Perons Tree Frog

During the Summer months the Peron's Tree Frog (Litoria peronii) or Maniacal cackling frog (don't you just love that name) comes out of hibernation. 

We found him (for this article I will refer to him as a him) in various places around our garden, mostly close by to water.  

Unfortunately he also liked to crawl into the water reservoir of our old water cooler. 

Who else used to have one of these? Who still uses theirs? We start ours up in Summer when we are sitting outside on the decking and the fans are not keeping up with the heat. 

Some of the frogs were lucky, as they 'cackled' when we turned it on and they were duly rescued.  Some were not so fortunate.

The frogs are found on the Eastern side of Australia, mostly NSW, but stretching into Queensland and down into Victoria.  As you can see by the photos, they vary in colour according to temperature and whether it is day or night.

We haven't built a designated frog habitat, but they seem to appear wherever there is water.  We always keep a dish under the garden taps to catch drips so that the birds and lizards can drink.  

Enjoy

Ann

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What to do with all the carrots we have harvested?

It was all hands on deck when our daughter walked in with a big armful of carrots.  She was so proud that she had harvested all the carrots in the vegie patch.  

I was suffering with Ross River Virus and my husband was busy harvesting the wheat crop.

Needless to say we found time to prepare all the lovingly harvested carrots for the freezer.

Little Miss was put on carrot topping and washing duty, then Hubby and I diced the carrots into the saucepan.

The carrots were blanched in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then put into freezer bags and straight into the freezer.  

We can now enjoy eating our harvest at our leisure.

Enjoy

Ann

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Homegrown vegies

Eating something you've grown yourself is definitely rewarding.  

The time spent watering, weeding and nurturing the plant is well worth it when it is dished up on your plate.  You know there are no hidden pesticides or chemicals and I think the food tastes even more delicious knowing that you did it all yourself.

The carrots were a purple heirloom variety from the "Diggers Garden Club". 

I have let the vegie patch get over-run during the Summer months.  But after looking back at this photo I am determined to get out and pull the weeds out and put the seeds in.

Enjoy

Ann

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How to make slime

I have tried to make a couple of different versions of goo or slime, but most of the recipes I have tried have used borax and/or glue.  Some have been successful, some haven't. 

I didn't like the idea of my daughter playing with a chemical and touching it with her hands or having it near her face.

I came across this recipe via a friend and it is amazing.  It uses all natural ingredients and by adding essential oils it smells wonderful too.

MAKING SLIME!!!!

The recipe:

180gm water
Food dye
1 Tablespoon Psyllium Husks

Heat for 2 minutes in the microwave, stir and reheat again (approx 1 minute), it will be runny but will thicken as it cools.

Add a couple of drops of essential oil, I used spearmint.

Pour into a container
Put in the fridge

When it is cool it will have thickened and be ready for use.

Enjoy

Ann

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How do you take your holidays?

My husband and I have different ideas on how to go on holidays.

When we go away, his idea of a holiday is to get to where we are going and then sit down, relax and do nothing for the whole time we are away.  Maybe he'll do a crossword or read a book or even, for goodness sake, watch the television.

My idea of a good holiday is to explore the scenery and attractions on the way to where we are headed, go to the tourist information office and grab all the brochures of local attractions and sights and then spend our holiday exploring and visiting as many of these as possible.

Is a holiday away for relaxing or exploring?

Ann
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I was going to make Mulberry jam - honestly I was

Back in November our mulberry tree started fruiting.  It is a lot of fun to go outside and pick our breakfast straight from the tree.  The mulberries and apricots ripened about the same time, the peaches are ripening now and soon we will have pears, quinces, grapes and figs.  Sadly the citrus are almost finished for the season.

Anyway, back to the mulberries, I managed to actually pick a bowl full of mulberries, it was one for the bowl, one for me.  I did manage to get them inside before they were devoured, they are so delicious.  I had every good intention of turning them into mulberry jam, but well you know, they sort of all hopped into my mouth.   

There's always next year.

Enjoy life

Ann

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Farm visitors

During the past few months we have had plenty of "visitors" to the farm.  

This goanna was having a lazy stroll in the sun but raced off quickly when I got too close.

This is the Peron's Tree Frog, aka known as the maniacal cackling frog (don't you just love that name).  It has come out seeking water.

The elusive echidna made a surprise stop on it's way to it's destination.  It burrows down in a defensive position so that nothing can harm it, those spines are sharp.

We also have many birds but I'll save them, for another post.

Enjoy life

Ann
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Harvest 2017

With the end of 2017 gone, I can now reflect back on our harvest and think how lucky we were to have a crop and that we were able to get it off in a reasonable time.

Each morning I would go for a walk out through the wheat crop and think how special it is to be living where we do.  We have vast skies above and wonderful scenery all around.   With a bit of hard work and a lot of reliance on Mother Nature, the land provides for us with a cereal crop we can harvest and sheep for market.

With 175mm (7 inches) of rain during our growing season we were able to harvest an average crop.  Late in the season the barley suffered frost damage but all in all we were thankful for what we got.

Enjoy life

Ann
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Our worst December ever.

Wow, it has been a while since I have written, but it was one of those months.  Life gets in the way sometimes.  Sometimes it's for good reasons and sometimes it's for bad. This was a month of the latter with a few spatterings of the good.

At the beginning of December I suffered a recurrence of Ross River Virus.  This time it came back with a vengeance and did the world tour of my body that lasted for almost 4 weeks.  The muscle and joint pain and stiffness started first along with a headache that lasted for 3 weeks.  Then it moved on to my liver and lungs and finally settled in my lower legs and ankles by making them swollen and difficult to walk.  Thankfully I am fully recovered but definitely not looking forward to a repeat bout.

During all of this I managed to attend my daughters dance recital, helping her with costume changes,  makeup and hair. 

Then we celebrated her birthday (the week before Christmas) with a sleepover for her and two friends.

And finally it was Christmas. 

We got up early on Christmas morning to check if Santa had been (he had) and to unwrap our family gifts to each other. After a quick breakfast we hopped in the car and headed to Melbourne for a family Christmas. 

On the way I got the phone call that my Dad had had a fall and was being ambulanced to hospital with a gash on his forehead :( .
When we arrived we learnt he had been transferred to Royal Melbourne Hospital with a bleed on the brain.  I ate a rushed Christmas lunch and headed in to the Hospital with my Step-Mum. 

We spent the next few days in and out of the Hospital, Dad had an operation to clear the clot and thankfully he was discharged this week.  His memory and speech are improving slowly. We are so thankful to all the doctors, nurses and staff of the Royal Melbourne Hospital for their excellent care of my Dad.

2018 is a New Year and I am looking forward to all that it will bring us.

Enjoy life and live every day as if there's no tomorrow.

Ann
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