Poppy and Connor....

Just before Xmas we were very lucky to welcome 2 new little kittens to our tribe..... Meet 'Poppy' (and yes that's me, raw as raw, with all my lines exposed - something I'm trying to embrace)...

 

And here's Millie's 'Little Connor'.....

 

 

 

 

We sure do love our cats 'round these parts.... :)

Pebble....

I love knitting for babies, there's just something special about it - don't you think???....

 

And if I had to pick a favourite pattern for a newborn it would have to be the 'Pebble'...

 

I love the way this little vest is designed to open out flat - it makes those sometimes awkward newborn  change times seem oh so much more simpler.....

 

If you've followed this blog for a while you'll know that this is my 3rd 'Pebble'. This one I've made for a lady who has been nothing but warm and generous to me since we met a few years back. She and her family have welcomed the most sweetest little girl, Tilly J, into the world on a very special day - Xmas Day!!!

 

So with another knitted project off the needles a new one has begun... This time using some scrummy silk/cashmere and a gorgeous Kirsten Kapur pattern - I can't wait to tell you all about this new yarn once this project is finished...

but until then - Happy Knitting!!!

Seasonal

Last week we were gifted 2 big boxes full of the sweetest home-grown Nectarines I think I've ever tasted (thanks Hansen family) so what were we to do with this yummy, juicy, extra ripe seasonal fruit apart from eat it??? Make Jam of coarse....  

 

Having never made Nectarine Jam before, and a lack of being able to find a recipe in my trusty old preserving book, I decided to 'wing it'.....

 

My girls started by removing the seeds from the fruit and slicing the flesh, thinly, until they had enough to fill a 4 litre pot. I then placed the pot full of sliced fruit on the stove over a low heat for approx an hour (do not add any water or your jam will be too runny) - the flesh will be all nice and gooey like baby food after this time.

 

We then added 4 cups of sugar to our baby food goo and bought it to a simmer. Because Nectarines have a very low pectin level we had to simmer our mixture for approx 2 hours before the 'setting' stage was reached. A good way of telling if you've reached this 'setting' stage is to have a small plate handy in the freezer, place a teaspoon of your hot mixture onto the cold plate and freeze for a couple of minutes. If, when removed from the freezer, your mixture wrinkles and separates when your finger is run through it than your jam has reached the 'setting' stage - remove it from the heat and bottle it. If the mixture doesn't wrinkle simmer for a further 10 mins and repeat....

 

We've also got an abundance of passionfruit here on the farm at the moment so I tried my hand at some passionfruit syrup, so far so good it's a hit with the whole family!!!!

 

For our syrup we took 2 cups of fresh passionfruit pulp, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water and bought it all to a rapid boil for 10 mins.

 

While it was still hot we poured it into some sterilized jars....

 

And then I couldn't help but pour it all over a butter cake that we'd made the day before and fill it full of cream - so delicious!!!!!

 

I'm still knitting away happily and have been dying to share this shawl with you all...

 

The pattern is Sand and Sea from the Coastal Knits book and the yarn I've used is Malabrigo (lace for the green and sock from the edging)

 

What can I say.... I simply loved making this shawl. There was just enough detail to keep me interested the whole way through and I even learnt something new - picking up wraps from a purl side. I can see another one of these simple lightweight Summer shawls whipped up very very soon....

 

And thanks to my little Millie, it's being modelled just beautifully..... :)

{{{{Big Hugs}}}}
Jodie

Summer Afternoons

The windy weather this past week has been just perfect for kite flying....

 

So we've been making the most of it, as you do, getting our fill of windy action with some friends!!!

 

Connie (my 5yr old) even enjoyed a fly,

 

and loved every minute of it!!!! Next time she might even be ready to go solo...

 

 

Summer afternoons spent like this - finished off with a BBQ of coarse, are up there with my favourites - how 'bout you??? What's your favourite way to spend a Summer's afternoon where you come from???

Absolute Bliss

WOW!!! Can it really be the 10th of January 2012 already???

The past 18 days since I last posted have been absolute bliss.... Loads of things have been happening, here's a brief run down - there was Xmas (of coarse), a gorgeous trip to Sunny Queensland for one of the best 6 day holidays we've EVER had, a delightful New Years Party on the gorgeous over flowing Darling River with a group of friends (both new and old which is always nice..), A visit to Nanny's place, a perfect pool party here on the farm for my little Millie who is now 3 - OMG!!!! And to top it all off we were blessed with a visit from some special friends this morning - they've travelled all the way from Victoria for a week away.
  

Also, in amongst the excitement we've been trapping goats like crazy (which is usual for this time of year) but with the scorching temps reaching well up and into the 40's for the past week (thank goodness today is a mild 32'C) the new Jumpoline (thanks Santa... *wink*), some bubble bath and a sprinkler come in very handy for cooling everybody down a little - and yes I mean EVERYBODY!!! 

Thanks for all of the Xmas and New Year emails that have come through. A few have been wondering where I've been and if all is well - I promise, all is well here on the farm, a little chaotic at times but still very very well....

