Re-Assessing.....

Since I last posted we've had just under 5 inches of rain... After what was a promising start to the 2010 harvest season we are now looking at disappointing crops of shot wheat.... We're trying to stay positive, re-assessing our options, deciding whether or not to still sell our wheat even though it will now only bring $140 per tonne (if we're lucky) instead of the $300 that it was just over a week ago... sigh....

All the while we are ever so thankful that we still have a crop to strip and there will still be some money hitting the bank to lessen our burdens... We are not flood affected and have not lost everything, it's going to be tight for a while but at least we have something, right????!!??

Last Friday DH had a phone call from a friend who told him of a farmer at Walgett who took his life that morning with a riffle. He had a wife and a young family and after 10 years of drought and disappointment thought that this year would be his saving grace... So, he went in deep and planted up big... He has lost everything due to the rains and now his family has lost more, him.....

Jelly Xmas Star Tutorial

SORRY BUT GOOGLE HAS SWALLOWED UP THE PICTURES FROM THIS POST...
PLEASE GO TO THIS MORE RECENT POST FOR NEW PICTURES...

With Xmas not too far away I thought it would be fun to do a little crochet Xmas decoration tutorial....

You'll need some 8ply yarn (I used heirloom super fine Australian Merino Wool) and a 4mm hook.

(note - american crochet terms are used for this pattern)

To start, make a foundation chain of 5, join with a slip stitch to the first chain to form a ring.

Round 1 - ch3, 2dc, ch3, *3dc, ch3. Repeat from the * 3 more times (5 dc clusters and 5 ch3's total). Join with a slip stitch to the 3rd ch of the starting ch3. Round 2 - slip stitch into the next 2 dc and into the first ch3 space. ch3, 2dc, ch3, 3dc, 1hdc in 2nd dc of next dc cluster. *3dc, ch3, 3dc in next ch3 space, 1hdc in 2nd dc of next dc cluster. Repeat from * 3 more times.

Join with a slip stitch in 3rd chain of starting ch3.

Round 3 - Sip stitch into next 2 dc and into first dc ch3 space. Ch3, 3dc, ch4, 4dc, 1sc on either side of hdc from previous round.

4dc, ch4, 4dc in next ch3 space, 1sc on either side of next hdc from previous round. Repeat from * 3 more times. Join with a slip stitch in 3rd chain from starting ch3. Fasten off and weave in ends...

These stars are great sewn into a garland or hung by themselves on your tree would look divine. Why not make them in a thick cotton for a Xmas-y themed washer...

Swap Button

For those who are in the Xmas Washer Swap I've made a little button up for your side bar...

To add it to your blog like mine is on the right of the screen here's what you do.....

Right click on the picture above and save it onto your computer.

Go to the Design page of your blog and select 'add a gadget'.

Once in this wizard, scroll down until you see a gadget titled 'Picture', click on this gadget.

Once opened, you will see a field box at the top labeled 'Title', here I have named my picture 'Xmas Washer Swap 2010'.

Next you will see a box labeled 'Caption' leave this blank.

Next is the 'Link' box, here l typed - http://jellywares.blogspot.com/. This will mean that whenever anybody clicks on this picture it will take them straight back to here.

Now time to add the picture, in the 'image' field you will be selecting to 'add an image from your computer'.

Select 'Browse' to find where you saved the image.

Make sure that the box labelled 'shrink to fit' is ticked before you upload your picture...

I hope this all makes sense but if you have any problems just shoot me an email and I'll do my best to help you out...

Also could the following people please email me if you're still wanting to be in the Swap, I don't have your email addresses yet....

Lily Boot, Shammy, Kerrie B, Sarah & Leigha.

Please Don't Rain Today!!!!!

Thanks to all who joined up for my Xmas Washer Swap... Keep an eye on your inbox as partners will be emailed out tonight, YIPPEE!!!!

With Xmas less than 30days away now I've slowly been putting the finishing touches on my handmade Xmas-y decorations for the shop...

The first super quick but overly effective decoration to adorn Jellywares on Marshall's walls this week is a Crochet Xmas Star Garland....

This was so much fun to make and as soon as we finish Harvest the pattern particulars will be available on my sidebar... I also have a knitted version for those crafty peeps who are yet to learn the art of crochet so stay tuned... *wink*

Thanks for all of the gorgeous comments and emails of late regarding our harvest. As I look out on the horizon this morning I see black skies and storms brewing, 20-40mm of rain is predicted for our region this afternoon. Please, I beg you, don't rain on us today!!!!!

Almost Ready...

As we wait for 1 last Header (Harvester) part to arrive the anticipation grows as our crops etch their way to being ripe for 'stripping'.... In just a matter of days Harvest will begin and if all goes well these tiny little seeds will be our meal ticket for the next 6 months...

We've watched paddocks of bare red dirt turn to lush green pasture which then finally hayed off into golden wheat fields and have waited patiently as the months passed by in the process. We're so thankful for the rain that fell just when we needed it and for a mild start to our hot Season that has shone just the right amount of Sun.... We've been lucky enough to dodge the locust that are ever so present on several other parts of our farm...

And now, with all fingers crossed, we hope for a successful harvest..... So if I'm a little distant over the next couple of weeks it's because this hectic time has engulfed me and my little family as we work hard 'round the clock to get our precious grains of gold to the silo's... Hopefully bringing with it some festive cheer for 'Darling Downs' Station....

Frumpy??!!????!!!!

