Testing a new App

I'm having a go at Blogging on my iPad with a google blogger app. Seems ok so far so I'll add an image. We certainly miss our lemon harvest since we moved house.

Revitalised Kitchen Garden

Last week we went to an organic kitchen garden workshop at our local library. We really enjoyed it and came home motivated to begin again with our overgrown kitchen garden.

So yesterday we went off to Bunnings and stocked up on potting mix, cow manure, herbs and veges and we also bought a couple of new pots. We cleared out the garden ready to start again, poured in the garden mix and the compost we have been making for the last few months and then added some worm castings as well. In the middle we constructed a sunken worm house made from recycled house bricks. The holes in the bricks will allow the worms to go back and forth from their house into the soil. The worms came from our worm farm along with a lot of castings and worm eggs which will ensure the worms go back to home base when they have finished foraging in the soil. We put some organic sugar cane mulch on the top and the lid is a recycled tile. 

Then we planted lettuce, Chinese greens, Greek basil, cherry tomatoes, spinach, oregano and Italian parsley. We mulched it all with sugar cane mulch and watered it in with diluted worm castings. In our 2 extra pots we have watercress, garlic chives and  lemonbalm, camomile and peppermint for home made teas. We still have nasturtiums and strawberries to plant so we are off today to find some big colourful plastic storage tubs for these. We will put holes in these for drainage and the handles will make it easy to move them around. 

This was so much fun and it will be exciting when we start picking our own food and making herb teas. Alan was able to use his birthday Bunnings vouchers for a lot of this so thanks to Louise and Jeff :)  

Happy Anniversary

 

This morning we celebrated our wedding anniversary by going down to the mouth of the Noosa River to watch the sunrise. It was a beautiful morning and we stayed for a cup of tea and a picnic brekky. We made a decision to do this more often, it was chilly to start with but perfect once the sun came up :)

Fore x%#*!

 

Alan and I have started playing Golf socially at least once a week. We play at the Noosa Par 3 course which is easier, cheaper and more fun than a club championship course. Also it is only about 10 minutes drive from home. Its a beautiful course surrounded by bush and yesterday when I played there were flocks of geese and random ducks wandering about. We started about 8.00 in the morning and we are back at the club house after 9 holes in time for morning tea with our co players. I tend to agree with Mark Twain that it is a nice walk spoiled LOL, and putting in particular can be very frustrating, but being out with friends in the fresh air on a perfect morning is a great way to start the day :)

Landscaping Project

We have been very busy over the last few weeks on a major landscaping project. We have extended our entertaining area with tiles, installed privacy screens and a water feature, laid new gravel and added some beautiful Terracotta pots planted with Gardenias and Camellias. Now it is all taking shape and is a beautiful relaxing place to sit at any time of day or evening. We still have some more planting to do but we are nearly there!


Also we are really enjoying our beautiful big Tibouchina which is in full flower right now. We can see it really well from inside the house too which is lovely when the sun is shining in.

Nature’s Christmas Tree

 

We have a beautiful West Australian Gum tree in our front garden and last week it burst into all these wonderful flowers. They have attracted so many colourful native birds and the garden is full of them from the early hours. It is a pleasure to sit outside and watch them enjoy the nectar so we are very thankful to the first owners of this property for their vision in planting this special tree.

We Build a Kitchen Garden

 

When we first inspected our new house we were a bit underwhelmed by the kitchen garden, we knew it had to be `Project Number 1’ after we moved in. We decided to replace it with an above ground model and we went for the concept of planting directly into bags of potting mix which are layered on sugar cane mulch and then covered over with mulch. We made holes in the bottom for drainage and then slit the tops. Anyhow now its all done thanks to Alan and it looks wonderful. More importantly the veges and herbs are growing beautifully :)

Settling In

 

Today it is 4 weeks since we moved house and locality and it has been full on for us both. In that time I have had a milestone Birthday, entertained a number of visitors, welcomed 2 houseguests, Anne first and then Sue, I have started a new Volunteer position, we have unpacked more than 50 boxes, pressure cleaned all the pathways and driveway, cleaned up the garden, taken loads to the Op Shop and the Rubbish Tip and Alan and I have crossed off numerous items from our `To Do List’. Today we joined the library which was our last item on the list and it was great to borrow a book and know I will finally have time to read it. I have also learned that I can borrow an electronic book on- line and download it to my iPad without even visiting the library :)

In summary we love our new house and the location is perfect. In this photo above you can see my favourite part of the house – a reading corner which is also great for entertaining while I cook.

This is part of our leafy and private front yard.

We also love that we have not had to buy any new `stuff’. Except for 2 new red stools for the kitchen breakfast bar. Everything we have is arranged differently and is in different places, but it all fits so well. So……… its all good

Our Sea Change Begins

So the day after my last Blog Post we sold our house and just as we hoped we are moving to Noosaville. It has all happened so quickly it was obviously `meant to be’ and now after 5 years here and 15 years on country acreage we are taking a Sea Change and moving back to suburbia. We are excited and apprehensive all at once but we know we are making the right move at the right time. Everything has fallen so neatly into place and we have now sold our Shipping container, our tractor, 2 ride on mowers and a heap of other stuff after 2 garage sales. We settle on our new home on Monday August 22 just a few days before I turn 60 so it will be a great Birthday present for me!! Wish us luck :)

The beautiful collage background I have used here was done by an artist named Samantha Kira Harding so I hope she won't mind me using it here to illustrate my post - it just seemed to sum up our feelings at this time!

