I think I jinxed it

That's the risk with doing a post about the wonderful-ness of the recent weather.  There then exists the major potential for said wonderful weather to be immediately choked, kicked, punched and pushed out of the way by the bad guy weather you've been glad hasn't been around.

And so it happened.  

I think it began the moment I hit 'publish'.

Cold, blustery, artic like winds blowing through all layers of clothing dug from the depths of the wardrobe to be worn at one time joined by miserable, not-heavy-enough-to-drench-you-immediately-but-it-will-get-you-in-the-end rain and fog thick enough to drown out your hope and happiness.  Enough rain/mist to make my hair go frizzy and lank in varying degrees and at the same time (not a pretty look) and to make the whole house feel damp and musty.

I'm thinking of moving to the desert.

(haha I just typed dessert.  yep that's where I'm gonna move - dessert!)

The gorgeousness of the season

I am absolutely loving this time of year, this year.  It feels like a million years since we last had an Autumn.  I think the trees are feeling the same too.  They have shed their inhibitions in major ways and are flaunting their hidden sides for all to see.

While the colours of the trees are only just starting to change (some a whole lot more than others), I can't wait until they each stop me speechless in my tracks.

I only wish the photo did this tree justice.  A pale comparison to reality.

Beautiful.  Just beautiful.

Loving the weeds

'Blasphemy!' I hear you say.  Well, call me what you want but I'm putting out my new theory - born from a lack of energy, motivation and enthusiasm but completely understandable once you hear me out. (hear me out, okay).

So it's been a while since I've been able to get down to the veggie patch.  Days, weeks, heck months even.  As you can expect, the weeds have gone crazy.  Every day as I walk down the back stairs or look out the back windows I am reminded again and again how completely lazy I am for not doing something about them sooner.  I am also reminded how often it rains here on the weekend - fine during the week, perfect even, yet Saturday has a tendency to herald a thunderstorm mid-morning followed by 48 hours non-stop rain.  Monday - fine.  Of course.

Today, today was different.  The sun was out for a start.  Glorious weather that it was - warm, sunny with just a hint of autumn in the air.  Divine.  At 4pm it was too nice to be inside so I ventured into the veggie patch - armed with a wheelbarrow and some new gloves - ready to take on anything coming my way.

Now is when I have to tell you my theory (OMG I hear you say, you took long enough!) - here it is....wait long enough for the weeds to grow to say, mid-thigh high and then when you go to pull them out, it's a lot less work because the whole 'survival of the fittest' thing has done it's work nicely and only the biggest survive, denying sunlight to anything below it.  Pull those suckers out and there is empty space all around!! Amazing!

Who'd have thunk that laziness pays off!!??!!!

Of course, the pulling out of these monsters is made soooo much easier following days of rain which make the soil nice and soft.  I know, I've done it the other way and there was nothing nice about that!

So there you have it.  What some would call utter laziness in the field of veggie garden upkeep, I call smarts.  Thanks weeds.  Loving your work!

Tomorrow should herald the planting of seeds and the fertilising of anything still surviving and left to live another day.  

Tomorrow could also be raining.  We'll see. 

I went into the world today....

....and saw lots of things but forgot to take my camera to take pictures of them....So here's a picture of where I would rather have been walking....

and a written description of what I actually saw....

I saw the trees losing their leaves - glorious autumn browns and oranges and reds and yellow - being blown off in the hundreds by the gale-forced wind we have going on today.

I saw some beautiful fences out the front of gorgeous (and some not-so-gorgeous) houses.  I'm a big fan of fences - big, solid, privacy ensuring fences.  I don't see the point of low, just-step-over-it fences.  

I saw lots of beautiful, old-people-tended gardens with their staked daisies, manicured lawns, mulched garden beds and their roses in full bloom.  Plus I saw a few rented house gardens (non existent - just mow that sucker) and a couple of housing commission gardens (lounge in the middle of the yard, kids toys/clothes rained into the ground, car on blocks in the carport.  Classy).

I saw only one other person out walking which was strange.  Sure the wind is gusty and bitterly cold but that didn't stop me (well, it almost did but I figured if I'm not going to walk in this I'm sure as hell not going to get out and walk when it's sunny!).  On a fine day you say 'good morning' about every 10 steps.

And then finally, I saw my neighbours out mowing their front lawn and cleaning their car.  Good on them.  Me, I went straight inside for a hot shower to try to defrost my toes and bring a little blood flow back into my cheeks.

A good start to the day. :)

Doing a Monty

When it seems that things seem to keep getting worse or going bad - despite you not thinking they're able to - I see that there are two ways of dealing with it.  Sit in a corner and cry, or follow Monty's advice...

