Where Have I been?

No  where interesting

in fact no where at all, you see after 2 weeks into the new month our inter net is so slow

that I can't blog, read blogs in fact anything that has pictures is out.

arghhhhhh

So instead of blogging I have been going to some open gardens in my area.

Last weekend Bruce and I went to Oakey and  Ravensbourne, this garden in Ravensbourne Below had a dam so big it was more of a lake.

 

 

This is a working Avocado farm as well, they didn't have a lot of flowers but lots and lots of trees that made it seem like a park (with a lake sighhhhh)

 

 

 Below

You can see the different colours of the foliage is this photo.

 

 

We also went to an old homestead in Oakey called Dalmeny, lots of old trees and Oleanders and conifers. At the front you can see the rose garden.

 

 

For me though the most amazing garden I have ever seen was at Mulgowie.

 

Hilldale Estate Garden

This garden had it all, water features, vineyards, lagoons 7 of them no less.

The water feature below was in the sunken garden...

 

 

Below is the most amazing arch I've seen, my pictures don't do the work justice I'm sorry. In the corner you can see my poor MIL she was getting tired by this time.

 

 

 Below is one of the lagoons they all ran into each other with bridges going across. The thing that stuck me with all 3 gardens was there are very few flowers, it really showed that you don't need lots of flowers to make a magnificent garden.

OK I'm going to stop going on about them now, but I have enjoyed walking through and getting some ideas for my garden, mostly a lake would be good hahaha. You should have seen Bruce's face when I said that to him....

.

 

I have also been spending time with this little cutie pie...That is a healthy Chai cake he is eating too, Harrison and Grandma love this cake, our little secrete OK.

 

 

I am so looking forward to Christmas so I can spend time with all 4 of the grandies.

I just had to show you this photo we got taken of myself and the most beautiful babies.. I am going to get this photo framed I love it so much....I will share some more in another post.

 

 

The kitchen is coming along nicely, below is a sneak peak...It is painted, furniture moved to its new spot, lights all up, but no new floor coverings yet...Mostly I can't find any thing I like!!!!!!! So I can wait....The new built ins will go in, in the next week or 2 so I have some time yet to decide..

 

Well I'm sorry about the long rambling post....

 

Blessing to all

Mandy

A kitchen make over.....

Hi all hope you all had a wonderful week end...

We have been getting ready for some kitchen remodelling around here.

 

 

 

The problem is I love my wooden kitchen cabinets, and my kitchen for that matter, but it is looking old and tired., time for a change......When I got my wooden cabinets made many years ago I had them made as furniture. That way I could always move them around if I needed too.

 

So in this remodelling I will be keeping the wooden cabinets but moving them, moving the stove and painting the walls. I had thought about painting the wood all white but I have decided not to, mainly because if I did I don't think Jessica would ever come home again, she told me I wasn't allowed to paint them and I think she may be right on this one.

 



 

I am also going to be getting some more built in cabinets along this wall (below)

Being an old Queenslander there is no built- ins other than the bedrooms which I had built soon after we moved here. The new cabinets in the kitchen will be some where for me to store linen and bits and bobs around the house.

 

 

Looks a bit different with every thing down off the walls doesn't it?

 

 

 

I am living like this only for a  couple of weeks while it gets all done. Bruce has already moved the stove and made a new bench and moved the old ones to where I thought I wanted them...

So far it is looks just the way I saw it in my head.....No photos yet until it is all finished though.

 



 

Meanwhile most of my dishes that were on the  shelves are now on the veranda!!!! All good though I just walk out there when I need some thing. Next week though when it is getting painted I think it will be barby week and out door eating....

 

 

Now I'm going to make that cuppa I am needing and sit down and spend some time catching up with you all....

Have a great day....

Mandy

Chia Seed Choc Cake and some sewing.........

Hi All

I know my Family room looks a mess as it has been a hive of activity all day.

Grandma is busy knitting me dishcloths and face washers, I have been sewing making some new creations. You will have to wait to see what I'm up too though.

 

 

In the middle of all this activity Will announces "Their is nothing to eat" of course not just as

I have my sewing bug in full swing I have to stop to make a cake.

 



 

Never mind though as I got a new cook book when I was at The wine and food festival.

Gluten free grain free

by

Tania Hubbard

I watched Tania do a cooking demo and love it all so much I got her book....And what a wonderful book it is...

 

 

I just whacked every thing into my Thermomix and then in the oven and

done.....

 

Yummo

A rich chocolate cake....

 

Chia  Seed Chocolate Cake

 

Chia seeds 4 TBLS soaked in 1 cup of water for 15mins

Cocoa Raw 1/2 cup

125 grms soft butter

5 eggs

1 cup Almond meal

1 cup coconut palm sugar or sugar of your choice ( I use Rapidura organic )

pinch salt

1 teaspoon bi carb

 

Combine all ingredients except chai seed mixture, mix all together then mix in chai seed mix.

 

Pour into lined cake tin and cook for 40-45 mins on 180C or until cake springs back ...

Cool for 10  mins then enjoy.....

 

Very moist cake but O so good......

 

Blessings

Mandy

 

Gardening and Pizza.

How is the weather treating you?

It is hot here, I am following the shade around gardening.

This morning I have been working in the vege garden and back garden.

There is always some part of the garden in shade so I can spend most of the day out there.

 

 

My red table and chairs is a nice spot for a cool drink in between.

Below is a Peach tree that has never flowered or had fruit. Does any one have any ideas why this would be. The nectarine and Apricot near by have lots of fruit and they are all the same age. I am thinking I may need to get a new one, and I'm not sure whether to rip this out or leave it as a shade tree.

