home again

Hello again friends,

We are home safe and sound.  On the way we called into Dublin to get a big bag of carrots for our neighbours horses, and then into Port Pirie to have lunch at a little cafe. It was a dark dreary day, with very little rain around.

The house was freezing inside when we arrived home, so the first thing to happened was the fire. It was 13C outside and it stayed that way all of the afternoon. It got down to 4C last night so no wonder the house was so cold. Winter is definitely here.

I came home with another blue berry plant and some more baby spinach seedlings. I have placed them out in the veggie patch ready to plant out tomorrow. Baby spinach is so easy to grow and it does really well in my garden. The last blue berry plant died in the hot weather in January, so hoping I have more luck this time of year.

After eating a filling lunch, I wasn't sure what to have for tea as we weren't all that hungry.  I had purchased a bag of capsicums for $2.00 yesterday so these were stuffed with rice mixed with a few bits and pieces and put in the oven. They took a long time to bake but they were really nice.  Lucky I put them on early.

I served the capsicum with a bit of salad and toasted sourdough.

Yesterday on our travels we found these at an op shop for $1 each...how could I leave them there? I love the Fire King range especially the pretty golden orange colour.

We also caught up with a friend for coffee yesterday afternoon and there was a cheap green grocer nearby. I stocked up on many items including these mandarins and Jonathon apples for $1.99/kilo. Our mandarin tree out the back has been cut right back so unfortunately there will be no fruit from it this year.  We do have oranges and grapefruit growing, so they will have to do.  With the bad flu season that is upon us, I figure I should get as much fruit and vitamin C into my body as possible. I have not had the flu or bad cold for years.

My grand babies came for a visit and stayed while their mum went to boot camp. She is on a health kick and is trying to lose some weight that has crept on over the years.

This rainbow appeared a couple of weeks ago when we received a bit of rain.  It was the end of the day and quite spectacular! The rainbow was so big I could not fit the whole of it in the photo. Originally it was a double one, but by the time I grabbed my camera and ran outside the second one had faded.

I still have to finish unpacking tomorrow, mostly clothes to sort through and then I might spend some time outside gardening and checking on things. In the afternoon I shall go and visit my parents in the hills, and deliver some groceries I picked up for them.

Well I think that is about all for today, I am a bit tired and am looking forward to climbing into my bed tonight. 

See you soon,

xTania

given the all clear

Hello friends,

As the title suggests, I have been given the all clear from the doctor today.  I am so happy about this. What it means is that I will have no more appointments because the injections I had previously into the veins have done their job already.  The veins have shrunken back to normal size. The doctor was really pleased with my progress and said I was free to go with no more appointments or wearing that dreaded stocking that almost choked my leg to death! While I was there he removed built up "dead blood" which was quite painful, but at least now I can go back to doing my normal activities once the tenderness subsides. It has been so frustrating being restricted in areas of my life, like my normal exercise routine. It also means that I am allowed to travel, so there is much planning to happen now.

Something odd has happened to my blog! I do not know what I have done.  I have been trying to fix it tonight, but no success so far.  Just warning you in case you happen to visit and notice different themes happening lol.  The photos have shrunk along with some of the text and the sidebar items. What ever it is that I have unknowingly done is taking some time to make right. Tomorrow I will get more of a chance to fiddle J

The daily weather report for today was cold...A chilly 16C {61F} cold! I think Winter has finally arrived.

We are leaving early in the morning to head home. It always feels good to pull into our driveway to familiar surroundings and to sleep in my own bed again. City life just is not for me, all the busyness does my head in.

See you soon,

xTania

day to day posts

Hello friends,

I have been thinking over the past few days that I might use this blog for day to day posts. You know something similar to a diary entry? This is how I started posting in the beginning way back in 2007. I would take some photos of my day and write about it here.  I feel I have lost my way from when I first started this blog. I want this space to be a record of my time here on our earth. A place to look back and see what I have accomplished...

Today's post is coming from a little cabin in Adelaide. I am down here for the second of four treatments on my left leg for varicose veins. My appointment is tomorrow afternoon. Let me say I am not enjoying the hospital visits and the recovery time. The treatments are done over three months and then approximately six months until I fully recover. Oh the joys of getting older. 

We left home early this morning to travel down to the city. Hubby had a few things to see to down here so we came a day early. He has plans to upgrade our Toyota 4wd to a turbo to make it better for towing our caravan when we travel.  Our last big trip was a bit of a nightmare to pass huge road-trains, it seemed to take forever to get past them. Now our mortgage is paid for we decided to spend some money on doing up our car rather than buying new.

Our next big holiday is supposed to be in August, but we will have to see how my leg goes because I am not suppose to travel long distances. We may have to travel around closer to home. Maybe a trip to Kangaroo Island...that sounds like a good plan.

I did get time to pop into spotlight and Lincraft for a few supplies today.  Also a quick stop off at Savers to see if there were any bargains to be had. All I bought was another gardening book. I have been reading, and watching Youtube about the no dig garden method.  I am thinking I will give it a try.

