Cooinda

Our River Views

2011-08-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

We live right near the Brunswick River, but you normally wouldn't know. Last Wednesday it flooded, and according to locals was the highest it's been since the 'great floods of 1964'. We've certainly never seen it this high before. Thankfully it's dropped to near normal levels again, and I don't think caused too much damage around the place.

just a few random recent events around here...

2011-06-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

Since it's been a couple months since I last posted, here's some random pics I downloaded today from the camera in no particular order of importance!

1. Dean built a possum home! I was going to paint nice things on it, but Dean thought the possums mightn't like that :) Now hopefully we can convince them that our roof is not such a great place to live. I'm the possum defender in the family, Dean the wannabe possum culler, so this project was quite a compromise for him! (though neither of us likes them living in our roof space)

2. Alwyn thought the brocolli were taking too long to grow, so tried taking an early nibble.

3. We planted a persimmon tree. I have a persimmon addiction (I buy them and don't share them... :) ) so I sure am looking forward to getting some off this tree one day! Bit of a team effort as you can see, with everyone, even the truck, getting in on the action.

4. Forced Piano lessons. We start them early around here....

5. I've been doing a bit of sewing again, and feeling ambitious, decided to try skinny leg jeans for Clive. I was amazed they turned out looking like jeans (I've never sewed anything quite like this before). Slight problem though... .they're too small for him. Note to self: will have to check all the measurements next time and not just rely on height! Maybe Alwyn can wear them one day....

Make-do

2011-04-25T06:08:00.000-07:00

We got Clive one of these 'Make-do' kits a while back. He was still a little young to do it completely on his own, but I think his Dad had quite a lot of fun helping him put it together. :) (Though I'm sure the instructions didn't mention anything about needing a drill or jigsaw to complete the project...)

And here he is in his 'car'! (along with an unwilling passenger)

Some balancing acts

2011-04-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

Lots of different types of balancing going on at Cooinda!

Alwyn's been trying the 'look no hands' trick.

Clive was rather proud to discover he can now ride his bike without training wheels. (yes, no helmet, no shoes for any safety people watching... but we are in the country! :))

And us 'grown ups' doing lots of balancing on ladders and scaffolding while we try and paint the outside of the house before winter! We sure are excited to paint over all that mission brown!

Why dirt is good

2011-03-24T18:52:00.000-07:00

I think I took a recent read, "Why Dirt is Good", a little too seriously.

(worth a read by the way. Unfortunately mine was a library copy, because I thought it would be a great book to have on display in some appropriate area of the house :) )

6 months

2011-02-17T22:05:00.000-08:00

Our smallest boy reached the '6 month' milestone a couple days ago. It still seems unbelievable how soon he has gone from a tiny cuddly baby to a exploring, social little man. He's been working very hard on trying to crawl the last few weeks, and though the legs are doing the right thing, and occasionally the arms, he doesn't have the whole act quite coordinated yet.

It doesn't help when big brother keeps pushing down on your back!

And speaking of big brother, Clive is onto his 3rd week of kindy - 3 whole days a week, and is really thriving. We have been so surprised and thankful how well he has settled in. It was not an easy decision to send him - I was quite happy to have him home for another year, but he was getting very bored at home the last few months and we both felt he needed something more - especially socially.

Clive being gone for the day has answered once and for all which of our two boys take up the most time and energy :) I didn't know what to do with myself the first few days he was gone - it was so quiet - but am enjoying finding some new projects to fill up all the extra time!

mmm....apriciots!!

2010-12-11T01:20:00.000-08:00

It was worth netting them this year - we're pretty excited our first decent crop is ready to pick!

Jacaranda

2010-12-07T18:11:00.000-08:00

Our Jacaranda trees are blooming at the moment and we are enjoying the brilliant purple. Clive had fun riding his bike over the purple 'carpet' as he braved our front driveway (we don't have a fence there, so he's been warned away from it, and the busy road for as long as he can remember)

One thing we love about Cooinda is the trees - there are well over a hundred, and I don't know if some tree lover many years ago planned it this way, but there is always something in bloom. So between the flame trees, wattles, eucalyptus, fruit trees and various others we have a year round colour show!!

Two people in this house

2010-12-06T16:34:00.000-08:00

are happy with the introduction of a 'before bed' bottle.

Now hopefully Alwyn starts putting on a bit more weight!!

Where to put the baby while folding laundry...

2010-11-26T23:06:00.000-08:00

Clive in the meantime, has been having a lot of fun working on 'manly' jobs, helping Dean set up his new workshop.

It looks like being a hot summer...

2010-11-18T01:30:00.000-08:00

Thankfully we can enjoy the afternoon shade on our new deck!
Alwyn is now three months old, and we've been thoroughly enjoying him. He's been a generally content baby, who's been been giving us lots of smiles and giggles. Which all helps surviving the sleep deprived daze that accompanies life with a newborn!!

Back home again

2010-10-30T03:27:00.000-07:00

We're very thankful to be back home at Cooinda again as of last week. It's been great to be back in our 'old' home but with all the new features!

Clive hit the ground running, and has been thrilled to be back again.... taking off right where he left with an amazingly cooperative dog.

It's been a rather chaotic and busy couple weeks between packing, cleaning, sorting, and trying to feed the baby in between it all, who still takes his merry time over feeds and needs lots of cuddles (I won't mention which 'anti-dummy' person finally said yesterday 'I think he needs a dummy!!')

Yesterday we enjoyed sitting on our new back step, eating Dean's raspberry yogurt sorbets, and looking at all the work that still needs to be done!

When you have a big brother....

2010-10-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

sometimes you have to tolerate being the subject in his building experiments....

.... and just hope it doesn't all topple down on top of you!

Bamboo Baby

2010-10-04T01:36:00.000-07:00

I don't think this outfit is going to get much wear, considering summer is in the air... but it felt like quite an achievement getting this jacket finished! It was all done before Alwyn was born, apart from one sleeve, and somehow it took 6 weeks to finish the remaining sleeve!

The wool for the jacket and booties is a bamboo/recycled acrylic mix, the beanie is an incredibly soft bamboo/wool, and the pants were sewn from hemp fabric.

Bonfire

2010-09-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely long weekend, spent mostly at our nearly complete 'new' house. We managed to get a spring garden planted, the fruit trees maintained, and a bonfire lit. (Perhaps I shouldn't really say 'we', since Dean was the main worker, and I was the baby comforter/feeder/holder/entertainer) We're all gearing up to move back to Cooinda in the next few weeks which we're looking forward to.

