He has his uses!

  I had to wind some yarn the other night and was looking for somewhere to place the hank!

Tony performed admirably.

But he couldn't have done it without supervision from Belle..

Indeed, even I require her help at times.

I do hope she approves of my colour choices.

*

She was nowhere to be seen today, when the vinegar came out and we started pickling!

First up, the lovely jewel tones of sandwich pickles, made form the last of the cucumbers.

I stripped the vines yesterday, there were loads left, but it is getting cooler and it's time to tidy up.

Next was a batch of Sweet chilli sauce, made from the chillis I pulled from the green house.

There are more chillis out there and they are still slowly changing colour, so I'll give them a little longer.

The tomatoes are also still turning red, though a lot slower than they were a few weeks ago!!

I suspect that next weekend, I'll be stripping out the green house and be looking for green tomato chutney recipes.

Right, I hit the ground running this morning, so it's time to relax and enjoy what little is left of the long weekend.

Hope you had a happy Easter.

It's been a while.

Sorry about that. Things have been a bit busy lately.

I have found time in the evenings for some mindless crafting, and was very grateful of it during a recent cold spell!

What's keeping us really busy is outside. Our garden continues to change weekly as we slowly make it our own. Amid the huge clear out and tidy up we found time to tend to our veggies and on Saturday I brought this huge haul into the kitchen.

I spent the rest of the day working in the kitchen, and most of Sunday too!

We harvested 2 dozen leeks, the final dozen or so spring onions, 6 apple cucumbers, 3 kilos of tomatoes, 8 chilli peppers, 2 dozen green capsicums about a dozen yellow banana capsicums and a handful of green beans. That's what made it into the kitchen. after I gave loads away to the neighbours.

So I made soups and sauces for the freezer and sliced and diced for the freezer too. 

In the past couple of weeks I've been doing pretty much the same thing, and also made up some pickles and relish too!

And still the garden and green house continue to reward us with natures bounty.

There are still chilli peppers ripening in the green house and I noticed yesterday, that the plant is starting on a second flush of fruit!! I don't think they will have time to go red, but that's ok, I can find a use for green chillies too! The banana capsicum is doing the same thing! And the tomatoes are still going of course.

 The pumpkin patch is pretty much self caring, but on Saturday I did a big tidy up. Last time I looked there were several small fruits that I wasn't sure would continue to grow. I was right and found them rotted on the vines. So a big tidy up took place and only those vines with good fruit now remain. Here you see three of the eleven fruit that will ripen.

Just so it's not all about veggies, here's a picture of my lovely alstroemeria. I have three different colours and plan to add a couple more. I'd love to have a hedge of these growing at the side of the house.

When nature gives you leeks...

Make chicken and leek pie.

I put a lovely cheesy scone topping on it.

It was delicious.

And best of all, there is enough left for a second meal!!