See...I AM beautiful

Both myself and DS18 recently made a trip to Queensland to spend time with my sister, nieces and their children. Marie is my youngest niece from my sister and she opened her home with all the love that could be expected. It was a true joy to spend time with my grand nieces and nephews...to watch them grow...err to have them help me cook....

Hmmm topsy turvey scones DO taste just as good as straight scones...lol        
Oh, when making scrambled eggs for 9...a little egg shell never hurt anyone...did it? lol

While it was nerve racking to have the helping hands of 2 boys aged 8 and 6 and two girls aged 5 and 3....I loved every minute of it. My only wish would be that I had a few photos, but I was up to my arms in little hands, flour and egg shells. I'm sure they will remember the days they helped Aunty Narelle in the kitchen, I know I will.

Back to the photographer....Yep! The best photographer I know......

Marie runs her own business called Kayana Photography. She has her own studio at home and loves to capture memories of children of all ages, especially in the belly, and newborns....You can also check out Kayana Photography by clicking on her facebook page......

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From the webpage of Kayana Photography....

Kayana Photography is situated in Rochedale South, only 20 minutes south of Brisbane and just minutes off the highway. Open by appointment only, I am a purpose built home studio so I am able to accommodate for times and days that are suitable for you. Night appointments are available for maternity sessions only.

Make a booking for your photography session: GET IN TOUCH

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When my son DS18 went to visit Marie with my mother I posted some lovely photos of mum that Marie captured...little did I know that mum would pass away just a few short months after those photos were taken.

Note: Some photos were  removed from this blog post  for legal reasons out of my hands.

I cherish this photo.....thanks matey!

Did I mention that Kayana Photography also does Boudoir Photography? 

....here's me

See...I AM beautiful

(Many thanks to my dear niece Marie)

The little things....17 to 36

Please be patient...I'm having major tech problems with Blogger at the moment....It's taken more than 24 hours to add these photos.
I'm in contact with Blogger, so it shouldn't be much longer before things are back to normal.
After you have checked out my new photo's, head over to Blooming Gardens to see what's happening there. I'm a bit behind in writing for them too, due to Blogger difficulties, but I'm working on solving the problem and will be back there very shortly.

One of Poppy's Maggies which comes visiting
when Poppy is home from Truck Driving
He's watched 4 generations now

Harvesting my Elephant Garlic

Some of Poppy's wood for the fire come Winter

It was good Yabby season this time at Poppy's
We dined on Yabby/Laksa sausage rolls, pizza's and more
All freshly hunted, gathered, cooked and eaten!

At Poppy's under the shade....
They'd never met before, but a deck of cards bought them together

Pomegranate 

Well behaved for the camera, thank-you young man!

We often discuss 'Sex in the Garden', but not this type of sex.
Usually it's all about Pollinating..lol

Can anyone tell me what type of fruit this is?
Growing near Brisbane
at least 6m high

Bagging your apples, to save them from the dreaded Fruit Fly
CLICK HERE to Check out Jean & Grahams spectacular vegie garden
Truly Inspirational!

Launched today

Hi everyone....here's hoping you all have a wonderful evening bringing in the new year of 2013.

I've been rather busy these holidays designing a new blog

for my good friend Richard 

at 

Blooming Gardens

I've launched it today!

Head over to Blooming Gardens, become a member, have a read, leave some comments and most of all.....enjoy! 

There's much much more to come too.....

2013 is planned to be very exciting...so check it out!...

The little things....10 to 16

 No words today ...............except Merry Christmas to everyone. Wishing you all good health for 2013.

Merry Christmas to one and all with many hugs!

And cards are created...

I've finally gotten around to creating some cards for our neighbors....I'm not sending out many Christmas cards this year due to family circumstances, but I thought I would show you a few of what I've been creating....
Some are not Christmas related but most are... It's been quite a few years since I was in this craft box; hope you like them; I enjoyed making them.

