Fogs and filligree...

Mornings have been foggy affairs round here in the last couple of weeks.
There is something quite surreal and beautiful about the softness of a morning mist.

Gorgeous really.

Dash spied something quite beautiful in our garden

(not my neglected plants though, sorry to report).

And he thought I should take some photos...

It was this:

Isn't that amazing?

I know that not everyone loves spiders -

heck if one crawls on me I slap it away as quick as the next person...

but how can you NOT be spellbound by their art?

So delicate... intricate filligree.

Look closely...

Closer...

You can see the mist droplets drifting behind the gauze of the web...

And so we left the garden-dwellers to their work.

Back inside to our breakfasts.

Leaving them to busily improve on my non-green-thumb gardening efforts.

Almost vegetarian...

Just so as my father doesn't leap into the car and hot foot it back here from Brisbane, I would like to clarify that we are NOT actually about to become completely vegetarian. That was just a little hook I used to tease readers with the possibility of a beef producer going vego - Hold the Front Page! I actually have some very sweet vegetarian readers and hey my sister went over to that tribe for around a decade. But I really don't wish to give my 'must-eat-meat-three-times-a-day' Pater a total heart attack. He's rabidly meat-eating and the possibility of having two offspring go to the 'other side' would probably do him in.

OK?

OK.

Good-oh.

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That said, I actually adore my veges.

Didn't always, used to buck at cauliflower and brussel spouts especially, but I love my green stuff now. I even grow veges- an outrageous claim, if you knew the city version of Bush Babe. But necessity is the mother of all (gardening) incentive -fresh crispy veges are not always available at our local (50km away) grocery stores - and last year Mr Incredible built me my very own vegetable patch.

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I have grown accustomed to picking my very own, non-insecticided, non-waxed, non-chlorinated produce. And no, I am not wearing an apron with a rag bonnet. Yet.

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Please meet my vege garden.

From front to back:

Spinach (not silverbeet!)

Peas (supposed to be snow peas, but apparently a brindle mix!)

Cauliflower

Broccoli

Assorted Lettuce (hidden from sight)
I never fail to be astounded that something I plant actually SURVIVES and GROWS and sometimes even FRUITS. It's a miracle of epic proportions, given the sporadic nature of my gardening. So bear with me as I show off my veges this 'spring' (said she sweating away in 34 degree heat)...


Hello spinach - how I adore thee.

All deep green and lush and fabulous in my spinach and feta pies.

And wilted in butter with my steaks.

And stir-fried gorgeously with some chicken (sorry dad).

Ahhhh... peas.

So crispy and delicate and full of sweet crunchy goodness.

Even if I don't know whether these plants are supposed to be snow, or peas-in-a-pod kinda peas... I am so excited just to have them spilling lushly out through the netting.

I feel positively GREEN and EARTH-MOTHERY.

(Jeanie, stop laughing this instant!)

And broccoli... oh broccoli... what can I say?

Just that there is nothing in this world like a head of broccoli lopped from the plant and consumed almost immediately... fresh and crunchy and sweet.

Mr Incredible doesn't even wait for me to steam it....

Crunch, crunch, crunch...

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Of course I have had a failure - while my cauliflower plants are enormous and leafy and green, they have not fruited (veggied?) at all. I have fertilised and watered to no avail. Why? Anyone have any advice here? But I am not too badly disheartened, with my peas more than making up for the lack of white vegetable on our plates...

Speaking of which...

I had better go pop the sprinkler on, so my sweet peas are crunchy and ready for picking first thing in the morning! If they are anything like Axel and I, they will be wilted in this heatwave...

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But before I go...I need to know:

Do you own a vege patch?

If so, what's in it at the moment?

If not, what WOULD you grow if you could?

My comments section is awaiting your report/ideas/suggestions!

Garden gazing...

A couple of quick shots from the garden tonight...

My vege garden to be exact.

My 'pea' section of my vege garden to be absolutely specific.

This ladybug was trying to hide in the cap of a snow pea...

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And the light shining through the translucent shell

of this pea shell captured my eye...

How cool are the 'veins' and 'baby peas'?

More garden shots to come but these couple caught my eye.

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I'm not much of a green thumb,

but am finally understanding the little bits of magic

to be had tilling the earth... how 'bout you?

Any earthly magic touched your world lately?

Flower confession time

I have to admit it...

I have a strange flower fetish.

It's to do with bunches of flowers...

I cannot leave them mixed.

