Sowing 2009

On our farm we sow crops of Wheat, Oats and Barley in the cooler months.... This year we're sowing Wheat seed that was harvested from our farm last year. We usually sell our seed, if the price is right, and only keep a small amount on farm for sowing the following year...

We were dry sowing (sowing into ground that had no moisture) this year in a hope that we would get rain.... That was until 3 inches fell Thursday last week right in the middle of sowing which resulted in this....

DH getting bogged to the Axel.....
After a lot of digging and a hell of a lot of pulling (by a much bigger beefier tractor mind you) we finally got out of the bog hole and DH was on his merry way again.....
Hopefully there won't be too many more moments like these this sowing season as we still have 1600 of the 2000 acres to sow before the end of this month with a lot of rain predicted along the way.... I'm not complaining though, this amount of rain is a Godsend!!!! It means our crop will definitely come up now and we'll have either sheep feed or a crop to harvest, it all depends on the follow up rain.... Fingers crossed things work in our favor this growing season and this dry paddock (well at the moment very moist paddock... LOL!!!) turns a nice shade of green....

A Plan.....

My Dad loves tomato relish.. So armed with a big box of homegrown tomatoes he approached me with a plan... I make the relish, he supplies the tomatoes and then we go halves. Sounds like a good plan to me....

The recipe that I use is one that has been handed down through my family for years. I love how it tastes and am yet to come across another relish quite like it....

I love making homemade relish but removing the labels from the jars can be an absolute nightmare, that was until my Mum finally taught me how to do it properly...

First, fill your jars up with boiling water put the lid on and leave for 5 mins. The label should now peel off with ease leaving behind a small amount of glue. Next, wrap the outside of the jar in clingfilm that has a solution of equal parts dish-washing liquid and water sprayed on it. Once again leave for 5 mins. Remove the clingfilm and wash jars in hot water. Any glue still left on the jars once dry can be removed with a cotton ball and some eucalyptus oil.... This method is sure to give a shinny clean jar every time....

Do you have a special method for getting those stubborn labels off jars???

I also made some butterscotch choc-chip muffins this morning while brewing up my batch of relish.....

These were super easy and taste so delicious. They're best served heated with a dollop of whipped butter or cream on top for dessert, YUMMO!!!!! But you can eat them cooled and they're still delicious...

Butterscotch Choc-Chip muffins

2 Cups SR Flour

1/2 Cups P Flour

1/4 teaspoon bicarb soda

3/4 Cups firmly packed Brown Sugar

1 Cup Cooking chocolate, chopped

2 Tablespoons Golden Syrup

1 1/4 Cups Buttermilk (see note below for how to make your own butter milk)

100g melted Butter

1 Egg, lightly beaten

Stir flours, sugar, chocolate and soda together.

Whisk buttermilk and golden syrup until dissolved, add melted butter and egg, whisk well.

Add liquid to flour, mix until just combined. DO NOT OVER MIX!!!

Divide mixture evenly between muffin pans.

Bake for 15-20 mins at 180'C or until golden in colour and cooked when tested.

Makes about 18 large muffins.

note: to make buttermilk add 2 Tablespoon of either vinegar or lemon juice to a 500ml jug and fill to 500ml measurement with milk. Leave for 5 minutes then use as needed.

Necessity

Out of pure necessity I've sewn the girls 5 pairs of pants each and must admit I am totally loving my new mags..... The patterns are so simple to understand and I can't wait to get started on some more little clothes for my girls this weekend if I get a chance...

I'm on the road again this weekend, off to granny's house, will try and get some sewing done while I'm down there, wish me luck..... Take care :)

IN LOVE!!!!!

A belated Xmas pressy came from my sister at the end of last month... You can just imagine how excited I was when I opened it and found a subscription to this mag.....

The first thing I made was this cute pair of overalls for Little Millie...
I love everything about this pattern, right down to the little pin tucks at the front.
I've also made some super cute 3/4 tights using stretch, a big first for me (using stretch that is)and I LOVED IT!!!!
These were SO EASY!!! I can see me making loads and loads of these for the girls out of the big haul of stretch I scored from here last weekend for $1 a metre...
Yes that's right $1, some were reduced down from as much as $16.95 a metre, can you believe it, well I couldn't... That's why I bought 45 metre's of it... LOL!!! A bit obsessive I know but just think of the saving.... ^_^

Show Time - Part 2

The Show was a huge success!!! Miss Connie entered into some of the under 5 cooking categories and even got a couple of 2nd's. 1 for her decorated patty cakes and 1 for her choc crackles... I think this mummy was smiling bigger then her bubby when she saw this... LOL!!!

The pavilion looked awesome and our small country town did an amazing job filling it with all their handmade and grown treasures...
My crochet smock got a 2nd which is fantastic and I also got a few other prizes for some sewing that I'll share with everyone later....
Now it wouldn't be a show without a few rides so with the help of Poppy Miss Connie had loads of fun on almost everything she was able to...

