"I died and went to Heaven."

Hello,

Happy Monday.

On Sunday we had the best day ever!!! I don't know how many times I said to Ian "I have died and gone to Heaven." Let me explain. We decided to go to a Open Garden in Guildford. I didn't realise what garden I was going to. The entrance was behind the house in another street. Once inside the garden we soon worked out it was the house and garden that we had seen develop over time. I took so many photo's. There was plenty to take in plus there were several stalls on the verandah of one of the homes.

In the photo above, just to the right of the dovecote you can see the top of the Guildford Grammar Church.

We both came out of this garden so inspired. I can safely say that this is the best garden we have visited in the Australian Open Garden Scheme. We had lunch before we got to the garden, Ian was a bit disappointed about that and I was too because the Afternoon Teas looked so delicious. Hopefully they will be opening again next year and we will plan to have a cuppa in the garden. One of the interesting things that attracted me to this garden was that it contains one of the first Jacaranda trees grown in Western Australia. Ian noted that there were many standard roses. These provided shade for the plants underneath. A few more standard roses will be on the list for next years planting here at Kainga.

Happy Monday
Bev C

"Before Blogging Syndrome. Have you got it?"

Hello,

Hope you are having a good day. A lot of people seem to have the same thing I have recently diagnosed myself with. Before Blogging Syndrome. You know how before you began a blog the world was different. You weren't enticed by every single blog overflowing with beautiful projects, cakes, gardens and books etc.

 There seemed to be time to finish one project at a time.

You didn't have a file of patterns downloaded from the Internet. This is where the term "One day" really takes precedence.

The good thing about having this Syndrome is that it is reversible. I prefer to call it After Blogging Begins Syndrome.

You get to know that I love Roses.

That my Sweet Peas are flowering.

See that is two good things already. Having  After Blogging Begins Syndrome means that I have learnt some amazing things like:

Frixion Pens
Different sizes of linen for cross stitch.
All about Cross Stitch Calculators
Go-Cutters
On-line Shopping
Swaps
Receiving/Sending mail from all over the World.
Making Soap
Giving out garden hints and tips.
 Learning about places and people of all races and religion.
Meeting some lovely bloggers.

So this week I continue to hand quilt Raggedy Anne and Andy, while those other projects wait in the sewing room.

Have you got After Blogging Begins Syndrome?

Happy After Blogging Begins Syndrome.
Bev C

"How to make Akta-Vite Ice cream."

Hello,

Happy Monday. Homemade Ice Cream makes me happy today.

Ian making Akta-Vite Ice cream.

So  I want to share with you Ian's homemade ice cream recipe.

Akta-Vite Ice Cream.
150 mls skimmed milk
50 grams caster sugar
200 mls thickened cream
50 grams Akta-Vite
Rum Essence, a few drops.

Place the milk and sugar into a saucepan over a low heat. Stir this until the sugar has dissolved then leave until it has cooled. Stir the cream and Rum essence  into the cooled milk. Pour this mixture into chute into freezer bowl (with the paddle running) When the mixture starts to freeze add the Akta-Vite. Freeze until the desired consistency is achieved. The mixture can be doubled if wanted. Akta-Vite is an Australian made nutritional chocolate food drink.

Enjoy.

Happy Monday
Bev C

"Hand quilting progress and Chia now grows at Kainga."

Hello,

I have stuck to my guns and have been hand quilting. No new projects will be started until this quilt is finished. I can then reward myself with a new project.

There is something quite relaxing about sitting and stitching by hand.

Last weekend we  picked up a new plant for the garden, a Chia.

Chia Plant.

This is an annual  which grows to 1.5 metres. It is a tremendous energy food, which benefits your health and vitality. Leaves can be used in a salad or tea.The seeds are rich in minerals, Vitamin A, B's, D 30% protein and Omega 3. The seeds when soaked in water are an excellent thirst quencher. Natural enzyme acts as a catalyst for protein. Chia is regarded as a survival food. A useful gel made from soaked seeds is a food thickener to replace fat, increase fibre whilst reducing calories. Chia  can be used in salad dressings, yoghurt, dips and spreads.

Hopefully this will set a lot of seeds to carry on for following year. The Chia plant is part of the Salvia family so hopefully it will do well here.

Happy days.
Bev C

"Makes Me Happy Monday."

Hello,

Happy Monday, hope you are having a great day.

Always happy to see the first Sunflower flowering. I planted some seeds in some newspaper pots I made and planted them straight into the ground when they were a few inches high. It was a bit of an experiment to see how these pots worked. Happy with the results.

Yesterday Ian and I took a drive across to York for a wander around and lunch. The town was so busy and the restaurant we wanted to go to was closed so chose the pub across the road. Very happy with the meal and service provided.

On our walk around we had a look at a antique shop which had the most marvelous furniture if you had a Grand old house. The bookshelf/cupboard we both loved would have taken several hundred books to fill.
The shop was originally the Convent and across the road the Catholic Church Saint Patrick's is still in use.

This is the side view of the church. The present church's foundation stone was laid on St Patrick's Day in 1875, and completed in 1886. It features imported Italian windows. The original Catholic Church commenced in 1859 and dedicated to St Patrick in 1860, still stands today and is now used as the church hall, situated in South Street on the front lawns of the presbytery,

This is the front view. I couldn't imagine how the workers built this. There certainly weren't the cranes and scaffolding around back then. Just long ladders I presume.

If you want to see lovely photo's of Church buildings in New Zealand, Pauline has plenty on her blog.

On the sewing front I have challenged myself to hand quilt a quilt. I actually embroidered 2012 on one of the blocks so I had better get it finished. Nothing like imposing a deadline to get me motivated.

Happy Monday.
Bev C