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...

Photo stuff: freezing raindrops...

You know how I got excited about the little bit of rain that finally arrived at Granite Glen a few days ago? And how steaming hot it has been round these parts.

Well I decided to use my trusty Nikon to "freeze the raindrops".

My party trick if you like!

Wanna see how?

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VIEW: Looking out our side door from our hallway at the rain spilling over the gutter.

TECHNIQUE: bracketing (doing a series of photos using gradually changing settings). I used Shutter priority (letting the camera work out the light issues) and altered the shutter speed. See the changes as the speed gets faster...

Ta Da! And that is my party trick for today...

it is safe to try this one at home, kids.

Let me know how you go!

Mystery Photo: rust-ic edition

OK my friends... it's mysery photo time again!

A chance to take home one of your favourite images from this blog.

A full colour 8x12 inch print.

Gratis.

Free.

For nada!!

For real.

All you gotta do is...

Tell me about this:

Previous players will know that the "truth" behind the image is not important. 'Cause I'll tell you that part (eventually) anyway. What you need to do is let your mind run free, and share with us where your thoughts lead. What your imagination tells you might possibly (or impossibly) be behind the photo you see here. The more colourful, imaginative and coffee-spitworthy, the better.

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Then check back later to see how crazy everyone has gone!

I'm letting this one run til midnight Thursday (GG time, see clock to the right).

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You ready?

You steady?

Go!!

Christmas Food: seriously good tucker

We hosted Christmas for Mr Incredible's family this year... you may recall?

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And among the many challenges for this "laid-back" housekeeper was the food.

The prospect of feeding 21 people for 3-4 days, with an additional 20 on Boxing Day, freaked the heck out of me. After having a minor mental meltdown as I tried to add up and plan for such numbers and work out how that amount of food would cram into our fridges, I did one massively smart thing: I hired a coldroom. This is basically a refrigerated room on wheels. I loved that coldroom. And not just because it was a great place to retreat to when the temps hit the 40s and the noise levels in the Granite Glen house hit ear-splitting...

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Mr Incredible's family are foodies. I always thought I loved food until I met him. And them. Really, I had no idea. These guys take the gastronomic appreciation to new heights. You can actually measure the time since I met my hubby by the kilos I have gained... antipastos, Spanish tapas, authentic Asian curries cooked from scratch, rich Indian dishes and excellent English pub food. It was courtship by dining. Seduction by tastebud. And I loved it.
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So having this family here for the Festive celebrations meant that some seriously good tucker was needed. Essential actually. So I called on each of my guests to help - Gwen brought the fruit: succulent mangoes and cherries, sweet nectarines and grapes, kiwifruit and massive watermelons.

She also did the magic plum pudding and accompanying rum cream sauce (is it any wonder my hubby forgot he hated sultanas momentarily?).

SIL P brought a city array of cheeses, crackers, dips and nibbles. And excellent biccies (cookies for you Americans!). Oh, and she did the ham too...

SIL K provided some fresh vegetables & salad items as well as some outstanding themed sweet items.

And SIL A did the incredible cheesecakes, provided five dozen fresh eggs and whipped up innumerable delicacies during her stay. I actually DID cook a little - my pesto sauce for everything was a hit.

Hey, I take my victories where I find 'em people!

This coral trout (isn't she gorgeous... even dead!)

provided a great foil for the other rich food. We baked it in the barbecue with lemon and dill. Divine.
And this is my brother-in-law R. He is a fisherman. He was therefore in charge of dividing fish and bones.

We all loved him for taking on this job.
And here is just part of the Christmas Day smorgasboard.
Smashed potatoes, steamed green beans, cauliflower and broccoli cheese (foreground), roast pork, crackling (the crunchy rind from the pork), glazed ham and baked fish (background).
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Of course, there was Boxing Day (for 41) to cater for next. We had to move to the carport for that feast... and from the coldroom (and kitchen) we produced:

Salads galore!

And seafood, baby! Prawns and Moreton Bay Bugs.

Mmmm. Moreton Bay Bugs are my all-time favourite seafood.
My mouth is watering just looking at this photo...

Every single morsel got eaten.

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Of course, while the meals are a major part of my Christmas memories, I'm not sure the same can be said for our son...

Methinks this could be one of his mental pictures of the Festive Season...

And this...

For a six-year-old all the Moreton Bay Bugs in the world are no match for a Nintendo DS.

*sigh*

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What was your Christmas highlight?

Favourite things begins... Bloggers

I am planning a new section here called Favourite Things...

I know it's not a totally unique concept, but it will give me a great chance to do something a bit more succinct, with a nice photo or two.

