No Vampires Here

Far out it has been busy around here, I have to write myself a list every day of things to accomplish.  Mostly I am on track, however there is always one or two items that I slide over to the next day, and the next day....

Now, I cannot speak of any of the above as this would be delving into secret Xmas gift business :-)

Nevertheless, other stuff is happening around here too...

  

Things are being cooked

 

 The chooks are always happy when I am doing extra cooking, look at this feast for their breakfast - this is all the apple skins and cores cooked up with some bran, oats and water.  They went rather ballistic when this was presented to them - bums up and not a peep out of them!

Speaking of apples, our little Bramley apple tree has 7 apples on it, and the wild parrots have been eyeing them off, so they are now safely netted.  I reckon parrots know that nets contain yummy things, they seem to be hanging around all the more, staring longingly through the net.  They've had their revenge though, having recently found my strawberries.  I have been happily picking half a dozen strawberries a day, but the last two days chunks have been chewed out of the best ones.  Grrr!

A week ago I set about making some rhubarb and elderflower champagne.  I guess it's called champagne as it gets very bubbly, but the alcohol content is very low.  Doesn't it sound wonderful though... rhubarb and elderflower champagne, so olde worlde eh.

This is it newly bottled, isn't it pretty.  Sadly it loses most of its lovely pink colour as it matures.  We tried the tiny half bottle the other day, if you drink it very young it is basically a slightly bubbly cordial.  Very sweet but very very nice flavour.  

Each bottle is now safely wrapped in a wad of newspaper, the bottles are inside cardboard cartons, the cartons are inside a big plastic tub with towels wrapped round the cartons, and the plastic tub lid is securely on, and the whole lot is tucked away in the bottom shelf of the cupboard in the laundry!!  These are my precautions for a brew that is very very bubbly and bottles can sometimes explode.  Nowadays we have the advantage of using plastic bottles and strong glass ones that have the metal flip top thingy and the ceramic stopper.  But I have to remember that if I hear gunshots in the night is may be the champers!  

 

There has been shiny pink sewing happening.  I am in the process of making Stevie and Riley some dress-up glitzy glam for their Christmas present.

 First skirt done.

 We had a barbeque here with our friends Ruth, Laurie, Lesley and Andy last week, which was fun.  Lesley managed to bring a blueberry crumble cake on the back of a Harley!  Clever girl :-)

Laurie brought Steve an old pair of rusted shearer's clippers and threw the idea to him of making a couple of knives, one for each of them, perhaps for fishing.  Steve has been dabbling with knife making lately so he hurried off to his shed for the next few days and produced these.

 

Aren't they beautiful, and it is amazing how much they shined up.  I love the old Sheffield stamp on them. He's made the handles slightly different shapes so they can have a play with them and see which is more comfortable.

 He has also made a couple more books, which I think are beautiful too.  Clever lad.

I harvested our garlic a couple of days ago.  Steve planted double what he did last year, but for some reason this year's garlic is very small, the weather must have more conducive last year when we grew big fat garlic.  Never mind, it is still garlic!  First job was to trim the roots and brush off the soil.

 

I wanted to try my hand at making a garlic braid.  They look so cool, you see pictures of Italian kitchens with garlic braids hanging up.  It's a good way to store the garlic too, it stays nice and airy around the globes, so they don't rot.  After viewing a few Youtube videos of how to make a garlic braid, I gave it a go. (isn't the internet wonderful for learning things!)

Ta-dum!  One giant braid of garlic!  Enough to keep the most persistent vampire away ha ha.  Now I need a nail in the kitchen to hang it from.... "Steve, I have a little job for you....." :-)

On a final note, it is the start of the 'tossing the joeys out of the pouch' warmer weather.  I spotted this gangly little one having one of its first outs.  They are so scrawny when they first start leaving the pouch.  So here we have joey out....

 And here we have joey in!  What a load eh!