I have been very lacsidaisy here and neglected my writing for some time. Life does tend to take over and time passes way to quickly. So far this year, I have had my younger son return to live with me. Some days are diamonds and others, well, you get the drift. He has been a drifter for some time, arrived here with just his bags of clothes and feeling like a lost soul. Recently he bought a car that became a nightmare and is now trying for another. God give me strength. I have spent a lot of time pickling and bottling all kinds of garden goodies and the pantry is looking rather good. Friends call it the mini supermarket, my pride swells when I take them in their for a look round. I finally got a lot more shelving for the pantry and things are much tidier, no longer falling over boxes of jars that are waiting to have labels removed. I have learned how to smoke pork bellies and turn them into bacon, how to make sushi, dry tomatoes, make turkish bread and preserve olives. The seed saving has been in full swing and the bookcase is brimming with a variety of seed stock. My gardens are ever productive and it is no different coming into winter. Lots of brassicas, onions, garlic, turnips carrots etc. I do love being able to forage for the goods I want for dinner. After having lost my beatiful but scarey cat, "Snake" a year ago, I finally relented and now have 2 beautiful cats. A lovely girl "Marli" and a rascal of a boy "Little Dude". They bring loads of entertainment, have quite unique personalities and I couldn't imagine the house without them. I have expanded my self sufficiency menagerie even more. I now have BIG rabbits. They are NZ white x Flemish Giants. Along with the quail and chickens, I now have 3 meat sources, 2 egg sources and a great bi product in the mixture of manures and bedding. I have ceased work at the Community Garden as of last week and have taken on the job of restoring the Stephanie Alexander Gardens at the local school. It promises to be a challenge as it has been left idle for some years. I am loving the new direction life is taking me at present. Last week, I hosted the first organisors meeting for the Goulburn Valley Permablitz team. We will hold our first permablitz in July, which I am eagerly looking forward to. As I am the only qualified permaculturist in the group, it will be my job to do the site assessments, write up a client brief and do a mud map for each event. Yes folks this year is almost half done and it has been a very very busy time for me. No rest for the wicked they say. Hmmm does this mean I am a little bit wicked? Maybe, maybe not. Enjoy the photos people and journey well in life.
Above is the smoked bacon I make.
Above is my first attempt at making sushi.
Above are the sundried tomatoes I bottled
Above, my home made turkish bread.
Above, the pitted olives I preserved.
Above, Marli (the pure black girl) and Little Dude
