It's Cold!

As I am typing this my fingers are numb and it only 4 in the afternoon! Brrrrr! We have had some thick frosts over the last few days......

Cold enougth to freeze the water in the wheelbarrow! I broke the ice so you could see it better.

The Canna lillies are not liking the frosts at all - they look very sad.

I am really looking forward to spring so I can start planting all the summer vege!

Updates

Firstly I bought my first loaf of bread today since the four week challenge I set for myself. I made it to six weeks before buying one and then I bought one from a bakery! Back to baking bread tomorrow! I am going to try a fruit loaf over the next few weeks.

And Dad did make me a spool holder and it looks great, see for yourself - Thanks Dad!

A little bit of this and that!

Today Mum and Dad went home, I asked them to stay for another four weeks but they didn't go for it! Lol! It was really nice to see them and makes me wish we lived a lot closer. By the way, I know you are going to tell me to take off your picture!

THIS IS WHERE THE PICTURE OF MUM AND DAD WAS BEFORE SHE TOLD ME TO TAKE IT OFF CAUSE IT WASNT FLATTERING ENOUGH!

Yesterday Mum showed me how to make soap and it was really really fun and a bit exciting! We made some purple soap with a blend of lavender, May chang and rose geranium. Looks great and smells lovely. Ive got it curing in the lounge room and bought some more ingredients to make more soap. Mum Left me some colours and showed me a bunch of websites, on one a lady had made this yummy looking chocolate cake all out of soap - it was really incredible.

Before they left we went garage saling this morning. The first one was really good and I got some jelly moulds to use in soap making, Mum bought me some craft magazines and Dad bought something for his beer making. The next couple were pretty ordinary but the one at St Vinnies was good with me scoring a bread maker and a 1960's picnic basket which is really cute.

When you look at this picnic case you just think Gidget and you even might start singing "we're all going on a summer holiday"!

Gardening Happenings

I nearly wet my pants with excitement when I found that all 13 of my garlic cloves had sprouted! They look so good, I'm impressed.
Dave had cemented in the posts for my new veggie patch too. So I think we are only a week away from that all happening. I have seedling ready to plant so the bed want be vacant long. Here are some pics of it. And a Purple rose from the front garden - How gorgeous is that?

Bottled!

The ginger beer is bottled. I hope it has a bit of fizz, as now I am worried I should have left it a few extra days as the kitchen is so cold. Ah well the proof will be in the tasting. It made about 5 1/2 to 6 litres or 4 and a half drink bottles. I am starting another plant today in case these are duds!I also have finished my stitchery, its not perfect by a long shot but I love it! Dave's going to hang it in the kitchen/dining room. The frame cost me $2.50 from Crazy Clarkes and it really suits it.

Seed Bonanza!

Well Dave and I finally started cleaning out the garage, there was a heap of crap but there was also a couple of good finds. I found some curtain rings, a bunch of new rags for cleaning and a tin of old seeds.Some of these seeds, actually all of them, are old. Really old. Some have their best before date in 1996! However, in the spirit of frugality I have put some in the seed raising mix I had and am giving them a go. You never know and all its costing me is a bit of time. The seeds must of come from the people before the ones we bought the house from. In the tin there are also seeds they have obviously saved themselves which is really nice.Also to keep you up to date on the ginger beer plant - here it is on day 7. Tomorrow I will make the mix up and but it into bottle and let it ferment for another couple of days then into the fridge it will go. Should make 5 - 6 bottles I am guessing.

Fun in the Backyard!

Today has been a good day. I took Dads advice and transplanted the seedlings in the propagation tray into a bed just under the clothes line. I made sure they all had three leaves. I then thinned the rest out in the tray and am going to let those get a little bigger before I plant those, just to give me time to get more beds ready!

I took some of the year round lettuce and planted them into two of the styrofoam boxes that I got the vacola bottles in. I have actually earmaked them for herbs but will have to wait till I get some to put into them. I dont really like geraniums but waste not want not, I put some pieces that survived when I pulled a stack of them from the side of the house into the pot plants that Amelia and I painted.

So we can have some colour if we want to sit on the new seats I got Dave to put along the fence. Its a real suntrap and today when it was a bit cool, we got a cuppa each and sat in the sun, the fences block out the breeze so it was toasty!

And this is how the new plants that Mum gave me are looking - pretty good I think! Other gardening things today involved raking leaves, weeding and Dave did the edges on the vegie patch. It has been a good day.