The wonders of mushroom compost...I love it!

 I am so fortunate to live where I do and have access to some wonderful mushroom compost.  I purchased 10 bags some are shown below.

look at my little swiss browns growind

The thing is with 10 bags they grow and grow

1kg mushrooms here

Two kgs here

and still they keep growing. I
We have so much mushroom prepared and frozen now it does make me feel quite happy that I can pull out a bag and make a very quick soup or rissotto for dinner or when guests stay.  We are having quite a lot of people calling in and staying due to DH illness so it helps to have lots of easy things in the freezer.  As we do not have take away near us and definitely no home delivery services. 

Similarly with pumpkins, sweet potatoes and carrots cheap now I am making pumpkin soup, with sweet potato and or carrot.  Some I am making into a curry pumpkin soup.  It can also be watered down with more stock and make a simple quick rissotto.

Quick easy meals with bread/toast/or grilled cheese on toast.  Filling and warming on a cold winters night or evening.

Thinking about gardening

As the northern hemisphere is getting into the prolific months of the produce garden and we in the southern hemisphere where I live are battening down the hatches and preparing for colder temps, rain, sleet, some snow and gale force winds. Today a perfect example the wind isblowing strong, the rain is coming down at almost right angles and yet when the sun shines it is lovely (as long as one is inside by the fire..lol) then the wind picks up again and rain splats the windows.    The hens are hardly venturing out of their coop and the smaller birds dart quickly to the bird table and are almost blown off.
I guess when you live in the Roaring Forties it is only to be expected. I do quite like the wind.  You will have to remind me that I posted this later in the winter when I am bemoaning the wind.lol

Ah now the garden.   I am not sure why I seem to be in the more normal mode of get into the garden and get things done springtime mood.  It just may be the house is needing quite a big sort out and I truthfully am struggling to face it.  So I instead sit here procrastinating about my plans for the garden, and checking out all my faviourite blogs.  (something I have not done much of lately).

I have prepared nearly all my existing fruit and nut trees for the winter during autumn.  I have 9 more on order.  I am looking forward to the new trees coming to see if there is any difference with the performance of the trees I purchased last year and the year before.  Non of which have really thrived. Mainly due to very low rainfall the first year and too much water this year.

These new trees will be planted in the chicken run.  They will be fenced off from the hens to enable them to establish themselves.  They will be watered and nurtured as will be the trees that are established sort of.  I am hopeful that I may get fruit of more than the cherries this year.   It would be lovely to grow apricots, peach, nectarine and plums.  All of which I have at least one of already.    I would love to find 9 fresh road kills that I could dig into the holes for the new trees.  I will have to keep an eye out and go out for drives early in the morning once the holes are dug.  Putting these in deep.  I have done this with one of the vegie beds that I will be using this year.  (It has been dormant for a year by the time I use it again).

Kale, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower have all been planted.  My cherry tomatoes have all been removed now and they were incredible providers I will put in some more in spring.  I have two self sown plants that are full of larger tomatoes, but I feel that the chances of them ripening now are dwindinling.  Mind you they are protected by a very large Geranium.

I have purchased more terracotta pots for using as watering into my vegie garden beds, and I may put some around the new trees and any that I transplant, as I would think that several around each would assist in development.

I have plenty of fencing wire to make protective cages for the fruit trees and will be able to pop poly pipe onto the star pickets support around them to make netting covers to keep the birds off.  Oh see how my brain is working.lol

  It has been quite a hard emotional roller coaster the last three months, the next few will be I would imagine worse.  As we deal with my DH's cancer.  He is going strong, if loosing weight and we try to keep on top of the pain.  He is currently building me pelmets to keep more heat in the house for winter.  He has a list of all the things he wants to do so he knows that I and his girls are looked after.  He is so active up and down the ladders and of course his pain increases with the activity. He is happily doing all of this, and whilst it is difficult we as a couple are muddling along with support of family and friends.  The bad days are bad and the good days are so wonderful. 

At one stage I was off to my GP for anti depressants as it was getting me down.  I could not get an appointment for 2 weeks, kind of felt shattered by this.  The next morning dawned sunny warm and my garden was calling.  5 hours in the garden and anti depressants no longer on my mind.  So my garden is my anti depressant and my life whilst hard is actually great and we are still happy with each other enjoying what ever time we have together, sharing emotions and talking planning what needs to be planned.  Laughing, at times frustrated and generally living our life together in love and contentment.  Dont get me wrong.  I would love to have years more together.  He is my best friend.  It is not to be so we have the time we have and we are trying to embrace it honestly.

