Doing The Books.

Once agauin I have 3 or more things on the go at once with everything everywhere so I have decided to pick one job and get it finished.

I have picked  THE BOOKS.

A week ago, or 3 or 4 weeks ago I can't really remember, daughter L brought me out a box of books and they have been sitting on the floor behind the couch ever since.  The box was overfilled so the top ones had fallen off, grandaughters toys had been mixed in with them as she can't get to her shelf to put them away, clean washing  thrown put there as well instead of being put away.    What the!!

I started on the clothes this morning but some are still on our bed, that is the next job.

I'm not sorting every shelf today but I am hoping to get all the books off the floor and on a shelf with others of the same subject..  It is a dusty job though, not sure when this area was last dusted.  Not this year I don't think.  Bad Me.






But I have made a start and after lunch and a coffee I will get it finished.

Updates then.





I possibly have too many books but please don't let Hubby know that I said that.

I want to get the Grass Roots and the Earth Gardens magazines sorted and in seperate piles but that won't happen today.

There *may* be some books that I will get rid off.  But not today.

I know that there are at least 2 boxes of books in the shed that I want inside...but not today.

Today I will just get them off the floor and on a shelf.

Well, it's not finished, everything still needs sorting but it is as good as it's gunna get today.

I think I need to send the grandaughters teddies home with her as we also have a box of teddies and toys on top of these shelves for her to use when she is out here.

I'm Tired, I Eat.

I woke up too early this morning, it was 4.45 but I was awake so got up.  I am tired now though and should go have a sleep but "Frost" is on and I like him.  But because I am tired I feel like eating.
I looked online and found this recipe for Microwave Brownies on the All Recipes site.

I don't follow recipes though so my changes are in blue.    

Ingredients

150g butter

65g unsweetened cocoa powder

200g sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100g flour

 I uses 100gm margarine, 5ogm cocoa and 150gm sugar.

 ▲ Less

Preparation method

1. Melt the butter in high for about 30 to 40 seconds. Add the sugar, cocoa and vanilla in that order and mix well.

2. Add the eggs, slightly whipping after each one. Add the flour and mix well.

3. Spray a microwave safe glass pan with cooking spray. Pour the batter into the pan. Cook on high for 4 to 5 minutes(the more powerful your microwave the less time it takes). Let rest for 10 minutes before cutting.

 I cooked for 4 min and 7 sec and it is too dry.  Very chocolaty though.   

 

Would be so yummy with whipped cream but luckily I don't have any.  I have had a small piece, and then another but the rest has been packed away in the freezer in the shed.

But now I have it out there I think I'd better be having an hours sleep.   To save me from myself.

Stormy Weather.

We had a massive thunderstorm last night and it brought heaps of rain with it so all the gardens are looking good.  Pity I didn't have any seedlings to put in, I think they would have done alright.  Only downside is the grass that was mowed last Monday and looks like it's ready be mowed again, will grow quicker.

We had no power for a few hours but did have plenty of candles so at least we weren't sitting in the dark.  Went out the back and the lightning show was brilliant but the rain was too wet so had to go back in.

Son came out, said he'd been driving around town having a look at the damage and mentioned the highway being under water and the shops getting flooded so me being the sticky beak interested person that I am I got him to take me for a drive.  I learned that he drives too fast and it is scarier being in the car with him than with his sister.  I think he  is a better driver though, he has the experience of bush bashing behind him.  The water had dropped a lot but you still couldn't see the footpath or the bottom of the shop door and walls.  Poor buggers would have had a mess to clean up this morning.

We gave him some candles to take home with him and I am thinking that I need to pull my finger out and start making some so we all have a good supply on hand.   I have a block of beeswax and a roll of wick somewhere so no excuses.

Had a walk around the place this morning and no damage here but have just seen some news showing some of the mess that Perth copped.  I feel for all those people, I would hate to have that happen here.

Weather guy says we will get some hot days this week so I am hoping that we get some mushrooms from the back paddock.  I will need to keep checking so if they do come up I get them before the cows trample them.

Mondays Lunch

Lunch yesterday was yummy, there are some good cooks in my family.

Saw some people that I haven't seen in ages and probably won't see for ages again though there are plans for a visit to the big playground down in Donnybrook in a few weeks and that should be fun.

I may have perfected the Lentil Burgers by then. lol.

I like my family, pity I don't see them more often.

Lentil Burgers.

I am going out for a bringaplate lunch on Monday and was thinking of doing mini quiche or savory eggs but someone else is doing a quiche so I have decided to take some Lentil Burgers. 

