Cleaning Up After the Storm

We were very lucky during the recent bad weather, to have not really been affected.  We are so grateful, it was just heartbreaking to see so many people lose their homes and prized possessions in the floods - I can't even imagine how devastating that would be.

For us, we had lots of rain and wind, but no threat of flooding, and luckily, we kept power for most of the time too.  

When we first moved into our house over 8 years ago, we cut down any tall trees around the house.  However, we still have plenty of huge gum trees scattered around the yard, which regularly drop branches during storms.  But this time, it wasn't a branch that fell, it was a massive tree!  

Mangoes

This year we have been lucky enough to have a bumper mango crop!  We have 5 mango trees in our yard, and after a dismal season last year, we have been so excited with the hundreds of mangoes that have popped up this year.  Anyone who we see has been given bags of mangoes, as there are so many to go around - and we like to spread our good fortune :)

For the first time, this year we bought a net for one of our trees.  Lots of the fruit get picked at by the birds, and this year we wanted to trial minimising our loss.  As it is now the end of the season, we are thrilled with how the net kept the birds off the mangoes, and will definitely be investing in more nets before next summer.

A Little Visitor in my Garden

Look what someone left behind in my garden that I cleaned up last week!!

20 Days to Clean and Organise Your Home - Week 3

This week I loved the outdoors challenge!  My poor back patio area has been very neglected after such a cold winter, so it was definitely time for me to get out there and give it some love.
This is what it looked like before:

I Love Spring Time!

I love this time of the year!  I love the warm weather and I especially love the flowers that fill our garden!

Here are some of the beauties that I have to look forward to coming back to my garden in the coming months...

Decorating the Home Entrance

A person's first impression of your home is at the front entrance.   A few months back I decided that I needed a little something to meet and greet us (and our visitors) each time we come in the front door.

This is what I came up with!

Keeping Herbs Fresh - Our First Guest Post!

Today's post is our first ever Guest Post!  My sister-in-law sent me this amazing idea and I just have to share it with you!  Steph lives in a mining town in Western Australia, so she is not only a million miles from anywhere, but they live in intense heat for most of the year.  So, here is her way of keeping store-bought fresh herbs in ship-shape condition, as she simply cannot grow anything in the extreme weather that she has to live in. I think this is a fantastic idea, because I know that my fresh herbs bloom in spurts throughout the year, and there are plenty of times when I have had to buy herbs to supplement my own limited supply, or times when I have so much supply that I struggle to use it before it dies off.  This is the perfect solution!

Keeping Herbs Fresh - By Steph-adiva

When I purchase parsley or any other herb in the pack from the supermarket, most of the time I always forget I have purchased them because they are in the crisper in the fridge and/or before I get to use all of the herbs they go off and need to be thrown in the rubbish. 

Well since you are so wonderful and inspiring with your handy tips, this is what I'm now doing:

1.  Wash the parsley and remove the stalks (optional to remove stalks).  When I wash my herbs, I put them in the salad spinner to get out more water.  

How To Keep Shallots Fresh...

Years ago my beautiful sister-in-law shared this amazing tip with me about shallots...

We all know that if you buy a bunch of shallots at the supermarket, within days of having them home and in the fridge, they are limp, turn brown and are quite useless.  Even the magical Tupperware Fridgesmart containers can't keep shallots fresh much past 3 or 4 days.