From sour dough crusts to crumbs...

Nothing gets wasted at my house... Had sour dough crusts get a little too dry on the weekend. Put them into my lovely Thermomix! 30 seconds later... Lovely crumbs that I can use next time I make Rissoles or Chicken Schnitzels :)

Love it!

Blessings,

Sleepy head...

It's getting warmer here. Early last week overnight temperatures were 3-4 degrees. Last night, it was 12 degrees. A big jump. 

Both the dogs have not had their first shave just yet. That will happen later this week. Bailey is not into lying on the bed much anymore... He gets too warm...

So, he has taken to a blanket I had in the walk-in robe. He scratches it up, to ensure comfort and then gets very comfy. One way to have him sleep for ages :)

Didn't want to move the blanket... But had to. He wasn't very happy :(

Blessings,

Growing...

Veggies are getting there. The lettuce will be picked from for dinner tonight. One looks close to wanting to go to seed already. We've had lovely weather and the plants are loving the position too.

This morning, we planted out 8 dwarf beans that I was given by hubby recently. Can't wait to see them grow :)

My youngest has 3 rock melon seedlings in his garden now too :)

The bees are out and having a great time too! Oh, what a glorious day. The sun is shining, the breeze is gentle, my men are playing pool... Oh, this is the life indeed...

Blessings,

Ouch!!!

Yep, glad I didn't lay that whopper! 87 grams... Good chook... Thanks for the huge egg!

Blessings,

Spoilt...

Tonight, I wanted to spoil my youngest... I made creamy garlic prawns with pasta...

Oh, how divine it was ;) It was savoured and enjoyed, right till the last mouth full!

Tried to get shallots at the grocery store but they had none. Mine hasn't grown enough just yet to harvest, so had to do without this time...

Was truly divine! So blessed to have taste buds!!!

Blessings,

Drying by candle light...

For the next quarter of electricity metering, we have decided to wash our dishes by hand, to see what the difference is energy and money wise. We use a little more water but allot less energy, as there's no hot drying cycle when you do it by hand...

My eldest isn't too happy about having to dry but he'll have plenty of practice either way. My youngest gets his turn this week :)

Was lovely to dry dishes by candle light last night! Creates a lovely, calming atmosphere, which I like.

I love it slow...

Blessings,

Birthday Boy... Bailey!

Today he's nine years old. Or 63 human years. He got a treat and loads of cuddles and kisses on top of the usual!

He's loving the affection, off course!

Blessings,

Gigantic egg!!!

My eldest just brought in today's lot of eggs... Good girls... 12 in total :)

One was very little... One was very huge... Hehe

Wonder if it's a double yolker?

Blessings,

Treat factory for chooks...

Slug farm! That's what my eldest calls his new venture :)

He got up this morning and turned over a heap of bricks for the chooks so that they could go to town with all the grubs underneath them. Then he decided the chooks needed an area set up, where he can get treats for them on a weekly basis!

So he hunted around the place and found a heap of unused house bricks, a paver and a tank inlet cover...

He arranged them, I watered around them and now we wait for a week to see what little slugs, grubs etc come up. The worms will be resettled in the raised garden beds :)

He's very happy with the end result and loved how the chooks kept following him as he moved bricks around, just in case there was a bug that might of been missed ;)

Blessings,

8 egg cake...

I know, I know... The receipe only called for six eggs but I couldn't help it... They were just soooo yellow!

Made this cake today for a friend and her three little darlings... Yes, today I had visitors! Don't have them often...

Was so lovely to give away some water kefir grains, eggs and sourdough starter... Love to share. Someone blessed me with them so now I bless others in return... Paying it forward :)

The cake has now been demolished... Yep, my boys came home from school!

Told my youngest that it was Failsafe and his next question was: 'So, you'll be making it often then???' With a huge grin, flapping those long eyelashes at me... Hehe... Was rather yummy.

A beautiful, if not windy day all round ;)

Blessings,

Eggs and more eggs...

Take a guess how many eggs we got yesterday...

15, yes 15 eggs!!! Needless to say we ended up making a quiche! And it was so divine...

Bit of onion, veggies and loads of eggs in with pastry :) Yum!

Blessings,

Nova hiding under socks...

Last night, hubby was sorting his socks and my youngest, Nova and I were there helping out!

Nova was the resting place for a couple that got away... She even moved spots on the bed with one still on her head... Cutie!

No bother for this doggie ;)

Blessings,

Dustpan champion...

My youngest had to make this in Shop B. It was his assignment this term...

He really enjoyed making it and was rewarded with an A-/B+, which I think is an excellent mark :)

Love using it too. It's large and really easy to use!

Well done sweetie!

Blessings,

Sourdough Bread Success!!!

I wasn't liking the lack of height of my sourdough bread, so today I experimented and put a whole sourdough into each bread tin, instead of dividing one into two tins...

I got excellent rises both times, even though the weather was cool and without sun. I am totally impressed with the end results.