I have made these before and even Hubby said they weren't bad but this time I did them differently and I don't know if they are better or not.  I don't use recipes so never know how something will end up tasting.  I wanted to do something vegan in case DD was coming but have just found out that she is going away for a few days so won't be able to but I think I will still take some as I like them but may have to do something else as well.

In case anyone is interested here is what I did.

I cleaned out the crisper and grated heaps of vegetables, put 2 cups into the electric frypan and added a cup of raw red lentils.  There was a small amount of lentils left in the bag and I thought that there was no use keeping them so I added them too.  So another 1/4 cup.


Boiled it all up and cooked it until it was cooked.  I did add some Vegata powder but no amount, I just sprinkled some in as it was cooking.

When it was cool I mixed in a cup of rolled oats and let it sit while I was on the computer, so don't know how long for.

I then washed the pan, sprayed on some oil, dropped in some spoonfulls of mixture and starting cooking them.

I like them but...I don't know, I think they need something else.  They are really nice with Barbecue sauce on them.

DD and her husband came out and he said they were really nice,  she said that they were too soft in the middle.  Maybe I need to cook them longer, this is where not following a recipe has it's drawbacks.

I will try and make up some sort of sauce to go with them for the lunch on Monday.  Maybe a satay, will need to think on it.

Next time I will only use the 1 cup of lentils and maybe not so much water, maybe a dryer mix would be better.  I will also add some sweet chilli sauce for more flavour.

I only made little bite-size ones, if we were going to have them in a roll then they would need to be hamburger size.

I have enough for Mondays lunch with plenty to spare so I can freeze some for lunches during the week.



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I Am My Own Worst Enemy.

Yep, as the title says, I am my own worst enemy.  I know it but I keep doing the same things over and over and in doing so I make more work for myself.

If I took the wheelbarrow with me when I pull the grass out of the gardens then I could take it straight out to the pig when I was finished.  But I don't, I pull the grass out and leave it in piles on the lawn and 3 days later I need to clean it up but it is not as fresh so the pig doesn't like it as much.

If I threw the rubbish in the bin today then I wouldn't have to do it tomorrow.

I knew the chooks were out yesterday but instead of shutting them back in straight away I *forgot* about them and they scratched all the mulch from the gardens so I had an extra job raking it all back in.  AND they scratched up the onion and lettuce seedlings.  A big bummer that but my own fault.

Folding the clothes and putting them away as soon as they were dry and not leaving them on the bed until I had 3 loads to deal with.

Keep an eye on the hose so I don't overflow the washing machine.  I do this one quite often.  We have a twintub but the agitator is now stuck and I think it is because the water has made it stick so I need to wash by hand until Hubby has a look at it for me.  He has already had to fix it so I am making more work for him too.

Heaps of other stuff, I need to be more aware and not go off and do other jobs until the first one is finished.

Maybe that can be something to aim for over the next few weeks.

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Friday Already.

So it is aready Friday and another week has nearly gone by without me getting all I wanted done.  The grass and edges were looking good on Monday evening after T and her fella left but since then I have been doing stuff out there so there are bits and pieces laying around the place, including all the grass that I pulled out of the gardens and the bits of plants that I have hacked off.  
Why don't I clean up as I go, it would keep things looking halfway decent and save a lot of rushing to a deadline like tomorrow morning when I have someone coming to pick up some eggs so I need to clean up the driveway and pathway so she doesn't trip over and break her leg and sue us.

Thinking about it though, I wasn't home Tuesday or Thursday so going by the mess out there I did get a lot done on Wednesday, there is a lot of mess, but I also did some whippersnippering in the orchard out front.  Some of the grass in there was thigh high, still is in places so I plan to do some more this evening.
I also put some more seeds in, not as many as I planned to as the phone rang then I went onto something else, as I do unfortunately but more will be planted today.

This morning I have weeded some more and as it is a lovely cool day I have liguid fertilisd some of the vege beds out the back.  I was going to pull out some horrible looking, powdery mildew infested zucchinis but a couple of them have small zukes on them so I just trimmed them up and they are looking a lot better.

I did pull up the dead cucumber plants and now have only 2 young ones left, one is looking good, has lots of flowers and some small fruit, the other plant, not so good but it may give us a feed or two so I am leaving it for the time being.

I have come in for lunch and have been watching Italian Safari, I taped it last night.  So many yummy things were being made on there, I hope I remember to tape it each week as I like those kind of programes.  I left the tape running and now there is a gardening show on, looks good so I will have a coffee while it is on.  It looks like it will be about turning your backyard into a food growing area. 

Lawn Mowing and Whipper Snippering.

I was outside early this morning trying to make a start on getting the grass down to a safe level but gave up just before lunch. DD and her fella came out while I was having lunch and within a few hours it is all done, including the edges. I am so pleased and grateful for what they did for me today. Thankyou T and L.

