I couldn't have a backyard without....

Some flowers!!

Some photos also taken on Mothers Day......

Went to an auction last night. Was hoping to get 4 bar stools at a really good price. But they ended up going for around $70. Still not too bad for 4, but I was hoping for $40. They aren't what I want in the long term, but thought they would be good enough to start with. Kicking myself that I didn't grab a shabby chic style telephone stand. Went for $12!! Next time :)

Sandy

Also in the garden....

Some sweet potato....I haven't ever grown this before....fingers crossed....Adrian from Eureka Organic Compost pulled it out of his garden and gave to me to try....and it's going really well.... Some onions....not sure if they are red, white or brown.....

a buttnernut pumpkin.....picked yesterday :)....

and hopefully another one growing.....

Some rhubarb.... Heirloom mini chocolate capsicums....I haven't tried one of these yet....but they look cute...

Some ordinary capsicum....

Two passionfruits I planted.....a red and a pink......hopefully they will cover the fence...

Sandy

Vegie garden update....

Took these photos on Mothers Day. I spent a couple of hours gardening.....

I dug out bits of grassing coming into the beds, added some organic compost that I bought from Vicki and Adrian at Eureka Organic Compost in the Swan Valley, soaked my pea hay in a wheelbarrow full of water and then spread over the bed. Then I moved a little of the hay and planted the seedlings....Beautiful!!

this one tastes like cucumber....interesting!

Sandy

Sunday afternoon...

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year :)

Am doing some tidying up inside today, along with time on the computer. I am spending 30mins on computer and then 30mins cleaning and then back to 30mins on computer, then back to cleaning, blah blah blah :) Working a treat. Have done a load of washing (lounge room cushions and stuff), vacuumed through, tidied lounge and dining, in the process of the kitchen now, as such as the kitchen is!

Had to share my pumpkin though. I cut it yesterday, picked it probably a couple of weeks ago. And look how fantastic it looks. I just steamed it in the microwave, along with some of my potatoes, and had them with brocolli and peas and roast chicken for tea last night. Yummo!!

I picked another one a couple of days ago, and it looks like another will be ready in a few days (the plant has really died off). Both of these 2 aren't as big as the first one though.

On the garden front, I have planted some runner beans, some more spinach (the gorgeous red stemmed one) and some baby cucumbers.

Today, Tracey and I went out to the Armadale Growers Market, they only started up in Nov. Bought some lovely organic fruit and veg. and some apple juice! On the way back called through the Maddington Swap Meet, and managed to get a couple of rhubarb plants, some chocolate mint, a couple of pink flowering plants and an eggplant. Will get all of them planted tonight, when it is cooler.

Sandy

Sandy

Has it been that long....

Since I posted? Can't believe it!

A very quick catchup, before I get ready for work.

Kitchen is out, what a drama that was! Had to get a builder in to support a beam in the roof, so that the feature crappy brick could be taken out. It was a builder that we use at work, and he took 3 weeks to get here, although telling me every couple of days that he was on his way! Anyway, then I had to get the ceiling fixed, along the wall where the brick came out and some of the wall repaired. All done now and looks good. Now some of the flooring has to be lengthened, because when you get cupboards built they don't make them to what size you want, they are all a standard 600mm deep! Some of that crappy brick wall came out 700mm (around the oven) and so that is where the floor had been laid. Have to check my excess sitting in the shed, to see if I need to buy more. Have got two quotes in the last couple of weeks, first one for $9200 and the second for $12000. These are both better than the $14000 Kitcraft quoted me back in January (does not include any appliances). I have passed on the design that I drew up to my old boss, Elizabeth (interior designer) and she gave me back a page full of changes!! So now she is drawing up what she thinks I should do. May not get that back until next week.

Kids are well, Brody is unemployed at the moment and not very interested in doing anything. He told me that he wanted to start doing some work on the Mazda that I gave him, so I drove it into the back yard. But him and his mates just seem to sit in it and smoke cigarettes!

Tori has just finished 2 weeks swimming lessons and passed both Level 7 and 8. Congratulations Torza!!! You clever girl :)

In the vegie garden - dug out a good pile of beautiful potatoes from the garden bed (still have the tyres to dig out), had to feed some cauliflowers to the chooks as they were no good (not sure if any of them will be ok), have planted some beetroot, have been picking brown onions when I need them (they are fantastic), still have some spring onions left, tomatoes are ripening up and pick a couple every couple of days (hundreds of plants coming up from where the chooks used to be), Tori tried a snow pea (won't be long til they are ready)

Ok, time to go. Sorry there are no photos, haven't had a chance to load them onto the computer. Will show some over the weekend :)


Sandy

A catch up....

Finally......

Have had computer problems and bits and pieces happening, and I couldn't get on.

Tori and Shayla won their last 2 netball games. Both good games. The second last one, the score was 28 - 12 and Shayla got 15 goals. She played so well!! We had their windup at a rollerskating rink last Saturday. Kids had a ball, but 2 mums had their arms in slings and had to go to the hospital after! Tori has told me that one broke her wrist. Never fear, Bub and I didn't put the skates on :)

Vegie garden is going well. I have taken some photos, will try and upload over the weekend. I planted punnets in the new bed - chinese cabbage, cabbage, lettuce, potatoes (also in tyres), some chinese stir fry vegie, broccoli and cauliflower. All look good! The potatoes are absolutely booming!!

Chooks are going well in their new spot, all the grass is gone. Getting 3 eggs a day.

So...the electrician and plumber have been and disconnected everything in the kitchen. Charged me $130 all up, I was pretty happy with that. But....have now found out that the bricks I want to knock out, are a supporting wall! Bugger!! Jay is going to talk to Gil, and we will see what happens. The mini skip is here, we still have it for another week, but I don't like my chances now of knocking it out before then.