Here's Dean roasting some marshmallows before the fire got too big.

And here's Clive, who first enjoyed eating the marshmallows, and then began to get a bit stressed about everything (the sun going down, where we were sleeping that night, how the fire was going to be put out, why the people next door weren't working anymore... )

I'm not often on our photos, but Dean grabbed the camera for a while to get some photos in the light ... see the beautiful climbing rose behind me - it was literally bursting in bloom!

And here's our little man, who already seems to be growing up far too quickly! We're thoroughly enjoying him, and he's a generally content baby.... well, as long as he's being held, but we're quite happy oblige :)

5 weeks

2010-09-19T04:54:00.000-07:00

We can't believe our small son is 5 weeks old already. Where has the time gone?

There's been some brotherly bonding...

Lots of time spent doing the following guaranteed ways of settling....

An obsession with trains, which has meant a nap could be had most afternoons (much needed!)

And many hours whiled away gazing into this tiny face :)

New arrival!

2010-08-17T01:48:00.000-07:00

We welcomed Alwyn Harrison to our family yesterday morning! He was born at home (and yes, that bit was planned!) with the support of two wonderful midwives. Two weeks early, just like his big brother, and weighing in just under 7 pounds.

We feel very blessed that all went well during the pregnancy and delivery, and are enjoying time at home getting to know our new son. Clive was the only one who predicted his gender correctly - according to everyone else we were having a girl. A very pleasant surprise though!

Cloth nappy sewing obsession

2010-08-04T22:30:00.000-07:00

Making cloth nappies has proven to be addictive! It's fun using up scraps bits of flannel, and varying the design slightly everytime - trying to make them as quick drying as possible. I know I'm going to have way more than I'll need now (I've still got a stash from when Clive was a baby as well) Also been sewing some cloth wipes while I'm at it.

Since most of these nappies need covers, I decided to try some wool soakers. I liked the idea of using natural fibres, and apparantly as long as they are well lanolised they don't need washing very often. We'll have to see how they go - I know some people love them, and others find them a bit of a pain. Here's two attempts - one knitted, and the other an experiment using an op-shopped jumper, felted and sewn up (it hasn't turned out very pretty, and I'll have to try it for size once baby arrives) Both still need some kind of cord around the waist.

The instructions are here. If I make another one I would pick a thinner jumper, which is sure to be easier to felt and sew together.

Now we just have to wait for the baby to arrive so we can try them all out (only 3 weeks till EDD now! :))

Cranberry and Sunflower Cookies

2010-08-03T22:21:00.000-07:00

Here's one of our favourite biscuit recipies for Alyssa's Blog Party

Found the recipe in some healthy kids book a few years back, and Clive loves them - though I've found not all kids do - depends whether they like cranberries or not I suppose :)

Cranberry & Sunflower Cookies

4 tbsp sunflower seeds
2 tbsp oil
75g margarine or butter
125g brown sugar
1 egg
100g SR plain flour
75g SR whole meal flour (I normally do all w/meal flour)
rind of 1/2 orange (normally miss this - don't really love orange rind)
75g cranberries (or sultanas if you don't like cranberries)

Dry fry sunflower seeds 2-3 min till golden. Grind to a paste with the oil. Cream butter & sugar, beat in the eggs, mix in the flours. Add paste, stir in rind and cranberries. Bake 180C for 10 minutes.

Our backyard

2010-07-26T22:33:00.000-07:00

We feel pretty spoiled having this in our 'backyard' - just a 10 minutes walk from our house, up and down a few dunes (well, strangely it seems to be taking me longer every time we do it :)) Clive and Lexi just love heading out there - running pretty much the whole way.

Nesting

2010-07-24T06:11:00.000-07:00

Nearly 35 weeks pregnant, and nesting is in full swing! We were in Perth for a week, and I suddenly had this very strong need to go home and sort and wash and process all the baby gear.

This bouncer was nearly on it's way out (I think it's coped with quite a few babies in our family!) but I had a go at sewing a new cover, so hopefully it'll last a little longer yet.

The owl was an 'early baby gift' from my sister Susan - very cute!

We're all getting very excited here about the impending arrival. The pregnancy has been going very well which we are very thankful for. Clive surprised us all by coming a couple weeks early, so we're trying to make sure we're ready on time - though of course there's no guarantees this one will do the same - it'll probably be a couple weeks late :)

Chocolate Banana Icecream

2010-07-23T04:07:00.000-07:00

Our new addiction!

But you wouldn't believe the ingredients - frozen banana, macadamia nuts, cocoa and some agave nectar (a natural sugar substitute). As you can see it's quite popular around here :)

Using up some old shirts

2010-07-22T01:26:00.000-07:00

A few op-shopped mens shirts + an old work shirt that Dean kept sneaking on when we were heading out somewhere + some 'car' material which I knew Clive would like.... all cut up in squares (I need a real quilter to show me how to do it properly because they didn't all end up very square) and we have a quilt top!

Now to actually turn it into a real quilt.... a bit beyond my current sewing skills.

The Angry Almond

2010-07-21T01:18:00.000-07:00

Very excited to find this box outside my front door yesterday morning.

Ordered from Angry Almond who deliver throughout Western Australia for only $3.50! Not used to getting this kind of service in the country.

We go through lots of nuts, seeds and oats, so sure this will serve us well (and anything to save trips to the supermarket!)

Finished!!

2010-06-28T07:20:00.003-07:00

Very uncooperative model, but he's promised he'll 'wear it everywhere' for the next 20 years. :)

I bought the wool a few years back, but after a few false starts it was put away. A few months ago I told myself I wasn't allowed to start any other knitting projects till this one was finished - thankfully it was an easy pattern, and nice thick wool, so it ended up going quite quickly (apart from a delay when one of my knitting needles went on walk about!). Can't wait to get into a jumper for Clive or the baby now!

Our restless sleeper

2010-06-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Here's how we found Clive the other night - lying on the floor next to his mattress. Didn't look too comfortable!

sew sew sew

2010-06-24T17:37:00.000-07:00

This blog has been a bit quiet for a while, but we have been busy with all sorts of things (not all of them 'bloggable!!')

