About Me

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

Friday, August 25, 2017

catch up

Hello again dear readers,

I cant believe how quickly the time is passing, I wish it would slow down so I can catch my breath.  So much has happened since my last post that I can barely remember it all. Thank goodness I take lots of photos, this helps to remind me.

There is no particular order to this post, just a mish mash of daily life.

The girls have started laying again.  The young ones have begun their laying life too...

Trying my luck with avocado seeds.

I dried and made this weed (no not that weed!) into tea...nettle tea.  The taste is quite pleasant, with no sting! This humble little weed, can be a nuisance but has many health benefits, see here.

One of our better finds at a little hidden op shop. We passed these on to a dear friend, because we have no more room!

We were gifted these two from our neighbours. Both are in good working order...and this is why we are running out of room!


Around here...













Healthy living...

Who knew this ugly looking specimen,

would make such a delicious refreshing drink that is so good for you.



Now for the best news of all.  Our dear sweet baby grand-daughter arrived safely in July. Her name is Ziva Grace. 

Meanings and history of the name Ziva: Pronounced ZEE-va, the name Ziva is of Hebrew origin, derived from the name Ziv meaning brightness, brilliance, or light of God.


Here is Ziva, just a few hours old with her older brother Charlie looking on.  He is just a baby himself, bless him.  He has been so good to his sister and calls her "gentle", because that is what mum says every time he goes near her lol!

A little porker weighing in at 9lbs 3ozs!

Three days old...

 Not happy with the world lol!

Ziva is now a month old. These were taken just a few days ago.


And this gorgeous photo of Charlie.  Such a happy little boy. I love him to bits!


Meet my new friend. She was wrapped up in the shade-cloth I was pulling over the tomato plants and certainly gave me a fright! One HUGE Mama!!

I am still picking tomatoes.

Chopped.

and made into soup using this recipe.

It is so delicious!

We had a few rainy days. It was so nice but not enough to make a difference.  The ground is so dry!


A quick trip to the big smoke to pick up our new trailer.


The trailer in action...


As seen in the clip we decided to buy two huge bales of pea straw to use as mulch around the garden.


We had a really windy day and sadly this little nest fell out the tree.

I love this bright orange aloe flower!

I have finished this row of hugelkultur/layer beds. They are ready to be planted for summer.

I am trying a hugel type bed along side of the grape vines and dragon fruit.  I had dug a trench to catch water and thought I might try this method to see how it goes. It should hold moisture and help the plants along here.



Sour dough bread...

Beauty in the simple things...

My first pansy!

A lonely rose.

Calendula.

We have had heaps of these butterflies hatching out.  They are so pretty. I have since found out that this beauty is a Scarlet Jezabel.  

I tried to capture this one in flight a few days earlier.

The quandongs are ripening, so spring is not far away.

I hope this toady is indicating healthy soil.

The sleepy lizards (shingleback) are on the move in this warm weather.

How is this for a spectacular sunset? This is one reason I love living here.  I can walk out my back door and see beautiful skies like this on a regular basis.


Hope the world is treating you well.

Until next time, take care.

xx

38 comments:

  1. welcome back!
    your garden is doing well considering, it is so dry here too, my gardens could use a total make over but there are so many seeds in the soil i'm sure which way to go.
    that trenching is interesting
    aren't our skies just lovely? we have had fires around here so the skies tend to be a bit more brilliant than usual too.
    thanx for sharing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yes Selina, fires tend to make for more brilliant looking skies.

      I dug a trench to catch rain but then thought; why not add wood and sticks, leaves, weeds, anything organic really? I have yet to add soil and mulch on top. That is my job for today as it is so lovely outside. I figured that wood holds moisture, so why wouldn't this work in the trenches I have dug by holding the moisture underground and benefiting the grapevines? The bonus is I can grow things in the mound if it goes as planned.

      Thank you for popping in today :)

      xTania

      Delete
  2. So much happening at your place. Those hugel beds will do well. They're a lot of work to set up, but they do give difficult environments to grow in, and added advantage.

