As Christmas is just around the corner and I know that many of my readers are crafty little vegemites I thought I would remind you of crafts I have listed previously in the blog post Christmas Gift Ideas in case there is anything there that you would like to try.  Origami Christmas Wreath  Here are a couple of crafts not in that blog post that might also interest you.  Making suncatchers Chook Farm Twiddlemuffs for dementia sufferers It was unbearably hot here last week but tha ..read more

 Recently we have had fires in Queensland which thankfully have been doused a little in the SE by some thunderstorms and general rain. We had about 24mls here but other places scored a lot more rain.  Gardenia Grandiflora Star Still, a little rain is better than no rain at all and the garden appreciated what did fall. Up until this week I have been picking Gardenia flowers each day and the smell is wonderful. However, our one plant has finished flowering for this year and perhaps I should take it out of its pot and plant it in the ground as it would be nice to be able to pick more ..read more

I am continuing to make my own soap as I have oils to use up that I bought before they became so very expensive to buy. I was able to buy Coconut Oil in bulk last year so have been making a lot of 100% Coconut Oil Soap  but I still have Rice Bran Oil to use up and a little Olive Oil so I made up a batch a couple of weeks ago but, for some reason, it was a monumental fail. So I decided to rebatch it.  Years ago I had a couple of soapmaking sessions when I tried to rebatch soap and the second effort was better than my first . I wasn't all that keen on either of the results b ..read more

 I meet with some friends most weeks for coffee and we try to support small businesses in our town. Recently we found 95 Mary Street which is just exquisite with its chandeliers and beautiful decor. If you are ever visiting our city, do call in there and I am sure you won't be disappointed.  There is a large variety of yummy food which is well presented.... ...and the service is wonderful. Considering the service in some other venues it makes a nice change.  Once again it is cactus orchid time which certainly brighten up the garden.... ....at this stage the r ..read more

It is September which means the flowers in our city are blooming and  the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers  has begun. The Carnival runs for the whole month so there is plenty of time for visitors to make the trip up the Toowoomba Range.    Last week a couple of my friends and I visited Laurel Bank Park  which is my favourite park in town. I was in a hurry so didn't go up the viewing platform to see the gardens from above as the theme is spelled out in flowers.  It is a lovely park with lots of quirky gardens to look at and there is a playgro ..read more

 As a birthday gift to myself I recently had a holiday at my favourite place, Caloundra on the beautiful Sunshine Coast. A classmate and I had planned a class reunion while there as most of us had left school 60 years ago and many of them had retired to the coast.  One of the beautiful features in the main street. I had heard on the news about the fact that the ocean had broken through the uninhabited part of Bribie Island so it was interesting to view the aftermath. As 40,000 or so people had moved to the area from the southern states there were only four units availabl ..read more

Here we are halfway through winter already. We have had a couple of really freezing days when I actually had to search for my beanie and gloves which I rarely wear but today the forecast is for a 20C day and the sun is shining.  It is lovely out in the garden on days when the westerly winds aren't blowing. I have been keeping a record of what is flowering at present, especially the bulbs, as I am going to move them later on. There must be hundreds of bulbs that my hubby has planted over the last forty five years and I don't think he even remembers where a lot of them are. I do like the ..read more

In the past few weeks, as I have been helping my older sister to get help since she fractured her wrist, I have discovered how confusing accessing the help some of the 'Providers' offer is especially for an older person.  One Provider offer this and another Provider offers something else and I wonder how a person without friends and relatives to speak on their behalf copes with the ageing process.  So I decided to try and find out what support is State funded and what is Commonwealth funded. I think I have only scratched the surface so far but I have been able to at least make her ..read more

 Does anyone else have issues with possums? My hubby bought a beautiful (and expensive) dahlia last week and just as well I took a photo of it as the next day all the flowers had disappeared....obviously the possum was eating anything that looked appetising in its path although I didn't know they ate dahlia flowers.  I had read that possums ate roses but had never heard of dahlias being on their menu. You live and learn. This is what the plant looked like the next morning. It will bounce back but is under a cover now with the veggies which have already been sampled. Sigh ..read more

 We have had such strange weather lately. A couple of weeks ago it was quite hot but now there has been a cool change and it seems that at long last we are heading into Autumn. I am sure the plants in the garden are quite confused. Still, some of them are still looking fantastic such as the flowering bromeliad above.... ...as well as this cactus that I used to know the name of.  My hubby has been successful at growing Amaryllis  from seed so they are quite plentiful in our front garden and put on a nice show. He is concentrating on growing the ones with the dar ..read more