And So It Begins

The yearly gathering of our garlic has begun. This blog is a bit late this week as I have been busy mowing the couple of acres our home is sitting on. We are expecting rain soon and it needs to be cut before it gets completely out of control.

Rob shows off one of the bulbs he has just processed. They are looking beautiful and white in the late afternoon sun.

They will be ready for sale in a couple of months as they need to dry out first and develop their delicious Russian Garlic flavour. This is going to keep up busy for quite a while now as we estimate that we have at least a ton of garlic in the ground here.

Speaking of dogs, I am relieved to say Maggie is fully recovered from her brush with tick paralysis. Here she is back to her old self, smiling for the camera.

According to the vet, for the next six weeks she isn't allowed to go up the back paddock with Rob and Molly to ensure no more ticks latch on during this vulnerable stage. We check both her and Molly every day anyway, but I am happier to have Maggie sitting with me.

I rescued this guy below from the side of the road last week. He didn't hesitate to run over to me and to jump in the back of the car. After 5 days of 5 star luxury and much advertising about the place we find out he is in fact a working dog off a farm. He had gone walkabout and obviously had no idea why he was being pampered at a strangers house! We found the owners in the end and they were very pleased to see him again. Apparently he is a particularly talented working dog and worth thousands.

He was a really lovely boy and to be honest I was a little disappointed when he had to go home. I even named him....yes I know.... I had decided to foster him though with a local shelter until a new home could be found if his current owners weren't discovered.

Here we have Molly modelling one of the Liquid Ambar trees I planted last Autumn. They are growing beautifully showing plenty of healthy growth. 
During the week I went to Daleys Nursery to look at some shade trees for the paddock. I came home with six White Gums, three Claret Ash and one Mango tree for the fruit orchard.

Here is a group shot of all the newbies. The 3 Claret Ash are the tall ones at the back, the Mango on the left and the smaller White Gums at the front. Traditionally the Ash tree is considered to represent the feminine principle and is called 'sister', 'granny' or 'mother'. In old folklore it is known as 'The Lady of the Woods'.

It is time I got back to peeling garlic so I will leave you with this photo of my Mandala painting.

Have a terrific weekend and be sure to do what you love the best.

.

Apple Pie and Puppy Dogs

Home made apple pie has such a wonderful ring to it. Add to that - "Mum's" apple pie and there you have it, nourishment as good as it gets.

Mum has been visiting from South Australia for the past month and it has been so good to have her here. Apart from providing excellent company while hitting the cafes and the shops with me for a good look around, Mum has also helped with her extensive knowledge in both the garden and the kitchen. 



Add to that, helping to look after a very sick dog. Poor Maggie has had a run in with paralysis ticks from running around in the paddocks. We got her early and rushed her to the vets where she has spent two nights being stabilized. Although she is home now she is still very unwell.  So it's sitting in the cool air-conditioning for Maggie while being waited on every minute to ensure her recovery. 

Meanwhile Rob's sunflower forest is looking splendid in the back garden. There is nothing as cheerful as these beautiful blooms radiating their presence to pick you up when you are worried about your dog.

As a small business owner it is always a thrill when someone wants to purchase your wares. During the week I was able to collaborate with a beautiful shop in the nearby town of Lismore. They are now stocking my timber wall art and crystal intention Boards. I couldn't be more pleased. 

This is a short chat today as I need to keep my eye on Maggie. I hope you are having an enjoyable weekend. So farewell until next we meet.

Art, Garlic, Bird Feeders and Fascinating Neighbours.

I have the great good fortune of living up the road from this fantastic artist Sharyn Orr.  I have just purchased this piece from Sharyn and personally I think her art plus my art are a match made in heaven. Here is the link to her on Instagram:   Gypsydreamerz Textile Wall Art.  Sharyn makes her art with such love and integrity that I am proud to have it hanging in my home. 

Since we had so much rain recently our Oregano has been growing very quickly in our back yard garden. We picked it and put it into the dehydrator so we now have plenty of dried oregano for our dinner.

On the timber-wares side of things, Rob has designed and made a new bird feeder that has its own verandah. Below we have a photo of Brigitte modelling it for us.

I put it out on the laundry bench to then take outside to the shed. Next time I looked Brigitte made it clear she would rather like it for herself.

Bridie models my Love Mandala for me.

I have my mum visiting with us and recently we had afternoon tea on the front verandah. We had the joy of watching fire wrens come in close for a feed of seed in their new bird feeder.

We are now getting ready to start harvesting our Russian Garlic Crop. You can see our group "Kyogle Garlic Group" here on Instagram.

Have a wonderful weekend, see you next week.

