An Edible Arrangement

Mandarins are Ripe and Ready for the Table

Chicken of the Week Part II

I would like to Introduce to you. . . 

Lady Ga Ga

I don't know what it was that you saw in this girl
 Duchess Declutter but you certainly hit the nail on the head!
I LOVE it and it So suits her . . . Strutting her stuff around the coop.

 She is such a Miss Ga Ga!  
Thanks Wendy, I would have never of come up with a name like this. A celebrity in the chook coop, who would have thought.
This is Fun, thanks everyone for playing along so far . . .The names that you all came up with were just brilliant, I knew I would get a good handful of old fashioned names and Yes I could have named the Whole Coop from my last post BUT that would spoil the fun of The Game.  I will however cluster them up in the next couple of weeks and I ask that you resubmit all those wonderful names again for the next lot of lovely ladies coming up . . .

"Name that Chook"

Next up I have my little fluffy feets


These two are Pekin X 
I was hoping to call them Aurthur and Martha, but they turned out to be both Martha....
Even though they are only young they remind me of two little old granny's,  it's those tail feathers,  Big Grey Granny Buns!


 I need some good ol style  names for these ladies

They have both just gone CLUCKY in the last couple of weeks, so they are just big round fluff balls of feathers, aren't they just adorable.

One is sitting on about 6 eggs, I don't think any are her own though, they appear to be larger eggs. The other is just sitting on straw, I took all her eggs and now I feel bad, depriving her of her motherhood!  I'll have to let her sit soon, keep her happy. It's always a nice surprise when they hatch, I get to guess who the mums are. Ohh that could be another good game to play!

Looking for two Names . . . . . .?

Everybody needs a

NuT DiSH  

My Eldest started High School this year . . .

With High School comes Design Technology 

and with Design Technology comes 'The Nut Dish'

 Such a versatile little piece too . . .

Works well with Garlic & Herb butter. 

Am wondering what else I could use it for....

other than Nuts of course!

So Proud, Clever Boy!  Thanks Sam XXX

Chicken of the Week

The time has come, I think I am the only one in the whole WORLD that does not have a name for my chickens? 

I still get my own children's names mixed up let alone trying to remember who's in the coop!  

Each Week, One by One and with your help, I shall name my Chickens . . .    Wanna Play . . .

All you need to do is "Name that Chook"

This is not a giveaway, there is no prize money,  but if you have nothing better to do and want to play, it could be fun. What you will receive though is the satisfaction of knowing that you helped out a little old middle aged muddled up mum and her feathered family who will all be forever grateful for your assistance and influence in fulfilling their identity and place within this family...

First up I have my white hen who wears a beautiful pale rust vest.

She is about 18 months old, and a very consistent layer, I often find her hanging out at the local day spa, having a good soak up in the soil...

Looking for a name . . . . . .?

The Garden Post

How Thoughtful, as predicted it arrived just in time for Mothers day.

  A big pile of dirt! 

Well one week on and here it still sits...No one has volunteered to fill my beds yet, but I wait patiently,  crossing a few more growing days off the calendar, surely someone will give in soon.

If you read my last garden post you would be familiar with the

 MUD PIE Giveaway.

The  Diggers Australian Fruit and Vegetable Garden Book. 

Well somebody must have known just how badly I needed that book and all my prayers were answered when Ali pushed the button on the random number generator and up I popped along with two other lucky recipients, Hazel Dene and Duchess De clutter.

 Can you beleive it! I still can't. Thank you again Ali.

This book is Sensational.  If you don't have yourself a good gardening manual then I thoroughly recommend you get this one, it is packed full of information on Where, When, Why and How to Grow.  I have had my head buried in this book all week.

This morning equipped with my new found knowledge of fruit and vegetables I spent a number of hours on the Diggers website and have purchased myself a truck load of seeds that should hopefully arrive in the next couple of weeks, I'm a bit excited!  

The plan for this week now is to get out the shovel, put on my 

NEW gardening Boots, and away we go. . .I may have to bribe a few helpers though...

 Now, I just want to put the word out on a New Project that has literally just hits the streets in  last couple of weeks. 

Sow.Give.Grow is a project developed to sharing the wonders of growing your own food.  