And I even got a chance to take her on this humongous trampoline which was loads of fun...

Finally a big congratulations goes out to my sister... She entered some of her knitting into the show this year for the first time.... She got 2 first places and 2 second places, well done Ab your knitting ROCKS!!!

Take Care :)

Show Time...

Lots of preperations for our Annual Agricultural Show here at the moment...

Today non-perishables were delivered to the pavilion and on Thursday the perishables are due...

Will try to take loads of pics over the weekend of all the lovely crafty goodness on display to share with everyone...

Here's one of the things that I entered today...

A crochet smock... This was such a beautiful pattern to follow, perfect for all skill levels.... I can definitely see another one of these on the agenda very soon... ^_^

Take Care....

The Sweet Smell of Home...

After yet another long car trip I've finally made it home.... No matter how much fun I have while I'm away or how well my Mum looks after me nothing beats the feeling of coming home.... So today, while nursing a really bad case of Mondayitis, I sat in my favourite spot in the garden and just took a big breath....

Take Care... :)

p.s. the pics are of the matching top I made for Miss Connie that I mentioned in the previous post.

Busy....

I think the title says it all....

I've been so busy since the Easter break with visitors that ended up staying for an extra week, a trip to Mum's and a visit down to VIC to see my sister for the first time since she moved to this beautiful town 3 months ago....

I'm back at Mum's house tonight and not too sure when I'll be venturing back to the farm...

(little millie at my sister's house in the swing)

Millie has been an absoulte angel through the whole expedition but Connie (my 2yr old), now that's a whole other story... LOL!!! Don't get me wrong she's a great kid but at the moment she's really testing some boundaries....

(miss connie at lunch on the road)

Not too much crafting to report seen as though I've been the driver this trip (DH didn't come with us).... I've had a chance to do a bit of night time knitting though, producing this for Little Millie...

(top view of sweater opening)

It's a super cute little sweater but I omitted the sleeves to make it a top...

(full view of sweater... sorry about the angle!!! I don't know what's wrong with blogger tonight, this pic was the right way around until I uploaded it... das anyone else ben having this problem??)

I have another one on the needles in the same colours for Miss Connie but have decided to omit the side neck opening as the neck whole is fairly generous and for my version not really necessary......

I have loads of great goodies from my trip to share with you all but that will have to wait til I'm back home.... I even got a chance to go to this amazing place. OMG I'll definitely be venturing back there in the future...

Take Care :)

Stocking Up...

This weeks knitting has seen the completion of a matching bunny hat for miss Connie...I love this pattern by Susan B Anderson from this amazing book... This woman truly is an inspiration when it comes to all things itty bitty... I've also managed to knit up another one of these little pebble vests, this time for my step brothers baby boy which is due and day now....I used 5mm needles instead pf 4mm and a 10ply yarn. As a result the vest has made up to be a size 6-9 months instead of newborn which is just perfect...

Can you believe that Easter is this weekend??? Where on earth has this year gone???

I have visitors arriving for the long weekend on Thursday so am off to town for the day today to 'stock up'.... What fun things have you got planned for the long weekend???

We've got a heap of sheep to muster and while I have the extra 'manpower' around I'm planning on putting it to good use and painting the girls cubby and building a garden bed...

(that's the cubby in the background of the pic above, definitely needs a coat of paint... )

Have a happy Easter everyone and Take Care... ^_^

Easter Crafting...

Yes, I'm still knitting..... LOL!!! One day I'll venture back to the sewing machine, I hope, but while the knitting urge is still here I thought I might as well do some Easter crafting....

A bunny hat for little Millie.....
With one for Miss Connie on the way in chocolate brown...And a few of these super cute bunny washcloths for my girls....I'm also planning on making a heap of these for the rest of the extended family to team up with their home baked Easter treats this year.... They were so quick and easy to knit, perfect for the beginner...

What Easter traditions do you have???? Have you started your Easter crafting yet???

Also, over the weekend I had the courage (with some help from my Mum) to draft up a clothes pattern to knit.... I can't believe it actually worked out..... LOL!!! Here it is, a 'Jelly Top'....

There's a few things that need 'tweaking' so to speak and then the pattern will be all done, available as a dress or a top, too cute... ^_^

Trips to Town...

Living on a farm in the middle of nowhere really makes those trips to town once every 10 or so days extra special.... So for our last 'special trip' I made Miss Connie some pretty crochet clips to wear in her hair...

And while I was at it I up-sized the flower and made myself a brooch....

(The flower above is a pattern I wrote myself and is available for purchase. Email me and I'll forward the particulars if you're interested... $1 for the pattern, $3 for a made pair of hair clips or brooch .)

I've also managed to knit this little Debbie Bliss shrug for Connie over the past week...
I made one for Millie a few weeks back so now I'll have matchy matching girls come Winter... ^_^... Don't you just love that???

Take Care..... :)