NEW YEARS EVE

The year has flown by and the house anniversary has already been celebrated.  My new year resolution is not to make any,  so it seems I have made one after all.  I've spent today updating my links list, paying any unpaid bills, putting away Christmas decorations and poking around in the potato patch (the little potato above is almost to cute to eat).  Furgus is trying his best to stay cool,  I had to cut off some knotted fur as he just will not let me brush him. He bites,  hisses and then when you think he's forgotten about it he will ambush you and bite the back of your leg.  Five brush strokes is all he'll put up with,  it used to be three so maybe by next new years eve I'll be up to ten. 

Have A Happy New Year.

SILVER BIRDS

My red birds now have little silver friends and they look like they're chasing each other all over the Christmas tree. I managed to make two Christmas stockings,  Rudolph for my flatmate and Cats for Furgus.  Kirstie's Homemade Christmas  did make sewing a Christmas stocking look easy but I had to do some fiddling because I couldn't remember how to layer all the pieces so you only had to sew each stocking once. I made the lining a tiny bit smaller so it would fit inside. I used to work in wardrobe years ago and an older wardrobe Mistress told me it was bad luck to sew something perfectly you should always include a tiny mistake. So I never feel bad when my stitching is wobbly I'm just keeping an old tradition alive.

BUNNY LOVE

This is what happens when you have a cat with a strong personality and who thinks the sewing table is his personal space. I had to give in and let Furgus have his afternoon siesta in peace otherwise there would have been a fang and claw situation. The cat material is a flannelet  and has been in my stash for years, perfect for a cat stocking. How do you draw a good Christmas stocking shape? my first attempt looks rather more like a stumping than a stocking. I'm almost tempted to make bags instead,  just straight lines! no funny bits. Look at the lovely bunnies, I have a thing about all white objects and I wish these three could come home with me. Sensibly I thought  there are still presents to organize for other people, bunnies will just have to wait.

ESTHER DEAN'S GARDENING BOOK

 This little book is an eBay find, the book and postage were less than $10.00 total bargain. My first garden bed was a traditional dig \ de-stone \ weed \ feed and it took weeks to complete the soil was so hard there were so many rocks and the grass just kept coming back. That bed now has two sorts of potatoes thriving so it was worth all the hard work.

Then I read Growing Without Digging it sounded to simple, I've seen  no-dig gardens before and they workout to be quite expensive with lots of layers. Esther Dean's bed construction is straightforward and easy.

1.  make a frame, can be anything
2.  layer newspaper 1\2 cm thick
3.  layer with pads of  lucerne hay

I watered at this point as it was a hot day.

4.  sprinkle organic fertilizer
5.  cover with loose straw about 20cm high
6.  sprinkle some more fertilizer
7.  tip a circle of compost 10cm deep & 45cm across 
I used a potting\compost mix  3\4 compost 1\4 potting mix
8.  plant seeds or seedlings in the circle of compost

9.  lightly cover with loose straw and lightly water 

The photo above shows the the circles of compost and seedlings coming through the straw, you don't have to cover the whole bed with potting\compost mix just in the places you want to plant in. So far they are thriving, the seeds have germinated faster and are healthier.

I'm going to make three small Christmas stockings one for the flatmate, one for the Furgus and one for me. Do other people give their fury friends stockings with more than one gift?  here are two fabric choices so far I think Rudolph will be the flatmates and I'm not sure about the hearts I think I'll use the mushroom fabric from my stash for me. Now just have to find something nice for Furgus,  I must be going mad will a cat even notice the pretty fabric? and do I really care.

MAKE DO AND MEND

Make Do And Mend,  I'm challenging myself to a mend, make and sew challenge. My grandmother taught me how to darn and how those simple stitches could be used for all sorts of things like socks, jumpers and even sheets. The first project has been my pink sheets, these sheets are really thick and are to nice to turn into cleaning rags.  The fix- thread is Gutermann 100% cotton and I'm using  my old wooden darning mushroom, after the sheet was washed the stitches blended in a little more than the photo shows, score out of ten  for neatness 61/2 my Grandmother's stitches would not have shown at all!

I've been spending some time turning the junk room into a crafty computer room.  There's still a lot to do and still unpacked boxes from the move. I've set up a temporary sewing table in front of the window,  Furgus  likes to have afternoon naps there and does not like the sound of the sewing machine. All of my fabric, yarn, fleece and sewing stash has been sorted and I'm in the process of putting it all in plastic boxes. The Idea I had is to buy two matching pine cupboards/wardrobes one for yarn things the other for sewing things, plastic will have to do for now.