 

 

I am busy putting mulch all around today to keep the gardens moist, but it is getting to hot so I've come in to blog instead......I've left my Italian back packer doing the rest.....

 

I have also been planting up lettuce and cucumber seedlings in the green house with the mister on. Now I am thinking of moving my hammock in there this summer and that's where you'll find me.

 



 

I mentioned my Italian back packer before, well I have a lovely couple staying, they were married in May and are here on their Honeymoon.

Sunday night they made pizza for us for tea....All I can say is

yummmmmmmmmmmmmm so good.

 

 

They are welcome to make pizza any night they want...

 



 

 

Well I had better go and get every one lunch ready then after when it cools down I will be back out in the garden..

 



Carnival Week...

This week Toowoomba has been celebrating the

Carnival of Flowers....

We started last Saturday with the Wine and Food festival and the parade.

 

 

The wine and food festival is a great week end filled with Great wine, food and live bands...This is our third year of playing tourist in our own home town and we all enjoy the great family weekend.

Monday saw Robbie and William go of to camp for a week so it was only Cassie home for the week.

 

Monday saw us going to the quilt exhibit. Us being my friend Helen and myself, the quilt below was my favourite out of them all. There were so many but this one caught my eye as the stars were not visible at first until you really looked at it, subtle but brilliant I thought.

 

 

Then after lunch it was of to see the gardens, so many to see and ALL of them were outstanding.

Below is a sweet little nook we had a rest in, I could imagine sitting here having a good wine and some cheese.

 

 

Colour every where, so many ideas going through my  mind as I walked around.

By the time I got home that night I had sore feet and lots of inspiration.....

 

 

Wednesday saw

Bruce, Cassie and myself head into the Lockyer Valley to have a look around....We were going to look a a caravan so thought we would look around on the way, we got to look at the van at 3pm....Not getting it as it was bad really bad......Worth the trip though as there is So many amazing shops in this area. Well worth the drive down through Forest Hill and out through Laidley...

 

 

So many thrift shops as well I went to 10 all up and got some great finds.

My favourite find of the day was this little shop in Laidley called Potato Studio....So full of some amazing bits and bobs. Below is a taste of what they have with these ceramics....and so much more, I will be going back again.

 

We stopped at some great little cafes a long the way, they day did seem a bit like a food crawl hahaha

So we came home with no caravan, but lots of goodies from our travels...

This week I will be doing catch up on house work, book work and yard work. Never mind all worth it for the wonderful week we had...

 

Blessings to All

Mandy

This and That....

What a wonderful Tuesday...

Last night we all woke up to the sound of Thunder and lightening and Rain lots of rain....We are so thankful as the tanks were getting low,on our last half a tank....The gardens were looking thirsty as well.....Now the tanks have water and the hills have a green tinge to them.

 

 

It was a good end to a great week end....We all went to the Sunshine Coast for a long weekend just what was needed. The boys did a lot of fishing and the girls and I spent time on the beach, eating and going through the thrift shops. Perfect week end had by all.

 

I spent time on Pinterest, see this chair below? I found lots like them on Pinterest, just what I want to do with my favourite old chair, cover it in a patch work of colour. So yes a lot of time was also spent in the thrift stores looking for old floral sheets and material...I didn't get any sheets but we did get lots of other goodies that I will share later in the week.

 

 

Monday afternoon when we got home this wonderful little book was waiting for me in the mail....So much goodness in one book... have you seen Dottie Angels blog it is worth the visit...www.dottieangel.blogspot.com So simple and sweet with lots of good ideas.

 

Today I have been going like a mad woman in the garden after the rain, weeding, pruning, potting up cuttings and being so very thankful to our Maker for once again being able to be at home and look after my family, even if these days my family is much smaller...lol

 

 

Now back to the garden for a little while, then of to the Mobile Library ending with a visit to a sick friend.....

 

Blessing to All

 

Mandy

A walk to the Red Gate.....

Hi all

I wanted to share the beautiful Moonlight Grevillea that is all a  bloom at the moment, doesn't it look amazing against the blue Spring sky.

 

 

 

Then I thought we would go for a walk down to the red Gate at the bottom of the garden...see it in the distance.

 

 

 This is the rain forest part of the Garden that Greg started 17 yrs. ago. Above is the Mulberry tree that is full of fruit just starting to ripen. This tree has a weeping effect and when it is all covered in leaves this is the coolest part of the garden.
 

 

The Clivias are in full bloom as well as the Bird of Paradise.

Below you can see some of the colours that the Clivias come in, my favourite is the cream on the left.

 

 

The palms are getting tall down here and the under growth needs a bit more filling in. More bromalads and Clivias I think.

 

 

Here we are at the Red gate, over the back you can see is the chook house and the chickens, they are out side the house yard so they can roam free all day and lay us lovely eggs.
 It is very dry at this end of the garden and is in need of a make over.

 

 

To the left of the gate is this hill that I have just finished mulching as it was so dry, at the top of the hill you can just see The Old Dairy. The Saliva's do well on the hill so I think I will plant a few more, I have plenty of cuttings I can put here.

 

 

Yesterday I got these Grevillea's from Toowoomba and I will plant them up on the hill as well, one is a ground cover called Molonglo which looks a lot like the Moonlight in the first picture hopefully the ground cover will help to keep the soil in place.

 

 

To the right of the gate is this area, very full of Salvia's that I have just chopped back to nothing. In a month or 2 they will be nice and big again though. I have started at this end of the garden pruning and mulching so as I go along I will share with you and at the end you will have been all around the garden.

 

This week I am linking up to

  http://fishtailcottage.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/cottage-garden-party-20-2013.html

Go over and have a look at all the gardens....

 

Blessings

Mandy