Birds in my backyard

How geeky can I get? Well pretty geeky it turns out because I’ve become a bit of a bird watcher. For one of my University units I had to do a bird count and well that wasn’t a hardship considering I do it almost everyday! I have also participated in the Backyard Bird Count for the past few years.

Red Browed Finches

My kitchen window overlooks the backyard and has proved to be the best spot on the entire property for bird watching. Every morning you will find me hanging out over the kitchen sink just watching my feathered friends. I have seen an incredible number of different species with so many I’ve never seen before moving here.

Kookaburra

The list includes the usual suspects; Magpies, Kookaburras, Willy Wagtails, as well as the exquisite Superb Fairy Wrens (there’s a family living in the murrayas that sit between the backyard and one of our dams; Crimson Browed Finches who after their breeding season there are millions of them (ok, maybe not millions but you get the picture) and are so tiny they are almost impossible to see until they move; Scarlet Honeyeaters, another very special and very tiny one that I have now seen on several occasions; Satin Bowerbirds, I often leave out some lovely bright blue wool for his bower; Wattlebirds; Tawny Frogmouths (not a member of the owl family in case you didn't already know); Eastern King Parrots who love to visit each morning and afternoon when the guavas are ripening; Eastern Yellow Robins; and one cold, wet winter day we even saw an Owl!

Superb Fairy Wren

Still with me? I haven't scared you off with my nerdiness?

'Til next time.

x

Varroa Mite incursion

Over the past few days we have had the devastating news that the Varroa Mite has been found in our area and we are now in an emergency surveillance zone in an attempt to halt the spread of this horrid pest. We have 8 hives here at home and another 6 belonging to a friend. This surveillance zone means we will be unable to take any honey from our hives for at least 6 months, and that's the best outcome. If the mite is found to have spread we may be forced to have our bees euthanised, I am heartbroken at just the thought. 

An eradication zone of 10 kms has been set up around the hives were the mite was first found and all bees and hives within this zone have been, or are in the process of being, destroyed. My thoughts are with these beekeepers, how absolutely awful for them. One beekeeping business that I know of will lose all 90 of their hives, and effectively their entire business has now been wiped out.

Fingers crossed it has been picked up early enough for us to get on top of the outbreak before it wipes out any more bees. Bees are an essential part of the local biodiversity, even if they are an introduced species.

x

R

Single-Use Plastic Ban

Today in NSW a law has kicked in banning the use of some single-use plastics, and about time too, NSW is the last of Australia’s states and territories to do so (remember the old car registration plates - NSW The Premier State, yeah, now I know why we don’t see them anymore). Now obviously the ‘some’ means the law does not go far enough and that means there are loopholes. And the plastic bag is a perfect example of the sometimes ineffectual laws we are beholden to, the old grey or white thin ones we used to get at the supermarket (that are banned from today) were replaced by thicker ones that aren’t being banned. How do you think that conversation went down? “Let’s ban plastic bags, but not really ban them, let’s just get rid of the thins ones and replace them with thick ones that take even longer to break down”. And those ones available in the fruit in veg section? Yep, still in use. Seriously, sometimes I think our politicians think we are idiots.

In 2021 a survey was conducted of over 20 000 people across 28 countries and it found an average of almost 9 out of 10 people believe it is important to have a global treaty to combat plastic pollution. So in March this year the United Nations Environment Assembly agreed to create a global treaty with the goal of ending plastic pollution. This means the whole life cycle of plastic will be addressed, from it’s manufacture to transport, consumption and disposal. But this treaty is not expected to be ready for ratification by the UN until 2024. And then the actual work will begin, it won’t all happen overnight so initiatives such as the flimsy one coming into force today are still required (and can we have some more please?).

I’ll be starting a series of posts on my much neglected blog about sustainability and the steps we can take to help achieve it because it’s a passion of mine. I started my Diploma of Sustainable Living with the intent of using it for my own knowledge but by the end of it I realised I have an obligation to share what I learned with everyone. It will contain a bit of information on lots of different topics and more importantly some actions we can take to make life a little more sustainable on this magnificent planet of ours. I hope  you’ll join me.

x

R

Resolutions

 Happy New Year! 2020 was a strange year wasn’t it? Here’s hoping 2021 is a better place be for all of us.

