A Busy Kitchen....

Hello to all in Blog land...

I have been a little quiet here on these pages lately...

We have been getting some much needed rain this week...

220mls so far

The tanks are full and so are the dams.....In wet weather like this I have been 

making supplies as you can see below, the real kitchen and how it really looks :)

I have been experimenting with my soap, and I made this one

Honey, Oatmeal, Lanolin and Pumice Stone Garden Soap.

I also used my new mold that I have been waiting for, doesn't it look good with the bee on them.

I also made

Double Choc Fudge..

Seriously this smelled so good Robbie wanted to lick the bowl out hahaha should have let him....

For both of these I used my basic Soap method and then added brown colour and chocolate scented oil...For the Garden soap I also used basic soap and added. 2tbles Oats, 1teaps Honey, 30g ground pumice stone and 1 tbls Lanolin.

I am really enjoying experimenting with the soap....

Below is the last of the Goats Milk Soap, I am waiting for the latest batch to finish curing..

I have also been busy knitting dish clothes and washers. I do have a nice stack starting to happen..

I also made a Double Choc Fudge soy candle, my thinking here laying in the bath with chocy candle burning

whilst bathing with chocy soap....Chocolate fix done, calories NONE....

I know I'm either a genius or stark raving mad (going with the last one)

I then got in and made a batch of Washing Liquid, I put some Lemon Myrtle oil in this batch and it smells so fresh....Enough here for 2 months...

Before I new every one was wanting dinner with chocolate dessert hmmmm

Wasn't the most popular Mum around when they realized I hadn't been baking...

And tea well......

It was all leftovers from the fridge, they didn't know that though I told them it was

Curried mince and veges...BUT there clothes are gonna smell good and so will they....

Last weekend

My Mum, Chloe, Harrison and I took a road trip out to see my eldest daughter for her birthday and also my youngest grand daughter turned one.

 Here is Abby with her Great grandma opening her bear that GGmar made her.

There was lots of help on hand for Abby.

We also went into Roma for Jess"s birthday and had a wonderful day out..

Now I should really go and bake for my family

or

I could stay here and catch up on blogs.....

Blessings

Mandy

Changing Rooms.........

Some days you just need a change right....

I thought I would get in and rearrange the Dinning lounge area.

 Some days I should stay in bed when I have ideas like this as it is safer...

Before

The TV cabinet was against this wall and now 

below I have put some reading chairs there.

I moved the cabinet to the centre wall.

Lounge chair where the dinning table was.

Still trying to figure out where the wood heater will, need to find a new home

for my China cabinet. This seems the only wall for it though, so may-be in a different room.

I just don't know.

Before

Dinning table along front windows now.

All looks so boring.....

Yep hate it..

Spent all morning moving every thing and I don't like it and I'm too tired to move it back

sighhhhhhhh.

So went out and rearranged the front veranda...

Now I'm liking how it's coming together.

So I will have to sit in the newly arranged Lounge room and see if it looks any better...

Have a great week end..

Blessings

Mandy

Autumn......

Autumn

IT is my very favourite time, with the heat behind us and the promise of cooler weather.

Cooler weather always makes me want to get in and sew, and now that Donna

is all clean I am enjoying sewing in her. I have been making aprons.

I also needed to put some new lace on some of my half slips and petticoats.

Most of the dresses these days are too short for my liking so I wear a 

half slip with a little vintage lace showing.

The big news is

I can knit!!!!!!

This skill has evaded me for years no matter how I tried....Well I got this Learn to Knit book from Lincraft with some other purchases free...It has been so help full that every thing has just clicked.

Below I present you with my very own first dish cloth...........

Ta DA

All right be nice girls hahaha

With the cooler weather and knitting :) reminds me I know longer

have my wood heater in the house as it got pulled out in the kitchen renos.

We have awhile yet before we will need it but we need to make a decision where to 

put it. The only option really is in this corner as the rest of the room is all windows.

As you can see below..

It will take up alot of room putting it in the corner, but I don't think I can give up my wood heater.

This house gets really cold in winter.

Enjoy your week

I am going to knit another dishcloth and then when I catch up with my Mum at the end of the month

she is going to teach me to crochet , then I can put little crochet edges around my dishcloths...

And no I can't crochet either...

Blessings

Mandy

Sewing Room.

Happy Saturday to you all.

Today here has had a change  of weather, in one night we have gone from

32 degrees to a wonderful cool 24..

Now the cooler weather has inspired me to finally get my new sewing/craft room

fit to use.

I still need to paint the inside but for now I am just happy to have a space to call my own.

As you can see the ceiling needs lining, I am thinking of just lining this with material

that I have. Nothing the staple gun couldn't handle..

Plenty of storage with this bookcase that was my Mum's and has been 

in the storage room for years, it now houses my material.

The other end is set up for crafting mainly scrap booking. This end is where

Cassie does her craft.

The horn sewing cabinet I got from the same garage sale as the donga. The rest of the furniture 

has been raided from the house and storage room..

I would like to put a arm chair in here as well so I am on the look out for

one. Until then I have the little veranda on Donna where I can have a coffee

break and admire the garden.

