Mess or Mulch?

We have Oaks, fruit trees, Maple, Willow and Ash to name some of our deciduous garden inhabitants. Which means a LOT of leaves fall. 

I like to gather them all up and throw them on the garden beds where they insulate my little strawberries and do some magic providing natural mulch and eventually breaking down and returning back to the earth.

However my Mr is not a fan of leaves on garden beds as it looks really untidy. I was surprised when an elderly neighbour recently revealed the same feelings to me. He collects up all his leaves and disposes of them as they make his garden look untidy however his wife does not mind. He also told me that the previous owner of this house would take all of his leaf litter and put it on our garden :)

For our last raking session The Mr compromised and did it my way. I'm not sure why but am glad he decided to give it a try, there's a way to go this season before we reach the end of our leaf fall though so I don't know what to expect next time. 

So how do you view the Autumn leaves? Mess or mulch?

How to Crochet an edge on Felt

I had a lovely instagram/twitter friend ask me how to do this when she saw my photos of the doll skirts I have been making so this is my way of doing it though I am sure there might be others out there. This is a really simple instructional post rather than a tutorial it is aimed at those who can already crochet.

To start off you need a piece of felt, or the garment you want to embellish, a large darning needle and a small crochet hook. The one I use is 2mm and I am crocheting with 6 strands of embroidery floss, as you can see this is very small scale.

To start poke a hole into the felt with the darning needle, not too close the the edge or it could pull through and tear.  Gently wriggle the needle around a little to create a hole your crochet hook will pass through. This will be the starting point. I usually make a knot in the yarn/thread and then pull a loop through from the back, bringing the knot up against the felt. this creates the first loop to form a stitch with.

Make a second hole with the darning needle as you did for the first. Using the loop you created do a single crochet and use the hole you have just created as the anchor point for your second stitch, continue in this fashion making holes an equal distance apart and similar depth from the edge of the felt, until you have finished.

 I hope I have explained this clearly enough to be understood, I have largely taught myself to crochet so do not know all the correct terminology feel free to ask any questions and I will do my best to answer them in the comments.

I'd love to see what you make if you give this a try :)

Its a bit time consuming but gives a really lovely result.

Late Autumn Garden

A picture heavy post, A peek into the garden this morning!

Blackbirds Scurry about.

Salvia flowers are fading

Some Roses still bloom despite the frosts.

One Camellia nears the end of its flowering time.

Another begins.

Fire wood is being stacked

Gold fish rest in the morning Sun.

Tulips break the Earth.

Still a few Clematis seed heads around.

And the cactus is a Blaze of colour!

There are masses of leaves on the ground, lots of bare branches, Fairy wrens fossicking about, Lots of bulbs stretching green fingers to the cool fresh air, cold nights, frosty mornings and Sunny days.

A typical snapshot of Late Autumn in Canberra.

xx

Home made Monte Carlos

I wanted to bake myself a Mothers day cake but I did not want chocolate, every other suggestion met objection from one of the two children. So I turned to the biscuit section. I have had my New CWA cookbook out all week, there are so many things in it I want to bake and I love all the CWA guidelines, vintage advertisements & images throughout it!

I decided on Monte Carlos, This recipe made up a lot of biscuits

I didn't make the filling quite to the specifications and it is a little too sweet for my taste, but they are still good and edible. ;) They look a little yellow in this last image due to the instagram filter I used on my phone.

The book is called "Jam Drops and marble cake" 60 years of CWA award winning recipes. I picked mine up for a really good price in Target but I have seen it on the shelves in book stores. I advise you shop around to get the best price as it does vary quite a lot :)

Old School Desk. New Side table

We recently re arranged our bedroom furniture, the new placement of our bed disallowed the addition of bedside tables so the table had to stay in its previous corner which had been beside the bed. I really don't love our bedroom setting I bought it when I was 21 I think. So over those 20 years my taste has changed quite a lot but as the functionality of the pieces is still fine we make do with it for now. :)

After

We bought this old school desk home from our last holiday up North. It came from the Mr's family home and we claimed it as his parents were preparing for sale of their place our intention at the time was to use it as a desk in our sons room but in the meantime things have been moved and changed and he has a table in there that suits his needs and he is quite happy with.

Before

I'm really not sure that my boy would appreciate it the way I do. I view it with fondness and nostalgia. I see its age as beautiful and wonder about its history. I love that it has character. I contemplated facing it the other way but I do like the storage option for magazines and books with desk slots facing forward. It was the department of Education stamp that held the appeal to me but as this side of the desk top is the roughest condition it also made sense to put it against the wall to prevent any snagging.

I'm not entirely happy with the arrangement atop the desk from an aesthetic perspective but they are all things that hold value so for now its just the way it is :) I hope the Mr doesn't object too strongly and likes giving this piece a practical new lease on life too.