide here, and narrows to 1 metre wide just past where we are.

The water was gorgeous, so much so that when we got to Honeymoon bay around the corner, I did put my feet in. This is me at honeymoon bay, see I match the water with my fashion.

Painting Party

2008-08-30T23:52:00.000-07:00

My back fence neighbour Alison came around last weekend for us to paint together. She walked around and then Jeff, her husband passed all her supplies over the fence. We spent the afternoon chatting laughing, and yes doing some painting.

We were both painting for the local women's art competition, sponsered by a local museum. I didn't get my entry in on time, and Alison never finished her work, (pictured above) but it was a great afternoon, just to hang out together, and the painting seemed to come easier.

My painting, half done is the one on the table in this photo. I stencilled a pattern on the background, to get a lace effect, and after this photo was taken, painted a still life of teapot and cups. The theme for the art comp was 'the everyday things women do' and for me nothing much gets done without a cup of tea.

Yesterday I went to opening of the exhibition of the artworks and there were just a couple of artists who thought the same as me. One of the prize winners had entered a work that was painted on a teapot. I'll see if I can get a photo to post on here next week.

It was great to paint with someone else, and this room is my favourite for painting, as the afternoon sun comes in and warms it in winter and in summer, I can open the doors and it stays cool. I've already got two more people who want to come paint next time we do it.

Growing Challenge / Independance Days Challenge.

2008-08-25T18:23:00.000-07:00

Planted: Asian greens, leeks, cucumbers, squash, capsicums and eggplants.

Harvest something: Lettuce, Rocket, Dandelion greens, Snow Peas (First ones) Have been eating Salad from the garden most days now.

Preserve something: Attempted to make lillipilli jelly - dismal faliure. I was using a local variety of lillipilli that's a purply grey, just not the same as the hot pink ones I used in Sydney.

Manage Reserves: Using up more old stock - Brown rice, old tin of tuna, creme caramel packet.

Prepped: Set up the small greenhouse again to start the spring veges in. This time I weighted it down with bricks so I don't worry about it blowing over again.

Worked on Local Food Systems: Have set a date for first Permaculture Network Meeting. Not this weekend but next. If you know any gardeners in the Shoalhaven area, tell them to contact me about it!

Reduced Waste: Using old milk cartons cut up as plant labels. Scraps from church and from neighbours for chickens and compost.

Cooked something new: Creme Caramels. (It was a packet mix I must admit, but it needed using up, and it worked perfectly) I took the leftovers to my morkmate's for dinner last night. Also made a Banana Loaf and a Pear and Lillipilli cake. (It's great too except I'm not happy with the lillipillis, need to use normal variety which is better for eating, leave the local ones to the birds.)

More Info about the Growing Challenge

Off to the Ball

2008-08-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

I was saying to a friend last weekend that I needed to get out. It didn't happen that night, by about 5pm I was ready to crash in bed, but we found out that the 000 ball (for the emergency services) was on the following saturday. So this weekend we all got frocked up and headed to the Bowling club for a night out.

Debs took up a curling wand for the first time in her life, and did an awesome job on Bec's hair, they both looked gorgeous

Friends Alisa in red, Gareth and Alexis in matching outfits, Awww!

Fiona, Bec, Jill and me hanging out. The only downside to the night was that we were on the table closest to the door for the smokers and it was freezing outside. But we worked that one out, and one the delicious meal was over and the music started, we didn't mind the breeze, spent most of the night on the dance floor.

This may become a regular event!

Garden Update

2008-08-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

I didn't get anything really done in the garden this morning, (I have to confess, I am reading 'The other Boleyn Girl' and it kept me up last night). But I did take the camera out and took some shots to show some of what is happening.

Re-using PET bottles as cloches, the lettuce is now huge, and there were some basil seedlings that were fading away in the darkness. Hopefully they will not only get some light, but grow faster with the warmer microclimate created in here, and the slugs and bugs will be deterred until they are a bit bigger.

This picture is very exciting, my first two snow pea pods and lots more coming. I love fresh snow peas, and the only reason these will make it from the garden inside the house without being eaten first is that I am weighing everything I grow. The trellis is recycled concrete reinforcing wire.

