Sewing Another Face Mask

Mask pattern's here.

Sewing on the 801 because I like it's really narrow arm and sewing
 space. Plus it's very easy to change cotton and feet. 

Lining inside

Sitting under the Silk tree where 'Peep' our visiting
Pīwakawaka  (Fantail) perches on the branches..

Finished face mask. Fabric is 100% cotton, design Fantail...
A Pīwakawaka

The 'Silk Tree' 

Peep's branches, no he's not there this evening. 

The Garden Harvest

The vegetable garden has been doing really well this year, especially the tomatoes. My daughter looks after the garden, I just collect the produce...and look after the rabbit.

Feeding the soil

Bunny poop it's his job to feed the soil. Here he is eating the
'Alpine Strawberry'.

Out and about in the garden...just having a rest while my hutch is cleaned.
He's a 'Chestnut' Angora rabbit.

Garden Pollinators

We were so lucky this year we had a bumblebee nest at the back of the garden. Such busy bees collecting pollen all day long. There are four types of bumblee bees in New Zealand.

They won't sting unless you make them angry...Did you know bumblebees
are attracted to blue?

The Bumblebee Nest

Having a Bumblebee nest in the garden is okay, they are harmless unless you
make them angry. They just go about their business. We need bumblebee's
in the garden. We were so lucky to have this nest in our garden.

Bumblebee nest, it's empty now they've done their job

The tomatoes are 'Beefsteak'. I'm going to make some chilli sauce using the 'Spicy Tomato Sauce' recipe.

Spray free, organic tomatoes

Beefsteak tomatoes

The Potatoes

I think these are Lissette 

My lavender was at it 's best too. I didn't pick any because the whole garden was turned into a bee garden, spray free, with plenty of flowers to attract the bees.

Lavender 'Arabian Nights'

Lavender 'Dilly Dilly' my favourite. Attracts the bees...

I think the bee below is a solitary 'Carpenter Bee'. Whoever he was, he spent most of his time chasing the bumblebees off the lavender. Very funny to watch him hovering...A bit unlucky though, too many honey bees, and bumblebees. The solitary bee was unable to have the lavender to  himself.

Bee: Carpenter male.

And this little girl just loved the Strawberries that she found in the 'Strawberry Patch'.

A big red ripe spray free, organic strawberry....

Rubee Red Apple Tree

This year we had lots of apple's... Rubee Red this apple tree is called, and it's a cross between a 'Pacific Rose' apple, and a 'Liberty'. It's a very crisp, sweet eating apple, perfect for lunch boxes because it is small and not too big.

Apple bred by NZ Motueka plant breeder Roy Hart

Here's our semi-dwarf 'Rubee Red ' apple tree, a bit neglected and it needs a new stake. It's a grafted tree and supposed to be very hardy. The birds have been eating the apples too, must be the lovely, sweet, red fruit. Is that why the Blackbird is always on the fence and on guard near the tree? The two red apples by the top of the fence have been eaten to the core. I'll blame the Blackbird, you can just see a flush of red on the branch that is hanging over the fence. They once were apples...beautiful red apples, the best ones in the crop and I was watching them until...

The tree is growing crooked...better get a extra stake soon.

Bee friendly Cosmos keeps our tree happy! Plus the Waxeyes they like the seeds

This is our 'Rubee Red' apple harvest this year, and the tree is pretty much organic. We use Bee friendly sprays when we remember to spray, or else the tree doesn't get sprayed at all. There is not much information out there on the 'Rubee Red' apple tree. Has anybody else tried growing this apple? What do you think of it? It is not in our New Zealand supermarkets that I know of.

What's my opinion of the apple...I  really love it,  it's just so sweet to taste, and there is nothing like growing your own fruit and eating it straight off the tree...

The tree is fed with Organic Blood and Bone, Plus Citrus Feed and Manure.

When Life Gives You a Bowl Full of Lemons...Make Lemon Juice

I have a bulk lot of lemons, so before they go mouldy I am freezing the juice. This is the first time I have done this...The plan is to take the lemon ice blocks, and have them free-flow in a plastic bag for later use. The problem is how do you keep them from sticking together, any ideas?

Just have to tip the lemon ice-blocks out into plastic bags for the freezer.
Or perhaps not tip them out at all and put the container with the lemon
ice-blocks into a self sealing plastic bag.....Big decisions!

King Protea

 King Protea.... is in bloom at the moment. Here are some pics it's surviving quite happily under the eaves of the house and seems to cope with all the horrible cold Christchurch weather.

Garden Harvest for 2014

Not sure how I'll cook the cat....I'm not serious, it's a
joke!

Bottling Garden Beetroot

My vegetable garden only produced enough beetroot for one jar. Maybe next year I'll grow more or harvest more!

Bottling Recipe:
1/2 cup sugar (white)
1 cup vinegar (I use white)
1 cup water
Salt & pepper to taste

To preserve beetroot you follow all the usual preserving methods such as sterilizing the jars etc. There is plenty of information on the Internet for different methods of bottling (canning) beetroot...

I just heated up the vinegar/sugar/water mix and added it to the cooked beetroot (chopped). I will be eating this quicky (I love beetroot) so I haven't worried too much about my sealing the jar. This glass jar is getting old and I need to buy a new seal for it.

My favourite way of eating beetroot is on melted cheese on toast. I just slice the cooked beetroot onto the melted cheese and add plenty of white pepper...Whats your favourite way of eating beetroot?

