This That and the other

As the title suggests, this will be a mixed bag post.

Firstly, we put a finishing touch to the sewing room.

Way back in 2018, my good friend Lou sent me some pretty bunting for a Christmas gift.  As my sewing room has several narrow windows, it needed a little bit of tweaking before it could be hung.  To my shame, it has been sitting on my sewing table ever since, waiting for me to get my act together.

This rearranging of the room was just the kick in the butt I needed.  Oh, it was such a huge job......it took soooooo long.......... like about half an hour.  I don't know why I hadn't got around to it before now.  Anyway, here it is, the big reveal.

It suits everything so well.  I'm so pleased to have it up.

Our garden is being really productive, considering it is rather small.

This is just one day's picking.  I see that Joey is doing some photo bombing.

After fighting a battle with the snails in spring to get the beans started, we have had such a bumper crop.  I have thirty meals worth in the freezer.  I was never really keen on green beans, as Mum used to freeze so many and we seemed to have beans with nearly every meal.  I'm hoping that I still like them by next summer.

This is our first two eggplants.  There are loads more coming on, so we will have to find lots of yummy ways to use them.  These two became eggplant curry.  It is such a yummy and easy meal to make.

Our one zucchini plant is huge and just providing a zucchini every couple of days.  It is the perfect amount for us.  

The tomatoes are really only starting to ripen.  However, now that they have, we are getting loads. The smaller ones, in pots aren't doing all that well, but the big ones are making up for it.  Tomorrow will see the three bowls full turned into either some relish or frozen.

Our basil is huge, so there will be lots to have with the tomatoes.

We have never had much success with capsicums, but this year we have a few green ones on the plant.  We just have to wait for them to turn red.

Finally, our raspberries won't be too far off.  They are quite late, as it has been such a mild summer.  We still have quite a few in the freezer from last year, so we will have to get cracking on using them up.

We were rather surprised to have all these naked lady lilies pop up in  the pots in front of our little potting shed.  We have no recollection of where we obtained the bulbs.  Obviously, we planted them last year, but it was a rather nice surprise to have them appear.

Also, look at the size of that rhubarb plant!  There will be some rhubarb and strawberry crumble made tomorrow, as we still have lots of strawberries in the freezer as well.  I sometimes make a rhubarb crumble cake, but I have just found a recipe for rhubarb and custard cake.  I think that may need investigating.

Remember last week we bought a little fuchsia at the Rydal Show.  Well, it is now in a hanging basket and the flower buds are starting to open.  Isn't it pretty.

Mick has been fishing in his kayak out at Oberon Dam again and came home with four redfin perch fish. Two were actually big enough to eat. (They are a pest fish and you aren't allowed to throw them back, hence the littlies.)  We've never tasted them before, but had been assured that they are good eating.  Some say better than trout.

We thought about cooking them whole, but decided to try to fillet them.  That is something neither of us have previously tried.  It was quite comical, as we watched the Youtube tutorial and then had a go.  We reckon we didn't do too badly.

So, there wasn't a lot of meat and quite a bit of waste, but we had a taste.  We just pan fried them, as is.  They are a nice white flesh and were really nice.  Very different to trout. (Trout is the main freshwater fish we eat, as Mick grew up on a property with trout streams running through it, so they often went fishing.)

I have told him that he has to go fishing again and bring home some decent sized ones.

We love finding silo art, water tower art and murals as we travel around.  Finally, Bathurst has its own mural.  It was only hung last weekend and is on the Post Office Building.

The artwork was carried out by a local Wiradjuri man with some assistants and depicts dreamtime stories of our local area.  The main feature is a depiction of a blue banded bee.

Finally, we had a delicious dessert last night.  Plum Clafoutis.  I haven't made this in years and years.  I actually used a different recipe this time, and it worked perfectly.  There are leftovers for tonight as well, which is always a bonus.