2020 bought about some fairly big changes for me, I decided my newish job wasn’t the right fit for me and so I returned to a previous job and, I’m relieved to say, it was absolutely the right decision for me. I am at a different location than last time but the team I’m working with is a perfect fit for me, an extraordinary group of people and almost 12 months on I still look forward to going to work each day. Mind you I still really like the days when I don’t have to too :)

I have spent the last few weeks, as a lot of us do, thinking about New Years resolutions. I’ve made some in the past but only because I’ve kind of thought I’ve had to, they have never really meant anything to me and as a result I didn’t stick with them but this year it feels different. Finishing my PDC in late 2019 caused a few mental changes in me, hence the job change, and those changes have kept developing, so I feel really good about setting goals in 2021.

So my resolution this year (although it feel weird to call it that, I feel like it diminishes the gut feeling that  this is something I feel really strongly about so let’s just call it what it is, a goal) is to not purchase any new clothes. I will make some exclusions, uniforms for work and underwear because let’s face it, my sewing skills aren’t that good, but everything else I will need to purchase second hand or make myself. I purchased so very little last year due to the pandemic and not spending any time in shopping centres. I think the only thing I bought (besides the aforementioned uniforms) was a dress for a wedding that didn’t go ahead thanks to Covid so the plan doesn’t feel like too much of a stretch. I’m also hoping it’s an opportunity to improve my very rough dressmaking skills, although I need another hobby like a hole in the head!

Do you sew your own clothes? Or have you made a resolution for 2021?

xx

Sauerkraut

This year is the first year I have been able to successfully grow cabbages. Sure, some of them were absolutely smashed by cabbage moth and the subsequent caterpillars, but I still managed to get some out of the seeds I planted. Now I know I can grow them I'll look at some netting options for next year.

I've also had some health issues over the past few years being diagnosed with a Helicobacter Pylori infect not once but twice! The antibiotics and other medication given to treat the infection are absolutely vile so I'm trying to do everything to ensure I don't get a third infection so it was an easy step from cabbages to making sauerkraut!

I bough one of Sandor Katz's books a couple of months ago but still hadn't taken the step until I was watching an episode of Gardening Australia and there he was, the man himself, making sauerkraut. And it was dead easy.

So here it is, my first attempt. I can't wait until it's ready, I have no idea how long it will take but as it is the middle of summer I'll be keeping a close eye on it.

Have you made sauerkraut? Any tips you'd like to share?

xx

R

Cinnamon Scrolls

Who doesn’t love a cinnamon scroll? 

Bueller? Bueller? Right, just as I thought.

This recipe is a bit of a hack, ridiculously easy and so quick! It only has 5 ingredients with another 2 if you want to glaze them and it’s a great one to make with the kids. The dough can also be used to make your own flatbread.

Ingredients 

2 cups SR flour

1 cup Greek style natural yoghurt

Butter, softened

Brown sugar

Cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Combine flour and yoghurt in a large bowl until you have a bit of a sticky mess. Lightly flour your kitchen cupboard and get to kneading the mess until you have a lovely, well combined dough.

Roll the dough out into a rectangle about 30cm long and 20cm wide, or until it’s nice and thinnish. 

Spread softened butter on top of dough. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a seperate bowl and when combined sprinkle over buttered dough. I don’t measure any of these ingredients, just use as much as you like. 

Starting with the longest side just roll it up. Try to keep it nice and tight. Once you have your log use a sharp knife to cut into 12 pieces.

Lay into small greased tray and pop into the oven for 25-30 minutes.

Voilà! Delicious cinnamon scrolls! 

To glaze them simply mix icing sugar with a little milk and dribble onto the scrolls whilst they are still warm.

If you want to make flatbread simply roll smallish amounts of the dough into balls and then flatten out, pop into a dry non-stick frypan on high heat for about 20 seconds each side. Easy peasy.

xx

R

Blood Orange Madeleines

I made Madeleines for the first time a while ago but didn't post at the time. I’ve loved these little French cakes for a long time but never spent the 30 minutes making them (yes that includes the time in the oven!). Madeleines are made using little shell shaped cake tins, I inherited mine from my husband’s much loved grandmother so that makes them even more special. Plus I used an orange from my own tree. You can, of course, use normal oranges if you prefer.

