What a gorgeous hot sunny day today! And not just a bit of sunshine between showers, or a glimpse of blue sky through the clouds either - the day dawned bright and clear and it stayed that way all day. Just perfect!! Wet weather does have its compensations though - how about this for a stunning rainbow on 8 August?
Yesterday I transplanted some vege seedlings that were sown at Easter. Getting tipped off the greenhouse shelves and landing upside down didn't help their growth and some of them didn't have much of a root system so not sure how they'll go. A tv gardening programme said that in the olden days the farmer dropped his britches and sat on the ground; if the soil felt cold then it was too early to plant seeds! I didn't need to drop my britches as the soil was cold and clammy on my hands; hopefully this plastic enclosure will help them get established and grow into big strong vegetables.
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| The finished shade house Mark II |
I made another trip to Bragg Bay today to clear more gum tree branches - there's just the big stuff now that needs a chainsaw. I have a number of woodpiles around the house - there's at least three lots of kindling, a couple for branches that can be cut with a bow-saw, and a larger pile that will need chainsawing. It would be easier to have two woodsheds but that's a bit over the top for a one-person household.
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| Gum-leaf pyramid by my woodshed |
I've had a wee rest from beer bread making this week. Last weekend I experimented with ginger beer and although it was edible, it wasn't half as nice as beer bread and it stuck to the non-stick loaf tins. My favourite so far is adding Moroccan spice, half a teaspoon of mixed spice and 8-10 chopped olives.
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| Ginger beer bread - a coarser texture and pretty bland |
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| Olive, mixed spice and Moroccan spice loaves |
