Daisy Mountain - the Drive

There are times here at Daisy Mountain when I feel like I am just going through the motions. For the next few months our life looks something like this....

Monday: daisygirl netball collect at 5:30pm (75 minute round trip)

Tuesday: collect daisyboy12 and friend from footy training at school (50 minute trip)

Wednesday: take daisyboys 12 and 8 and friend to footy practice (50 minutes)

Daisydad to collect daisygirl from netball then bring her to footy where I take her and daisyboy8 home after his practice (and BBQ dinner at the club)

Except for the last Wednesday of the month when I drive and dump the boys then get back to open up for patchworkers and daisydad brings all home late.

Thursday collect daisyson 12 and friend from footy training at school(50 mins)

Friday get over the last four days and prepare for

Saturday: one club game one school game

Sunday: one club game

And that is just the sport bit no teacher interviews, club meetings, etc.

Somehow I have to find the joy in performing all these drop offs and pick ups, I have to remind myself it gives me time to chat with the kids. I have to keep reminding myself that I have chosen to work everyday and that I need to find other times to do the things that need to get done or that I want to do like sewing. And I have to keep reminding myself it is only for this term then school football ends and we only have netball and club football to contend with then by the end of August it is over for another year.

And I have to keep reminding myself that in three years daisygirl will have finished school, and that in four daisyboy12 will be done with it, and that in just 8 years after that we will have all of them out of school.

Feeling better already.............. just 12 more years of hell to go - I must have done something very very wicked (and probably loads of fun ) in a previous life!!!!LOLOLOLOL

Have a fantastic day!!!!!!!

daisymum

A question of potatoes...

So when you grow potatoes in a bed do you need to add more soil around the base of them as they grow like I do with the tyres??? or do I let them go because the bed is built up so high above the ground?

We inherited some new chickens over the weekend 6 gorgeous silkies 3 caramel, one black and two white (one of the white ones is a bit psycho). I will get some photos this afternoon and psot them tomorrow so you can see them all. They came from my friends father in law if you read her blog Life in Castle Cleugh you will know her inlaws are moving down there today and they wanted their chickens to go to a good home and we were it!!! They are so lovely. Thinking seriously about getting the Silkie rooster that is advertised on the community noticeboard so we can breed from them.

Other than chickens, the Dawn Service with all the kids and breakfast for all afterwards, we had daisyson8's First Holy Communion yesterday , my in laws came along then we had a tea and toast brekky with them and toddled off to our local pub for a long lazy lunch with four other families a zillion kids and the most glorious weather.

Another busy weekend but a lovely one nevertheless.

Have a wonderful day

daisymum

We went to the zoo zoo zoo - you can go too too too

A question

Who has twitter????????????

Honestly they weren't there yesterday........

...but I just went outside now - after a frantically busy Saturday cleaning,shopping etc etc - and there they were.....POTATOES!!!!

What I should have done of course was label which variety I put where..... Then I would know why three rows have come up and not the other three

It is all so much easier when you plant them in tyres this stack is this and that stack is that...these are colibans (both stacks)

And here is the garlic I planted only one variety

They are in tyre stacks two high (but they are four wheel drive tyres) - and I have three stacks of them

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend - tomorrow we are off to the zoo - Over the mountain and through some back roads to Clifton. But right now I have to check on the roast lamb and ice the birthday cake.

Love and hugs

daisymum

Garlic

Well my garlic is up and growing like mad obviously it is okay with living in tyres.

BUT not one of the seed potatoes I planted in the raised beds has come up - I keep waiting and waiting but nothing!! My tyre ones are fine growing like mad but not the garden bed ones I thought it may have been too wet but they are very well drained so not sure what is happening.

Other veges are growing well and I planted out some basil seedlings, tomato seedlings and some cauliflower seedlings over Easter.

My eldest Daisy is 22 tomorrow where did that time go???????

Work is frantic being two short weeks and considering I do short hours anyway it has been awful, but the kids seem ok with being home and I have two days off once I get through today.

A very close friend of mine moved to Melbourne a few months ago and she has started her blog about it go to cleughcastle.blogspot.com and check out her adventures. This woman is an amazing gardener and once they move into their new home and she starts transforming the yard you will be in awe. That is what I am looking forward to watching I have had the priveledge of watching her transform a few homes now and being able to keep track of this one too is very special.

Okay no photo slack I know but I will take some this afternoon of the Garlic and the potatoes etc and just post photos tomorrow.

have a wonderful day!!

daisymum

An inauspicious start...but here it is..

Welcome to the first of the Buddy's Friday ready set Christmas Tutorials/Pictorials on some easy gifts to make for the rpesetn stash.


This is a basket I orignally made for a swap I was particiapting in but imagine how great it would look in Christmas colours!!! Or to match a friends' (or your) kitchen.



I am going to show you step by step how to make a basket for bread rolls, Christmas chocolates, hand made soaps, handtowels anything really.

I used a couple of tea towels that I had cut up for our potholder swap - but you can use any fabric my preference is for cotton but you may think differently.

Start with two squares of fabric about 16 inches x 16inches. Hem

them as I did (see pic 1) by folding over the edges twice (you may like to pin them ).

Then get out your trusty ruler and a pencil or washable marker and mark 2 1/2 inchs in from all sides, draw these lines, then with wrong sides together carefully sew along THREE of them only. From edge to edge. This will leave you with an open side.

Cut out some template plastic (or ice cream container lids - cardboard if you won't be washing them - you could even use the ironed shopping bag "fabric" that is all the rage at the moment) it needs to be stiff but flexible. Cut this into one 10inch x 10inch square and four 2 1/4 inch x 9 1/4 inch rectangles.

