My Creative Space...

I've been seeing some fantastic creative spaces around blog-land of late. This week I decided to join in on the fun....My creative space in seeing lots of green today and hopefully a little white by the days end. I've been crocheting-along with this great mystery Xmas project... Today is the 'big reveal', the assembly part of the project will be posted and I can't wait..... Check out some more great spaces here...

Take Care....

Tie One On.....

After speaking with my sister recently I couldn't stop thinking about the latest Tie One On theme... So late last night with ideas buzzing around my head I got to sewing and came up with this.....

OMG!!!! It's SO hard to take a pic of yourself, any pointers would be great... :( I used some red and white striped fabric for the skirt of my apron and and white with red flowers for the binding and strap... I added 3 big pin tuck on each side of the skirt to add shape and body, some interfacing to my waistband to help it stay upright, some binding all of the way around with curved edges and that was practically it.... I'm now trying to think of where to put a pocket or some kind of embellishment..... Ideas welcome!!!!!

Both fabrics you can see better in the pic's of the stockings below... The stocking 2nd from the right in the first pic is the binding fabric..... And the stocking 2nd from the left in the 2nd pic is the skirt fabric.... Oh yeah, onto the advent garland... I've been turning these out at a rate of knots over the past 24-36 hours... I just free hand drew each of the stockings as I went along grabbing fabric and trims that I had on hand in my stash so everyone is 'individual'. When I got to about the 5th one I started wondering how I was going to stay focused to the end but then by the 24th I was wishing for more, they were so fun to do!!!!!

Now I just need to come up with something to put in each of the stockings, without getting too much plastic-y kid junk... That's one thing for each of my girls for 24 days, 48 little things....????? Any ideas?????

Take Care.......

Thank-You......

All of the fantastic supportive comments that everybody left regarding my loss yesterday was so wonderful and I thank each and every one of you very, very much... It truly made yesterday a whole lot easier than it would of been without your support.....

While sorting though some old clothes of Connie's this morning I came across this little dress....

It fits Millie just perfect!!!! I can still remember when I made it for Connie and how thrilled I was at the end result.... I used recycled fabric and thrifted lace. The buttons down the back were also re-purposed from an old blouse of mine... I really loved this dress!!!

I've decided that I want to make more of these little dresses using recycled/re-purposed materials and am now searching for the pattern that I drafted up 3 years ago...

I think from memory I just made it up as I went along but wrote down some notes for future reference, too bad I can't find those notes right now... LOL!!! Surely they're in amongst my mess, oops I mean 'studio', somewhere....

Take Care..... :)

Foxes....

This morning when I went to collect the eggs to my surprise there was only 4.... On further investigation I discovered that sometime last night my poor little coop was prayed upon by foxes. Yes, I'm assuming that it was more than 1 as my medium sized flock of 30 has now been depleted to a small one of 10....

You can only imagine how upset I am today, I love my chooks, actually I love all of my animals. I really do try to keep them all safe and really wish this didn't happen but now that it has there isn't much I can do about it. Tonight I will tie one of the dogs up at the gate and hopefully that will help eliminate further devastation.......

Do you keep chooks??? Have you ever lost any to foxes??? What do you do to stop it happening???

Take Care......

Today I'm....

Harvesting some more red onions.....

And hanging them to dry in my fly room... It's really a room that you walk into before you enter our home. They're designed to drop all of the flies before you walk into a house, hence the name, and have fly mesh for the windows instead of glass, kinda like an enclosed veranda...

Miss Connie also picked our first cucumber for the season....

Isn't it a rippa'???? She thought so anyway....

Unfortunately we didn't get the cottage fenced off this weekend for my milking sheep... :(

DH was too busy stripping our wheat crop, I guess that does take priority after all, it does pay the bills now doesn't it... LOL!!!

So in between smoko runs, liaising with the grain truck driver and tinkering in my garden I worked on a little something that I've been dying to do for quite some time now.... It involves yarn, of coarse. I'll let you all in on my secret soon, promise.... ;)

(how on earth did those cheeky feet sneak into another pic??? LOL)

Take Care......

Homemade Ricotta....

Well my first attempt didn't quite look like this but I got there in the end.... I tried making my ricotta using the left over whey from my Quark cheese but that didn't work so I followed this recipe instead using milk and lemon juice and it tastes delicious!!!! (now how did those toes sneak into that pic... LOL!!!!)

From 1 litre of milk I got approx 250grams of Ricotta. I'm so looking forward to adding some of this fresh Ricotta to a lasagna tonight for dinner, but first I'm going to add some to a frittata for lunch..... YUMMO!!!!

Another thing I've always wanted to make is flat bread... My family loves it!!!! It cost me $4 for my last packet of 8, what a rip-off!!!! I was convinced that I could make it cheaper than that and boy was I right!!!!

I made 6 flat bread for less than $1, that's AWESOME!!!! But what's even better is that it was SOOOO EASY!!!!

Here's my recipe, I adapted it from several that I found on the net.... It took me about 20 mins to make 6 using this recipe. We ate 3 and I've wrapped the other 3 in a clean tea towel to eat with dinner tonight. With my next batch I'm going to try doubling it so that I can freeze some. I'd also like to see how they'd go chopped and baked as a yummy crunchy dipping chip, have you ever tried that before???

Flat Bread....
ingredients - 2 cups plain flour, 1/2-3/4 cup water, 1/2 teaspoon salt....
Mix together flour and salt, add half the water. Mix with your hands to form a smooth dryish dough, adding more water if you need to. Knead on a floured surface well then divide into 6 equal portions... Roll each portion out paper thin making sure to keep your surface and rolling pin well floured.
Cook in a hot frying pan, 1 at a time, for a couple of minutes on each side. I then like to place them stacked on top of each other on a dinner plate covered with a tea towel, this helps them from drying out, it kind of sweats them.... We had them filled with homegrown lettuce, tomato and homemade asparagus and ricotta frittata for lunch today. DH said they tasted SOOOO much better than the ones I buy from the shop (I agree with him), that's a win win in my books... *^_^*

Take Care........ :)

Homemade Cheese....

