Family Fun

 Fun family day on Saturday just gone, we took off down to a little region about an hour south of home and did the touristy thing. Matakana Markets were fab (including the crochet and cushion stall below - had to sneak a wee photo), so many yummy things to eat, lots of things to look at, including ducks which were the main attraction for the girls (see above) and a really lively atmosphere.

I got myself a wee treat while at the market, a cutesy vintage sewing box. It needs a bit of restoration work, including a wooden handle again, a few holes to be plugged, take off the gnarly lock and I'll put some knobs back on. A good sand and re-stain and it should look fab. I've always wanted one!

 

There is only so much shopping the other half can cope with though, so we spent a few hours at the beach. Goat Island was the first stop - big girl and Dad went snorkeling while little one and I sat on beach in the rain. We moved onto Mathesons Bay and it was magic. Pontoon to swim out to, mostly deserted beach. Kids had a ball!!

So after a day of slacking (relaxing really) I got busy making some Tomato Relish on Sunday. It is the best relish I've EVER made. More to be made next weekend!

No crochet progress, should hopefully have a wee ta-dah moment soon though. The hook is busy in the meantime.

Have a good remainder of the week xx Kylie

Just peachy!

 

I love late summer flowers. Dahlias and Gladiolis are popping up all over the garden, I'm so pleased as I have a new found love for them. They remind me of my Nan who loved Dahlias. I, for some strange reason, did pull up a whole heap of bulbs and tossed them away when we first moved in here. I have no idea why but I'm so pleased most of them still thrive out there.

Rat damage

There has been an invader in the orchard. Pesky rats have been chewing their way through the start of our summer crop of peaches. I'm not putting up with that at all - we have hardly any fruit this summer (codling moth has got just about our whole apple crop) so I got out there on the ladder, a big deal for height-a-phobic me, and put plastic bags (with lots of holes cut for air and moisture to escape) around each and every ripening peach. I'm happy to say that we are now enjoying beautiful big juicy peaches, and the rats are no longer beating us to them!

 

I'm loving the water lillies that have graced our pond as well, it must be a fairly healthy environment at the moment as we have some baby goldfish to go with our other six guppies in there at the moment. Obviously when a school friend of my big girl dropped off a couple more goldfish for us one must have been a boy! The girls are loving seeing these baby fish and really enjoy feeding them.

You can even see one of the baby fish (little brown thing) if you look closely enough.

The husband has always liked to drink Lemon & Barley water as a thirst quencher, but at $5 a bottle when we go through it quickly it seems a bit pricey. So he googled a recipe the other day and made some. About 50c worth of barley, a bit of sugar, water, lemon and there you go. Plus the chooks loved the left over barley once it was strained off. Homemade Lemon & Barley - much better for us too as sugar isn't the main ingredient anymore.

Recipe here

It's been a weekend of getting ready for school again. After 7 weeks finally school is going back tomorrow.  I've loved most of the holidays but being a working parent means that the last two weeks have been a bit of a juggle. Bags are almost all packed and baking has been done.

Have a lovely week xxx Kylie

Crochet in the Caravan

Camping, well caravanning went well. Towbee was a star - no leaks (mind you there was no rain luckily), the bed was comfy and the girls didn't mind sleeping in the awning. Only thing we really need is to buy some outside sun shelter as it gets a bit hot inside during the day.

The beach was stunning, loads of fun outside activities - swimming, fishing, kayaking, shellfish gathering (Tuatuas), walking, shell collecting, and of course sand creations. The girls had a blast but they were so tired (and a wee bit tetchy) by the end of it that it was good to come home - with beach souvenirs of course!

I got a little crochet done, making good progress on the slow going Claudia Scarf (4ply with a 3mm hook). I think next time (although this will look fabulous I'm sure) I would do in 8ply with less repeats. I'm all about quick gratification at the moment.

I haven't done very much on the Ripple blanket lately, it's calling me back though as the colours are too lovely to resist.

I came home to a bunch of bananas that we'd left here and they were well past their best, so banana cakes were straight on the go. One for work morning tea and one for us. Of course they had the obligitory Chocolate Icing on them. Mmmmm delicious.

