In the garden today

With perfect weather this morning, and feeling somewhat better,I decided it was time to get into the garden again....

Armed with my two favourite gardening books, for inspiration and advice,I spent a good part of the day in the garden. Weeding was long overdue and thanks to hubby, I had a wheelbarrow full of the best compost from our compost heap as well as a bag of Alpaca manure compliments of my dad. Lots to be done!

Thankfully I had some willing helpers. We planted some leek seeds, carrot seeds and peas.I am amazed at how such tiny little seeds grow and produce plants and fruits. I still love the sense of satisfaction when I pick something from the garden for the table.

The kiddies planted out their seedlings from our Soil for Life visit, each planting their own pot with lettuce, spring onions, parsley and strawberries, which according to my books, are good companions.

That does look like the perfect spot to rest and soak up some winter sun after a good morning of gardening!

Care to put your feet up?

Look how Z's footstool turned out!

I am thankful for...

......the beauty of creation (we saw these vines today on our run around)

......the long chat today with a dear friend overseas

......the sweet smile of my precious 6 week old nephew

......the unconditional love shown by my family

......the weekend

Yum yum...

The youngest two members of our family spend a fair amount of time in the kitchen helping to prepare delicious food for the family to enjoy. Hubby does homemade pizzas and burgers and things like toasted sandwiches and J is usually very busy with his school work load, training or teaching so he doesn't get to do much in the kitchen except grab himself a sandwich or some yogurt.....

Last night that all changed! We have decided that once a month on a chosen day, Hubby and J will prepare a meal for the family. I will have nothing to do with what is chosen, any necessary shopping or the cooking of said meal and each month they have to try a recipe they have not made before.....

We had a feast last night!

My dear husband spent time looking through recipe books earlier in the week. The meal was to be kept secret and he and J planned who would do what. Unfortunately J has not been well so Hubby took over completely and made us a splendid meal.

He chose to make paella, the most delicious paella I have ever eaten! I have never attempted to make it myself and thought it great that he chose something that was totally different from what we normally eat. It was better than any paella I have eaten in a restaurant.

Desert was a lemon cheesecake with hazelnut praline topping .... he made the base, used gelatine and made the praline himself ....very impressive indeed!

When asked how he made it , the reply was "with lots of love, patience and kindness." I was truly blessed and impressed by all the trouble he went to to prepare this feast of a meal! I certainly look forward to next months dinner! The kids want Hubby to cook every night!

Sunday fun and another week gone by...

Last Sunday afternoon we had a great time with the Chaeli Sport and Recreation Club. They are a club dedicated to promoting sport and recreation for differently abled people in an inclusive environment. Membership is open to people of all abilities. We watched in awe of this talented, confident, little boy of eight who spent the afternoon dancing with his partner in a wheel chair. There was much laughter and fun as able bodied and differently abled couples took to the floor and learned the dance moves.

Redzebra (http://www.redzebraglobal.com/) then took the floor and we had an incredible time for the next hour making lots of noise!

Young and old, able bodied and differently abled were all united by the universal language of music and dance. These dynamic, energetic young men were very entertaining as they led us for the next hour in a drumming and percussion workshop.

The kids chose to play cow bells and I chose the tambourine. What a lot of noise and fun!

School took a different angle this week again as the two older kiddies succumbed to the colds and flu which are so prevalent at this time of year. K was glad to be able to lie in bed and enjoy watching a series while Z and I spent time working through his lessons.

She spent the first part of the week in bed and J the latter half. Poor boy is still not feeling great and could not teach his classes this week or train. I was really worried as his chest was tight for the first time in a while and he had a high fever. I thought he may need to go back onto his preventative asthma medication but I have kept a close eye on his chest, listening a couple of times a day with my stethoscope and thankfully his chest is doing OK.

We had plenty of fun this week trying to beat our own and each others scores on our geography game, Seterra. http://www.seterra.net/

Z completed his entry for the Chaeli campaign's annual art and poetry competition.

I thought it was very cleverly thought out by him as the theme was One Life, mind body and soul. His entry is called " The Body of Hope", depicting a body with the heart and brain showing. He put a slogan around the body saying : The Chaeli Campaign is the body of hope".

The little chef has lent a hand in the kitchen again this week....

He made us a delicious chocolate pudding all on his own.... he insisted that he do it alone!

He helped me make some herbed challah which we served with a pot of tasty soup and to snack on, low gi apricot and sunflower seed breakfast bars.

We visited my sweet little 5 week old nephew and his mom and dad. How appropriate that he was wearing his Winnie the Pooh outfit as we had just been to see the movie. It really was a sweet movie, perhaps not one I would usually see but the kids get free movies before 7pm so we took advantage of that went for the fun of it.

Until next time....

The Winter Garden

Hiding between the leaves we have aubergines in the veg garden! Last year they didn't produce any fruits. I so look forward to trying them when they are ready.

Tomatoes are still plentiful. K ate this one with her toasted sandwich at lunch today. I usually pick a couple every other day even though they are much smaller than this one.

My chili bush just does not stop producing either. It is almost time to make some more chill jam. Fresh chillies were added to our tuna fish cakes at lunch yesterday and I often add them to our dinner. We love chillies!

Broccoli has been plentiful for some time and this week we enjoyed and creamy chicken and broccoli bake.

My black basil seems to just go on and on.... what a pleasure to still be able to make pesto long after the rest of the basil has died down.

Brite lites spinach is also plentiful. Handfuls are added to salads, pasta and even curry. I am enjoying the fact that I don't have to make sure the garden is well watered for now. God is taking care of that for me!

Winter woolies

This week I have managed to finish off a number of items I have been working on for my sweet daughter to enjoy over the cold winter months. I have discovered much to my delight that I can knit while reading aloud to the children .... perhaps the reading goes a bit slower when I have to check the pattern but I am delighted to be able to put more time into knitting and 'kill two birds with one stone"!

The snood....scarf come hood!

It could have been a bit wider but in general it looks good.

Fun fingerless mittens with twist....thank you Shirley for the fluffy wool!

My first attempt at leg warmers.

(Funny how the fashion from my youth is now back in fashion!)