Apricot blossom, which smells divine, and two spend blossoms above it - hopefully growing apricots!

This is a new flower I bought, perennial. Arctotis var. Hannah. Being so pretty and having my name, I couldn't go past it.
And lastly, my broad bean flowers! No pods yet though. They are self fertile aren't they?

Independance Days Update

2008-08-17T20:32:00.000-07:00

Planted: Another salad bed: lettuces, rocket, basil, and more, Okra.

Harvest something: Oranges, Herbs

Preserve something: Grandma's Tomato Sauce

Store Something: Rice, Flour, Raw sugar, Oats and Sultanas from Food Co-op.

Manage Reserves: Bought up as rice is getting very hard to purchase, so I am a bit overflowing at the moment. I am gradually getting down to one of everything and using up mu multiples.

Prepped: Saturday I visited a friend's farm. It's organic, natural methods for animal management, and he works with at risk young people at the farm. Amazing. Check out A Taste of Paradise. Anyhow, Francis gave me a few bits of donated timber to take home and start making my chook tractor. I regrettably didn't take my camera, but I did play with horses, chooks and day old baby goats. (Cluckyness for the baby goats was definately going on - although seeing what they're like as teenagers in the next yard helped alleviate that feeling somewhat) I will go back soon and take photos I promise.

Went to the buy back centre at the tip yesterday. Got some bits of Reinforcing mesh for garden trellises, a mower catcher for nesting box - should result in cleaner eggs. and some metal roof ridgeing for the chook tractor.

Spent an hour with my neighbour Sunday pm starting to make the chook tractor, also recycling metal braces for the frame from his in-laws house building.

Worked on Local Food Systems: My old house mates bought their first fruit tree (haha, I would like to take full credit for inspiring that one, but I know her parents are gardeners too. I also did my regular shift at the local organic food co-op.

Reduced Waste: Re-using PET bottles as cloches over the veges. Photos in garden update this week.

Cooked something new: Mushroom Oven Baked Risotto (2 cups rice, 2 stock cubes crumbled, 2 cups mushrooms -I used the chinese dried style which gave it a great flavour and they soaked up well through the process - 2 tbsp butter and 5 cups boiling water. In a casserole dish with the lid on in the oven on med for 1/2 hour. Stir through parmesan cheese and serve.

Learned a new skill: Drilling through metal and cutting corruguted iron with tin snips.

Time flies when you're having fun.

2008-08-17T17:07:00.000-07:00

I was recently out at Huskisson on a weekday with work and they were haveing a paper bag sale. Basically fill the paper bag they provide with clothes and soft items and the lot is $5. I got brand name jeans, black dress pants, lovely warm track pants, shorts, a skirt, a number of shirts and jumpers, a pot holder with chickens on it and this lovely apron. The skirt I have on underneath is the skirt I got in the bag. It's handmade, and fits like it was made for me.

This is the detail of the embroidery up close. I think it may have been machine embroidered, but not sure.

Some of my friends say they don't go op-shopping, because they can't find things that fit. Maybe I have an op shop figure (whatever that is) because I find it easier to find clothes that fit at the op shop than at the stores. You have to have an idea of what you are looking for and stick to things you actually need, but I love them.

Just thought I share some of my flanellette quilt. My mum made this for me, it's a kit she bought at one of the craft fairs, and it's divinely warm, and most beautiful autumny prints and colours. Thanks Mum

I had my neighbours around for dinner last week, and on thusday Alison gave me this painting she did of the night. The red flowers are Arctotis "Hannah" Which I had on the table, which is in the middle of the painting. The blue kitchen cupboards, which are growing on me, and the shelves where my plates are stacked.

And this weekend I made Tomato Sauce. This is an old recipe passed down from my grandma and it's divine. I got the tomatoes at $12 for the box (10kg) which is very reasonable. In the shops they are on special at $1.50 per kilo so I went to the local fruit and veg, and they gave em a discount for buying the whole box.

I did buy the bottles, but they were only $2 each and I can re-use them many times. The jam jar just fitted what didn't fit into the bottles and I'll give that to my old housemates who i'm having dinner with tonight, and they love the sauce too.

