the photo post!

little E at 3 weeks old, in the outfit i sent her.

groovy blurry photo of the allotment next to mine....altho those are my spuds just beyond the toms.
i can grow tomatoes!!!.

errmm....demijohns...and ermmm...there were 2 more in the car plus 2 boxes of stuff(which i still havent looked at!).

this post could have various titles.....

a) 'how cool is freecycle?'
b) 'let the winemaking commence!'
c) 'OMG, what was i thinking!!!'
d) 'hope my mother doesnt read my blog!'

a couple of weeks ago i noticed on freecycle someone was giving away some demijohns and winepress, so i sent off my email saying yes please, but was to late. i had noticed some others before but never heard back from the guy. at that time i posted on SSish that there was some on my freecycle and other than wine, what else could you make in them. everybody said grab them and you can make anything!!. so i was gutted the guy never got back to me. then this lot came up and again i was too late......or so i thought....
on saturday i got an email from the guy saying the 1st offeree hadnt bothered to turn up and the haul was mine if i still wanted it!!. so i said yes please and could collect sun or mon. the wife rung me back and it was arranged to collect this morning!.
and i have.....i now have 15 clear and 6 brown glass demijohns, and 2 boxes of wine making equipment which i havent explored yet!. the wife said they were just sitting in her dads shed and should go to a good home!.
i notice on SSish this morning, there's thread about blackberry wine, and there's loads of them at the allotment, so maybe i should try that....free berries in free equipment.....very little to buy....would be an excellent start!.
will post a pic of the boot full of bottles, as well as some other pics from the allotment once i have taken them off the camera and resized them.

oh!, and if anyone(read ally!!) is wondering why????????......its all part of the whole self reliance thing hunni...i havent really lost my marbles!.

first ever harvest!!.

this morning i harvested some potatoes......WOW!!....how amazing is that!. i took the girls up to the allotment to plant some runners (gonna give them another go and hope for the best!), and noticed one of the potato plants had alot of yellow leaves, so decided to lift it and see what was underneath!. there was a couple of green spuds, cos i didnt earth up at all!, a couple that housed some slugs and the rest were fine!. i gave one to LM for her dinner...and had a mouthful, and have brought the rest home....and they are cooking now!!

this is big!!!.....i have never eaten anything i have grown before! i have taken a photo of a couple of them and will upload it later, plus a report on the taste.....which we all know will be outstanding.....spuds fresh from the ground.....underground 12hrs ago....etc etc etc!!.

SSish Day and Freecycle

Yesterday was the 1st ever Self Sufficientish Day.....a day when we were asked not to spend on the forum(not that i spend ages!), and to do something that follows the whole self sufficiency ideal. so i cut up the bassinette sheets i had got at the car boot sale and made wee wipes. OMG....how wonderful are they?! flannelette instead of toilet paper!.....theres nothing else you need to say!. (for those worried about visiting the ladies at my flat....i still have toilet paper!)

today i finally got a positive result from freecycle!. i've tried a couple of times before to take some items that were offered. the 1st time the person didnt reply to my email. the 2nd time i was to late for a old push mower....would have been good for the lottie, and finally yesterday i got the goods!!....well, got the call, and collected tonight!. i took a pile of 'grow your own' vege gardening magazines.

have the week off work and have visited the lottie a few times...so much so, that i have overworked some muscles in my legs and back. so have done a few chores round the flat, then will go back to there tomorrow or over the weekend.

and here she is......

awwwwww.....bless.......xxxxx

I'M AN AUNTIE!!!

I'm an auntie to a girl baby, who i heard bleating when she was an hour old!!!.
CONGRATULATIONS Ali and Ian xxx

phew!, its still sunday night in NZ!!.

I promised Squig i would update over the weekend, and i'm cutting it fine!!.

I havent really updated cos there hasnt been much to tell.....i've been working or babysitting, and not getting to the allotment as much as i should due to rain. however i make strides each time i go. the spuds are all flowering, i have one pea left, but suspect the slugs will eat that!. i have some french beans that have come up since monday, and a sweetcorn plant. most of the toms have survived the transplant and my rose is full of new growth, so hopefully i'll get another couple of flowers from it this year!.

so to pics....

this is the most recent allotment pic, altho its from about a month ago and alot has changes since then.

this is my rose....Abraham Darby

heres the girls enjoying a dip in the lid of the sandpit.....LM got a swimming pool for her birthday a week ago, but this photo was taken before then. it wasnt quite warm enough for them to be it it, but they insisted, hence they've still got clothes on!!.

and just for Ian.....just to prove the aussie hat you gave me for xmas does get worn......

so thats the update. i'll get a more recent lottie pic this weekend after i've done some work on it!.

next update should be from auntie rachel in a weeks time to announce B or E's arrival!.