The big bad Banksia man...

is not so bad after all.

He's pretty clever really.  

Remember our wooden spoons?

Well... how cool is this chopping board?

We claimed is a while back when holidaying up north.

It should see years of use.

It should last well beyond it's maker.

It should be something the kids will fight over ownership rights of,  in years to come.

Perhaps we should claim 2 more. 

Curing time

Our olive tree has grown rather large.  

I didn't expect it to bear much fruit this year because of all the summer rain.  

That shows how much I know about olive trees.

This year it did fruit.

For the first time.

And in quantities large enough that we couldn't just sit by and watch them go to waste.

So we picked some.

And in a little while we'll pick some again.

And we washed them and sorted them and put them in a big jar of water.

And after a while we changed the water to brine.

And hopefully following this process 

in a month or two we'll have some tasty, home-grown, home-cured olives to enjoy.

The Tangible benefits...

of volunteering.

Well... bonuses really.

Something old

Meet Dobbin.

I remember riding him.

Well actually, rocking him so furiously that his nose almost touched the ground.

I remember having loads of fun on Dobbin.

My Mum remembers riding him too.

For hours at a time.

Dobbin is at least 55.

He sat for a while... forgotten... unridden.

Then Mum dug him out from beneath the house and sent him away.

He was gone for a long time.

So long that we wondered if we'd ever see him again.

 

But now he's back.

With new paint and new hair.

A new saddle and a new base.

And a new generation of children to be loved by.

Getting all Eastery

We've had hats to make for Easter extravaganza Easter bonnet parades.

A first ever attempt at hot cross buns...

and who d've  thought?  They're easy.

And tasty.

I might make them more often.

just without the cross.

 We gave some to the teachers.

Along with herbs and eggs and lemons fresh from the tree.

We even had a go at decorating some eggs.

Which gave me head spins.  

Blowing eggs is not as easy as it sounds.

Happy Easter.

The fruit and vegetable box.

Finally I'm a member.

I've known about the green box co-op for quite some time now.

I've even heartily recommended it to a few different people.

And yet... I've only just joined.

But I love it.

There's something wonderful about unpacking a parcel.  

You're never quite sure exactly what you'll find.

I used to think that I wouldn't like not choosing my own fresh produce... 

but it's all so good that I now look forward to my weekly box.

We've been having a lull in the garden of late.  We're in between seasons and we've not enough space to have lots of continual crops.  But the winter seedlings are growing nicely now and the leafy greens are getting big.  So soon we wont be needing so much from the co-op.

But I've formed a new shopping habit now.

Healthy and local.

And the research has all been done by a dedicated team of others.

So cheers to that!