There's still half a box of tomatoes, I have a pasta sauce recipe I am nearly out of so I might make some of that up, but I'd have to buy the fresh herbs for it, as I don't have enough growing yet. Hmm.

In other exciting news, My harvest total reached 11kg today!!! (That's 24 Pounds) My goal is 50kg by the end of the year, and I think it is not such a crazy goal.

Food from the garden

2008-08-12T23:50:00.000-07:00

Had my back fence neighbours for dinner on Monday night which was lovely. We had dinner together about a month ago. I only realised after making the offer on the house that theirs was the one behind. Jeff and Alison attend my church and I had made friends with them a month or two before.

This was one of the first 100 foot meals I have made (the idea being that the food travels less than 100 feet from where it was produced to where you eat it.) Well, the egg and brocoletti in the mini quiches and the salad all fitted into that category. It was delicious, and great to share my garden with my friends. We have decided neither is allowed to move, and Alison and I want Jeff to build a stile over the fence so we can visit each other without having to walk all the way around the block.

Jeff and Alison also brought some local organic beef they buy direct from the farmer (Alison's boss) and I gave them some of my chicken's eggs in return.

And we watched Peter Cundall's 'patch from scratch' while eating quinces I bottled myself with fruit gleaned from trees growing along the road near mudgee. (I also have a root cutting from this tree growing - hopefully delicious quinces soon to come) All in all a great night

Beautiful Bride

2008-08-11T22:44:00.000-07:00

The other weekend my friend from work got married. I got to go down the night before the wedding (held about an hour down the coast from where I live at Ulladulla) and go to the Hen's night.

Beautiful bride being walked down the aisle by her dad

The happy couple, Leah and Tim

Me and Leah (I love this vintage dress I picked up at Sydney Markets, and old vintage jewellery from garage sale)The view out from the church - Ulladulla Harbour.

I think they should have gotten married outside!

But then again, we might not have spent so much time looking at them if that was the case.

Growing Challenge Update - I'm eating it!

2008-08-11T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been time for an update from the garden for a while, so you're getting one.

It's going so well, I'm running out of space. In the photo below you can see the broad beans at the front which are flowering now. Behind them are the onions which are being overrun by self sown tomatoes. I'm going to pot some up to give away this weekend, and relocate some others. Garlic at the back left and Brocoletti at back right, and lettuce and self sown coriander everywhere.

This photo shows the main patch of lettuce, with kohl rabi growing in amongst it. To the left the snow pease are growing up the trellis. Right at the front is curly endive, not quite big enough to eat. I have some small flowering plants along the front to bring the birds, and just because they're pretty

Finally the newest bed, potatoes. I just layered wet cardboard, pea straw, dynamic lifter and straw with the seed potatoes put straight on the wet cardboard and the rest over the top of them. Inspired by Peter Cundall, I hope it crops like his did. (on Patch from Scratch)

I need to get my spring veges started, but currently don't have space. Big dilemma. I am going to try and get a chicken tractor upa nd going within the next two weeks, to start creating some more garden space, let them do the digging for me.

I also found a source of free clean wood shavings. Guess what's going in the chook yard tomorrow morning!

The gardening challenge is a challenge put out by Melinda at 1 Green Generation, challenging us to grow at least one new vegetable from seed and keep regular updates.

Independance Days Update

2008-08-10T18:11:00.001-07:00

Plant something: Asparugus, Tamarillo, Raspberries, Apricot, Nectarine, Strawberries, Potatoes

Harvest Something: Lettuce, Pumpkins, Herbs, Brocoletti (My total for 2008 now 8.8kilos or 19.4lbs)

Store Something: Hay and Straw for mulching (although only half left now)

Managed Reserves: I worked on more of my paths, especially the one that goes to my chook run. More to go on it next weekend.

Prepped: Bought Sulfate of Potash (Supposed to be good for producing fruit) Had a look at my almond tree at the nursery. It hasn't produced any leaves or flowers yet, but the buds look good. Went to a garage sale, came home with a sizzle dish (you heat it up in the oven and then put the food on it) a table ironing board and a book on preserving food, complete with solar food dryer design - one of the projects I want to complete before summer.