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I'm going to start off with reminding everyone that the Bloggies Award nominations are now open - I have just spent 15 minutes frantically typing in a few of my favourite bloggers to the horizontal form (which works surprisingly well - once you get the hang of it!). Main issue: not enough space to nominate everyone!

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Among those I have noted (and there were many more) were:

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Jeanie in Paradise

(my slightly neurotic but totally talented & beautiful sister who was born to write)

.

Life's Funny Like That

(the wonderful Deb, wielding the written word to take us all on the rollercoaster of her life. I just love her and never miss a post!)

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The Pioneer Woman

(who inspired so many of us to have fun & be positive... and feel shockingly lazy with the number of posts she maintains with four homeschooled children!)

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The Redneck Mommy

(shocking, heart-breaking, funny, amazing)

Kaleidescope

(Leslie's amazing scrapbooking takes my breath away... and makes me want to travel again!)

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And the fabulous Bossy

(dry wit and Great Danes - what a combination!)

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As I said, there were many more (actually, quite a few from the other favourite thing mentioned below) ...I encourage you all to get on over here (Bloggies site) and nominate your favourite reads.

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I so wish I had more time to check out more blogs, but that would mean I would have no life to blog about. And my family would go hungry. And the yards would be overgrown and my zucchinis would start climbing in the windows.

You know how it is!

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I leave you all today with a photo of another of my favourite things:

Of course one of my NOT SO FAVOURITE things is that I can't show all 39 of you... anyone know how to fix that yet??

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Hope your 2009 is going great guns so far...

Hugs

Unfinished business

Among my many resolutions for 2009, I have vowed to keep on top of my book-keeping a little better... And I realised I had failed to follow-up on the winner from this post ...

So in order to tick off at least ONE checkbox, I have great pleasure in announcing BB's latest winner is...

(drumroll please)

BIG SIS

Email me on bushbabeaustralia@gmail.com !

The mental image of gold, silver AND uranium spewing geyser-like into the air continues to amaze and bemuse me... and the Pirates of the Carribean twist really nailed it. I may have had an expression on my mug a little like the guy in the photo above (who was the REAL answer to the mystery, and current holder of the title of Cutest Thing at Granite Glen!).

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And I am also intrigued by BS's home description as "Frozen Tundra"... as opposed to 'Slightly-Soggy Microwave' where I currently reside.

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Congrats BigSis and keep your eyes peeled for the next Mystery Photo comp coming up later this week...

After I get a few Christmas photos sorted and the office sorted out.

*girds loins ready for battle...*

Weather wishes: join the dots

One thing I try not to do here on this blog is whinge too much...
It's an unattractive look on me. I know this...

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But I have to say that the heat and the dryness of the summer season has been getting to me a little... I hate having to pour water onto our lawn to keep it green. It's necessary both as a decent fire break and to provide something a little relief for tired eyes (and softness on the feet) for the boys as they come home after a hard day out in the paddocks... but it does feel a little wasteful sometimes. Plus I spend half my day dragging sprinklers around our massive houseyard in an attempt to get the green circles of already-sprinkled lawn to meet up! It's one endless colouring-in effort!

The heat has been full-on over Christmas - over 40 degrees Celcius most days. And the view outside has been fading from green to sepia brown, and the once-lush grass stiffening to more crispy texture. So each time clouds gather and threaten, we all look hopefully skywards (and at the online weather radars and forecasts) for some precipitation.

Yesterday, it tried to rain here at the house.

Wet dots sprinkled hopefully on the concrete...

And yet failed to meet up. Again.

I left the sprinklers running (I am getting very superstitious like that - clothes on the line, sprinklers running, showing I am not getting ahead of myself in anticipating the Big Wet!).
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I tried not to feel too disappointed when the sprinkle from heaven stopped after a couple of minutes.

After all, some of our paddocks have recieved some decent rain in the past few days, and leucaena planting will begin shortly. But the house outlook is still brown-edged. My vege garden still thirsty. Is there anything sadder than a wilted lettuce?

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Then this morning, it tried again...

And the dots began to join up...

And pool... and puddle... and I smiled.

Of course, in the "keeping it real" department, I should show you the wider view of this shot...

Horse poo, half-dead lawn and muddy footprints.

Reinforcing my already-stated outlook on life:

Crop the Crap Out.
Heh.
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In case you are wondering, the sprinklers are still running but the drizzle has slowed.

Perhaps I need to add:

Don't blog about the rain til it's finished

to my list of superstitions?

Do you have any weather-related superstitions in your neck of the woods??

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Winner of the pre-Christmas comp announced shortly... and you thought I had forgotten!