How beautiful I thought….browsing some blogs recently I Stumbled upon an old world style drawing or painting of a Rose which made my heart sing.
Can you imagine its scent…I can!

A visiting reader to the above made this comment…

“this wild roses image is the Alberta Rose. It was adopted by the province of Alberta as their flower emblem in 1930 and is still today. They start blooming in May and will bloom till August and have a wonderful soft scent ..

This particular native Rose is quite interesting as the Rose hips were used by the natives in their natural remedies

Can’t you just imagine this rambling old style Rose growing freely, tangled in the hedge rows and undergrowth.
In meadows, fields, mountains and forests.

A Google search for information about the Alberta Rose funnily enough led me to comments and photos left on Tripadvisor by travellers to the Canadian Provinces

~*~

Then I thought a bit deeper and remembered.

The Rose if left untended produce seed pods called Rose Hips.

From there my thoughts went wild in many tangents…and this was going to be a brief post just about a beautiful drawing!

Rose hips are full of Vitamin C being prized by Herbalists and Naturalists.

A quote from Chemist warehouse catalogue online

“RoseHip is known to be one of nature’s richest sources of
vitamin C and has been used for countless generations in
European herbal medicine for the relief of joint pain arthritis and rheumatism…”

Rose hip is infused in oil too as a very expensive under eye ointment which I recall from many years ago.

I would not be surprised if doTERRA oils uses it too in its specialized pure blends.

Thereby hangs the tale of the Alberta Rose
found at The Graphics Fairy Clip Art

Joining I Blog on Tuesdays

A chilly start to the day this morning seen in my Beanie wearing husband as he went off to do an installation for Care Alert.

For myself I rugged up in a fleece jacket, checked Google Maps directions to pick up two child’s Booster Seats.
The local Buy, Sell and Swap Facebook site is marvellous for all sorts of great bargains at a fraction of the price.
Not current style but still with all the safety features like side impact protection and extendable height headrest with lock.

Having purchased my seats I decided to drive past Bunnings as I was in the area thereby saving myself another trip for buying potting mix which will be needed later.

Thus I found my treasure trove free for the picking , actually snapping.

Everywhere I turned plants, leaves, blooms glistened in the morning sun with sparkling refractions from the still present heavy morning Dew. It was like being let free in a candy store…which way shall I turn first.

The heavy-headed large Pansy flowers like the drunken butterflies in their silken Kimono robes but frozen in flight
Variegated elegant leaves of the Cyclamen like lily pads
Cyclamen flowers in all shapes showing off a promise of more to come

Dianthus miniature Carnations with a perfect spherical glass like orb at its centre
Indian and tropical inspired miniature Bougainvillea with its veined coloured leaf flowers inviting the passer-by to purchase…but not at that price…ahem… $39.-

So passed a pleasant and refreshing time amongst nature free for all to see if they choose….and yes I did buy potting mix plus four big punnets of Heartsease marked down to .50 cents. bARGAIN!

Another treasure found today was to visit and share some time with the little Grandsons, especially for Grandpa as he sometimes misses out when he is busy.
So whilst he admired origami paper planes of all shapes and sizes which the boys proudly showed off I swapped some plants around in to different pots.
Free
Enjoyable
Precious

The day is as you make it.

For us it was a Treasure Trove.

Look no further!
Go visit your local nursery for a free lift of spirits

Free you say!

Yes definitely because no money changed hands.

By letting my mind be refreshed and calmed on a hot hot day under the misting sprinkler.

I remembered …
Lavender cutting/slips growing under some greenery
Hibiscus cuttings/slips slowly growing roots in a glass jar
Red trumpet creeping vine cutting/slip started in a pot
Big Red geranium growing lushly from a cutting/slip

It was a stepping back in time of how old gardens were created.
Networking and sharing.

How to best utilise what I have at home in the garden…..just a moving round and swapping positions. Or repotting with large recycled pots from the neighbour’s hard rubbish clean out.

There was no instant gratification costing $$, just some methodical or random planning and a little patience.

Have you ever done this?

Blessed

Joining Through the Garden Gate

Joining Frontier Dreams

Preparing for evening

Today the sun does shine beautifully here in Sydney.
Contrast to yesterday when the same sun was out but the wind nearly blew one over. Even sitting here in the kitchen I could hear the wind gusts roaring through some tall gum trees at a park over the road.

I know in some parts of Australia we are expected to receive some bad weather today with flooding that has already been going on for days with its associated heartache.