I have given in and will use spray around the edges to stop them getting out of control again. I just cannot keep up with it all anymore and Hubby is not home often enough to do it. I don't like the idea of using poisons but will do what I have to while I am unable to physically keep on top of it all.

Sometimes we have to do stuff that we don't want to and even though I have wanted the place to be poison free I also want it safe and it hasn't been that way for a long time. The long grass is a hazard and apart from being a haven for snakes it looks awful. I have also tripped over a couple of times by not noticing stuff that I have left laying around. I know I shouldn't leave stuff laying around the place but it happens so this way at least I will be able to see it.

We do not water the grass areas here but it still grows so fast and thick, it really needs to be mowed every week but I haven't been able to keep on top of it all. To have someone come in and do it we were quoted a couple of hundred dollars. It is a big area and does take hours to do in one go but that amount of money for lawn mowing? Not going to happen. So Wednesday I will get the spray out and hopefully it will work and half the amount of work that I need to do to keep on top of it.

Another Sleepover.

I am not long home from another *sleepover* looking after the same kids as before but this time I was paid double the amount. Mind you I was there for double the time but still, not too shabby a deal.

Picked the girls up from their school at 3pm on Friday, home to their house and all was good until they asked what time Mun was going to get home. Oh dear, were these kids upset. It took a long time to get them settled and calm enough to go to sleep.

Saturday morning we had a too short play at the Fun Factory then back to their place for lunch. Talked them into going to a park during the afternoon so that got them away from the TV and out doing something. There was a baby Alpaca that kept getting under the fence and out of it's paddock so that was something different. Back home for showers and tea.

Then DRAMA and TEARS!!!!

There were a few drops of rain, hardly anything really but it caused the power to go off. Now it was getting dark, I am in someone else's house with no lights. No TV. No phone. A quick search finds us a torch, a bit of looking gets me some half used candles, some fumbling around gets me a box of matches. All set if it is the power but I checked the fusebox in case it was that. No such luck. So now the kids are crying because it's getting dark and they don't like the dark. Can't sleep in the dark, what happens if it stays dark...Takes a while but finally get a candle lit, go through a few more matches and get another one going, all the while saying what an adventure we are having, stop crying, go blow your nose, yes I'll come with you, yes you still have to go to bed if it is dark...We go outside to see if there are any lights on in other houses but no all is dark...AND THEN...there is light! The lights are back on, the TV is working, the kids are happy.
Until they realise that Mum is not home yet and they want Mum.

Sunday morning I get up at 6, sneak out to make a coffee, shut the doors to their end of the house, I am as quiet as a mouse. Then I hear them talking and figure I must have been a noisy mouse and they heard me. Or else they just wake up early too.

We have breakfast, I ask them what they want to do today, tell them watching TV all morning is not going to happen, suggest a walk. Tell them we are all going for a short walk so don't whinge about it, we will have fun.

Well we walked a lot furher than I intended and ended up at the Railway Markets but there weren't many stalls or people and I couldn't buy anything like plants as we were walking. Whose silly idea was that? Took the short way back, over the trafic bridge and ended up walking past an icecream shop. Had to go in for a look.
The mini Dutch Pancakes with maple syrup and cream were absolutey delecious and next time I won't be sharing! The icecreams were nice too but there are lots of things in there that I wouldn't mind trying. Might have to arrange a date-day. Might even wait 'til Hubby gets home so he can come too.

Back to the girls house but weren't there long when they wanted to go for another walk. I didn't really want to but couldn't say no as I am the one that's been telling them all weekend to get up and do something, so we took some bread and walked to the river to feed the ducks. Back home for lunch, get cleaned up and the parents get home. The kids were watching TV and one of them did get up to say hello and give them a cuddle.

And I came home, looked in on my chookie friends (not as many as when I left) and started on this.

All in all it wasn't a bad weekend and when the parents asked if I would be willing to do it again I said yes. One of the girls said no! but I hope that was because they missed their mum and not because I made them do stuff.

And I know what Hubby did while I was out having fun 'cause I now have to cook the roosters that are sitting in a bowl in the fridge. Yummo chook to eat during the week. Thanks Babe.

Fun Factory

I am having another sleepover looking after the kids that I stayed with a few weeks ago and this morning we are going over to Mandurah to the Fun Factory so I must remember to take my socks as you need them to go on the equipment.

It's been a few years since I have been over there but I do remember one of the slides was quite scary. That's right people, a slide for kids was scary for me but being the brave little sausage that I am I went down it anyway and am hoping to have a go on it this morning as well. Wish me luck, hopefully I'll be back in one piece later with an update on how it goes.

