Saturday, April 22, 2017

Autumns Bounty

Greetings dear friends & readers & Happy Weekend to you all

For quite sometime now I have felt more than keen to pull my vegie garden to bits, give it a good dig over & a fertilise & prepare it for my winter planting
The garden however, has had plans of its own ..... & has kept producing at a steady pace (due I think, to all our rain of late)

Early last week I managed to harvest the above .  .  . pumpkins, courgettes, green peppers & tomatoes


Every second day I gather the walnuts & have so far filled 3 baskets full as well as given bagfulls away

Then just this morning, I picked more green peppers & tomatoes ... the little tomato plant purchased for $1.50 from The Hummingbird & tossed in the ground with complete neglect ... not even a stake to hold it up .... has produced wonders !!
I have free flowed several bags full of tomatoes in the freezer for winter soups & casseroles

I babysat my grandson Alec on Thursday & we gathered 2 large bucket loads of feijoas ..... so of course, a cake had to be made !!
Feijoa & Coconut Cake .... served with a dollop of whipped cream - Alec's favourite (& mine!!)

We had a two hour outing to the Hamilton Gardens to feed the ducks ... this little boy is such a delight & has such a joy for life
Here he is laughing over putting his hat on the wrong way!!


I was also lucky enough to be asked to babysit this little cherub above ... dear little Sid, my newest grandson, just 3 weeks old today.

These doiley flower pincushions are about the only sewing I have managed this past week .... these are to go to another outlet that are keen to stock some of my craft work 

Because they will be handled I thought it wise to pop them in some cellophane bags to protect them

While browsing in Hospice last week I came across these two china jugs - Swinnertons, Staffordshire England 
 I loved the rose pattern on the side ... $18 for the pair so they Had to come home with me.
My friend Joyce was dividing up her rabbits foot fern so I thought I would try a small clump in the largest Jug.


Though our temperatures are cold now that autumn is in full swing, I noticed how beautiful my old wringer washing machine planted with Impatiens (Busy Lizzies) still looked.
This has had total neglect this summer - yet it has thrived under the old Silk Tree in the corner of my garden.
We will soon have frosts which will finish it for the year.

Thanks so much for your visits today dear readers
I have no furry ones photos to share today (Sorry Willie!!) but I did come across this picture on the web & had to share it as, not only did I love the verse, but it reminded me of a certain 4-legged fairy that currently resides at my house & thinks she is invincible !!!
(in fact I am SURE she has somehow managed to sneak into that photo !!!)
Have a wonderful weekend - be kind to yourselves & to each other
with much love & friendship,
Julie & the furry ones x0x0x0

21 comments:

  1. Wow! What a wonderful vegie bounty you have gathered. I love your pretty pincushions. Grandies are such fun. Your new bubba is adorable xx

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  2. I forgive you Julie...I forgive you! (just). :).
    Good old Winston Churchill...Lot relating to
    England to~day...even Staffordshire Pottery, and
    that's where my daughter lives..Stoke~On~Trent
    actually, but it's in Stafford!

    Love all the fruit and veg..And, walnuts, you
    grow walnuts..that's amazing..love walnuts, well,
    all nuts really! But not the ones that go with
    bolts..! :).
    I love peppers to, cooked in any way, though l make
    a wicked peperonata..Two of my recipes have been
    adopted by two restaurants..and nice with garlic bread!
    Typically Sicilian..!

    It ALL looks lovely Julie..as usual..and little Sid's
    taking a leaf out of Blackies book..Fast asleep..Bless
    him!x

    Nearly seven over here..think l'll pop down for another
    lemon tea, pop back for another look and another read...
    So, best pop off then...HeHe! Ciao! Ciao!
    Enjoy yer nuts! :).

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  3. Your garden is doing super well Julie, it is interesting how neglected plants seem to do so well and the ones we fuss over seem not to!! That seems to happen here all the time! Love the pin cushions,I am sure they will sell well. Am envious over your feijoa supply!! We planted a tree here last September, think it will be a while before we see fruit! Wonderful for you to spend time with your two gorgeous grandsons!! Those jugs are beautiful, my Mum had some like that hiding in cupboards somewhere!!

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  4. Love that quote. My goodness your veggie garden is amazing. All that colourful and healthy produce....you certainly have green fingers, Julie. 'Tis getting chilly here too. All our produce has given up the ghost, so to speak. =) Your grandsons are so sweet. How lovely to spend time with them and enjoy such exciting outings such as feeding the ducks. Love those jugs that just HAD to come home with you......of course they did!!

