holiday heaven…

Aaaaaah, it’s school holidays again – and I just love school holidays.  The relaxed pace of the days, no morning rushes, no schedules, just the relaxed flow of seemingly endless hours of unstructured freedom.  I wonder if Sonny Boy enjoys it half as much as I do.  He’s gone to the river with his Dad this afternoon and I have the house to myself.  

Well, not quite to myself.  I have company.

(This picture just cracks me up.)

I have been crafting – it’s a rare time when I’m not making something or other.  I’ve got some photos of the finished goodies.  I had finished more stuff, but Sonny Boy deleted the pictures from the camera before I’d downloaded them – and as that’s the second time it’s happened to the same lot I’m just giving it up as a bad job – and the items don’t live here anymore and it’s just too much hassle to chase them up.  Besides, I can take a hint.   I have finished some more things since and immediately I downloaded the pictures to the computer. 

In the ‘family circle’ magazine there was a knitted section and in it was a child’s hoodie which I have fallen in love with making.  So far I’ve made three of them.  the third one I improvised and made it into a zipper fronted jacket. 

I have started on the fourth and that, too, will be a zipper front.

In the same magazine was a very cute child’s vintage top so I’m going to be casting on for that also – it looks like a quick knit.

The weather here has been quite glum, not much sun shine, but quite muggy.  I’ve noticed chemtrailing and then the next day the weather turns overcast.  I think the official term is geo engineering, but either way it’s messing with nature and the natural rhythms and I’m not sure that can ever be a good thing.

So due to the not very sunny weather the garden is rather slow going – about the only thing we’ve been picking are the lettuce leaves for salads – the slugs manage to get the strawberries, though I have re-potted a few of them in hanging pots in the front garden.

is good…

 

 

is hot.

 
 

********************************

 

Vegetable Chilli Recipe.

 

Ingredients:

 

2 x tblspns oil.

1 x large onion diced.

2 x sticks celery diced.

1/2 x red capsicum diced

1/2 x green capsicum diced

2 x cloves garlic very finely diced.

2 x 440 tins diced tomatoes

2 x 440 tins red kidney beans. Puree one of the tins.

2 x tblspns chilli powder.

2 x tspns ground cumin.

1/4 tspn  cayenne pepper (optional – add more or less to preference, but is very hot.)

salt and pepper to taste.

(*vegetable amounts are approximates – more or less can be added as preferred)

 

 

 

Method:

 

* Sauté vegetables until clear and soft.

* Add chilli powder, cumin and cayenne pepper and stir over heat for about 1 minute.

* Add tomatoes and both tins of beans juice and all.

* Add one tin of water and bring to boil, simmer for about an hour stirring at regular intervals.  Add more water if it gets too clumpy.

 

* Scoop into bowl and enjoy.

Can be frozen.

back with the bounty…

…oregano and parsley…and holes in the netting which need fixing.

It’s come up rather windy just now.  I managed to get to the shops without getting caught in the rain.  I bought a few packets of seeds – but forgot the onion seeds!!  The nice fellow at the nursery gave me the dill for free as it was looking a little bit worn.  Not that I know, but I’m guessing it may have been a bit burnt by frost – anyway, I’ve trimmed off the withered parts and have it up on my window ledge where it can catch the sun – along with the tomato, basil and sage seeds and the sprouts which are shooting nicely.

…dill..sage…basil…tomato…alfalfa and pea sprouts…

I bought the garlic bulbs and also picked up some sebago and pontiac potatoes and am going to have a go at planting potatoes as well.  The man at the nursery assures me that it’s easy.  So, if the weather’s nice tomorrow I’ll dig a spot for them to go.

…pontiac and sebago potatoes and garlic cloves…

The rain’s really starting to come down now, so I’ll leave it here and go and make a pot of chilli – which is also a first – apart from the chilli con carne I made years and years ago which was a total failure, but we won’t talk about that.

Spring–when hearts turn to thoughts of gardening…

 

 

The weather has been quite nice here of late and nice weather always inspires me to get out and into the garden.  Today is not so sunny, though and I’ve decided that today will be for getting some more done on the cot quilt that I’ve had on the go for ages, but first I want to go to the nursery and choose some more seeds for the garden. 

I’m going to put in some dill and garlic and also try planting onions from seed.  This year I want to give preserving a go and thought I might try my hand at some dill pickles.  My Uncle used to make the best dill pickles when I was a child.  They’d be stored in Nana’s pantry and we had dill pickles on hand pretty much year round. 

