Cape Lilac Tree Caterpillars

My goodness...what a horrible nuisance these little animals are. To begin with they can quickly strip a whole Cape Lilac tree, climbing the tree with them on the trunk is no fun for children, they form huge clumps of chrysalises under the fence capping and then on mid-summer evenings they fill the air for miles around with large brown moths. My first thought was to leave them be and let the balance of nature stand but these caterpillars have no natural enemies and chooks won't eat them either so I am embarking on a crusade to be their Public Enemy #1.
 I've tried soapy citrus spray which didn't kill any, fly spray which nearly killed me with guilt and now tonight I've sprinkled Baby Powder on and around them in the hope that even if they don't die they will at least smell nice!

Here are some with the powder on, they fell off the tree and died...

Cheeky rabbit watching his Mum, he ran towards me and binkied(happy jump) several times which always makes me laugh!

The caterpillars make their way into the house and car but only ever eat the leaves of the Cape Lilac tree, the moths end up in the car and the house and I don't even know what they eat. Have a look at this link...and if you have had any luck dealing in a green manner with these little pests then please let me know. Aaaargh!

http://www.amnet.net.au/~mpeaty/pests1.html

Have a wonderful weekend,
Love from Sue
xxx

Still Here

I'm sorry to have been away for so long. 8 days ago Twitch was unwell when I went to let him out in the morning so I watched him for 2 hours, he was not eating, not pooping and sitting hunched up, and it became obvious he had a blocked bowel or what the vets call "gastro-intestinal stasis". We popped him into a box and drove to the nearby Warnbro Veterinary Hospital where Dr Laura was doubtful he'd survive. She suggested leaving him there for an x-ray and intravenous fluids plus some pain medication. Later that day it was decided that he stay overnight on fluids and then we'd decide his fate...surgery is rarely successful in these cases.

I think Joe and I cried for hours on end, Twitch means so much to us both. With trepidation I phoned the clinic on Wednesday morning and he'd survived the night so would continue to be treated with fluids. At 4pm Dr Laura phoned and said, "I am so impressed with your little bunny!" He'd passed the blockage been eating the celery tops she'd bought on her way home on Tuesday afternoon and was ready to come home and get back into his normal routine. It was just awfully stressful and as a result I have a yukky cold and feel so tired all the time! This too shall pass.

Twitch was so hungry for several days after his ordeal and he seemed to be eating non-stop..here he fell asleep at the table lol Remember rabbits can sleep with their eyes open?

Today I've made up another batch of Rhonda's laundry liquid, I scent it with tea tree oil and these 10 litres will last us many months for very little cost. Have you tried it yet, here is the recipe. I don't use borax as I know it can be dangerous but I still get great results.

I took this photo on Sunday in a nearby suburb, a giant chess board set up and ready to play at the primary school...it must be delightful to watch the children play and they can you know. Joe teaches children as young as 6 and 7 and they have a good grasp of the game, unlike yours truly!

The Christmas Decoration Swap is winding up at the forum, the variety of crafts used and posted across the world has been delightful as always. I'm still waiting for my parcel, it takes longer for parcels to come across Australia than it does to come from the USA! I will show you both Marnie's and mine when hers arrives.

35C is forecast for today with a possible thunderstorm so I got everything done early on...this house seems to be keeping cool which will be a blessing as there's no air-conditioner here.

Hope you are well and enjoying your week,
Love from Sue
xxx

Revamped Garden Chair

Hallo there!
I got my white spray paint and some basil plants, another plastic garden chair for the front garden (I need to sit on one to weed the lawn otherwise I can't get up again!!) and a nifty outdoor thermometer from Bunnings on Friday morning. The paint is a matt finish and very quick drying so I sprayed the whole can ($9.45) over the cane and then came inside to make a new cushion cover...Mum bought me the fabric in Malaysia several years ago and I've eked it out very sparingly...now all I need is a Singapore Sling! I also saved this elegant old chair from ending up in landfill and that's always a good thing.

The thermometer also shows the humidity and I think we'll be seeing some hot days in the near future so watch this space for more photos!

More cactus flowers...just love 'em...

On Saturday morning I went to watch Jess and Liv play tee-ball, Jessica looks like Darth Vader as she waits for her team to join her. The girls scored 3 home runs each and won their game for the 3rd week running. My highlight was seeing Jess on 3rd base, waiting to run home and concentrating hard when the little girl(with very short hair) who was fielding next to her stretched out her hand and very gently stroked Jessie's beautiful pony tail!