Now if only the house work could become my antidepressant too.  Actually I know the house is adding to my stress.  I am not a natural domestic goddess on the cleaning front.  I am the kind of person who has a rush of energy 3or 4 times a year and all the windows sparkle, the clothes are all ironed and not a thing is out of place.  The rest of the time is just keeping on keeping on..lol

I am writting now.  It is almost 1pm today and I am going to log off  I vow to now go and spend time getting on with the spare bedroom.

This post was written a week ago, and I forgot to post it.  So here it is.  The spare room is looking better!

Mountains calling Part 2

We were sad to say goodbye to Cradle Mountain and begin our journey home.  We had decided to take our time on the trip home, and as we had to be in Hobart for a family get together (grand daughters 7th birthday) we felt rather than get home from our holiday after a long drive and have to do another 200kms we would stay overnight in a lovely village called Oatlands.  This little village has the most Georgian buildings in Australia, according to the tourist information.  We came home through Mole Creek and went for a walk along this beautiful rural towns main long street.  Chatting with some ladies in a community shop, we discovered that there is a beautiful creek

and gardens behind the Hotel and shop.  

Not only that but it is home to platypus.  Now we were lucky to see not one but two platypuses swimming and digging for bugs. Sadly I was to noisy trying to take a photo of one that was fully out of the water a

nd frightened it back in.  However did get some okay shots.

I wanted to try their honey but they were closed. It was Sunday
Seems they are only open M-F.  Oh well.

This is a photo of the amazing old farmers cottage we

stayed in about 5kms from Oatlands

These were the incredibly steep stairs from the top floor which fortunately we did  not have to use, except to have a look at.  I can not imagine how I would have managed if I had to go to the loo in the middle of the night.

The kitchen was bigger than ours at home, and how

I would have loved a brick oven like the one where the

light is shining.  It was not being used

 It is strange but both my DH and I said it was fine for one night but we did not feel that we would have enjoyed staying for two.  Perhaps to many sad and hard times held in the walls.  We had a similar experience when we stayed in an old church school that had been converted into a Self catered  cottage.  We both felt an overwhelming sense of relief when we left after two nights.  Just wonder at what happened to the children. May have been a very harsh school. 

It is always wonderful to have a few days away, but oh I love picking up the dog and cat, driving the last 20kms of our trip along the river and through the winding narrow road away from traffic, and turning into our drive way.  At times I do wonder why we have a need to leave home and go anywhere else really. 

.

Mountains Calling

We have recently returned from another wonderful trip and yes this time I took our camera.
This is Mount Roland on the drive to Cradle Mountain. 

We were driving climbing up the the hills from Mole Creek to Cradle Mountain when I spotted this wee little Echidna on the side of the road. 














 It is about 5 hours drive from our place.  We stayed in a very well appointed self contained and environmental ish house in Moina called Casa Verde. Below are part of the gardens at Casa Verde.

I took two frozen prepared meals from home, just required some pasta to be cooked and heated.  I had grated cheese, and bought fresh bread. 

The house was wonderfully insulated and well appointed with lots of interesting books(from my perspective) and great selection of DVD's.
I took two frozen prepared meals from home, just required some pasta to be cooked and heated.  I had grated cheese, and bought fresh bread. So easy, we had space, quietness, cosy warm fire no TV no Radio.  We did watch a DVD or two, after our lovely days out. Mostly we read, and chatted.
We had one meal there which was very tasty and relatively well priced for being in a remote and tourist region in the high season. Moina is about 20mins drive from The Cradle Mountain National Park. Having a place to ourselves was want we needed and so the drive was not difficult, though in winter I would stay at Cradle Mountain.

This is a replica of the first house built in the Cradle Mountain area, the original was burnt.  A chap called Waltheim walked in loved the area and built a house.  He married and they lived up in this incrediblely remote wilderness.  He opened his home up to mountain climbers and they had many visitors.

This is my photo of the first day we went to the Mountain and National Park.  The view is over Dove Lake and the Boat house in the foreground.         

I was lucky to get photos with no one else in the photo.  It is a very popular tourist destination.  In saying that it is fairly easy to get away from people.  Just go for a walk be it an hour or two or for several days.  This National Park is pretty amazing..ahh but aren't they all!  Something positive we humans have done is to tie up these amazing places.

DH and I did a short walk as he was not up to walking far at Dove Lake as almost every direction was up a bit of a hill.  We did get to the top of the first hill and were able to look back over the Boat House.

