Spring At Garfield House

October has had a special springtime feel this year with the addition of more tulips planted last autumn. This is the yellow and pink bed and while perennials are still abed, I have coloured chard and strappy iris leaves filling in.

Spring is just not spring without the lambs! We are bottle feeding seven little maids much to the delight of little boys on holidays. Add to that the 50 chicks in the brooding pens and we are full to the brim with babies!

The boys always enjoy pasta making

and lots of crafts too....

Collages with a definite springtime theme...

Colour and science play with bi-carb and coloured vinegar from pipettes.

(Instructions Here)

More colour play with food dye in milk and watching the reaction to soap.

(Instructions Here)

Check out the video to see how the colours swirl like magic....

Some lovely, squishy, swirly sensory play in coloured water beads.

Lots of games, cards, "jobs", a water fights and good appetites.

And when the sun went down....

The fairy garden under the white peach tree lit up with little lights as the fairies played and magic misted among the sleepy calendula buds.

Then off to bed for sleepy heads and goodnight fairy stories to send them off to lands far away in dreams.

The Humble FV Clip

The trees are blossoming and everyone is talking about tomato seedling varieties in great anticipation with this warm humid weather that has sprung upon us in Tasmania.

As everyone starts looking at their preserving supplies one of the most overlooked items would have to be the clips.

These clamp the lid into a correctly seated position. As the contents expand in the heating process, air is expelled, then, as the contents cool and retract, the lid is seated onto the rubber band and a suction and seal is created.

Though they are a simple item used over and over, they do become stressed over the years and lose their spring and flexibility. I'm betting many of us have inherited or acquired these second hand and they could probably use a critical eye.

(CLIPS available below rrp)

 It is important that the clips remain on for 12-18 hours after processing. So you need to have at least a couple of dozen of each size because when you are in the thick of the season and preserving every day, you'll find that yesterdays tomatoes will still be clamped and you are hanging to do another batch. 

They are handy in the gift giving too!

(Fowers Vacola Accessories below rrp)

So before you begin another season, run an eye over ALL your supplies, don't get caught short and may you have a blissful and abundant preserving season.

Blue Haze

Here's a bit of a retro cocktail recipe created by Nick Zongas (I'm guessing prior to 1972?)

Blue Haze

30ml Bicardi

15ml Martini Vermouth

15ml Rossi Vermouth

15ml Parfait Amour

15ml Cointreau

Blue Curacao

Stir everything except the Blue Curacao over ice then strain into cocktail glass.

Add 4 dashes of Blue Curacao and serve. Makes 1

The Parfait Amour creates a blue tinted haze and the Blue Curacao being heavier should sit neatly on the bottom.

An appropriate drink for our house guest to sip while she perused the catalogue of cruising....till everything became a bit of a blue haze....

White Primula

This is a bit of a "note to self" and blogs are good for that. I create myself a visual diary for the years to come and the failing memory, so I'll understand if you look away now in boredom...

OK, Self...

plant white primula again in the autumn because they were great this spring!

Soft lacy caps of white filling the gaps nicely between the beautiful fleshy tulip leaves.

Cheap as chips and brilliant as a cut flower for posies, outlasting any other bloom currently in the vases.

Brilliant by day and glowing in the night, such a boon before the days lengthen.

Primula malacoides