The pregnancy has been going well, and it's been quite a surprise to suddenly be 30 weeks along, and counting down to the impending arrival. It's a little hard to nest though, when you're living in a temporary house, which probably explains my sudden foray into sewing. Now, I am really not a sewer, and had a dismal high school sewing career (still remember that C- that I'm sure was very generous!!) But I've really enjoyed trying to figure out some patterns, and with google as my friend (how else do you know what 'undersew', or 'raglan' means) have managed to get somewhere on a few baby projects.

First up was a Mei Tei sling using a pattern from my favourite montessori/crafty/parenting blog Sew Liberated. I always wished I had a good sling with Clive who turned out to be the kind of baby who could have done with one!

Also made a cloth nappy, using a free Wee Weka pattern and some fabrics ordered online. Next I'm going to try a few plain flannel ones, and see if I can get a wool cover knitted or sewn, which I think will turn out a bit more economical! And there's a whole stack of Green Kids currently on loan to my sister which should be making their way back before baby arrives, so I'm sure I won't be running short of nappies!

And finally had a (feeble) attempt at an Ottobre pattern. A girls design, so who knows if it will get used or not (Clive is convinced he's having a baby brother) It's not quite finished yet, and I'm going to need some help figuring out the rest of it (buttons and things)

another blog...

2010-05-14T01:08:00.000-07:00

I've decided to create a password protected blog to post pictures of the 'cooinda project' currently being undertaken, since I don't feel comfortable having them on a public blog. So if you would like to read it, just email me and I'll include you on the 'invite list'.

And just so this isn't an entry without a pic - here's Clive in our new backyard. Note the bear hanging from the handle bars - since we've shifted the bear has been his fairly constant companion.... bit of a security item I guess. It's looking worse the wear as a result, and I think it's going to need a journey through the washing machine very soon!!

We've moved!

2010-05-03T05:33:00.000-07:00

The last couple weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind of packing and cleaning and sorting and moving and painting.

We moved last week, but spent Saturday finishing some things off at Cooinda before all the work starts. Clive made the most of the blackboard on our pantry cupboard (he's just started drawing the last couple weeks, but we had no idea what he was trying to represent on this one!) and Dean and I finished painting the studio (and no, we didn't just 'forget' to paint the panel in the middle - that's being replaced!)

We were very thankful to be able to find some temporary accommodation through one of Dean's work mates - a very comfortable unit just out of Bunbury. We're listing all the advantages of living here for the next few months - making the most of being 2 minutes from a library, 10 minutes walk through beautiful dunes to the beach, and a few minutes drive from take away coffee (very handy when your gas isn't connected yet!!)

Here's Clive exploring his new backyard....

A shopping bag

2010-04-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

Ruth's "I wish I could sew" post had me realising I really should pull that sewing machine out again and just try some more projects if I'm ever going to learn! Mainly because I say "I wish I could sew" quite a bit, especially when I wander into very expensive designer kids clothing shops and drool over all the gorgeous outfits that I couldn't bring myself to pay that much for!!

So trying to stick with 'easy' things I gave this bag a go - kind of wish I had picked something slightly less bright for the fabric, but I'm sure it'll get a lot of use.

Best of all, it didn't even take that long! And Dean was quite happy to help me out with the term 'gusset' (engineering word apparently!!)

Got a huge list of 'baby projects' to tackle, but I'm not sure I'm going to get any time for them (cloth nappies, sling, hand sewed toys, cute outfits... bit ambitious maybe, unless I drop all my other commitments!)

Sweet Potato Harvest

2010-04-09T01:16:00.000-07:00

We planted some sweet potato cuttings back in November and since it's about six months I had a quick dig yesterday to see if I could find any in the ground. And we did! Very yummy roasted in the oven for an hour or so.

Brought back some memories of village life in Papua New Guinea, where I would go out to the gardens with some ladies to harvest sweet potatoes - they would come back with a whole bilum full, and I'd be lucky to have 3 really small pitiful looking ones.

Hopefully I'll do a bit better with a smaller patch to work with :)

Chez Larsson

2010-04-07T17:25:00.000-07:00

I think I'm addicted to this blog: http://chezlarsson.com

So many organising and how-to tips. And best of all, she lives in an older, smaller house, which is a lot easier to relate to when you live in one like that yourself. (we do love Cooinda though!)

And I'd just love a home office that looks like this!

Of course, what would be great, is if just reading the blog would automatically transfer all her great ideas into reality.... :)

Keeping Clive busy

2010-04-05T23:14:00.001-07:00

We've been busy painting here over the last few weeks, and Dean (who has in true engineer style created a very detailed spreadsheet of the project) claims we're 47% of the way through. Helpful to know.

Clive of course, wants to help, but there's only so much a 3 1/2 year old can do. So Dean let him loose on the swing set. We were getting a bit tired of the blue!!

Fishing at Honeymoon Pool

2010-04-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

You never know. If you sit quietly with a net in the water, just maybe a fish will swim straight into it.

Today I will Fly!!

2010-03-14T03:12:00.000-07:00

I love children's books, and it's always a treat finding a new author that is such a hit! We got this book out of the library, and Clive has barely let it out of his sight for the last couple weeks. It's always hard to predict which books are going to be enormously popular, but this has been one of them! (And it's kind of fun to read as well)

Painting

2010-03-13T02:31:00.000-08:00

The weather held out for us on Saturday (though, I couldn't help but hoping for rain anyway!) and we managed to get started with some painting! (of the bits of the house that won't be reclad.)

Dean's dubbed the colour 'worsley green' - notice how it matches with his old work uniform?? :)

(had to cut myself out of this photo - painting clothes and wild hair... not a good look!)

And Clive's just a bit disappointed, because this is the colour he *really* wanted to paint the house! He's got this thing about 'pink houses' at the moment!!

Baby Knits

2010-02-24T17:21:00.000-08:00

Aren't these just adorable? The free pattern is here: http://www.pickles.no/babykit-for-melker/

I'm probably going to need some relaxing projects like these in a month or so, since we're getting 'kicked' out of our house while some asbestos is removed and some other work done. It looks like we'll be in a caravan park home for a while (barely any housework!!), so a few projects like this could help fill in all that time.

And there's a possibility I won't have the computer either.... imagine how much extra time that will leave me :)

Some Valentine Hearts

2010-02-09T22:57:00.000-08:00

This morning we had a go at an activity I found on a very inspiring blog by a Montessori teacher, My Montessori Journey. It was very easy to set up, just using some contact and coloured tissue paper, and kept Clive occupied for a while!