OK. We are back, weren't there 35 minutes before the eldest wanted to come home. Being the meanie that I am though I told her we weren't leaving until both of them wanted to. Not sure if she went and talked to her sister but it wasn't long before she too wanted to leave. I was still mean and said an hour wasn't long enough there and we'd all go have a few slides before leaving. I was looking forward to some hot chips and a milkshake but I had told them I wasn't buying anything before 11 and if they wanted to leave they wouldn't get any. Didn't work, they still wanted to go. lol. We were there for less than an hour and a half.

The blue slide was still scary but after the 5 year old went down I had to as well to show the 7 year old that it was fun and nothing to worry about. I had to do the same with the orange slide. I will put here that although they weren't *scary* as such they were both very dark and enclosed and I only went down them to be brave in front of all the little kids waiting to have a go.

It was kinda fun and I wonder if the 2 and a half year old grandaughter would like it. I could take her over one day if her mother thinks she is old enough for it. The mother would have to come as well though and we could take the aunty as well. Are you up to it T and L?

This morning there was a birthday party going on so heaps of kids around and if I do go over again I'd like it to be a bit less busy.

This is one of those places that must make their money from selling food as no food was to be taken inside though we did take in our own water and weren't questioned.
I don't really like those sorts of places as we don't usually eat the types of food that they sell but I will start saving some coins so I have some extra dollars for the chips and milkshake that I missed out on today.

Too Much Too Do But It's Coffee Time.

It's 10.15am here and once again I am having trouble sticking to one thing and getting it finished.
I need to get more seeds in, I need to mow, edges need doing, 2 chooks need to be unbroodied, there's more mowing to do, more edges, the shed needs to be cleaned out so the guys can do the pig and mostly it is my *stuff*
Hubby started shifting things around in the garden shed for me a couple of weeks ago but now I have to decide where I want stuff and get that organised. A lot of the stuff from the old shed will go in to the GS but I need to get that done so I can put the stuff from the OS away. Loud cry of frustration here!

Now I am in here writing this and you all can see how I am not out there doing anything about it. Bad Barb. But I have been out there all morning, well since 7ish, kinda doing stuff, wondering what to do, mooching around the place... see I've done lots already and now I need a coffee.

Strawberry Guavas

Some of the Strawberry Guavas are starting to ripen
A few years ago I bought 4 SG seedlings from a stall at our local markets. I had no idea what they were but thought they would make good shade in the chookpens with the bonus of free food for the chooks if we didn't eat them. When we bought them they were maybe 8 inches high and cost $2 each. After getting them home and thinking about them I decided that they would make a nice hedge and hide the machinery across the road so went back into town to buy some more however the lady had left and I haven't seen her back there since.
They are now taller than us and growing really well. Three are anyway, the 4th has fruit on it but is in the front orchard and surrounded by grass so is not growing much at all. It needs weeding and mulching and more chooks fertilising it.
Yesterday I was out in one of the pens and saw that some of the the fruit was ripe. It is only a small fruit but OK to eat, not something I'd buy though, they aren't that good.

I have tried growing them from seeds but haven't succeeded yet but will keep trying and will eventually get some going though I have since planted some other things to form the hedge.

Killer Cat.

I think I have a Killer Cat living here. I found a dead rabbit in the garden this morning and it wasn't there last night but I don't know which cat it would be.
I see Straycat with mice much more often than Rufus but Rufus is a bigger cat and this small rabbit is a lot bigger than a mouse.
A few months ago I found a dead rabbit on the driveway so I supose this one was despatched by the same cat. I'd feel better if the rabbits were being killed for food but it doesn't look like it.
We may have to set traps and catch them ourselves if the numbers are growing, at least that way someone will get a feed from them and if we let them breed up around here then they may encourage the foxes to come back. I haven't heard a fox since the ducks were sold and I'd like to keep it that way.
I don't want rabbits around here either as they would eat all the food we are growing for ourselves.
I now need to decide which tree to dig a hole under to bury it so at least it will be put to good use as a fertilizer. Most of the trees that are easy to dig around already have chooks helping them to grow so I am off to have a look and do some burying.

I couldn't find a tree so I cheated and dug the hole right next to the rabbit so it is buried between 2 Capsicum plants. At least he is not wasted now.

RIP little bunny.

I know a lady that is into raising chooks and growing fruit trees and vegetables but when one of her chooks dies she throws it in the bin. I see that as such a waste as the animal would do a lot more good decomposing under a fruit tree than rotting in a plastic bag at some rubbish dump. I think that what has once lived can live again as a food for our food. I also know that some people are turned off by dead animals but it is all a part of lifes cycle.
Wouldn't it be great if we could be mulched up and spread around the garden when we go? Or buried at the base of our favorite tree?