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

Saturday, May 13, 2017

this week around here

Hiya all,

Bet you cant guess what we have been doing?


We spent a lot of this week working outside in the veggie patch.  There were four wicking beds to set up and it was time to clean up some of the beds after summer.  


There were some baby celery among the strawberry plants. Unfortunately I forgot to tell hubby and they are now in a pile of dirt where he emptied one bath and transferred the strawberries to another. Never mind, these seedlings pop up everywhere and I am sure I will get some more.


I planted out some baby spinach plants.



My capsicums are the biggest they have ever been. These ones are starting to turn red.


Rhubarb ready to harvest again.


Leftover strawberry plants that my mum took home to plant out.


The first of my lemons to ripen.


Beautiful sunny days at the moment.


I like to take my little radio wherever I go, and the garden is no exception. Mostly I listen to ABC and learn heaps of interesting things while gardening. As a child I listened to the radio a lot while mum and dad were working in the paddocks at seeding and harvest time. It was my best friend.


Last Sunday we did a trip to my parents to raid their olive trees.  We eat a lot of olives and dad and mum do not, so it means they would only go to waste. We saw a good opportunity to have an attempt at pickling them.





Picking...



Sorting...


Found this leaf among the olives.


Cutting slits in them.


Into a salt brine. We are trying two methods. One straight into a brine and the other soaking in plain water. The idea is to remove the bitterness.  This is a long process.


We were lucky to source these free.


This is what my bathroom looks like at the moment.


Every day for twelve days we need to change the water in two of the buckets.  The salt brine ones have to sit for a week before changing.






In the kitchen...

Golden syrup dumplings. I use a recipe that adds the juice of one lemon to the sauce...delicious!



An old favourite, lemon slice.


Remember this crochet queen sized blanket I recently bought at an op shop? I showed it in this previous post.  When I first got it home I thought it would be great to put in our caravan, but because of the colder nights I have needed it to keep us warm at instead.  Here is its home for now, on our bed! It is wonderfully heavy and warm.


The fire has been on.  Nice and toasty warm.


Photo shoot of all our Fire King collection for Instagram.


Sunlight.


Another stunning sunset from Thursday night.


Today we went out to a country music muster in nearby Quorn.  My dad has wanted to go for so long so we met my parents there. It was a bit cold but we thoroughly enjoyed the music.  


This couple were brilliant musicians and singers.  Rod and Rhonda Owen.



Tomorrow will be spent with family on Mother's day.

To all you lovely mums out there, wishing you the happiest of Mother's days!

See you soon xx

27 comments:

  1. Getting heaps done. I hope the olives are all yummy when done
    As a Greek. We love our olives lol

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    1. Ahhh maybe you could help with a good recipe then Angela lol??

      We have Italian friends and they are instructing us in the process :)

      Fingers are crossed that they turn out.

      xTania

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  2. Oh Tania that bowl with your golden syrup dumplings and cream looks so good. I can almost taste it.

    I remember curing olives once and they were great. I think I used a method from Burke's Backyard. My Dad is currently curing olives for the first time. I'll be interested to see how you go with the two different methods.

    Wishing you a very Happy Mother's Day too.

    Kylie

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    Replies
    1. Golden syrup dumplings are one of my favourite desserts :)

      I did look at the Burke's back yard method for olives and I think it is similar to the water one we are using :)

      Have a lovely week Kylie,
      xTania

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  3. What a find that blanket was, it's so bright and cheerful!
    Can't wait to see how the olives turn out, we love them in our house too.
    Golden syrup Dumplings might make an appearance on our menu tonight! YUM!

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    1. Dear Cheryl,

      The blanket was an awesome find. It is very bright and cheery!!

      Hopefully we have some success with the olives otherwise we will learn from our mistakes :)

      Golden syrup dumplings are always a favourite :)

      Wishing you a lovely week,
      xTania

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  4. Looks like a productive place!

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    1. Sure is Gorges!

      Thanks for dropping by,

      xTania

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  5. Your blanket looks gorgeous, the colours are really stunning. In one op-shop recently, I saw they had old crotched blankets for sale for $10. A bargain for such handiwork. I can't remember the last time I had golden syrup dumplings though I did make stew with dumplings a weeks or so ago. I hope you've had a lovely Mothers' Day. Meg:)

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I know Meg. Handcrafted items get sold for such cheap prices but they take so long to create, seems a shame. I try to purchase them when I can :)

      Wishing you a lovely week,
      xTania

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  6. That orange sky shot is amazing.

