Photo Friday - Just the Pics :)

Supersized Sunday - Fishin' for the Family - Goodbyes & Mondays always get me...

SUPERSIZED SUNDAY



The Lady Avon




Avon River -
Gloucester/Gayhurst Bridge, Dallington

  This was an awesome Sunday, better than most!
We ate a hearty breakfast ( see the review in my last post!), cleaned and tidied.
Big Bro arrived, and the kids were set.
It became apparent, it has been a while since we were all together under the same roof.
We are so good as a family, I love it when it all works, and the kids are all home together, happy. It is so rare these days. The older teens have lives of their own... and I miss them, but not half as much as the younger two children do...
So there we all were, having some fun, the light banter and teasing, the cheekiness, the laughter. Oh the humour. Well... that of it which I can understand and relate to... some of it horrifies me, other parts make me laugh til I have tears. Happy Tears! I actually enjoy them, and I like the young men theyre becoming, for the most part.

FISHIN' FOR THE FAMILY
One thing as Ive said before is, we enjoy  fishing.
It makes it so much better when we are all together, but really we all just go to support the one of us who really knows what he is doing. The others of us are enthusiastic, but Gord (nearly 16) is a Pro. He knows Fishing inside out.  He lives huntin'- fishin'- guns and tackle etc.
We smile at his knowledge and his patience with us less proficient fisher people. His instincts are right on track, and he knows his stuff. He ties all the knots, knows which fish is what, and how to get them into the bucket...

So its fair to say, we dont mind cos he caught the most today and the rest of us just enjoyed being there, in the fresh air, cool though it was. Blaise, Dee and I all caught three apiece... yee-haa!

Yellow-eyed Mullet/Herring

What topped the day off nicely (apparently) was Gord catching an eel. A long-finned eel that Duncan stripped, gutted and cooked. All of them love eel once it is baked with salt, oil and lemon juice...

I guess I shouldnt brag, but Im so proud. My boys are all learning GOOD SKILLS that will tide them over, should TEOTWAWKI come. (The End Of The World As We Know It - Native American believe this will be The Event, or Change to come)

Eel prep

Goodbyes after dinner is never fun.  The wee girl sobs, the big guy gets sober and sad, and really it isnt a nice feeling for them to say Good bye to their big brothers. They love them. I love them. I wonder sometimes about where we fit in their lives now theyre bigger, but today left me with no doubt. We fit. We matter. They are part of us, and we are part of them... Aww, heck.



Mums the short one now!



Brother!

Duncan and Arlais

The Lazy As

So, then there were the obligatory photos.
And now it is quiet.  Monday is right around the clock.
I do wonder, and dare I ask... What will this week bring?

Heres hoping your weekend was relaxing, peaceful and Memory-tastic!
Love from My Heart to Your Hearth

E Butterfly
XXXXXX



Pics from the Past & Present - Bricking It in Avonside!

Younger Days

Its becoming apparent
Im going to need a new phone soon.
My old one, according to my 18yr old is *Beyond It* and needs replacing soon. This one has a camera, and today Ive finally worked out (after 4 years!) how to send myself the pics to my email. Safe to say, I ll never be up with the Techno stuff. Im an old-fashun gal!

Car Ride

Swinging at the Park

Big Eyes

Pjs and All

So after fiddling around, Ive got some of the older photos of times long gone-by.
Its amazing how quickly the children grow and change. Dont mind me whilst I reminsce and plaster my page with photos of my babies... Theres others too, theyre not all cutesy and kidlike...

Oven Project - Build Two



 ...Like Todays Project.
Ive been reading up about making my own pizza oven. Im fascinated by adobe bricks, clay cob ovens, pizza ovens and the like. I wish I had my own piece of land to make a fire pit on, or some kind of oven... but I havent, and I cant make anything permanent... So Im improvising.
I tried the 16 brick rocket oven ( see it on Youtube) I liked it, I appreciate its place, and the value it has... but I wanted something a little bigger...
So here it is. My second version, very rough at this stage...and it will need some work, a bit of a mortar mix is in store, but Im pleased, and it passed its first little *fire-up* this afternoon, despite the drizzle and the lack of decent firewood.

This wonderful structure is created from red bricks, ex-chimney. Theres lots of those available around Christchurch at the moment, and they make good borders for vegetable gardens. There are also slate floor tiles in there, they were being given away on Freecycle, and I just happened to live around the corner. It beats them being thrown into a landfill, eh?

Toms, Zucchini and Green Beans a-plenty!