Blood Orange Madeleines

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/3 cup caster sugar
Pinch of salt
Rind from 1 blood orange, finely grated
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 tspn baking powder
75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tblspn blood orange juice
Icing sugar (optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Beat eggs, sugar, salt and orange rind for 4-5 minutes, until pale and thick.
Gently fold in flour and baking powder. Combine juice and butter and gently fold into egg mix until just combined.
Spray Madeleine tray with oil and spoon mixture into each mould until approximately half full.
Bake in oven for 7-8 minutes until golden on the edges and cooked through.
Cool on racks and sprinkle with icing sugar when cooled.

Now go and enjoy one or two with a cup of Early Grey tea, yum!

xx

Imposter Syndrome

I was listening to an episode of the Futuresteading podcast last week (I think it was the one with Sophie Hansen of Local is Lovely) and the subject of imposter syndrome was raised. Now here were three amazing women, all doing fantastic things in their own fields, discussing how they still feel like imposters, of not being good enough to offer advice or assistance in the fields they clearly know some stuff about. And I realised this is totally me every time I post on Instagram or Facebook or here. 

Who am I to be showing how I do things or what I’ve made? I have no qualifications or authority in anything. In fact I’m almost embarrassed when I share things. I post a lot more on Instagram, where most of my followers don’t know me from a bar of soap, and only occasionally tag the posts to share on Facebook because I worry all my friends may roll their eyes and think ‘Oh, here she goes again’ or ‘What crap is she doing now?’.

Is it simply because I feel I have no authority to be showing these things or is it because most of society doesn’t value these old skills? Knitting feels like an integral part of my life and the online community in this area may be lulling me into thinking that this is normal but when I look around at the people I actually know, almost no one knits or makes soap or grows vegetables and I feel very alone. 

And deep down I know feeling like this is silly. This sharing of skills was how things were always taught. Our great grandmothers and grandfathers didn’t go to special classes to get a piece of paper to say they were able to make bread or repair furniture or grow their own food, they learnt by the sharing of these skills by the people in their lives, their own mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts and uncles. And what’s more, these skills were essential to everyday life even if they no longer are.

In the last few weeks I have run into several friends who, because our children are no longer the littlies they were, I don’t see as often as I used to. And these friends have all commented, without prompting, how much they love to see what I’m making and what I’m up to and each of these comments has made me stand a little taller. 

What I do may no longer be commonplace but that doesn’t mean these skills are worthless. In fact they do have worth, not just to me but maybe to others too. So I’m determined to conquer this feeling of being an imposter and share more of what I do.

Because chances are, I might actually know what I’m talking about. Or then again, I may have no idea what I'm doing but I'm hoping someone out there has conquered their own imposter syndrome and is sharing their knowledge with us too.

xx

R

Oops

Hello lovelies!

Can you believe it has been more than a year since I last posted? Life got a bit crazy and the motivation to write just wasn’t there but I’ve been thinking about this little corner of the world for a while so I thought it was time to check in again. I’m always posting stuff on Instagram so if you don’t already follow me over there have a look.

Tha last time I wrote I had just changed from full time to part time at my then newish job but after giving it almost 18 months I decided working in a financial institution just didn’t make my soul happy. I have since returned to my previous employer and I am so incredibly happy with that decision. The biggest catalyst for that decision was no doubt another adventure I embarked on last year and that was doing a Permaculture Design Certificate. It changed me, and my outlook on so many things, in such a profound way it is still making waves in my life more than 6 months after completing it. If you ever have the opportunity to visit the very beautiful Limestone Permaculture Farm please do so! And if you can’t, make sure you check them out on the many places you can find them around the web. What an incredible place!

Obviously I have been spending time in the garden since completing my PDC and this spring promises to be a big one. My work usually slows down from late winter and into spring so that will give me so much time to put some plans into place. Can’t wait!

In the past fortnight, at almost 49 years of age, I have started my first university course by way of the Diploma of Sustainable Living through the University of Tasmania. I hope the old saying of ‘can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ isn’t true! So many of the topics are things that I love so I’m very excited to be studying this course.

I hope you are all well and enjoying everything life is bringing you at the moment. I promise it won’t be long until you hear from me again.

xx
R

Hello again!

Hello lovelies!

It's been such a long time since I last blogged, the past seven months have been a bit of a whirlwind but I am, at last, back.

