The countdown is on...

Two and a half weeks left of the school year until the glorious summer holidays arrive.

Thank goodness! I feel absolutely exhausted from a very busy year of teaching and am looking forwards to having time to recharge and relax. My plans include....

<> sleeping in

<> gardening

<> hopefully, a camping trip

<> a roadtrip to Hobart with my best friend, Madam Mojito or MM as she shall henceforth be known, to see my favourite band, the Dresden Dolls, live

<> reading for hours

<> sewing my mini bears

<> taking the dogs to the beach for the first time

<> getting ready for a new class next year!

Christmas excitement is reaching fever pitch at school, as the Prep-2 classes are busily writing letters to Santa which will be collected tomorrow so the big man has time to reply. I've lost count of how many times a child has shrieked "Twenty sleeps until Santa comes!" in my ear today. It's beginning to look a little like Christmas in my house too.

Our decorations are fairly minimalist but still give a festive air to the lounge room. Given that we have two young, curious, will-chew-anything-interesting dogs I decided the mantelpiece was the best place for the wrapped presents!

Mum made these stockings for my sister and I about 17 years ago. I think they're gorgeous.

Our Christmas tree...made by a family friend about 20 years ago. It's been my Christmas tree ever since I moved out of home at 17, nearly 11 years ago. I'm sure we'll have a bigger tree one day but for now I'm quite fond of this one.



Sunshine and Gardening

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday today and I decided to spend the day recharging my batteries a bit. I had nowhere I needed to go so I spent the day with the dogs for company, pottering in the garden and going for a long walk. The dogs got a bath as welle, which they were not impressed with. Some dogs may like baths, but not mine. You would think we were torturing them or breaking their hearts from the woebegone expressions.

I am very excited about my beautiful vegie and herb garden. That was something I was pleased about when I moved house a few months ago- that I would finally have a big backyard with plenty of space for vegies. Since I first moved out of home, nearly 11 years ago, I haven't had that so it's been a lot of fun. We are already eating strawberries, basil and a few peas and soon we will have lots more peas as well as carrots, parsley, broccoli, cauliflower and snow peas. I'm going to put in another raised bed next weekend and now that the weather is getting warmer I'll put in some tomatoes and a few other things. I'm proud of how well everything has grown for my first attempt, and proud because my garden is fully organic. Nothing but water, sunshine and some organic mix (manure) when I first got the soil ready. I wanted to go organic partly because I was worried about the animals eating slug/snail pellets, and partly because I wanted to see if I could do it without the need for chemicals. I've had a few things nibble on plants, but not enough to be a concern as I've put other measures in place to keep them at (mostly) at bay (wire around the edges, straw, garlic, etc).

Fresh, homegrown strawberries that are still warm from the sun are heavenly.

Someone has been having a little nibble on my basil...

 Peas, cauliflower, carrots, parsley. I'm running out of room so next weekend I think I'll move a few things to the new bed.

 I recycled the old council recycling bin and turned it into a strawberry planter. The wire is to keep the birds from eating all the berries.

Beautiful cauliflower.

 Johnny looking very white and fluffy after his bath today. Let's see how long it lasts!