60 diamond years

On December 28th 2017, my parents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Such a huge milestone and something I am proud to be a part of.

We shared a meal with these beautiful souls.

 Then we went to my daughters house for tea, cake and laughter.

I baked a proper fruit cake, first attempt for me.

No fancy topping, just a basic lemon flavoured icing and simple decorations.

This photo frame is the gift I gave them. I will be getting it engraved soon as the engravers are closed for the Christmas break.

My parents were married privately right in the middle of harvest 1957. There was no money, no pomp and ceremony, no photos, no cake and just a few family members were present. That's as simple as it gets. My mum came from the city and was only 17 years old when she married dad (no she wasn't pregnant lol).  They had only known each other for six months when dad popped the question and mum accepted, and as they say, the rest is history. 

My parents live very simple lives on their little hobby farm. They have always been happy and growing up I never heard a cross word between them. Oh what joy to have a marriage like this one.

Feeling very blessed to have these two in my life.

See you soon,

xTania

list for 2018

After much deliberation, my list for this year will be the same as last year . You can view it here.

356 days to enjoy. Go out there and live it!

See you soon,

xTania

today...

Look what we have hiding here under the jasmine bush.  I think the same hen is up to no good again...I definitely do not need any more baby chickens!

Out back looking north along the ridge...

I planted a Sturt Desert Pea about a month ago and so far it is doing okay.  I cover with shade on the really hot days, and there have been a few.

And here is that sneaky hen poking around somewhere else!

I have figs coming along...

 Oranges.

Mandarins.

Granny apples.

Grapes.

Grapefruit.

There are not so many nectarines this year as the tree had a good prune earlier on.

Ironbark pumpkin growing nicely...

I have planted yarrow all among the beds, it has such a pretty flower.

Zucchinis.

A whole crop of purslane came up in a vacant bed after recent rains.

Potatoes in the pot and bag nearby. The garbage bin holds some lovely smelling green manure...yuck!

 
Tomatoes.

Rhubarb.

Flowering tomato.

This butternut pumpkin came up all by itself.

Herbs...

 Pretty in pink.

Oregano in flower and so is the thyme.

The sage smells divine.

Lemon balm.

Its a bit messy out in the veggie patch, the winds have played havoc with the shade-cloth!

Capsicums.

Silver-beet...

Self sown pumpkin (I think), and cucumbers in there somewhere...

 Capsicums and apple cucumber.

The celery has gone to seed, I will collect this once it starts to dry and use in cooking and preserves.

Does anyone know how to treat the grub/larvae that is infesting my eggplant and tomatoes? I fear that if I do not treat it soon I will pick very few of these veggies.  I would prefer an organic method if anyone has one please?

I am not having the best of luck in my veggie patch this year, not sure whether it is the weather as it has been quite mild, or the fact that I changed the soil around in the beds and some of the plants are not happy about this.

Quite a few months ago I dug up a piece of fig tree that was growing in my sons yard, and finally after all this time we have some new growth!

We found we weren't using our swimming pool any more, so when the liner got a hole in it, rather than pay out more money for a new one and water to refill, we decided to fill it in and make use of this area for something else. Hubby is filling this in himself, one wheel barrow of dirt at a time!

 

Kombucha ready to bottle...

And done, just need to add fruit pieces. 

 
Preparing for the year ahead, my goal is to be more organised!

My attempt to make a pretty cover for this plain diary...

What did you do on this first day of 2018?

See you soon,

xTania