A quiet weekend is on the cards this weekend, a quick catchup with some family and then pottering around the garden and home.



Oh, before I go I want to thank the lovely Sandra at Chaos, Kids, Crochet and Cake for the Leibster blogger award she gave to me. The Leibster award is to be given to Bloggers with less than 200 followers, "Leibster" meaning 'Dearest', 'Beloved' or 'Favourite'. All the blogs I read have a lot of followers so I don't really have any to pass onto but I really would love to pass one onto the following (not sure if she is quite to 200 yet).

Becs at bornagain-creations

I hope you are all having a lovely week.

Kylie x

Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows

The rain has stayed away, my anti-rain dance must have worked. It looks like it'll stay clear for another week or so at least. Finally it's Summer. So in preparation we have been packing the caravan for our upcoming holiday. Don't you love how there are little compartments for every item in the cupboards.

I got a couple of little gems at the op shop the other day. A brand new set of Cath Kidston handcreams was a must have. I don't use fragranced handcreams usually (I make my own as I react to shop brought ones) but these were to cute to pass by. Must have been discarded by someone who hasn't found the Kidston love yet.

The other gem was a vintage crochet magazine. Love it!

There are a few patterns that I would use....

And a few that I think the other half probably wouldn't appreciate too much....

Don't you love the look of this one ;)

And this one cracked me up, written in a different time with saying that it will look "gay in blue and white stripes".

I bottled the monster beetroot this weekend. We have tons and tons of jars but I'm the only one who eats it. I think I will have to take much of it into work and see if they want some.

I also need some marrow recipes if you have any - we have a few of those too!

Have a great week all. x Kylie

Rain, Rain Go Away......

We are experiencing a very unusual Summer. Since the week before Christmas it has done little but rain, and the temperatures are lower than normal. Great for the Garden (I've never seen it look so lush) but not so good for people who desperately want to be at the beach!

But the garden, oh my garden, is amazing.  It's humid and wet here so we have huge plant growth, but big weeds also.

So to keep the little and big people amused, there has been a LOT of baking. Not so great for the post-Xmas waistline mind you.

The good part of the bad weather is that I've had plenty of time with the Hooks out. Not much to show for it though as they are mostly on going projects but I love the wee cotton facecloths (Ravelry link here) I made over the New Year.

Just before I go, don't you just love these beautiful Calla Lillies that grow in my garden at this time of year?

Keep your fingers crossed for us that we get a few fine days soon so we can make the most of the school holidays.

The end of the year

Photo courtesy of one of our Christmas guests, Mascha

The lead up to Christmas was more than manic, I got a wee bit of crafty time but not nearly enough. I'm so enjoying the post-xmas relaxation. We have had little planned and we are just spending some quality family time in between shift work and catching up with friends. 

My little one enjoying the atmosphere of Christmas Eve

We had a lot of visitors over Christmas, Towbee held up well as a spare bedroom.

I made a few goodies, Rhubarb Cordial, especially nice with sparkling water and a splash of Gin!

 

Xmas gifts

 

I mad the incredibly easy Mallowpuff Xmas puddings for the creche (daycare) teachers in the week before Christmas. I did manage to make a few for myself as well....

And it's finally started being beach time again, so far summer hasn't really hit. But it's still warm enough to head out there (maybe not today though - the weather is horrid)

One great thing this summer is out passionfruit. We have never managed to grow it sucessfully before - it's never been established before the frosts hit, the new spot for it must be perfect as we have a bumper crop on there. I can't wait until they are ready.

The chickens are doing a few odd things, what's with the size difference here. I think have one chook that thinks she is a Quail - such a teeny tiny egg.

I did attempt to make Elderflower champagne for Xmas day but unfortunately it wasn't a success. I fiddled with it too much and some bacteria got in. I'll make it again shortly but this time the quality control officer (my husband) will be in charge of the actual brewing process as he's better at it. I'll show it off when it works next time.

Well I hope the end of the year treats you well, I'm reflecting on the past year and thinking of what plans to put in place for the next twelve months. See you all in 2012.