June. Buying and Growing

Went shopping yesterday.  Hmmm, I gotta stop doing that!  I was wanting to do a basic stockup but the shelves were empty of most of what I wanted.   I will try again next month and in the meantime use what we have.

Bought a 5kg bag of carrots and husband bought a kilo of tomatoes.   Tomatoes are not a Winter fruit so I was a bit miffed about that but I don't eat them.  And he does....so, we bought tomotoes.  And the carrots?  Well, to be honest, I don't know what season they are suposed to be but I can't grow enough and I couldn't  pass up a 5kg bag for $1.99.  That was it for fruit and veg buying though.

Here at home we are growing and eating enough other stuff but I'm pretty sure there is going to be a dry patch coming soon.  I didn't plant enough so Spring and Summer eating might be a bit sparse.

June and July eating from here was/will be Chokos, Capsicum, leaves from Cabbage and Brocolli, Pumpkin, Chilli,  I'm sure there must be other stuff as that list doesn't look too bragable at all.  There was a few Eggplant in there but we are not big fans of that which is a pity as they are easy to grow and I do like the look of the plant.  There was also bought Potatoes, Carrots, Onions.   I'm no longer too worried about buying those things but would prefer growing them if I could.  When husband is home we go through a lot and I am not a good enough gardener to keep up with demand.  So be it, I have better things to worry about.

Fruit though, we had/have plenty of that.  Apples, Oranges, Mandarins, Bananas, the odd Passionfruit, had a few Indian Guavas but once again, not a great fan but the chooks like them.  We were given a lot of apples, a type we don't grow but will now as they were so nice.  I need to find out what they were first then start looking for a tree.   So no fruit buying.  I think I've only bought a few bananas through the year so happy with that.  I've been drying sliced apple in the oven of the woodstove, Nice!

Our meat of choice over the last couple of months has been rooster, fish, pork but there has been quite a bit of free close to use by dated meat from the son and daughter has supplied tea a few times as well.

We will not be going hungry even if there are no fancy meals.  I am not a fancy meal cooker so it's just as well we both like simple meals.

With the cold weather here and the woodfire going I'm a big fan of throwing whatever stuff I have together and eating the result.  No recipe just fresh food cooked on the stove.  Rooster and veg soup with a chunk of Damper.   Or Pumpkin and Choko and whatever else is here Soup with damper or flatbread.   Chicken and veg onepot meals.  Egg and veg frittata.  Fish and veg.  There is a lot of chopping and slicing but the end result usually tastes pretty good.

Today I need to make up another pot of soup, big enough to last the weekend, so off to see what will be going into it.

June Food.

We're more than halfway through June and we haven't bought, and wont buy, any real food from any shop.  I wont tell you about the hot chips and the lollies from last week... but if I am talking real food, like fruit, veg, meat...then maybe I can mention the hot chips and lollies...but as I am suposed to be eating healthy and getting fitter I want mention them...

We have a full freezer crammed fuller with assorted fish thanks to a fishing trip to Shark Bay that the husband and son are not long back from.  Salt and Pepper Squid for tea tonight if I can sweettalk the man into cooking it.  The fridge is full of eggs and vegie soup.  The table is covered in oranges and lemons...and apples.  There is a basket of apples out the front and the back yard is covered in chokos that were blown off in last weeks storm and for some reason are still there.  I will pick them up before I mow though as they are too big and too many to get chopped up properly.   I have 5 whole pumpkins left and they too are on the table on the front verandah.  The chilli bushes are chockers but there is no room in any freezer to put them.  I will have to cook them up and make more chutney or jam...but I am away again from tomorrow...Or this afternoon, not decided yet.

There are at least 6 roosters that need doing...NO idea where we will put them all.  But they NEED doing as they are so loud and there are so many.

I was going to have eggs for breakfast but there are a few manky, small bananas that need using so will have a milkshake instead and an egg later on.  I will put some apple in the woodstove oven later and see how they dry in there...because there is no room to freeze any cooked and there are too many to eat.  They wont keep as they are bruised and marked from being blown off.  In last weeks storm. 

This growing your own food is great, I love it.  But it is so much more work than driving to the shop and buying what you want as you need it.  Our way takes time and planning so not too much is wasted.  I will collect a bag of assorted stuff to give away today and I will try and sort as much as the other stuff before I leave here for the week.  Best be off and adoing.

Dog Treat.

I like to think that if I had a dog of my own then I would bake him *treats* every week.
Mind you, when we did have a dog I never did this.  But, now, if I had a dog of my own....