My youngest had a couple of pieces as a snack after dinner... He's also very happy. Now, he's full :)

Yep, this is how I make my bread from now on :) I'm rather happy that it hasn't taken me long to figure things out... Like I've said before, I was scared preciously. I didn't want to kill the starter. I didn't want to waste ingredients, just in case things didn't work out. But I've found that it is very giving.

I've been giving loaves away too and that makes me happy. On Friday, I'm giving away my first starter to a very special friend of mine. She's coming over with her three kids for morning tea :) Can't wait, love to share!

Blessings,

Mushrooms...

The box was given to me, from hubby, as a gift last week... Yesterday, I set it all up.

It's waiting and growing now in the bathroom, covered with a mat for the extra darkness the box needs... Will see in 7-10 days if there's mould that will grow up to be loads of mushrooms ;)

This is my third attempt and I really do hope I get more than a couple of handfuls of mushies... I would love the huge amount they talk about on the box thanks! Don't really know what to do other than follow the instructions... Here's hoping!

Blessings,

No escape...

My youngest was on my bed... The dogs love his company. They ended up with Nova all over his legs and Bailey resting his head on his hand...

There was no escaping ;)

Blessings,

More of Sausage...

Our BBQ last night tasted so good! Hubby did a great job, while we watched and kept him company. 

The cobs were cooked to perfection. Tasted even better as they were the sweet variety and on special :) The baby cos lettuces were on special too. We ended up with half each and the chooks got the scraps...

The Y-Bones and T-Bones were marinated and tasted so good. More of our steer to sustain us. Sausage has really been very good to us! 

We still have three pieces of Y-Bone left which will be cut up for a future stew!

The whole dinner was just so beautiful! Great team work all round ;)

Blessings,

Cheeky Nova...

It's Sunday morning and the family is chilling out. Nova was in the house somewhere... Up to no good hehe...

My youngest went to investigate and found her having taken the opportunity to jump up on hubby's chair and try to get to the sourdough bread that my eldest had left on the table!

Bailey had also been trying desperately to get to this plate earlier... Good bread that :)

Cheeky girl!!!

Blessings,

My first sourdough bread...

Yesterday, I knew I was going to try out this dough... It had intimidated me for a very long time... I was scared of it... Yesterday, I overcame that fear...

I stirred and kneaded by hand, as per instructions... In future, I will use the Thermomix :) Much more consistent that way.

Both the rises were done with the sun this first time. In future, I think I will use the oven for the second rise, to give the bread more height.

When I was given my starter, I was told the first few loaves would be a heavy lump and not really bread... Both my loaves turned out fluffy and light. A little heavier than normal bread but that's sourdough, so expected that anyway.

I'm so thrilled with the outcome. My whole family loves the bread. Am making more as we speak... Such a cheap way to make the bread and something so good for us as I know exactly what's in it!

Blessings,

Grapes...

Our grape vine that is still in the greenhouse gave me a huge surprise this week... Three stalks of little, tiny grapes are growing!!!

Was delighted to inform hubby ;) Need to be very careful with walking around in the greenhouse now as the plant can't be moved... Yep, it's intertwined with one of the shelves... 

So excited... Not had grapes of our own before!

Blessings,

Seeds growing and some not...

Today, hubby and I will plant out more seeds. We will be more generous this time as the last lots we planted didn't eventuate with allot of sprouting :( Hopefully this time we will have better success...

Blessings,

Bees busy buzzing...

As the weather keeps warming up, our bees are very busy... Love putting my ear up to the entrance to hear them buzzing. Not that I do that when they're busy flying in and out though ;)

So enjoying watching them... Feel very honoured... Have a close look above the entrance... There you can see one of our babies!

Blessings,

Seedlings update...

They're doing so well. Hubby's done a great job watering them each day. Have loved watering this week for a change :)

The growth and strength is amazing to see... They're doing great :)

Blessings,

Date time...

Hubby and I enjoyed some time just with our eldest last week... Love chatting to him and seeing how he's going. 

He loves the chips at The Coffee Club :) Failsafe and all!

Blessings,

Queen Mary Falls...

Love to go there... The views are breathtaking and when the sun is shining it is even better...

That's what we got when we went there a couple of weeks ago. We all had a great time walking and topped the family day trip out with an ice cream!

Love my family, love my area... So blessed...

Blessings,

Rissoles...

Hubby made these and baked them in the oven... Very different to mine.

Off course, he couldn't tell me ratios later... So want them made again but he's a 'bit of this, bit of that' sort of a cook... Tasted divine...

Blessings,

All stitched up...

One of the blinds that's on the hot house needed fixing. The bottom of the blind is weighted with a steel rod. That rod, in turn, is secured by stretchy straps. 

The stitching had come undone... Hubby had previously tried gluing it back together but the blind has a special anti glue cover on it...

So I got out my needle and thread... The cotton fit through the largest needle I had. It took a while but was very pleased with the end result. Hubby then glued the stitching in place. It's going nowhere...

All fixed... Hubby's thrilled with the end result and so am I :)

Blessings,