Wild Weather

We have had a heap of rain lately but this week that combined with some extreme winds so yesterday morning I woke to find this in my front yard.

And a better view as the day dawned. The local fire brigade had come along and taped off our house and the house next door.

So the workers from our local electricity provider came along to clean up the mess.

And they continued to hack away at the tree until this was left

And the amazing part was they did all the sawing, hacking and lopping, as well as bringing in the crane to lift the remainder of the tree off the power lines, while the lines were still live!!! Very brave men indeed.

And yes, this is my front yard, with the retaining walls half finished and the garden beds full of weeds! Unfortunately the walls need to be finished (some of which has to be unbuilt and then rebuilt) before I can get in and get planting. Maybe when we get back from Paris...

Books and cooking

Over the last couple of days I have finally gotten around to completing Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series, a series of books I started several years ago but never got around to finishing (at the time I read the Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay hadn't yet been published). And now I am kicking myself that I didn't get around to reading them before now. They are extraordinary. I now some people might not be into reading books written for the Young Adult market,  but if you can put this aside, at least for this series, you will not regret it. These books will definitely make my list of top rated books ever.

At this time of the year we have an abundance of citrus fruits, my lemon tree is full to bursting with some branches so heavy with fruit they are dragging on the ground (the photo above is not that tree, instead it is the very straggly dwarf lemon tree I have near the side door). And although they are still a week or two from picking, I find myself with more limes than I know what to do with. So, yesterday I made a Coconut  Lime Syrup Cake and it was delicious. Unfortunately it disappeared so quickly I didn't have the opportunity to take a photo of it. C'est la vie!

Quilting

Rita over at Red Pepper Quilts has a lovely fabric giveaway at the moment, entries close tomorrow so head over there for a chance to win. Her blog is one of my favourite Australian blogs, her quilts are absolutely delightful, I only wish I had half as much talent as she has!

Here is one of the quilts I have made in the past.

This is a quilt I made for (now) Miss 12 a couple of years ago and was the first quilt I had professionally quilted. It was  made from a kit from Fat Quarter Shop, the fabric was from Moda's Me and My Sister Designs. A perfectly girly quilt.

Cheers and happy quilting.

Ruffle scarf

I haven't posted anything about what I've made lately so here is a shot of a ruffle scarf I made for Miss 12 a couple of weeks ago. It is one of the easiest patterns I have ever followed and was in a Better Homes & Gardens knitting special a couple of months ago. But there are also lots of similar patterns on Ravelry and the like.

Do you knit? I was taught by my Nanna when I has about 8 or 9 years old and still love to do it. She also taught me to crochet at the same age and I love doing it too. I find I am drawn to these crafts at this time of the year, having a lap full of lovely yarns, colourful and warm, is very soothing. It is also very satisfying seeing something come together quickly. Having said that, I haven't yet been adventurous enough to start something large, like a cardi or a sweater! One day I will though, maybe soon if I find a pattern I love enough.

Homemade General Purpose cleaner

As I have run out of my cleaners here at home I have started replacing them with homemade ones and this week I have made a batch of general purpose cleaning spray and am delighted with it's effectiveness. And it smells delicious to boot!

1 tsp borax

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 cups boiling water

15 drops lavender essential oil

15 drops lemon essential oil

Add borax to boiling water and stir until dissolved, add vinegar and when cool decant into your spray bottle and add the essential oils. You can add whatever essential oils you prefer but this is my favourite mix. I found the recipe here. As an added bonus I had all the ingredients on hand so it cost me zip!

Have a great day!

The end of something special

Today was the last day of my second favourite place to be (home is first). My local Borders store (and my workplace) closed it's doors for the final time.

The store has been open for 3 1/2 years and has been the place I have found my second family. I will miss everyone terribly, I already do, and will struggle to find a job anywhere near as special. Those who know me well know that I am a voracious reader so to work in a bookstore was a dream come true. But now the dream has ended and I am heartbroken.

PS When I hit publish for this post, the blogspot ad that came up was for booktopia. Irony anyone?

Kids Reward System

I don't know about you, but I have always had trouble motivating my kids to do their chores. Until now. A couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon an article in the paper about using a marble reward system, the author claiming it really worked. So I thought I would give it a go, I had nothing to lose, except a heap of odd jobs! The system itself is remarkably simple; each child is given a jar and each chore is given a marble value. For each chore done the child receives the valued amount of marbles and when their jar is full they are given their reward. For my kids it is $20 but you can 'pay' them whatever value you feel fair. How quickly they fill up their jar all depends on how reliably they do their chores, meaning I don't have to look like a big meanie when I don't feel they have earned their pocket money! My kids have taken to it like ducks to water. Fingers crossed it lasts!