Kainga, where Roses bloom, life is lived at a gentler pace.Living Simply, doing all those good things like stitching, gardening, cooking and reading.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

"I know I am late but I have been cleaning!!!!"

Hello and a belated Happy Monday to you.

I am a day behind but I know it is Monday somewhere in this big wide world. I have been busy cleaning and tidying up the last week. We get one free skip bin a financial year from the Shire. So I decided to order ours and clean up the yard and the shed etc. So I am very happy to have marked that job of the list. Of course this led to a big tidy up inside Kainga. Bonnie and then Lucy decided to clean up there rooms yesterday. The local charities have been given the items they no longer wanted.

I am happy to report I am still working on the cross stitch and I am now onto the next section of the sampler. I am determined not to start anything else until this is finished.

During the Summer we mainly grow tomato in the vegie patch. This year they have thrived. I had several plants of the little cherry type.


So I got out the dehydrator to dry the tomato. I then put them in some Rice Bran Oil with several cloves of Garlic and sprigs of Rosemary. Yum, this type of food production make me very happy.


I have also made several batches of Tomato Sauce. Nothing better than home made sauce. So this week growing and turning our food into something Makes Me Happy.

As it is now Tuesday I will share a Treasure with you.


My Agapanthus that I purchased last Winter are in full bloom. These are a deep dark purple. I know  in some areas of Australia and New Zealand these are classified as weeds. There is no fear of that happening here. We really need to look after them by keeping up the water. So Agapanthus are my Tuesday's Treasure this week. 
Please check out Melody's blog to see what other Treasures are appearing this week.

Happy days.
Bev C

21 comments:

Christine M said...

I've always wondered why they say agapanthus are weeds! I think they look great when in flower. We have quite a few here too.

Queen Of The Armchair aka Dzintra Stitcheries said...

Good work Bev on your drying and bottling!!! I didn't know agapanthus was classifed as a weed in some places...I always thought they look so nice!!!

Pauline said...

Well done with the preserves, Bev. When I first moved here I put in a few Agapanthus so I would have something growing in the garden and have been trying to get rid of them ever since. In my fifth year and they are still springing up. I agree they are beautiful but they do tend to want to dominate.

Anonymous said...

great lot of homegrown preserves there Bev,well done.xx

Maria said...

OH No not the "C" word.But I guess you have to to fill that skip bin.
Your preserves look delicous and a really pretty aga.

Margaret said...

Dehydrating and bottling sounds good to me. I bought tomatoes on Friday and we made 7 bottles of sauce on the weekend. Love the place mats from an earlier post.

Francien said...

Oh that tomato sauce looks delicious Bev...can`t go wrong with those beautiful ingrediƫnts....I don`t know if we heva Agapanthus here in Holland...have to check..but i thinks it looks lovely...those colors!! and i would not mind if it is a weed or not....some weeds look very beautiful and have great flowers.....hope you find the time to do some stitching.....greetings Francien.

Valspierssews said...

Home made tomato sauce is yummy and the little dried tomatoes are very tasty. Great use of your extra produce. The agapanthus is beautiful.

Fiona said...

oh you have my mouth watering with your dried tomatoes... I bet they taste so yummy.... pretty agapanthus...they have such a brilliant colour...
Hugz

Melody said...

What a gorgeous post. My mouth positively watered at the sight of your tomatoes.

aussiequilter said...

you go girl !! Wish I had the energy to have a huge cleanup---maybe when the cooler weather comes. All my agapanthas finished flowering a couple of weeks ago but they are beautiful plants cheers teri xo

Karen said...

Great to see all the garden produce. Isn't the flavour so much better when it comes from your garden? Love it.
I think the agapanthus always looks lovely - gorgeous colour.

Sweet Cinnamon Stitches said...

You've been very busy at your place Bev! I luv the look of your dried tomatoes....I must look into a dehydrator. Aggies are lovely....they remind me of beaches & summer time.
Happy New Year Bev!!
Cheers....Jane.

Wacky Woman said...

Home grown tomatoes are the best. We call agapanthus "Freeway Flowers" here, because they plant them along their for a bit of beauty.

Sheila said...

Aren't you clever preserving your tomatoes into such yumminess .That is one of the prettiest "weeds" I have ever seen .

Sharon said...

You have been very productive, Bev! Love your bottles of tomatoes!

Narelle said...

I only heard yesterday that agapanthus are considered weeds. I'd like to plant some here ... think I'd have the same issue with water although at the moment it's coming down from the sky in over abundance :)

I love how you've preserved your tomatoes. The dried ones sound delish.

Michelle Ridgway said...

Beautiful Agapanthus! Mine hasn't flowered but I think it dosen't get enough sun. Lots of yummies there too Bev.

Binsa said...

Hello Bev, enjoyed seeing your preserves...we have miniature agapanthus....I chopped them back hard earlier on...and they are runming riot at the moment..Hugs O'faigh

Lynda said...

Agapanthus plants have done very well over here this summer. Your tomato sauce looks delicious.

Lounging with a Latte said...

Hi Bev, loved looking at all the preserves you've been making with your produce. You're agapanthus colour is beautiful, quite a lot darker than the ones we've got around here. It was interesting that you said you have to keep the water up to them. I always thought they were very drought tolerant.