So................. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!!! Sorry it's 10 days late....

Here's hoping you bought 2012 in with a bang and that this year finds you taking a little more time out to appreciate the simpler things in life.....

Extra Squishy

I love gardening and nothing brings me more pleasure than a nice, squishy, green  lawn!!!!

 

I love taking my shoes off and sinking my toes into it on a warm Summers day....

 

All the while watching my girls roll, jump and play on its vast expanse as they hope and wish that if their extra good Santa might just bring them that jumpoline they've been praying for (don't you know that's what they call trampoline's these days... LOL)....

So with only 2 sleeps to go I do so hope that Santa got their Xmas letters this year - we really would love a jumploine for our squishy lawn...

Merry Xmas - Jodie xx

Last Minute...

Can it really only be 16 days til Xmas???? 

Now that our tree is up the mad last minute present crafting has begun. Is it like that at your home??? Do you seem to leave A LOT of things to the last minute like me? For some reason I thrive on the thrill of getting things accomplished at the last minute - stupid, I know, especially when I still have 2 quilts to finish and a dress to make.....But, here's a pic of something which I do have finished - the package of goodies that I sent off to my Festive Swap Partner... 

 

And thanks to this gorgeous recipe over at 'The Shady Baker' I am now totally hooked on Basil Pesto - and what a great way to use up all of the excess that I have in the garden at the moment don't you think...

Stirred through some gorgeous home-made pasta with extra sharp cheese on top - DIVINE!!! 

Sweet and Tender

This week I've been busily harvesting golden onions from my garden - bunches and bunches of them... I like to plait mine and hang them in my dark pantry to dry out, this way they last us all the way through Winter (that's if we don't eat them all ofcoarse... LOL!!!). Nothing quite beats the fresh, sweet, tender taste of freshly grown onions... What do you do with yours???

 

We've also been lucky enough to be picking tomatoes and sweet hungarian peppers.

Have you ever preserved peppers??? I'd love to have a go at roasting them and preserving them in some kind of vinegar brine - got any recipe ideas?? I'd love for you to share them with me if you do...

 

Over the past couple of days I've had quite a few emails from my Swap ladies letting me know that they've sent out their parcels. This is great news as there is still a week until the deadline.... I'll be sending my parcel off tomorrow. I've made my (secret) partner the 'Grandmother's Fan Dishcloth' that I wrote about here. I just love this pattern and can see many more of this dishcloth made in the lead up to Xmas....

The Art of Crochet

The past couple of weeks have been some what of a blur but every single minute of the blurry haze has been thoroughly enjoyed - that's for sure!!!!

After returning home earlier this week with my 2 littlies in toe from a week long 'Homeschooling Camp' I had just enough time to gather up some supplies, make sure DH was equipped to take care of our girls, pack up most of my Shop and head off down the road to Bourke for a few days.... I was invited over to teach a group of gorgeous ladies the Art of Crochet...

Thank you so much for your gorgeous hospitality Anna!!! I had the most amazing time teaching all of you lovely ladies and was so inspired to see what some of you had created since our last meet....

It truly makes my heart sing to see spark in the eye of a new-be crocheter - and let me tell you now, these girls eyes sure were a SPARKLING!!!!

Over the past couple of weeks I've also managed to finish a few crochet projects of my own, some for the gift giving and some just because... The first was my Willow Doily Blanket that I blogged about here....

 

Then I made another one of Lisa's Super Simple Wreaths.

 

This time I used the decadent Malabrigo Chunky Merino in a golden shade and a 10mm hook (the little butterfly is a free pattern from here if you're interested)...

And then I couldn't help myself and I made ANOTHER Willow - this one is my favorite by far...  

I am totally in love with the Malabrigo Organic Cotton that I used for this blanket. It has made up so beautifully and has transformed this simple blanket into a gorgeous table cloth - don't you think??? 

What have you been up to these past couple of weeks???

Adding Them Up....

I'm away at a Home-schooling Camp with my 5yr old Connie at the moment, have been since Sunday, and with all of the 'to-ing' and 'fro-ing' (and sitting around) I've managed to knit up another 15 stars using the tutorial in my sidebar for the sick kids I told you all about back here.

That will bring the total amount of Stars crafted up by the incredibly generous community of Cobar (and surrounds) to 267, WOW!!!! Not many to make now to reach our goal of 280 before the 10th of December - when we send them off to the Westmead Children's Hospital for Xmas... 

Are you involved in anything for Charity this Xmas???? I'd love to hear about it.....

Wool Cheque

This time of year always makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside - I think it's one of the best things I love about being married to a sheep farmer. We've just finished shearing and the smell of sheep manure and wool is in the air....

 

So yesterday afternoon from the deck of the Shearing Shed we watched our cleanly shawn sheep grazing out across the flat and proudly loaded up our truck with this years wool clip..

 

And at the end of it all there were smiles all round...

With hopes of a big Wool Cheque come Xmas - we sure do love this time of year...