Monday, June 18, 2012

Work in progress part 2

Have you ever noticed that it is the simple little things that can bring us to a screaming halt when they fail? Case in point - batteries, AA to be precise.  You see this is the size my digital camera takes, the rechargeable ones actually, but it would appear that my battery charger of 6+ years no longer does the job.  So how can one take a photo and upload it to blogger or send a photo of a tractor part to verify the actual item needed to be purchased and replaced??????    At some point it crossed my mind to go to town and just buy some, a logical thought except that town is a two hour return trip and for batteries?, yeah, don't think so lovely.  It became a case of sit back, twiddle my thumbs and wait, (not good at this waiting) grrrr.

DH, bless his cotton pickin' soul, had to fuel the work vehicle this morning and you guessed it! purchased the required batteries, so all is right in the world again but I will be stocking up next dreaded shopping trip. 

OK, well now that I have gotten that off my chest, here is a picture of our "herb garden" aka "work in progress".  It has been dug over twice now to unearth any stray mint roots that have gone down for cover and this was a very aromatic job.  The soil needed a bit of a kick so we added 6 bags of horse poop and got around to cleaning out the pig pen so everything coming out, got added as well.  Should be good and rich now!


Above - Awaiting the final dig over.
Below - Seedlings growing on.


Below - New additions to the farm, Henry and Turner.

We have started digging up some of our organic ginger and I stumbled across a recipe for ginger and grapefruit marmalade, having all the ingredients on hand thought I'd give it whirl whilst satisfying my pioneer spirit.  I must say that the odour wafting through the house was delish, wish I could say the same for the taste! First you get the bite of the ginger then the tart (very tart) taste of the grapefruit.  Don't reckon I'll be backing up to do that one again but on the up side, it set beautifully and I only made a small batch......... Has this ever happened to anyone else????

My, lets say "experiment" - Ginger and Grapefruit marmalade.
My darlin' DH has been looking a wee bit lost of late, you see his tractor broke, wouldn't turn over, fire up or run, just wouldn't work at all.  All though it took a big bunch of $$$$ to fix, it would have taken a load more $$$ if he didn't have the skills and knowledge to fix it himself, for this I and our bank account are most grateful!!!  It wasn't until 3 weeks later on a pleasant Sunday afternoon when he pulled up on my nice lawn, no less! and turned it off and then on again, (a number of times) just because he could, whilst wearing a smile similar to a kid in a candy store did I actually realize how important having his tractor operational meant to him, jeez must have been the smile that gave it away LOL. All is right in his world once again.


Above - Tractor shed or Milking bales ???
I have noticed a build up of farming "things" in the proposed "milking bales" area, a piece added now and then, a cold shiver ran down my spine when DH parked his newly fixed tractor snugly in the remaining clear area did it actually dawn on me that this notion of setting this shed up for milking,  has just flown right out the window .................. (Big sigh)

5 comments:

mashelly said...

do you have an android enables phone? cause you can get a blogger app.take pics and upload and post ..tada!

Unknown said...

wow, lots going on at your place. I hate it when I can't find my camera - I use my phone if I have to, but the camera isn't great. I also purchase rechargeable batteries from the internet, you might get another charger too :) Isn't it great to have a handy hubby, mine is constantly fixing tractors etc, I wouldn't even know where to start! Your herb garden is looking good too, nice idea to put the bird bath in the centre. Shame about your milking bales, I know the feeling!

DbrhH. said...

Hope the herbs appreciated all the poop. And males do love to fix mechanical things, always something on the go, and yes bits do arrive in spaces where they shouldn't. Jam does sound delish.

Leigh said...

Keeping things running is a continual challenge, isn't it? The marmalade sounds really good! Not sure if I'll have enough homegrown to try the recipe soon, but I love ginger in anything.

Scottish Nanna said...

Hi Bec Good luck with your herb garden Can you give me A tip on how to grow mint it just wont grow for me.and Pete loves to make mint sauce.I am pulling out my hair.I dont know what I am doing Wrong.
Hope you and Family are all well.
Hugs Mary.xx