Graduation at last

Way back in January I remember throwing a temper tantrum or two over the horror of studying part-time whilst working full time. Eventually I got it together - you can read about the experiences here and there.

Today I got confirmation that it was all worth while. I traipsed into town to the Post Office to collect an unknown, unexpected parcel. I had an aha moment when I saw the logo on the large envelope. I decided not to wait until October to receive my testamur in Armidale. I've graduated twice before, finishing was enough.

So here it is, my Graduate Diploma of Management.

Its not the Academy Awards but I reserve the right to make a short speech and thank all those who encouraged me. Firstly Howard for encouraging me to finish, to my Mum, Sister and niece as always. And to friends and followers of my blog for the kind words when I almost threw my computer at the wall. I am so glad to have finished, to have won and as always to have learnt new things. 

Harvest time and hearty winter soups

Its still early enough in winter that we are able to harvest vegetables here in the Southern Highlands. My neighbour grew this magnificent pumpkin. It is a Queensland blue, from my home state, a lovely looking pumpkin. Cutting them is a real challenge though. You need a cleaver.  I poked my biggest knife into the top as far as I could get it then banged the whole lot against the chopping board until I broke through. They are daunting but they taste good. I made pumpkin soup, roast pumpkin and a curry.

 We haven't had a frost so the potatoes are still growing. I filled a bucket with spuds from just one spot  in the garden. There are many more to pull up but they are tricky to store. Inevitably I won't find them all so they will self-seed next season. Yet again lots of warming soup opportunities reside in this bucket.

The largest potato I have grown came out of a narrow space between a garden bed and a fence. There is actually a chunk still in the ground under the fence that I couldn't dig out that will start next year's crop. You can just see the sliced off end on the left. Isn't it crazy!

Hope you are keeping warm and toasty if you are with me in the Southern Hemisphere. I had a load of wood delivered today so we have a roaring fire going. 

Using silicone cupcake molds for soap making

 Commercial soap molds are often made of silicone and cupcake molds can be used as excellent substitutes. As with plastic molds there are a number of considerations to be taken when choosing.

  Firstly size - I've rejected many molds as they would make a cake of soap that is simply too large to hold comfortably in your hand. Secondly narrow protruding shapes would simply snap off as you handled the soap so I suggest you avoid those too.  I found these rose and insect molds which make a lovely piece of soap. These will make lovely gifts.


Today I made a double batch of my favourite olive oil goats milk soap. The goats milk and caustic soda go a strong orange for a while but the soap turns out a creamy colour in the end.  It feels creamy when you use it too.

The only challenge with these silicone soap molds is moving them before the soap hardens. They are so flexible the soap can slosh around so place them on a hard tray to shift them. In a few days time when the soap is hard they will come out of the molds very easily.

Road trip from Robertson - Crookwell and Taralga

OMG this weekend we bought our first brand new car. We collected it last night and went on a road trip today to the small country NSW towns of Crookwell, Laggan, Roslyn and Taralga. Taralga as my favourite. I have a mission this year to visit places I have never been before and there are many within a 2 hour radius.

I love old signage!!

Our new car!

Down town Crookwell, Busy little town until noon Saturday then deathly quiet. We went to the pub bistro for which the only vegetarian option was an olive, onion and capsicum melt- yuck! - me asking for my own avo, tomato and cheese version caused a fuss.  It was freezing there yet no locals seem to have heard of a coat - so Australian! We drove through several localities: Laggan, Roslyn and finally to Taralga which is gorgeous. 

Planting flowers for spring: Ranunculas

Today on a cool, wet, early Winter day here in Robertson I planted almost 100 ranuncula bulbs for Spring.

I created the curved garden inside our fence line a few years ago after being inspired by a visit to Monet's garden in Giverny. The dominant colour scheme is blue and yellow but I have thrown in a few random mixes like these ranunculas that flower after the daffodils are mostly spent.

Lately it has become overgrown with clumps of grass. Yet I have been surprised season after season how easily I can restore it: a couple of hours weeding and mulching and it looks lovely again. Today I weeded, covered gaps between the perennial lavender, sea spray, Marguerite and African daisies with horse manure and freshly made mulch from the hedge pruning we did a month ago. And planted these divine bulbs to fill in the gaps.  Howard mowed too so it won't need any attention now for months but will give us a lovely display to herald the Spring.

A walk around Robertson on a winter Sunday

New chair from old

We have collected and renovated a number of 1950s outdoor chairs. They are all a little different in shape and size. So, to marry them together, we've painted them in basic black and used the same timber to replace the old rotten slats.

We now have four around my favourite mosaic table on our back verandah. I'm on the lookout for more though. Can you have too many outdoor chairs?