Silent Saturday...

My take on wordless wednesday ;)

Wishing you sunshine in your shadows
Helen

Winter is on the way...

Some simple pictures of the latest offerings in our garden. I love seeing the changes as the seasons turn.

One of our roses produces the most enormous rosehips I have ever seen!

The lemon tree is still producing well.

The pomegranates are starting to swell - it's a shame none of us like them LOL!

We have lots of grapefruit with both newer green fruits and ripe large yellow fruits all on the one tree.

I am not sure what to do with all the grapefruit. None of us is terribly keen on them. I thought of making marmalade but we don't eat that much of that either. It is a terrible shame to see them go to waste. The orchard was planted by Mr. B's parents and contains many strange or unusual fruits. Perhaps they were popular fruits of the time.

Although my daughter loves them just as they are I am hoping to pick enough quinces to make some quince jelly.

We have lots of different trees in the garden, both natives and exotics but I love the deciduous trees. I enjoy seeing them shed their leaves at the end of autumn and love the structure of the bare branches through the winter. Of course spring brings buds and tiny green shoots followed by flowers and fruit.

We have half a dozen different apples in the garden, they all fruit at varying times. This one has finished fruiting and has changed it's colour, ready to shed it's leaves. I love the shape of this lovely old tree.

This is one of our two almond trees. It has already shed it's leaves ready for the dormancy of winter.

I took this photo of the hawthorn tree just two days ago. It has lost almost most of it's leaves now after the heavy winds we have had the last few days. It is such a pretty tree to watch change. In autumn the leaves turn yellow and fall. Winter sees it bare only to burst into life in the spring with green buds and new young leaves unfurling. The leaves remind me of oak leaves, they are a pretty shape. The blossoms remind me of apple and it is so beautiful when in full bloom. It also sports tiny red berries in early autumn. The tiny birds love it for protection. Although not a native I think it adds much to the garden and I am glad we have it.
Have you wandered around your garden or neighbourhood lately to see what delights nature has to offer the senses?

wishing you sunshine in your shadows
Helen

Even on the gloomiest of days...

The birds still enjoy their bath! It's been so jolly cold here this week and damp as well but we still have our parade of little birds come for a bath and a drink each day. Often they visit 3-4 times a day. I only managed to catch a few in my photos but it is nothing for us to have up to 15 little birdies sitting around the edge of our birdbath. The photos were taken through our lounge room window (a tinted window at that) so aren't that fabulous but I wanted to share anyhow.

Have a wonderful weekend everybody and keep warm!


wishing you sunshine in your shadows
Helen

God's garden...

Gods garden

Fingers of light

Creep softly across

The shadowy landscape

Small creatures scurry about

Some burrowing into dark places

Preparing for their deepest slumber

Others still waken softly and stir in the

Early morning stillness as the sun slowly rises

Birds twitter noisily in the trees welcoming the new day

Daisies in the garden lift their cheerful heads and prepare to play

A gentle breeze blows

Breathing life into the very earth

God’s creatures tilt their heads and feel

 Simplest pleasure in the softest breath on fur and whisker

Ancient trees lift their weary limbs skyward and rejoice in life itself

Slowly the light passes over plains, hill, valley and mountaintop standing proud

Across the tiniest bubbling brook and rivers wide and strong to the deepest oceans

People from all nations wander the myriad paths of their lives and go about their days

Slowly the sunshine peaks in brilliant and dazzling rays and slowly it retreats again 

Father time has done his work and once again the light retreats to shadows and darkness

So ends another day

26^th January 2007

© Helen B

** I found the beautiful picture at the top of this post here 

**  Poetry my own

Nature's bounty.....

I've had a grand old time here this week pretending at least for a short while to be a real domestic goddess! Housekeeping and the like has never been one of my greatest strengths despite being a dedicated stay at home mum for years. I'm messy, disorganized and relaxed about housekeeping standards. (I do like to think I practice good basic hygiene however especially in regards to food handling)
Beginning with the apples I stewed on Tuesday I have been cooking up a storm to deal with the bounteous harvest from our fruit and vegetable gardens. First up was the job of stewing the rest of the bucket of apples left from Tuesday's efforts.

Don't they look oh so scrummy and kind of cute all packaged up in their little freezer proof tubs? The only way I can think they would look nicer is to be in beautiful preserving jars. A batch of fowlers vacola jars and a sterilising unit is something I'd like to look into buying at some time.