Our Small Town only offers mixed bunches of flowers

- either lilies-and-gerberas or native-banksias-and-waratahs -

which I purchase and then attack immediately upon arriving home.

I have to carefully separate the lilies

from the gerberas

and the greenery.

Separate vases.

Can't stand them all mixed up.

What on earth this says about me, I don't know.

(And, to be frank, I am not sure I want to!)

So let us ignore my obvious control issues,

and instead let us feast our eyes upon the beauty of the gerbera.

This is surely my favourite flower...

I adore the delicate clean daisy-like formation.

Simple, colourful, striking, non-perfumed.

(I have a sensitive, sneezy kinda nose

- and a it's ludicrous little sneeze at that).

The gerbera were my wedding posy flower - no fuss, no worries.

And you know what - in the garden they are almost indestructible.

They thrive on neglect - utterly my kinda flower.

I predict mass plantings of these plants in the Granite Glen garden.

I am a mass plantings kinda girl too.

Again with the no-mix thing...

Of course the one thing about gerberas is that

when they are done,

they are DONE.

A little like me.

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What kind of flower rings your bells,

makes your skirt fly up,

or just makes you smile?

Come drive with me, let's drive... part 2

Apparently no-one got too carsick last post,

so here is the second instalment for those not adverse to dirt roads

and the weirdness offered by the Great Australian Bush!

Seatbelts done up?

Righto!

Take it away Mr I!

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The second part of our journey was on the way home

from our romantic (read: non-washing up-involving) lunch

at the local pub...

for the record I had a steak sandwich.

I always do.

(Keeping those ol' iron levels healthy there!)

So this is one of the views from the road about half an hour into the trip.

This is country I have never seen before...

despite the fact that it is within an hour of home.

I am a bit ashamed of this, I have to say.

I know certain cities better than I know my own back yard!

It is beautiful, no?

This shot shows some Brangus cattle grazing contentedly on a flat near a creek amongst the blue gums. It doesn't get a whole lot more restful, and Queensland country, than this...

I heart blue gums!

And then we stumbled across something really remarkable which cause me to call out:

STOP. RIGHT. NOW.

And with hardly a long-suffering sigh, Mr Incredible did halt the Prado.

I am going to show you the pics in reverse order...

see if you can work out what it is...

And here endeth the lesson:

When a woman weilding a Nikon calls out, you must stop the car to take photos.

Imagine missing that prickly pear in flower?

And here is the final shot of our trip.

Another dirt road.

Granite Glen was still 40 minutes drive away, but I was sated.

Was it good for you too?

Holy Giant Zucchini!

Have I mentioned before that we have a vegetable garden flourishing in our backyard? Considering how bad my repuation is as a gardener (can anyone say black thumb?) I am outrageously proud of the produce being, well, produced by my little bit of tilled soil. Because I have done NOTHING to this garden since it was planted a couple of months ago. Organic to the max, that's me! (Some might say 'lazy'... I say 'to-mate-ohs, to-mart-ohs!')

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Sure my capsicums are a little slow in making it to the table... but the fruit is there.

And sure, my silverbeet has more holes in the leaves than actual leaf (this is where 'organic' kinda falls down in my estimation!) but the bits we have been game to eat have been delicious.

But the cucumbers and zucchinis... little did I know what these gorgeous yellow flowers would really transform into.

Oh baby! I have harvested dozens of the suckers.
Dozens I tell you!

If you run into me, you are not getting away without some form of long green vegetable in your handbag (or man bag, as the case may be!). Please keeps your minds out of the gutter at this mental picture...

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As Jeanie has been visiting me, the mistress of Excel and all-thing-computer has whipped up an entire cookbook of zucchini recipes - and whipped up some of the dishes too. zucchini bread, zucchini biscuits... it's been fantastic. Our salads have been outstanding and jars of pickled cucumbers now line my pantry!
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I have been trying to keep ahead of the offerings from my vege patch, but sometimes (eg when we whip off for the weekend to catch the Cirque du Soleil) it gets a bit rambunctious and produces intimidating items like this...
Zucchinis the size of a man's forearm!!!

(And a very nice forearm it is too!)

What to do with such a monster?

(The vegetable, not the bloke!)

Mr Incredible's favourite way to eat his favourite vege is simply steamed with a big dob of butter...

But I said STUFF IT!

So I did.

With meatballs!

(And yes, the kids had meatball spaghetti this night... see how I can plan so beautifully for our meals... variety without too much extra washing up, that's me!)

