Thursday 22 March 2012

Autumn has Sprung!

Happy Autumn to the Southern Hemisphere
and Happy Spring to the Northern one!

Either way it means more mild temperatures if we are all lucky.
:)

We have a butternut pumpkin that looks like it is ready to pick any day now.
It was a complete surprise- a volunteer from the compost bin. I don't remember the last time we had butternut pumpkin- so you could've knocked me over when that is the kind of curcurbit it grew to be. The little female flowering fruits are so adorable- and quite big for an unfertilized "fruit"- the first one we had I thought for sure must've got pollinated without our help, it was so large when it withered. But since that happened the next one we made sure we helped Mother Nature along. We had plenty of bees around when the gum tree was blooming- but that was done by the time this blossomed... and now we have a lovely butternut to grace our table one of these days. I need to look up on how to best take care of it after picking. Some pumpkins do better left on the vine as long a possible- but since the butternut is so thin-skinned- I am not sure.

Made some cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day- will try to place a photo or two here to show them to you. I baked and iced- DS decorated.







Hope you are well.

Monday 5 March 2012

Homesick

Even after 10 yrs of being here and making some lovely friends and owning my own home ( well- paying it off), which is a lifetime dream- I am still homesick.
Homesick, family- sick, friend-sick, tree-sick... the whole lot.
Not everyday, but often enough that I wonder that even if we won the lottery (Which we don't play, BTW) would moving to the bush/countryside make me happy enough to want to stay? I don't know how one figures this kind of thing out.

I know I should be thankful for what I have- and I am- but I long for more peaceful surroundings. Sirens and loud vehicles, smelly exhaust, and constant human voices are my daily life and it doesn't sit well with my interior. I don't know how to help that either.

It was a lovely day today- mostly sunny with cooler temps- about 23C as the high.
I got laundry,dishes, and two skeins of handspun all washed and dried. That's saying something for a Monday!
I also got an entire batt of fibre from Kathy (www.KathysFibres.com)spun!
Just into singles at the moment.
Last week I did a pair of slippers (as a test for a designer) in crochet and finished up a hooded scarf that I was testing for someone else. I have been quite prolific for someone who seems to get little done in a week most weeks! I am feeling happy about that.
Now I've agreed to test crochet a pair of baby slippers- if they turn out nicely I'd like to send them to Karla- my friend Jane's daughter - who, along with her DH of course, is expecting their first child this September!!!! I am so very excited for them!!

Thanks for reading.
Hope you are well.

Friday 24 February 2012

Happier Post

Since it's been so long since I had posted before the last not so happy post- you'd think I would have so much to write and tell. Not so. Well- not to my mind so much.
It's summer- it's already 25C/80F in the house.(at 6 in the morning!) It's been hot this summer- not so many days of over 35C but we have had a few bouts of around 35C and it stays warm at night (in the 80's- fine for a deacde but not so fine for a night temperature!) and is just hot hot hot outside- and in. I am VERY thankful it hasn't reached 40C too much this year. Enough about the weather- let me just say I am ready for summer to leave and cooler temps come back.

DS is in Class 2 at school. This year is more like 'school' than the previous years. They are even learning to write in cursive this year! ( Wasn't I in, like, 4th or 5th grade before I learned that!?) It is very interesting how Waldorf schools teach/help children learn.
I recommend it.
( I don't like the forced socialization of the adults/families, but that's me. Most others seem to enjoy it. But as far as learning goes- I couldn't ask for more/better by the end of the year!)

Still spinning and crocheting. Not as much as I'd like.
Still disorganised and messy- at this age I am wondering if I will ever be neat. I aspire to it- is that good or bad?

I am still homesick on a daily basis. Some days I think I am just tree-sick- or greenery-sick. The train station is horrifically moving along as they plan. And the govt. has decided to turn the fields below Seaford into more suburbia- and many trees lost their lives for a new $18 million overpass at McLaren Vale. We needed to do something about the clogged T junction there- but this answer is extreme. UNLESS you are the govt. and knew in advance that you were intending on eradicating one of the major drawcards to the south- the green area. It is my firm belief they knew more than 10 yrs ago they were going to do all this. However what they 'promised' was no more urban sprawl beyond Seaford. They'd fill in and not extend building any further South. So they have filled in alright- again at the expense of Nature and healthy living spaces. And they are not 'technically' going much more south than "Seaford" because they just keep renaming the areas built to be "Seaford SOMETHING"-Seaford Heights, Seaford Meadows, Seaford Esates...
Of course we won't mention all the housing (read: tiny houses on virtually NO land all packed together like sardines in a tin...)they have not only allowed to be built in Seaford and the northern areas from us, but also McLaren Vale, McLaren Flat, Aldinga/Aldinga Beach ( horrific for sure!), Mt Compass, even Victor Harbor can't escape the grip and greediness of the govt. and the developers. I complain- but the real losers are the animals. The kangaroos and koalas are being pushed out. Well- road kill for the 'roos... there aren't many Koalas anymore because there are virtually no trees and they apparently just move on and don't try to live with humans and their stupid ways.
Hmm...... I thought this was a happier post??
Let me see.....
happy... happy....
oh- I know! Fruit has been very lovely and affordable this summer! Mmmmm.
Coming into apple and pear time now. And some oranges too. But I'm not buying those yet- we will have all winter to eat them- I am sticking with peaches, nectarines, apricots, strawberries, and melons! Oh - and grapes! Goodness the grapes are lovely this year too!- until we can't get those in season anymroe ( Nothing has beat how nice the peaches were this year overall though! We've eaten several kilos over the last two months!) :)
There! Something to smile about.

Hope you are well.

Monday 13 February 2012

A New Year- 2012

I am missing Skylar.
Needed somewhere to write it. Here it is.