Players were needed for the following game so of course Jessie volunteered for that! Olivia and I went off to buy some potting mix and have a look in the Salvos Op-Shop. We found a beautiful Piping Hot sun dress and a Smarties ice-cream for Liv and fresh, cold orange juice and some beads for Jessie and went back to watch the rest of Jessie's game.

Livvie sitting in the shade after batting...it's thirsty work you know!

Today is shopping day and I will post off my Christmas Decoration parcel to Marnie in NSW, the DTE forum swap is already going well as every-one has excitedly messaged their partners and exchanged addresses. When we receive our gifts we take a photo and post it on the forum for every-one to enjoy.

Mum is having her stitches out from behind her ear today and finding out the result of the biopsy so fingers crossed it is all out and benign too.

That's all for now,
Have a marvellous Monday,
Love, Sue
xxx

Around The Garden

Yesterday's Plan A was to re-paint my roadside find, the white cane chair I carried home on my shoulder from several streets away. So I sanded off the loose paint, shook my spray can for several minutes and then sprayed a chair arm...eeekss...that paint is cream and very watery and not what I want at all. I'll go to Bunnings later this morning to get some Dulux white paint and some basil plants too.

This cactus was here when we moved in and I noticed the buds on it last week...now they have opened and are glorious...

 A nice big tomato that the caterpillars haven't noticed...

The chives are flowering too...

This large succulent was another road-side find, in a nice ceramic pot too...

Wendy's elderflower is thriving, it's trunk is very wavy though...

Hallo Joey!

A chain of hearts spills out of a little aluminium teapot...

I moved my geraniums in old oil tins to the front door to brighten that patio a little...

Then at about 6pm I went for a last look round and found hundreds of hairy caterpillars on the Cape Lilac trees, I added some liquid soap to my citrus cleaner and gave them all a good spray. It didn't kill them but they are not well and I brushed them all off this morning..

The trees themselves are quite beautiful...

The Christmas Swap list is now up at the DTE forum, friends in Mt Helena are having an open garden this weekend but it's just too far for me sadly.

I hope you have a safe and restful weekend,
Love from Sue
cc

Some Whole-Food Cooking

Well the rent inspection went very well after all my worrying and we are hopefully getting the fence repaired and the gutters cleaned.

With the warmer weather approaching I find I'm again preparing many more Vegetarian meals and various salads and being very inspired by Heather's Wholefoods Course.

We had pearl barley with a beef and mushroom stew one night and then the last cup of barley went into these burgers along with...

1 to 1 1/2 cups of cooked beans

1 cup of rolled oats

the cup of barley

2 duck eggs

a heaped teaspoon each of mixed herbs and ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon each of chilli flakes and sea salt

Blitz the lot together and shape into 8 large burgers, shallow fry. They freeze well uncooked so I popped 4 in the freezer and we made 2 meals of the others. I cut the big mixture into 8 even pieces before rolling them into pattie shapes...

On Tuesday I soaked a 350gm bag of red kidney beans I'd picked up for 50cents, cooked them for about 8 minutes in my trusty pressure cooker, they really swell up and will be frozen to add to 'everything', tonight I'm going to use some in a chilli dish...this is such a thrifty way to buy your beans.

I bought a couple of raw beetroots at the weekend to grate and make this salad or slaw. Grating beets is messy business so I covered the bench top with newspaper to catch the 'spray'! I also grated an apple and added chopped spring onions and mixed seeds. The dressing was the juice of one lemon with an equal amount of olive oil, a teaspoon of honey and salt and pepper...it was even better the second day and I think the colour is just beautiful...

Joe has been craving some more oatcakes lately so I got on with them yesterday, I cut these into squares the save having to keep rolling out the offcuts, it was quicker and probably better for the oatcakes...Joe enjoyed some with a chunk of feta cheese.

I made a very tasty potato bake for dinner yesterday, I par-boiled about 1 kilo of unpeeled potatoes and then thinly sliced them. Layered them in a lasagne type dish with thinly sliced onions, finely chopped mushrooms and a layer of boiled ham in the middle. Then I poured over 300gms cream mixed with 1/2 cup of milk, S and P and some sneaky oat bran, covered it with foil and baked it at 170C for an hour. I took it out and uncovered it, sprinkled on some cheese and let it brown for another 30 minutes or so.

Time then to cook the brown rice I'd soaked overnight, I added the mushrooms and some Bragg's seasoning once the rice was drained and now it's ready to become a salad or a side dish with a few suitable additives.

