Happenings

My daughter emailed me the other day and told me to, 'update your blog woman!'. I hadn't realised how long it had been since I had put anything on here.  It has been a bit busy though.

I had a lovely weekend in Melbourne with Nicky and we browsed some amazing shops with gorgeous things we could never afford to buy. This furniture kept us enthralled for at least an hour.

We ate some amazing food, drank lots of wine and spent a couple of very nice hours at the Melbourne Zoo.

A week or so later I spent the night at my son's house in Tallangatta to get an early start to Albury for an MYOB course. He has this amazing cactus growing under his kitchen window. A couple of pieces have since moved to a pot in my garden. I actually had a sleep over at his house another night as well So I could go to  an Inspiration at home party...lots of lovely herbs and spices.

Over a month later and it is still flowering!

Toward the end of October I headed over to Batemans Bay to help my little sister celebrate her 50th birthday. Obviously it was an Hawaiian themed party and we had an absolute ball.That handsome devil in the blue with the sock and sandal thing going on is my brother. Quite a shy lad really.  

Apart from that I've just been heading to work three days a week, continuing on with my Volunteer Program which will finally be launched next week and keeping up with the garden.

Oh, and in between all that I have managed to get the quilt top finished although I'm not too sure I like the border. Going to live with it a bit and think about it before I commit to finishing it.

We also have a new visitor to the back yard. He/she seems to be always around the old vegie patch (I have put my vegies in the herb garden closer to the house. We have already had a brown snake in the yard)  There are quite a few White faced herons around our place but this is the only one I have seen in the yard.

Quickly getting back to reptiles, there are quite a few Blue tongued lizards in the yard as well. Three of them are quite large. The Brown snake we had here took up residence for a few days near where one of the big lizards live. I have stopped believing the story that Blue tongued lizards keep snakes away. Pity it's not true!

Creating

There has been a little bit of creating happening at my house this week.

Dave built a little bit of fence out of very old red gum fence posts.

I have managed to finish half the blocks for a quilt.

And the Op Shop has provided doileys and cottons for more creations sometime in the future.

Springtime

What a difference a month makes when your talking about the weather! 

We are still getting frosts in the mornings but the days are a balmy 20 degrees and its all you can do to stay inside just long enough to make the bed and clean up the kitchen in the morning.

Yesterday was catch up day with loads of washing and lawns to mow.

We rescued this tiny Viola from the lawn before the lawn mower went over it and found the perfect thing to plant it in,

Then Dave remembered there was a great big one in the wood shed which we have sat in the garden until we know what we want to plant in it.

 Today we rescued the deck chairs from the dusty shed and have sat around in the sun chatting and drinking endless cuppas.

The Cherry tree is blooming. I took this just for Nicky just to remind her that she will be in the land of Cherry Blossom in about 2 months time!!

Loving the Spring weather so much and hoping it lasts for a while before the Summer heat starts. Next weekend I'm off to  Melbourne to spend some time with Nicky  which I am really looking forward to.

Snow.

Yes I know I have been quiet but life as usual just seems to get in the way of sitting and updating the Back Shed. I have had a quick trip over to Lakes Entrance in the past fortnight and it was lovely. So much warmer over there. About once or twice over the Winter we might get a dusting of snow on the hills around the town. This year it is slightly more than a dusting. I got up a couple of Fridays ago to get ready for work and out of every window I could see snow. It was a bit of a worry not knowing if I would be driving through any of it to get to work. Anyway..........I grabbed my camera and took some photos. T'was a little bit chilly out there in my dressing gown and slippers but a hot shower soon warmed me up.

 Mt Elliot and the little bald spot where the hang gliders launch them selves from in the Summer.

We rarely see snow on the hills behind Thougla , but there it was!!!

There was snow on the hills nearly all the way to work but none on the road thank goodness.
Friday afternoon it happened again and I drove home in a Winter wonderland. There must be something about Fridays. I am really looking forward to Spring and a bit warmer weather.
I have been doing a lot of reading over the Winter, nice by the fire with the dog on my knee and a book in my hand.

Something I want to share with you.......
One Early Bird is planning a Craft Getaway in the Upper Murray where we live.  The first Craft Getaway Weekend is planned for 19th, 20th & 21st of September (Friday night arrival to Sunday afternoon) and bookings will open on the 10th of August. Michelle has a .Survey just to get an idea of what should be offered over the weekend.  Plus one lucky person who leaves their email address on the survey by August 10th will get a little crafty gift made by Michelle. Anyone interested should jump on board because this is one very talented lady.

Winter!!

I was taking a photo through the window to show Nicky just how wet and miserable it is here today.

When it started to hail.

Now it looks like this.

And this...

With wet and bedraggled parrots still hunting for acorns.

And yes, it is as cold as it looks.

I'm so glad I went to the Second Hand book shop this morning!!!!

It's just a step to the left............

Sometime in the past year I introduced my daughter to The Rocky Horror Picture Show for the very first time. How she had managed to get to her late 20's without ever seeing it is beyond me but it happens I guess. About a month ago I got an email from her asking me if I wanted to go and see the stage show, her shout for my Mother's Day and Birthday present. Well I couldn't knock back an offer like that, could I? So after a bit of arranging and rearranging I finished work early Friday week ago and headed off to Melbourne with my youngest son, Beau.