The following day well totally different story!  Rain, cold and windy. It was too cold for us to move from the car park.   As you can compare from the photograph above.  Day 1:   25C degrees wonderful  Day 2 13C degrees brrrr.                              

 This is a close up of the Dolerite rock that makes up Cradle Mountain and other mountains in the region.  Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake were formed by glacial movement and pressure.







 
We did a 500metre walk in a the National Park, it was a gentle walk and very pretty..  with waterfalls and lots of bird life. There had been strong winds over recent times and quite a few big old trees had fallen.  It has also been very dry up in the Cradle Mountain National Park over the last few years, so tree roots are loose.  When you have winds of 150km/hr+ coming through regularly, I tend to wonder that any big trees survive at all up here.

 
 The trees may fall and change this walk, which we have done several times in the past.  It does not change the feel of this walk. I love nature as even if you have seent the same thing everyday it is always slightly different.

My darling man loves mountains, any mountains.  He has climbed Cradle Mountain, many other mountains and walks in Tasmania, Malaysia, UK, Switzerland and he has climbed Kilamanjaro.  His spirit was revitalised and he felt a sense of wholeness.  I dont know why we have not been up earlier before he became sick.  Dont put off any thing that gives you peace, joy or are passionate about. 

There were some bonuses however to being in the National Park on the cooler day.  We saw another Echidna.  This one was so not interested in us, just mosseying along doing his/her thing.

I have never seen an Echidna's foot before lol he/she was having a scratch.

They can move pretty darn quick and I was in the car driving (well I had stopped) and trying to take photos.  If I had jumped out I think I would have missed this little guy completely.

Cradle Mountain is the beginning of one of the great walks in the world.  The Overland Track.  5-7day work in some really amazing land. I have never done it, but several friends have had amazing treks.  This photo shows the beginning of this walk from Cradle
to Lake St Claire.  It has become so popular that our state government now make you book your walk so not too many people are out there at once.  It was getting too busy in summer.  It is a shame in my mind how we love our natural areas so much we are so at risk of spoiling them. 

It is also here that you can see many wombats in the early evening coming out from their burrows to eat.  I had forgotten that Wombats have pouches that the baby when small is in a pouch. I think the one below is to big to be in a pouch now.

In the National Park I saw several wombats. I was blown away by just how ignorant and silly some folk are.  Here is this amazing animal, with her baby, eating and being natural. These people see them, begin to race towards them yelling at each other,...come on come on...racing over the alpine grasses, some of which if damaged can take 30years to regenerate.

Taking photos, and scarring the wombats so that mother and baby ran away. Weird that!
I and a couple of others waited patiently and relatively quietly and the mother and baby came quite close about 10 m from us, not frightened and just ate the grass.

As I was walking back along the duck boards, I spotted this not so little guy.  He was right at the edge of the boards.  I could have reached down and patted him.  I must have watched his antics for 20 minutes.  He scratched, nibbled grass, dug roots. Stretched and scratched again.  Wombats have poor vision but good smell (at least that was what I was taught) so he knew I was there.  He looks as if he is loosing his summer fur and growing in his winter fur..he will need it up here.

It was very sad to say Goodbye to Cradle Mountain but how very glad we were to see it like this together one more time.  I feel perhaps that is one thing when someone has a terminal disease you make the time to do the things you should be doing more off. We laughed and enjoyed every experience whilst DH was unable to do the walk to see the wombats, he enjoys the videos I shot. We just do things now and enjoy them as much as we can...

The long way home.

I worked a night shift for the first time in quite a few weeks recently.  I decided to take a pictorial journal of what I did on the way home.  

Sunrise from the windows of where I work.  This would be about 6am or a bit earlier. Sadly my camera just could not do this particular cloud or the colour its true justice.

    

I left work at about 8:00 normally I would leave earlier, but as I had some things to do I waited and talked with my day shift colleagues for a while.

My first stop out of town was the tip shop, there are three in the Hobart surrounds. This is the one on one of my ways home.

I love stopping at the tip shop.  I have purchased some amazing bargains here and some things that have been very useful in the garden and house.  The dinner set we currently are using is Wedgwood and whilst is not complete, it  has enough pieces for us to use and entertain with, plus it compliments my other bits and pieces.  23 pieces and only $30.  I wanted to get two more plates these will cost me $25ea!  

It can yield unexpected wonders or absolutely nothing.  From this tip shop (both pictures) there have been one couple who have built and furnished their own home all from recycled materials.  From rubbish that other folk have bought out to dump at the tip!

Can you believe the view from the tip as you leave?