Tori has the flu. I stayed home with her on Monday and Tuesday, and now I have it as well. Shocking cough, body aches, head aches. I feel like I have been hit by a bus. Poor Tors has the school athletics carnival today and as she is faction captain, there is no way she is going to miss it.
Ok, that is all I can cope with now.

Not crash hot photos, but these are of the kids at the carnival in 2006.

Sandy

Weekend roundup...

Nothing exciting this weekend....not that there ever is actually...but one can live in hope!

Tori and Shayla played netball again on Saturday. We didn't even bother finding out the score. I am such a shocking mother of the player watcher!! Honestly, I could slap every one of the girls they play against and god knows what I could do to the umpires. Smart little upstarts!! One of them came up to our team at quarter time and told them to watch their attitude, because she is giving up her time to umpire their game and didn't appreciate the girls being a little vocal about her shocking decisions!! The team they played against has won every game this year, but we did make them earn this win, anyway. Shame one of their girls didn't get injured...told you I was shocking :)

Sunday morning Bub and I went out to the Midland Markets again for fruit and veg. Got some more beautiful strawberries. Also got some asparagus. Really pissed off when I got home and realised it was from Thailand!! What the...! I thought everything for sale out there was at least grown in WA. Don't know if I want to go back now :(

When we got home I got into the garden. Weeded a bit out the front, and then some more in the back. We moved the chook pen, and cleaned out the chook house. A bit of the fence fell on 2 of the chooks, but they just shook their feathers and kept on their business. Thank god!

I dug up some strawberries and put in a hanging basket. Dug up 2 rosemary plants and some lemon thyme to give to a work colleague.

Pulled out some carrots too. Don't think I will be selling them very quickly!! But they are yummy! I grated one tonight for our fajitas, and it was really nice.

Don't laugh....

Karen came over with a bottle of red and her and Tiana (with her beer) gave me gardening advice and instructions!! Well then I had to open my bottle of red....Four bottles later.....

Tori and Shayla spent hours making an Olympic circuit for Willow for Sunday afternoon. Tori used her pocket money to make little lolly bags for them and made up medals. They had a ball :)

Beautiful weather all weekend, and I think another week of it, so hopefully will be able to do some more gardening during the week after work...fingers crossed.

And for those that asked.....here's a photo of the fish. This is Tori's fish Goldy, unfortunately his 2 housemates died a couple of months ago. We also have a couple more in a bath tub out the back.

Ciao..

Sandy

Weekend roundup....

Tori and Shayla had their usual netball game on Saturday. THEY WON!!!! I think the final score was 19 - 13, something like that. They were in front by 2 at the end of the first quarter, and the second quarter the team was fantastic and were in front by about 6. Then the third quarter the coach put someone in to centre position that had been off for 8 weeks with a broken arm. She came back last week, but there was no way she was fit enough to play centre for a third quarter. She was already tired from the first 2 quarters! So the team ended up being only 1 goal in front at the end of the third quarter, and they played shocking. The fourth quarter they picked back up and managed to jump ahead a bit again. This is the last time I will let Tori play in a team where the coach's daughter is on the team. It just doesn't work.

After netball Tori and I took Curtis to the vet. He had been limping for a couple of weeks, although I couldn't find anything wrong. By Friday though, he wouldn't walk on it at all, and the pad on the sore foot looked like he had been chewing it. Anyway $45 later, the vet said the chewed pad is actually healing and it is all new pad coming through, it won't be hurting him at all. He did feel something in his creushin ligament (no idea how to spell that!) but it wasn't very bad. He said large dogs can go lame from the same problem, but small dogs can handle it and will use the leg again. Something like that, anyway. So nothing to worry about, just go back in a couple of months if he is still limping or if he starts to whimper. The vet was really being quite rough with his leg and he hardly took any notice. So all good!

After we got home from the vet, I started another vegie garden. I had got Brody and his mates to move some sleepers for me last weekend, to set it up. I laid newspaper and cardboard down first. I had some rakings in a pile, that was all dead so I laid that down next. There was a little bit of straw left over from my last garden and I put that down as well. It had just been sitting at the end of my other vegie bed, and you should have seen the worms through it. OMG, heaps. Then I shoveled soil from the original chicken spot, and put that in the bed. Again, literally hundreds of worms. These vegies are going to be fantastic! The bed is not quite full, so will try and finish it off during the week. Planted some potatoes in a tyre. Will have to dig around and get some out though and put them in the new bed, as I think I have too many for just a tyre.

Sat night was an early one, as I was so tired!!

Sunday morning Tori and I went into the Midland Growers Market to get some fruit and vegies. Cauliflowers were $4.50, but I did manage to pick out a nice big healthy one. I will make a cauli mornay and maybe a soup for work. So it is not too bad. Some lovely strawberries and apples.

Then Tori, Shayla and I went caught the train into Harbour Town with Tracey, Tyla, Ben and their Japanese exchange student Yuka (not sure of the spelling). I didn't manage to find anything I wanted, but Tori and Shayla both bought one top each. We didn't make it all the way around when everyone was ready to go though.

Back home to a glass of red and the Eagles and Dockers game. Watched bits of it next door. Poor old Eagles lost again. But it was good for Sean McManus who played his last game for the Dockers.

So that was the weekend, and now it is Monday morning, another week starting. Pay week this week though, that is always good!!

Leaving you with a couple of old photos, because photos make a blog look interesting :) I took these in Febuary, obviously my vegie garden. Not looking quite so healthy at the moment. It was beautiful back then!

Sandy