While we were away...

...the kids did play!


Miss Sunshine and Millie, my mother's Jack Russell puppy.

I took photos of mum's shed - it is made from flattened 40 gallon metal drums (and a variety of other materials). I love the colours of the faded plank door and the passion fruit vine against the oxidised metal.

Look at the colours of the passion fruit flower - simply gorgeous! I hope mum gets some fruit off them this year. (And I am having fun with the macro function - can you tell??)

But just to keep it real folks, I have to share my bee encounter of that day. When the sunshine struck the fresh clover on mum's lawn (please refer to photograph of Miss Sunshine above), the bees came out for a taste. All was fine until I felt something crawling up my jeans. I didn't at first think of a bee - who would? After all, I was feeling the bug somewhere on my upper thigh-hip area and surely I would have felt it crawl the whole length of my leg?!?!

Worried that I may have an earwig or something equally disturbing about to greet me by poking it's little head out from under the waist band of my favourite Sass&Bide jeans, I grabbed what material I could and squashed the unknown bug before unceremoniously dropping my dacks on mum's lawn. Only as I attempted to delicately roll out the still unidentified bug did I realise it was a bee. Just as I thought I was in the clear and the now squished bee was out of my pants, his little stinger just jabbed me! The little bugger!

Luckily I am not allergic and a few minutes with some ice kept the swelling to a minimum (if not the itchiness the following day after I scratched it in my sleep).

Lesson here people: wear a bee-suit when playing on a clover-filled lawn. It will have all the kids looking at you like you are their favourite clown.

Surprise trip!

After some quick juggling of plans, I decided on Monday to take the girls for a short trip back to my home town, particularly as we wont be going there next week for Christmas. We stayed at my mum's house and had a great time catching up with a lot of my family and it was so worth the effort! I was hoping to take some photos of mum's home, but after three battery changes, my camera was still playing up.....will be going to the camera shop to get it sorted out before Christmas. I did manage to get some nice shots in the vegetable garden, so here are some more pics of flowers and vegetables!

As you walk down to mum's garden, you are greeted by a gorgeous row of sunflowers lined up along a fence made of old galvanised iron sheets...

Mum (otherwise known as Ma Ma) follows the rambling garden pattern - ie. no set pattern, which she believes helps to confuse pests (she does not use sprays at all). Here is mum with Miss Chooken. The poor scarecrow is face-down in the strawberry patch, he needs a bit of work :)

Mum with a handful of strawberries...

Red cabbages all in a row...

Spring onion flower, such a gorgeous form. The flower head is nearly as big as an orange.

The shard or rainbow silverbeet.

More rainbow shard, yellow variety too.

Cornflower...

Artichoke...

A squash flower...such a pretty star shape.

Bean flowers...

Some of our bounty, a basket of strawberries and Miss Chooken pulling some carrots.... I need to get her into the garden more - when I asked her to pick some carrots, she was rifling through the carrot tops saying "Where?? Where are they mummy? I can't see them!" "Yes, you have to pull them out of the ground".


Miss Chooken and I also solved the mystery of Ma Ma's plucked radishes. Mum had been finding her radishes pulled up sans the leaf-tops. Miss Chooken spied the neighbours' horse reaching over the fence and helping himself to the radishes, but he was actually knocking the radishes on the fence so they dropped onto the ground, leaving the young leaves for the horse to eat. Clever horse!

Mum's farm cat Tom Tom. Yes, a cat on a hot tin roof :)

Miss Sunshine liked feeding the chooks and ducks...

Some of the old girls.

What a great time we had, family, sunshine, fresh air. It was hard to come home, but we were missing hubby/daddy and it is always good to sleep in your own bed. Now I have the weekend to catch-up on Christmas preparations and some laundry. What are your last minutes jobs to do before the holidays?

Flowers in my garden

A male zucchini flower.

We don't have a big flowering garden...but Miss Chooken has been growing some vegetables and fruits in pots (with the help of her dad, Nanny and myself).

Female zucchini flower.

Strawberry - so pretty.

There is one hiding - not for long though!

Cucumber flower - no fruits yet.

Tomato flowers.

Not quite ripe, but a nice size.

Will probably pick this one tomorrow!

Finally- the neighbours' geranium that grows over our fence - and I don't mind one little bit! The fence is so ugly and the geranium looks so sweet forcing it's way through and over it. I keep meaning to take some cuttings as apparently they strike very easily. And Miss Chooken loves to pick the flowers :).