I’m Back !!

 I’m back!!! After a very long hiatus I have returned. 

Hoping 2023 will be a year full of opportunities, happy memories and personal growth, I know that sounds a bit cliqued but after the past 3 years it is much needed.

I won’t go into every detail of the past 3 year’s but will definitely share bits when I can. For now I want to focus on being in the moment and being as creative and positive as possible. 

I’m going to have a much needed holiday soon and will share as much as I can and hope to make some new discoveries.

I’ve popped a  photo as a little hint of where I’m off too !

Looking forward to actually sharing with you a very productive and memorable year. 

Warmest regards 

Cassandra

Happy New Year. Welcome 2021!!!

 It’s been a long time between posts and I’m hoping to write more often, it’s certainly been a rollercoaster ride of a year.  So I’m welcoming 2021 with optimism regardless of what goes wrong, I’m making a decision to enjoy and focus on the best bits and and accept what I have no control over as just life. 

Summer Holiday 2019.

What a hot month January has been, we always have hot summers here in the Riverina , but this year has been brutal  and its not over yet. Now most of the country even tasmania is in a grip of scorching heat.        

  So we wetn on a little holiday to have a cool  change last week, although the first day was really hot, the rest of the trip was lovely temps in the low 30s celcius and cooler nights.                   This year we chose to visit somewhere  new, off we went to South Australia  and we stayed at Mount Gambia and it was lovely, so many pretty parkes , gardens and lovely houses, great shopping centres and beautiful scenery, we visited the cave gardens , right in town and Humperherstones sink hole which is a sink hole full of beaut iful gardens and the majestic  Blue lake.                              We also visite d the seaside towns of Millicent and Robe, they were lovely and then onto to Naracoorte where we discovered  underground  limestone caves and visited the mini jumbuck factory shop where we watch very skilled and fast workers produce high quality woolen quilts and woolen underlays,  i may have spent a few dollors there, my husband has always wanted a really fluffy woolen underlay . 

The blue Lake.

Setting the scene for 2019

The first week of January has flown by,  so ive  been working hard between my other jobs and duties to put together my plan on make 2019 a  more memorable  and  successful year.  Finances first as money makes the world go around , im using the envalope budget method to control mindless spending, so each fortnight i take out a set amount, divide it up for  everyday needs and long term or ongoing expense, when i run out in that area, i run out no going to the atm for extra. So far there has been only one deviation  from the plan but  i paid that back immediately.  So far so good.

Ive decided January is a use it up and shop from food storage month so only 40 dollars a week is allowed for fresh goods. We are eating our tomatoes , zucchinies and rhubarb  and fresh herbs, we have strawberries and figs rippening too. Whne we return from our holday i plan  to plant a late summer vege patch.  Its been so hot and more heat to come next week , so waiting a few weeks will hopfully make my vege growing more of a success.     


Ive gotten myself a flight plan of sorts to help me manage time better, it also reminds me that i have done more than i sometimes think i do. Last year i didnt get to do much sewing do im going to put a set time to do some each week even if just an hour.

Well thats all for now i must clean and pack for our holiday , we are going south and somewhere much cooler, and having lots of picnics, eating out will be limited to fish n chips at the seaside only.

We have an abundance of tomatoes  and zucchini 

My flight plan or  to do list.

Enjoying the seasons

Working on some new plans for this part of the farden

Our appollo tomatoes.

Figs 

                       Mmm !!!!  Homemade gluten free pizza with fresh tomatos.

Birthday Flowers and turning 55.

Today is my 55th birthday  and that blows my mind, it sounds so much more older and  differnt than when i turned 50. This past year the realities and the fragility of being human has really kicked in.  I know 55 is not ancient but its certaily closer to the finish line than 50, id be be lying if i said it didn't  scare me a little,  thankfully  im in good enough health and for that im truely thankful.
So i really want to try and live in the moment and drink life in a bit more, be more present and connected, and make more of an effort to look after myself  and try new things.

I spent the morning with my Mother and  two of my grandchildren,  while my twins went off with my friend Ruth to make  a cake ( birthday cake maybe).  My husband , youngest girls and i are off to dinner at my friends house tonight.

My youngest  son  Doug sent me some lovely  flowers, i was quiet surprised  and delighted.  So its been a nice  quiet day and a break from the craziness of the past few weeks. I wonder and look forward to what the rest of the day and 2019 brings. xxx

Birthday Flowers 

The year in review, 2018.

2018 will go down in my own personal history as one of the challenging  years of my life, there were some great moments and some that have altered me greatly. January was my birthday month  and i turned 54 , and my twin daughters started high school and my granddaughter Eva  started kindergarten,  my niece Catherine married her soul mate Nigel.
My husband and i renewed our wedding vows after 34 years of marriage. My eldest son got engaged and my youngest son moved back to Australia . My dear sweet father who has battled dementia for over 5 years turned 80 and was present enough to very much enjoy the day and sadly a few months later his time had come to say goodbye, it was weird and very hard time, i spent some very spiritually enriching moments with him , i will treasure these moments for ever.                                                   

      We spent the last part of the year reluctantly  learning how to live without  him, my Mum has been very brave and so has my whole family especially  my sister  Victoria,  she lives a long way from us. My girls survived their first year of highschool  and i did too, and that led us to Christmas.  Christmas  was nice but different , there was a little  less magic than usual, but we all made the effort to enjoy the season as thats what Dad would  have wanted, my dad so love Christmas  and time with his family.

So that was my year , looking forward  with hope of a good and productive 2019 but also a little  wiser that big changes good or bad are always possible.  I hope you all had a wonderful  Christmas  and i wish you all a Happy New Year!! xxx

2 of my grandchildren  Seb and Eva

My  eldest Daughter Jessica and me

Me and my Family

The twins first day of highschool

My Dad at his 80 th Birthday  party

My Dad

A bit of craft done

Mother's  Day flowers

Our Christmas  tree 2018

Me and my youngest  girls

Strawberry jam

I was cleaning out my freezer ready for my Christmas  dinner shopping  and thought  id have a bit of a use it up challenge. I found 5 punnets of strawberries, some fish fillets of a few varieties and some brioche bread, so first up the fish was for dinner tonight with mashed potatos and the brioche will be french toast and bread and butter pudding for the weekend and lastly the strawberries will be slow cooker strawberry  jam which i haven't  made befor , traditional  method yes but not in the slow cooker, but im tired so experiment i will.. so in the slow cooker i added the 1200grams of strawberries, 1 cup of water ,juice of half a lemon and 3 cups of sugar and set it on auto. Hopefully  in the morning i have jam and not a burnt or sloppy mess.

Berries from the freezer

Hulled berries sugar and lemon juice

After 16 hours on low in the slow cooker

The finished product, 6 jars.