Saturday

With Mother's Day being tomorrow, we trotted out to Ashford to see Mum (& Dad). My sister got Mum a pair of massage slippers and I got her Rhonda's Down to Earth book. It very nearly killed me not to read it but I was too scared of creasing the pages to give it a go! Can't wait to borrow it!

There was also a combined garage sale out there this morning so we went and had a look. I ended up scoring a Johnson dinner plate (though we had to buy the whole box to get it! $4) and a couple of other plates in there too.

I also got some 100% cotton to make more dishclothes and a lucky find it was as I was contemplating buying more online! Mum got some cotton too as well as a lamp. Amelia got a pair of miniture rocking horses for her dressing table which is already choc full.

I also got sent home with some molasses to make spray for the cauli's and broc's and half a dozen eggs!

I even got to start a dishcloth out there today!

Mum made lunch, which was delicious and gave the extra bonus of being the main meal so we can all just have an easy dinner. Thanks Mum!

Walking Around an Ashford Garden

Out the back door into the garden...

Looking into the courtyard....

Cock-a-doodle doo

Mum and Dad have no idea what this is, any takers?

Looking back at the house...

Fruit trees

Compost areas

Vegie-mania

Love this colour!

Around the side...

The front - paving is awesome..

BBQ Area

Ashford

Yesterday we headed off to Ashford for a picnic with Mum, Dad, Uncle Ronnie and Megan. We went out to MacIntyre falls again, though this time somewhere must of had some rain as the water was really muddy.

The wattle was out everywhere and it was looking really lovely.

We stopped at Lemon Tree Flat on the way home and the kangaroos were having afternoon tea!

A couple of them had joeys in their pouches. I was hoping that one would poke its head out but it was not to be.

I took these pictures of Mum and Dad's garden while we were waiting for them to get back. They turned the wrong way at a T junction and after a while when they hadnt seen our dust they went all the way back to see if we'd had any trouble. Lucky for us (unlucky for them) we had turned the right way. The turned up about 45 mins after us. For the record apparently Dad was going to turn the correct way and got shouted down! :)

Us relaxing on the verandah. It was a lovely day had by all!

A Wander Around

Today we went to my Mum and Dad's place at Ashford. They have the inside and out looking so homey that you wouldn't think they had lived there only 6 months! The wind was very cold today but it was warm inside! This fuel stove is lovely and warm! Mum's ben making some fab cakes in it and it's so nice to stand in front of.

This is Dad and my "Field of Dreams", our wheat 'field'. It looks great! And healthy!Mum still can't work out how we are going to turn it into flour and truthfully I haven't either yet in any detailed way but I will! So if anyone has a home flour mill I could borrow or buy let me know.

Brassica's with a tin can windmill.

Looking down - you can compare in a previous post and see the difference.

This is the newest garden so has only a couple of things in it.

Mum's is the chief chook looker afterer

This is NOT their egg pecker chook!

Looking up the back

Getting There

Weekend list update number two!

The pear chutney is done and I have given two jars away already! It has a really nice flavour and I think it will go very nicely with pork. Thank you Debbie.

Wesley's stitchery has been started. Though I bought this tracing pen from the material shop and I think I might have made a mistake. It is meant to go through your tracing paper straight onto the material. I am not loving it for two reasons, firstly you have to go over the pattern quite a few times quite firmly for the pen to go through and secondly, it fades very very very quickly. I did the trace this morning went back tonight to start and 75% of it was gone! Plus the stupid thing cost me $9.90 so I feel like I HAVE to use it now.

We had a lovely day at the Ashford caves and McIntyre Falls. It was fun and relaxing. I took some pictures but have got to get the camera out of the car, so will do that in the morning. The Easter bunny was very good to all the kids (and Dave and I too). The kids were up at just past six to see what they got and then went for an egg hunt in the garden. Lovely.

Thinking off doing more stitching tomorrow and I might go feed the ducks! Though I will watch the Anzac march first. Have a great Easter Monday.

Australia Day

Happy Australia Day! You got to love a public holiday in the middle of the week! As Dave and I both work for government we both get the day off. We had planned with Mum and Dad for a BBQ (how Australian!) at their place. It was soooo hot today it is lucky we didnt barbecue on the cement! I made a pavlova (Very Australian!) case to take. They were $7 at Coles and I had all the ingrediants in the cupboard and I have to say mine was delicious, everyone asked for seconds. I also made a damper (Strewth Cobber!) to go with lunch. Mum made a yummy pasta salad and had homegrown tomato and cucumber on the table.

This is Mum and Dad in their kitchen. They bought a new pantry this week and we brought it out on the trailer today. The house is looking like their home now and they are settling in well.

Here is the dining room, we had all just finished cuppas and Dad and I were nutting out what seeds we are thinking about and looking at the seed catalogue for what variaties were interesting us.

Dad's chook shed. It's really starting to take shape and doesnt look like that there is much to go on it. I took Dad out a couple of empty egg cartons just to let him know my intentions!

Mum and Dads backyard. This is taken looking down from the chook Hilton.

Front of the house. There are two pine trees on either side of the front steps and they haven't got long to live. Poor things are as ugly as sin too.

Someone was tired on the way home , had a little kip for 15 minutes or so. Sunglasses on of course.

On the way home.

With just a week or so of not much rain our green is starting to brown off already.

Peach Jam

Finally got the peach jam done yesterday. Tastes nice too. I do need to get some more labels before I put them in the cupboard so I know whats what.

In other news, Mum and Dad's removalist truck is stuck in Toowoomba, or was as of yesterday afternoon, due to the horrific flooding in SE Queensland. I am hoping that the truck will arrive sometime today as the waters have receeded somewhat and if they are travelling through Goondiwindi-Moree way those areas are not affected by the current floods.

Ashford is STILL waiting for the Severn River to peak. It is major flooding as it is expected to peak at 8m and 6m is considered major flooding. Thankfully Mum and Dads house is at the other side of town to the river. As we left yesterday the SES were evacuating the caravan park. They are expecting the peak to occur at about 9am.