Hello dear friends,
I am back at last.
This post is a before, during and after our trip away to Sydney. It may take a while so grab yourself a cuppa and get comfortable.
The weekend before leaving we went to forage some pears and almonds from the sides of roads. These particular pears were very sour, but thankfully we did find some nicer ones.
A couple of buckets of almonds, thank you very much.
Cranberry and white chocolate biscuits.
Easy apple slice.
I missed this little grubby face. Mischief right there!
I picked this basket full from the veggie patch before we left and gave it away.
Hubby was on three weeks holiday so at the last minute we decided to go visit our daughter in Sydney for her birthday. She has lived there for quite a few years, but this was our first visit. We are not city folk, and don't hang around for very long. Too many people and too much traffic. Give me the back roads any day!
We met up with Robyn and husband Hugo when passing through their town. We enjoyed coffee/breakfast together and a huge chat. Sadly it ended too soon as we had to hit the road again.
It is always lovely to meet fellow bloggers in our travels.
If ever I am in your area, I may just look you up!
Check out Robyn's blog here.
The Blue Mountains with its breath taking views.
Loved spending time with these two. Our daughter and her boyfriend.
Yours truly.
I saw one of these for the first time ever!
I found one of these on our travels, takes me back to my childhood years.
There really is no place like home.
And look what was waiting for me when I got back!
I tried a new recipe for fruit bread and butter pudding, and will be definitely making this again. Chocolate chips were a tasty addition. It was so good!
Well hello there baby chicks.
Hot cross buns for Easter. Sourdough of course.
Yum!
Busy, busy.
Frames for wicking baths.
And then hubby brought home more baths and some square tubing. It is amazing what he picks up sometimes.
Lawn mower racing.
A load of fun!
Trying to make castile soap.
Autumn sunsets.
There have been a lot lately.
Baking...and lots of it!
My oven is broken so I have been using the pizza one instead, and I like how it bakes.
Sorry I couldn't help myself.
Man and chainsaw.
Stump splitting time.
Must be a bug or two in there.
The covers are off and the baths are almost ready for wicking.
Rain.
Fungi.
Mushrooms.
Pretty colours constantly changing on the nearby hills.
Is it any wonder with sunsets like this!
Stunning!
Country driving...
Blue skies.
Dirt tracks.
Wind turbines.
Turban pumpkin. I saw this at the farmers market recently. Anyone tried these?
Card making.
Mum gave me some quinces. I really look forward to these every year.
In the slow cooker they go.
Quince compote.
Drying oregano.
And parsley.
The kale is in.
Baby nectarine tree. And weeds...shhh!
Look what popped up after the recent rain. Tomatoes.
Sunny tomato.
Wicking bed preparation.
Capsicum.
Garlic.
Chickens growing up fast.
Love this sweetheart.
He is walking now...
Wondering where the time has gone. This was taken twenty one years ago of my sweet babies. All grown and flown now.
Loving spending time outside this time of year.
As you can see, life goes on as usual around here. We are always on the go doing something. Today will be olive picking time. There are a couple of trees at my parents property and hopefully they will be okay to put down in brine. More free stuff! Cant get better than that ~happy days.
See you soon xx
Wow. Busy busy busy
ReplyDeleteYour gardens are looking fantastic
Yes Angela, we seem to be always busy. But its all good. We enjoy what we do :)
DeleteI am really pleased with how the garden is looking and how it has produced this year. So glad I tried those wicking barrels.
xTania
Oh, you are right. There's no place like home! Your veg and baking look great. Those sunsets are beautiful, such vibrant colours. Meg:)
ReplyDeleteYes Meg, home is my favourite place to be :)
DeleteI love living here because the sunsets (and sunrises) are so unbelievably beautiful. We are lucky enough to see them right out our back door.
xTania
Your posts are always so jammed packed with things to look at and think about. Made a cuppa in advance this time!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr HM. Hope you enjoyed your cuppa :)
DeletexTania
I enjoyed seeing your nice baking and garden produce! Wow, that was a long trip! Very nice pictures; glad you had such a nice time and are happy to be at home-sweet-home! Beautiful family. Andrea
ReplyDeleteThank you for your lovely comment Andrea.
DeletexTania
Wow Tania, what a lot of baking. How nice to meet up with Robyn and her hubby. You would have had a good time together.
ReplyDeleteHaha Nanna Chel, you can tell I no longer have any kids at home. I have more hours to bake. Most of what I showed in this post was for a cake stall. Much to hubby disgust!