 

This season I potted the strawberries in hanging baskets to hopefully deter the slugs from getting to them.  This keeps them manageable as they just crawl all over the garden and I don’t have the heart to dig them up, so I plant around what’s left there.

 

Right, I’m off to the nursery now because it looks like there’s a possibility of rain and as I’m on the bike I want to try and beat it.

on the knitting front…

Finished.

A very belated present.

 

 

 

 

Going to her new home tomorrow.

one good hood…

At last I have a photo of a finished project.  This is a hoodie for Baby Girl.  I just love the colour which, in real life, is a soft minty green.  It won’t fit her until next Winter, but better to have it too big than too small.  This was a quick and easy knit and there will be more of these to come.

I had to take some quick photos in the front garden before it was whisked off to its new home.

I’m also passionately knitting away on a very belated gift for a little girl who was born some time ago.  I’m making her a knitted doll, which is done, but now I’m just knitting up some assorted outfits to dress the doll in because it is just so. much. fun!! to have a wardrobe of clothing choices to dress your doll in.

Pictures of that coming soon. 

I really hope to have it all completed by next Wednesday so I can hand it over to her Mum when I see her next.

Then I’m going to get started on one for Baby Girl.

baby, it’s co-o-o-old outside…

Can you hear it?  The wind is howling about the eaves and rattling all the loose bits on this house – and there are many.  It’s snug sitting in here with the fire going and listening to the gale outside.  I would that everyone were so comfortable and warm and safe and I’m so very grateful that I am.  The dogs they are a snoozing and Sonny Boy who is home from school with a bout of something horrid that’s doing the rounds is on the lounge and veging out covered with one of my earlier quilts and cuddling a hot cup of tea.

 

Soon I shall brave the elements to chop some more wood.  I’m rather good at that.  It’s all about getting it on the grain, don’t'cha know.  I remind myself a little of Ma Ingalls when I’m out there weilding my axe.

what the stork brought…

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, isn’t she beautiful?!  This is Baby Girl and she is the first born daughter of my first born daughter and I have been knitting for her ever since my daughter was pregnant with my first grandson 3 years ago.  Girls are just so much more fun to knit for.  You get to use pink and hearts and lace.

Here’s Baby Girl modelling one of the first items I made for her.  Notice the use of pink, hearts and lace.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.  That’s some cute knitting on one cute baby.

Happy New Year…

Oh, it’s been such a while, hasn’t it little blog?  It’s certainly a good thing you don’t require regular feeding, because I must be one of the shoddiest bloggers ever.  I never could keep up keeping a diary, so it was only to be expected, really.

The quilt block of last post last year – it is done.  But it’s awaiting ironing and photographing (still) – and frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.  I have become distracted yet again.  Actually, I’ve probably been distracted many, many times since I last posted. 

So, what am I doing now?

We-e-e-ell.  I’m knitting myself a lovely Summer top with cotton yarn I bought from the wool mill – only I can’t remember the name of the wool mill just at the moment.

And, I’m finishing off a baby jacket and booties for Daughter B*’s sister in law who just had a baby girl.  I just need to seam that, sew on a knit flower, sew buttons on the booties and Bob’s your uncle.

And, I’ve picked up the red-work sunbonnet Sue stitchery blocks I started more than a year ago as Daughter B* is expecting her third child in July – and maybe, just maybe this time bubba will be a girl.

No pressure – but girls are just much more fun to make things for – mainly because you get to use all the colours, especially pink, and there are no restrictions on the use of hearts and flowers and frills.  

And they play with dolls and prams.  Look at the find I made at the op shop a few weeks ago.

Do you think it’s a sign?

 

*Jinx kindly modelling for effect.

I’ve made a blanket to accompany the pram – but Sonny has used up all the camera batteries (again)making lego animations.

empty handed…

Look, I know I said that I was going to post a picture of block number 4 about, well, 4 days ago – but I think I got a little carried away by the excitement and challenge of it all.

And I’ve been feeling a tad guilty about it ever since.

Common sense tells me that I should probably allocate myself a week for each block – that would be much more sensible – and much more likely to happen.

Block 4 is seriously almost done – I’m thinking by the days end it ought to be home and hosed, but I’m not going to say anything just in case it’s not.

This is for you, Tracey.  Thinking of you.