Slide the ten inch square into the pocket you have made in the middle and sew the final line from edge to edge.

Slide the rectangles of plastic into the remaining long open pockets on the four sides - you may have to trim them to get them to fit in snulgy that is fine you may even have to trim a little off the long side - again that is fine. At this point you may want to pin again I don't but I don't use a lot of pins I find they just stay there anyway.

Cut out eight 2" x 14" strips of fabric I used spots but you could use the same fabric as the basket these will be the ties for the sides.

Fold the edges to the middle (ironing them at this point helps keep them flat)

Then fold in half again and sew right on the edge to form a strip

to be used for the ties.

Place them about an inch into the sleeve on the outside of the basket on top of the plastic and pin


Then sew very close to the edge of the basket all the way around (I backstitch over the ties).

This is what it looks like when you are done.

And this is what it looks like when you tie it up -remember it is reversible!!!! And if you have used plastic it is washable!!

And because I did this post at Easter I filled it with Hot Cross Buns.

I hope you have enjoyed sewing along wit this little project.

Next Week: Mug bags and Lunch sacks

Daisymum

Moods of the Mountain

This is what our mountain looked like early this morning all misty and brooding. The other morning when I woke up there were waterfalls all over th rocks it was so beautiful but I forgot to take a photo of them.

I love living in the protective embrace of this mountain over to the elft of the photo is the saddle where the village is located it is through this gap that all the storms come roaring in from the west. It is also why we get wet a lot, once the clouds hit the hill they drop their rain on us!

Another new challange next week me going off to work while the kids are home on holidays how strange that will seem.

I will also not be posting much for the next few weeks as my study materials for the Real Estate Sales Licence have come through so I will be hitting the books and getting it done.

Have a wonderful Easter be careful if you are travelling, be joyful if you are spending time with your family and most of all be peaceful in your heart - just because it is good for you.

hugs

daisymum

Who knew?

The thing with food plants is it doesn't seem to matter what you throw at them or how badly you neglect them they ahve a way of coming back from the dead when you least expect it - as if to say "okay one more chance - just please remember to water me!!"

This poor chilli died while we were away on holidays for four weeks - not sure how as it was the wettest january we had had in some time - but die it did. The pot has been sitting on the verandah empty and forlorn (and hidden under a particularly vigorous geranium) this morning I moved it and this is what I found.

So this time I promise not to drown it in a mass of tea leaves (we empty our teapot into these pot plants every morning some love it (ie the vigorous gernanium) some curl up their toes and die (not tea drinkers) and some just kind of stagnate and don't do much (maybe they prefer coffee).

So far for the year I am 16 seeds ahead of the days. So I willnot plant any seeds for the next 16 days ( well you know I will I bought some gorgeous Eden seeds today herbs mainly) How is your tally are you on target for a seed a day in 2009???

Have a fantastic weekend

daisymum

The Things I "used to do"

Before my return to the external workforce I used to clean all my bottles in preparation for jams, preserving whatever, take the labels off, print out new groovy ones to stick on after bottling was done, cut out circles of old fabric to put on the top.

This is what I do now............. I clean the bottles really well I sterilise them and I whack whatever it is I cooked into them they might get a label they won't get a frilly fabric cap and sometime in the future it may be potluck as to whether you are opening a bottle of tomato sauce (as above ) or a chutney or tomato jam.

I am not thrilled with the shortcuts I have to take to get these things I love done, but I am thrilled I turned a five dollar box of tomatoes into eight jars of tomato sauce. Oh I also took the shortcut of not straining it I took out most of the skins and the cloves and just processed the rest a little to make it pourable. (I have done that before because straining it is a pain but this time I am blaming working outside the home 30 hours a week and not laziness - and may continue to do so !!LOL)

I have decided sometimes it is about getting it done, all the frilly bits can wait until you have more time.

daisymum

PS: for this tomato sauce recipe visit my dear friend at The Tin House she uses the same one and she had the time sometime in the past to put hers in her recipe file!!!

Birthdays birthdays birthdays.............

Last Thursday was daisyboy7 birthday (henceforth daisyboy8). He is a fantastic little boy who gives us no trouble - even if he does get up at 4am on a Saturday dressed and ready to go to rugby - peeling our eyelids back and asking us if it is time to go yet or do we wait until the sun comes up! No seriously every Saturday...

Saturday was "the birthday party" for daisyboy4 we asked all the kids in his class and they all came bar about three!! With their mums and/or dads and siblings what a riot!! there were kids everywhere it poured with rain just as I was wondering how on earth to get everyone settled to cut the cake! The sun came out and all the kids went and played in the puddles (the invite did say "get dirtiable clothes') We had just packed up and were ready to jump in the car to head to Toowoomba for my BIL 60th birthday party when a kid arrived at the gate his mother had gotten the time wrong! He was in tears so we did more cake, more lollies, shoved some chips and soft drink into him, opened his gift and promised he could come and play one Saturday. Then packed up and left for Tba.

We were so exhausted I need to apologize to my sister and her husband for going to bed so early we went to be when the kids did!!

Today is daisyboy4's actual birthday (henceforth daisyboy5) - yes I get the irony of it being Arpil Fool's Day believe me if you knew the story of how he came to be it would be even funnier.

So after another cake tonight at about 7:30 when everyone gets home from rugby training, netball training, league training and meetings - I will be over birthdays.....until the next one in two weeks.

Have a fantastic day

daisymum