RAINY DAYS

It's raining again today so a cup of hot chocolate and some garden reading matter is just the the thing to make you feel Spring might be around the corner. I want to get the rest of my Spring seed orders in but the choices are huge!!! I've counted twenty six types of tomato and fifteen types of pumpkin.  There are some seeds that can't be sent to Tasmania unless they have clearance by customs, I think they need an extra treatment? anyway I've found three good local seed sources that have great variety.

The Lost Seed  http://www.thelostseed.com.au/   
Rangeview Seeds http://www.rangeviewseeds.com.au/home.php
Southern Harvest http://www.southernharvest.com.au/ 

I've been madly digging garden beds ready for planting  It's slow going as the ground's very hard and full of rocks,  I just hope there will be room for everything. My foot's almost better but I can only wear shoes that are either loose slip on or lace up, no more lovely Mary Jane's or heels. Here's Furgus keeping watch over his domain.

BEWARE KILLER CAT

It's been a long time since my last post, I fell over and cracked two bones in my foot. How I managed to do this is still a mystery but it involved an orange cat, a brick holding open a door, stairs, and an arm full of wood (in no particular order). All in all I've been feeling a little down as well as rather silly, Furges was of course completely unharmed. Small projects are all I can manage at the moment so I'm knitting hexagons for a throw. I'm using a two colour cast on ready for joining them together so the back looks as neat as the front, the first swatch looks a bit to messy.

                                                                                                                                                               

MAY DAYS

My new-old cup only cost  $1.50, another total op-shop bargain. There's been so much work to do in the  house and garden that finding a quiet moment to write has been hard,  plus the computer started to make a very annoying high pitched whine. The whine turned out to be a slow vibrating fan so I used some WD-40 and that seems to have done the trick. Furgus has turned out to be a supreme mouser although I'm not to keen on the occasional live one he brings inside. The living room has a new lamp and I bought a matching shade for the overhead light as well.  Here's a happy Furgus after a day of  helping me in the garden.
              

                                                                                                                                                                                              

                                      

EASTER BROWNIES

I didn't manage to do any special Easter cooking this year we were to busy painting the lounge room. Instead my Dad made the most lush chocolate fudge brownies for everyone. Be warned, you can't stop at just one.

Triple Chock Brownies
2 x 100 gr blocks Lindt dark chocolate (either 70 or 85 per cent cocoa)
125 gr butter
3 tablespoons cocoa (Dutch if you can get it, but Cadbury’s will do)
1 and a quarter cups white sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 175 degrees. Line a 20 cms square pan with cooking paper (this is very fiddly but worth it), then coat lightly with vegetable oil spray. Melt the chocolates, butter, and cocoa in the microwave, stirring often, check after 1 minute.
2. Whisk the sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large bowl until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk in the melted chocolate mixture until smooth. Stir in the flour until no streaks remain.
3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 35 minutes.
4. Let cool completely on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours, before removing from the pan and cutting into squares.
To make ahead
The uncut brownies can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days. Do not cut the brownies until ready to serve or they will dry out. When taken from the fridge and cut they will be very hard. This is normal.
Note: wrap each pack of chocolate in a tea towel and bash evenly, back and front, with a hammer on a brick or concrete. This’ll break the chocolate into small bits so you don’t have to bother breaking it up by hand. Just unpack the chocolate and let the bits fall into whatever you’ll be melting it in.

BACK TO BLOGGING

Meet Furgus, He's six years old and was hiding behind a door in the last room at the cat home. He's doing really well,  I'm slowly winning him over with good food often and heaps of love. The lounge room walls have finely been painted it took four coats and twelve litres of undercoat to cover the forest green suede effect. They're now Wattle ID "sunnydale" a warm cream. Once the undercoat was done the ceiling  looked filthy so we had to paint it as well. The windows are next project they need to be sanded, filled/sealed and painted inside and out . Another big job but one I can do without any help.

GOOD LIFE

My front yard looks green, but all the green bits are weeds. The plan I think will be to make raised garden beds and have the veg garden in the front yard. The front yard has a gentle slope, gets all day sun and is sheltered by a concrete retaining wall. I hope my new neighbors will not mind living next door to "The Good Life" house. Lovely Saint Valentine tulips!!! and this week the green lounge room will be painted a warm cream.