Flowers and Compost

This weeks featured piece is the Flowers Bath Tray.

Detail of Flowers Bath Tray.

What a wonderful way to warm up on these chilly days and find your own oasis.

Imagine for a few moments luxuriating in a warm bubble bath, enveloped in the soothing aroma of perhaps lavender. There is nothing but the sound of silence, the flickering of a candle nearby. All your muscles are becoming heavy as you relax and feel all your cares washing away. In front of you is the beauty and elegance of this Bath Tray supporting your soap, facial scrub and loofah. Deep sigh.

Your bath awaits.

This is a pretty Bath Tray that will add character and warmth to your bathroom décor. As always I have applied several coats of quality varnish to make it splash proof.

Mother's Day is Sunday the 13th May. Perhaps you can find something for your Mother amongst my Wildwood Art gifts. It is an opportunity to give your Mother something that is hand-made, Australian made, crafted with love and care.

Hot Composting has become a favoured method of ours to create an enriched garden soil. The Berkeley Hot Compost method is, in our opinion, hands down the best. You can see videos of it on You Tube.

We use a combination of our own grass clippings, shredded paper, as well as our own 'starter kit'. This is simply our own kitchen scraps mixed with wood shavings from my studio. It quietly composts away in a separate kitchen composter which sits behind our green house.

Tumbler style of compost bin for our kitchen scraps mixed with saw dust.

This gets tossed in to the larger compost area when we are ready to make a big batch of hot compost for the wicking beds. It helps to attract the worms as well as adding goodness to the compost. You will find that it eventually reduces down by approximately two thirds.

This is how it starts off - layers of grass clippings and shredded paper together with the compost from our kitchen scraps. Sometimes we add cow, horse or chicken manure into the mix as well.

Hot composting is a three week process. It is turned over four days after it is first put into the composting bay. Then it is turned every 2 days thereafter. The temperature must be kept lower than 65 degrees celcius otherwise it becomes too hot. If this does happen simply add more carbon to it i.e. paper, saw dust to cool it down. Each time it is turned over spray it all fairly liberally with water.

Three weeks later we have this beautiful compost ready to use anywhere. 

I am ever aware of the connection I have with trees. In particular the pine trees which became the pallets that I craft my timber wares from. Here is a poem for you to think on while running your bath:

"Trees purify the air;

they also purify the mind...

if you want to save your world,

you must save the trees.

            - The Trees of Endor

Weekend Wanderings

Autumn is finally here! The nights are chilly and it is time to swap over to winter pyjamas. Today I am featuring one of my favourite pieces,  the Three Hearts Bath Tray.

Detail of the Three Hearts Bath Tray

Here it is in action! Hearts and bubbles bath time. 

These runners underneath prevent the bath tray from slipping in to the bath

Meanwhile, the chickens are happy to see the updated flooring in their hen house. Did you know that chickens have their own language? It is easy to understand when you have been amongst them for awhile. When I was pulling out all the old flooring there were mutterings of "What is happening? This can't be good, oh dear, I don't know"... while shooting me direct stares with their almost un-nerving eyes.

Rooster and his girls inspecting the up-dated hen house.

Then when I finished the new flooring they slowly wandered in (except for Blackie who ran in to be the first in the feed bin). There were alarmed clucks of "What is this? Where is my straw, this looks suspicious". I put two different nests back in for the girls, one behind the feed bin and one down on the ground against the wall. Sunday morning I was rewarded for my thoughtfulness when I saw that Lumpy had made a completely new one in the straw in between the two perches... You can see her in the photo above at the back of the hen house quietly plotting her new nest site. 

When we have enough of the necessary pallet wood, Rob makes these Day Beds. He is working on one now to be ready for sale.

It takes him about two days to complete. Because the timber is rough pallet wood he first has to put each piece through the thicknesser several times to make it nice and smooth. This takes about 3 hours. We like our pallet furniture to be comfortable and splinter free so it is certainly worth it. This one fits a single size mattress.

Rob using the thicknesser.

Meanwhile, my news from the garden is that the hot compost I featured earlier is nearly ready. I will post photos for you when it is completed.

Garlic Planted, Hen House Flip.

The Garlic is in! The photo below shows the mulching almost complete. It looks so innocent doesn't it, lying there so quietly in the morning Autumn sunshine. You would never guess from this serene scene just how much effort has gone into getting it to this point. Summer still hasn't got the hint here in the Northern Rivers and refused to leave over the weekend. Rob was born and raised here so he is acclimatised to these conditions. He was able to push on for another 6 hours after I had crawled back into the house gasping and red faced from the sheer heat and effort. Over the next week the garlic will begin shooting. It is quite surprising how fast that happens.

250 kilos of blood sweat and tears

Meanwhile, on a hillside nearby Doug grazes un-perturbed by the comings and goings of tractors, trucks and sweaty humans.

Who is that masked horse?

