Prepare 2011

1000 steps Dandenong Ranges photo by Ern Mainka

As I said before, new years rock.  The year that was 2010 was indeed huge.  When I began this year I had been a mum for 6 months and being a mum has pretty much defined the year for me.  I've had some very low points and some very beautiful moments that filled my soul to the point of bursting its banks.  Now that my girl is a toddler there is so much energy about her. I marvel at how fast she is learning about her world.
The second half of 2010  began our "fun day", day or 2 that my husband and I get off work.  Yesterday was such a day.  We did the 1000 steps....whoah ! hard work but wonderful setting and a great way to recharge the soul.  We then hit our favourite cafe ...the smoothest coffee the most unexpected meals made from local produce.  Art, ambiance, a place where i feel most like myself apart from home.  I speak of Ripe in Sassafras.

Ripe Cafe

The year as a garden bed

just had a drink from the watering can

The Christmas season has been super and in a few days we will enter 2011.  I get a kick out of moving into a new year.  It's like preparing a fresh garden bed.  By the end of the year it will be full and abundant...but with what?  The key for me is mental preparation and organisation so i end up with a fruitful year and some great surprises thrown in.

Happy plants

The down pour across Victoria has been great for ou gardens and water catchments. This artichoke flower is HUGE.  The plants are looking a little triffid like, i think.  You can tell its part of the thissle family.  The plants have been put too close together so this end of Summer maybe Autumn i am going to make it my bussiness to move 2 of them and see how they go in a differnt location, give them a bit mor nutrition and i might get a better crop...we shall see.

Feels a lot like Christmas

In the Colby house we set up our tree about 1 month before Christmas. This year it was time for a new tree (that did not look like a giant pipe cleaner) and we had our daughter "helping".
It looks splendid.  This 7 ft Hudson will be our family Christmas tree for many years to come.  Our little girl enjoyed all the weird new objects and boxes.  She got into every thing.

The night before summer

From my driveway.... splendid

Incredible display.  It had it all,  motion, colour, magnitude and presence.  The artist who set up this epic instillation, God.  I Love his work.  I guess you had to be there with the smell of summer in the air, the breeze moving the clouds.  We held each other and gazed at the sky.

Pumpkin Patch

since writing my last post i have noticed lots of pumpkin seedlings popping up in random places.  Those places were already spoken for.  As you know pumpkins take up large amounts of real estate and need to trail of into areas that aren't in use.  So I made a  pumpkin patch at the end of the veggie bed where there is lots of unused soil where I've chucked kitchen-scraps dumping ground and a small spot left for a flowering cabbage and a slow chard.  The pumpkin seedlings transported well.

Next surprise seedling were a bumble of tomato plants...there are too many and they are already to big to move well.  I will let the drama play out as it may.  I might end up with a barrel full and have to make my own tomato sauce, a nice dilemma to have.

Summer is a week away

Jane watering the parsley

The cabbage

A large chunk of my veggie patch is inhabited by some very practical veggies.  I've already written about the tomatoes, mizuna and lettuce seedlings.  Now I've planted 2 punnets of mixed lettuce, peas, and  capsicum.  Also some basic herbs, (since i lost most of mine when we got a patio done) sweet basil, flat leaf parsley, sage.  I put them in  a pot for now.

Fish, i can't help but like them

Go on .... feed the fish

Garden now

Some bright colours are great in a veggie patch and as you may know they are edible.

This global artichoke was bigger than my hand when i picked (machettied it) yesterday.

Top left are sweet bites and the bottom ones are a dwarf variety.

Tomato plants are in

Things to do

Went to the hardware store early this morning and bought some tomato plants and some thyme.  I look forward to planting them but...that's allot of tilling i have to do.  So it will be a hard days work along with all the house cleaning, making dinner, and out for exercise with the girls tonight.  While i was in the plant section today i found a small version of some trees i have out back.  I think its fruit is edible and i never knew it.  Will do some research.

So it's the next day and i can proudly state that i tilled the soil, replanted in the way plants and planted the new arrivals.  There are 3 sweet bites and 3 patio hybrids that will mature 2 weeks earlier than the sweet bites.

I've now sown some mixed lettuce and mizuna.  Have not had much success in the past planting seeds on purpose and getting a seedling out of it.  If it self seeds it will grow well.  If i plan it out my plants normally struggle and then get eaten by something.  Let us hope and pray that i will have finally attained a green thumb and we get a great crop.

Favorite things

Sunshine! That's what I've been waiting for.  This colour combo is one of the happiest i can think of.  Gone is the suck winter weather it's time to celebrate!

YUMMM

 I must tell whoever is reading that this recipe is a winner.  I made it with porterhouse steak and added a small onion and 1 garlic to the sauce. I just cut them in half and remove them once all the cooking is done and they have released their caramelised flavor.

Playdoh...Doh!

Just made playdoh This recipe is so quick and easy. Just realised that the colour of it is just like my carpet...not a good idea as i probably won't see where it ends up.