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    1. I love our sunsets Phil, and the best thing is they are just outside my back door :)

      xTania

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  7. Spectacular sunset. And you can see it. We get nice sunsets here in the mountains, but I have to walk way up slope to a granite boulder outcrop to see them. The trees close us in around the house.

    I pay $1.00 a can for olives, and there are about 15 in a can.

    Your reading public wants more lizard pictures!

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    Replies
    1. I love seeing our sunsets and this time of year (Autumn) they are so stunning! I just walk out my back door and there it is waiting to be photographed!

      Sorry about the lack of lizard photos Harry, they are in hibernation at the moment but will surface again around August. I promise to take some more then for you :)

      I think olives may be expensive because of the long process to preserve them. We pay dearly here too. About $5.00 a standard size jar here. Quite a few olives in them though.

      Have a great week!

      xTania

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  8. You and Annabel have both posted about curing olives. I guess it must be the season for them. I so hope that all those olives end up being a delicious addition to the pantry.
    That blanket is stunning! It always amazes me that anyone would get rid of something so beautiful and useful. I'm glad that it has found a home on your bed and is doing it's job of keeping you toasty warm.
    It might get cold enough here to have golden syrup dumplings. Right now I have the ceiling fan on as today is quite a warm one. The past week has been drizzly and grey but today it is a bright warm day. I had planned on mowing but it is just a bit too warm. Might have to have an early start tomorrow to get this done.
    Have a good week.

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    Replies
    1. Really Jane? I must drop in on Annabel to see what shes been up too :)

      So far so good with our olives, it has been a week now.

      The days are warm here but it is a tad cold at times at night, so that blanket has come in real handy.

      You enjoy your week xx

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  9. Hello Tania, what a lovey post, lots going on in your garden. I also planted some Spinach yesterday and our lemons are ripening nicely, we'll be inundated with them shortly!!
    This year was also the best year we've had for capsicums as well.
    So nice to see what's happening in your corner of the globe.
    It's been a long time since I popped by or a visit and it's been lovely. All's going well here in N.E. Vic, beautiful Autumn colour and mild days, of course the heater is going in the evenings and it's lovely. Had an unexpected drop of rain yesterday, just 3/4 mls but lovely to receive it anyway.
    Great to catchup........Claire x

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    Replies
    1. Hi Clare,

      Thank you so much for your visit and lovely comment, I hope you pop back from time to time :)

      It is trying hard to rain here as I type this, I am hoping to wake up to a nice damp morning.

      Take care,
      xTania

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  10. Howdy Tania, just checking in to let you know im still here. I really want to eat all foods but i just cant seem to develop a taste for olives. I keep trying but they make my face all screwed up with distaste which is probably quite amusing to others. I love olive trees in the garden but if no one eats them, whats the point. Bird Food?
    Im wheelchair bound at the moment so no gardening for quite a while, maybe a good 8 months, which makes me sad so im living vicariously through my various blogging friends exploits.
    Cheers, Lynda

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    1. Hello there Lynda, it is lovely to hear from you.

      Sorry to hear you are not able to garden, hope everything is okay and that you are back to your favourite pastime very soon.

      The olives are coming along nicely. I guess I wont bother to send you a jar then lol :D

      Chin up,
      xTania

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  11. Dear Tania, What a wonderful post! Love seeing the olive production! All the produce and activity is beautiful to see. Love the bedspread. Also all the work you have done in the garden! I truly hope you have had some of this rain... it has been a fair bit and the farm got it too. Have a good week Tania! With love Annabel.xxx

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  12. You're a busy bee. Olives a bit of work for such a small fruit, never soaked in plain water, waiting to see the result. Another great report.

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    1. So far so good Deb, all jarred up and pickled. Now we wait for 4-6 weeks, then taste :)

      xTania

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  13. I am so glad I found your blog again! For some reason it was not showing up in my blog roll so I re added it. Your garden is looking great and I love that you were able to get so many olives from your parents. That Granny Square blanket is so pretty and does look nice and warm!

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  14. What a wonderful post. I hope your olives are successful after all the hard work you are putting into them. Your garden is looking good too, as always.

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  15. Great to hear from you Anne xx

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