So thats our Friday. The Week That Was has Been and Gone!
Weve had both kids getting immunizations this week, and its been intermittent good weather. Today is totally bailed on us, and we have whizzly wet drizzle and a strong breeze that makes us wonder if the tomatoes will ever ripen!!

Jaune De Coeur Du Pigeon



Comfrey Tea Mixed for Garden


We have some on show though (see above) - and we love the little yellow pear-shaped ones.
We also have a bucket of wonderful big juicy plums that are ear-marked for plum jam.
Thanks for those Mr Next Door Neighbour :)

Hope all is happy and well at Your Place,
Love and Blessings
E BUTTERFLY
XXXXXXXXX

All Day Rain... Working Indoors

Rose Front Lawn. Not its name, its location ;-)

A brilliant wet Wednesday.
The Chance of All Day Rain is what Miss 5 told me she had heard on the news. Funnily enough, she was still snoozing when the weather forecast was on, but she is right so far... All Day Rain.
Which is a good thing, and a bad thing. The good thing is the garden gets a decent wash of rain. The bad of course, is that Im stuck inside having to attend to Housework and Other Inside Work.

Doesnt matter that Im procrastinating. This is the second coffee, Ive sat here and dawdled through the listings of plants & pots on Trademe. Ive checked in to Ooooby to see whose around. Ive read about when & how to harvest Garlic. Sigh. The dishes are half done.

Garlic On the Rise

Ive fed the cats, and the worms...

Odd isnt it, the cats do bugger all, nothing... and get fed twice a day and they whine about their food quality, quantity... the wind chill factor, anything at all.

The Worms... are far and away more productive, dont ask for a thing, and eat anything theyre given... and never say Boo... Which do I prefer? :-)
This is what I laid my eyes on first thing this morning. Im captivated.
Thank Nature! A truly beautiful thing!


Now to see if I can get a poppy head with viable seeds... I hope so. Theyre gorgeous :)

I snuck down this morning to check out the pumpkins.

Murphys Law, and I find myself putting compost around the base of the pumpkins, chocka block full of wormies. Nek minnit... Next minute, I see a big fat Lady Thrush pecking out the worms... Epic FAIL on the composting...

And WHERE on Gods Green Earth are my Furry Purries? Not doing their job, saving my worms from birds... Theyre all blobbing around the Catmint or lazing under my window  waiting for it to open so they can be fed... Theyre being fed too well!
Well enough of my chatter.

Today is the middle of the last week of school for my Mister 11 and Im so looking forward to having them all home... and picking our own tomatoes to eat, lettuce, onions, and all the rest...

Love,

E BUTTERFLY



Long Time... No Blog... Garden In Progress!

Pretty Peony!

Well its been One Of Those Months.

Lots of Garden progress though.

The good weather has been interspersed with lots of lovely rain, that means we have plump growth and already we have had several salads!

I love Homegrown!

So, without further ramblings... Some photos.

Tomato *Chocolate*

Lemon Balm

Mizuna - Lots of it!

Things have grown quickly, this was last month

Garlic, raspberry cane and seedlings

Berries, Lettuce, Tomato and Comfrey

We have growing - Tomatoes in the following varieties, Albenga Oxheart, Bloody Butcher, Jaune De Coeur Pigeon, Chocolate, Red Russian, Siberian Speckled, Baxters Early Bush, Sub Arctic Plenty, Missouri Love Apple, Large White, Yellow & Black Cherry... Black Krim and Purple Calabash.

Also growing Herbs like Chamomile, Basil, Chervil, Coriander, Parsley, Mint, Comfrey, Chives, Thyme, Lemon balm, Rosemary, Sweet Cicely...

And Calendula, Sunflower, Aquilegia in two diff colours, Marigold, Geranium, Poppy, forgetmenot,... still to add more seeds into the mix to attract bees!

And then theres veggies - Lettuce, about seven different varieties, Iceberg, a red cos, frilled green cos, buttercrunch, freckles, and a couple of others. Onions, red, white and brown. We eat a lot of onion!
Carrots - solar yellow and nutri red. Mizuna, rocket, corn salad, cabbage, broccoli, garlic, celery, corn though not as successful as I like! Radishes... hmm thinking...

And Berries/Fruit - Lemon, Boysenberry, Raspberry, Red currant, Black Currant, Alpine strawberry, Strawberry, Rhubarb - Victoria & Perpetual. Oh and Olive trees, the newest edition, but already one of my favourites...

miners lettuce

Raspberry

Thats us for now.
Hope all is going well in your neck of the woods.

EB