Autumn April

As Autumn is finally here - weather wise - there’s been a few things happening around the garden and household.

Pruning,

propagation and planting,

harvesting - along with a little home produced craft and

the last flush of blooms.

Last Saturday we visited Murrumburrah/Harden and stopped by this place for lunch.

Some clever person made this to commemorate the cottage’s decade of trading after repair and refurbishment.

I spent much time looking at the handmade items there and even purchased one. A very nice lined and quilted sewing machine cover with a side pocket. It fits very well on my Janome Decor.

PC was very interested in the building itself and the original architecture.

Thanks for visiting!
Cheers,
Robyn Louise XO

Local

I'm settling in here now. If I walk into the local pub they know what beer I drink and what size glass I have and ask which flavour chips I'm having with it :). The bar staff know my name. The Chinese meals from the restaurant are tasty and good value and the take away serves are huge as I can have 2 big meals from a serve of main and a large fried rice. Lol, I'm trying not to indulge too much!!

Wandered across the above park to the little supermarket yesterday (Saturday) morning and bought a few things to fill out the stock in the pantry till I shop next week. These cost me $5 each, were a spur of the moment buy, and are locally produced. I've tried the prunes (yum) but have yet to broach the red wine vinegar, which is sealed with a cork :). Lunchtime salad today is when I'll find out what it tastes like. The prunes are grown and produced on a road a couple of blocks away, that the dog and I have walked along a few times, and the vinegar is made in the village next door, Bilbul (about 6kms SW), to the one I live in.

I only realised today that I didn't post photos of my local purchase of apricots back in January and my effort at drying them in the car. These are a kilo of apricots stoned and halved and ready to go in the back of the car. It worked fine except for the fact that on the second day the weather cooled off considerably and I had to finish them in the oven. They didn't quite dry out as much as I would have wished so had to be stored in a jar in the refrigerator. They tasted delicious and I will be trying this again next apricot season.

Considering all the scares with imported foodstuffs I will be trying to buy local whenever possible now even if I have to process fruit/veg myself so I can store it. It also tastes soooooo much better and all the nutrients wouldn't be lost in transit/storage :). I'm so lucky to be living in a rural area where so many foods are grown and produced. That reminds me I need another kilo of local pure honey!

Cheers,

RobynLouise xo

Nice and crispy and -3C!!

Good morning all!

SO(significant other) was up before the sun, possibly before the sparrows too as there didn't seem to be any around....probably had their feet frozen to the branches, poor little things! He did complain that "It's bloody cold here!" as he dressed. I languished in bed for another 20 minutes, by which time he'd had a coffee and was gone to attend to business. He doesn't muck around when there is something that needs doing.

I had a warming cup of tea, logged into the computer, checked emails and then decided it was too good a chance to miss so I found my backbone, and my camera, threw on a jacket and went outside around 7am to indulge in another hobby I've neglected.

This was my reward.

My car on the front sidewalk. Ice on the windscreen is about 6mm(1/4") thick!

Some weeds in the front yard.

The back yard didn't seem as frosty.

Lid of the 44 gallon horse feed drum. I nearly deleted this on the camera as I didn't think it was clear and the automatic shutter speed was only 80 with an f-stop of 3.2. When I viewed it on the computer though the blurry foreground was redeemed by the clear mid and back ground :). This is not a usual thing with this camera and in the future I'll think twice before deleting directly from the camera! Lol, one never stops learning :)

The raised frosted number on the lid of the 44 took my fancy too. It's like it's embossed in a different finish to the rest :).

The consolation to freezing mornings of the frosty type usually means a warm(ish) fine day. Hoping all my followers are having a grand weekend with lots of things to make them smile!

Cheers,
Robyn xo

Gladstone tour....

and views on the drive home.

I'm a bit behind with this but hoping you won't all want a refund!

What's a rural village without a pub? This is the Heritage Hotel (formerly Gladstone Hotel) circa 1873

How's this for a Police station! It used to be the Court House and was opened in 1885.  The 2 storey residence to the right was added in 1898. The trial scene in the movie "The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith" was filmed here. Both parts of this building are National Heritage listed.

Uniting Church built in 1921. Love the design of this.

Office area of Gladstone Public School. There has been a school on this site since 1877. I love how it looks.

Another view of the Macleay River from the area in front of my car before I left to go home.

This is about the half way point on my drive home. One of the few lengthy straight stretches of road.

Ssshhhh...I stopped the car momentarily to take this as there's hardly any traffic on a Sunday afternoon. This is the long hill going into Willawarrin. Near the curve at the bottom is a bridge over Hickeys Creek.

Our section of Hickeys Creek near our farm. Doesn't have quite the same "country feel" since they recently fixed the bridge and put those stripey marker posts there :(. I've never heard of anyone actually driving into the creek in about the 70 odd years the bridge has been there.

Ten minutes after arriving home the sky put on a beautiful display. A lovely finish to a lovely day :).

Cheers,

Rob xo

Gladstone Markets

Visited these markets again on Sunday and remembered to take my camera :). I know....I go nuts when I have a camera in my hand! I'm trying to keep the photos under 10 per post.

There weren't as many people there as last month and everyone was warmly dressed as the breeze off the Macleay River was chilly.

I haven't bought any of these yet but the fruity/herby smells wafting on the breeze always make me feel hungry and I love the way it's set out! The lovely proprieter was a little camera shy.

I bought a mozzarella cheese this time (haven't opened it yet) and a curry buffalo pie for lunch here. This is one of the Ausbuff boys - they really know their products and they smile a lot :) . Lol, I managed to convince myself that I'd have an ice cream next time. I'd already spoiled myself with a pie and the cheese....too much of a good thing....

These terrific ladies decided to pose for me after I bought some delicious caramel waffles to take home with me (now you know why I didn't have ice cream). Next time I'm buying the lemon myrtle waffles before they sell out as the taste test was YUM!

There's someone obscured here as they wouldn't let me post their photo but I really wanted to show the stall they help run with the gorgeous hand spun and hand made items they make.

Another stall member spinning alpaca yarn. She had to keep warming her hands. She can't spin if she's wearing shoes as she needs to "feel" how things are going.

Come back tomorrow for some touristy photos. I love the area I live in!

Cheers,
Robyn xo

Belated Mother's Day Gift and Local Markets

Received my Mother's Day gift from my two adult kids in the mail yesterday and I LOVE IT !

Took my Mum to to visit the local Handmade/Homegrown markets at Gladstone, NSW today. They were wonderful. Stalls with jewellery, knitted goods, plants, preserves, paintings, foods of all kinds - including cheese and ice cream made from buffalo milk and cream from Ausbuff, Eungai.

All the food stalls had samples you could try and we did sample a few items but had to restrain ourselves from becoming greedy as it was all so yum.

We had peking duck spring rolls and Holy Goat coffee for lunch...mmmmmmm :).

Guess which doofus left her camera at home? Mum bought brandy orange marmalade, blue vein cheese from Dorrigo and a jar of Buffalo spiced quark. I did, however, take a photo after I arrived home of some delicious marmalade I bought.

If you are ever in my area on the Mid North Coast of NSW, Australia do visit the Gladstone markets beside the mighty Macleay River. They are held on the 3rd Sunday of the month from 9am - 2pm.

Cheers,
Robyn xo