These little treasures are found near one of my faviourite vegetable stalls called Meridith's it is just a shed and they have great deals on fruit and vegies.  They are made out of corrugated iron, and painted.  They change them around at times.  There is also one of a fox, but he was elusive this day. Tasmania used to be fox free, though there are fears that they are here now.  If this is true they would really decimate our wild life and compete with devils.

This is a photo of another Smithfield dog I met at               The topiary mother and baby duck are just the

Meridith's on my way home. Toby is a Smithfield too.       other side of the road.  Pretty fun vegie market!

Below

The sign and little vegie stand under neath is an organic vegie grower, who also has alpacas.  I stop here because she has great value onions and I did not have a great success with onions this season.  So I buy hers and of course usually come away with some other items.

Added to our own bounty, lots of delicious, sweet, tasty cherry tomatoes and our own eggs. I picked and gathered these on my return home that day.

We do have a paradise within 100km to source our food from.

Just to let you know the four girls are all laying eggs now.  My neighbours are sharing in their produce currently.  I will begin to freeze some for the quieter time ahead.

Off course no long day shopping and chasing up messages after a night shift would ever be complete without a coffee from my local cafe.  The Lotus Eaters.  Great food made with love and incredible skill for flavour.

Zucchini Cake Recipe

Zucchini And Walnut(peacan) Cake

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla (I alwaysuse pure vanilla extract)
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 cups grated zucchini (leave skins on)
• 1 cup walnuts

Preparation:

Mix oil and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition; blend in vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda. Add sifted dry ingredients to first mixture; alternating with grated zucchini. Fold in chopped nuts. (Batter will be a bit thin.)
Pour into greased and floured 13x9x2-inch pan. Bake at 350° for 55 minutes.

 You can use less oil, I used 3/4 cup of good olive oil.  I also used mixed spice instead of cinnamon. Just for a change.

This is a lovely moist cake. I slice it and freeze the slices sometimes iced other times plain.  

Icing is cream cheese. 

I used 1/2pack cream cheese

Juice of 1/2-1 lemon depending on your like of lemon and how much juice is in the lemon.

You can also add butter.  not sure how much..sorry makes it more soft and flavoursome

One cup of icing sugar, but sometimes I use more..it just depends on how much icing I need and whether I want it thick or more runny.  I beat it all together with my rotary hand mixer.  Till it is creamy and fluffy. 

How come I have so many zucchini's when my plants did not fruit?

I was shopping at my local health food store, getting real peanut butter, just ground up peanuts..yummo!  As I was leaving the lady asked me if I liked zucchini, yes was my response, I was given three lovely dark green zucchinis, not huge but good size and lovely steamed with butter and garlic.  Very nice on the BBQ too.

I was chatting to my neighbour on Monday over our sort of fence, which is mostly blackberries.  She offered me a zucchini, it was the size of a marrow.  But so full of taste. 

We had zucchini fritters with lamb stew and mashed potato and a tomato salsa that night.  All I did was cut the zucchini slices a bit thicker than normal, cut them in half and dip them in a very runny batter made with cornflour, water and yogurt.  Pan fried in oil shallow. (you could I guess deep fry them).Oh and these ones I topped with parmesan cheese after they were cooked.  

Shows the size of the zucchini used.

 I would add cummin next time I think to the batter. They were lovely and crisp on the outside and soft on the in. 

I made 1 zucchini  and walnut cake.  I use pecans though as I am not so keen on walnut. I also ended up with six small cup cakes.  I have enough zucchini to make another cake.  Which I will do tomorrow and freeze it. 

 

This is one of the cupcakes.

We went over to visit this neighbour for a drink this evening and she gave me another large zucchini, so we will have more cake frozen.  I usually do a cream cheese icing on it but it is pretty fine without it too.

Men and their toys.

So my DH had an appointment in Huonville.  I had the dog and we drove down to Franklin (which is on the other side of the river from us).  If you ever visit the Tahune Airwalk you will drive through it.  They have a lovely place for camper vans to pull in by the river, it is basic but beautiful scenery.  They also have an off leash area for dogs. 

So Toby and I drove on down and he jumped out of the car to do what dogs do run and sniff and leave his mark/s.  I walked up the side of the river aways and noticed these sail boats skimming along rapidly, only there was no wind and they were very small.          
  
Then I noticed the men with the remote controls in their hands.

I sat and watched for a while, taking in the concentration and stress evident on some of the mens faces it was serious stuff racing remote control boats. 

Just looking about the rivers edge  whilst walkind with Toby

Looking back towards where we live    

On the drive home