DeletexTania
Nice lot of photos, you have had a big time of it.
ReplyDeleteThank you SBF :)
DeleteHave a great week,
xTania
Wow you've been super busy. How great to meet Robyn and her husband. Lawn mower racing looks like a lot of fun, plenty of laughs I'm sure. Welcome home.
ReplyDeleteKylie
Yes Kylie, plenty of laughs with the mower races. Especially when they fall off and the machine keeps going madly out of control, like we saw on that day. It wasn't quite what I expected, with most of the mowers having been sooped up with motorbike engines. It was a great day!
DeleteSo glad to be home in my little nest :)
xTania
Hello Tania! You have been busy!!! Such lovely photos! Glad you had a nice vacay. And yes, it is always nice to come home!! Such great garden yield! Love the chooks!
ReplyDeletexo Kris
Hi Kris, so good to hear from you again.
DeleteFor your interest, I will be posting my method for yoghurt making very soon.
xTania
Looks like you're busy and well-traveled folks!
ReplyDeleteYes very well traveled, and it hasn't stopped since arriving home! We are always going somewhere :)
DeleteHave a great week Gorges.
xTania
oh Tania what marvelous photos, it really is a beautiful home you have made outback xxx
ReplyDeleteThank you Sue xx
DeleteHi Tania, just loved your newsy post. I had hoped that everything was OK and I'm glad to see it was.
ReplyDeleteYou have probably already filled the bath tubs but if you haven't would it be possible for you to do a photographic steps of how you turn them into wicking beds. I get how they work and what to do but I want to be able to show Bluey. Your hubby sounds like Bluey in that he uses what he has or what he can get cheaply to make things. If Bluey could see how the beds go together he might come on board and help me out. He already gets the framework for the baths as he did this with baths on our last property for feed bins for the cattle.
Did you end up getting that Turban Pumpkin? It looks so interesting and is obviously an heirloom variety.
Have a lovely week.
Sure Jane, I will do a tutorial for you for the wicking baths. I haven't finished them all yet, so it is your lucky day :)
DeleteNo I didn't get that pumpkin, but I am kicking myself now lol! I hope there is one there when I go again next week :)
I love having a handy man around the place. Saves us so much money. Phil can fix almost anything and build anything. He just sits back for a while to think about how he can do the task and usually comes up with a solution. Now days youtube and the internet are a great help. He collects lots of stuff from a local builder (government housing) that is only too glad for him to take the excess.
By sticking with the older car, Phil is able to service it and keep it running smoothly which is great. No paying money to mechanics or electricians. Our son can do any electrical jobs for us, and between my dad and Phil can usually work out car issues (this type of handyman stuff is a post in itself lol).
Wishing you a lovely week,
xTania
I so enjoyed reading your post. Great photos, superb sunsets, delicious baking, bountiful veggies, free food etc! Love that Apple slice- could you share the recipe, please?
ReplyDeleteHi Linda, I will pop the recipe for apple slice up on the blog sometime over the next couple of days. It is super easy :)
DeleteThank you for your kind words :)
xTania
My goodness, you have got into the baking lately! So many yummy things! I'm still having blog trouble with Blogo which is so frustrating! I hope to find an new way of blogging from my iPad soon.
ReplyDeleteCheers - Joolz xx
Sorry to hear you are having problems Joolz. I don't use anything other than my laptop and blogger to post, the others would be too complicated for little ole me :D
DeleteHope you sort it soon :)
xTania
Wow! As everyone says.. busy, busy. I know that was probably the tip of the ice berg but it looks as if you were loving it. There's certainly no place like home though is there, even if you enjoy the interludes.
ReplyDeletexx Susan
Hello Susan,
DeleteI think going away makes me appreciate home even more. I am happy to home, but also look forward to more adventures in the future :)
Have a lovely week,
xTania
OMG....your life over there sounds almost as crazy as ours Tania (only yours I think is doubly crazy) lol
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a lovely break away, I haven't caught up on other blogs much lately, and it's not because I don't want to ....either not enough time,not enough internet, not enough power or I am flat out asleep on the couch.☺☺☺
Love all your pics , just a feast for my eyes..
Take care
Cheers
Jane.
Yes Jane it is all go around here too. I understand about keeping up with blogs because I have been failing at that lately as well. Time is filled with more important stuff, like living our simple life.
DeleteHave a great week,
xTania