Yesterday I followed Rose's link to this wonderful foody blog, Can You Stay For Dinner and I loved Andy's salad suggestions that the link will take you to.

I went to watch Jess and Livvie at tee-ball practice yesterday after school, it was great fun with some of the parents playing too! Then they went off to Aikido which they started recently and love. Gordie and Livvie have a cold :( Hope they feel better very soon.

Bye bye for now,
Love, Sue
xx

Fremantle With Mum

I drove Mum back to Fremantle for an 8.45am appointment to have yet another skin cancer type thing removed, this one from behind her ear, it was only the size of a grain of rice but had to go. Afterwards we went along by the wharf to have a look at Voyager of The Seas, one of the largest cruise ships ever to visit Fremantle...you may remember it's only 3 days since Mum and Dad disembarked from their latest cruise, both of them very unwell but that hasn't deterred Margo Polo one bit! Mum is already champing at the bit to go again lol

We couldn't get any closer because of all the traffic...

The sail training ship, Leeuwin was bobbing in the wind

Near the hospital are some rather old houses with alleyways running behind them. These occupants have made garden beds and grow vegies and flowers... Swiss chard and pansies look lovely together...

  Look at the beautiful bougainvillea climbing over the walls...

And the very uplifting wall of thank you cards beside one of the busy clinics in the hospital...

What wild and windy weather we've had this weekend and it was cold enough for jackets today!

That's all for now, enjoy your week where-ever you are,
Love from Sue
xx

Nana's Biscuits

Jess(9) and Livvie(8) came over after school yesterday with their Dad who has replaced the towel rail I broke recently. I knew the girls would be hungry so I baked some wholesome biscuits and made sandwiches  and got out the orange juice. The visit was extra special as this is the first time the girls have asked me for a recipe, they both enjoy cooking from scratch too.

I've mentioned before that I really like the Women's Weekly series of recipe books...it's very wide ranging and the ingredients are easily found in my area. I adapted the Butter Oat Snap recipe slightly, mainly to add 1/2 cup of choc chips I had left-over. It's from the "best recipes from The Weekly" book.

Makes around 30 biscuits.

Mix together
1 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of wholemeal plain flour
3/4 cup of coconut
3/4 cup raw sugar
1/2 cup of choc chips or dried fruit(optional)

Melt together
125 gms butter
2 T honey
2 T water
1 t bicarb of soda

Let that cool slightly and then mix it into the dry ingredients.

Roll teaspoonsful into balls and place on a lightly greased baking tray. I had to squeeze them quite tightly to make them stick together.
Bake at 180C for 10-15 minutes or until just golden.

Gordie and I collected Mum and Dad from the dock yesterday morning, both of them really unwell. As well as Mum having pneumonia Dad is coughing and his eyes are both weepy and infected. As soon as we got home I called their GP and Dad is now also on anti-biotics and eye drops! Get well soon Ma and Pa xoxo The doctor's visit on board, meds and x-rays etc came to over $700 but they do have travel insurance to cover all but the first $100.

I know I still haven't shared my photos from the Down To Earth King's Park picnic yet...we had the most wonderful get-together imaginable. There were 10 of us in all as Lynn dashed over after her appt! Will show you very soon.

Wet and quite stormy here this weekend after last Saturday's 35C. The girls' Teeball game was washed out and we all got soaked lol

Bye bye for now,
Love from Sue
xx

Froog's Bread and Assorted Tales

First things first. Dear Mum is unwell with pneumonia in one lung. She and Dad are supposed to be enjoying a beautiful cruise around the top of Australia. The ship's doctor has x-rayed her chest and prescribed strong anti-biotics and anti-histamines and asked her to stay in her cabin drinking chicken broth! I am just so glad they'll be home on Friday when Gordie and I will pick them up and get them safely home.

Secondly, some-one we all know and love turns one year old today...Happy Birthday Twitch!!! Would you like some celery my Love?

His mum, Bella, gave birth again yesterday, 4 pretty kittens.

Now then onto the staff of life. I bit the bullet and tried Frugal Queen's bread recipe on Friday. It's very basic and measured in cups for speed and I was thrilled with the result. I sliced at least half of it to freeze and it makes the most beautiful toast btw. I also turned 3 mandarin oranges into 3 jars of marmalade to enjoy with it. On Saturday I made Frugal Queen's spaghetti sauce...the trick here is to process a lot of vegies to go with a little meat and cook it for a long time. I used almost a whole 2.5kilo tin of crushed tomatoes and have made enough for about 20 meals for about $10. This recipe is a real winner...where FQ mentions tomato paste we in Australia use passata or chopped tomatoes. I added a little wine too.