Considering the wind yesterday we caught a brief lull and managed a quick game of “Rugby” in the back yard with young grandsons. Let’s tackle grandma was the call to which I replied and acted, let’s TICKLE you!

Lucky that they are still only five and under. There will come a time when it’s time to stand at the sidelines and direct!

The sun with its awakening rays bring weeds and flowers alive together in abundance.

Joy for the soul at the mass of riotous colour from easy to grow Nasturtiums, hardy Calendulas, bright Geraniums and tough Heartsease.

Raised Garden

Easy to grow but patience required during the long dark days of winter with Roses in hibernation.
Note to self – plant some of the above earlier and and do an extra later planting too. I’ve had to prune some of the nasturtiums back a bit today….no pain no gain

As we have only been in this house for three seasons next year I will know how this garden grows and flowers. I am really hoping the Figaro Dahlias come back again from their corms as they were brilliant last year. I was able to cut them back twice and got Dahlias on Steroids as my daughter called them

Calendula and Heartsease

Heartsease thriftily divided , one nice plant into four and then again as they grew
Calendulas price slashed and nursed along from sad straggly seedlings. These are tough. It’s the first time that I have grown these.
Nasturtiums were grown from seeds
Geraniums from cuttings. As they grow I take more cuttings from the “Mother Bush”.
“Big Red” a much appreciated gorgeous potted geranium left behind by the previous owner. Fabulous for colour in the drab of Winter

Hedge Trimmer at work

The warmth brings the hedges out of their slow and dormant growth. Time for a green haircut by my man and his garden toys.

So too does the warmth bring out our little grandsons when visiting. They love to poke, prod, dig, cut and chop in the garden all under the supervision of either myself or grandpa dear.

We did miss them though with their chatter when we attended to some gardening chores last weekend.

“Chicken Heads”

The easiest of craft activities if little hands become tired of wearing disposable gloves just like Grandma for digging.
Fill them with soil instead and get Grandma to tie a knot. Instant chickens that do not need feeding.

Now the afternoon sun causes the kitchen to glow as it illuminates and makes the yellow Nasturtiums appear translucent in their vase on the window ledge. These are complimented beyond the window by the golden hedge on our boundary and a golden tree in its Spring coat.

Did I say that I love Spring!

Hope you all have a good day.
Find something to lift your spirit even if only briefly.
Pause a while.

Sun soaked Orange Blossom’s sweet perfume

Courtesy pippalou @morgueFile free photos

Fleeting sight through the dappled shade of stately trees

A man walking
Red setter dogs on long leash in one hand
Long Whipper snipper brush cutter in the other hand

I could have imagined it were a laird on his croft
Or a master of his estate
Tramping his lands

Minutes later I heard and saw this same man about his gardening and handyman duties at an Assisted Living residence.

It is so still here beyond these old stones. Just a narrow entrance which is so easily driven past and missed. Yet looking through the wire fence of the tennis court parking lot and beyond the bushes, Sydney city traffic flows.

Safety glasses on and a big shady sun hat.
His brush cutter roaring, seemingly at odds in this setting.
Dogs safely tethered out of sight near the gates at a distance, no doubt enjoying their moment of bliss. Snapping at and devouring the shifting gusts of wind.

Courtesy pippalou@morgueFile free photos

Courtesy terryballard@morgueFile free photos

One brief moment in time.
The “pause button”
A brief escape to another time and another place

Refreshment for the soul on a Tuesday

Now what do I need to do in this my home.
Well there is a cake I could bake
There is another shrub to plant to complete the hedging
There are weeds to pull
Fertilizer of the Cow Manure variety to be sprinkled and watered in
Cane mulch to be spread around the shrubs
Tis a very messy and itchy job even with a face mask on
Some carpets and stairs to be vacuumed …

All the above done except for the cake. I can always eat a muesli bar!
Muscles creaking from an overload of bending….you know how it is when you start with one thing and it just snowballs.

But such a great feeling on a Wednesday night walking into a clean house. It makes the creaky-ness worth it.

Even more so for next time with cake

Care Alert for peace of mind

Courtesy Jaeb@morgueFile free photos

Having just arrived home from a lovely driving visit interstate with family and friends I came across a refreshing recipe. It would be wonderful as an entree or for a gathering of friends and supper. Light, but I would say very moorish.

I would add a delicate sprig of fresh Dill as well for its wonderful scent and aroma.