Next to get my attention was this MONSTER beetroot!

Yes it's a beetroot and it weighed about 4.5 kilos. It is a different variety to what we grew last year and is long and tubular in shape. (No it's not deformed) Most would be picked and eaten well before they reach this size but we just had so many beetroot this year that despite pickling two big batches we still have heaps left in the ground. We also did very well with our carrots this year although they have gone a little nuts and are turning into weird little things with lots of twisted, hairy and bent legs! It makes them a little difficult to peel and chop but their home grown sweetness is so worth the effort.

We planted three pumpkin vines this year and they have given us more pumpkin than we can possibly eat. Pumpkin soup was an obvious choice for using up at least some of our pumpkin although I am still searching for that 'best' pumpkin soup recipe.

I was busy having 'Cinderella' visions whilst admiring this beauty.

Look at that colour! Isn't it fabulous?

I blended the soup up this morning and now have a nice little stockpile in the freezer. I roasted some vegetables for last night's dinner and am still left with half a pumpkin. Pumpkin scones may be on the agenda this afternoon or tomorrow.
How is this for a fabulous soup pot btw? Some of you will be aware I only recently moved in with my partner of three years. The house was originally his parents and there are oodles of things here that belonged to them. I've yet to explore fully what vintage treasures might be waiting to be found but I know his mum had some wonderful old things in her kitchen. This soup pot is fantastic, it's Bessemer ware so I suspect from the 1980s era. It is HUGE and so heavy I can barely lift it empty! It is also a non stick pan and I can see it is going to be well used in the future!

Look at the size of that baby!
I had a full day in the kitchen yesterday and STILL have rhubarb and quinces to deal with. I don't think it will happen today but there is always tomorrow.
wishing you sunshine in your shadows
Helen

Art by nature...

Joy of joys the house fairies must have been watching out for me this week. My missing battery charger for my camera just suddenly turned up! Yayyy! I am so delighted. Today my sweetie and I spent the day out in the bush so I took advantage and took a few photos to share.Nothing too stunning but enjoyable just the same. Unfortunately my camera is only the point and click kind so that limits the kind of photos I can capture. Enjoy the 'art' by mother nature.
wishing you sunshine in your shadows
Helen

I found these few dead leaves left on a tree and thought they looked rather picturesque.

pretty dried seed pods

There were hundreds of these butterflies fluttering around and it took me forever to creep up on one to get a half decent photograph!

Interesting fungi growing up a tree trunk.

This little tree was such an interesting shape I wished i could bring it home to use to display some of my vintage jewellery pieces. (I imagined all the diamante pieces glittering in the sunshine looking like fairy lights)

I saw lots of birds today, unfortunately my camera isn't good enough to get really good shots but I managed to capture this little robin redbreast showing off for the ladies!

Hard to see I know but there is a tiny piece of butterfly wing on this pile of leaf litter.

On our way home I had my sweetie stop the car so I could photograph some beautiful sunflowers that a farmer had planted around his fields. They are so cheerful to look at!

Where did Summer go?

One might be forgiven for thinking it was the middle of Winter here in Geelong today. The rain has barely stopped since yesterday. We usually have a beautiful view from our place right over Corio Bay and on a fine day can often see as far as Melbourne and the other side of Port Philip Bay. Today the houses of the nearest suburb, a mere kilometre away is barely visible due to the rain.

I am not complaining however, the Eastern States of Australia are currently suffering the most devastating floods in many, many years. Whole towns have been literally washed away and in Queensland, the centre of Brisbane city and many suburbs, is in parts under water. My heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones (the death toll is expected to rise) and those who have lost their homes, pets and posessions. The images on TV and the internet show absolutely terrifying and horrific damage and loss. It is still raining in many places with rivers yet to reach their expected peak. The impact of the damage will be lifelong for many and it is difficult for me to imagine how you begin to clean up such a mess. The task will be massive and take a very long time. The heartache caused by these floods will be overwhelming. My heart is heavy and full of sorrow for my fellow Australians who are experiencing the full force of mother nature at her fiercest.
More shadows than sunshine today but wishing you sunshine in your shadows sooner rather than later
Helen

**photos my own looking over Corio Bay