Now I am going to go and do some sewing, I will post when I have finished.

Have a great and safe week end.

Mandy

Kitchen reveal part 2.....

Hello to you all on this HOT day.

I thought it was time to  reveal the rest of the Kitchen, it has been 

a long time coming I'm sorry, but here it is.

The bench went in on Christmas eve, so we did have it for Christmas.

It makes the most amazing serving station now when we have family get togethers.

The over head glass cabinets are for all my vintage English china, dinner plates, cups and saucers, bread and butter plates, bowls I think you get the drift.

We have used pressed metal again for between the over heads and bench which we painted, I wanted it all to look 

like a large kitchen dresser.

 Under the bench is the all drawers.

I know it looks a lot of drawers, but this is my only storage as in old houses there is never any storage.

The first 2 sets of drawers are all full of table clothes, tea towels and all the other kitchen linen.

The small drawers in the middle full of baking paraphernalia and the next 2 thin drawers at the top are for coffee cups and plates, the large bottom drawer and last 2 drawers are for baking dishes and serving dishes.

The rest you have probably seen in the first reveal but here it is again.

My main food preparation area.

The cooking area with the new pressed metal splash back.

The island bench.

The sink area which is the only area that didn't get moved.

To say I love my new re-purposed kitchen is an understatement.

I sit in here often on the chairs through the hot days knitting or cooking.

This kitchen is my dream kitchen, I am proud of the way Bruce and I redid it for so little cost.

To see the full costing break down click on Kitchen and see reveal No 1.

Add to that 

$3000 for the Kitchen bench and we have

a grand total of 

$5555

Not bad for a kitchen of this size.

Thanks for dropping by.

Blessings

Mandy

Sheep, Chickens and Bananas......

Meet 

Helga, Brenda, Origin, and Starlight.

Helga and Brenda are the Mums and Origin (as in State Of Origin as he was born the night of the second game) and Starlight are heading for the freezer very soon.

The poor darlings have been a bit hot though as it has taken the shearer a while to get here.

They were spending a lot of time in the shade and insisted on having hay as it was to hot for them to go out side.

But now they are most happy and are spending all day outside. They don't even come to me now when I go down to feed them.

We also HAD a very handsome ram called Rambo.

But one night while we were on holidays there was some strange going ons in these parts.

Sharing the sheep pen were my beautiful rare bread chickens and 2 roosters 22 in all.

They were very happy, until in one morning Cassie went down to feed the chooks and sheep and there were only 4...Yes 18 gone in one night AND Rambo was dead as well.

What happened???????

I hear you ask, we don't know, there was no injury at all to Rambo and no signs of feathers or disturbance at all. We think foxes took the chickens and may be poor Rambo died of fright.

Once we were home we kept a good eye on the remaining four. But not good enough. 

William feed them one morning and by that afternoon 2 more were gone and poor Rocky the rooster was hanging upside down in the bird netting, this is probably what saved him though.

Rocky was taken back to the old chook pen to be with our last Mumma hen and her two babies.

As you can see he is very happy to be back.

Mumma has trouble keeping these 2 in toe as they like to go under the netting 

to visit Dad.

They have free range around the banana trees and are very happy.

Soooo

any one got any chooks for sale?????

I hve to get some more as it is strange having to buy eggs.

My Bananas are loving it here as well as the chooks.

The ones above were planted in September.

The rest were planted last week.

I have from the back to the front 2 of each.

Pisang Ceylan

Dwarf Ducasse

Goldfinger

Blue Java

Bluggoe

They have all been sent from up North and here in QLD we had to get

a licence from the DPI to be able to plant them.

As you can see they have a bit of catching up to do.

I am looking forward to when we have bananas all year round.

That is why I have planted 5 different types at different times.

I hope I haven't bored you 

to much with my ramblings, may be I should update my blog more

then I wouldn't ramble so much...

Blessings

Mandy

The first week.....

My fist blog for 2014

I have been on a blog holiday as things have been so busy here

over the Christmas New year time.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year.

I wanted to share what my 3 oldest got me for Christmas, just a wee  picture on canvas.

Organized by my wonderful DIL Karen. My first thought was "where am I going to fit it??"

We all agreed it looks great on the kitchen wall, every time I walk into this room I have 4 smiling happy faces looking at me...

This year Christmas 

was for the children, watching Grace opening her presents 

was so much fun and all the other 3 crawling around getting into what ever they can..

The cutest Santa's helpers haha

Before Christmas I got lots of sewing done, Christmas Stockings and clothes for all the grandies.

I have a new sewing room I mean total mess.

Bruce got me a movable room that has become my sewing room, well a donga really in fact I call her Donna the Donga. She's

not very pretty yet but O so good to be able to sew again and then walk out and 

leave the mess and I do mess well hahaha.

One day it will be clean though.

Pintrest

And the outside will look like this.

Hey a girl can dream.

I would show you a outside picture but i can't do it as it looks that BAD...

Just imagine this is it below.

Pintrest

One week into the New year and this handsome young man 

turns 16

Happy birthday Robbie.

Time is already marching on 

May 2014 be filled with dreams coming true

and much happiness to you all.

Blessings 

Mandy