Start a club today!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mandy over at The Old Dairy posed the question yesterday do you buy organics or is your preference to buy local????

I buy organic baking stuff from the Organic shop in our village so I guess I do a bit of both. But buying organic fruit and vegetables is really expensive when you have a household of 8. I belong to a backyard vegetable growing club and we swap our excess produce which is fantastic

but for me the best bit about it is the knowledge I pick up from these very accomplished growers, and the free seedlings, seed swapping etc etc.

So why not get together with some friends you haven't met yet and start a backyard food club in your local area? Put a notice up on the community notice board take out an ad in the local paper , try the school newsletters for a free plug - in these days of the internet most of the organising can be done via email (or your own club blog!!).

Although my vegetbale garden is quite sad for lack of commitment at the moment I am still popping in a few seeds each week and transplanting them out, my yields aren't great but I know what that is about I need to feed my soil more, so off to buy manure today - see I even sound like I know what I am doing now!!!!!!

daisymum

Dropping by again

I cannot believe the week is almost gone again. I was out last night and looking at the sky and it is decidedly lighter these days at 6pm than it was a few weeks ago - which means the sun is coming back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know there are a lot of you who will be complaining about the heat but I love the sun and the summer - I am one of those people that gets quite depressed in the depths of winter for lack of sunshine.

Now that I am working again I get to work some days when it is barely light and go home in the dark - not much fun. So I have made a pact to walk in the sunshine for at least 1/2 hour everyday. When I was home I could garden or hang out the washing but being stuck in the air conditioning makes it more challenging.

Fortunately everything in our little village is quite close so the other day I walked to an open home that I was attending with a co worker instead of driving the car. It is amazing how much more productive I am when I get out in the sun.

Tomorrow is Buddy's Friday over at Margarets Ramblings if you haven't seen her buddy posts and those she attracts from other bloggers have a look tomorrow they are always worthwhile.

Thinking it is time to do a tutorial on making a beach bag.......so watch this page for instructions over the weekend.

daisymum

Buddy's Friday - a day late...

Some of the comments left regarding my local show post got me tot thinking in this age where there is a definite upsurge in the number of people cooking more, gardening more, sewing more why aren’t the local shows getting the entries they used to? (I say that generally because there was a definite up swing in our show entries this year)

Is it because we are afraid that someone will judge our work “not worthy”.

When I say I was lectured by the steward at our show about not cutting my citrus properly I mean LECTURED I suppose I could have been offended but instead I took it with a very serious face and then laughed my head off when I got outside!

I know my grapefruit tasted better than the ones that won, I know my lemons were probably as good as the ones that won third place but in the giant scheme of things it was fun to enter, exciting to get to the pavilion to see if I had won anything and I still made lemonade.

See I am not a competitive person by nature but I’ll be blowed if our local show will go without quilt entries because I was too lazy to rip one off the kids bed and enter it (yes literally and of course Friday night was the coldest night of year here and daisyson18 wouldn’t let me forget it ribbon or no ribbon!!)

I believe in community and our local show is part of our community I want to know that a lady I nod to at the bus stop in the afternoon is a really great photographer, I want to know that a mum who seems chronically disorganised is probably that way because she got a first for almost all the cooking she entered. I want to know these things about my community.

A few years ago when we were in the grip of drought a lady who has had great success with her rosella jam had her rosellas pinched - seriously they climbed over the fence and ripped the plants right out of the garden!!!!! Now as shocking as that is it is also kind of funny – like an episode of Midsommer Murders!!! I Love that about my community that there are the crackpots and odd balls.

Like the guy who staked out the jam competition last year because he didn’t clean sweep the section because I won a third for my peach and nectarine jam – when he asked for the recipe and I told him I just chucked everything in and guessed the amount of sugar he just laughed and asked me if I was game enough to enter next year…..I wasn’t but not because I was scared to - but because I haven’t had time to make jam for ages. But 2010 look out buddy there will be another recipeless challenge to your domination.

I guess what I am trying to say is be good buddies to your community support your local Show or Fair if they don’t have a category for what you made or grow then ask them to include it It doesn’t matter if you win or not it matters that people will see that someone is growing things and sewing things and cooking things and that menas everyone wins.

Daisymum

Camouflage and ribbons!!!!

Every year at the local show they have the Army recruiting van this year they gave out these really cool torches and water bottles - daisyson8 just had to try on the full pack and see if he could hold it up this year. He must have grown he can stand in it this year!!! ---just. The big smiles say it all really.

Every family has that kid that spoils every photograph by poking out his tongue, rolling his eyes, looking away or scowling into the lens.... meet daisyson5. He couldn't get the pack on so he just tried on the vest. Caroline over at the Simple Things has a son who is in the Army I wonder if he tried on the pack at their local show when he was a little boy?

