Harvested the tomato seeds finally!.

I finally spent a few mins getting all the seeds out of the 4 Amish Paste tomatoes i had brought in to try and ripen and save the seed from. I have loads of seed floating round the jar separating themselves from the pulp and they should be ready to dry in a couple of days.

Am getting the recipe cards done for the 2 swaps i'm in. Am all completed for the aussie forum one, just need to send. for the UKS one, i've done 5 of the 10 and have til the end of the month, so thats all under control!.

popped into M & S this arvo and picked up a tin of biscuits, so i can use the tin afterwards as my sewing tin!!. its in the shape of an open book, with lots of fun M&S scenes on the top from days gone by. its a nice big rectangle and will hold the scissors nicely!. the biscuits inside are rather yummy as well!!!.

Finally got to the allotment!.

With the college course starting and homework associated with that, i have struggled to give the allotment much time....thankfully its the winding down season anyway, but i still had a few 'must do's' to do!.
I spent 2.5hrs up there this morning and got all my onions and garlic into my newly dug bed, so am feeling alot better now things now....that was a big job, and i can now cross it off!. i've got red and white onions, and 4 varieties of garlic that i brought when i went to Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. sadly one of the bulbs was iffy at the base, so only 2 of the cloves were any good....but thats ok....i'll use one bulb and taste it, and if i like it, will use the second for seed for the following year!.
i pulled up all the plum tomato plants as well.....i rescued a good handfull of green toms and have put them on a tray in the closed growhouse, so maybe they will ripen in there in the sun. the 4 i have at home are all red now and i will harvest the seed tomorrow arvo, along with a few of LM's toms!.
the last job done today was the plant the loganberry in the berry bed.
so a good mornings work done.
i shall try and take a few new pics, as i havent yet managed to rescue the old allotment pics off the old laptop.

a big kiss to......

MWG!!!!.....
thank you for reading and commenting on my blog.....it puts a smile on my face to see you there. Miss you heaps and hope to see you up our way sometime soon.
lots of love,
the kiwi flavoured jelly xxx

attempting to add some pretty pictures!!

I've had limited success with my tomatoes this year....the early planted ones got eaten by slugs and that set me back in getting a plant to fruit before the frosts started.
i managed to grow some Amish Paste cooking tomatoes and by early sept had a truss of 4 or 5 beauties.....


then about 3 weeks ago i started to see threads on the grapevine regarding the colder nights and decided to cut that truss off and bring it indoors to continue to ripen so i could harvest the seed. i set them on a plate with some bananas and other ripe toms (LM's ones that grew brilliantly this year!), and finally this week, they have started to turn red....yipppeeee!!.


this is a picture of what i harvested at the allotment today....runner beans, purple french beans and yes, that is a strawberry!!. plus some other bean pods for drying and saving the seed!.

probably biting off more than i can chew!!

I have decided to have a go at making a quilt for LM using a pile of her old baby clothes cut into 6 x 6" squares, and backed with an old blanket she used to play on when she couldnt move!. I think its a great idea, just not sure if i can pull it off!!.
I'll finish the scrapping projects i've got first, then make a start on it over xmas, and hope to have a good chunk of it done before allotment season really kicks into gear in March!.

Still having no luck at getting the old laptop back on to a state where i can get more photos off it. I may have to hand it to someone yet who can at least get me to that point. Gotta get into the habit of backing up more!.

Thats about all for now....having a relax before college tomorrow.....dont like 5 day weeks very much!.

I'm going to keep this blog, otherwise i'll never end up keeping one!

* cut and pasted from the live journal one, which i am going to delete!

I hadn't been certain i had much to blog about here....i'm kinda in a 'no mans land' as i'm not in my own flat, not eating the way i want to etc, so havent kept up with this.
However over the past week i've sorted some life things out in my head and decided to get back to this and record the next part of my journey to root planting!.
I've decided that i want to be in Australia by the time my niece turns 3.....4 at the latest, so that gives me another 2-3 yrs here in the UK. Early next year i will move out of this place and into a studio in a bid to save some more money and to force me to cull some of the stuff i currently have in storage!. I only want to ship the essentials to OZ when the time comes.....not lifes essentials btw, my essentials!!!.
Tomorrow i start college for 12wks......i'm doing an assessors certificate and in doing some research have discovered this is a role in OZ as well, so that is good for the future....i'll use this few years to train up, gain experience then launch myself on the aussies!!. I'm looking forward to this change.....i'm about ready for a change from kids for a while so this is the perfect role for me....imparting my knowledge and experience in those who will do the caring. I'll still be nannying 3 days a week with the girls but in the new year will make the change to full time assessing work.
Tomorrow also marks the start of the 5 day week for me again after the best part of 3 years!. It will probably be that way now for the next 5 or so years so i can build up the money in order to buy some land in OZ to continue my dream of self reliance.

The dream remains.....to be self reliant as much as possible and that should be well and truely possible in Australia. At the moment i'm looking at land prices in northern Vic and northern NSW.......just getting an idea of price and whats around. both those areas seem to have good growing climates and a decent rainfall per year. I've reaquainted myself with an aussie forum on simple living and have got involved in a recipe swap on that!.
speaking of recipe swaps....i've also joined the UKS xmas recipe swap, so the old creative grey matter needs to get kicked back into gear big time.....10 6 x 6 recipes to be made, plus a couple for the aussie one, and on top of that finish last years JYC, and make a pressie for my parents to be posted by the beginning of dec!. Just as well the allotment is quietening down!.

The allotment has been fab this season, altho a few things have suffered the too much rain/not enough sun that has been this summer. my successes have been beans, strawberries, spuds along with a good handful of onions, leeks, raspberries, lettuce. my failures have been many!. mostly due to slugs/planting to late or lack of enough sun. my sweetcorn all grew but is running out of time....i doubt the cobs will be ripen enough!.
next year i need to learn successional sowing better, and plant more for storage foods.....tomatoes for cooking, beans for drying etc.

Theres a chance i'm being taken to New York at the end of Jan to celebrate LM's fathers 50th. If thats the case i am seriously considering bring back a proper pressure canner in order to help preserve and store my harvest. The cheapest way to get one is to bring one back, because you pay more for shipping the item than you do the item. I just need to investigate it a bit more!.
Another reason for getting it now is to use this time before going to the land to learn lots of skills that are going to liveblood skills once i get there. the allotment is one learning curve, and preserving the harvest is the next important one i believe.

WOW! mammoth post. i'll close for now, and see how many people are actually reading this!!. please comment if you do stop by for a look to see if i've done anything....would be nice to know someones reading my drivel!.

hmmm....just done a preview of this.....loads written and more to say!. LM's quilt, new glimmer mists!!!, new books!. i'll save them for another post.
I did notice and ad at the bottom....not sure i like that idea and may end up moving the blog again.....i've not found livejournal user friendly....perhaps its cos i dont use it enough!.
right outta here.....x-factors on in 15!.

ANZAC DAY

FOR THE FALLEN
LAWRENCE BINYON

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrows up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted:
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England’s foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the night.

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end they remain.