The golden fruit

And by that I'm not just talking about the colour of this well loved fruit.

After the floods and cyclones that caused chaos in Queensland this year, commercial banana crops have suffered.  So much so, that a bunch of these will set you back $11.98 per kilo.  And that's just for the standard ones.  They weren't even selling the organic variety at my local supermarket.  So here I am, with a crop that requires very little attention... just chop down the old shoots and keep the new ones to a minimum, and the fruits are worth a fortune.

The only problem is that they ripen ever so slowly at first, and then BAM!  they're all ripe at once.  

Overnight.  

Just like that!

So now the kids are eating banana's for breakfast, lunch and dinner... with a snack thrown in here and there  and I'm searching for Banana recipes.

Last night's was Hot Banana Salsa, served on grilled fish.

Banana Salsa

2 Chopped Bananas

4 Diced Chillies

1 cup of Garden Herbs

(Coriander is great but we were out, so I used Lemon balm, Vietnamese Basil, Italian Basil, Garlic chives, Stevia and plenty of Mint)

Half a Diced Onion

2 cloves of Minced Garlic

1 Tablespoon of Fish sauce

1 Tablespoon of Rice Wine Vinegar

1 Teaspoon of Sugar

Mix it all together and then add

a handful of Toasted Pine nuts just before serving.

(I think that's what I put in it.  Quantities are approximate and can be varied according to taste)

The result, one spicy,  metabolism boosting way to use up some bananas.

It tastes great too.

Do your kids know what this is?

I dare say that mine know it as something that Mum gets out when she is sewing.

That's the only time they see it.

That's the only time I use it.

I'm fortunate in that the Big Dude wears polo shirts to work.  Give them a little shake and they're good to go.

That certainly saves us the argument of him wanting me to iron his work clothes and me saying 'No way, Ho-say'.

As for myself, I tend to pick wrinkle free.  I am sworn off Linen forever.  Lovely and natural it may be but that stuff sure does crease.  Nope, it's mostly knit cottons for me!  Well, actually it's largely my sisters hand me downs and whatever op shop finds I come across.  I'm undoubtedly covered in wrinkles every day.  I'm just so used to them that I don't even see them any more.  My mother must cringe when she comes to visit!

Same goes for the kids clothes.  Besides, they are ignorant as to the look of ironed clothing, so they really don't care if they are covered in creases.  Thank goodness for that!  I did contemplate doing the school uniform but I've gone for the wash it, shake it, hang it to dry, shake it, hang it in the cupboard option instead.

So the iron stays away.

Until its a child's birthday.

Or a new baby girl is born.

Name bunting inspired by Morning

I like it that way.

Yay for the rain!

Our water tank ran dry. 

It was a catastrophe. 

 Although not all that unexpected given that we've fixed it up so that it has a proper garden tap attached to the back of the shed for the vege garden.  Another proper tap is attached to the front of the shed for the fruit trees, ornamental and native habitat plants.  With those handy taps, the water was being used and the source is only one half of the shed roof.  Connecting it to the other half is currently still a 'one day' project.

So, you can imagine how happy we were to see some recent rain.

Doubly happy actually, because it came just after our new, bigger, better water tank arrived!

The big Dude and I rolled and heaved and pushed and shoved that tank into place. 

Through the gate.  Down the driveway.  Over the grass.  Between the fruit trees.  

There was a moment of angst when we got it a little wedged between the cubby house and the wood pile.  But after a bit of lifting and a bit of tilting, a curse or two and an almighty hove, that tank finally slid into place.  Nestled down the back in the corner between the fence and the cubby house, beneath the neighbouring Gum tree.

The Dude connected it up. 

A trail of pipe runs across the top of the tank.  Down to the fence.  Along the fence line.  Behind the Firewood shed.  Down to the ground.  Underneath our deck (OK so that calls for a little imagination as our deck too belongs to the 'one day' project list). 

Then up to the gutter to collect the water off the whole of our western roof. 

That's more than half the house.

So yay for the rain!

It should be a while before our water tanks run dry again.

Oh...  and it sure helped with getting our seeds to grow.