On a completely different note, I am giving the hen-house a serious up grade by replacing the current flooring.  I like to keep our chooks up off the ground when they are in the hen house at night and when sitting in there laying eggs. This keeps them dry when we have flood conditions, warmer in winter and much cleaner. So the pallets are being replaced, and the top layer of flooring is being scrubbed clean. Today I am shoveling out a layer of the dirt that was underneath the pallets and replacing it with a fresh layer of dirt. I will let this sit for a few days before re-constructing the flooring. I like things to have a nice airing! Earlier today I went over to start work but alas, one of the hens was in the hen house sitting on the nest laying an egg, so I will have to go back later.

Our Rooster and his girls inspect the old hen house flooring.

Due to all this activity on the farm my Wildwood Art Designs timber work has been on the back burner. I have had requests for a couple of Large Heart pieces in our local shop "Indoor Delights" so will get back to my studio after a cup of tea and some home-made gluten-free sultana biscuits!

Large Heart

Woody Inspirations and Cow Manure Compost

The finished piece.

This is the large heart I started last week-  stained, painted, varnished and ready to hang.

Yesterday I began on the prototype for a new product which  I have had in mind for a while. When we pull apart the pallets I have to make something according to the sizing of the timber. There are a whole lot of planks there that are too small for bath trays and too thick for wall hangings. I am thinking this new product will be perfect for these shorter pieces of pallet wood.

I spent time planing, sanding and clamping yesterday so today I continue working out measurements for the sides to this thing. I get such a thrill matching the timber together to make the perfect piece! When it is finished I will post a photo for you. 

The mystery piece!

Last weekend Rob turned in 4 tonne of cow manure compost with the help of Rosie the tractor dog. This is for our next garlic crop which we are planting this weekend - all 250 kilos of it. 

Rob and Rosie hard at work.

Turning in four tons of cow manure compost.

While the cow manure compost is being distributed at the back of the paddock Doug resumes spying on the neighbours.

Stay tuned.... 😉

From Studio to Sales

Sitting in my Studio beginning work on a newly stained piece of timber always brings my mind to a peaceful, still place. Mindfulness is a pursuit I have been engaging in for quite a few years now. To have my mind quietly focused on the task at hand brings me a sublime relief. Even just the preparation to begin the work has it's own reward. It is almost like a body memory: choosing the paint and brush and clearing the table is like a cue to allow the quiet of the Studio to permeate my awareness.
Some days I paint to the sound of birds, breezes, the odd moo in the distance. Other days, I kick start my senses with music and let myself flow within it.
Here is my Mindfulness Teacher's blog offering a wealth of information and guidance on Mindfulness:  Shakti Burke http://www.joyfulmind.net.au/

Jackie Shaw of "Indoor" Delights with our Mayoress Danielle Mulholland

Indoor Delights is a beautiful shop in Kyogle New South Wales specializing in indoor plants, home décor, arts and craft. The lovely Jackie Shaw now has my Timber Art displayed in her shop for locals and visitors to purchase. Indoor Delights is to be found at the IGA end of town in between Sanchez Unique Leather and Ruby's Café.

Some of my timber wares for sale in Jackie's Shop "Indoor Delights"

As a small business owner I need to get my wares out into the world. Having a local outlet is incredibly helpful while on-line sales are another way to go. Being at the beginning of my venture here I am finding out what works for me. At the end of the day we all need to put food on our table and this is one way I am able to accomplish that. It is amazing how many people do in fact work from home these days. After decades of working 'out there' in the work force the chance to work from home is such a welcome one. 

"Home Sweet Home"

Long Weekend Lark

How I love long weekends! Gerrie Mackey of Canberra has asked for any recipes I may have using our own garlic and turmeric. Gerrie grows her own garlic too, so perhaps we can swap recipes!

Turmeric can be dried in slices then popped into the food processor to produce this powder.

We are pretty plain cooks so it is a matter of simply sprinkling the turmeric on most things we eat! Rob loves to sprinkle it on his meat as it is cooking in the pan. I love to sprinkle it on any egg dish I do although scrambled eggs are my favourite. This dish is transformed with our minced Elephant garlic, oregano, thyme and basil that have been plucked fresh from the garden or dried from the kitchen.

Oregano picked fresh and ready for drying.

The turmeric goes well on Rob's cereal in the mornings and I like to toss it over the top of baked vegetables before I put them in the oven. It adds flavor as well as an incredible orange colour across the baked food. Baked garlic is to me, the best. Sliced and mingled amongst the other veggies it adds an earthy flavour that only chemical and spray-free, home grown food can accomplish. Our spaghetti Bolognese is also a cut above using the garlic and super fresh herbs from our garden. They are easy to grow and really pack a punch taste-wise.

This Oregano growing by our shed door has been there for nearly ten years.

I agree with Gerrie, it is a surprise to people to find out that chemical and spray free is available and makes such a difference to our health as well as our culinary delights.

Meanwhile, back in the Studio...

Cutting to size

Clamping

Staining

Painting Bath Tray

These WIP's (Work In Progress) will be completed in the next couple of days. I will be taking them to a local shop "Indoor Delights" that is selling them for me. I will tell you more about all that in my next blog.

Wishing everyone a fun-filled and safe holiday!