Tomorrow is going to be very exciting! Mandy and I are taking train and bus to King's Park to meet up with forum members from around Perth....the icing on the cake this time is that 2 members, both from NSW but unknown to each other so far, are in Perth too and will be joining us. We're all taking something for a shared picnic lunch and I hope to get lots of photos to share both here and at the forum. Can't wait!

So, after sleeping in this morning, I had better get a wriggle on and start my duties around the house...I broke the handle of the sweeping brush yesterday so will have to replace it today.
Will be back on Thursday with a Picnic Report ;)

Take care,
Love from Sue
xxx

Please Support Aussie Dairy Farmers

This link will take you to the petition asking that our small local farmers get a fair price for their milk. We lost 45 small dairy farms in Queensland alone last year, soon we will have no choice.
Please encourage family and friends to sign too.

http://www.change.org/en-AU/petitions/coles-up-the-price-of-generic-brand-milk-to-a-sustainable-rate-of-return-for-all#share

Down To Earth Hands

A dear member at the forums met up with several old friends last week. One of these friends remarked upon seeing  HH's hands that she had "Really let herself go!" Yes. Really. How very, very rude but then we got to chatting about how wonderful our hard-working hands truly are. If they longer look like the hands of a teenage girl then that is testament to their years of service to us and our families. Another member rightly suggested that HH had "let herself go....of pointless and shallow social restraints" Well said Sarah!

So here are mine after an hour weeding yesterday...

These wonderful, wondrous hands also patted pets, knit a few rows of my blanket, turned pages of books, fit together jigsaw pieces, washed dishes, folded laundry, typed here, made several wholesome meals as well as a myriad of other clever things yesterday!

Here are some of the pets I patted...Gypsy, Gemma and Cleo...

Love these "puppies".

Staying true to "Stop-tober", a month of buying only food and real necessities, I popped into the op-shop on my way home from Gordie's and bought another 2 big jigsaws for $2 each.

The Christmas Swap is now open at the forum, this is the fourth year and we see some fantastic craft skills in the hand-made decorations we swap with members all over the world. Next week several local members are meeting 2 NSW members who are both here at the same time, we're going to take a shared picnic lunch to King's Park overlooking the city.

I do wish you a wonderful Wednesday,
Love from Sue
xx

Creamy Fish Pie

One of those traditional meals that have been around in British cookery forever. I didn't really like it as a child(sorry Mum) but Joe and I love it now and it never lasts as long as it should!
I didn't take photos while I was cooking or of the finished dish and Joe has er slopped the leftovers into a smaller dish so that he could wash the casserole dish but we must have a photo, right?

Encouraged by the wholefoods course I am doing through "beauty that moves" blog I made my own adjustments to this dish and added more vegies.
You'll need

400-450 gms white fish fillets (I think smoked cod would lovely too)and a few prawns if you have them
a cup or so of milk
1/3 cup white wine(optional)

Start by placing the fish in a large pan and covering it with milk and wine, salt and pepper and gently warm it until it flakes apart easily...this cooking method is known as poaching

Drain off  stock and save it, mix the fish pieces with at least one and a half cups of frozen vegs or leftover cooked vegs and place it in an oven proof dish.

Next we make a white sauce,
melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and blend in 2 tablespoons of flour
then gradually whisk in the milk and wine stock until you have a smooth sauce.
you may need a little more milk or stock, see how you go.
season to taste and then stir it into the fish and vegetables.

Then make your mashed potatoes, I added a chopped onion, a whole garlic clove and two carrots to about a kilo of washed but unpeeled potatoes, cooked until tender and then well seasoned and smashed with a little butter.
Spread the potato mixture over the fish and sprinkle some grated cheese on top.
Bake for about 30-40 until bubbling and hot.
This is supposed to serve 4 people but we ate more than half last night so I'll add another vegetable dish to the leftovers for dinner tonight.

Have a look at the twisted limbs of this eucalyptus tree next to the bus stop...this type of tree sheds it's bark each year and has a beautifully smooth and delicately coloured appearance...

and my beautiful Peace Rose that is still marooned at Mum and Dad's house!

Priscilla has appointments today and tomorrow and then starts her scans on Thursday. Thank you all, especially Hedy, for your prayers and kind thoughts. Go Priss! xoxo

Bye bye for now,
Love from Sue
xx