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Life on two acres of arid dirt, on the edge of the Australian outback.

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Weekly Update

Hello dear friends,

It has been a quieter week here.

There was busyness with the usual day to day things to do. 

Our son is making good use of the new shed. He is dismantling another car because he wants to swap cabs with his current 4wd.  

He is finding out just how much work is involved.  It is not a small exercise, but he is eager to get it done and most nights after finishing work he goes out to the shed to do a bit more. When this is finished he can then start to do the same thing to his car.


I put more time and effort into my health this week.  I changed my diet to completely raw (vegan) in the hope that I lose a bit of excess weight and gain more energy.  I am definitely feeling the benefits already.  My skin and hair have softened, my eyes feel not so tired and I have an increase in energy. The best thing though is I have lost 2.6 kilo since Monday! I think I will continue for a month to see how it goes.  

I also decided to stop drinking tea or coffee and just have lovely refreshing water. 

I start my morning at 6.30am with breakfast, then I go for a walk. At night I have been going to bed earlier, usually by 10pm. It is taking a bit for my body to adjust, but that is not surprising because I have been a night owl all my life.

I have been eating an abundance of raw fruit and veggies as well as smoothies and juices.  

The smoothies are made with almond milk, frozen bananas, mulberries or strawberries and a little organic honey.





For meat lover hubby, a special request for  rabbit stew J

I had some of last years figs in the freezer, and I didn't think I was going to get to use them before the next crop was here.  So I once again whizzed them up and spread them on trays to make fruit leather. I had previously stewed the figs and I was a little concerned that it was too mushy and thick, but after three days in the outside dryer the leather turned out just right.  

Our tree is a white fig, hence the lighter colour.



The finished leather is yum!

Next I tried the frozen whole figs.


Look how delicious they look, 
and they are very tasty too.
 

Here are the apples I dried a last week.  They also turned out well.  

I am loving this new solar dryer...


 I saw the cutest sight the other morning while out on my walk.  

The house to the left had their bantam chickens running loose.  Out on the road was a young rooster and a wild bunny playing. The bunny would run up to the rooster and prompt him to play, and the rooster willingly obliged.  I stopped to watch, but as soon as they spied me the rooster went back into his yard. The bunny sat on the road for a bit before going into the yard also.  As I continued walking past I looked in and the bunny was in with the other chickens. 

I really wish I had been a bit closer to capture it on video. By the time I took a photo the rooster had run away.
 This really was a great start to my day!

A bit further along the road, this sleepy lizard was making his way across.

Out in the veggie patch, I have a dozen more barrels waiting to set up. I didn't get to do much in the garden this week.  I had to top up the water in a couple of the barrels, the rest of them were still wet.  They lasted the whole week without watering, then last night a thunderstorm went through and it rained. Woohoo!  
We had 28 points (7mm)in the guage. Not much I know, but it was enough to perk things up again.


 The plants are growing really well.






This strawberry plant is growing well, but I am not getting many strawberries off it.  Lots of flowers but no strawberries.  Not sure why, any one know?

We have baby granny apples, hope they hold on to give us a taste.


I am still picking mulberries J

 Out in the chookhouse the baby chickens are out and about with their mums. They are all doing well.




I hope your week has been a good one.

Until next time, 
Take care.


Sunday, October 25, 2015

Weekly Update - Around Here

Hello dear friends.

Sorry I am a day late with my post.  I woke with an awful migraine yesterday morning and it knocked me flat for most of the day.  I spent the morning sleeping, and by mid afternoon it had started to lift. I do not suffer migraines, so what has caused this one is a mystery. Hopefully I don't get any more...

This week has been another busy one, and like a good girl,I have limited my time on the internet. I have also stayed away from the shops. 

Around home I have been de-cluttering again, but I will tell you more about that later...


Out in the front garden,the hippy plants are blooming.

This is such a beautiful flower.
 



I am not sure what the proper name for this tree is? Hubby calls it the itchy tree because the pods cause him to itch!
Quite a pretty flower though.

Baby sleepy lizard.

 They love to eat geranium flowers so we have discovered

and the bran that the chickens eat.

I have included a video for you J

 Monday night we went to watch our grandson perform at the end of year music concert, but I forgot to take the camera, such a forgetful Nanna I am becoming!  He plays the flute and guitar.
Tuesday we watched him play basketball.  
He is number 22.

I have started walking again. This was something that I had stopped doing also. 
I cook tea, dinner or supper, depending where you are from, and I leave at about 7 o'clock. It is so lovely at that time of the evening and I walk for forty minutes.

I get to see rabbits, kangaroos and the occasional emu on my walk. If you look closely you can see a bunny in this picture. Sorry for the blur on the finger printy lens.


The road I walk along...

I think I might switch my walk to early mornings at seven o'clock this week, that way I wont be so rushed. I will also increase the distance as I become fitter.


Out in the chook house,

we have babies galore!

 Four chicks from this hen.

Three from this one.

Four from this girl.

That makes eleven new chickens!

Look at these cuties sleeping J

I saved and dried the rose petals to add to my potpourri.

and dried some apples. 
These taste yum!

Out in the garden things are looking very good. Everything is starting to get bigger.

Capsicums

Tomatoes


Rhubarb

 Zucchinis

Cucumbers

Silver beet

I haven't progressed any further with the other barrels yet, hopefully I will get to them this week if the weather is cooler.


We had leftovers made into a yummy pie.


And delicious homemade pizzas. 
So much better than the bought variety!
  
What is hubby up to?

He is helping his mate make a bed frame for the old Bedford bus he lives in. He is always doing something, no wonder he is so skinny!

Hunter gatherer hubby with his catch of the night. He is such a grub!!

 And to finish this post with a
 gorgeous sunset from a couple of nights ago.

How was your week? What have you been up to in your neck of the woods?

Take care,