The new job is working out fine however it didn't take long before I realised working full time whilst managing this place was not ever going to be easy. I persevered, thinking I would just work full time for a couple of years and then take a step back but several months in I knew two years was never going to happen. I requested going to part time hours, something I was very nervous about as I was still in my probation period, but thankfully they were open to the idea and gave me the option of cutting two days out of my working week and I started on the reduced hours last month.

Oh. My. Goodness.

This was a game changer. I now feel like I can get back on top of what's happening around our little acreage and on top of the issues I have with my ear, something that was impossible working 5 - 5 1/2 days a week. I'm not there yet, my ear is currently annoying the crap out of me and I'm still working to get on top of the garden after an extreme summer (will there ever be one that isn't anymore? I highly doubt it) and not spending a single minute in it over the entire growing season.

In February I squeezed in a weekend Introduction to Permaculture course my lovely little family enrolled me in for my christmas gift and this has changed my entire vision for our little plot. I've mulled it over constantly since then and recently decided to do the full Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) so have enrolled to do this in spring. Both courses were and will be at the wonderful Limestone Permaculture in the tiny hamlet of Stroud Road, about 1 hour 15 from home. If you haven't heard of it and have any interest in gardening or food production it's worth a look. There's tons of information about it online so a quick google search will have you enthralled.

The long work hours also meant very little knitting was done over the past 6 months, some, but not much, so I've also been able to pick my needles back up which makes my heart so incredibly happy. I even finished one project this morning and will share it as soon as it comes off the blocking mats.

All in all it's been a crazy seven months for me but life is starting to get a little closer to where I want it to be heading. Stay tuned to see more of our adventures, I promise it won't be another 6 months before you hear from me again.

xx

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones.

Ch-ch-changes

If you didn't read that in Bowie's voice I'm not sure we can be friends. Hee hee.

Big changes are afoot at Homespun Headquarters. I have a new job! I'm sure some will think that's not that much of a big deal but in an age where people change jobs like changing their shoes I can still count on one hand the number of jobs I've had in the 30 years of my working life.

But the biggest change will be the change in hours as it is full time! Argh! I haven't worked full time since Miss 15 was in infants school. I think it's going to kill me. Or at least kill my feet.

So this also means I won't have as much spare time for doing things here on the little acreage. My gardening time will take a hit but at least with daylight savings starting this past weekend I will still be able to squeeze a little time in before it gets dark. My knitting time will also take a hit so I have promised myself that as this time will be so precious I will treat myself to only the yarns I really, really want, the beautiful hand dyed stuff instead of the commercial stuff. I'm a little excited about this bit.

I have taken a few weeks off between finishing the old and starting the new (oh how I will miss those gorgeous girls at the old!) I had huge plans for painting during this two weeks but we have had more rain in this 2 weeks than we have had for months and because we need the rain so desperately I'm not complaining. The first day of my holiday started in horrific circumstances, but I'll tell you all about it when I can bear to think about it without breaking down. But rest easy, we are all well here.

Talk soon.

R xx

Aisling Shawl

I realised I have quite a few knitted and crocheted items I haven't written about so expect a few crafty posts over the next couple of weeks.

I knit this shawl a few months ago for a lovely neighbour's birthday.

I vastly underestimated the amount of time it would take me to finish this, each lace repeat on the border took over an hour and that wasn't including the ridiculous amount of tinkling back as I made so many mistakes. Tinking lace back is crazy difficult and takes forever.

But it was such a lovely outcome. I used some bamboo yarn I bought a couple of years ago so the drape on it is just lovely.

Ravelled here.

x

Giant Granny Square Blanket

Oh my goodness, I’m a little in love with this one! Who doesn’t love a granny square blanket, don’t we all have one in our childhood?

This one is from a tutorial by Sandra from the Cherry Heart blog and I only made one change in the colour scheme, swapping a very pale peach for a more vintage, muted peach.

It is now gracing the back of the lounge in my studio (more on that in the next post) and it still needs a bit of a block and the ends woven in but let’s ignore that for a little bit longer shall we?

Details ravelled here.

Easiest and Best Ever Muffins

Big call I know but they really are, as well as being ridiculously versatile. So many muffins out there are incredibly cake-like but a perfect muffin should be somewhere between bread and cake in texture. This is a recipe that has been in my family for as long as I can remember although I have made my own changes along the way and is a favourite Saturday morning wake up.

