Blackboy Peaches

Three trees is probably two too many, they all came ready at once on the weekend. I think everyone else in the district may have them in their back yard too because I can't even give them away. Skatey takes about 6 to school everyday, the other children maybe have one a day. I collected as many as I had the time and patience to deal with and got the dehydrator out in desperation, the other kids seem to like them better dried anyway, they will probably only last a few weeks dried unless I hide some. If I lived closer to my brother I would go to his house to dehydrate, he creates his own electricity with a water wheel and windmill. He has so much power he's thinking of building a heated pool.
May be one day he'll come and create free energy for me!! Other things we have done with them is put them into fruit muffins, make a peach chutney, bottle them in syrup, stew them and freeze.
Maybe I should try a little wine making or brandied peaches....
Anyway Black boy peaches, so easy to grow form seed (stone), almost disease free, low maintenance - just give a winter and summer prune. Plant comfrey underneath.
Walah, fruit in 3-4 years.
I have plenty of seedlings if anyone wants one.

Thrifty finds

Vintage curtains
Our little town sometimes yields great thrifty finds. We have a Hospice shop, Red Cross, and a Salvation Army. The Red Cross ladies are my favorites but I often find the best things at the other shops. I love to see what Jannelle has found each month, her finds usually make me wish I was visiting the thrift stores in her neighbourhood. This last month I think my finds are worth a mention. Boy's room, re-created warm curtains
Warm thermal curtains, too short for the window so I added a striped fabric and a wool backing to make the boys room cosy for winter. Skatey helped me hang a new curtain rail, he's better on a drill than me. He has a quilt on his wall for warmth as well.
A spiral bound book of Enid Gilchrist patterns

Merino off cuts

Probably my favorite find this month, Merino fabric off cuts at the market one Sunday. Perfect timing for making winter clothing, hoodies and long sleeve tops for the small children. We all need an extra layer in the morning when we do our outside jobs. Picking fruit for school lunches, with warm new tops.

Autumn snuck up

while I was sewing and performing my other role of children's taxi driver, teacher, confidence booster, reminder er, bed maker, cook, washerwoman, and nurse. Wet beds, a trip twice to Nelson for a teen's broken finger, Skatey for two dental visits with the burden of paying for braces, bigger shoes and teaching to tie laces, reminding to go to math tutorials and to take instruments to school, covering up a guinea pig at midnight in the rain, figuring out if hay fever warrants a visit to the Dr, treating the dog for fleas, cleaning the chookhouse and organising someone to clean the chimney.

Autumn arrived, while I was busy. It hasn't been my best year for gardening, the weekend breather has revealed fresh weeds after rain and the summer crops setting seeds. A storm skirted by us, but we got enough wind to blow the corn down and cause us to look for some extra warm blankets and clothes.

Thankfully I might save some grocery money for (skateys) braces from the peaches, grapes, apples, berries, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs and eggs from the garden.

Meanwhile we're going to grab every last whiff of summer that we can. When did summers start to pass so quickly?

Kids clothes

"Sewing clothes kids love" is a book having a good influence on me at the moment. My colour combos and trims and not as daring as those in the book, though the patterns are truly delightful weather embellished or plain. The Capable of flying blog is written by the book's author and has some great links to other peoples creations from the book.
It has given me the confidence to try some great colour and pattern combos, with great results. Also influencing me has been Carefree clothes for girls, as yet I haven't made up any of the patterns provided, but the use of recycled hand stitched linen and crochet is adorable and inspiring, the colour palette using lots of linen and natural colours is a complete contrast to the other book I mentioned.
So the two youngest kids now have some good autumn additions to their wardrobes for school and Montessori.

I think I'm all sewed out for now, my temperamental over locker and I are calling it quits for a bit while we are still on good terms with each other, but what a productive week. Quite proud too that out of all of those fabrics only three pieces were bought new all the others have been sourced at the local op shops or as gifts from sewers downsizing their stash.

For a total change of scene and pace this weekend we'll be hanging out at Taste Tasman.
It looks as if it will be a great event.

Our house

I loved Melissa's question "Do you have an imaginary house somewhere?"

I do.

There is even a picture of it on our fridge.

Next to the gold cards that Skatey is very proud of.

We even have a story about our imaginary house. It is a ramshackle old villa within walking distance of the sea. There's fretwork around the veranda with saplings growing up through the decking and creepers winding up around the pillars. Some sweet jasmine sneaks it's way into the kitchen where baskets of herbs and vegetables are stacked waiting for preservation. Lemon verbena, thyme, Echinacea, and walnuts drying, a cat is watching a mouse. Herbal tinctures and dried herbs in dark glass jars line the shelves alongside picked onions and brandied cherries. An ancient coal range bakes bread, heats water and in winter we warm our feet in it's oven while coffee peculates on top. The attic has spiders, creaky floorboards and sunlight streaming in, a family quilt covers the bed. There are secret passages and a dark and creepy staircase. Outside the grounds are full of native birdsong because the cats and dog are too old to chase. There are beehives and a goat out back near a stream with a water wheel. Silly old sheep come when you call them and possums eat my roses and apples. Wildflowers do their own gardening as the sound of the waves crash and whales are sighted in the distance.

For Skatey there's a shed where he's restoring an old car, for teen there's Internet connection, for Pj Granny lives there too and for the red head there are monarch butterflies and books.

Do you have an imaginary house somewhere?