Artichokes are mysterious

Very excited to start harvesting artichokes from my veggie patch. There is little else to harvest apart from some silver beet that just keeps giving. It's a very weird and wonderful plant the artichoke.  The flowers are stunning but i think id rather eat the artichokes than let them flower.

Now how to cook the artichoke. it's a bit intimidating at first when your holding this weird flower thing the size of your hand thinking "somehow I've got to cook this and make it edible".  It was quite fun cooking my first artichoke and extra rewarding was that it came from my garden and i didn't go out and buy the sad looking ones at the shop.

Spring time junkie

Early spring sun, a painting I did in 09

Spring is the coolest. On the last day of winter I envisage my own spring festival. I plan to replant and extend the veggie patch, putting in an abundance of seedlings for the Summer crop. More importantly i want my house to be bombarded with flowers.
Those little pots i kept on the kitchen window sill over the frosty season get kicked out into the sunshine, "go on my lovelies get growing in the fresh air".
So much cleaning to do and organising for outdoor living.
Then Spring comes and it just rains, be it a bit warmer and we have more daylight now. We have had about 3 beautiful spring days since the first of September and the plants are thriving. I have done some small things to start off my Spring festival, like bringing in some nasturtiums into little glass milk bottles...very pretty, and panning of the veggie patch. There is more to be done later but for now i will enjoy the rain.

Winter

The sound of kookaburras in the forest of Olinda Mt Dandenong is so beautiful. As i woke up in the cottage the morning after our arrival i knew it was going to be a great time away. The comfy bed with feather cover and pillows and a canopy of soft white cheesecloth draping down the sides was not easy to drag myself away from. But we had brought our little girl with us and the routine on holiday had to match the routine at home.
There were abundant water features, one at the front flowing under a bridge and at the back water running down some slopes and into the larger of the ponds.
We could see the neighbours garden when we opened the kichen an laundry windows, very nice landscaping, chickens had thier own little house with a picket fence. We enjoyed the open fire, port, tea and the spa, it was also a very adorable kitchen with on old stove that worked to perfection.
The day came for me to get out and and wonder the cute shops and garden paths and have a little "me time". I picked up some cool stuff bright rainbow tea towels, a salt pig, crystal candle holder, hand made berry soap, a pen with an illistration of a weed smoking Jamaican lamb singing into a mic, and finally a beautifully crafted journal by the rabbit and the duck.

The garden is going through changes. This camellia and has never really flowered before this fall...just gorgeous. The strawberry here has some late fruit every year. 

Mothers day

To market to buy a sack of potatoes and an old Rosella preserves Jar. An overcast morning which made it all the better. A great coffee and a pumpkin scone fresh as can be topped with jam and cream.
On my first mothers day my true love gave to me a pair of diamond earrings. I will treasure them and what they represent always. My daughter helped pick them out and signed the card.
Also, today we celebrate our girl turning 11 months, just one more month to go.

Coffee

How cold it's been the last two days and rainy! Perfect weather for hot beverages like my favorite the skinny cappuchino. My spunky man is a wonderful barrister and spoils me every day with a cup for morning tea. The smell of fresh coffee grind is intoxicating. The sight and sound of coffee being made brightens my day. Even the cats get their kittychino.

The magical vege patch

My cats, Astro and Vespa love hanging out in the vege patch. This photo has Astro taking a leisurely stroll through the greens. But he's not the only one. Jane and I Love sitting in the vege patch. The garden is ever changing and inspiring. I've had some great chats with God in this setting. Yellow butterflies flutter around the potato vine, birds tweet back and forth and the trees rustle and waltz in the breeze. The cats come in for a pat and sit calmly under the foliage of artichokes and pack choi.
A pumpkin vine trails along the fence under cascades of pretty, white, star shaped flowers and over a rusty singer pedal-wheel. It seems the plants and bugs are having their own conversations around the water cooler.

In Autumn

Autumn is in it's last stages. The air smells crisp and chills your nose. I love Autumn so much...it's the time to plant bulbs (even though i have no time to do that this year), the leaves change into contrasting colours, the garden has a growth spurt and hills have the most lushest shade of green. Above all this i get to light a wood fire...smells wonderful.

Feline support

When i was pregnant with Jane i read allot about the subject. Vespa showing her support in the best way she knows how.
Well...reading and educating myself did help my nerves about pregnancy and birth. Also the night classes helped me feel more connected to what was happening in our lives. Did any of this information get used on the day of delivery? Well.....no.

The lone pumpkin

A little while ago i had some kent pumpkin plants sprout up and i thought "why not...i could use some pumkins for roast night". They grew so fast that before i new it i was harvesting the stunners. Four grew on one vine - brillient! So now i have two on my breakfast table, one in the fridge(half eaten) and one lone pumpkin still attached to the vine.

Where the green things are

Nature captivates and distracts me. It's delightful to pick, taste, smell, plant, prune and develop an ever changing, dancing garden.
Making special places for contemplation and nourishment is the goal and I get great pleasure simply gazing into the garden or making small changes. Every garden view matters when it is your solace and simply being in my garden does wonders for my soul. Journey with me as I go where the green things are.