The aim is to motivate people to nurture an anonymously gifted seedling which will in turn provide food.  

This is a Must for all you gardening gurus... 

Sometime this week I'm heading into town with this little parcel to do my first Trans-plant, I'm a bit excited about that too...

Please CHECK IT OUT! and spread the words . . .

http://www.sowgivegrow.org/

The Great Orange Harvest

 

Had to Have

With a few minutes to spare last week I popped into my favourite Salvos store for just a quick look around. I usually walk out with a few doilies or some kind of old glass dish or enamelware but today there didn't seem to be much on offer and as I wandered up the last aisle, there it was . . Well, I just about fell over when I saw it, my heart pounded and I knew it was mine,  there was no way I was walking out without this beauty...

The Whole Set, 2 x Fully Reclining and Rocking Armchairs 

and 1 x Reclining Two Seater Lounge

In Immaculate Condition!  $$$  Bargain  !!!

It's VERY GRANNY I know and I didn't quite know how the rest of the family would accept it, it's a 'You'll either LOVE it or Hate it' kind of Buy.... Well I Just LOVE it of course , I have been waiting for something like this to step into my life for a while now, My living room needed a face lift and this gives me a good base to work with!

   Hubby wasn't to sure about it in the beginning but  it 's growing on him...He's enjoying putting his feet up at the end of a hard day. . .

My Creative Space

I lost count of how many times I said I was going to learn to crochet this year. I would be happy to just learn to do a Granny Square. So I finally did it and now that I've started, well, I just can't STOP!

This is ONE BIG GRANNY SQUARE

 Lucky I have a King Size Bed

 Should fit nicely by the End of Winter!!!

 with a couple of little cushie covers. . .
Go to Kootoyoo for more creative crocheting

Next on the Preserving List . . .

SWEET MUSTARD PICKLES

1 x cauliflower

250gm beans

2 x cucumbers

1/4  x capsicum

1/2 kg onions

Salt

Wash Cauliflower and divide into flowerettes

Slice and dice beans, cucumbers and capsicum

Peel and dice onions

Place together in a large pan and sprinkle with salt 

and leave stand for 24 hours

Wash in Cold Water, drain 
 Add 1x litre of Vinegar and bring to the boil
Mix together 1/2 cup Sugar
2 x tab Flour
2 x teasp ground Mustard
plus a handful of Mustard seeds
1 x teasp Curry powder
1 x teasp Turmeric

Add a little water to make a smooth paste and stir through 

Boil for about 15 minutes.  Bottle & Seal

Tip of the Day: Always wear gloves when grating Fresh Turmeric!

Getting into the Quince of things....

With  all the pictures of fresh Quinces growing, Quince picking and Quince cooking splashed across some of my favourite southern blogs, you can imagine how excited I was when I got my hands on some of these at my local market, it was a straight ahead trip into the Kitchen to play...

On the Menu: QUINCE PASTE

How much fun was this to make!

Peel, Core and Chop up about 1 and 1/2 kg of Quince

add 1/2 cup of Water, bring to the boil then simmer for approx 1/2 an hour until the quince becomes soft and tender.  Then blend the mixture until smooth and mushy. 

Add 800gm of Sugar and stir on a low heat until sugar is dissolved.  Reduce heat to very low and cook for approx 4 - 5 hours. I used a simmer mat to keep a more consistent low heat and reduce the chance of my paste burning, it's also a good idea to use a heavy based pan. 

 Keep stirring occasionally. I was prepping up some other preserves in the kitchen at this time so I managed to keep a good eye on it and stirred about every 15 minutes or so...

it was very interesting to see it slowly change colour

 there is  apparently a scientific acid/pigment/chemical reason for this, but I am not going to go into that today . . .

and finally about  4 - 5 hours later you get this

A nice and thick paste that leaves the side of the pan and is a rich ruby red in colour.

Pour it into some greased molds and let sit for about 6 hours or until set.

I have always had a love of quince paste with a nice Brie or Camembert . . . usually it's one of Maggie's, but

this weekend when I head off to celebrate my Mothers 70th Birthday,  we will be enjoying a local Witches Falls Merlot,

 a nice King Island Brie and Gooseberry Jam Quince Paste!