I've been prone to a little reminiscing lately thanks to Tammy and also to this book. Thinking about how we started out here on our little farm and where we were before that in Sydney's suburbia.

 

Little did I know when I first met Tim that we would be such kindred spirits and both have a zeal for gardening in particular herbs and vegetables. But we did and when we first set up our home after we married, we couldn't afford to do much to the house itself but we could definitely dig the soil and sow seeds. And we did. 

 

Although I had never done a lot of cooking whilst living with my parents, I knew my way around a kitchen pretty well and whether by necessity or maybe even to impress my new husband, I cooked pretty much everything from scratch from the very beginning. I loved cooking and I still do.

Vegetable gardening with children and chooks

Our block of land wasn't huge, about 700sq metres but we did grow quite a lot of our own vegetables. Given that the house was built in the late 1950s and a very typical Aussie yard, there was a well established lemon tree to give us some fruit but that was it. Also true to the era, there was an incinerator which we converted to a compost bin. Along the way we added more fruit trees, a couple of bantam chickens and a worm farm to the mix and things were good. Homesteading a little in the city.M sister even made a video of us for a university assignment which thankfully I have never seen. But we really did talk about and dream of making a move to a more rural setting.  When a work transfer opportunity came up in a country town, we jumped at it and in a nutshell that is how we managed to make the move from the city.

Georgina and the girls

 

To this day I don't think my lifestyle has really changed much living in the country. I still garden, I still cook our produce and I still have livestock but for the past 14 years that we have lived here, it has been on a much larger scale. And not once have I seriously thought about moving back to the suburbs or even into town. I am truly at home here.

 

Tracy

 

No glamour here today and truth be told, there rarely is and that is just how I like it. I've been cleaning out the chicken house, gathering cow manure and spreading it around where needed and turning compost too. I also made a quick dash into town this morning because someone ran out of petrol on their way to work but that's another story best left untold.

 

 

And because I don't think the goodness that comes from cleaning out chicken houses and turning compost heaps makes for pictures that anyone wants to see, I thought I would share a couple of the cattle.

Their winter coats are starting to come on in earnest now. They really are such a nice addition to our property with the sweetest temperaments and despite the horns, not one bit scary.

Tracy

Sweet Overload

Morning teas are yum but I don't have a sweet tooth (thankfully). In fact, I didn't partake of a single sweet morsel from our Biggest Morning Tea table on Friday. I am a sucker for those little sandwich triangles though. It was so nice to catch up with friends and to even have a volunteer waiter , Tim, pouring our coffee and tea. He did a great job and thanks to all for the donations to the Cancer Council.

 I have mastered macarons so I am not making them anymore. They are too sweet for me and I really can't understand the buzz about them. Lunch boxes are going to be very swish this week though. Grace loves them and wants more so I might not give up just yet.

 And at the moment I can't get enough of the pansies. Sweetness without a tooth or tummy ache in sight. Zero calories too. Perfect!

Tracy

Pre-tea tidy up

 I have been having a tidy up outside today, making sure the grass is trimmed and nothing is left laying about. My Biggest Morning Tea is on Friday and even though it is only a small event and just a few friends who I don't get to see very often, it was a good excuse to do those chores which get put aside.

Yesterday I showed my herb garden and Lisa commented about how it gave an indication of our landscape. Well, here is a picture looking towards the house from my rose garden which shows where we are in relation to the surrounds. The colours aren't coming up true to life because the trims on the house are actually a blue colour (Colorbond Blue Ridge) rather than the grey that they appear. And yes, there are two trampolines in the foreground. One is new and the other is defunct and waiting for me to decide what to do with it. If I had somewhere else that was flat enough for a trampoline, believe me  it would not be in the front yard. But it is.

And a pretty little hover fly on a new chrysanthemum. Only a day after Mother's Day and they were reduced to $2.
Tracy

The day started quite promising with a gentle drizzle but it really hasn't amounted to much more than that. I was hoping for a day of heavy rain so I could do some craft and letter writing but mostly so it would fill our tanks.