    We've hardly seen a drop of rain for several months either. I think we got a little, in the middle of the night, but not much. The ground is dry again. Do you get rain in the summer? That's when we get our highest amounts, fall - normally.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Chris, I am hoping that the hugel beds work out well. I can only give them a try for this summer. If for some reason the plants struggle I will probably rethink or just give them a miss. I can vision the concept on how they work, so hopefully I have done them right :)

      We do get some down pours during spring and summer, so fingers crossed that this happens. We have been really dry this winter by missing out on the rain, whereas other areas have had too much, but that's how mother nature works :)

      xTania

      Delete
  3. Congratulations Tania on the birth of your beautiful granddaughter Ziva. Charlie is such a cutie too.
    Lovely photos xx.
    Kylie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Kylie, so in love with my three grand-babies xx

      Delete
  4. Magnificent sunset!
    We have had heaps of rain. Too much. The paddocks are soaked
    Can't wait for spring getting itchy to start planting

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Angela,

      We can never have too much rain here, the sandy soil makes sure it soaks away quickly. You can send some this way if you want :)

      xTania

      Delete
  5. Wonderful post Tania. How gorgeous little Ziva is !!! So special. I wish I could send you some rain from over here ... we have had so much that some of my plants are rotting in the wet ground. No doubt we will get a drought this summer & they will all be crisp. Your garden & your plants still look amazing. What wonderful op shop finds you had ... I too have no more room here so have to be selective.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Julie,

      Its great to hear from you again.

      I think there comes a time when you do need to be selective. I just don't have the room for buying everything I see, although I would like to lol! Sometimes I need to remove one thing to fit the next in :)

      I am getting plenty of grandma time with my grandies. I just love to hold newborns, and Ziva snuggles in and goes to sleep on my chest, heavenly!

      xTania

      Delete
  6. Have a great weekend I wanted to say ..... but my computer has ideas of its own !!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha you have a great weekend too. You have me motivated to get some of my crafts going again. It has been way too long since I last made something special. I will need to sort out all my things though and re-organise my sewing room :)

      xTania

      Delete
  7. Your photos are great! Yes we have had to do the walk of shame and buy eggs recently, but now the henno's are back to laying daily again

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Phil,

      I am so glad that I froze two dozen eggs earlier when the girls were laying. It seems that the cold weather really interfered with the laying cycle this year. I got through winter without having to buy eggs :)

      xTania

      Delete
  8. I liked that Shingle Back lizard. He looks kind of like the Gila Monsters we have in our Southwest.

    Glad your clan has a new member. It's always a relief when a new baby arrives and all is well with mother and child.

    As always, you have such homey, pleasant pictures. I especially enjoyed the sunsets.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Harry,

      There are a lot of these lizards emerging from their sleepy slumber. I had two outside my kitchen door yesterday. One of them was huge! And yes I took some photos, just for you :)

      Thank you for dropping by again and leaving such a kind comment.

      xTania

      Delete
  9. So many beautiful photos. I love seeing what is going on in your neck of the woods. My second baby was 9lb 3oz, I know what that feels like! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Anne,

      It is lovely to hear from you again.

      My daughters babies seem to get bigger each one she has. She is saying this will definitely be the last one :)

      xTania

      Delete
  10. I loved looking through all your photos, Tania. Your grandchildren are gorgeous!!! Your garden seems to be producing quite a bit for you. Those skies are so very beautiful...such colours! I like coming out into my kitchen just on dawn and watching from my kitchen bench as the sun rises. Meg:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Meg,

      There was a beautiful red sky this morning but I couldn't drag myself out of bed to get a photo lol! It was shining beautifully through my bedroom window. I will make myself get out next time and take that photo!

      xTania

      Delete
  11. Tania, congratulations on the birth of such a lovely little girl. She is a week younger than my new grandson who I haven't seen as yet. Such spectacular sunsets you have there. We can't really see them properly here because of the buildings in the way and I love it when we are at the beach as the view is unhindered. It has been warm here too and like Chris who lives in our region, we haven't had rain either and it is soooo very dry!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Nanna Chel. I am really enjoying this season of my life, especially the grandchildren. This one may be the last one I get for a while so I will be making the most of them all.