And finally a little brag - I entered a quilt actually daisyson18's birthday quilt and I won a third prize for it!!! I was really thrilled. I was more thrilled to learn someone wanted to buy it but of course I couldn't sell it - then she asked if I would make her one....stilll wondering how I would charge for it - anyone out there who has made this pattern "Carolina Crossroads" by Bonnie from Quiltville knows just how long it takes. Anyway they gave her my number and I suppose we will see if she is serious or not.

Have a fabulous week as you can tell things for me have resumed a "normal" pace and I have some time spare. So hopefully I will be posting more often can't guarantee everyday but certainly at least twice a week or more.

Love and hugs

daisymum

The local Show.....

I know I am biased about where I live but we serioulsy have the prettiest (or one of the prettiest) Showgrounds on the planet. Here are a couple of views taken from the top of the Ferris Wheel yesterday afternoon about 3.30pm.

Bear in mind for those of you in the Northern hemispherre we are in the middle of our winter!

The showgrounds is set right in the middle of a housing estate 1 acre to 1 1/2 acres blocks loads of horses etc, this is the main arena with "house" mountain in the background.

And here you can see the carpark and over towards the houses - the Showgrounds is about a one minute drive from our home so we buy a $25 family membership and spend various times there over the weekend.

I got there early Saturday to watch a friend compete with her horse, then daisydad took the kids mid afternoon for sample bags and rides, I got home from an afternoon tea with my MIL and took them back for the fireworks.

Then yesterday as daisyson12 has that awful coughing bug (which meant no football for him) we went back and spent no money (well just a little) and collected all the freebie notebooks, magnets, pens, stickers, arm bands and entered all the free competitions, watched the parade, the duck herding, the free circus, the motorbike show and of course the pig races!!! Daisyson8 did some sport on the main arena, we sat on the grass in the sun and caught up with friends, indulged in the free wine tasting and wandered around the "beaut ute" show.

Some families I know take their picnic lunch becasue once you pay at the gate you can park your car and go back to it as many times as you like they have an esky in the car and picnic in the carpark, we were a bit more financial this year and so we ate dagwood dogs (I know they aren't real food, I know they are so bad for you - but what is a show without dagwood dogs and fairy floss???)

We had an amazing day and I was very impressed with all the horticultural entries we had howling winds here Thursday night and all the roses I contemplated putting in blew away as did the camellias. But the standard of entreis was AWESOME and the fruit and veges were amazing.

I entered some grapefruit and some lemons but made the mistake of picking them not cutting them with stems on so my entry wasn't looked at - I had the lecture from one of the stewards and now I know what to do for next year!

I hope everyone in my part of the world enjoyed the fabulous weather yesterday and got out and indulged in some mid winter sunshine.....there was a hint of summer on that breeze.

daisymum7

PS: tomorrow the quilt I entered and signing the boys up for the armed forces!!

Another deep and meaningful question...............

And there is was tucked into one of the last paragraphs of Rhondas (down to earth blog) blog post from the other day(and live with stark white minimilism if you want to). See I look at the photos of Rhonda's home and I love it but I know I could never have my home look like that. I guess what I see is the love that radiates out of her personality shining through in two dimensional images - so what does that say about me??

Well at the moment I think it says there are nine people living in this house keep as many surfaces free of stuff as you can - there will be time to fill it when they leave!!!!!! But I could be wrong perhaps it is just that I don't know where to begin.

I have some lovely things but honestly the thought of hauling knick knacks out of boxes and displaying them kind of leaves me cold. But the thought of some lovely silver pieces sitting in the cupboard to be trotted out a few times a year for a dinner or party also makes me cross. I have lovely glasses and plates and I use them - I don't want my family to wait until I am dead to drink out of the waterford crystal wine glasses - they are gorgeous and substantial and make even the cheapest wine something special but in the giant scheme of things they are just glasses.

Perhaps that is the personality that comes across in my house - it is just stuff - perhaps I am just too time poor to titivate things like I used to.

So my weekend question to you all is ....... is your home truly a reflection of you or a reaction to your lifestyle????????????

Finally a day off!!

This has to be quick having a day off with the daisies today.

I bought my bread maker last weekend I opted for the cheapest one I could find just to make sure I would use it etc.

It is great planning on using it just for dough tomorrow and baking some bread rolls, but popping everything in clicking the switch adn coming back three hours later to find bread is pretty good!!!!

I found sour dough mix that tastes okay and have loads of organic flours to make all kinds of weird combinations - it is fun - haven't done any sweet bread ones yet but thinking a fruit loaf this weekend.

Other than that the vege garden provided a zillion peas, some kale, carrots, beans and one lone broccoli(the possum likes broccoli). Haven't the time at the moment so going to fill it with manure and leave it for the longer days. I still have onions and potatoes coming along but the other bed is going to have a rest.

I have finished baout five quilt tops lately and am finally making some progress on the single bed quilt I am hand quilting.

Not going to promise photos becasue it never seems to happen but with three whole days stretching out in front of me who knows ....................

love and hugs

daisymum