Worked on Local Food Systems: Helped my mum renovate one of her gardens. Mainly flowers, as it's out the front, but she did agree to putting some strawberries in. The herbs and salad veges she wants to put out the back, that's a bigger job.

Reduced Waste: Collecting Church food scraps now - Chooks love it, and I don't have to buy as much food.

....After!!!

2008-08-10T17:09:00.000-07:00

I'll have to take another photo of this part, this photo doesn't show it well at all. I have removed all the pebbles that were there and planted a row of raspberry canes given to me by some friends whose raspberries had gone beserk. No complaints from me. Dug them up and had them in by the end of the day. My friend Debbie came around and helped me as my back was hurting a bit. She dug the holes and I put them in.
But the other side of the driveway is where things are really happening. I put newspaper and cardboard down, brick edging, and filled the space with the pebbles that used to be where the raspberries are now. My garden chair went on top. I planted my grafted apple trees on the far side, there are some strawberry plants there as well, close to the edge for easy picking.
In the forgroung you can see one of the iceberg roses, which needs hard pruning and probably relocation away from the edge of the garden. Behind it is my apricot tree (Newcastle Early) which was already in leaf, and some flowers as well.

On the far left with mulch around it is my nectarine (Fantasia) which is budding, but no leaves yet, and in between them are my three asparagus plants. The rest of the ground is all coved with green manure seeds, figure I'll grow them until I have things to plant in their space, and they can improve the soil while it waits.

Yesterday I relocated the compost bin to the front yard, i'll move it round occasionally, my aim is that it will attract worms to break up the (quite compacted) soil and improve the quality and quantity of soil too. As I move it around I can then follow with planting some veges in the empty spaces.

The front of the garden faces north east and has the most lovely feel in the morning when the sun comes up. The trees should be protected from the hot westerly sun by the house, and from the wind as well for the most part.

Big Weigh In

2008-08-10T05:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been inspired by Path to Freedom, and by Phelan at A posse ad esse to keep a record of what my garden brings in. Path to freedom are aiming for 10,000 pounds this year (Thats about 4500kilos for you metrics out there) and Phelan is up to 125 pounds.

I will add in an update on all my garden posts to let you know what I am up to. Seriously, it's so encouraging to keep a record, and it is also informative, lets you know when things are ripening, giving you ideas on when to plant next year, and what has struggled that you could try a different variety. The best part for me is that when I tell people about my garden, I can tell them that it is possible to grow a significant part of your food in a relatively tiny space, eat better save money, and not put huge amounts of time or money in.

So, my total as of today is 8.5 kilos, or 18.7 pounds. Seeing as I only moving in in May this year that's not too bad (I was helped by the established orange trees :)

My rules are that if I pick it for human consumption and it was produced in my yard it counts. I'll keep you posted as it grows.

Before...

2008-08-06T21:30:00.000-07:00

My garden transformation is starting to happen. I thought I would post the before photos today, and hopefully (if I can find my camera) I'll post the updated photos tomorrow.

It doesn't look like this today. It's raining and thundering, and I'm sure if I could see outside there would be lightning as well. Regretting not having put my rainwater tank in yet as I hear the rain going down the drainpipes. Some of it is retained on site, but not working well yet. It's on my wishlist.

Lior!

2008-08-05T00:19:00.000-07:00

This Sunday I went with my mother and two people from our church to Riversdale for a Lior Concert.

Riversdale is one of two properties given by Arthur Boyd, a famous Australian artist to Australia in his estate. They are used for concerts, workshops, artists in residence etc. This photo above is the view back up the river from the Riversdale property. This is the Shoalhaven River, and I don't thank God often enough that I am blessed to live here. The property is 10-15 mins drive from my house.

Lior is an Australian music artist. Plays guitar and sings. Right up my alley. I had some friends who went to a recent concert and raved so I really wanted to go.

When we arrived they said they were sold out, but agreed to sell us some cheap tickets for standing room only (it had sold out weeks before the show.) However after having a picnic and the doors opening, so many people wanted to stay on their picnic rugs that we ended up sitting pretty much in the front row. (The photo below was taken without any zoom!) It was a great concert, and we got CD's afterwards.

