Continues KT brew...

Went for a 5 litre glass container with a tap. I started it this morning...

The other jar is now brewing some cleaning vinegar for me :) Will see how it goes. Want to use some for my hair and start using my SCOBIES on my skin too... So many uses... Am loving discovering them all :)

Blessings,

First eggplant of the season...

Hubby got the first one off the bush this morning! Sadly, while cutting off the big one, he chopped a little one off too...

This is the first of many, many to come... Yummy!

Blessings,

Boxing Day fun...

My side of the family got together at my baby sister's place this year...

Had a great time. Was lovely to see everyone and catch up. This year we had two school leavers as well in our midst! Loved getting shots of all my brothers and sisters together. Hadn't done that in a couple of years! My mum and dad were also busy taking photos of each of their kids with their families... Oh, how the kids have all grown!!!

Was a lovely drive there and back home too :) Feeling so blessed with hubby's and my extended families...

Blessings,

Just a little storm...

On our way home from hubby's family Christmas celebrations, we encountered a rather nasty storm...

Lots of rain, lightening, thunder and hail. We got our protection under cover at a shopping centre...

Once we left there, we had a job getting home, as the Highway was cut with water. Am glad the back roads were ok or we wouldn't have made it home that night...

Got a bit hairy and scary but we stuck together and came out stronger :)

Blessings,

Have to brag...

We got our electricity bill last week... It was fantastic! We had trialled not washing with the dishwasher for the whole quarter... The outcome was shocking... Hubby thought the difference would be about $40 but in fact it ended up at around $50-$60! And that's just for one quarter...

Needless to say, we will continue to wash by hands. The Asko will stay for when we have a heap of guests... Was very surprising...

Blessings,

Potatoes...

I can't wait but I know I must! The flowers have emerged... Soon the tops will die down and then there is yet still more waiting...

I am learning to be patient because if I take them early, the potatoes are nowhere near as large as they could be... And I want them as big as possible ;)

Love home grown potatoes...

Blessings,

Treats for the chooks...

One sunflower head has been plucked and given to the chooks... Bit of a treat for them :) So fresh!

Blessings,

Eggplants...

Yay, they are nearly ready... One plant is way behind the other... No idea why, they got planted at the same time.

Can't wait to shallow fry them, crumb them, etc, etc, etc... Yummy!!!

Blessings,

Harvesting goodies...

Love going around the garden and seeing what I can nibble on, or share ;)

Here's last week's collection...

Blessings,

Comfy???

Normally, Bailey sleeps at night with my youngest... Last week, he stayed in hubby and my room, as my youngest was away camping with friends...

I was really surprised just how quickly Bailey got used to being in a different room and settled :)

No problems at all, no complaints!

Blessings,

Griesbrei...

Oh, how I fought to have it Christmas Eve for dinner...

It's rough semolina cooked in milk and with a little added sugar. I remember Milo on top from when I was young... Oh, the sweet memories...

I hadn't made it in years and years. I used too much semolina but not to worry, it got eaten all the same. 

There are heaps of other receipes on the net for semolina too, so will be experimenting, that's for sure :)

Blessings,

Treasure hunt...

A few years ago, hubby had made a treasure map and clues for the boys to find their presents on that Christmas morning... They love that memory and have always asked for it, again and again...

This year was the year for it to happen! Hubby and I put the first clue in a Christmas card and then alternated with clues in their presents for the journey to continue...

My youngest loves riddles, so he solved them quickly, most of the time! Was so much fun watching them strive to figure out the tidbits of clues hubby left behind :)

They loved their gifts. They were grateful. They also realise that gifts is not what Christmas is about... It's all about the Birth of Jesus!

Blessings,

Sweet words from my eldest...

It took him two hours to make this... Grenades go off at the right time to spell...

I LOVE YOU

Feelin' the Love...

Blessings,

Santa Time...

On Sunday, I spent the day with Margaret and her beautiful boys...