While travelling today, I finished putting this together and adding a border around the edge. I picked up these already knitted squares at a garage sale last weekend and sewed them all together and...ta da another blanket! This has been keeping me warm tonight.

Today's temperature at home was 16C {61F}. In Adelaide it was 14C {57F} and intermittent rain. Not sure if we are getting any rain at home, but I hope so.

Well it is time for bed for me as it is going to be a big day tomorrow. There will be more op shopping, a stop in at Aldi for some groceries, then to the hospital...

Take care everyone, see you soon.

xTania

one cup tea loaf ~ no egg, sugar or butter

Hello friends,

Today I was searching out some wartime/ration recipes and stumbled across this recipe.  Except NOW for the life of me, I cant seem to find it.  So that means that I have to rely on my memory, hopefully it doesn't let me down...I love easy cheap recipes! 

The title of this post says no sugar because I didn't put any in although the recipe did say to add it. In my opinion the loaf tastes fine without it. If you like sweetness, by all means add sugar.

*If my memory serves me correct the recipe said you could add an egg and or milk if the mixture was too dry, but this wasn't a problem for me because I used a mug of tea rather than a standard cup. 

So here is the recipe;

One Cup Tea Loaf

1 cup of dried fruit (I used 1/4 cup each of out of date chopped apricots, chopped dates, currants, sultanas. I also added a bit of lemon rind)

1 cup of tea (I used a mug)

1 cup of sugar (I did not add sugar at all)

2 cups of SR Flour (I used 1/4 cup wholemeal and 1 3/4 cup white)

mixed spice

Soak dried fruit in the tea overnight. (I did this for a couple of hours).

Once the fruit has plumped up and the water cooled, add the flour (and sugar if you are using, I think it is not needed because of the sweetness of the fruit). Also add in a sprinkling of mixed spice.

Mix well and place in loaf tin.

Bake in 180C oven for 20-30 minutes or until ready when skewer comes out clean. 

Remove from oven and let sit in tin for ten minutes before turning out onto rack.

Serve sliced with butter...yummo!

Soaking dried fruit in tea.

 The finished loaf.

 Delicious with a spread of butter.

Enjoy!

xTania

old post never published

Hello friends,

I was getting ready for a new post and while sorting through my posts list I discovered I hadn't published this one! I must have gotten so busy I forgot all about it. So I guess I will just post it even though it was back in October last year. There are a few things I want to remember on this one.

October 2018:

The reason for my absence may be because hubby is home on holidays and we have been getting much needed work done around here. We had planned to go away for five weeks but decided not to because the weather has been too hot and it is a bit much to ask people to look after things for that period of time in the heat. We did escape last week while the days were cooler with a trip to Port Lincoln. It was so nice to get away and catch up with friends we had not seen for a while.

There has been a lot of activity out back. I have a big post to share next time as we, with the help of a couple of friends, have been giving the veggie patch a complete new makeover.  I am well pleased with how it is looking, and cant wait to see how the veggies will grow in their new surroundings.  Time will tell whether we have the right grade of shade cloth or not.

So without further ado, here are some photos of October from here at Out Back.

Squeezing and freezing mandarin juice. I am still picking these for our morning juice, we have been blessed with such an abundance of fruit this year.

We have installed a new fan, this will be very much appreciated in the muggy weather we are having. Thank goodness our son is an electrician, he comes in handy, and saves us money ~smiles.

Out driving in the country.  While we are in drought other places nearby are looking really green.

And yellow.

Wind farms near Jamestown, South Australia.

We often tour around to different towns to see what's in the op shops.  Hubby is a collector of records, so this has become a frequent thing to do. This pretty display was in Burra, South Australia, but unfortunately we did not get to this Expo.  Sophie Thomson from Gardening Australia was there.  Hopefully next time we can make it.

 A trip to Arid Lands Botanic gardens here in Port Augusta with my daughter and her fella who came home from Sydney for a week. Now I remember why I missed October lol! I had visitors, first my daughter and then friends from Ceduna for another week. There went two weeks!

This is what the countryside looks like where we live, you can see it is pretty dry.

Wattles.

  

Pretty eremophila that I hope to get growing around home.

We do not want a nuclear dump in our area.  There are two towns earmarked for this and this sign says it all!

Yum, yum Quandong icecream!

 Trying to photograph a birds nest, I wasn't quite tall enough.

Interesting mix in there.

 One of our little wattle trees in bloom.

 This fella scared me when I was crawling around collecting quandongs. I thought he was a snake!

We were going through our old videos and found this one of my grandmother playing the mouth organ one Christmas day when the girls we younger. She always wore an apron and I miss her so very much. I shed a little tear when I saw her playing and talking, and am so glad to have this recorded.

Cactus bloom.

 The brood.

Quandong chutney.

There were bunches of quandongs on the trees this year, they looked like cherries.

  

I also dried a lot of the quandongs. They are now finished for another year...

 Sometimes mother nature teases us a little.

I am working on another project.  My mother in law started this knitted quilt but never finished it, so I have been knitting away trying to get it done. There are nearly one hundred squares in all different patterns so it is going to take a while.

Bringing the outside in.

The things you forget when you get busy, and how things change in just a few months.

xTania