More kitchen goings on!

 I've been very busy in the kitchen again and also out in the garden. More about that soon, first here are the meeces all framed and on the wall. The Fan above them is another piece I made and gifted to my lovely Mum. It was quilled with strips of black paper, and took quite some time to complete. It was difficult to get all of those tiny curls of paper to sit nicely.

And the meeces. I think they like their new spot in my sewing room.

Now, back to the kitchen. Last time I wrote I mentioned that I had a good harvest of tomatoes and planned soup for the freezer.

And here it is bubbling in the pan. I was able to make about 8 portions for the freezer, so very happy about that.

Todays job was to get all of the undersized onions in to pickling mixture. We didn't have as many as I thought we would, only 5 jars worth. (And if you look near to top of the image, another load of tomatoes. LOL)

Tony and his dad both like the recipe I usually use, a mixture of malt vinegar, sugar and spices. Each jar gets a dried chilli and a bay leaf.

Last time I made one jar with a big spoonful of black molasses, this time I tried something a little different.

Just one smaller jar of each, just to see what Tony makes of them. 

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My secret stitching is progressing well as is St Nick.

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Chooky is holding a Zoom tomorrow, she has collaborated with Jude who is celebrating.

This one is open to non bloggers, but there are other criteria, go along to either blog to see the rules and let one of them know if you wish to join in. There will be lots of lovely people there and lots to talk about and see. I will be late! I have asked Chooky for a late pass as Tony and I have plans for the morning, but I will join in as soon as I can. Hope to see you there. 

This n that.

I didn't do much stitching on St Nick this week. I did get a start on the next page though. He has a Christmas tree over his shoulder, so lots of swapping between greens.

I also finished the secret project, but plan to begin a new one today.

In my last post I mentioned making a Stirabout Rhubarb cake for Tony.

I think he likes it. He ate a quarter of it in one sitting!

If I make it again I need to tweak the oven temp and timing, it was getting a little dark around the edges, but still a bit moist in the middle. 

I really do not like rhubarb, so it is just for him. LOL

I do like tomato relish though and made another batch of that.

Looks like I need to get busy again, this was yesterdays pickings from the greenhouse.

Maybe these tomatoes will become soup for the freezer. 

Back to work today after my three day weekend. Although Friday and Saturday were both very busy days and we were out on both evenings I got to spend a lot of Sunday resting and sewing, so that was good. I do feel rested and ready to return to work.

If I want to play before I go to work today, I had better shift myself and get on with the chores. 

Saltwater Creek, wetlands path.

It's been a very busy weekend so far.

Tony and I went for a walk yesterday.

As you can see it was a beautiful day.

We walked along side the creek.

The path was lined with native plants.

Lots of little birds were flitting about.

Over the creek.

And in to the wetland area.

Then off the path and over the railway line.

For beautiful ocean views.

The sea defences are made from cooled lava.

We walked along to the beach.

And spied an old broken down jetty.

Then walked back under the railway line.

The beach is not quite sand.

Seems to be a popular spot, some one had built a shelter under the railway bridge and collected a lot of firewood. There was evidence of past fires.

Once back on to the wetland path we found this chap.

And this sign. No dog with us, so on we went.

It was quite difficult to get photos of the birds, but I tried.

There were lots of ducks and geese and that lonely chap at the bottom of the image is a pukeko. (Clicky for those who need to know about Pukekos).

The little lagoon was busy with lots of birdlife.

The tide was out and we could see their foot prints in the mud flats.

Did I mention that it was a beautiful day?

The rowing club use the creek as it is very sheltered.

We saw three other tracks that we could have followed, and agreed that we would come back another day to explore.

I collected some souvenirs for my pebble jar.

That was Friday afternoon, after a busy morning of chores.

In the evening we went out with friends.

Today, Saturday has been very busy. I've made a slow cooked lamb curry as we are off out again tonight to a pot luck curry night. While looking for some lunch in the pantry I came across some tomatoes that really needed to be used so a batch of relish was made, along with onion bhajis and naan to go with the curry. I've repaired the kitty cats scratching pole. She had ripped off all the sisal cord, so it has been replaced. 

Phew! 

It feels like two days of non stop.

Maybe tomorrow I'll have a slow stitching Sunday.

After I do something with the rhubarb I was given last night. 

 

A weather update.

While the North floods, the South is baking.

I know that in many parts of the world the news channels reported the flooding in Auckland and other areas of the North island, even the international airport was affected. It was shocking to see land slides and other damage caused by the torrential rains. While all of that was happening up there, way down South we were basking in record temperatures.  

If the sun is still on this garden thermometer, then it was before 10.30 am! 

Same day, similar time in the shade it was 25 C

We have had several days of it so far and I for one am hoping for several more, I'm loving it.

So is the green house. If it was 30 C outside, what was it in there?

Maybe I need to get another thermometer. LOL

I should have taken a photo before I picked the ripe tomatoes.

The chilli are ripening too.

Last week I pulled our crop of onions and have left them to dry in the sun.

This is about one third of the crop.

And if you look at the top of the picture, in front of the wheel barrow you can see the first two pumpkin also curing in the sun. There are more on the vine, but they are not yet ready. We have tried a new to us variety this year called kamokamo. I hope they are good. 

My rose is also loving the hot dry weather.

That is enough of the garden, what is happening indoors.

Tony is all better and is back at work. The question of where he caught it has now been answered. He was part of a group who volunteered to help a local charity, his place of work (A big name hardware/DIY store)  put in a new kitchen and carried out general maintenance and fix up at the local Riding for the Disabled. The team were there for three days. One of the team travelled from the North island and unknowingly brought the virus with him, sharing it generously. 

Although I did not follow guidelines and avoid my lovely husband, I still did not catch it. 

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Since my last post I have stitched a little more on St Nick.

On Friday I shocked myself and spent ten minutes in my sewing room. Just long enough to make a quick draw string bag.

A new resident at work has inhalers and the preferred storage method is in a fabric bag.

Tada!

And finally I started another very small cross stitch project.

Can you tell what it is yet?

No?

Good, it's a secret.

I was off work with a Migraine yesterday, so no domestics were done. I'm still not fully over it, but I had better make an effort today. Then I think another quiet day in the air conditioned shade. 

 

St Nick's progress

Well I don't have the virus yet! Tony is much improved, thank you for all your good wishes. He was able to help me in the garden for a while this evening, once things had cooled down a little. We got up to 29.9 C today. We could do with some more days like that to help ripen the chillies.

The plants are laden with huge fruit but it is all green. I picked some yesterday to use in a relish. Nine jars of lovely relish made and stashed away.

My two days off work are done, amid the chores, relish making, the gardening and looking after Tony I was able to sit and stitch for a good while on both days and made some great progress on St Nick.

Here he is last time I took his photo.

And this is how he looked when I put his cover on 15 minutes ago.

I'm almost done with the two pages that make up the centre of the chart.

I feel that I had a very successful couple of days stitching. I'm glad to get the garland done, there were lots of colour changes in there and there is more of the same to come as I stitch more toys and gifts in his sack.

Back to work tomorrow, but hopefully I'll make time for a few stitches too.