Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Off to the beach with afternoon tea...


 
I am off to the beach today with 3 of my sisters, my neice, my great-nephew and my Mum.  I am in charge of afternoon tea.
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My sister has purchased a 'permanent' caravan in a caravan park in a seaside town not far from here.  We are getting a 'tour' through it so thought we'd have lunch down there then stay on for afternoon tea.
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Last night I made Lazy Lady slice from Inner Pickle - which honestly takes 30 minutes to have it in and out of the oven (plus a bit more for icing when it's cooled) and a Date & Nut Loaf from Marie @ A Year from Oak Cottage.  Delicious!
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I'll try and get some more pics of the day as we go.
Cheers - Joolz

Monday, October 29, 2012

Postcards from Tasmania - Cradle Mountain and Strahan ...

 This is the drive into Cradle Mountain.  They had had some snow on the previous weekend so we were excited to see some on the ground.  No snow where we live!
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 Dove Lake with Cradle Mountain in the background...
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 A walk in the woodlands ...
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 We then travelled on to Strahan where we stayed in thsi cute little cottage...
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 Macquarie Harbour.  Strahan is a quaint little fishing village.
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 We did a cruise of the harbour and the weather was shocking.  It rained the whole time we were out.  This is Hells Gate, the gateway to the Southern Ocean.  Glad we didn't venture out there!
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 Ah, it was more cosy inside where the champers and wine were flowing...
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 We also go to go ashore on Sarah Island which was a penal colony back in the early 1800's. We were given the ponchos to keep us dry.
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 We learned about Huon Pine trees and other species that grow here...
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Old ruins from a time when the island was inhabited by convicts, living our their miserable days in horrible conditions.  Truly a tough sentence to serve.
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Sunday, October 28, 2012

Gorgeous Sunday at home...



 It started off with a sleep in until 8am, then I got up and had a coffee, perused the internet and did a couple of rows of the dish cloth I'm knitting...
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It's been a beautiful spring day here, bright sunshine and a light breeze.  Just before lunch, we loaded up the ute with any hard rubbish we could find then headed to my Mum's to get rid of a few pots and things she didn't want in her garden.  Then we went to our local Refuse/Recycling centre.  It's the first time I had been there.  Very well organised - there are stations for timber/wood products; scrap metal, recyclable cardboard/paper/plastics; household hard rubbish, disused electrical good on working (which get stripped down); stone/masonary and green waste.  This centre is manned by one guy who directs people to each site/dumpster.  Then it is carted away for recycling.  And it's a free service by our local Council!  Quite amazing!
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 Back home, Gus got busy on the ride-on, tidying up our little blocks each side of the house and the biggger block behind.  Trying to lower the risk of snakes.  We have 2 sheep but they don't seem to be eating the grass down quick enough.
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 I bought some tomato plants last weekend and more today so I got to and planted them out.  We are not quite ready with out veggie garden so they just got planted in tubs.  Not quite sure when we will develop that veggie garden???
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 In this tub there is Roma, Apollo and Gross Lisse...
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 In here, Pot Toms, Pink Pearl (which is a Breast Cancer sponsored plant), large fruit truss and Apollo...
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 I planted out another hanging tomato planter.  I had quite good success a few years ago with one of these.  You can see it here ...
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 I planted 4 different cherry tomatoes in here - Cherry Bites, Cherry Ripe, Sweet Bites and a Patio Cherry...and some sweet basil too.
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 I will hang it under our pergola where I hope it will get enough sun...
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 This is a Dwarf Red Fig cherry tomato...
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 My McLeod's Daughters rose is ready to pop!
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 and my (instert name because I can't remember it) gorgeous pink rose...
(found it, it is a  Delbard Bordure Rose (Delcoussi)
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 This is me trying to trim the wool from our pet sheep, Dj's eyes!  He was not co-operating!
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 He kept butting his head and pulling away everytime I tried to snip the wool...
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 I finally got it done.  He is due to be shorn any time soon.  We just have to organise for our brother-in-law to do it and it's a bit of an effort to get him in the back of a ute!  He protests loudly with a BAAAAAAHH!
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We are all finished for the day, having a wine now.  This was our sunset, beautiful colours.  Tandoori burgers for dinner and a free-form apple pie for dessert!
I love gorgeous Sunday's like this!
Cheers - Joolz


Saturday, October 27, 2012

Bread rolls ...

