sunday pottering

Good evening friends.

I spent the day relaxing today, just pottering around the house and garden. It was a rather a cool day and never reached the 17C it was meant to be. The temperature sat around 14C for most of the day.

I did brave the cold to venture outside and plant the baby spinach seedlings I didn't get to yesterday.  While I was out there I took some photos to share.

Inside I kept the fire going so the house stayed nice and toasty warm.

This lovely hanging pot of herbs was a perfect gift from my youngest girl for Mothers day. I was so proud of her putting it together for me, and it is loving this spot near the window, but I will need to find a suitable place to hang it soon.

I don't think I have shared this before. Hopefully not...I had a kombucha batch to do today, and I remembered about this bottle holder.  Before I had this, I was struggling to pour the kombucha into bottles without wasting any. Hubby heard about my woes {I may have mentioned it once or twice} and came up with a solution. He made this box to hold the bottles in place with the funnel and strainers. Life is so much easier now I can pour my kombucha without spillage. By the way, I took this photo after I had poured the mixture in so that is why you can see ginger and cranberries in the mix. This is my favourite add in at the moment. I do add ginger to all my mixes because it is so good for health.

I have been saving seeds for next year. Orange candy melon, Russian cucumber and capsicum. They will soon be dry enough to put into seed packets.

These are basil seeds.

Out in the patch, the plants are slowing down growth for winter. Soon the summer veggies will be finished for the season. But in three short months I will be planting again...

Baby spinach with a volunteer celery plant.

I have planted more beetroot.  I love this veggie because it can be planted all year round in these parts.

Volunteer tomato plants are popping up everywhere. We had very warm days leading up to the cold that has hit here this week. The plants are confused and will probably not survive the frosts we may get, even though I will cover them for protection.

Rainbow chard seedlings.

I dug up some calendula plants that came up with the rain and put them in this little barrow which was kindly donated by a friend.

There are many weeds, and calendula's growing in the walkways.

Garlic and volunteer tomatoes.

More garlic and baby spinach.

Garlic shoots just poking through the soil. I have planted lots of different varieties this year.

The last of the tomatoes are hanging on, but I feel a batch of green tomato pickles coming along...

Spring onions.

I have relocated the rhubarb to catch the rain drops from the roof. That is when it rains haha! The Comfrey in the pots behind are not looking good, this happens when you ask dear son to water while you are away.  I did stipulate not to drown them, but he did lol!

The Dragon fruit seems happy.

Thyme.

I transferred the yarrow back into containers where they will grow better. They struggled in the bare ground although they were mulched and watered.

The basil is flowering and I have collected seeds.

The eggplant is flowering although the plants are almost finished.

The last of the capsicums, and the aphids moved in a few weeks ago.  I made my garlic concoction and sprayed them for a few days and they didn't like that. Then as nature would have it, the lady birds arrived and feasted on the aphids.

I was given a Frangipani branch that broke off a friends tree. I have put it in a pot for now to see if I can keep it alive until Spring.

Winter sky and bare branches.

Oranges on the turn.

And the huge grapefruit. I keep my compost bins under this tree and look how it grows. So...I have been thinking about moving the bins around to benefit the other fruit trees. I will need to source more organic matter from somewhere though, must get my thinking cap on.

The apple tree was broken by the kangaroos but it has new shoots. I am not having success with apples so may replace these with a fruit tree that will perform better in our sandy soil.

And to finish off with tonight's belly warming tea. It was veggie loaded curried sausages {vegan}, served with rice and toasted sourdough bread. Followed by quince and custard homemade pies with ice-cream...Yum!

I hope your Sunday was lovely. Did you get to spend time in the garden today or doing something you love?

Have a good night everyone, see you soon...

xTania

a good day out

Welcome friends,

Today I went for a drive to see my parents and to deliver the groceries I bought for them in Adelaide. They live about half an hour from me, down the highway and up through the hills.  I called into my favourite little op shop on the way, but didn't find anything of interest.

It was a pleasant sunny day and about 18C on this first day of Winter. Love those winter skies.

When I arrived, my eldest daughter was also visiting. We had a lovely catch up over cup of teas and cake, then went outside to take a look around. By this time a windy chill was in the air.

Let me introduce you to Charlie dog. Mum and dad adopted this little guy when he was put on a local facebook page looking for a new home. He is Jack Russell cross. One thing you will notice about the animals my parents care for is that they are not starved haha!

Mum's miniature rose that was given to her by her mum many years ago.  It has moved with them four times.

This is Billy the billy goat. Dad is feeding him some delicious oats.

One of the many roosters roaming around the place.

Mum and the chook brood. They wander where ever they like and lay the most healthy looking eggs.

Oh look, its Charlie again!

I think I may have shown you Geraldine once before.  Here she is about to eat oats from dads hand.

Geraldine is such a gorgeous girl and another adopted give away.

These two girls are strays that live and eat very well at my parents place.

Chookens everywhere!  The grass is starting to grow, so now their eggs will be really yellow.

Not much growing in the veggie beds, but there was some calendula flowering nicely.

 The parsley patch.

I gave mum a few pieces of Moses in the cradle and it is growing really well in this sunny little spot.

The chrysanthemums are looking beautiful. I love this one, it is a pinwheel variety.

Pretty one o'clocks {not sure of its real name, but I am sure someone will know}.

These tomatoes are huge. We are planning to make green tomato pickles should the frosts come before these ripen.

The pumpkin patch, I think they grew 50 plus butternuts this year.

 

Seven year beans...

And they are taking over the front porch. I might try to grow these next season, mostly because they climb and provide shade, have pretty flowers and beans you can eat.

What did you all do on this lovely Saturday?

See you soon,

xTania