Winter Cooking

 Oh my Goodness,

 is anybody else addicted to cooking shows……. I think it’s the winter effect that makes it so bad this time of year that I find myself salivating as I watch endless cooking shows….. ha but there is always a but………………. the funny thing is ( well I find it humorous) is that in between the cooking shows are the commercial tv ads for weight loss and the miracle exercise machines….. NO I do not want one or believe in the hype…. although I do jot down any new ingredient I might like to try on the cooking shows…. so be it I love good food. I also have a great belief in all things in moderation , so enjoy what you will and if you can grow your own or source all your needs locally all the better. OK enough of the soapbox for this week, in the garden this week I still have Hot Thai Chillis, parsley, broccoli, leeks, garlic, artichoke, spinach, silverbeet and a bit more so very contented in the kitchen for winter…. hope you are all doing as well xx Carol

Winter….

 Hi everyone,

                     welcome to winter….brrr it is starting to get quite cool but don’t you love it when you head out the back door and the chill of the air clears your head instantly…..what a wake up! The days are great for getting lots of jobs in the garden, so I am hoping to complete the new garden area at our place so I can move on to repaving the courtyard for spring and summer outdoor dining……. Although being by the wood fire cooking away is another joy of mine this time of year.

So Happy cooking and Gardening to all .    Carol x

 

 

Talking about Open Garden and Guest-house

 

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Open Garden and Guest-house

New Paving and Deck

Just a quick update on the garden progress, the pics are of the small deck leading onto the new paved area which leads down into the open gravelled area enclosed by gabian rock walls. In the near future will hopefully install a fire pit in this area, it will be a great family area….can’t wait.

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Autumn Time…

   Hi all, well autumn has finally hit with Mother Nature delivering us 110 mm of rain in our normally dusty Rushworth, so we are all feeling a little blessed at the moment. The garden is loving it, frogs are partying in the dams and the birds are singing. What more could a gardener want….mm… more mulch, more plants, more manure and compost.. more time…. he he. Norm Jak and I have just come back from 5 days in Jervis bay it was beautiful, the beaches are gorgeous, weather was great so we had a beaut time. Have posted a few photos for you to see for yourself. Autumn is my favorite time of year in the garden and the vege patch as it is time for new plants and working in the cooler days is wonderful…So I am hoping to complete some more of the stone gabian walls (finished one today yeah!) only 9 to go, then we will start on the fire pit. The brick cobble paving is nearly complete hoping to have it done this weekend. Then I will finish the 3 mosaic tiles to be features in the paving…and the list goes on, but hey at least Iam never bored..don’t get time. So I hope everyone enjoys the Autumn days as we all know they quickly turn into wintry ones….mm then the cooking bug erupts…..

Ciao for now Carol x

New garden area.

 Hello again,

    hope everyone had a happy and safe new year, I had 2 of my lovely grandchildren on news years eve so that was my celebration….. Last night we had few friends over though and cooked some lamb and chicken in the pizza oven accompanied by plenty of champagne and orange juice on ice mmm…lovely good fun had by all. Have posted some pics of the new area we are landscaping on our north west side of house for all to see  the progress as we go. The rock walls show some detail pics and the large steps are local ironbark milled in town. The small deck is also ironbark recycled from a local farm in the area, the area of gravel around this deck will be paved also in recycled materials. The mosaic barn and pizza oven are also in the pics as is a great cacti that flowered just before Xmas and was gorgeous although each flower only lasts a day or two. We had a great storm last night and new years eve which gave a spectacular light show with plenty of thunder also and we were really lucky and got about 30mm of rain with it so the garden is happy and me!

Back to work next week the Christmas New Year break has gone as quick as the rest of my life he he….This is where I enjoy many cups of tea in the morning and a glass or two at night……..

Catch you all soon. Carol x

Link to Design by Nature

Hi everyone,

            sorry about the link to Design By Nature in last post didn’t set it up properly. Summer heat is starting to creep in here at Rushworth even though we have had some rain in the spring it is quickly drying out. We have already had quite a few 40 degree days already….yuk  The landscaping of the front yard is coming along slowly but as the heat subsides my energy levels will return to normal….. I hope! Using all available energy for my day job….. We have started building rock retaining walls and a small deck in the garden design, so will keep building walls and start the paving around the deck next before moving onto the sandpit area for the grandkids. Hoping to have it all completed by May – June. I will post some pictures in next week or two.

Bye for now Happy Gardening or whatever else brings joy into your lives.

                                                                                              Carol x

New Photos

 Morning all,

                      have loaded some more garden and mosaic pictures, the table top mosaic is a piece designed by Louise from Design By Nature  and we created it together for a job in Shepparton. The rock cages and plantings are a job we did in Benalla 12 or so months ago, I had a chance to take a pic when I was there recently and it’s all coming along good.

Garden pictures are in and around our garden and mosaic  rug is a piece in progress in the Mosaic Barn created by Louise, myself and her mum Esther, we have had fun doing this piece together although being on the floor level has been hard work especially being in the Roman Style with small……. pieces of tiles. Hope everyone is enjoying the glorious spring we are having and if you get a chance come and see our Open Gardens in Rushworth next Sunday 1st November 9am-3pm.

                               Bye for now and happy gardening…. x Carol

Open garden day Rushworth On Sunday 1st November 2009

   Hello everyone,

               it’s that time again in Rushworth when we have our annual open garden day. This year it is being held on Sunday 1st November from 9am-3pm. The flyers are available in local business houses or contact the school on 58561347   and it can be emailed to you. We are having 7 gardens open on the day a few of these are collectors gardens with a great collection of old machinery in the entry garden. So come to Rushworth for a great day out…..  The Mosaic Barn will be open on the day also serving tea coffee and cake as part on the entry price for the day, so come and see some works in progress and the Mosaic workshop.

 

Kookaburras in garden

 Hello everyone,

                things have been busy of late at work so haven’t had much time in the garden or Mosaic Barn hoping that will change soon. But the Kookaburras have been very active in the garden as the picture shows. This day that I came home from work there were 6 of them in the garden searching and finding lots of goodies to eat…. They are so cute but maybe my frogs and worms don’t think so….. Have planted a few new food plants in  the last week , as it’s time for bare rooted tree planting and heres hoping that we get more rains to help them along the way. I planted a fig and mandarine tree to help screen my solar wind anchors, so we have more useful plants in the garden and they can be pruned to suit as the grow.

 So bye for now and hope to catch up again soon.    Carol