Love beetroot especially home
preserved

Just One Apple

Rubee Red is the name of a new apple tree I planted this year. There was one lonely apple on the tree, so I decided to let it grow ( I don't think your supposed to). It's a semi-dwarf tree and it fruits in two to three years. Why has it one fruit on it now? Will it fruit next year? Yes I'm a total apple tree novice...

I decided to let the apple grow and today it was time to taste it. It looked all red and juicy but I think I tasted it too early as it was rather sharp and tart...Rubee Red is a cross between a Pacific Rose apple (love those) and a Liberty which I've never tasted. It's meant to be disease resistant and I'm hoping it is...I just hate spraying all those chemicals...

It's meant to be a good lunch box apple!

Making a Lavender Wreath

When summer comes I always pick lavender and dry it. This year I was hoping to save some for making bath bombs or lavender sachets...Instead I tied it all up in a sort of rustic wreath.

Firstly I made a willow branch circle to tie my bunches of dried lavender on to. Here is my effort for a dried Lavender Wreath.

If your interested in making a 'fresh' Lavender Wreath you can find a tutorial here.

This is my favourite Lavender it's  highly perfumed, a new plant
but I can't remember the name...

Starting to make the wreath. I've included
 white and pink lavender

Not perfectly round but it all smells
lovely...

All the lavender on the grass, which was
 a bit of a waste...no lavender left
for bath bombs...

It's a Cicada Summer

It's hot today and a Cicada has been up in a tree singing away. I 've never ever seen them here or heard them in my garden...this is the first time. I hope he finds a mate...

A bit blurry I had to get the pic through
 a window on zoom....Too sunny outside
for pic shooting...

Christmas Lilies

Do they make you sneeze? They make me sneeze....

Making a Frog Lid
*1 glass preserving jar
*1 metal preserving band
*Some galvanised mesh (My rabbit hutch mesh)
*Wire cutters,
*E-6000 glue
*Acrylic paint
*Paintbrush

Here is the tutorial I followed:
* How to Make DIY Mason Jar Flower Lids

Frog Lid finished

Why do they  all bloom well before Xmas?

Christmas Lilies, Frog lid, Preserving jar

Freezing those Garden Greens

Funny how you can pick heaps of spinach and then when you freeze it there is hardly any at all....
This year I planted a big leaf type spinach (I've forgotten the name). I know it was a Yates seed brand.

   Freezing Spinach
* Pick the Spinach from your garden or buy some fresh

* Wash the spinach then blanch it (bring a pot of water to the boil)

*When the water is boiling put the spinach in for 2-4 minutes

* When time is up remove spinach straight away it should be just soft
       
* Put the spinach in a colander and then run cold water over it or soak in a bowl of ice cold water

* Then remove the spinach and spin in a  lettuce spinner or squeeze in a sterile towel

* Chop up the spinach if you like

* Package the spinach in a air tight plastic container pop the lid on and place in freezer

* You can also package in plastic bags to freeze I just didn't have any to use...

My Spinach is  all ready to freeze. I just need to put a
 lid on the container and store in the freezer

A Walk in my Garden

Seeing that I have no sewing to post about......Yes I feel guilty when I see all the lovely sewing all you wonderful blogging people achieve, I am so impressed.

So today I'll take you on a walk in my garden...... I don't have many roses now, and I've given up pruning them I never get good blooms.  My daughter now prunes them and they seem to love her. The first four rose bushes are really old around, 16 years old. I transplanted them from my old house. Gertrude Jekyll is my newest 'David Austin' I bought this one for it's perfume.

My garden is just a garden, nothing is really ever planned. For a while it was mostly New Zealand natives, except they grow and grow so huge. You end thinking you are somewhere up the Port Hills sitting in dense native bush. I've now culled all the native bush at the back of the garden including the 'snail hotels' (Harakeeke Flax). The backyard plot is now a vege garden.

Next time if I ever have to set up a garden again I'm going Japanese, very simple and serene with no work (well I think that). Enjoy my garden and Roses!

Heart of Gold...love this yellow rose,
 it was planted in remembrance of
someone special who used to
 sing the song 'Heart of Gold'

This is one of my favourite roses it just does
it's own thing and climbs like a big bush
I planted a second one last year...

Prickly but has a beautiful scent that wafts
gracefully everywhere

Blue Moon is very impressive at the moment
Bought it because it reminds me of the song
'Blue Moon'

Gertrude Jekyll  has a gorgeous perfume..
Just bought it so it looks a little sad! 

This one has a nice old fashioned rose perfume...
Such a pretty pink it's full of blooms this year

A few Bearded Irises...and the rose
'Dublin Bay' in the background, it's a climber
But the pruner thought it was a bush so it's
 sulking and not looking the best...

The King Protea....

Feed the Birds....

Hungry Blackbirds....I think it's time to buy some netting! But netting is so ugly and the big brown dog will just pinch it and cause havoc in the garden. This all reminds me of a wonderful story I used to read to children......

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Audrey Wood, Perhaps I need a little mouse to help me save my strawberries from the big fat Blackbird!

The birds have eaten them all. This is
 the worst year for birds in the garden. Maybe
I'll paint some stones like strawberries then
the the birds will think there are no edible
  strawberries down there. I saw this idea on
 Pinterest. I wonder if it would work?

My seedlings have sprouted in my paper pots
They are mostly green beans

My table is finished It has new legs. My son gave
 me this feedback. "It looks okay but you could
have painted it another colour." I defended my
 choice of  yellow paint. I was being frugal and
saving dollars. Anyway there is an indoor
outdoor flow going on here. I bet he would
 loved it if I'd painted the table blue...