Hello. I visited my Dad earlier this week and thought I'd share some photos of his garden. Cabbages. Zucchini. Cauli. With all the rain we've had, the plants are looking really healthy.  And so are the weeds! Thyme in flower. Rose buds forming. Roses. Mum's irises are beautiful this year. Its a shame she isn't here to see them. Lavender. Dark red pelargonium. Huge earth worm on well weathered hands.  Pumpkins. Mixture of Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbages and zucchini in the background. There is also cucumber, pump ..read more

Hello friends, Its been a busy week and I thought I'd share some of it with you. As I write this post, there is thunder and lightening and rain outside. So good at last. I decided to give these tired garden treasures a facelift. I still have to finish off the black cockatoo and chicken tyre. Morning coffee spot. I'm growing a passionfruit in a pot. It gets afternoon shade here in this spot. The other one I had planted in the ground along a hot fence and it didn't do too well, so hoping this way is successful. It will be able to meander all over the saltbushes on the other side of th ..read more

Hearth and Home ~ A Simple Life ~ Off-Grid Cabin in New Zealand This is simply lovely and I thought you would all enjoy. Many Blessings,  xTania Winter memories, winter song Summer's come, and summer's gone A fireside Our chairs close together The world's moved on That's what they say But I, I remember an older way A simple life for you and me Seasons turning, wood fire burning We watched the flames dance higher We've always loved the simple things A match, a flame, a fire Now what of spring? And what of summer? When autumn leaves are turning, It's for winter, Hearth and home, That my ..read more

Hello again, This is the first time trying out the new blogger format, so I hope it works out okay. I have been busy this weekend getting jobs done while the sun is shining and the days are mild. It wont be long and the heat will be here. I need to get mulch put around the veggies and plants. It is Fathers day tomorrow, so I will be going to see my dad in the afternoon. I noticed this pretty flower on my Moth orchid this morning. I have moved it to a new spot hanging in the laundry window and it seems to be very happy. The quandongs are ripening fast with this warm weather. Calendula ..read more

Well here we are in the last days of winter. It wont be long and these cold days will pass, and spring will emerge in all its beauty. Slowly we are seeing the outside temperatures rise a little day by day. Winter has been very determined to hang on this year. During this month of August, we have had rain and cold windy days and the fire is still burning providing beautiful cosy warmth. But soon all the wood and the fire will be put away for another year and it will be time to uncover the air-conditioner in readiness for the heat that will come. There are gentle signs of spring in the garden ..read more

A simple wattle on the kitchen table. I brought this Jade plant inside to brighten the place up with a little greenery. It was looking poorly outside but with a bit of added fertiliser there are new leaves appearing now. These lettuce leaves were huge... And delicious for my lunch... Followed by chopped melons and soy yoghurt sprinkled with walnuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds... I have decided to start drying more food...these are hot chillies. Saving eggshells for the garden...I add these to the soil when planting out tomato seedlings. Tomatoes love calcium as do other ..read more

            1&2. A pretty cotton pillowcase 3. Pink gingham cotton fabric 4. Floral cotton fabric 5. Brown cotton fabrics. The brown is darker than the photo shows 6&7. Unicorn top for grand-daughter who is unicorn mad 8&9. Two bowl warmers. I had planned to make some of these 10. Pretty vintage dinner plate 11. Small vintage serving dish 12. Small cane basket for collecting eggs 13&14. Baking tin for a small loaf It has been a while since I went to the local salvos thrift store. Due to C-19 their hours have changed and it w ..read more

As you know I live in an arid area of Australia {if we are lucky we get an average rainfall of 9 inches}, so this means there is not a lot of organic matter available for using in my wannabe permaculture garden. I use whatever leaves, sawdust, straw etc I can round up, but these can be scarce so I have had to come up with other methods for building the soil. One of those methods is using common weeds to my advantage. Now weeds can be a real problem for some people and get out of control really quick. But for me they are beneficial and today I will tell you about some of the ways I use them ..read more

Hello everyone,  This week there has been warm sunny days, windy days, rainy days and cloudy days. We even received a bit of rain 33.5mm {134 points} which is really lovely. Almost every day we are getting a couple of showers go through, this is just perfect timing leading into spring. It was another very dry winter this year, and things were looking grim. But now I can plan and plant... In with some leek seedlings. Soil preparation for spring. There are beautiful wattles flowers everywhere... The wonderful rain has left enough dampness to grow moss... More signs of spri ..read more

Just a simple post about life during C-19. Here are some of the happenings around here in the last couple of months.  No matter what is occurring around us, life still goes on... ~from the kitchen... The gift of chillies...  made into some very hot chili sauce. My mum wants to learn how to make sourdough bread, so I checked to see if some of my dried sourdough would come back to life. and it did! I baked this delicious pumpkin cake. A recipe from Sophie Thomson's book "Sophie's Patch". Anzac biscuits to take away with us. I make these with our home grown honey i ..read more