My dream raised garden

Dill brings back memories of my dear mother when she still had her own garden and little herb patch. Whenever we visited Mum always chopped up some Dill and added it to her wonderful mixed salad and home made dressing….between us three girls there would almost be arguments over who got more of this delicious trademark salad

Here is this refreshing recipe of Salmon Rillettes

Alternatively you could experiment just with some smoked salmon and flake it instead of the fish stated in Downtownshift.
I seem to recall a friend of mine does this, or is it potted shrimp…..Keren if you are reading, is this how your mum makes her dip?

…and so I’ll sign off for now and maybe do a bit of unpacking. The painful part at the end of a trip…..but I have many wonderful memories which will spur me on:)

From country to city and back again, day by day.

Courtesy veggiegretz@morgueFile free photos

The story goes like this….As hoped the day started with good intentions. The week end just started. Blue skies, lovely sunshine, energy and plans.

A plan to tidy up an eyesore in the back garden. The removal of some dead ivy under the huge Diosma.

Out I went so correctly garbed, with a mask over my mouth and nose against the dust. I commenced clearing some long dead and brittle undergrowth from a waist-high retaining wall. I was dropping it down by my feet, which I know now was not very OH&S….well that eyesore had to linger a while longer because the unexpected happened.

I stepped on one of the discarded brittle branches. It was a very sharp but small branch that speared up, only a little way, and into one of my small surface ugly varicose veins near the shin….instant blood into my shoe in light of the fact that gravity does go downwards.

I resembled a hump backed dwarf attempting to stroll into the house when in fact I was holding my leg with gloved hands to stem the blood. I discovered blood does flow pretty fast. But it didn’t last long, just enough to flush out any impurities so roughly shoved in.

So with a bundle of stained tissues discarded, Dettol, a disinfectant, administered and poured liberally over leg a little drama is all over now. The only visible sign is a small bloodied puncture mark and some redness covered by a bandaid.

Well there goes my tidy the garden plan for today. Instead I’m a queen resplendent in gardening attire, no not a gardening show where you must wear your best hat if the Queen is visiting. Rather I’m sitting on the leather couch with protective towel under my leg, cold flannel surrounding the redness to take the pain and ache away….being served a freshly toasted and heavenly egg and bacon sandwich for lunch by my darling hubby. It was devoured in a speedy fashion followed by a piping hot mug of tea which I savoured, sipping slowly.

Should I try this trick again to get out of making lunch? No, I think not. Next time I’ll wear loose cotton trousers to protect my legs instead of my gardening knee-length shorts. Hmmm!

At any rate though one gardening chore was accomplished early this morning by Dear Husband. He sprayed the front lawn to rid it of Bindii, a horrible weed with a tiny prickle that looks and feels like a bee sting when you step on one. They make the lawn look deceptively green but a curse for those barefoot summers day a coming. So in October, being in the Southern Hemisphere and no later it’s time to T.R.Y. and eradicate the stinging pains. Pun intended.

So we will have to see in about three weeks time whether the poison actually worked on the weeds and not on any bushes. Husband did say he was very careful with spray drift. BUT, there is no way that we are doing the back lawn. I love my Lavender Hedge too much . Instead I’ll have to search out the few weeds by hand. This lawn doesn’t have many Bindii luckily.

This reminds me of some friends of our children when everyone was in High School long ago. They had to do a fifteen minute ‘dig out the Bindi’ from the lawn after school each afternoon and in so doing eradicated it. Clever parents and good on the children for persevering.

So now I’m thinking as the day draws to a close with dusk beckoning that maybe I’ll creep out and carefully try and finish that gardening job seeing as it’s cool. Before I head out though I had better carefully remove and lay aside my rather heavy tiara. I was only a queen for a moment:)

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy some reading if you have some time. I found these as I sat as a Queen for a moment.

Courtesy Sgarton@morgueFile free photos

Duck eggs by taliesin @ morgueFile free photos. With thanks

Duck eggs and Memories.

Duck eggs are fantastic for Gluten free baking according to a friend because the eggs are so rich!

Google “duck eggs” and you will find that there is an abundance of information from how to keep and raise ducks to cooking with duck eggs and Gluten free cooking.

Jamie Oliver the down to earth very popular cook gives a lot of cooking information. My mother too used them and a favourite of mine was her tray of Streusel cake which was a layer of plain cake topped with a thick layer of lumpy delectable streusel. Mother used the duck eggs for general baking because they were so large and given to us for free. I don’t think we ever ate them as scrambled or such, yet some people do like them.