 I love making bread dough in my Breville Kitchen Wizz!  So easy - in goes 250 gms bakers flour (OO fine flour), 250 gms plain flour, 1 sachet dry yeast, 325 mls warm water, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and a drizzle of olive oil.  Set it to knead and let it rip for 10 minutes.
 After 10 minutes it's nice and smooth.  Tip out on to the floured bench and gently form it into a nice ball.  
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 Place the dough in lightly greased  (sprayed with olive oil) bowl.  Cover and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes to prove.
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 It will double in size.
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 Sometimes I use a tin for my rolls but today I just put them on a paper lined tray.  I brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled them with porridge oats.
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Now you let them rise a second time for about 25 minutes...
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I had the oven at about 200C and timed them for 10 minutes them turned them around and gave them another 8 minutes all up.  Perfect!
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Gus is doing some fancy steak dish tonight so they'll go down a treat... now maybe I should make an apple pie for dessert.....
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Cheers - Joolz

Postcards from Tasmania ... Aboard Spirit of Tasmania...

 Driving onto Spirit of Tasmania I for a 7.30pm sailing...
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 Ruby was crammed in amongst trucks, cars and trailers.  We took our luggage and left her for the night.  It was about one hour later that I realised that I had left my cosmetic case in her - therefore no cosmetics for me! Aaaagh!
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 This is a picture of our cabin on the return trip - queen sized bed and spacious with ensuite.
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 Departing Devonport for the trip back to the mainland.  A lovely calm evening (TG!).
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 Hot air balloons rising over Melbourne at sunrise (6.53am)...
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Cheers - Joolz

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

A sneaky surprise!

When I said that we couldn't be with Bri for her birthday ... that was a little white lie!
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We had sneakily planned to take her and Kirby out to dinner. We drove 400 kms (in 2 separate cars that we had to deliver to clients) and arrived at 6.30 pm.  During the day, she thought we might show up, but by 5.30 pm she was resigned to the fact we weren't coming.
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My two sisters visited her at 5 pm and they even kept the gag up!
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Let me tell you, the look on her sweet face when we rang the doorbell and she answered, was priceless! She was so happy! Even better that I had a birthday cake for her.  We went to a nice restaurant for dinner (although this was a little disappointing, food and service wise...) then had her blow out the candles and had cake when we got home. 
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I think we were all in bed by 10.30pm - it had been a long day.  But it was a really good day!
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Cheers - Joolz

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Happy Birthday to Bri!


(Bri is holding her little 2nd cousin, Brax)
Today, our baby girl turns 19 years old! She's in the city, studying Nursing and this is the first time we haven't been with her for a birthday...
Bri is a bright, bubbly, friendly, caring girl and we are so proud of her as she tackles her first year of study.
Happy Birthday, Bri-Boo!
Much love,
Mum & Dad
XxxxxxxxxxxxxxX 

Monday, October 22, 2012

In the garden...

 Kirby has been home since Friday night - she gets a few 'summer Friday' afternoons off (Bri & Paige left Friday morning to head back to the city) so we had a relaxing weekend at home.  Both her and Bri like a good barbecue steak cooked by Gus whenever they come home. 
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When she left at 2pm to drive home, I decided it was time to get my hands dirty and do some gardening.  First, I visited our plant nursery and bought a new blush pink carpet rose and two other small flowering shrubs to go in some spaces I have.  I don't think I will plant Petunias (annuals) out like I have other years - they are so water 'needy' whereas what I have in now is quite resistant to dryer soil.
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 Two new daisies, a yellow and a crimson - they should add a bit of colour.
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 This is Montana Snow (Arenaria)
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 All my roses have lush foliage and are full of buds, ready to burst in the next week or so...
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Notice that the cat mint has grown back healthily after I burned the dead growth off.
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 Seaside daisy (erigiron) mixed with a morning glory type creeper
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 I got rid of my old mint plant which was pot bound and bought a new peppermint plant and an oregano too.  I will add a basil in here too when the nursery get new seedlings.
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 So this is my view of my back garden - weed free at the moment - which is pleasing to me!
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Not much happening here this week.  It is Brianna's birthday tomorrow but we can't get to Adelaide to celebrate with here due to work commitments (sad face!)
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A nice clear day here today, blue skies and no wind.  Off  to tidy the house before heading out to work.
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Cheers - Joolz