Christmas Time

 
Lilian May was not sure about Santa Claus.

  

 It doesn't seem like Christmas time around here.  With the house half painted, the kitchen three quarters done, the tiling not started yet and the whole house topsy turvy -  we were not inclined to decorate this year.  We are going to have a weeks break at the beach now and have Christmas with our growing family.

It has been lovely to have a blog this year, and jot down from time to time the happenings in my life, but what brings me most fun and joy is reading other blogs and meeting other bloggers.

Wishing my blogging friends a joyous Christmas and a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Home Made Bottled Beetroot

 

We got to and harvested our beetroot and bottled it up one night last week.  It is very simple to do and oh so delicious.  In fact, the bottle on the right is all gone now.  

When harvesting don't cut the tops down into the actual beetroot, but leave some on.  Also don't cut off any roots as the beetroots will bleed.

You simply boil them up til a skewer goes in easily and then take them off the heat, cool them down and then once cooled, you just rub the skin away.   

Slice up and place in sterilized jars.  Into a saucepan put sugar and vinegar 1:1 (start with 1 cup, but you may need more depending on how much beetroot you have).  Bring gently to the boil, stirring.  As soon as boiled, take off the heat, cool slightly, and then pour over the beetroot in the jars.  Voila!  Done!  

Some people put different spices etc in, but I don't bother with them.

Eat and Enjoy.  

Christmas Parties

My waist line is testament to how many Christmas functions I have been to over the past few weeks. It has been full on.

We had a lovely day at my friend Marleen's house, and such a beautiful lunch.  Marleen has her house decked out with all her Christmas wall hangings and all her Christmas craft.  It is a sight to behold and she is one clever lady.  I am blessed to have such wonderful friends.

I gave each of them a shoe bag to use when travelling, and some lavender scented shoe stuffers to match.  The shoe applique pattern was a free pattern from 'the four sisters' web page and the shoe stuffers are from a craft book I have had since the year dot.  It is from Better Living Collection and called Best Selling Food & Craft. I also put a couple of  surprises in their bags.  They gave me lots of goodies too.  Thank you 'girls'....

A Hot wind that blows no good

Today must be about 40 deg C with a hot wind factor of 50.  A wickedly hot day which is shrivelling up our garden.  The poor old lettuce have curled up their toes and I am going to harvest the beetroot this afternoon, as it is getting a bit knocked around and ancient.

My friend's poor black sheep that I mention in my last post (pictured above) was put down a few days after this photo was taken.  She was understandably upset, as they had had him for nigh on 20 years. 

Here is Joe the Painter (our son-in-law) slaving away one hot day.  Part A of the painting is now done and the green wall you see there is now a warm white colour with the dado board a nice glossy white.  It looks so much lighter and brighter.  Then there is just the tiles to go down.  Before Christmas?  have my doubts.

All the bedrooms had this wall paper frieze around the wall.  It is going (much to our childrens joy).  Not too hard to take off, just a bit of a soak with warm sudsy water and then scrape with a paint scraper.  Very messy though.

Gee I'll be glad when it is finished.  

Lesson learnt:  Never do a kitchen reno and get the house painted at the same time!!!

A visit to the country

This visit to the country happened a whole week ago, but with the reno and everything that has been happening around here, there hasn't been time to tell you about it.

One of our quilting friends owns this gorgeous little church about 45 minutes drive from Toowoomba. This quaint church, built in the 1890's is currently an art space, but is fully kitted out with a kitchen/lounge area, where we partook of food and fitted in a little stitching as well.

I loved all of the owners little bits and bobs and collections inside, and a lot of her deceased husband's art work. He was a talented artist and seemed to enjoy painting and drawing the female body.

In the bathroom is an old art deco theatre dressing room bench with mirror and complete with hollywood lights (worth a few visits to check it all out).  Very inspiring surrounds.  She has a poor old black sheep who is looking down the barrel unfortunately.  Poor lady really loves this sheep too.  We left with a tinge of sadness as she told us how she has to face losing her beloved sheep.  

She also owns a very cute cottage across the road from the church - but I will have to check that out next time as we completely ran out of time.  Looking forward to going back some day soon, it was a lovely day out.