A glance at a photograph of Duck Eggs sent to me some time ago on Facebook set off an avalanche of MEMORIES from my primary school years during the 60′s.

Photo by phaewilk@morgueFile free photos. With thanks

Living at “Bradley House” in Stirling in the beautiful Adelaide Hills.
Our old landlord Mr Voden. A Scotsman with a rumbling burr, his accent hard to understand at times.

He lived next door on a long property with the house near the top of the hill. There was a very narrow twin track drive way of white crushed limestone going from Mt. Barker Road all the way up to their house. Then a small narrow bridge linked the two properties near the main road. This is where my father would enter to park his motor bike (brought with us from Germany when we migrated). That narrow plank bridge went over a tiny creek which was an overflow from a spring.

In winter dad would have to be careful pushing his bike across as the wood became slick with frost….starting that bike six mornings a week was the local alarm clock for 7am . It was also our family’s mode of transport when dad put the sidecar on.

These were the days before town water was connected for the house and garden. We depended on rain water tanks which in summer sometimes needed to be filled by the fire Brigade with water from elsewhere. Also two wells, one of which ran dry in summer. All watering was done by hand with a watering can. Mr Voden I seem to recall had a small dam with some sort of small generator pump.

Thinking back now and wishing that I could wander along with Mr Voden because he had the most amazing array of fruit and vegetables. Also bees, chicken, Bantams, ducks and geese, and possibly pigeons. It was like a huge market garden and he was always out there with his battered hat on his head…I suppose like a Highland Crofter in his home country….and he always brought us something. In retrospect, none of the above I really appreciated as a child.

Red currants, black currants, goose berries, blackberries, apples, quince, rhubarb, spinach,salads. We even ate the darker green leaves of the lettuce; good for iron our mother said as we dutifully swallowed it

Photo courtesy morgueFile free photo by Marcin-Modestowicz

But the most memorable were the RASPBERRIES. Fresh, plump, sweet and soft. Bejewelled Red fruit in a glazed bowl. A bowl that us three girls shared oh so carefully.

The red currants were nice with sugar, but black currants…none of us girls really liked them! Though now I know they are very healthy and I suppose we got our dose of Vitamins. The motto was waste not, and when, as now, families have a lean purse all good foods are used thankfully.

So, back to the present again and an observation.

Homesteading, growing Organic Foods, Sustainable Living, back to basics. These are the modern names given. But for us as children it was a way of life and we knew no different. It was a great way to raise children. There was that sense of adventure, fresh air, open space, simple rural living…then we grew up, moved to the city and life carried on. Nevertheless the love of gardening was entrenched….and I have my tiny patch of herbs and such to give me joy.

Now over to you dear readers. What memories have you recently been taken back to.

Till next time, and to be continued…
Alexa

Joining in with Essentially Jess for IBOT

Thanks to Self Sufficient Home Acre for this link providing some interesting reading about duck eggs and much more…happy reading
http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/10/how-to-use-duck-eggs.html

Today I share with you an email received from our son in Texas

Mum

Thought you’d like this time lapse video of the plant called the Rose of Jericho. With water it goes from a dried up tumbleweed to a beautiful fern over a couple of hours. I watched it and was thinking that people are the same. They can appear dried up and withered and hopeless, when all they need to get smiling and happy is some love and attention

Here’s more about the plant here:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selaginella_lepidophylla

Love
Mike

Red tap photo courtesy oOoOxmodsOoOo@
morgueFile free photos

Joining with Grace and FYBF

By AcrylicArtist@morgueFile free photos

Tuesday 16 June…blown off course

A fleeting moment

I was amazed to see a precious sight
The graceful flight
A Monarch butterfly
In winter

Very much blown off course

His colour was resplendent, not tattered at all
Bright and richly hued his coat

Hungry for his food

Dipping into my lavender hedge and feasting on the flower heads
A dip here and a taste here
Up into the air and down again
A few more sips and off

The breeze too strong for him to resist
The urge to wander
Over the fence and away
Even before I had my chance
No photo shutter snap
Even though,
Even though I wished him back

Indeed a sight to lift the heart. Ethereal grace.

It also makes me glad that I still have not pruned my Lavender hedge. It pains me to think that I WILL have to do it….one day!

Would we seize that moment and make the most of a fleeting opportunity. Could I. Whatever it be. Give a moment of joy. Create a moment.

My wishful moment of stillness right now.

By Jusben@morgueFile free photos