Spring is here.

There is really something about the first day of Spring. The sun feels a little warmer, the birds sing a little louder and our moods lift...

Sadly I missed out on most of this today as I had to attend work training. Being couped up inside a space the size of a kitchen for 8 hours really put a dampener on my Springtime skip (the training was, however, amazingly valuable for my work practice).

To try and restore balance to my first Spring day for 2010, I came home and sat in my garden ... well ... my tiled three-story high garden.

Oh Spring, how I have missed thee!

Sam xox

First harvest.

I had my first harvest today from my down-stairs vegetable garden (called so because it is literally down stairs at ground level, three stores below my apartment).

I gave away my first picking to a dear lady who lives in the house that backs on to our apartment block. She is 94 years of age and lives by herself. Every time I am working in the veggie garden she pops her head out of her back door and has a chat. She is super sweet and seems to enjoy our conversations. I picked some parsley, lettuce and a bunch of lavender (from my balcony garden) and called in to her house to give her the goodies.

In total Endive, Rocket, Cos Lettuce and Parsley are all ready for the picking, and I have soooo much that I have put a sign up in our lobby inviting my other neighbours to 'help themselves'. I hope they do because there is just far too much for Jamie and I to get through on our own.

On a side note, there was a big filthy weed growing next to my brussel sprouts. I pulled it out but it stung me on my wrist - you should have seen it! It had all sorts of crazy cactus-like spikes sticking vertically up from the leaves. I now have sore lumps all over my left wrist. Does anyone know what this weed is? I threw it in the greenwaste bin before I thought to take a photo.

Sam xox

My sewing room on "Down to Earth".

I am excited to say that my sewing room has been featured in the "This is where I work" series at Down to Earth.

Click here to see the post!

Thank you so much Rhonda for including me and my little room on your blog. I love reading your blog and the variety of topics you write about, the very practical advise you give, and the creative ideas you share.

If any of you are thinking about living a more self-sufficient, mindful, and sustainable life, I would recommend having a look at the Down to Earth blog.

Thanks again Rhonda!

Sam xox

Our trip to the Snowy Mountains.

As promised, here are some photos from our holiday. We stayed in a cabin in a township called Jindabyne, with a population of about 3500. It is a small town, nestled at the foothills of the Alpine Region. There is a huge lake in Jindabyne, which you can often catch trout from. Unfortunately, even though we fished every day, we were unsuccessful in hooking a fish... of any kind! The weather was beautiful, clear blue skies every day. But the temperature was quite chilly, only reaching 10C in the day and dropping to zero at night. Hence the campfire on the edge of the lake...

Trying to keep warm whilst waiting to catch a trout.

* * * * *

A 40 minute drive from Jindabyne takes you into the national park and to a place called Thredbo, one of Australia's best ski destinations during the snow season. Actually, the Snowy Mountains are the only place in Australia where you get the level of snow you need for skiing. The highest mountain in Australia can be found here - Mount Kosciuszko - and it sits 2000kilometers above sea level (the highest point in Australia).

Jamie and I sitting on the rock where Jamie proposed two years ago!

A the lookout to Mount Kosciuszko (the blip in the middle of the horizon).

There is a beautiful rose garden in the Jindabyne township.

It is quite spectacular to see Autumn changing the trees in Jindabyne. You see, all of Australia's native flora are evergreen plants, meaning they keep their leaves all year round. That is why it is exciting to see trees like this one...

This photo sums up our holiday - picture perfect.

Sam xox

Home again.

We are back from our holiday in Jindabyne! Unfortunately Jamie's computer is having trouble charging, so I cannot access any of our holiday photos just yet. Instead I thought I would let you know what we have done since we got back ("got back" being arrived at my parent-in-laws place 5 hours ago!).

My father-in-law is an Agricultural Teacher at a local High School. He is an avid gardener and has a vegetable garden that would be the envy of people with the greenest of thumbs. I always get excited when he says "Sam do you want to pick some..." or "Sam did you want to come out to the school". The later was said today. So Jamie, Jamie's parents, and I jumped in the car and went to the school Ag plot. We picked purple, yellow, and green beans from the veggie patch. I collected 2 dozen eggs from the chicken coop. And to top it off, he gave me some herbs and a lavender plant he has grown from a cutting. Here is my box of goodies!

He also grows some of the most beautiful roses, and Jamie's mum was able to bring home a lovely collection. Their perfume is incredible!

Jamie's Mum also showed us a book our wedding photographers are using to show potential customers. It's of our wedding! It is amazing.

Jamie's parents were kind enough to look after Prada while we were away. I think she has had such a great time she won't want to come home!

I will hopefully have holiday photos to show you in my next blog entry!

Sam xox

My garden.

After all the excitment of Saturday, Jamie and I spent Sunday pottering around at home. Jamie re-scaped his display fish tank. He moved some of the rock around and re-arranged his coral. It looks so nice now.

I did some work on our balcony garden. I went to the local garden store and purchased some plants. They had a whole bunch for $1 each that looked ok. I figured I would get a few and see how they go. The garden store also had 5 potted colour plants for $12, so all up we only spent $19 and got a great result.

Sam xox