 

In fact, there has been enough dry patches for me to spend an hour or so weeding and tidying up. The herb garden (above) is divided into four distinct beds and I first broke ground there ten years ago. Some of the plants are still going strong, the rosemary in particular, but two of the beds needed a complete overhaul. I've cleared what needs to go and now the best part, replanting. I'll use a few free plants volunteered from other parts of the garden and also buy some new ones too. So the herb garden isn't looking its best but it is neat... for now.

I will probably leave most of the planting until the weather warms up in spring so the new plants don't have to get their bearings in the garden when it is cold or frosty. That will also give me a bit more time to plan things rather than just pop things in where there is a space though that has worked well enough up 'til now. And a bit more time to revitlalise the soil with compost and maybe some green manure.

My favourite herbs are lavender, thyme, basil and coriander. I can't pick just one. Do you have a favourite herb?

This pair of handsome roosters (along with three others) are in desperate need of a new home or they are going to get the 'chop'. I checked the local Gumtree page and it seems fairly flush for roosters so I don't think there would be any joy there. It's not a farm service that I want to offer but a friend had five bantam roosters in her backyard in town and nobody prepared to dispatch them for her. So they are here  now but not for long.

Tracy

Mother's Day weekend

From "The Sydney Morning Herald" 5/5/2103

 

We spent a nice few days in Sydney over the Mother's Day weekend. It was a treat to have us all together under one roof even if it was only for a couple of days. I got to visit my vet in training and part-time Stormtrooper son (he's the middle trooper above), one of my sisters and her children and get very tired in the process. I'm not sure why a weekend of doing not very much (well not as much as usual) makes me so weary.

 

A homemade card with self-portraits. Grace and Hope did a fair job but Tim and Tom thankfully hardly resemble their efforts at all.

We squeezed in a session of roller skating too. If we lived near a rink, Grace would want to skate every week but at $60 for a two hour skate for four of us, I'm not sure I could afford it. Once in a while is quite enough for me. I must say though roller skating is still great even after quite a few years of being off my wheels and it really makes me smile.

I'm still waiting for rain here with increasing levels of impatience. In my area it is nowhere near as bad as other places but very much needed nonetheless. Clouds are building a little today but we shall see.
Tracy

Finding Inspiration

I spent the morning feeling a distinct lack of inspiration. Lots of reasons, a lack of rain, a lack of funds and a lack of sleep (and that's the main reason I'm sure) to name a few. But I did my chores, went for a walk, read a little online and then went outside to plan a few things in my mind while I worked. And in the process, I found inspiration to do what I do.

 

Bees and bottlebrush

 I took this picture yesterday when I was having new tyres fitted on my car. Oh my, what an expensive exercise that is. I was at the fire station taking a picture of poor Tim for today's photo of the day. Which by the way, I am participating in on my personal Facebook page. Of course if you are a blogging friend then you are more than welcome to send me a friend request so you can see the pictures or just to be friends .

Last week I decided to use a rather underused ingredient. I know the humble quince when made into a paste is popular  on cheeseboards but I decided to use it in a savoury casserole type of dish. And because it is tart and sweet at the same time, I coupled it with lamb and spices in a Moroccan inspired combination.

Spiced Lamb with Quince

Ingredients

1kg lamb meat, fat removed(leg is good but chops are cheaper), chopped into chunks

olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamon

1/2 tbsp brown sugar

2 cups vegetable stock

1 quince, peeled and cored. No quince, use a cooking apple, it works.

500 grams of pumpkin/ sweet potato, peeled and chopped into chunks

juice of 1 lemon

5 dates, pitted and chopped

 

Method

Preheat oven to 180degC.

Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan and brown the lamb. Transfer the meat to a casserole dish.

Add the onion to the pan and cook until softened.

Add the spices and garlic and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the stock, sugar,  and dates and bring to the boil.

Pour over the lamb and place covered in the oven for an hour.

Remove from the oven and add the juice, quince and pumpkin and bake for another hour. Remove the lid for the last half hour to reduce the liquid.

This time I served this with mashed potato and steamed vegetables but couscous and salad are nice too. A piece of crusty bread for mopping up the sauce is good too.

Tonight however dinner is looking a little less successful. I made a batch of baked beans using a recipe(from a popular television chef) which looked good but really hasn't turned out as expected. This is his last chance, I don't think I will be tempted by the pretty pictures again. They are still ok but not the wow that they promised.
Tracy