"In an English Country Garden"

It's Mum's birthday today. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!! 

Thank goodness for phones and skype and email, 

it makes the distance between Australia and England not quite so great.

So specially for Mum I thought I would share with you some more photos I took in July of the flowers in Mum's lovely garden.
Sit back, relax - Mum's done the weeding :) - feel the warm breeze that carries the sound of  the birds singing in the trees, and the bees flitting from flower to flower. Smell the beautiful perfume of roses, stocks, and wallflowers.

It's a kaleidoscope of beautiful colours, shapes, textures and perfumes!  

Mum's garden is just like her -Beautiful.

Have a lovely day Mum, and hope the weather is kind to you

 so that you can get out into your lovely garden.

What'll you be doing on Wattle Day?

There's a Blue Moon tonight, it's Wattle Day on Saturday, and Sunday is Father's Day! 

(Click on the above links to find out more.)

That's a whole lot of going on isn't it! 

So I thought I would make it easy on myself and just share some of the photos I took of the sky last night.  The moon was nearly full, sadly it wasn't blue, but the sky was, and the clouds were yellow, so I thought that was pretty appropriate for this weekend.

Yes you spotted that I have given these photos a bit of the
Pic Monkey treatment!  Especially this one. 
Maybe a bit over the top but I must say I like it!

It was such a beautiful evening that I wanted to share it with you.

  Have a wonderful weekend whatever you are planning. 

And all you fathers out there, have a great Father's Day on Sunday.

Please please let me know if your moon is BLUE!!

And what'll you be doing on Wattle Day?? It's a special day for all Australians.  This book by Maria Hitchcock called a Celebration of Wattle Day, looks interesting.

How about cooking this Wattleseed Gnocchi  which of course has potatoes in it,

 from bareingredients, the foodie site for foodie lovers.  

They include a wild mushroom sauce in the recipe and it all looks quite delicious!

Time To Do The Mashed Potato !!

Thought we'd have a bit of fun today!

 Well, I am celebrating 50 likes for my Earth Apple Jane Face Book page,

so at the suggestion of Tracy from Hey Harriet,

 I thought we'd let our hair down, and have a dance!

Guess what it's called?  I don't think it'll take you long.......

that's right, let's join Dee Dee Sharp and

 " Do the Mashed Potato!!"

Well, if you did like I said and got up and had a bit of a jiggle around, you'll be ready to sit down and catch your breath again!

Take a look at some of my potato jewellery on my Jewellery tab at the top of the page.  Some people have asked if they are made from mashed potato, which is a sensible question, but it isn't correct I am afraid.  I will explain in later posts how they are made. 

When I asked on Face Book how people liked their spuds Sheri, from SlinginMud, (who makes fabulous ceramic jewels) suggested Mashed Potatoes with Garlic, Cream and Butter. Cream AND Butter, I thought.  How could you not like that!? 

So here is a delicious looking recipe I found from

 Elise Bauer at  Simply Recipes

Here's what she writes.....

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Garlic mashed potatoes, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. One forkful, two forkfuls, three forkfuls... sorry, none left for you! Just kidding. Growing up in a family of six kids, we are all rather competitive eaters. Basically, whoever finishes first gets seconds. And you're going to want to have seconds of these. Creamy not only because of the cream and butter, but because we are using Yukon Gold potatoes, which in my opinion are simply the best potato for creamy mashed potatoes. Garlicky, of course, but even though we are using an entire head of garlic, we are roasting it first, so you get all the flavor without it seeping through your pores.

Just click here to get the ingredients and recipe for these

delicious looking Garlic Mashed Potatoes

ENJOY!!

What's your favourite dance?  Hip hop, waltz, line dancing? Do share below!

Strawberry Fields Forever

Let me take you down, because I've been going to 

Strawberry Fields.......

Well sort of fields, in fact they were all under cover and in pipes at 

Ricardoes Tomato and Strawberry Farm north of Port Macquarie.

And the strawberries..... well they were to die for!

Scrumptious, red, fragrant, delicious and there for the picking. 

And that is just what we did, picked them, weighed them, payed for them 

and then brought them home.

But by that time we were so tired

 we are going to eat them tomorrow!!

Do you notice someone got to this plant before we did
 and picked the best one!

But that's no problem - you can see there are plenty more to choose from!

We had a brilliant time, on the off chance, after visiting our Aunty 

in the beautiful city of Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia!

I'll let you know how the strawberries are,

 but I am pretty sure they will be delicious, aren't you?!
If you are near Port, check out Ricardoes.  
You'll have a fun day out and there's a cafe and shop as well!

What is your favourite fruit?  Do let us know.

  I think mine would have to be the raspberry, 
though strawberries come a  close second!  

Inspiration

(I changed the title of this post from Jewellery and it's Inspiration, because I was constantly receiving spam comments)

Leading on from my last post about Dry Stone Walls, 

I made a collage of some of my jewellery with a wall photo.  

I thought the colours and textures went so well with those of the stones. 

 Hope you enjoy it!

And now, just a few more of those Lake District photos that I cannot resist!

This wall is part of a sheep fold,
and the hole is to let the sheep through

The little streamlet leading into the stream
 beside the Sheep Fold

Grasses by the water

Well that's about it for today. 

 I'm off to find some more kindling for the fire, before it rains.

  It is really cold back in old Aus now!

Would love to know which piece of jewellery you like best
 up there in the collage, and why!  
Leave a comment if you wouldn't mind. I value them all.

Dry Stone Walls

I am sharing with you here,

 some photos of the wonderful stone walls in Cumbria, UK.

  I love the tradition and craftsmanship involved in the making of these walls, 

and the beautiful colours and textures

 that the moss and lichen add to the stone.

According to the Dry Stone Walling Association, "dry stone walling in Britain stretches back at least three and a half millennia, to the village of Skara Brae in the Orkneys, and the Iron Age brochs of northern and western Scotland. 

Dry stone walls are found in Britain, and elsewhere, where large quantities of rock and stone are found above the soil, and especially where trees and hedges do not grow easily because of the climate, elevation, strong winds or thin soils.  This is why dry stone walls are most prominent in northern and western Britain, and often at the higher altitudes." 

 You wonder about the people who made these walls so long ago.

 A lone crow surveys his world.

They reach way up the mountainsides, 

and along once narrow tracks which are now well used roads.  

Beware meeting a tourist bus when you are just inches from these walls!

These last two photos show a wall which has long stones

 set into the wall to make steps.

They stretch right through the wall as you can see from this photo taken from above including my foot!  Do you notice the tremble?  

I did not feel too steady!!

• What is the traditional form of hedging/fencing/ walling in your area?
• And what do you love about it? 
• There are so many different types aren't there? 
• Would love you to leave a comment and let us know. 

And by the way, if you love these walls take a look at the work of 

Andy Goldsworthy who works with nature to sculpt beautiful walls like these with the addition of large amounts of creative flair.  Thanks to Julie Gibbons from Tractor Girl for alerting me to Mr. Goldsworthy's incredible artworks.  He has written a book called Wall, which shows walls using similar traditional techniques as those above, and really looks a fascinating read.