(he's wearing a nearly heirloom t-shirt here courtesy of aunty natasha!! :) )

And they look very pretty on our windows!! :)

Thankfully the worst of the morning sickness seems to be easing (at least it's now just 'morning' sickness and not 'all day' sickness :) ) It's very nice to have a bit more energy back again, and my floors are finally vacuumed and mopped!!

How to build a roman arch

2010-02-02T22:37:00.001-08:00

We started Montessori again this morning after a nice break over the summer. Clive had a great time working on building a Roman Arch (with a bit of help :) ). I find it fascinating to see how it all gets put together, especially since it is based on how arches have been built in times past.

It's a matter of stacking all the bricks in the right places, including the vital 'keystone'...

And then pulling away the support and seeing if the arch holds itself together.

Some news...

2010-02-01T01:15:00.000-08:00

We've been very thankful and excited to find out we are expecting a baby at the end of August! I'm due on Clive's 4th birthday, which is a little overcrowded already, but apparently very few babies arrive on their due date!!

It's come as quite a surprise - though a very wanted one! Clive is very excited and has been asking all the time when the baby is coming, and working out exactly where the baby will sleep (in his room) and where the baby will sit in the car (right next to him). He told us proudly the other day that he could 'hold the baby' because he's a big boy now!!

Unfortunately I've been feeling pretty 'sea sick' the last weeks, which has resulted in very few of my 'summer projects' getting a look at, a less than tidy house (Clive was trying to suggest I vacuum the other day, because the floor was 'really dirty'... mmmm) and lots of very easy meals (Dean thinks we're eating better than we usually do which makes me wonder why I don't normally take so many shortcuts with our food!) And I've managed to read an embarrassing number of novels - probably more than the last three years combined! Discovered a few new favourite authors in the process.

Anyhow, hopefully the energy and wellness returns fairly soon. In the meantime it feels like a small price to pay for a wonderful blessing!! :)

Sundried Tomatoes

2010-01-21T17:08:00.000-08:00

There's only so many tomatoes three people can eat, and this year we have a lot of them. We love trying different heirloom varieties, and planted a lot of roma's as well.

So we decided to do a batch of sundried tomatoes! 1.8 kg tomatoes, some basil, garlic and salt...

a few hours in a slow oven,

And.... all done! Now to use them all!!

Keeping cool!

2010-01-18T19:07:00.000-08:00

Our favourite way to spend a summers evening is to head down to the beach for a picnic and swim. The last couple days have been sweltering, so last night we enjoyed some time cooling off and building sandcastles!

The best thing was watching the clouds form overhead with it's promise that tomorrow would be cooler...

Lego

2010-01-15T23:51:00.001-08:00

A while ago I discovered this great site which contains just about every single plan for lego sets produced over the last few decades.

I've inherited a whole box of lego (actually, better clarify that just in case my brother reads this blog, since I do know it does belong to him really, and one day he may just claim it all back!) Anyhow, over the years with several moves, and lots of different kids playing with it all, most of the plans have been misplaced. So today I finally got around to printing them all off. And these two have been busy putting them all together!

Hard to say whose having the most fun!

Dean's a bit worse for wear after an indoor soccer game on Thursday, and is still hobbling around painfully. Good reason for a quiet day inside :)

Keeping the boys busy

2010-01-11T19:55:00.000-08:00

Our chookpen is getting a small makeover, after which I'm sure it'll still look old and dilapidated, but at least it's green and slightly more solid. It looks to us like it used to be a stable of some sort in its previous life, with it's steel frame and concrete floor.

So for the last week or so my afternoons have been very quiet with these two disappearing into the back of our property, coming inside later covered in paint.

Been noticing odd bits of green paint everywhere else around the place as well!

Kiddie Records

2010-01-11T00:47:00.000-08:00

Just found a cool site for downloading recordings of children's stories from the 1940's and 1950's. I just love all the cover designs!

Kiddie Records Weekly

The fig tree is blossoming after all...

2010-01-07T03:33:00.000-08:00

I wrote a while back about our unproductive fig tree. Well, we were very excited to see 10 figs forming on the branches!

And there's plenty of ripening grapefruit!

Christmas

2010-01-06T03:23:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, it's already 6 days into the New Year, but I haven't blogged for a while and thought I would share some pictures of Christmas with the H's. Only pics of the littlest family members for some reason...

Here's the newest member of the family, Evan Bruce.

Sophia... all prettied up for the occasion.

Kiera and Clive...

And all the SinterKlaas presents!

Popsicle and Paint

2009-12-24T01:39:00.000-08:00

Aunty H left us with a whole box of popsicle sticks, and I promised Clive we would make something with them. So we had a lot of fun sitting down the other morning making some popsicle stick frames. Clive took the job quite seriously, and wanted to paint them all in pink (his current favourite colour!)

We're hoping to do a lot more fun activities like this over the holidays!

A too good juice/smoothie experiment

2009-12-22T01:03:00.000-08:00

I love trying different juice and smoothy combination's, and this one was surprisingly good!

Some beetroot and carrot juice, blended with a few blueberries, a tin of pineapple and a huge handful of spinach leaves.

Red smiles all around at Cooinda :)

Some montessori activities

2009-12-16T01:30:00.000-08:00

This morning was our last Montessori session for the year. We're looking forward to a quiet holiday with lots of days at home!

I took a few photos of some of the 'jobs' they have available at school. Some of these are very easy and cheap to put together, and the kids just love working with them. I love seeing an 18 month old completely focused on moving lentils from one jar to the other. And they learn useful skills like handling tongs, or a hammer, or batteries.

And here's Clive hard at work, wild hair and all (I let him brush it this morning!)

Poohsticks

2009-12-12T00:32:00.000-08:00

Clive loves nothing more than going to the bridge just behind our place and throwing sticks in the river. The small pleasures in life! :)

Waiting till the cows come home

2009-12-10T23:56:00.000-08:00

I guess you know you live in the country when the cows come right past your front gate every day. 3.45pm exactly (I'm sure they come past in the morning too but that's a little earlier than any of us are out of bed!!)

Cooinda happenings

2009-12-09T00:02:00.000-08:00

A few things we've been busy with these last couple weeks...

Dean's got a chookpen renovation happening using an odd assortment of salvaged items.

