daisy chain

This is....my way of Recycling

Lots of recycling happens in our house. We empty the washing water on the lawn, have 3 bins (one for green waste, one for recycling and one for items that go to landfill.) We are also lucky in South Australia that we have a 5c deposit on drink containers such as iced coffee, water, juice and drink cans, etc. It is surprising how it all adds up.You drop them off at the depot to be counted and drive away with extra cash! Any money we get from this goes towards buying plants for the garden. I quite enjoy visiting the recycling centre as it is extremely well organised and runs efficently and smoothly.

We have a compost bin also but I have just been intoduced to a new way of composting using a Bokashi Bucket. I have just started one for the classroom and one for our home food waste.

The food scraps are mixed with Bokashi Mix and then they ferment in the bucket.The contents are dug into the garden where it breaks down to create highly fertile soil. During fermentation a vinegary liquid is produced which is drained off and used as a liquid fertilizer.So far, so good and you can add all kinds of things like fresh fruit and vegetable waste,prepared foods like sandwiches and leftovers, bread, coffee grinds and cheese! Not that there is ever many wasted leftovers at our house but it is nice to know they have a place to go rather than in the landfill bin!

My toilet rolls that I mentioned a few posts ago now look like this....and are nearly ready to plant.

Happy recycling everyone!

Had a lovely Sunday today at the RSPCA Million Paws Walk-a great turn out(I think there was an assortment of more than 4000 dogs and dog owners all walking around the River Torrens!) And the weather stayed fine after all yesterday's rain. My dog hasn't moved since we've been home-except to eat dinner-I imagine it was olfactory overload for him!(a bit like too many chocolates at Easter time!)

Camping

Last Friday and Saturday we managed to get some R&R at one of our favourite camping spots Innes National Park.We had two wonderful days and nights and were back in time for Mothers' Day. I crocheted all the way there and back on the four hour trip!

We had Shell Beach camp site ALL to ourselves!

Walking track to the beach.

This is why it is called Shell Beach!

Lots of lovely treasures lying about.

We had frequent visitors of the furry kind.

We cooked our freshly caught fish and potatoes in alfoil on an open fire.Five star meals for sure!

Freezing cold nights and mornings but lovely sunrises.

The weather was glorious.I even went swimming!

The Sooty Oyster Catchers were busy.

Always love a good web.

I would like a garden shed like this one!

We were so lucky with the weather-lovely warm days. Good job we are not going this weekend as the forecast is hail, storms and rain!!!

This is...What Reminds me of my Mum

So many things remind me of my mum many times a day. Everyday things, long ago things, special things. Probably one of the main things is roses....especially this one...Angel Face.

Mum gave me this card awhile ago and I will treasure it always.

Happy Mothers' Day to my beautiful mum.

Small Mums

At about this time last year I was inspired by applehead's wonderful smallpeople postcards.They are amazing collages made with all sorts of different papers and all have a quirky phrase accompanying them. Last year I took my set of postcards to school and the students had a go at making their own smallmum collages for Mothers' Day. I did the same this year with my year one class and was pleased with how they turned out-hope their mums are too!

My mum is beautiful and likes flowers.

My mum likes to go and look at flowers.

When I am happy my mum is happy.

My mum likes putting out the washing in our new big back yard.

Thank you mum for making sure we have clean clothes.

Thank you again Marianne for continuing to be so inspirational!

This is....the Pair of Shoes That I Would Sleep in if I Could!

Not at all glamorous but built for ease and comfort-in fact these shoes are THE most comfortable shoes that I have ever worn! Love them or loathe them-I am a fan of Crocs for sure(especially purple ones!) Thanks to Hip Hop and Banana Bread for her suggestion this week! And thanks again to Angela .

I spent a very pleasant Sunday gardening and felting.....

Loving these lovehearts!

Friday

Every year I order our spring bulbs from here. It is a most enjoyable experience. Firstly, you receive a catalogue (love a good catalogue!!) in the post. You take your time flicking through the pages time and time again until you have made your decision. Then I usually have to decide which ones I can't have as my wish list becomes bigger than Ben Hur!!! Budget in check and the ordering is done. In about a week you receive a package(we all know how great it is to receive packages in the mail!) And in that lovely package there are lots of brown paper bags of labelled bulby goodness! The ground is nice and soft now after all this welcome rain we've had so I can plant them this weekend.

Here are some images of yesterdays morning walk after the rain....

Have a great weekend!

This is.......My Favourite Book

I found Daisy in lala land's choice excruciatingly difficult this week as I'm sure many others did too. As an avid reader and lover of all books it was near impossible!.This special book is an amazing tale of a dog but is more than that. It made me laugh and made me cry and is beautifully written-an absolute joy to read and reread. So here is my choice.....

I just LOVE it!Thanks Dee-a great choice!

This is.......my Latest Discovery

I have spent a bit of time in the garden these last few days and have been giving my latest discovery a real workout!

Aquaspikes!!!!!

They look like little gnome hats with holes in that you connect to used juice containers. You fill them with water or liquid fertilizer and they water right down to the roots!

Thank you to KnitOwl for this week's suggestion.

Here is matchbox number 4....

seed packet, coloured paper, seeds, crochet flower

Just Hanging Out

Am so enjoying the Autumn sunshine and the slower pace that holidays bring.

Saw this great idea on Loobylu's blog and just happened to have some saved toilet rolls.

The Hakea, Eucalypt and Banksia trees putting on their Autumn display.

They demolished a house up the road-well almost...

A good spot to hang out...

And matchbox number 3...

Japanese paper, urchin shell photo, urchin shell.

Corella Frenzy

At a certain time of the year, when the pine cones are "just right", we are visited by corellas-LOTS of them!!!!! If ever you have seen the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds" it seems a bit like that! Walking up a street near my home on Saturday I was confronted with this sight....

Standing near that huge pine tree was an experience for the senses! Listening to the sound of hundreds of birds munching and crunching and stuffing themselves full of pine cone seeds while been pelted by their debris was memorable indeed! This is what they're after...

This is what is left behind when they have finished....

The mess left on the footpath!

You can understand why the farmers and property owners hate them as they can strip and orchard and ruin a crop in minutes! One local farmer has trained a falcon to circle around where they are and scare them off.

Our next door neighbour has a huge gum tree that shadows our backyard corner. The corellas decided to pay us a visit on Sunday!!The noise was deafening!

Some stopped for a rest or a bit of a canoodle!!

This one seems to be saying,"Well.......what the heck are you looking at!!!"

On the subject of birds, here is matchbox number 2...

postage stamps, origami paper, galah feathers