I've had making cheese on my list of things 'to do' for quite some time now. After reading a recent post by Rhonda I decided enough was enough and it was time for me to give it a go.....

I decided to make some Quark, Quark is a German cheese which is low in fat with a delicious tangy flavour and semi-dry texture. I used this recipe and 1 litre of homemade yogurt from my fridge. I allowed my Quark to drain on my bench over night, than this morning once it was nice and thick I mixed it with some fresh chopped garlic chives and cracked pepper. To get a nice rounder shape for my cheese I wrapped it in muslin and then pressed it into a small bowl.... Covered in the fridge my Quark should last a good couple of days... With the drained off 750ml of Whey I'm going to have a go at making Ricotta today......

After doing some research of late I've discovered that I can milk my sheep and then make cheese with this milk. I'm not going to milk all my sheep, that would take forever, we do have 1500 of them after all... LOL!!! I've hand rared 1/2 a dozen Damara sheep, you might remember some of them from back here... A couple had lambs about 8 weeks back and are lactating at the moment, perfect timing for me to give it a go..... With DH on the job of fencing the cottage off this weekend for them to live around I might be able to have my first milking expedition some time early next week.... Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well and I'm producing homemade sheep milk cheese for my family before we know it...

Take Care :)

Giveaway #2....

I know that I was supposed to wait until tomorrow to announce the winner of Giveaway #1 but I just can't help myself!!! So after hooking up to random.org to get my number this morning the winner of the potholder is comment #9 Becky....

Now on to Giveaway #2.... This giveaway is for 2 crochet coasters. I made them using some locally made fibre that a girlfriend produced on her farm down the road...

I love the simplicity of these little coasters, so rustic yet so classy....

Anyone can enter, all you have to do is leave a comment telling me what you most favourite locally made product is (if you have one)....

Take Care :)

Today I'm.......

harvesting the first of my red cocktail onions as well as some more green beans and snow peas. It's so rewarding being able to provide for my family in this way....When I first stopped bringing in an income 12 months ago (just before I had Millie) and the novelty of 'staying home' wore off I really started feeling insignificant...

I had to sit back and re-evaluate my situation, who was I and more importantly, who did I want to be???? I'd always been a working woman bringing in, what seemed to me, a good income. This new life as a SAHM was very unfamiliar, and I must admit I was a little scared.

It took me a while, but I realised that I was now doing the most important job of all, raising my family..... I was no longer a 50hr a week working woman, I was a Mum raising 2 beautiful little girls.

I now provide for my family in a different way. I do little things on a daily basis that in the long run really pay off. They can be any thing from re-purposing or 'Junksmithing' (don't you just love that word???), to making clothes, to growing fresh fruit and vegie's, to caring for chooks that in turn produce delicious eggs and meat, to fattening lambs for eat and much, much more.....

All of these things are saving our family in one way or another so I really am providing for my family and providing quite well.... I have a plan, or should I say 'dream', to be 90% self-sufficient within the next 2-3 years. I'm so looking forward to this challenge and can't wait to take my family on this journey.....

I'm so lucky to be able to live the life that I do even if I do get insecure about it every now and than and question my significance... I just need to remember to regularly take time out to appreciate what I have, a loving husband, 2 beautiful healthy little girls, a lovely modest home and much, much more.... Boy I sure am lucky....

What is your dream?????

Take Care :)

Giveaway #1

I can't believe that my last post was my 200th.... To celebrate I thought it would be fun to host a couple of little handmade giveaway's.....I've been so inspired by lots of different people through blog-land over the past couple of years and recently I stumbled across this gorgeous blogger who's blog has inspired me to crochet a potholder for the 1st of my 2 giveaways....

All you have to do to is leave a comment and it could be yours. I'd love to hear what kind of potholders you use at your home, if any that is. I've always just used a tea towel but am seriously thinking that 1/2 a dozen or more little crochet/knitted ones are definitely on the to do list before the year is out...

Take Care :)

I'll draw the winner next Fri, 6th Nov....

Fresh Beans....

In amongst kitchen Reno's this week I whipped up another little hat for my new nephew....

This was just as super easy as the one I made here and if you'd like to make one yourself here's the pattern....

Jelly's Striped Slouch Hat

This hat is sized for a newborn

Cast on 60's using 4mm circular needle and what ever yarn you like as long as it's 10-12ply....

Knit in the round for 10cm, alternating between two colours every 2nd round.

Don't worry about cutting the yarn every colour change, just bring the yarn up and continue knitting as normal... Because the stripes aren't very big you barely notice where you've bought the yarn up through the previous colour and started knitting again....

Once your work has reached 10cm in length, place markers every 15st's as you're now ready to start your gradual decrease.... Knit to 2 st's before st marker, knit these 2 st's together. Continue like this all the way round (a total of 4 decreases per round)... Knit 3 rounds as normal without decreasing, incorporating the stripe pattern.

Repeat these 4 rows until you have 4 st's remaining... Cut the yarn leaving a 6' tail, thread it through the live st's, pull tight and weave in ends.... You're now finished... A pompom on the end would look super cute too, the choice is yours... :)

I've been lucky enough to be enjoying fresh beans from the garden this week.....

They are super delicious raw, chopped and added to a yummy green salad.... What are you harvesting this week in your garden???? Take Care :)