Knitting and a Bus

I seem to have been knitting these squares forever, at least 2 years, it's 100% wool and very heavy, very random too, knit 6 varied squares, join them end to end and add them to the side it suits best. This is the first time I've knit a border too, size 5mm needles and 12 stitches;start sewing it to the edge once it's nearly long enough as you will have to stretch it slightly to keep it tight...I also finished a pair of 8ply socks for Wendy, my SIL...it gets quite cold in Albany in Winter...

  This is a free pattern and I made these last year but hadn't given them away, the pattern is from Joyful Toys and is called Peter Rabbit, it uses very little wool...

Joe's chemo is going well and his brother is on the same treatment in Canada...it's to stop the basal cell carcinomas associated with Gorlin Syndrome that they both have. Enough with all this cutting them out, Joe looks like a patchwork himself these days and it's very painful.

Elizabeth has finally been in position to buy a smallish bus which she plans to gut and turn into a camper and then hit the 'frog and toad' with her 2 younger boys....she's had enough sorrow recently to last a lifetime so let's hope this is a turning point in her life...she will never be homeless again anyway!

Lots of work ahead but it's so good to have a goal isn't it?

Dad has gone on a holiday too...he's gone down to Albany to my brother and SIL's home for a few days. He'll come back on the bus which takes about 6 hours, quite an adventure for an 85 yr old.

I've tried some new recipes since we got home, this eggplant curry is particularly good, frugal and easy too and I made some basil and spring onion pesto with basil from the garden that had grown so much while we were in Tassie...I added a few roasted cashews too...one jar is in the freezer to keep it very fresh...

and how's this for colourful...a white chocolate cake with white chocolate buttercream made by Bree, it had 2 little troll dolls on top later!

So that's all for this quick update, I hope all is well with you,
Love, Sue
xxx

Around the House and Garden

Hi Every-one,

Just a few photos from a busy week...I've decided to knit myself a cardigan for the first time in nearly 40 years...I like to have a small project and a large project going at the same time so I am still knitting the socks and found this free pattern on the Spotlight site, it calls for pure wool but it never really gets that cold here so I chose this yarn called 'Jeans' instead and am using 7mm needles to get the right size...it's so very soft and drapes beautifully...the back is finished...it really does look like denim doesn't it?

While outside taking the knitting pic I also snapped the lovely silver beet/chard and some of the parsley that is growing like mad with all the rain this Winter...

I moved the table round and would like to pressure spray the paving soon as it's very grubby, also got the washing on the line at last...have been buying up slightly damaged lanterns mainly from Bunnings, it will look nice when I put some tea-light candles in when it warms up properly...

Carol-Next-Door has been feeding the wild  Indian Doves for years and recently the local galahs have discovered the free feed...they sit up on the TV aerials loudly discussing their business and are surprisingly tame, cocking their heads when I talk to them...

I hope you've had a good week and all is well with you and yours,
Love from Sue
xxx

Cauliflower and Feta Bake and Other Tales

I really enjoy the recipes from this blog, Ozlem's Turkish Table ~ the Mediterranean countries have a climate much like Perth's and the food available there such as  capsicums, eggplants, garlic, zucchini and tomatoes are abundant here too.

Ozlem explains that instead of making fritters with this mix she bakes it for a lighter meal. The one thing you must do though is chop the cauliflower into small pieces as they are not pre-cooked. Heather, you can leave out the chilli altogether my dear, the cheese and onions shine through for a beautiful flavour.

You'll need
around 800gms chopped cauliflower, add the stalk but chop it finely
1/2 a finely chopped red onion
3 finely sliced spring onions
2 tablespoons each chopped parsley and dill or a heaped teaspoon each of dried herbs (ETA I think this is too much dill as it has a rather unusual taste, perhaps a sprinkle and lots of parsley would be better)
pinch of chilli flakes(optional)
4 T plain flour(I use wholemeal)
pepper to taste
180gm crumbled feta cheese
2 T olive oil
5 eggs beaten together with a big dollop of plain yogurt

Just mix it all together really well and bake at 180C for around 30-40 minutes.

I'd bought some chicken sticks on special so I baked them at the same time to enjoy with the cauliflower bake...

We had an amazing sunset on Saturday night, local friends posted their photos on Facebook...these are mine

I love the bare branches of our frangipani tree at the front door...

In Arles tiled numbers at the front of the house are very popular so I bought the 3 tiles to make our number 5 for around $4, the lavender is such an evocative symbol of the region and grows well in our gardens...I bought some tile cement which worked really well...

and while I had the cement at hand I glued my sea-horse to the wall too...in for a penny in for a pound...do you like our new ceramic pots?

The passion fruit vine opened it's first flower this morning...here the delicate tendrils cling to the fence, it's wet and windy again today but the vine will withstand the pressure...

  and finally the Papa Meilland rose I bought in memory of dear Mum flowered this morning on my brother's birthday...Happy Birthday Ian xxx

Bye bye for now, have a wonderful week
xxx

Around the Garden

So lovely and fresh but it would have been much better if I hadn't left my camera out overnight...it's currently sitting in a dish of raw rice which I hope will draw out the moisture!

Our neighbour, Nadia, has taken many cuttings of her Euphorbia Cotinifolia without ever knowing it's name. I asked an on-line gardening community and it was quickly indentified, it's very tree-like but is actually a perennial so I am going to plant it in front of the passionfruit vine to provide some shade from the afternoon sun in Summer. Nadia has cut hers to train them into small trees and they are stunning...

In it's large pot is the Papa Meilland rose I bought not long after we lost Mum, she has one at the family home and always loved it's fragrance, her other favourite is Mr Lincoln...

The passionfruit vine is going gang-busters, the flowers are so unusual and the fruit so delicious that  it's a must for every warm garden...

Still good drying weather...

a black and white corner...quite un-intentional but rather eye-catching...the white daisy was also a cutting from Nadia...

I sat down after a crazy busy day of looking for Dad's wallet around his house and garden...my view was instantly soothing...

the herbs are so lush at the moment with all the rain we've had, I've started to save the basil seeds as they appear and ripen...

saving my chilli seeds too, these grew from some seeds in a chilli our neighbour, Nong, gave me last year...I also have bird's eye chillies from her seeds...

Sage...

these little cherubs never complain and are always smiling...

My garden isn't big but it certainly packs a punch and I love that so many of my plants have been grown from cuttings or seeds from my neighbours. My son and his wife have taken several frangipani cuttings to grow at their house, it will be nice to watch them grow in the coming years.

No rabbit pics these days and Twitch sure is missed, he loved this little courtyard so much but the great news is that our little grandson is due this week so please keep him and his Mummy in your thoughts.

I hope your week is going well and Dad found his wallet shortly after I'd been to the bank to cancel his cards!
Ah well, here's always knitting and here are 6 more reasons to enjoy it

Love from Sue
xxx