There is a plan! It involves rainwater collection and guttering and housing for ducks, but we'll have to see how it all comes together!

I've managed to make a very small bit of progress on my squares.

There's been a lot of piano playing, and an exam was sat (and thankfully passed!)

Lately I've been competing with Clive for a place on the piano - he wants 'lessons' too, just like he sees me give to my students. Nothing more than a lot of random notes from him so far though... :)

And a few attempts at housekeeping using my latest favourite housekeeping inspiration. Straight from the 1960's!

And some lego built... (mostly by us, but played with by Clive!)

A visitor of the froggy variety

2009-11-26T19:35:00.000-08:00

Isn't he cute???

Though fig trees may not blossom...

2009-11-23T04:08:00.000-08:00

We've been finding ourselves singing the line from that hymn about fig trees lately, because it seems so appropriate to some trees in our backyard.

There's around 30 fruit trees at Cooinda. A few have been there for years (including three unproductive crab apple trees), and the rest we planted. One of the first additions we made was a fig tree which we found at a market when I was pregnant with Clive. So that means it's been there for at least 3 years, and still not a fig to be found. Maybe next year...

Thankfully some of the other trees look more promising, with some tiny grapefruits, plums and mandarins forming.

It's been great having our Biolytix system humming away in the background, recycling all the water from our house. It certainly cuts down the watering these trees would require over the summer.

Saturday mornings op shop finds

2009-11-21T04:38:00.000-08:00

What am I going to do when my great op-shopping buddy goes off on adventures elsewhere? It's such a great way to spend a Saturday morning, even if it means not getting a sleep in. Lots of random finds, and great coffee afterwards!

I loved this set...

A shirt that Dean won't go near (too many flowers), but I thought might be cool material for a shirt for Clive... when I get a spare hour or two to sew it up (actually, make that a day or two considering how long it's likely to take me!!)

And Clive got pretty busy with his little stove, making dinner for us!

Sweet potatoes

2009-11-19T01:00:00.000-08:00

We got some sweet potato cuttings from a friend, with the promise they are the easiest thing to grow. Just chuck them in the ground we were told! That's our kind of gardening, and they seem to have taken off (I'm sure Dean's 'drip irrigation project' has helped things along)

We're hoping we'll be harvesting lots, since sweet potatoes are quite a staple in our diet...sweet potato quiche, sweet potato pizza, sweet potato pasta, sweet potato soup, roasted sweet potato, steamed sweet potato...

(and if anyone wants some sweet potato cuttings you're welcome to visit us at Cooinda to pick some up in a few months time!)

Some more sourdough breadmaking

2009-11-17T00:27:00.000-08:00

To continue my recent obsession with bread making...

I've got a great book out from the library at the moment which has been very interesting reading. Andrew Whitley gives instructions for making all kinds of bread, and especially sourdoughs.

Since blogging about my first attempt at making sourdough bread I've made quite a few loaves, with varying degrees of success. The main problem has been not having any leftover starter once I've finished, which means starting completely from scratch again for the next loaf (which takes 5 days or so)

I decided to have a go at the 'rye sourdough' from 'bread matters'- a very traditional European bread. And look at all this yeast action!

The best thing about this bread is it requires absolutely no kneading. So apart from the fact that it took 6 days to make, the actual time spent working on the bread was probably only 10 minutes in total.

There's something very satisfying about making bread from scratch, especially since it's how breads have been made for centuries. Commercial yeast is quite a recent addition to the whole process, and I can now picture what they meant by 'leaven' in all those bible texts.

Camping on a farm

2009-11-15T05:25:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely time camping with my family over the weekend at my sister and brother-in-laws farm out near Kojonup. 2 parents+6 siblings+5 in-laws+19 grandkids+3 grandkids partners = 35 people! (not to mention the 4 dogs!) Quite a crowd! We don't get together very often anymore, especially since we're spread out from Chittering to Busselton, so it was special to have everyone there.

Trying to work from home

2009-11-12T16:40:00.000-08:00

I've been doing some IT work from home the last couple of weeks, but it's been quite a challenge to get the focus I need to get it all done.

This page started out seriously yesterday morning, but then I was asked to draw a picture of 'clive on his tractor' and 'clive on his snoopy' and 'clive with his lawnmower' and then to write a whole lot of names, and suddenly it looks nothing like work!

(and I know, really bad attempts at drawing, but Clive doesn't seem to mind!)

And then later in the afternoon, here's what I saw from my office window: Clive running feral outside, no shoes, no pants, and completely grubby.

But then I got presented with a grubby handful of flowers which made it all worthwhile :)

What to knit when you're feeling uninspired

2009-11-09T18:37:00.000-08:00

Is squares!!

I've got a few knitting projects on the go, but they all require too much concentration. And when I do get to sit down and knit, it's nice to have something I don't need to think too much for (so I can talk and knit at the same time of course!!)

Save the Children is asking for some 20 cm squares, which seemed a great way to use up excess wool. So here's the start of square 1!!

Camping!

2009-11-09T18:19:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely couple nights away last weekend to Potter Gorge, only 20 minutes drive from our place! The Friday was a 'church camp', so we had a lovely evening with about 50 people from our church.

Unfortunately by the time I got the camera out it was too dark, so none of the photos turned out that well. But here's a shot of Clive and Aaron, who had a lot of fun running around, and getting completely filthy!

We stayed on an extra night, and enjoyed the peace and quiet of God's beautiful creation. We're so thankful to have so many great camping spots so close to where we live.

Here's our camp set up! We even went sophisticated this time and took a table cloth with us (this pics just for BJ!)

It was a good warm up for next weekend, when we hope to camp out Kojonup way with my family!

The downside of free range chooks

2009-11-04T19:57:00.000-08:00

...is the free range eggs.

Try finding them amongst all the bulbs under the crab apple tree (and that's just one corner where the eggs are laid)

Dean says I should just follow the chooks all day to see where the current spot of preference is - as if I have nothing else to do!

And can you believe the chooks even roost in the trees, rather then in their very comfortable chook shed?

Trying a hayfever remedy

2009-11-04T19:22:00.000-08:00

Dean has been suffering and miserable the last few weeks. I just love this time of the year, but all that pollen gives him the worse hayfever.

So I've been scouring my herbal books to see if I can find some remedy using something we have on hand. One of the books claimed yarrow is good to use as a steam inhalation for hayfever relief. And we have some yarrow in the garden, hidden away between the rosemary, chamomile and a whole lot of weeds!

