Wishing all my dear friends and readers a Happy New Year. Thank you for your friendship and kindness throughout the year.

May the new year bring you lots of happiness,  good fortune and so much more...

xTania

Summer fun

The hot weather is upon us...

35C (95F) today, that will be followed by some very hot days...

Monday 38C (100.4F)

Tuesday 39C (102.2F)

Wednesday 39C (102.2F)

 Thursday 43C (109.4F)

 Friday 43C (109.4F) 

Saturday 38C (100.4F)! 

Nice hot start to the New Year...

It was nice down at the beach first thing this morning...

 Having a paddle around...

 It was the first time for me...

 I am not a good swimmer, which is hard to believe when living in Australia with all our beautiful beaches...

Hubby has mastered kayaking,

Even reverse gear lol!

Show-off...

Looking back to the shore...

The water was beautiful...

some sailing boats passing by...

 A boat returning from a fishing expedition. They have probably been out catching blue swimmer crabs that are plentiful this time of year. Hubby is going out doing just that early tomorrow morning. A friend offered to take him out in his boat.

I may even go too, we will see :)

I do have some Christmas photos to post soon, and garden ones too.  I had better get a move on, otherwise it will be Christmas again before I know it!

What weather are you experiencing where you live? 

See you all soon,

xTania

Jamming Time

Apricot season...

The homemade slicer my dad made...

 Makes easy work of removing the stones.

Hubby made 43 jars of yummy apricot jam...

 We use smaller jars these days, as they are a better size to swap or give away, and once they are opened it doesn't take as long to use it up rather than the leftovers spoiling...

We still have plenty of apricots on the tree and these will be stewed and frozen for later use in pies or crumble.

My house is getting back to normal now, so the clean up begins.  Time to sort out, tidy up and toss!

The weather is lovely here at the moment, but it is hotting up again over the next week.

xTania

Merry Christmas Friends!

It has been very hot these past few days with yesterday's temperature reaching nearly 46C (114.8F). Thankfully it will be a bit cooler for the big day tomorrow. 

Cold meat and salads for us this year, followed by the traditional Christmas pudding that my mum bakes. Family has arrived home safely, so it should be a lovely, enjoyable day.

Enjoy your day and I will see you all soon.

xTania

Heartbreak

Thinking of 
all those affected by the Connecticut tragedy,
especially the innocent little children, their families and friends.




xx

All Set Now

We have our own weather station,

a birthday present from hubby...

As you can see it has been very hot the last couple of days...

44.6C (112.28F)!

It is cooler now, but very humid.  

Hopefully we get some rain to rejuvenate the thirsty garden.

What's the weather like where you live?

xTania

A Hard Post to Write

Rest In Peace 

Jasinta and Rebecca. 

Our thoughts and prayers are with your families.

xoxo

It has been a traumatic week...

Last Tuesday night the 4th December, 

two young lives were taken away...

Our family (daughter, son in law and grandson) live  next door to Jasinta, pictured above.

Our family regularly travel that dark road where Jasinta's life was ended...

I thank God, that on this day, for some reason, my daughter's work roster was changed. She normally works on a Tuesday night and would have been travelling home in the early hours...

Here is Jess, as she was lovingly called, with one of my daughter's ponies.

You can read the story here

Life can change in a instant.

Please give your loved ones a big hug.

xTania

Fifty

Ready to go out...

 The cake...

With my grandson...

xTania

Testing photos

I have adjusted the size of my photos and I am just testing to see if they are okay...so far so good :)

Millie, 

is getting older by the day, 

she is now fourteen, and slowing right down.  Her sight is failing, hearing is gone, she can still smell as good as ever. There are no teeth to speak of, and her back gives her trouble with arthritis but...if she can convince someone to throw a ball for her, she can still chase that no problems! 

 Talking with dad...

wonder what she is saying?

I bet it has something to do with a ball lol!

Sunset...

The full moon 

 Today's pickings...

We have had another hot, humid day with 40C (104F).  A storm is brewing outside, with thunder and lightening.  Fingers crossed we get some decent rain this time.

Have a lovely weekend, 

xTania

Just a quick hello

Following on from my last post...

I have thought it over and will probably buy the extra photo space for my blog.  I haven't had a chance to look at flickr etc as I have had too much on this week...

Today is a scorcher with a hot 43C (109.4F) so I wont be doing too much at all.  Need to keep an eye on the veggies and chickens to make sure they have plenty of water through out the day. A cool change is expected later on, although it is still meant to be very humid tomorrow with 36C (96.8F).

It's my 50th Birthday this Saturday 1st December (cant believe that I am announcing that!). I will be celebrating with a get together and meal at our favourite venue with family and friends.  I am looking forward to catching up with everybody, and...

  Here's to the next 50! 

Be back real soon...

Wishing you all well,

xTania

Where have I been?

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.  Blogger isn't playing nice and is not loading photos for me.  I get a message that I have used my quota of photo storage and I have the option to buy more space if I want.  I am weighing up my options at the moment, and hopefully I will be back here very soon...

xTania

Today in the Veggie Patch

This weeks pickings included

zucchini's and burpless cucumber...

~Out in the garden~

 The morning sunshine...

Looks like a nice day ahead...

the

 sweet potato vine is escaping...

Queensland Blue...

I planted seeds from last years pumpkins and they have germinated successfully.

Watermelon...

Rock melon, 

or as we call it "sweet melon"

 Eggplant is getting bigger...

so are the capsicum...

I have planted a rock melon seedling in the middle :)

Onions and leeks almost ready to harvest...

 Sweet corn and apple cucumber...

Kale...

 Amish Ox heart tomatoes...

Potatoes...

From this plot, I have pulled out the Brussels Sprouts as the aphids were getting out of control.  

No sprouts = no aphids!

There are a couple of poor broccoli plants left behind that were buried among the sprouts.  Hopefully they can grow properly now.  I have also planted some watermelon seedlings in there too.

I dont think the soil is quite right in this plot. The plants tend to go yellow, but the cucumber is still growing and producing.  The plant in the middle is a self sown Nectarine tree.  Will need to dig it out soon and put in a pot for relocation...

Baby burpless...

 Last seasons carrots, with the new seedlings sown for the next crop...

A bit later I will be putting more seeds in the  spaces...

Mixed variety plot of

spring onions (that need removing), broccoli, cucumbers, a watermelon seedling 

and one lonely beetroot...

Another mixed plot with more potatoes, spring onions, apple cucumber, last years capsicum, a tomato plant and two sad strawberry plants...

 Self sown tomato plant...

 Dwarf beans...

The little beans are just starting to show...

 The zucchini's are growing and producing really well.  I would say I have picked twenty of these already... I go out first thing each morning and pollinate the flowers...

This plot has celery, silver beet, rhubarb and a cucumber plant in there somewhere...

 Broccoli and silver beet...

Have picked most of the lettuces...

and planted a couple of rock melons seedlings in here...

 Yippee,

 I have managed to get a couple of ox heart tomatoes seeds to sprout! 

My mum gave me some seeds as she had great success in growing them.

Hope I dont kill them now...

We have had some very interesting weather with very hot days that were followed by a fantastic storm that passed through the other night.  Lightening, thunder and a bit of rain.  The rain gave the garden a much needed boost.  Thankfully we managed not to lose any plants in the hot weather or the storms.

What are you growing in your garden? Do you grow your own veggies, or do you prefer flowers?

xTania