Finally a little Autumn weather

It is April Easter weekend and finally the nights are cooler. We swam twice this week and hope to continue for a little longer. The ocean is still dirty from the cyclone but getting better each day.

The evening sunsets are just lovely and the colours change on a daily basis. Our world is coloured by the ocean and the sky.

Grey day

On days like this the sea and sky remind me of holidays in Europe. Soft and grey.

Different colour

Then the next morning it looks like this. Blue everywhere and so clear.

Evening light

This sunset was just lovely. the colour was actually deeper than this.

Another version

This evening the light was soft, yellow and grey

Beef and Guinness

Cooler weather cooking has started. I made a big quantity of beef and guinness stew in the slow cooker so we have some left for the freezer. Excellent with mashed potatoes and greens.

Irish soda bread

This was my first attempt at soda bread. Not a raging success but I plan to try again with some suggested improvements.

Our first bananas

These bananas were so sweet and full of flavour. We are hoping for more.

sheltering

In the aftermath of the cyclone in North Queensland we had over a week of rainy windy weather. During this time all of the verandah furniture has to be pulled away from the edges and some covered. Quite a few of the birds that we feed on a daily basis came and nestled on the verandah to get out of the bad weather. We desperately needed the rain - so good for the garden. Now our herbs are coming along beautifully.

Wild flowers

Even this old boat looked picturesque after the rain. It is actually very ugly and we would like to see it gone. But for a week it made a lovely vignette.

Maxi Baby

I stayed for a weekend in Carramar Street to baby sit Maxi. G went to Sydney for a well deserved break. I used the opportunity to catch up with friend C and have some Indian take away.

Early March update

It is autumn but still hot in the middle of the day. The promised rain has not arrived - so we are watering constantly to keep the garden looking good.

Friend C and I and her dog Val did our usual trek to Dicky Beach on the Sunshine Coast for a week. Now that I have a lovely view to look at every day looking at the horizon is not such a treat as usual. It was very hot and so we were restricted to early morning and late afternoon on the beach.

It was lovely to see the boy with Goat is still alive and well.

Very grown up now

We have been cooking a lot as usual.

Thai beef salad

Carrot, ginger and coriander soup

Son M's cat comes to visit when he is lonely or just seeing what we are up to.

Looking for geko's

There is a new strain of Mango that a few farmers are trailing. Called Princess Mango's, we have a tree at the Tina Ave house. We are not convinced that they are that fabulous.

Small trees so easy to pick

This is my favourite evening view

Hope it never moves

5 Months on Lamb Island

Almost 5 months ago we move to Lamb Island in Moreton Bay. Christmas has come and gone and now we are in the grip of a hot (as usual) Queensland summer.

The late evenings and early mornings are still delightful. If we want to work in the garden it really has to be done before 6.30am. Luckily we do have lovely ocean breezes and on the really hot days the living area of the house is air-conditioned.

We have been cooking our favourite food as well as experimenting with new recipes.

I made my first ever jelly from scratch.

Prosecco jelly

Also made a refrigerator cake a favourite from the 70's when friends came for lunch. I decorated it with edible flowers from the local flower farm called Pretty Produce. Previously I always decorated it with frangipani flowers.

70's refrigerator cake

This cake was a new one for me and will be made again

Pear and Ginger cake 

For afternoon tea I also made an Orange Ricotta cake

Also had pine nuts

The birds come to be fed twice a day. Well I tell them twice a day but somethings they call me earlier than they should. We love this family of Kookaburra's.

Not sure which one is the baby

We love this cheeky one also

Bit close for comfort

On a really hot day a couple of weeks ago Sister J and I made passata - what were we thing in the heat.

The flavour was well worth it

We have a couple of good options for swimming here. There is a pool on Russell Island a free 5 minute ferry ride away. A lovely sandy beach at Karragarra Island a 10 minute free ferry ride in the other direction or our local swimming enclosure. Of course the beach and enclosure are regulated by tides but we can work around that.

Picnic on Karragarra

Enclosure Lamb Island

The treat here is lovely clean water 3 minutes down the road looking over Stradbroke Island and watching the sail boats go by as you swim.

The sun sets have been amazing. There is nothing quite as magical as sun setting over water.

Every few weeks I make a batch of my favourite chicken and leek pies. They go in the freezer and bingo we have a snack or a meal with vegetables on the nights we don't feel like cooking.

Family favourite

When our neighbour had a glut of cucumbers I made pickled cucumber salad.

I ate it with everything

My gold Budda guards our front door. She is usually adorned with what ever flowers are around in the garden each day.

So serene

The November lilies bloomed profusely at the Tina Ave house so we cut them every second day.

Love these

We were very excited when this tree flowered outside the bathroom window. So glorious we planted another one in the garden in front of where we eat breakfast and lunch most days.

Settled in

The days are getting warmer but still chilly in the evenings and early mornings. It is a few degrees cooler here than on the mainland. A big plus for me. We do get more windy days but these can be used to work on indoor projects.
During the day it is hard not to take advantage of the lovely fresh air and garden.
We seem to discover a new tree or plant every week.

Jacaranda

New orchid

The first lily to flower

Yes we have a white picket fence

The Jasmine is flowering

We never have to buy another bay leaf

Our plum tree

The birds love the bottlebrush

Coffee tree

We have a rose and a new bud

The plan is to plant more vegetables. The soil on the Island is excellent so we expect good results.

Alamanda over the gate

The vehicle barge

The passenger ferry and Karragarra Beach

A lot has happened

Since my last post in March I have been on a holiday to the Blue Mountains in New South Wales with good friend C and moved house twice.

I stayed for 14 weeks with lovely friend R & S and their 2 dogs Lulu and Johnny whilst waiting for the house on Lamb Island to be vacant.

Sister J and brother in law B and I are living together now for company in our retirement.

We have been here just 3 weeks and already are quite settled.

This is the view from our verandah

Morning coffee and afternoon tea spot

This is also where we feed the birds twice a day

Our very regular visitor

Front verandah

We had quite a time putting two households together. As you can see we have lots of possessions on the verandah to fit things in. We are not overcrowded at all as we have been selective about what to use, what to store and what has to 'go'.

The garden has lots of potential

We have started a vegetable garden and even have a mushroom pack. There are lots of trees that we are waiting to see flower.
We had our first family lunch on Sunday the first of many.