So Dean gave it a go. I don't think it really helped at all, but if nothing else, it stopped the complaining for fifteen minutes or so while he breathed in the steam! (apart from the occasional, 'is that enough now!!')

It wasn't me!!

2009-11-04T19:21:00.000-08:00

Things I love in Cooinda this morning...

2009-11-03T16:47:00.000-08:00

Sunlight on the wooden floors (even if it does show up any dust!)

A bag from Mexico and retro handles...

Spices and food lined up...

A recent op shop buy for my beloved (who thought for a while that I had made it myself - and was quite disappointed that I hadn't)

And all pondering being interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps down the passage and "Mum, I need a hug" :)

Card making

2009-10-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

I've been loving some of the vintage cards I've been seeing on Etsy and MadeIt, and it seemed a great way to use up some well loved past their best by vintage children's books and old music scores.

So the old card making supplies (really, just a box of salvaged card board from old annual reports and a scapel) came out of storage.

(I hope Dean doesn't recognise any old books on here! :))

A reusable snack bag

2009-10-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

I've been sewing - unbelievable I know! Especially after my dismal attempts in high school sewing class, but there were a few curtains to shorten, and other projects I wanted to get onto, so I have my mum's trusty bernina on loan.

Now after managing a few small projects, including pants for clive and a little girls dress, I'm beginning to feel a bit more confident! (well, there was a fair bit of unpicking involved and a bit of muttering under my breath about there being a reason why people like me shouldn't be allowed near a sewing machine...)

Last night I had a go at this reusuable snack bag. Think I might have to make a few more of these!

Imagination of a three year old

2009-10-08T17:24:00.001-07:00

Clive told me this was a city with lots of cars and cranes!!

It's Spring at Cooinda...

2009-10-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

And the garden has been bursting into life!

The bees have been busy...

As well as the chooks...

We added five new chooks to our chicken family, and the rooster has been hard at work ensuring all his women get along with each other.

There's lot of flowers on the plum tree...

and plenty of ripening grapefruit.

And best of all we have a few broad beans that have appeared in our old chook run without any intervention!!

Wormwood Insect Repellent

2009-10-06T05:45:00.000-07:00

We have a wormwood bush at the front of our place...

A few weeks ago I put some out to dry, and today had a go at making an insect repellent, containing some strained wormwood tea, drops of lavendar oil, and vodka.

And Dean, who is normally very popular with the mosquitoes, tried it this afternoon and claimed he wasn't being bitten, so maybe that pungent smell will ward them off! It was fun to try anyway.

And here's some pretty bowls from my sister Susan - I just love the colours!!

A knitted teacosy from Canada

2009-09-24T02:35:00.000-07:00

Which is put to a lot of use considering our copious consumption of herbal teas!

Montessori inspired work area

2009-09-24T01:33:00.000-07:00

Here's Clive newly arranged 'work' area! I've tried to keep it as 'Montessori' as possible, with all separate jobs having a set place on the shelf. The straight line of masking tape is for 'walking the line', an activity we do at school, where the children try to walk quietly in a straight line.

The square is to practice sweeping up - there's a jar with some beans that can be split onto the floor, and then swept towards the square. Clive's been enjoying that activity!

Sourdough Bread

2009-09-24T01:25:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to have a go at making sourdough bread for a while, but it always seemed like such a long process. Sourdough bread is made without commercial yeast, but in order to get the bread to rise you need to catch some wild yeast.

I figured since I'm pretty good at growing things in the fridge (I try convincing Dean the forgotten leftovers are really a science experiment!) I thought it was worth a try!

I followed the instructions here

It started with some flour and water...

After feeding it for a few days, it began to bubble and smell sour...

Then today I made the dough... just some starter, flour, oil and salt

And here is the final result:

A bit heavy, but apparently they get better at rising as the starter matures. And very tasty.

So dinner tonight here is scrambled eggs on sourdough bread :)

Clive's New(ish) Red Bike!

2009-09-24T01:10:00.000-07:00

Clive turned three nearly a month ago, and all he wanted for his birthday was a red bike. We decided not to get him one, but then this one kind of jumped out at me while at a rummage sale last Saturday- and for $5 I couldn't leave it behind! A bit rusty, and it needed a set of training wheels, but otherwise in good condition.

Needless to say Clive was thrilled!

Tasmania - Week 2

2009-08-20T00:49:00.000-07:00

The Botanical gardens in Hobart are beautiful, and we spent a cloudy afternoon wandering through all the different areas. The herb garden and Pete's vegie patch were very interesting for Dean & me, but for Clive the 'red bridge' was the biggest hit.

One Wednesday night we booked a cottage at Mt Field - big enough for all 6 of us. Mt Field is a beautiful spot only 1 hour from Hobart. On the way we stopped at a wildlife park. One advantage of travelling in the off-season is we had the whole park to ourself! Nice to see koalas, tassie devils and kangaroos.

Dean made a beautiful chocolate tart which we all enjoyed. He's quite the chef!

The next day we all had a couple of walks through the national park.

One boy was actually sleeping, the other one tried hard to pretend he was as well!

Last day... we visited to Salamanca markets and basked in the sun (yes, really, sun in Hobart during August!) Clive enjoyed his dozenth babychinno - he looks like quite the pro!

Larry was trying to get Quinlan to sleep before we left for the airport.

We had a lovely stay, and hopefully Larry & BJ & Quinlan are enjoying the peace and quiet now we've gone (that's Dean & Clive who make all the noise)

Tasmania - Week 1

2009-08-20T00:34:00.000-07:00

We've been back from our enjoyable and relaxing holiday to Tasmania for nearly a whole week, and I'm finally getting around to putting a few pics up here! We are thankful everything went so well on the trip, and we had a nice time catching up with Larry & BJ, and meeting Quinlan for the first time.

Clive was pretty excited about going on the plane and did really well. Here he is while we were waiting at Perth airport.

Here's Larry is pensive mode while we walked Spud (the dog - who did no walking at all) on Sunday afternoon.

We promised Clive snow, and thankfully it snowed up in Mt Wellington the first day we were there. Really neat to see snow on an Australian landscape.

Here's some pics of Quinlan, who is nearly 1, and nearly walking. Very cute!

Clive took a bit of getting used to having a 'baby' around who tended to break railway tracks as he was building them up, but enjoyed his company anyway!