Last night when I asked DH what he thought of a new skirt I'd made I never expected the response that I got, actually I'm still pretty disappointed.... I guess I can be grateful for his honesty. I'd of hated him to tell me I looked gorgeous if he never really meant it but when he told me I 'looked frumpy' my heart sank..... WOW!!! When did I go from the 'sexy' woman he married to a 'frumpy' wife???

I stewed on his words all night (because I'm good at that) and this morning when I woke decided to wear the new skirt regardless... Hell, I don't mind looking like a frump if it makes me feel good....

What about you??? Have you been called 'frumpy' lately????

Are You Like Me????

Sometimes I think about a blog-post that much that I think I over think it, have I lost you yet??? LOL!!!

(new skirts we're making in sewing classes at 'Jellywares'.)

I even sometimes lay in bed at night thinking of the words that I'm going to write to go with the gorgeous pictures I've taken that day, I think, think, think those darn words right out of my head and by morning all I am left with is pictures and no way of writing how they make me feel...

(1st sewing class project)

So for the rest of this month I'm just going to upload my pictures and let it flow from there... Sometimes there may be words but then again sometimes there might not....

Are you like me???? Do you think too much too???

Roller-Coaster......

This morning I got up before the Sun, jumped into my car and headed to town for the start of my working week at 'Jellywares on Marshall'....

Life gets pretty hectic around my place and for the past week I don't think I've even had the chance to read 1/2 of the emails that have hit my inbox let alone reply to the the few that I have....

As of this morning, at 7:30am, my Inbox total hit 876 messages, can you believe it??? Well I almost can't!!!!

When did I become that person who barely gets the chance to reply to her emails???? When did I loose track of the hours which somehow blend into days, and eventually turn into weeks, yes that's right, WEEKS!!!! Weeks of to-do lists with way too many things not done on them and way more things that REALLY need to be done..... *sigh*

So yesterday with an ever growing 'to-do' list we threw caution to the wind and had a picnic instead....

We left dishes on the sink and washing in the machine, sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather that this time of year brings.... And after that, we picked flowers....

Lots of flowers and then, when my littlest bundle was plum-tuckered out, I cleaned off the kitchen bench and hung out the washing........ And you know what???? Every single crazy second of this roller-coaster life that I live is what keeps me jumping out of bed in the morning, excited to start each new day, anxious of what it might hold....

Tea Anyone???? What about a Swap???

Today in a class we put the finishing touches on these little beauty's (tea cozy-s made using Noro Iro) and it got me thinking....

How do you like your tea???
Do you drink it brewed in a pot or are you tea bag kinda girl???
Do you use loose leaf or bags in your pot???? Do you play around with flavours or are you always drawn back to the classic 'black tea'???

Do you go to the trouble of brewing up a whole 4-6 (or even 8) cup pot just for yourself or do you like using a little 1-2 cup pot????

Do you drink your tea black or is white more to your liking??? Honey, sugar or simply nothing at all, you're sweet enough as it is??? LOL!!!

I love a classic tea brewed in a pot with loose leaves, white with 1 and I'm won!!! But, if a pot's not handy Tetley tea bags make a great substitute brewed in my favourite mug...

With all of this tea talk I'm now off to brew a little pot up for myself and with that in mind was wondering if anybody would be interested in a Xmas Washcloth Swap. The theme would obviously be Xmas for the washer and 'Tea' for little gift to accompany....

Leave a comment if you'd be interested and I'll forward the details via email.

A Little Question.....

The candle making was a huge hit last night with my little haul of wax making a 7cm round tea light sized honey scented dream.... The only thing I'll change next time is how I rushed the cooling/setting stage of my candle making by popping my mould into the freezer... As you can see in the pic below, it caused my candle to crack... But that's only effected the aesthetic appeal as this little beauty smells like heaven in a pot when burning away on my bedroom dresser.

I've been trying to grow passion-fruit for the past 3 years here on the farm and finally this year all of my hard work has paid off.... My vine is absolutely loaded with fruit and I'm now dreaming of all the delicious passion-fruit recipes that I'll be able to create once these babies are ripe...

So here's my question..... How do I know when to pick???? Will they turn brown and wrinkle up or do I pick them green???

Have you grown passion-fruit before??? What was your favourite recipe to use you bounty of fruit up??

Golden Harvest!!!!!

We have about 12 wild bee hives on our farm and DH has been watching this one in particular for the past couple of months, waiting anxiously for the perfect moment to poach a little honey from it.... When DH said this morning that today was the day, I was nervously excited!!!!! Thankfully he had done his research and knew exactly what to do. Smoke makes bees gorge on their honey leaving them feeling euphoric, mesmerised enough for us to grab ourselves just a little of their golden goodness....

With a steady stream of smoke hovering over their hive it only took a couple of minutes

and our bees were revealing their bounty of golden goodness.... So we broke off just enough honey to suffice, not being too greedy as we might come back here for some more one-day...

WOW!!!!! Look at this golden stuff....

As pure as pure can be, liquid GOLD!!!!

I just had to have a taste...

But a lick wasn't enough..... ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!!!!!

And even after all of this sucking with just a little squeeze, look at what came dripping out....

So with my honey haul in hand we headed back to the homestead for a bit of extracting....Now I've never done this before but thanks to my handy 'salad spinner' I was able to extract 250ml from my haul and it only took just under an hour....

I even added the tiniest bit of honey comb to the top, just because... *wink*

I'm now off to have a go at making a candle from my left over bees wax....

Have you ever harvested wild honey before??? I can't explain just how incredibly rewarding it is and am so looking forward to our next harvest in a month or so...

Honey carrots are definitely on the cards to accompany dinner tonight.... :)