Didn't realise that I was going to end up in their family Santa photo... Oh, how privileged I feel...

What a wonderful day we all spent together!

Blessings,

First grapes...

They were finally ready :)

The stalk on the right and at the bottom left are the ones that the chooks got to. It was the biggest couple of stalks, off course...

The grapes that we did get, hubby and I shared, as the boys weren't around... So sweet and so savoured...

Looking forward to more...

Blessings,

Power Bill...

Been doing an experiment for the last quarter... Washing dishes by hand and not using the dishwasher... Wanted to see what the difference was in power consumption!

Well, the verdict is in and by hand washing our dishes we saved between $50-$60!!!

Yep, you guessed it! We are continuing to wash dished by hand :)

Blessings,

Christmas Party in the Park...

Today, our Progress Association had the local Christmas do. Kids came, adults too... There were no takers to play Santa Claus to hand out lolly bags, so I ended up playing Mrs Claus.

Our huge raffle was drawn too. 11 prizes in all. Wonderful turn out. I got to arrive in the local Rural Fire Brigade Truck. It was brand new too, as we only got it on Wednesday... It still has that 'New Vehicle Smell' hehe

I also went for a drive through the village and talked over the Fire Truck PA system and sang my version of 'Jingle Bells'! I had a heap of fun! 

From all accounts, apparently I did great... Everyone said they had a great time :) Sooooo much fun!

Blessings

KT Hotel...

My main batch of Kombucha Tea is made up in a 3 litre glass jar... My second jar is my Hotel. I have four Scobies on holidays there! They're are there for friends that may want one or for further KT fermenting for a month to get vinegar. Can't wait to see how it cleans!

Think I need more 3 litre jars to make more hehe...

Think I'm gonna run out of bench space, may need to go vertical hehe!

Blessings,

Actual KT to drink :)

This Kombucha Tea was my second ferment. I tasted it today and after four days it was just right...

Decanted it into plastic bottles at first then changed to glass bottles. Had some with dinner and I'm in love... Will have it for brekkie time in the future, so it doesn't keep me up. Hope my stash lasts till my next batch is done. 

That and Milk Kefir should give my family and I a good amount of varying probiotics, which I'm soooo thankful for!

Blessings,

A helping hand...

When my Mum got her Thermomix recently, she told her demonstration lady that she didn't look forward to all the cleaning and having to take everything apart...

Here was the demonstration lady's answer... A specific brush for Thermomixes that gets right under the blades and stops the need for taking everything apart...

I'm in heaven!

Blessings,

Cookbooks...

A while ago, I fell in love with the 4 Ingredients series of cookbooks...

The first few were a joint friend effort and then Kim went out on her own. She's also so lovely in person...

Love the books, so easy to read and we've started getting them for work as well!

I have another gluten free book too, in the original format (as per the two books at the bottom of the picture) but one of the clients I work for can't part with it, hehe...

Love, love, love the books! Keep them coming Kim!

Blessings,

Kombucha...

I finally relented... I've made my first batch... Now just have to wait. Something, I'm learning to do...

I decided to stop making water kefir for a while... I have spare grains frozen and dehydrated, if I want to go back to it at any time...

Kombucha is a more relaxed and easier process. I'm looking forward to seeing how long it takes. Can't wait to taste it. Hopefully, no explosions though ;)

Blessings,

Cookie Club...

After half a year of waiting, the Cookie Club night finally arrived last Saturday!

Have not laughed so much in a long time... Was sooooo much fun! 

Came away with 70 bikkies that are all different and all yummy in their own right...

Looking forward to next year!

Blessings,

Bailey, doing Nova's thing...

Nova loved lying down on the shopping bags as we placed them near the door, before they'd go back out to the cars...

Bailey never used to do that. He's be on the mat next to her... Now, he's doing it...

Missing our dearest darlin'...

Blessings,

Pretty...

Love flowers... This beauty caught my eye the other day...

Blessings,