You will just have to trust me that it tasted waaaaayyy better than it looked!
(You will note that I was not nominated for Best Food Blog in the Bloggie Awards! Go vote for PW or Smitten Kitchen now guys! I admit I was a bit torn over this one.)

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The baked giant zucchini recipe (if you are interested) went something like this:

1. Wash giant zucchini

2. Show off giant zucchini to anyone within calling distance!

3. Split giant zucchini in half.

4. Scoop out seeds and some pulp to make a decent 'dished' area for stuffing the stuffing into.

5. Place veges upside down on a cake cooler set into a baking tray with about 5mm of water, place in moderate oven to steam.

6. Grab whatever takes your fancy (husbands included!) - but if you are still talking about stuffing vegetables, try something like: meatballs, chili con carne, or diced bacon and corn.

7. Add a little breadcrumbs and cheese to your stuffing mix. If it needs bulking up, add in some shredded zucchini.

8. When giant zucchini halves are slightly soft, remove from oven, turn over on rack and empty water from baking tray.

9. Stuff zucchinis (with items from # 6).

10. Sprinkle with some more breadcrumbs and cheese before placing tray back in oven.

11. Bake for about 15 minutes or until top is browned. A nice touch with the chili con carne version is a dollop of sour cream... depending on what your New Year resolution was!!

12. Devour!

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Man, it's lucky I love zucchinis and cucumbers... and anyone with a recommendation of what to do with them should feel free to leave it in the comments box.

Thankyou in anticipation!

Sight of the Day!

I have to admit something: I'm not so much a 'morning person'.

It takes about two good coffees to get me kick-started before breakfast.

Of course, I live on a cattle property and have young children, so the chances of sleeping in past 7am are pretty slim. So I haul my body from the sheets by 6.30am most mornings and head straight for the Moccona jar. My family knows me well enough to work me wide til I 'come to' properly.

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As I prised my eyelids open yesterday, two little voices called me from my semi-conscious-yet-upright state.

Hey Mum, we got a present for ya!

The voices were near the back steps.

I ambled to the doorway, to be confronted with this sight:

Have you ever seen two youngsters so pleased with themselves?

They had been down the yards ,while the men caught and saddled horses for mustering, and had decided to "help Mummy". Dash found his little wheelbarrow, they scrounged a little shovel from the shed somewhere, and hit the stables.

And did a little 'harvesting'.

Just for me.

Manure.

Fresh and whiffy and wonderfully wet!

It was like they had brought me the crown jewels.

Or a lobster dinner at the Hilton.

Would anyone like a side plate of cheese with that?

At the bottom of my garden...

I've said it before: I am no gardener.

My thumb is more olive than green, if you get my drift...

I have already had one attempt at a vegetable patch here since arrived here two years ago.

It was mildly successful - the basil went wild, but the tomatoes failed to yield - and then the couch grass took over. My enthusiasm waned.

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My darling hubby has been gently encouraging me back into the "vegetable patch saddle" ever since (he does love his fresh veges!).

"I'll help" he offered.

"I'll even build you one," he said.

Part of my issue with gardening is that it requires crouching and kneeling. I own a knee (for reasons I will get around to sharing with you one day) that refuses to do either. I can sit, or bend over - limiting both the scope of the area excavated and time I can spend. So Mr Incredible (in his copious spare time) built me this four weeks before Christmas...

It's a built-up bed, so I can sit alongside the plants or easily bend over them to tend the garden. And it's the best thing ever! We lined the bottom with plastic and then lots of newspaper, then used layers of soil from the yards (lots of manure mixed in!) and compost to build it up to the right level. No weeds baby!

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Planted just six weeks ago are (from left to right)

Coz lettuce

Silverbeet

Zucchini

Cucumber

Capsicums

I think the zucchinis and the cucumbers are impersonating Triffids and taking over the world. Wanna delve a little into the world under those massive green leaves?

Hello little beetle... please don't eat all my veges.

There were quite of few of these little dudes milling around and munching on my silverbeet.

Wanna come further in?

How gorgeous is this?

I never expected a zucchini flower to be beautiful...

Is it just me, or can you imagine a fairy stretching her arms as this flower unfurls?

OK. Maybe not.

Hello zucchinis! Nice yellow hats...

I had never seen a zucchini in the wild before.

Groovy!
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I managed to harvest a cucumber and some lettuce for my first meal from the amazing Granite Glen Vege Patch.

