Summer holidays

Summer holidays have come and gone and even though grandchildren have returned to the city and are preparing for school, there are still several weeks of summer left here in Nanne's garden,
The highlights of this year's holidays were: cutting, collecting and storing hay and driving cars; playing in the hayshed; baby sitting chicks; riding lessons on  Cindy AND Mez for the older girls; motor bike lessons (with gears); buggy rides with Cindy; playing with Molly and Lola; playing in the old barn loft, and for me, feeding them all their favourite foods and just having them here. A great summer!

..... and visiting Grandnan

Hand-made Christmas Gifts 2016

I had a lot of fun making home made Christmas presents this year, starting early (for once) and embroidering some felt horses and hearts in the Swedish style. Each grandchild received a pair, with their name on the horse and my name and year on the heart. The idea for the gifts came from 2 places: Pinterest, and some named ornaments given to my own children 35 years ago by my 'American mother'.

The boys of the family received either Caramel or Hot Fudge Sauce, recipes from my mother and taste.com, decoration from Pinterest.

For the girls, knitted cotton washcloths and a nice soap, idea from saylittlehen.com

 My mother received a cushion cover made from a polka-dot cotton to match her quilt and a piece of an old lace tablecloth that graced her sitting room for many, many years. Idea from Pinterest. I have enough of the vintage cloth to make two more cushion covers.

I often wonder if other bloggers think that posting one's activity on the web is a tad arrogant. I know I do, and have heard it said also. Every now and again I decide to stop, but then I take such inspiration from other bloggers and wonder where I'd be without their contributions. I imagine it's how artists feel when they exhibit, or writers when they publish. If no-one published, we'd all be impoverished. So I blog, and thank the rest of you who do also. Some of my favourites are on the left hand side bar... totally recommended.

December Fruit and Flower

I can't say I'm a big fan of summer, because I hate being hot, and heat keeps me indoors. But what I do love about summer is all the fruit and flower. The garden is producing like mad and most days I'm either picking and freezing fruit or pruning, mulching and watering the flower garden. I just love the bounty of it all.
Here are a few pics of what is fruiting and flowering at the moment.

 Who doesn't love hydrangeas? I have several colours along the back of the house and this year they have done a good job of covering up the bareness.

 Another favourite that I like to see out my kitchen window, cosmos.

Then there's the old Coral Tree which leaves such a pretty red carpet below.

 Boysenberries and strawberries, coming thick and fast. Some have made it onto ice cream but the rest will have to bide their time in the freezer till time allows for jam making.

 Zucchini, NOT Pa's favourite, probably use I grow so many and dish them up ad nausea all summer in every kind of disguise. Soup too.

 Sunflowers for fun and chooks, peas on an old piece of reo.

Clematis growing happily along the new verandah railing