It was an amazing weekend of good food, lots of wine and plenty of laughter.  Nick's housemate had her Mum visiting too so it was a really lovely girls weekend.

Of course the highlight of the weekend was going to see this with Nicky. 

And having Min come keep me company in bed early Sunday morning. 

It has been years since I have been to Melbourne but now that Nicky lives there I may be visiting a little more often. Well, as long as I can get someone to drive me there that is. Far too much traffic for this country girl to negotiate but as long as Beau has his girlfriend to visit I should be able to get a lift now and then.

Sunday night I stayed at Beau's in Tallangatta so I didn't have to travel to work on the Monday and finally home Monday afternoon. My little dog was very happy to see her Mum home but not impressed that I headed off to Carpet Bowls that night. With meetings and work during the week I have barely been home long enough to do a bit of washing.

When I look out my front windows I can see Mt Mittamatite across the paddocks. There was snow up there on Tuesday and on the road I travel to work. It is cold here!!!! 

So this weekend I have given the house a good clean and caught up on the washing, made a big pot of soup for dinner last night and to take to work for lunch this week.

I have made some amazing flat bread from a recipe I found at Nicky's and next time I make it I will throw in some Rosemary and sea salt cause I think that will be so much nicer. I whipped up a batch of Hummus from the Chick peas Nick gave me as well, although hers is much nicer than mine.  I will have to find out what she changed in the recipe. So a very productive weekend for me so far. All that is left to do is write a short report for my volunteer position boss and go help a friend out with her computer problems, too easy. Another busy week ahead for me but hopefully I am on top of things for a little while.

If you're in the mood.....

When I had lunch boxes to fill and constantly hungry children, baking was a weekly event.  Now days I have to be in the mood to bake. On Wednesday I decided that I needed to put something in the lovely big glass jar I recently bought and Chocolate Chip cookies seemed appropriate. 

They have been a favourite in our house for a long time.

Then a lovely batch of scones to fill another big jar.

It was such a miserable day I decided that a steak and veg pie would be very nice for our dinner. Having no ready made puff pastry sheets in the freezer didn't stop me, I was in a baking mood remember. I found a recipe and made my own. I was really happy with my made from scratch pie. 

The boys were pretty happy to find some home made biscuits and scones in the house for a change, I'm sure they are hoping that I will be 'in the mood' again very soon. 

Bits and pieces

Anytime there is food happening in the office you will find these two living in hope that someone will share. Maco the Jack Russell belongs to my friend and employer, Lindy and  Kaiser is  the workshop Manager, Ben's dog. 

Kaiser spends a lot of time doing this when the sun is shining, otherwise he finds every opportunity to sneak into Maco's bed in the office. Over the weekend Lindy  found him a bed to put in there too, much to Ben's disgust. He thinks we are turning him into a girl. 

 On Saturday I went over 'the hill' to visit Mum at Lakes Entrance.  My eldest son, Ben moved to Sale recently and we went to visit him Sunday to see how he was settling in. We had plenty of time on the way home and called into 'The Retro Shop' which is just outside of Bairnsdale.

So many lovely things to look at but I was very strong and kept my money in my wallet. We even had a trailer with us so I probably wasted a wonderful opportunity.

Home again on Monday. A lot of travelling for a few days but it was nice to catch up with everyone.

 The garden is at the point where I really do need to give it some attention and hopefully if the weekend is fine and youngest son doesn't need me to help him move I will get some of it done. Today I should be dealing with this. There are more in every part of the yard but yesterday it rained most of the day and wet leaves are a pain to clean up.

The sky isn't looking very promising again today and it has turned quite cold. We have had such mild weather the last few weeks, it is a bit of a shock to the system. Maybe I will bake,  find a book and a comfortable chair, or finally pick up the quilt that is waiting very patiently to be quilted? So many possibilities. 

Gone to the dogs!!!!

Happy Mother's Day, I hope all the Mum's out there are having a lovely one. 

This week has literally gone to the dogs in a manner of speaking. I went outside just on dark the other night and thought one of my animals was just over the fence in the paddock, that is until it moved. I raced in and grabbed my camera hoping it would still be there when I got back and it was!!! It was so very quiet and hung around long enough to get these four photos. I was shooting in the dark so was lucky to get the ones I did. 

No wonder the foxes used to take my chooks in broad daylight and when the dogs were around  if they have no fear like this one did.

Today this gorgeous thing turned up on the back step, upsetting my dogs big time. Obviously well cared for and loved. I have tied her to the front fence and given her a big bucket of water just in case the owner drives past. I couldn't send her on her way, I would have been worried sick that a car might hit her.I will ring the vet and local shire tomorrow if she is still here and see if anyone is looking for her. I really don't need another pet!!!

Thursday 15th (I put a photo of her on Facebook that afternoon and a friend recognised her. I contacted the owners and they were here in minutes to pick her up. A happy ending thank goodness.)