He said an acapella song, a Hebrew blessing at the end. WOW!

Thanks to Steve and Sandy for driving and Lior and Brett for the music. It refreshed my soul.

Spicy Simmered Pork

2008-08-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

I have only tried this with Pork, but imagine it would go well with chicken as well for those who don't like pork. For vegos, hmm, sorry. Promised this recipe for Shannon and Ian. This is adapted from a recipe in "Off the shelf" by Donna Hay I think

1/4c soy sauce
1/2c sugar
2 sml red chillies, seeded and chopped (optional)
1 tablespoon shredded ginger (I used grated fresh ginger)
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
1 teaspoon ground star anise
650grams boneless pork fillet (I used a pork leg steak cut into small strips)

Place all the sauce ingredients in a deep frypan. Heat over med heat 4-5 minutes. Add sliced pork and cook on both sides 1-2 minutes. Sauce should be simmering/slightly frothing.

Serve the pork on a salad of mixed leaves. (I used lettuce, parsley coriander and nasturtium leaves, book suggests mint and spring onions as well.)

Drizzle some of the remaining sauce over the salad.

Delicious.

Independance Days Challenge

2008-08-04T17:26:00.001-07:00

Planted: Tamarillo Tree, from my old next door neighbours. About 12 Raspberry plants from friends from church. Celery seedlings.

Harvested: Oranges, eggs, salad greens( lettuce, parsley, nasturtium leaves, coriander)

Preserved: No

Stored: Pork. I cooked it last night, hoping to post the recipe today. Went to local bulk food store and got it for about half the price of supermarket pork. Polenta. BBQ Pork buns. Asian noodles.

Managed: I finished building my living area in front courtyard, with cardboard and newspaper laid down wet with brick edges (all recycled) and pebbles that used to be along the side of the driveway spread around. (the raspberries replaced the pebbles) It looks really great now.

Prepped: I bought Asparagus crowns and a sultana grape. Need to plant them.

Advocated for local food economy: Talked to friends about vege gardening. They are keen to start gardens too. One friend has fenced off their area (to protect from their dog) and another will wait til her partner returns from defence posting.

Reduced waste: Helped a friend fix her lawnmower so she didn't need to pay someone to do it.

Cooked something new: Do made up recipes count? Cauliflower curry. Sauteed some onion, then added cauliflower and grated carrot and steamed. Then added curry powder, turmeric, and coriander seeds and a tin of coconut cream. Simmered for 5-10 mins added some broken up chinese egg noodles towards the end. Served with natural yoghurt and coriander leaves. Yum

New Blog

2008-08-04T17:06:00.001-07:00

I hope you all find your way over here, I am sorry to leave the other blog, but I needed a blog linked to my work email account so have started a new one. Older posts can be found at
www.swirlyness.blogspot.com
I figured to make this one easy to find if you know me. So the new address is www.hbrumerskyj.blogspot.com

Caminho de Vida? It means Path or Way of Life. For me this relates to my house and garden and my life. In my life, I am on a journey in faith. I hope I never stop learning about and growing in relationship with my creator God, and teaching others about and encouraging them in their faith as well.

I have been looking for a name for my house for a while, not wanting to rush. I felt maybe to give it a name in Portugues, the language of Brasil. This is my second language, having lived there for a year after finishing school and loving it. I want my house to be a house that brings life to people. Good food and good fellowship. I don't want it to just be my living area, but to bring others in. Possibly to foster children, and allow them to experience my life. I want to live in community with my neighbours, and also in my house.

This relates to my garden as well, which I post about regularly in that my garden does sustain me. It sustains me physically, by growing food in it. It sustains me emotionally, as I relax after work by going to the garden, planting, nurturing. It sustains me spiritually as I look upon the wonder of a seed that grows into a plant, the wonder of God's creation. I hope that in the future, it will contribute to sustaining me financially, that there will be a surplus to share, to exchange/barter and to sell.

Hope you will join me on the next part of my journey, and please leave some comments behind as you visit.