Boys will be boys.

There seemed to be so many trains in Tasmania (except not many real ones) - train themed parks, train museums, minature railways... great for our train mad little boy. He was pretty excited to find 'Thomas'.

Montessori

2009-06-02T23:20:00.000-07:00

It's been such a long time since I blogged, so I thought I would put a couple pics of Clive at Montessori this morning - we've had a lot of people ask what it's all about so these pictures might help give some idea! At the moment we have him attending 2 mornings a week.

Here are some pictures of the classroom - everything is 'child size' - even a very cute tent that I would love to replicate at home!

It's a very structured environment and the main rules are that the equipment has to be treated carefully (a lot of it is breakable) and the jobs have to be put back where they came from. Children are also not allowed to disturb another child while they are 'working'.

And here's Clive hard at work.

Clive has absolutely loved going to school. It's been great seeing him channel all his energy (and he has a lot of it!!) in a positive way and it has given us lots of ideas for activities to do with him at home.

And here's a pic of our dining table at the moment which might give you some idea of what we're working on! Stage 1 of Cooinda renovations!

A quick bulky beanie

2009-04-05T22:41:00.000-07:00

I've been on a bit of a beanie knitting frenzy the last few months, most of which have made their ways to hopefully loving homes. But this one I'm keeping :)

Here's the pattern - super easy! And I loved the wool I managed to find at spotlight. I haven't often knitted with bulky wool, but it sure makes the job a lot quicker.

Kings Park and Farewell to Oma

2009-03-15T22:09:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we had a family outing to Kings Park for Oma's last weekend in Australia. It was perfect weather, and we enjoyed the ambience of the park for the afternoon.

We've all enjoyed having Oma over here and the time has gone far too quickly.

Little Sophia from John & Janneke - isn't she beautiful!!

Getting a photo of Kiera was just a little easier than one of Clive...

And finally a shot of Dean and Clive. I know it's kind of blurry, but I like it anyway!

Plum Picking

2009-03-05T08:04:00.000-08:00

Considering these trees were only planted last winter, and considering how many birds and possums we have to fend off, it's surprising we have any plums at all.

There were four that survived, and Clive helped me pick them this afternoon. And yes, the truck was the means of transport back to the house. Four plums doesn't go very far with three people ... hopefully we'll have plenty more next year :)

Nannup Music Festival

2009-03-04T03:12:00.000-08:00

Just a collage of photos from our weekend in Nannup (I'm having fun playing around with a new program I downloaded).

We had a great time camping (it was Dean and 5 women!!) and listening to lots of fantastic music. Nannup is such a pretty town in the South West which completely comes to life during the festival! Lots of interesting people, and different music to listen to on every street corner.

A big day out to the zoo!

2009-02-17T01:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we had a day at the zoo with Dean's family. Our morning started very early, since we decided to take the train/bus/ferry there. We're sure that for Clive getting there and back was half the fun.

We left 6am to catch the bus.. and finally arrived at the zoo by 10am. First port of call was coffee and a snack.

Clive and Kiera were most excited by everything, and had to hold hands the whole time.

Grandads shoulder's were a great way to get around

especially when the pram wasn't performing to standard. Thankfully we had a resident engineer who devised a quick fix solution using a spare belt.

We finished the day off with a ride on the carousel and eating ice creams.

Clive had a Cat Nap before we caught the Cat Bus into town. A long day for us, but a lot of fun!

Best friends

2009-02-03T22:30:00.000-08:00

Here is where I found Clive and Lexi this morning - in a corner of the property, Lexi contentedly chewing a bone from last nights dinner and Clive sitting on one of my best towels which he must have stolen from the laundry pile.

These two have the funniest relationship. Clive is beginning to insist that Lexi is in her basket when he goes for a nap and gets most frustrated at her when she doesn't cooperate.

A visitor from Canada

2009-01-29T19:49:00.000-08:00

Oma M came and visited us for a night (all the way from Canada!!), along with Dad & Mum H. We spent yesterday afternoon on a day trip through some towns in the South West.

Our first stop was a Catholic church in Dardanup where we sat on the pews...

to listen to a sermon!!

Then we stopped for a picnic lunch at Donnybrook, before driving on to Balingup. It was a beautiful mild, overcast day, so great conditions for touring. A very gezellig time!!

Long evenings at the beach

2009-01-14T20:41:00.000-08:00

We're loving the daylight saving hours, and have been having a lot of picnics at the beach in Bunbury. Last night we met a couple friends there, and enjoyed far too much good food followed by some hots drinks at the nearby Dome.

Clive loved helping decorate the sandcastle with shells, inspired no doubt by one of his favorite reads 'Warren and the sandcastle'!

The other thing we're loving about summer is the beautiful tomatoes we've been picking. Every day we come in with a full container, and it's fun trying all the different varieties - we have 8 types!

A haircut

2009-01-11T04:52:00.000-08:00

We went from this...

to this...

When he had his last haircut way back before his 2nd birthday he put up such a loud protest that we've been putting off a repeat performance. Thankfully yesterday he suffered bravely through the ordeal with only a few tears to show for it. Dean pulling faces through the window, and a very cheerful hairdresser certainly helped things along.

And I just love this picture from the other afternoon - holding all his possessions close at hand! Clive is always such a busy and active boy, who also puts a lot of energy into fighting sleep, so it's always a relief to see him sleeping so peacefully!

A Solitary Sunflower

2008-12-28T22:36:00.001-08:00

I'm thankful I didn't pull this 'weed' out from our tomato patch- it's turned into the most magnificent sunflower. But we have no idea how it arrived there!! I think next summer we'll have to plant a whole patch of them.

Dean has a few days off between Christmas and New Year so he prepared 2 more garden beds near our house. So we have some more capsicums, silverbeet, leeks and yellow squash on the go.

Clive is thankfully nearly 100% again after managing to boycott all our Christmas Celebrations with fevers and general maladies. He is however, badly in need of a haircut :)

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and wishing you a blessed 2009!!

Summer Suprises

2008-12-16T21:19:00.000-08:00

The weather is finally warming up a little here, and we're enjoying the long summer evenings. Yesterday evening I was excited to discover a passionfruit! We have this vine that covers a water tank...

Every year it comes out in magnificent passionfruit flowers (these are really stunning - the most amazing patterns and colours) but never any passionfruit.

