Monsanto CAN SHOVE IT ....this kid says so!

Be My Valentine Recipe Challenge

My good friend Simcha who I often mention on my blog is one of the judges of the "Be my Valentine Recipe Challenge" that is being run by "Very Good Recipes"

You can read all about the challenge here

Think about entering.

It's pretty awesome, well I think so.

Good Luck

Caroline xo

January Egg Count

One of our beautiful Barnvelder hens-these are the chooks

that lay the lovely brown eggs.

We had 10 chicks hatch this month (naturally- no incubators here)

This sent our egg count down as we had 2 hens that were sitting.

Our egg count was from 14 hens & then from the 9th January was from 13 hens.

Total eggs for the month was 188

I thought it was okay seeing as some hens are now on there 3rd year of lay & also the big variation in weather we have been having.

and this is the Daddy. Our Barnvelder Rooster who has just the quietest temperament but still looks after his ladies well.

Caroline ....

Novella Carpenter - Farm City

I am reading.....

Farm City

The Education of an

Urban Farmer

by Novella Carpenter

It's interesting how you come to read certain books at times. This book was lent to me by my good friend Simcha who blogs over at Turkish Cooking, Everyday.

Simcha has recently come back to Australia to live after many years of living in Turkey. This book was sent to her while she lived in Turkey by an American blogging friend (sorry can't remember their blog)

When Simcha & her family recently returned to live here - bringing only a suitcase each, it was one of the things she just had to bring. Goes to show how much this book has been enjoyed.

You can listen to Novella Carpenter on utube here

I have nearly finished this book & I can thoroughly recommend it, especially to people that may wonder how much food can really be produced on a small amount of ground.

She is one very Cool! lady.

Urban and rural collide in this wry, inspiring memoir of a woman who turned a vacant lot in downtown Oakland into a thriving farm

Novella Carpenter loves cities-the culture, the crowds, the energy. At the same time, she can't shake the fact that she is the daughter of two back-to-the-land hippies who taught her to love nature and eat vegetables. Ambivalent about repeating her parents' disastrous mistakes, yet drawn to the idea of backyard self-sufficiency, Carpenter decided that it might be possible to have it both ways: a homegrown vegetable plot as well as museums, bars, concerts, and a twenty-four-hour convenience mart mere minutes away. Especially when she moved to a ramshackle house in inner city Oakland and discovered a weed-choked, garbage-strewn abandoned lot next door. She closed her eyes and pictured heirloom tomatoes, a beehive, and a chicken coop.

What started out as a few egg-laying chickens led to turkeys, geese, and ducks. Soon, some rabbits joined the fun, then two three-hundred-pound pigs. And no, these charming and eccentric animals weren't pets; she was a farmer, not a zookeeper. Novella was raising these animals for dinner. Novella Carpenter's corner of downtown Oakland is populated by unforgettable characters. Lana (anal spelled backward, she reminds us) runs a speakeasy across the street and refuses to hurt even a fly, let alone condone raising turkeys for Thanksgiving. Bobby, the homeless man who collects cars and car parts just outside the farm, is an invaluable neighborhood concierge. The turkeys, Harold and Maude, tend to escape on a daily basis to cavort with the prostitutes hanging around just off the highway nearby. Every day on this strange and beautiful farm, urban meets rural in the most surprising ways.

For anyone who has ever grown herbs on their windowsill, tomatoes on their fire escape, or obsessed over the offerings at the local farmers' market, Carpenter's story will capture your heart. And if you've ever considered leaving it all behind to become a farmer outside the city limits, or looked at the abandoned lot next door with a gleam in your eye, consider this both a cautionary tale and a full-throated call to action. Farm City is an unforgettably charming memoir, full of hilarious moments, fascinating farmers' tips, and a great deal of heart. It is also a moving meditation on urban life versus the natural world and what we have given up to live the way we do.

I Heart This.....

Why?

because I do rustic REAL well

AND

if I ever have a kitchen that it can be put in, it will be there before I can say

"I LOVE rustic butcher blocks"

Caroline xo

Ham & Cheese Scrolls

Ham & Cheese Scrolls

Brought to us by an up & coming cook .

WATCH out for his name in lights.....

Not to mention utterly delicious on a wet Sunday.

Hope your having a lovely day

Caroline xo

Aussie Soldiers

Lane with "Stan the Ram" mascot for 8/9 RAR

Love these kind of photos- look at

the Soldiers right legs all perfectly sync'd.

As far as the eye can see......

We are so proud of each & everyone of you & the sacrifices you all have to make.

Another Update- Emerald's Sleep Apnoea

For the ones that have asked of late-

It seems like we finally have a handle on Emerald's sleep apnoea & with many thanks to her fantastic surgeon the operations a success and she doesn't have to sleep on a CPAP machine. Thank goodness for that it would have been devastating at such an age.

Mind you she wasn't overly impressed with the ultra fashionably leg wear she had to wear her entire hospital stay!!

Of course waiting around hospitals is never easy

but....

if you have to be in a hospital The Noosa Private Hospital was great.

Fantastic care & attention & the nursing staff were lovely & very attentive.

This was the lovely bush view from Emerald's hospital bed, such a lovely peaceful setting has just got to be an advantage with patients convalescing. There was always something new to see looking out the window. Plenty of birds flitting around along with lizards scurrying to & fro.

Must say very good for mothers sitting beside for MANY hours.

and so life continues....

Have a great weekend (flooding in our area again)

Caroline xo

Summer Fun

Cooling off

Totally oblivious that a crocodile is about to amputate

a leg or two

Watermelon, Swimming & Summer

Enjoying a Snuggle

Caroline xo

Mooloolaba Fish Market

On the New Years Day holiday we had on Monday we went over to The Mooloolaba Fish Market to get a last bit of holiday seafood. We LOVE this place for seafood, they have their own boats so it is fresh fresh fresh.

While over there picking up our seafood we got a serve of their calamari, they soak it in milk & garlic overnight & it really is the most tenderness, flavourful calamari I have ever had. Everything is really fresh, filleted in-house & the staff are SO helpful even when it is busy(& believe me it gets super busy at times)

So in-case your wondering if I've been paid or have received product for this good plug, I haven't (they don't even know I'm doing it) I simply like good service combined with good products something I think is sorely missing of late.

So if you live or are travelling/holidaying in the area try it, give it a go & let me know what you think?

This year I'm going to tell you a few more places I like to go.

Good service /product deserves a good word & is much nicer than complaining about the bad that seems to be so common now.

Where do you like to go/shop/eat??

Caroline