YARD WORK

Our front yard has been in need of a makeover for a year or so. The wistringias had started to die off as they were around 10 years old and needed ripping out.
Unfortunately that now leaves us with the road in full view where as before we were screened off quite happily.
So after 2 days of chopping away and huge piles of branches to get rid of, we are nearly done, just some chainsaw work to go and it will be time to re-condition the soil and re-plant.

JUST BECAUSE......

Lachie and Heidi having some together time.

OUR LIFE RIGHT NOW

fruit roll-ups/leathers are finished, here they are dried and cut, ready to be rolled.

Some yummy jam and cream buns made fresh today.

Everything is growing so fast including the weeds!!!!
Peas

and more peas threatening to overtake the broccoli

carrots we are harvesting now

tomatoes happily growing in the hot-house

beetroot is nearly ready to harvest

asparagus has finally forgiven me for shifting it

and the almond and apricot trees are flowering


here's some spring flowers that are popping up all around the yard









last but not least....
the largest egg we have ever received from our girls and the smallest. Hmmm go figure.

DEHYDRATING

I've spent most of the day playing with fabric like these vintage sheet squares.

Tonight I thought I had better start making snacks for school next week so out came the dehydrator. I had a bag of organic apples in the bottom of the fridge that needed using up and I decided to try out some of the plums I bottled a while ago.


Tomorrow morning we will have yummy apple and apple/plum roll-ups, free of any added sugar, preservatives and colours.
I love my dehydrator it certainly gets a workout all year round.

TODAY

is my birthday, I have turned 40. Wow!!! I've been feeling pretty down about this number for a month or so and I didn't really understand why.

I woke up this morning with a different attitude, I should be so lucky to age and see how far I've come in this life.

I have had friends that never made it to 40, I'm sure they would have loved to celebrate this day but instead their lives were cut short.

I have 3 amazing, beautiful, healthy children and a wonderful husband who would do anything for me.

We live in a lovely town surrounded by friends and family and I am so blessed to live the life I live.

So, the feeling of 'OMG I'm so old' is no longer, instead I say 'bring it on'.

I AM STILL AROUND

Lets see, I've planted tomatoes in the hothouse in hope of getting a bumper crop this year for all of my sauce, passata and dried tomatoes. I will be planting outside in the raised beds also.
I would take photos but it's pouring with rain and I don't feel like getting wet.

I made laundry powder today following Rhonda's recipe here http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2010/08/homemade-laundry-liquid-revisited.html I have a load on now so I will wait patiently to see the outcome. I haven't made this before as I had been told to only use laundry products labeled suitable for front loading washing machines, really? Amazing how we get sucked in isn't it. I should have known better.