And then yesterday I noticed one forming on the vine. Couldn't find anymore though and have absolutely no idea why it doesn't normally set any fruit...

We share our house and garden with a lot of spiders, and we do our best to leave any webs outside in tact. I always find it miraculous that a spider can spin such a beautiful, symmetrical web.

Clive's lastest artwork

2008-12-11T20:57:00.000-08:00

Which is what you get for being silly enough to leave some paint and a paintbrush in reach of a two year old. Thankfully it was all on the ramp (which is soon to be destroyed!) and not over him.

1 x lonely chook + 1x 2 year old

2008-12-11T00:02:00.001-08:00

in 1 small pen.

(unfortunately motives of said 2 year old weren't entirely to the aforementioned chook's wellbeing, so his stay in the chook pen was put to an early end by 1xnasty mother)

Summer tomatoes

2008-12-08T21:30:00.000-08:00

mmm... these are the best, sweetest, juciest tomatoes I've ever had. They're an heirloom variety, but no idea which one.

(Poor Dean's complaining that between Clive and myself there's none left for him when he gets home.)

Some visitors from PNG!!

2008-12-08T21:13:00.000-08:00

Wayne & Cheronne spent a weekend with us, along with their three children. It was great to catch up with them again! Our house certainly felt very full for a few days!!

Here's Dean wheeling Bryce and Cameron around.

We visited the Busselton Jetty on Sunday evening, just as the sun was setting.

And just for a glimpse into our contrasting lives, here's a couple pics of a Sunday spent in Papua New Guinea with Wayne & Cheronne nearly a year ago. This was the last time we saw them, and the setting was quite different - with a lot of mud, humidity and bumpy roads...

Family Photo Time!!

2008-11-20T00:37:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday afternoon we had some family photos done by Arlene Bax, who took our wedding photos three years ago. She's a very talented photographer based in Fremantle, and she took some beautiful photos of Clive. Some are on her blog: http://arlenebax.blogspot.com/2008/11/nat-dean-clive.html

Fremantle

2008-11-19T00:59:00.001-08:00

Just a few random shots of our few days in Fremantle. Dean was put up for a conference, and I got to tag along and waltz the streets of Fremantle.

I met my mum and sister Felicity for lunch, and Hayley (2 1/2) and Clive proved quite an entertaining pair! Felicity is 17 weeks pregnant, so we're looking forward to another arrival in the family!

And Dean joined us for a short walk - he was tied up with the conference for most of the time.

A garden update

2008-11-07T21:54:00.000-08:00

Spring is a great time in the garden, and we've loved watching everything come into bloom. We've been eating lots of leeks. Last year I followed Jackie French's advice, which was to leave the leeks to go to seed and get a follow up crop without any extra work. So that's what we did - and as result we harvested lots of smaller, but very tender leeks.

Our new garden beds are going well. We've already been harvesting lettuce and spinach...

And the heirloom tomatoes are doing really well. We've forgotten which plants are which, so it'll be interesting to see what colour they all turn.

And we were excited to discover a couple blueberries already - though we're not likely to have a decent harvest this year since they're very young plants.

Dean's been busy building his fence and we're looking forward to having it completed. It'll mean we can leave the chooks to run free through the orchard area, and they won't be ruining our herbs and vegies. We're also hoping to get some ducks (I have my eye on some Indian Runners which are so cute!) and also some more chooks - purebreeds this time.

And our crab apple tree just looks beautiful in the sun against a blue sky.

Clive is changing so much and it seems there's something new every day. He wants to 'help' all the time now, so whatever job we're doing we try hard to find something for him to do as well. He's been watering plants, and pushing his little wheelbarrow around, mulching, and digging holes - as well as a 2 year old can.

When I love having a herb garden!

2008-11-07T21:42:00.000-08:00

Culinary delights: Pizza topped with potato, rosemary and basil is delicious (and the pizza stone I got for my birthday makes such a difference - thanks Gerry, Diana & Natasha!!)

Herbal Remedies: Dean suffered from 'septic tonsils' for a few days. The doctor prescribed antibiotics but we decided to try a few 'home remedies' before we went down that route. Plus, our Biolytix system doesn't handle people on antibiotics too well :)

I read up that Sage is great for infected tonsils, and we also have a plant called 'Self Heal' which is a known remedy for sore throats. So we made up a tea with those two herbs, and mixed in a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and Dean gargled with it. For what it's worth, he's all better now, and no antibiotics.

Brunswick Show Day

2008-10-26T21:57:00.000-07:00

We all had a fun day at the Brunswick Show on Saturday. We also felt a little like we were remembering our Wedding Anniversary since we were married on Show Day three years ago :)

The "Lions Animal Nursery" was a highlight - it was filled with kids, parents and animals - Clive was a completely thrilled with the pigs. We were sure if he was talking a bit more he would probably have been asking too take one home.

He was also pretty keen on this tractor in his size.

My parents and brother Gary joined us for the afternoon so once we were 'showed out' we enjoyed found a great place to kick back and have a few drinks.

And I won a couple prizes for my herbs and vegies which was a bit of a laugh. I really didn't think my broad beans were that great, considering I hadn't staked them up too well and they have been collapsing into each other. Nothing for the cakes though, but it seems there's some pretty stiff competition there.

Bedroom Makeover

2008-10-24T00:35:00.001-07:00

Dean had holidays for a couple weeks and he set himself a very ambitious 'to do' list. The only major project that we managed to complete was painting the main bedroom.

This room had a serious mold problem and repainting it was becoming more necessary than optional. We were also quite happy to be rid of the pink cornices, lamp shade and blue curtains :)

Before

During

After

It's Show Time!!

2008-10-23T23:42:00.000-07:00

We thought it would be fun to put a few entries in the Brunswick Show this year. Not that we're expecting to win anything considering there's some pretty stiff competition. But it's nice to be part of something local.

So Dean got busy last night with his "Men's Cake" entry - a Lemon Meringue. And he sure does make a good one!

And I entered some muffins in the "sweet muffin" category - Apple and Cranberry.

From our garden we have some silver beet

Broad beans

And a selection of herbs (parsley, sage, rosemary, marjoram, fennel, chives, coriander, marigold, basil and thyme!) Just realised I forgot the lemon balm - oh well, hopefully that won't count against me.

Brunswick just comes alive during show time! All week there's been a build up of people and gear at the show grounds, and the place is a hive of activity. We're looking forward to a good day tomorrow!