Our Dam Runneth Over

Seven inches of rain has broken our drought here in the Northern Rivers region. At last our dam is running over and is well and truly flushed out.

Maggie and Molly head for the willow tree in the dam. This hasn't officially been a flood as such but it is good enough for us.

Maggie poses with her 'over the shoulder' look.

At last all the wood ducks and their babies can hide in amongst the grasses at the side of the dam now that the water level has risen. This keeps them safe from predators.

Some of our Russian Garlic is starting to sprout up flowers.  We will have to cut these off to ensure all the growth effort goes into the bulbs in the ground below. In another couple of weeks we will harvest the biggest garlic plants and begin the processing stage.

With the rain has also come giant weeds amongst the crop. 

This is a new bird feeder that Rob has made for our garden. It took the local birds about 24 hours to find it. And yes that is Doug photo-bombing in the background.

The local fire wrens enjoying their new verandah café. Rob is making some more of them for the next markets in November. We have placed it next to the native hibiscus bushes so that the wrens have somewhere to hide at a moment's notice. Last year they actually nested in these bushes and I expect they will again this year. Now it is as though they have MacBirds right next door!

All that water of course also means lots of mud. Here is Doug sporting his brand new cotton rug complete with layers of mud from his daily roll.  Molly does her duty watching his every move like a good cattle dog.

Meanwhile, Mum is staying at our place on holiday from South Australia. This morning we met with friends Margaret and Jodie at our local café Gateway Fine Foods.  Jodie is one of our talented local artists and her Mum Margaret is here visiting as well. Three hours and lots of belly laughs later we were all full of tea, coffee, cake and good vibes.

Counting down the days to the next market. Christmas is coming and we are all looking for something special to gift friends and family. I am spoilt for choice living amongst so many talented artists and crafters.

Have a good weekend and see you next week.

Best laid plans

Best laid plans indeed.

We are experiencing what is being called a 'rain event'. Which simply put means 'lots and lots of rain that could result in flooding'. Our plan was to head out to The Channon Markets tomorrow however Nature is turning on a great display of watery weather. I am not complaining of course. We certainly are in need of if. It would seem that most of it is soaking straight into the ground and not much is running into the dam yet. 

The blue dot in the middle of the photo below is Doug resplendent in all his raincoat finery. Snug as a bug he is against the constant rain. This photo shows a moment of watery sunshine from this morning. The garlic crop at the top left corner is absolutely flourishing and we expect to start pulling out the biggest bulbs in about a month. The flowers are just now starting to sprout so we have to cut them off over the next weeks to allow all the growing energy to go into the bulb rather than the flower.

All my timber art has been put back on the studio shelf for now. I was so looking forward to being able to offer them to customers this weekend. It is so satisfying to see someone completely smitten with a piece I have made and walking away with it to hang in their own home.

We have a lovely big tub of sunflowers coming along in the back yard. The tallest one so far is about 5 feet tall (1.5 metres) We are hoping to harvest the seeds before the local parrot gang finds out about them and steals the lot for themselves.

Meanwhile I have made a lemon cake out of the very last lemons from our tree. We have had a great crop of lemons this year, our tree has done well. My intention was to take a photo of the cake once it had cooled however quite a bit of it has disappeared already. My Mum is here visiting from South Australia and Rob is home today...enough said! I am sure you can use your imagination to picture it whole. Ordinarily icing sugar can be sifted over the top of it, however I prefer to keep the cake to healthier ingredients.

I have tweaked this recipe to make it gluten and dairy free. If you are in a baking mood here it is:

LEMON CAKE
Ingredients:
125 (4.4 ounces) grams Nuttelex (soy butter)
125 grams dark brown sugar
1 cup gluten free Self Raising flour
1 cup almond meal
4 tablespoons rice milk (use soy or almond if you prefer)
2 eggs
2 lemons zested and squeezed

For the syrup 6 tablespoons lemon juice and 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, according to taste.

Oven 160 degrees fan forced otherwise 180 degrees (320 degrees Fahrenheit/356 degrees Fahrenheit).

*Cream the butter and sugar, then add eggs.
*Add flour, almond meal, lemon rind and milk and mix together.
*Pour into a tin and bake for 40 minutes or until baked.

Then mix the syrup together.

*After removing baked cake from the oven leave it in the tin and prick it all over with a skewer.
*Pour over the syrup while still hot.
*Allow the cake to cool in the tin until cold before removing from the tin.

This is Brigitte, one of my rescue cats who is half Abyssinian. I bought this foot stool for Mum to use and of course Brigitte has taken ownership of it. 

So it is goodbye from Brigitte and myself until next week. Have a fantastic weekend and remember to do what you love.