Preserving - Summer Fruit!!!

I just love the start of summer and the beautiful fruit that comes with it.  We had a small orchard when we bought the house with a few fruit trees - most need a bit of TLC.  However, the apricot tree had about 5kg of fruit on it so after eating a few straight off the tree, we rescued the rest from the birds.  Family also brought a box up from our favourite old veggie store in Bacchus Marsh, so in total we preserved and jammed 15kg of fruit Christmas Eve (mind you, finished the pav at midnight, but it was really yummy!!).

I have made jam for quite a few years and was lucky enough to be given a Fowlers Preserving kit by a very dear old friend with boxes of jars.  I hadn't really used them before until last year (because you start preserving when you're moving house???? NOT!!) as we had a peach tree we had planted in our garden in Melbourne and of course the first year it fruited was our last year in the house so I bottled it all up and brought it with us!!!  So of course now I have been scouring all the garage sales and collecting the Fowlers jars. 

It is really rewarding to know that a couple of days work will provide yummy fruit (for fabulous Apricot Chicken in the slow cooker) and jam for the rest of the year!!!  I know preserving is something 'Nanna' used to do, but give it a go.....it's fantastic!!

Happy Cooking, Sam 

Christmas was all too much for some family members!!

Christmas was all too much for some members of the family - fluffy flaked it on Christmas day!!





Merry Christmas to All!!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Chirstmas.  It was lovely here at our little farm with all our friends and family.  Sorry I've been a little slack on the blogging front - unfortunately work and the house have taken over!!  Hopefully now that Christmas is behind us I can be a little more organised in with things.

2011 has been a very big year for us - moving, buying our cottage, renovating our cottage and adding to our family (ie the horse & ducks)!!!

Anyway, have a fabulous 2012 and hopefully I get a lot more blogging done so you can keep up with all our goings on!!!

Sam

Spring has sprung!!!!!

Well Spring has certainly sprung here in beautiful Hamilton!!  The grass has taken off, you need to stop on the driveway to wait for the ducklings to waddle across and we are discovering new things in the garden which are starting to bloom!!

Just when we thought we had enough animals we find that we have new additions we didn't know about....

meet our ducks!!!  We asked our neighbour who they belonged to and he informed us....WE own them - they came with the house.  So every morning now they waddle over and say hello, have breakfast and waddle back to the damn next door!!  Daisy is there keeping an eye on them.  I am getting a little sick of the recurring "Collingwood" theme though!!

There's a lot going on in the Western District between now and Christmas.  Lots of Open Gardens and festivals which are just fantastic.....life in the country is good!!!!

In the mean time have a little read about one of the newest stores in town and one of my favourites!!!  Hope & Co is a fabulous interiors store with a gallery, definately worth a visit if you're in Hamilton.

Life's Busy!!!!

Time certainly flies!!  It is hard to believe that September is almost half over and another school term is almost over too.  It is lovely to be heading into Spring with a few warm days and time to get out into the garden.

The garden will be another huge project for us here, but we have been busy painting the lounge to make it "lighter and brighter".  So far it looks fantastic....only half way there - the staircase is a huge undertaking, but anything has to be better than half peeling mission brown!!!  It is quite exciting (& challenging) to renovate on a budget, but it is definately worth it!!

I will definately post some photos when it is all complete.  My focus has changed to my studio which is opening this weekend to co-incide with the new Stampin' Up Catalogue and the slightly warmer weather.  Hopefully people will feel more inclined to venture out as the days become longer and warmer :).

Anyway.....have a cupcake on me and thanks for stopping by!!!!

Living the Dream!!!!

One of our goals when we moved to the country was to have space for the kids.  Well we have found a couple of things to fill the space and keep the kids amused.....Sarah & Precious.  They have certainly kept the kids busy!!

Our first piece of treasure...

This beautiful cupboard is our first treasure for the house.  Our house is quite an unusual Cedar Cottage so it needs lovely "quirky" pieces to add to its lovely country charm.  I found this beautiful treasure at my favourite second-hand store on the way to Melbourne in Smythesdale called Ruth Howlett Collectables.  It's definately worth a stop if you're travelling past!!  When John was picking up the cupboard he happened upon this wonderful ladder which we use up to our "lego loft".