      We have had the strangest winter, it has been so mild. Lovely warm days, cold nights, no rain. That about sums it up :)

      xTania

      Delete
  12. I love having a wander around your place, so much interesting stuff!

    1. Weren't appliances made beautifully back in the day - sturdy TV and stereogram, real pieces of furniture not like nowadays!

    2. Congratulations on Ziva's arrival! Such a bonnie babe :)
    3. That spider made ME jump! Yucky big fat thing!
    4. I have tomato envy. I am nearly though that batch of sliced tomatoes that I froze at the end of summer. I'll definitely do that again wben they are in abundance (home grown only)
    5.Your bread looks amazing! I have a loaf proving right now, just a white loaf...

    Cheers - Joolz xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Joolz. I agree about older appliances and furniture being made to last, today we live in such a throw away society.

      I find the white loaves turn out really well. I have got the bread making routine down pat now :)

      xTania

      Delete
  13. Congratulations on the arrival of sweet little Ziva. She looks like such a content little lady. Master Charlie is most definitely a little cutie. I do love what is happening in your garden. Late last year I developed a bed similar to yours to capture moisture and to stop run off happening. It is quite a tiny bed by comparison to yours but it seems to be doing the job. If we ever get a decent rain I will have a better idea. We haven't had a decent rain since Cyclone Debbie and it is DRY. It has been a very warm winter, so warm my lettuce plants recently bolted to seed.
    I need to get out to the local sugar cane farm and purchase a few more bales of cane hay. It is looking like another dry summer so I really need to drought proof my garden as much as possible.
    Loved seeing all of the photos of your day to day life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Jane,

      Thank you for letting me know how your garden bed fared last year. I hope that is an indication of how my beds will go. I have put a lot of work into getting them ready so hopefully all goes well. Otherwise it will be back to the drawing board to rethink what to do next. The wicking barrels do really well so I will have them to continue growing in.

      We had it quite warm for a while, but now winter has turned it on for one last time...hopefully. The days are still nice but the afternoon and nights are chilly, and still no rain forecast.

      Thank you for your lovely comment, it was great to hear from you.

      xTania

      Delete
  14. Dear Tania, what a feast for the eyes. Your post makes me long for my grandparents, gone 40 and 45 years. Your farm and life echo theirs in so many ways. I don't appreciate the spider....*shudder*...but do adore each and every other picture. Welcome to little Ziva and I love that her brother calls her Gentle. How adorable and sweet. Your wonderful finds at the op shop and your generosity in gifting them speak volumes for the kind of person you are. What a beautiful post. Love, Mimi xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Mimi,

      Thank you for dropping by and for leaving such a lovely comment.

      I tend to live a lot like the past, it brings back fond memories of days gone by, of simpler times. I think I inherit it from my parents who still live simply to this day. Modern day living is too hectic :)

      xTania

      Delete
  15. My dear Tania, what a delight to catch up with you! And oh, what precoius children! Congratulations on the arrival of sweet little Ziva.

    Enjoy your week, lovely lady! Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So lovely to have you visit Stephanie, thank you for such a beautiful comment.

      xTania

      Delete
  16. Hi Tania, I have been reading your blog for ever, but I don't think that I have ever left a comment.
    Congratulations on the arrival of the beautiful Ziva, and what a lovely name. Grandchildren are the best that can happen in our lives.
    I love your photos and all the best and thank you for such beautiful photos

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well hello Chookasmum, so lovely to hear from you.

      Thank you for leaving such a nice comment and letting me you know you were here :)

      xTania

      Delete
  17. Congrats on the new grandchild ... adorable

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Tania, Beautiful blog you have created here. Your grandchildren look so sweet. You certainly have a nice house and a green thumb!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much TheAwakenedSoul, so good to have you visit with me in my little corner of the world :)

      xTania

      Delete
  19. Beautiful photos Tania! Big congratulations on the new member of the family! That is just wonderful! xxx

    ReplyDelete

Your comments really make my day. Thank you for taking the time and for being so kind.