Gone Fishing

 

On Monday Alan and his brother Geoff decided to take out the boat on the Noosa River and go fishing. I thought a day off sounded good too so I grabbed a picnic, a thermos, some good  books and a chair and sat in the sun by the river while they fished.

Here they are heading out – we chose a perfect day for it!

And here is the result, a beautiful big fish.  We had enough for ourselves and we gave one large fillet to a neighbour. Last night we all enjoyed a yummy fish meal. So this is just one reason why we would like to move to Noosaville :)

And here is another – it was so relaxing and peaceful just sitting by the river reading and watching people doing all sorts of different activities on the river. All in all a perfect day and an ideal break for us from property beautification and maintenance.

We are on the Market :)

 

Once again we have placed our property on the market and this time we hope to succeed in selling. We have a different agent and a different sales programme that we know will work.  We have also been really busy spring cleaning, weeding, mulching, clearing out, giving away and generally sprucing everything up and we have been full on doing this for some weeks now. After our annual holiday in Noosaville in May we decided that is where we are going to live so our days of fishing and picnicking by our dam will be replaced with doing this same thing on the banks of the Noosa River :) Wish us luck!! By the way this photo will be one of our property photos on line.

Our New Boat

 

We have a new boat – nice and big with comfy bucket seats at the front and a bench seat at the back. Should be fun on the Noosa River and we are planning a couple of weeks there next month!

Sprout Harvest

 

I have just started sprouting my own healthy mixed sprouts and today I had my first harvest. To quote Leslie Kenton `these are delicious, inexpensive and contain extraordinary energy giving properties with vast amounts of essential nutrients’. They are also fun to grow. I bought a seed tray, lined it with kitchen paper towel, spread out the seeds and then squirted them with a mister spray a few times a day. Then today voila!! I have harvested them, washed and spun them in a salad spinner and packed them away in the fridge. Fresher and a fraction of the cost of store bought sprouts. We will try them today on out lunch wraps :)

4 Words I live by

 

I did this collage recently for an on line challenge.

Credits can be found here http://www.scrapbookgraphics.com/photopost/art-journal-caravan-2011/p112469-four-words-i-live-by.html

A Special Visit

 

Last week it was great to have a visit from 2 of our nieces Eliza and Lauren. They arrived on Tuesday and we barbecued on Tuesday night. Then on Wednesday we were up early and off to Eumundi Market for some serious Retail Therapy. This was followed by lunch and drinks at Noosa Surf Club overlooking Noosa Beach and Laguna Bay. We all enjoyed a great seafood meal and then we window shopped on Hastings Street where we found a shop called Gelatissimo which sold the most amazing gourmet Gelati. Yummm. Back home we had another gossipy evening and next morning the girls popped in to RDA with Alan and then left for Mapleton and Montville and the rest of their trip. It was really good to catch up with them :)

A Recent Digital Collage

 

I still love creating my `Digital Art’. I have joined an on line Art Journalling group and this page was done as part of that. If you are interested the credits can be found in the SBG Gallery – Art Journal Caravan section

A visit to Montville

 

Last year for my Birthday Sue bought me a Gift Voucher for this cafe in Montville. It is located in a beautiful setting with a view of the Sunny Coast and has great food. So 6 months later I finally got there. Yesterday Sue and I whizzed up to Montville for a morning’s shopping with a break for Morning Tea and then lunch at the Cafe.  The weather was perfect and we had an excellent `girl’s day out’.  Montville never disappoints :)

Kung Hei Fat Choy

 

Welcome to the Chinese `Year of the Rabbit’. I photographed these 2 little guys just outside our back door.  As a person born in the `Year of the Rabbit’ I am looking forward to the year ahead.  Coincidentally my mother was also a `Rabbit’ -  and yes we did have a lot in common :)

Maclean Old and New

 

I took this photo on a trip to historic Maclean N.S.W.  in October last year. The building on the left is the old Bank of  N.S.W. c1892.  I remember being horrified by the proliferation of signs – they all seemed to detract from the historic feel of the old buildings and made me realise just how much visual pollution we have around us every day in the 21st Century. So I got to wondering what it would look like without the signs and here is the result :)

I ran a couple of filters and got to work cutting out stuff and it felt good. Once I had eliminated all evidence of 2010 I thought my picture needed some people so I found a nice little group and put them in the frame. I know they didn’t have all the modern conveniences in the early 1900’s but life would have been a whole lot more peaceful without the traffic and visual noise. Just the Horses and Carriages clopping down the street and perhaps just a little horse manure on the road to navigate around :)

Australia Day 2011

 

Perfect weather in Queensland yesterday meant hundreds of people went to the beach and the rivers for barbecues.  We stayed home but Alan raised the flag on our flagpole. Then at lunchtime our next door neighbours rang around and invited everyone to an impromptu `street barbie’ and we all turned up. We had barbecued sausages, salads, enjoyed a few drinks and wished each other Happy Australia Day. At sunset we heard the cicadas and the kookaburras while we laughed, ate, drank and talked.  Not a biting insect was seen or felt :) A wonderful summer evening with good friends and neighbours, a perfect end to Australia Day.