Bye Ruby Jane .........

Pictured on top of her shelter, is "Ruby Jane" one of our young Toggenburg milking does. This weekend we said goodbye to her as she goes to a new home to make new friends and later when she is old enough will supply the family with fresh milk. I must admit that it was sad to see her go as each doe has her own personality and quickly grows on you. The upside is that she will be doing exactly what she is bred for.

I escaped the house of "sickness" and spent sometime in the vegie garden. This is a picture of the most mature garden bed. Picking the snow peas will be a job for tomorrow but I have been stocking the freezer with brocolli. This time round we have used all eden seeds and will save many for next year, thus eliminating the cost and being more self reliant. We have two mandalas on the go for most of the year, excluding summer as its even too hot here for lettuce. The garden design is from the book "Permiculture in your backyard" by Linda Woodrow in which we have added some of our own personal touch.

During the week I gathered some nice,ripe, lemons from a near by neighbour who was happy to see them go and on return I squeezed my way through two buckets full of lemons. Once this was done the majority of the juice was placed in ice trays and frozen for later use.

However, on the weekend I was able to get my lovely, DD to make some lemon butter as we had just finished our last jar. I believe that lemon butter has a shelf life of about 6 months, I'm actually not quite sure about this as it never lasts that long in our house! I just make a few bottles at a time. Anyway she did a great job of it and may even enter some in the local show next year..............

I have added the recipe below should you also have a surplus of lemons. This recipe makes 1 jar (500ml) so I usually triple it and a hint: much sure you beat the eggs well or otherwise you'll end up with egg white lumps in the final product, other than that happy cooking!

Lemon Butter

1 cup of sugar

2 eggs (well beaten)

1 tablespoon butter

Juice of 2 lemons

grated lemon rind of 1 lemon (this is optional)

Place all ingredients in a jug, mix well. (I do this in a small saucepan) Stand jug in a pot of boiling water (I just use a larger saucepan approx 1/2 filled with boiling water) and stir until mixture thickens. Pour into pre-warmed jars. Enjoy!