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  5. Hi Julie! Oh, those grands are adorable! I have never heard of the fruit you made the cake from!
    Your pincushions are very pretty!
    I think New Zealand is a big beautiful garden! Everything still looks gorgeous!
    Take care, sweet one.

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  6. Hi Julie, wow look at all those walnuts and the rest of your wonderful harvest, so jealous, we dont even have a lemon tree any more :-(
    Your grandsons are just adorable, lucky them to have such a caring granny.
    Love your old washer, can still picture my mum at our old one, then she went and got a twin tub lol.
    Was going to ask for the recipe for your feijoa cake, but no point, they charge an arm and a leg over here for feijoas, we do get a few things from NZ at Coles, had a lovely Pinky bar a few weeks back, havent had one of those in years. Hope you have a lovely week Julie. Chris xoxo

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    1. Hi Chris, if you click on the name of the cake on my post, it will link you to the recipe. It says to use 3/4's cup of feijoas but I use one cupfull. This is actually only 2 largish feijoas chopped up, so wouldn't cost too much if you had to buy the feijoas. It is a really delicious cake & keeps for ages too ... tho' it doesn't last too long in this house. Have a great week too Chris, thanks for your lovely comment xxx

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    2. I went to get some, and but no such luck, they didn't have any, thanks for the link, might try it with other fruit instead, thanks Julie.

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  7. It's amazing how Mother Nature decides if more fruits come, we certainly live by her rules! Love all the harvesting you've been doing. I had to laugh....isn't it just gorgeous that such a big giggle can come from putting your hat on the wrong way? I wish we were all like that. lol Beautiful pincushions, you have inspired me actually. I have a pattern for one of those and when I finish all my orders for people, I would love to make some of them myself. A sweet adorable gift to give someone special. Have a wonderful Sunday xx.

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  8. Wow!! such a great harvest.. your baby grandson is so adorable.. and the pin cousins are just gorgeous!!

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  9. Look at those sweet wee boys! Very very huggable. I think my Mum had one of those jugs? Great autumn harvest.

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  10. So glad you get to look after those gorgeous wee blokes in your life, precious times right there Julie! Your Tomatoes definitely were late, good for them!! I have had quite a crop of walnuts this year, must have been a good year for the Nuts maybe? Of course your pin cushions are adorable and cake had to be made.

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  11. I love that picture, I always think our smallest Chihuahua has the heart of of a wolf. How wonderful to have so much of your own veg, those tomatoes look amazing xx

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  12. Lucky you that your garden is still producing all that wonderful produce and nuts too! That little Alex looks like he would be a lot of fun. Love your pin cushions. I am wanting to make one. I have never did that before! Enjoy your week! Nancy

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  13. wow your produce looks amazing, bet it's all delicious too! thanx for visiting & yes! you should have a go at making soap, it's the most addictive thing on the planet lol! once you start you'll never go back to shop bought.
    love the furry helper you have there, have had one myself recently, not getting much knitting done with it though!
    love those jugs! they are so adorable! i have a small collection of a rose dinner set. love anything vintage (it's why i love your blog)
    gorgeous princess & the pea too, love the cot & mattresses best
    hope you're keeping well
    thanx for sharing

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  14. Hi Julie wow what a great veggie garden you have,cant beat homegrown and home made.Oh your grandies are so cute and growing fast,enjoy your cuddles xx

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  15. It all looks wonderful Julie. Dear wee grandsons, as Willie will say "bless":) Adore your pincushions. Great note to finish on with Winstone's verse.

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  16. Just popped over after being recommended to dip into your blog, Its lovely, will be back. Love the ginger cat,
    we lost our Kitty who was ginger and white a few years ago, she was the love of our lives, now have 5 calico's.
    Briony
    x

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  17. Hello Julie, your grandchildren are delightful! I love the flower pincushions and agree it was a good idea to pout them in cellophane as I would just have to pick them up if I saw them on a shelf.
    It’s funny Willie gets a mention in this post as he also gets a mention in my new post as do you (thanks to Willie). Can you believe it is May already? It will soon be summer in the UK, and it can’t come quick enough for me, I long for sunshine.

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  18. Lovely post Julie, I love autumn for all the bounty it brings :-) Such a cute photo of wee Alec and Sid looks such a sweetie. 6 degrees outside this morning, wonder what it was down your way?!

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