Babetto Finito

As I sit, eating a lovely breakfast of homemade muesli (new batch minus the overkill of fennel!), homemade yogurt, homemade apple butter and slices of banana (yum eh!), I am looking out the window at the slight drizzle of rain in the still air, grateful that we escaped the wrath of the big storms over the last few days.  The kangaroos are much happier now that the wind has dropped, they don't like wind.  Here is little Dyna and her mother Lucy.  Lucy is so named as she has the most magnificent set of eyelashes, akin to Lucille Ball.  And Dyna is thus named because she eats at a vast rate of knots, which reminds me of, well, me! :-)

I wish to announce, after picking up my crochet hook back in 2009, that my Babette blanket is finished - ta-da!  After a trillion colour changes in the 160 odd squares, weaving in the many many loose ends, crocheting all the squares together, and hating the blanket most of the time during construction, I am so relieved that it is finally done. 

It measures about a metre square, the perfect size for a little leg blankie whilst snuggled up watching tv or reading.  It is very warm as it is made entirely from merino wool.  I never would have added a bright red border to it, but since we've got our red Jason rocking chairs, it seemed appropriate.  I look at it now and wish I had made a few different colour choices (and one day I will learn that I don't have to use EVERY single colour I own in the one piece!), but I am grateful that it is finally finished and am enjoying using it.  We had the pleasure of the company of dear daughter Michelle this week, and she announced it a very nice blanket and great for use whilst reading.

Speaking of Michelle, while she was staying, she used her hair straightener on me.  Those who know me are well aware that I own an unruly mop of fluffy, curly hair, and as I have never seen myself with straight hair I was curious.  I was shocked that a) it actually went straight, and b) how different it made me look.  I became somewhat narcassistic, staring at myself in the mirror whenever I got the opportunity!  The second photo I took this morning, after washing my hair, glad to see it has returned to normal.  My curls irritate me for the most part, but I have to say, for some strange reason, that I was pleased to have them back.  Mum, that second photo is for you, just so you know the curls are back.  xx

Work on Chateau Poulet came to a standstill whilst we had a visitor, but this is an updated photo.  The external walls are all but finished and Steve has started on the roof timbers.  Isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen!

Our winter vegies are growing well once again.  This is the brassica bed, we've eaten heaps of broccoli and broccolini, it's been delicious.  The cabbages are pretty much ready to cut, this variety is Sugarloaf cabbage, they are tightly formed with a pointy top, and they are yummy!  

The broccolini is pretty much finished, moving into flowering now.  The bees absolutely love it!

The sugar snap peas are now in abundance, one of my favourite things to eat, straight off the plant.  Steve calls me The Giant Rabbit :-)  This year Steve planted a row of turnips and parsnips at the base of the pea plants.  They seem to be growing well albeit a little slow, so it will be interesting to see the result.

We have been harvesting many kilos of potatoes, don't you just love a potato straight out of the ground, delicious!   Potatoes are the only thing we are growing outside the well fenced vegetable garden, as nothing seems to bother them.  I guess having poisonous leaves is an advantage in that regard!  But look at this, can you see all those holes in between the two rows of potato plants that have died back, awaiting harvest?  Bloody rabbits!  At the moment rabbits are digging holes like crazy things, all over the place.  And whilst they have started digging in the potato beds, oddly they are not eating the potatoes.  There are a few potatoes actually sitting on the surface that we have left there due to damage, and they don't touch them.  So I don't know what they are digging for, maybe they eat the roots?

I think I can safely announce that our lime tree has settled in, is happy, and is growing well.  We put 6 citrus in and then had all sorts of trouble with rabbits eating the bark at the base of the trees, and stripping the lower leaves.  After hastily adding a ring of chook wire around each plant, we have watched to see if they will survive.  The lime looks good, the mandarin looks okay although seems to have some leaf curl, the navel orange looks okay although half of it died off, and the eureka lemon is touch and go, growing leaves then dropping them again.

This sad specimen is the valencia orange, I think it is stuffed.  And the meyer lemon is definitely stuffed, just 4 little stick branches.  Regardless, we'll leave them in until the weather warms up a bit and see if miracles occur, otherwise out they will come and we'll buy replacements.  You live and learn!

 I love our north-west facing sky view, it is always so interesting.  I just loved this, an incoming rain storm with the sun defiantly blasting its rays through the gaps in the clouds, just beautiful.