Mmmmmmmm....

Salad wrap with my own veges.

Only one thing could make it any better.

A blast of pepper from my light-up, auto-grind peppermill.

(Thanks Santa!)

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One small thing is disturbing me about the vege patch though...

Actually two little things:

Cut it out, you lot!

This is a family show...

Silver stars, sterling in-laws, and our Christmas Miracle!

Well hello there!

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I have been a bit absent over the past week - apologies for those seeking regular Ree-like updates from the Bush. I have discovered that having 21 people in one's house over the Christmas period kinda distracts from any regular blogging efforts. In the most chaotic, and yet the nicest possible way!!

You may recall I was a bit like a rabbit caught in the headlights as we hurtled towards December 25 - concerned about the readiness of our home for the onslaught of my husband's family? Well, the house - this enormous rambling weatherboard home we have taken over from my parents - was kinda MADE for this degree of human habitation.
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Four bedrooms were maxed out, kids piled into the sunroom to sleep side-by-side and top-to-toe like excited little (and not-so-little) sardines. Three toilets managed to service the hordes (including the additional 20 people we hosted on Boxing Day! whew!), two bathrooms managed to keep them reasonably clean, one year-old kitchen held up to 8 cooks at once to feed the masses, and one humungous living room provided the dining and indoor entertainment facilities for one and all. We even put our old Quarters (aka The Love Shack!) into action... can't forget the pool and the tennis court (both constructed by my Dad in his younger years) for the cooling-off and wearing-out factors needed for such a gathering! I am ever grateful to those who lived here (and renovated here) before me for such an amazing spot to hostess at.

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Of course, I did try to put my own touches to the event...
'cause Lord knows, nothing is safe when I have a can of silver spray paint in my hot little hands!

Here is a delightful "horse" that 'Salina made with Dash and Violet during her visit earlier in the holidays - ain't he dashin' in silver with black spots? He got to grace the entry garden area with his dappled presence...

And speaking of dappled, here is a little gumleaf and dried 'some other leaf' arrangement at our front door... with a splash of silver to sass things up a little!

And I couldn't forget the gumnuts I started this whole silver-obsession with...
Here they are, alongside some bark gathered by Dash, and spraypainted red.

Anyone seen Snugglepot and Cuddlepie lately?

(check here if you have no idea what I am talking about!)

Anyhoo, as is traditional with my hubby's family, the kids are in charge of tablesetting Christmas Day... here is Cousin T doing a sterling job with the tools at his disposal:

The theme was kinda starry... and surprisingly silver!

See those stars near the crackers? Paddlepop sticks, spraypainted silver, and inscribed in black Nikko with someone's name - our placecards in fact. Is there anything silver paint cannot do?

(Don't answer that!)

And here is the centrepiece mentioned earlier... our major Bush Christmas ornament!

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Of course, it wasn't ALL about the decor...

It was also about the FOOD! Here is my sister-in-law P, preparing the ham with a pineapple glaze...

Sister-in-law K is supervising!

(Actually she was very busy helping... and keeping spirits up in the kitchen with that fabulous smile!)

SIL P is busily reglazing the enormous ham in the BBQ (my oven wasn't big enough!)...
and if you haven't noticed her gorgeous top by now, then I cannot help you! She brings a certain city pizazz to any gathering...

And she can glaze a ham... how does this look?

Mmmmmmmmmm...

Here are my other miracle workers in the kitchen Christmas Day...

On the left looking glamorous in green is sister-in-law A (whom I am currently trying to talk into hosting her own cooking section of this blog - the woman is an artist!) and the Incredible Gwen (hubby's Dad's wife). The latter pulled off the major miracle of our Christmas Day...

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Can you guess what it was?

It wasn't that we managed to get the food on the table on time...

Or that there were enough chairs for all...

Or that we got almost all of the family into the lunchtime photo...

Or that a group of guys looking remarkably like The Wiggles joined our festivities...

Although each of these were minor triumphs.

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No, it has to do with my darling hubby and his famous dislike of sultanas.

He's quite pathological about them.

Fruitcake has never passed his lips.

Curries with sultanas are left untouched on his plate.

I have never ever seen him eat one.

It's the darndest thing.

But on December 25, 2008, at Granite Glen, my husband ate plum pudding!

In shock, I asked what possessed him to try it.
You know what he said?

"Oh, it looked good with the custard.

And I kinda forgot."

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What was your Christmas miracle?

(Other than making it to the end of this post!)