This week while I have the 4 dogs here I thought I'd give this a try, just to be able to say "Yeah, I can do that"
I have plenty of Chokos that need using so that had to be one of the ingredients.  What else is in biscuits...flour, egg?  A quick look online showed just how fancy these things can be but I have never been fancy so my version was just going to have stuff mixed up in a bowl then that would be put in the oven until cooked.
We had some just turning green meat thanks to some that the son had left in the shed fridge and the husband had put this on the stove to boil.  That liquid and meat was the protein part with the Chokos, oats, a couple of eggs, flour added.   Mixed it up, pressed it into a pan and put it in the oven of the woodstove.  I *should* have left it in longer to make it harder like the bought stuff but the dogs liked it and it made me feel all good doggy motherish so it's counted as a success.

I have also been cooking up Chokos and any manky veg and veg peelings and soaking their everyday dog biscuits in that mix.  It gives the dogs a bit extra and I like using the Chokos this way.  Once again it's all about making me feel like a good dogsitter, going above and beyond and all that stuff...

Have you ever made your own dog or cat biscuits?  I'd be interested in how you did as I'm sure I will try again one day, next time I dogsit.

Storms.

We had our first storm for the year on Sunday.  I was home with 4 dogs and we all hid behind the lounge.  IT WAS SCAREY!  Afterwards I saw that the trampoline had blown up against the fence again...It's stuck so will have to stay there until husband gets home.

A lot of the apples ended up on the ground as well as a heap of oranges.  Same with the Indian Guavas but I'm not too concerned about those, the chooks can have them.  I'll need to wipe these over and store them somewhere.

 This is a massive shed not far from us and the brown roller door was flapping around on Sunday.  It's not in place now so will be flapping again tonight.

A few trees out the front have snapped off, neighbour had a couple of trees down..

I found a strange thing...in the driveway between son's car and my van was lots of broken glass.  At first I thought one of us had lost a windscreen but all windows are intact.  Maybe some glass got blown in...dunno, but there is quite a bit and it looks like glass from a windscreen...it wasn't there earlier in the day, before the storm.

Bleedin' gas hotwater heater blew out again and I cannot relight the stupid thing.  Every time we get strong winds this thing blows out.  We had it serviced not long ago and the guy was getting it to light sraight away so I have no idea why I cant do the same.  If I get to the stage where I can't stand my smelly self I will bring the camping shower inside. 
We had no power for maybe 20 hours.   It's times like this when I really appreciate my small house and the woodfire.
Have spoken with someone in Brunswick Junction and nearly 2 days later and they still have no power so all her homegrown veg and other food may have to go for dogfood.  

The chookpens are waterlogged and muddy and I need to put dry hay in their sheds this afternoon.

We got off pretty lightly and hope for the same tonight but must get out there and see what I can do before the next one gets here.  Stay safe everyone.  Take care.

Counting Down...

Nearly 3 days down but still 5 and a bit days to go.   That's 5 and a bit days before the son gets back and picks up his dogs.  All 4 of them.  Now they are good dogs, nice dogs, and three of them are quite obedient for me.  The other one is a great big galumping thing that seems to have no sense whatsoever.  She jumps up. she licks, she chews.  Oh yes, she chews!!

I had no internet yesterday and this morning because of the power going out with the storm.  I had no internet for quite awhile this afternoon and I thought that that was because of the storms too...it wasn't.  Once I checked the phone and found out that it wasn't working I went looking for the cause...and found chewed through wires.  Chewed through by this great galumping dog.  Who should have been outside galumping around but because I am too soft with them and it was cold and I wanted them inside where I knew where they were and didn't have to go looking for them all the time...anyway she is a chewer and chewed through the phone wires.  I'm such a clever duck though and knew that if I could just join the wires back together then I would have internet again.
It's not the best job, husband may want to redo it one day, but it works.  And if I keep it covered the dog may not think it's worth finding and chewing on again.







 
We used to have a little dog and I still miss him and quite often say that I'd like another one.  After this week I think it will be awhile before I say that again.

I'm the type of person that thinks a dog should be able to come inside.  Even big dogs.  Even 4 big dogs.  That maybe isn't the smartest thing.  They have made themselves at home, the cushions from the lounge are on the floor, the place smells like dog.  I have to feed them.  Play with them. Go looking for them when they decide to go play out the back without telling me...

The chewer.

How can you be angry with that cute face.

It will soon be time to feed them then lock them out in the shed for the night.    So 5 days to go...and yes I am counting.