Some things in life are bad, they can really make you mad, other things just make you swear and curse.  When you're chewing on life's gristle, don't grumble, give a whistle, and this'll help things turn out for the best...always look on the bright side of life... always look on the light side of life...[sing along if you know the words].

I choose Monty's way (well actually it's Brian's way - as in Life of Brian - but lets not get caught up with little details like facts!).  So even though life at the moment is seeming a little overwhelming, I choose to look at it with rose coloured glasses and focus on the positives.  Also, a little distraction helps wonders too.


Mum is still in hospital - we don't actually know when they will let her out.  She is having numerous tests each day - tomorrow is a stress test which she is not looking forward to.  At this stage the doctors are starting to lean away from heart attack (phew!) but the stress test tomorrow will confirm her heart's condition for sure and whether or not it is her heart that is the problem.  I don't know where they will go from here if it turns out it's not her heart but then I'm no doctor so I guess I'm not expected to know!!  The good news is that she is well at the moment and being looked after by people who know what they're doing.  


In the meantime I'm doing a marvellous job of distracting myself.  Busy hands and all that.  If I keep myself active and doing things I don't have time to think, and I've been very busy this last few days!

I went to the library on Friday (I love the library - FREE BOOKS!) and got out this one - Art of the Slow Cooker by Andrew Schloss.  I love slow cooking and go on and on about the wonderful flavours, the tenderness of the meat, the delicious aromas that come from cooking food slowly, the idea of getting back to how nana used to cook.....I could go on but the real reason I like slow cooking?  Deep down I'm lazy.  I like the idea of putting dinner on in the morning and forgetting about it for the day  (and producing an amazing meal at the end of it!) and best of all, only having one pot to wash up.  Lazy.

Fresh, fresh market veggies - not in the picture are the onions, sweet potatoes,
carrots and pumpkins - there wasn't enough room on the counter!!!

Anyway, tonight (well, today) I've decided we're having something slow cooked for dinner.  Haven't yet narrowed down a recipe from the book - but that's a minor detail!  I went to the markets this morning - I love the Sunday markets - and got a whole heap of fresh veggies in anticipation - yum!  

My ode to Celia's Zucchini Slice - but using roast veggies instead of zucchinis!  The cut slice is a bit mangled but I was soooo hungry and it smelled soooo good I was in a rush to eat !

I also picked up some organic quinces.  I've never cooked with quinces before but am inspired (as always) by Celia's Quince Jelly.  I'm gonna bite the bullet and give it a go!  I have made her Zucchini Slice a couple of times now - very successfully and with much praise from the LOML - and even adapted it the other night by using some leftover roast veggies instead of the zucchini - very yum as well!

And I couldn't resist these beautiful flowers for mum.  I had to be careful carrying them though - I get an allergic reaction to natives especially grevilleas but an allergic reaction is the price I am willing to pay for my mum!  It was a sight to see as I walked around the markets awkwardly holding the bunch away from me while carrying two greenbags over-full of veggies!  

I ran out of jars so had to use some Fowlers Jars - hopefully they sealed okay....
...if not, I guess I'l just have to eat them!

I've also been madly preserving the millions (slight exaggeration there - the LOML always tells me, I've told you a million times to stop exaggerating!) of cucumbers that the vine keeps producing.  Truly this vine is a miracle.  I expected it to curl up its toes weeks ago when the nights started getting cooler but it is just ploughing on.  I have so many pickled cucumbers, bread and butter cucumbers and cucumber relishes that I think I'll have to start gifting them just to get some cupboard space back!

And I'm learning French.  Why French?  Well I've wanted to learn another language for a while now and had first been interested in Indonesian/ Balinese (we go there a lot) and then last year got excited about Thai (will be going back there as well) and eventually settled on French because it, as well as Lebanese obviously, is spoken widely in Lebanon.  We went to Lebanon (we did a lot of travelling last year!) to search for the LOML's family (and found them - AMAZING story!) so it will be now be a major part of our lives - whether visiting or living we aim to be there every year at least.  When we were there I was always spoken to in English (I am very fair skinned and blonde!) and the LOML (who clearly looks Lebanese) in Arabic so we made a decision once we got home that he would learn Arabic/Lebanese so that he can communicate with his family and friends and I would learn French to cover the rest! 


Today, being such a glorious autumn day, I had plans to get out into the garden but we've had rain and windy-rainy-drizzle (annoying to say the least) for the last two days so I'm making the most of the sunshine by doing the washing and cleaning the house :(  Best case scenario I will get all that done quickly (if I can get myself off the computer!) so can then spend the afternoon in the garden....


Busy, busy, busy!