Ingredients
2 cups self raising flour
1/4 sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup milk
1 egg

Method
Place the flour and sugar in a bowl and give a quick stir with a fork or whisk to ensure a lightly and fluffy mix.
Add milk and egg (in that order) to the melted butter and mix until well combined.
Add wet mix to dry mix and stir until combined, the mix will look quite lumpy but that's normal.
Gently stir in your favourite flavourings and then fill muffin tins approx 2/3 full. For sweet ones I also sprinkle a little raw sugar on top.
Bake at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes for small muffins and 20-30 for large ones.

Our favourite additions are:
Chopped bacon or ham and grated cheese
Grated apple and cinnamon
Blueberries
Chocolate chips
Chopped strawberries and white chocolate

If you have a favourite muffin flavour,  please let me know, I'd love to try some new ones.

xx

Garden diary

The loquats will be ready soon

The poor vegetable garden has been terribly neglected over the last few weeks as we spent almost every spare second building my studio (squee! more on that later) but this week I was able to spend a little time up there.

Most excitingly I have planted these very-hard-to-see sticks!

So they're not really sticks but raspberries! I ordered them a while ago and have been waiting rather impatiently for them to arrive and this week they did. I put them in one of the raised beds, no doubt they will need to be moved next year but for now I hope this spot will be adequate.

We still have 3 weeks of winter left and we had a severe frost a few weeks ago, so bad that some of the trees around the house were even damaged so I have very nervously planted some seeds in the shade house.

I have sown the following:
Tomatoes (Rouge de Marmande and Beefsteak)
Zucchini (black and green varieties)
Corn
Cucumbers (Lebanese, Crystal Apple and Long Supermarket)
Saltbush
Dahlias
Silverbeet.

I've had a bit of a problem with rodents eating my seedlings during the winter months and have taken some steps to prevent this happening again but it's a wait and see game.

xx
R

Another Boy Sweater

Over the last few weeks I whipped up another Boy Sweater, this time for our neighbour's little munchkin's first birthday. I love this pattern, it’s quick and easy and looks wonderful. I think this will be my go to gift for little boys for a long time to come.

Details ravelled here.

xx
R

A New Front Door

Before

Well not really, just the old one given a new life. I have disliked the front door since we got here but recently decided to paint it until (if) we get a new one.

During

I must say I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.

After

I still need to finish around the door and change the lock but every little step gets me closer to finished!

xx
R

A Garden Arbour

Last week Mr Homespun and I spent a couple of days putting up an arbour over the veg patch gate. We bought the arbour at an auction a couple of years ago when a property down the road was going up for sale. It originally had 4 individual arches but one was twisted so we decided to just use three, two outside the gate and one inside.

Mr Homespun has a collection of ducting sitting around waiting to be put to use so we are cutting them up to use as beds, some of which will go around the base of the arbour legs so I can grow some kind of climber in them to eventually cover the arches. At the moment the money's on roses, possibly something like a Pierre de Ronsard or Shropshire Lad, but I’m also considering grapes or passion fruit. I have to make up my mind soon as if I decide on roses I must order them very soon as this is the time of the year to get bare root plants.

More soon

xx
R

The Patch

Our vegetable patch was a couple of horse paddocks when we moved in, we had a pony staying there for a while but after six months of living here we experienced our first frost. We had lived only 10 minutes away for over 15 year but had never experienced a single frost. Our original plans for the vegetable garden to be positioned in the bottom paddock had to be changed so the two horse paddocks seemed the perfect spot as they were at the highest point on our 5 acres and therefore were the least impacted by the frosts.

So we replaced the fencing with something that might stand a chance at keeping the rabbits out and turned it into one big patch. It's around 600 square metres, larger than some residential blocks! It's also a lot of work and an ongoing battle against grass. How I hate grass.

In addition to the shade house, late last year Mr Homespun put a water tank, pump and tap in the patch so now I have constant access to water and no longer have to rely on consistent rains to keep the patch productive, something I battled with in the couple of years prior to the installation of the tank.

So this winter I'm continuing with the set up of the patch, it's so big I can't possibly do everything at once all by myself, especially with work commitments. But still, I'm making headway. I'd like to have a large bed along the bottom fence for flowers, both to attract beneficial insects, to keep my bees happy and just because I have a yearning to be a flower farmer after reading Kate's adventures this past season so I may make a start on that this year.

I also plan to write regular posts on what I'm doing in the patch so if that's something you are interested in, stay tuned.

xx

R

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