To those who have loved ones passed, I'm thinking of you,

To those who have had their lives turned upside down recently, I'm thinking of you, 

To those who are alone this Christmas, I'm thinking of you,

To those who can't afford a present for their children, I'm thinking of you,

To those who have lost a child, I'm thinking of you, 

To those who have lost a parent, I'm thinking of you, 

To those who it is your first year without a loved one, I'm especially thinking of you.

Thanks for all your wonderful support throughout the year, thanks for reading my blog.....

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas for 2012, and good health for 2013.

I'll be back before 2013 as long as I have time.....take care and keep your family close!

Pickled Cucumbers & Pickled Onions

The house still smells of pickles and onions. If hubby doesn't have a training day on Wednesday he will be home for his 3 week holiday tomorrow. He'll smell them when he drives in the driveway for sure. Hubby loves my pickles and usually puts in a request when stocks are low. So this will be a nice surprise for him. I'm making all his favorites so far...come to think of it...All my preserves are his favorites.
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Hint: If you plan to make both recipes at the same time, it makes for one lot of preparation. One mess to clean up too which I like. Weigh out onions for both recipes, keeping them in separate bowls. Prepare 1 double batch of the spiced vinegar mixture and bottle the cucumber mix first. After bottling the cucumber mix, reheat the spiced vinegar.Add the plain onions and repeat the bottling process. Too easy!

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Bread & Butter Pickled Cucumbers

12 medium burp-less cucumbers  

1 ½ lb onions 

6 tablespoons salt                                

1 ½ lbs sugar

3 tablespoons mustard seeds

½ teaspoon turmeric powder                                 

2 teaspoons celery seeds

1 ¼ pints white vinegar                   

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

I'm trying out a new seedless variety  

In a suitable large vessel put thinly sliced cucumber and onion.  Sprinkle with salt and let stand for 4 hours or overnight. I always leave them overnight.  

Pour into colander and rinse and drain well. Rinse and drain again.

Boil together vinegar, spices and sugar. Then add rinsed cucumber and onion and simmer for 2 minutes.  (avoid actual boiling) 

Bread & Butter Pickled Cucumbers

 Pack in sterilized jars, clean rims and any drips and seal immediately.  If any don't seal; pop them in a moderate oven for 15 minutes, then remove from oven and allow to cool. This process should seal all jars. If not, discard the lid once you have finished eating that jar. Enjoy in 3 to 4 days. 

You can order new lids for recycled jars from Green Living Australia by clicking here.(I don't get any credit) They also have a great FAQ page on replacing your lids too, It has loads of information on there.

All these jars sealed, except for three. Those lids will be ordered.

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Pickled Onions - For sandwiches (Yep! Pre-sliced pickled onions...Brilliant idea of mine I think!)

4KG ONIONS sliced thin

6 tablespoons salt                                

1 ½ lbs sugar

3 tablespoons mustard seeds I added extra mustard seeds, 

as most went in the Pickled cucumbers first.

 ½ teaspoon turmeric powder                                

2 teaspoons celery seeds

1 ¼ pints white vinegar I like to use 50/50 of white vinegar and malt vinegar                   

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Use the same method as the above "Bread & Butter Pickled Cucumber recipe"

Salted overnight

Rinsed twice and added to Spiced Vinegar then bottled.

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Having Hubby home will give us a chance to spend some quality time together. We have lots of plans to go fishing, especially since I've fitted out the boat with a new motor, new forward controls, mounted burly bucket, speedometer,  mounted knife holder, mounted tackle draws, mounted live-well tank and a new drive-on trailer. That's quite a list; but it's been quite a year for hubby too, he's worked so hard this year, he deserves to be spoiled. It was a huge surprise for him to come home from Mudgee (on his birthday) to find it all decked out....He had no idea

We are all looking forward to having him home. Our family of four will be together now for Christmas....Time with family is precious, especially this time of year, especially THIS year.