all things home

I kicked off the New year with a coffee from my all time favourite op shop find.. and a batch of raspberry and white chocolate muffins made with my help from my smallest. She does so love the raw batter!

 This year I plan on spending more time in the garden. Although my veggie beds have been supplementing our meals for some years, it's been mainly herbs the have done well. I need to take more advice from my friend at Tarina St Farm and start conditioning my soil better. There's no reason I can't grow all kinds of things for us to eat and give away. 

 It's been so hot and dry here lately that even with daily watering, the poor old plants have been slowly deteriorating. So I finally harvested all of my basil and made some delicious pesto. Organic Australian garlic from here, olive oil, macadamia nuts and parmesan. It made enough to give some away... always a nice feeling...

My next project is 2 smaller beds for the girls to each have their own. The edges are recycled hardwood from an old table made years ago by a friend. The table recently rotted underneath after years of weather, but the sturdy top planks are in reasonable condition. It will be interesting to see what the girls want to grow. So far my eldest wants a strawberry patch, and the smallest wants to grow carrots. Having never had much success with carrots I feel slightly doomed from the start. I will have to hit the SGA website for some handy tips...

 And summer wouldn't be summer without a delux-o ice cream every now and again. Massimo's is unreal. Not cheap, but so delicious. My nieces reckon you can't go past the raspberry sorbet and Rocher chocolate combo.  Personally, I prefer the passionfruit sorbet. Thumbs down from the girls, but at least there were no extra spoons dipping into mine!