Hot cross buns

Finally I have made hot cross buns they were one of the things I have been wanting to make as the kids love them, and they informed me they were the best hot cross buns ever. I made half with sultanas and half with choc chips.
Very tasty

Hot Cross Buns

340ml water

2 tabs oil

2 teasp salt

3 tabs brown sugar

4 cups bread flour

3 tabs milk powder

1 tabs mixed spice

1 tabs- Cinnamon

2 1/2 teas yeast

Glaze

Mix together

1/2 cup icing sugar

1/4 teasp all spice

1/4 teasp cinnamon

1 tab water

Place all ingredients in order into Bread Machine and place on dough setting. (Anything that saves me time has to be a good thing)

Once dough is mixed knead in 1 &1/4 cups of sultanas

Chop dough into 18 pieces and shape into rounds

Place close together on a baking tray

Place in warm position and allow to rise for a further 20 minutes or

doubled in size

Blend a batter of 2 tablespoons of water with 1/4 cup of plain flour, spoon into plastic bag. Cut of tip and pipe a cross onto each bun

Bake in a preheated oven 200 Degrees for 20 minutes or until Golden brown. Brush with Glaze.

Slide off tray and let stand for 5 - 10 minutes before serving

Break apart, spread with butter and serve with a nice cuppa Tea!

Chickens

Finally I am able to get some gardening done in my backyard as my very kind Uncle offered to build me a chook run, before they free ranged all day.
Im new to keeping chickens and have had mine for 12 months, and had no idea what a mess they make with peastraw.
I thought I was being rather good buying a heap of peastraw to mulch all the gardens I worked for ages placing it all out lovely. The next morning I got up they had kicked it absolutely everywhere they thought it was the best stuff ever hmmmm.

So I thought no more gardening down back until the run is built.
Here is a photo of the run when it was first built.
Inside they have a shed with a roost and nests for laying.
I have 2 Black utility Ausralorps which a beautiful large birds.
Three silkies , they are the most friendly allways wanting a nurse and one rhode island red.
Inside the pen has my compost bin and my worm farm which another kind friend gave to me as she never used it.
I got my first lot of worm castings today and put them on my garden, also after I raked out the pen, this mulch went on garden and around the fruit trees.
Just down the side of the pen which you cant see in the picture I have made another garden using rakings of chook pen and guinea pig waste.
I have my first comfrey plant in this garden ,it was given to me by another friend and it is growing lovely, I cant wait to make some salve ,that will be another post.
Now that my girls are fenced off my gardens are starting to flourish, down the back I have a berry garden with loganberries and rasberries all given to me by friends and family.
I have cherry, apricot ,nectarine,apple, almond, walnut, olive and lemon trees.
All the gardens have been mulched with horse poop and peastraw, worm castings and worm juice.

This garden in picture used to have hebe in it ugh, how hard was that to remove, but finally after a lot of hard work and getting rid of all the roots it was gone,  I will never be planting that again. This garden is right outside my kitchen window so its going to be a very handy vegetable garden at the moment it is being prepared with horse poop, pea straw and worm castings. In the back ground you can see the last of my gladis that will be dug up and placed somewhere else.

The next photo is the first egg my Australorp laid and it was huge, it turned out to be a triple yolker, I have seen double yolkers but not triple, shes a clever girl, hence I took photos of the egg and sent to everyone, Im sure they think Im mad.

My childhood home

We all often have fond memories of our childhood and the home where we grew up, I know I do.
I lived in a victorian house in central Ballarat a beautiful big old home in Talbot st.
So many details I loved about the house I didnt even think about it as a kid growing up there.
My grandparents originally owned the house and lived there I remember moving there when I was about 4.
There were fireplaces in everyroom and the front room fireplace was made of marble it was stunning. There was a long hallway with all the rooms coming of the hallway, the foundations were bluestone and the front veranda was tiled, all rooms had bluestone windowsills. Leadlight windows in the front window. High ceilings with ornate rosettes and ornate cornices.
In the early days we had a woodstove which I remember my Nan making bread and allsorts or yummy goodies and the kettle constantly on. Later on we got a gas stove and had both for many years until the fireplace was boarded up.
We had a walk in pantry which was filled with staples flours, sugar, and it was also where all the homemade cakes and biscuits were kept in the retro aluminium canisters.
Through the 70s I remember the kitchen being allsorts of colours, Mum had a habit of painting and re arranging things quite often, so it was the hot orange and brown , apple green, lemon and brown.
The big down fall was the outside toilet oh how I disliked that as a kid, I remember being petrified of a night going outside so I used to make my father stand at the back door and sing while I was in the loo the minute he stopped for air I used to yell "are you still there keep singing ". We also had two toilets one was even further down the yard it was of those old wooden ones with a chain to pull, I dont think I ever used it I was scared of spiders.

We also had and outdoor laundry we did have a twin tub but there was an old wringer and the big old wash tub out there. We had a woodshed and a sleep out which was just a spair room outside. There was a gully trap which everything was put down , tealeaves , fat, vomit. ugh
Also we loved the incinerator oh how we used to love burning stuff in that, it looked a bit like a bbq it had a iron grid across the top which I used to have my sandpit nearby and when I cooked my pretend cakes thats where they went.
One thing it had a very small bathroom and the sink was in the pantry.
In the pantry there was a cellar where years ago they stored butter and cheese.
I can never remember the doors being locked and we lived in the middle of town, how things have changed.
I think this is why I have a love for vintage things and collecting bits and pieces as it reminds me of then. My Dad allways collected things books, antiques, samurai swords, clocks, postcards, actually to many things to mention. Mum was dolls and bears.

 Dad had a room for his office with whatever he collected at the time.
The backyard had two big apple trees and a large vege garden.
Mum grew gladis and dahlias.
Often people walking past would stop and look at the front garden with the blooms of roses, gladis, pansies, daphne, ferns, dahlias, it was allways beautifully kept.
I never remember going to a supermarket but there was allways plenty of home cooked and home baked food.
I think we may have been the first in the street to get a colour tv, which my grandfather bought he was a watchmaker and ran that business from the house. Oh my gosh we had 3 stations that was huge, we had chanel 3 chanel 6 and the big one was chanel 10. It was just to much to choose from.
My father was a pastry cook and made the best eclairs ever he did show me once how to make them so I must give them a try again soon as I havnt made them in about 10 years.
The little bottle with strawberrys on it in the picture above I found on ebay , my Mother had this in the bathroom it is Avon strawberrys and cream bubble bath I remember it well has I copped it for pouring the whole bottle in the bath/
Also the the 4711 perfume in picture my nan used to wear I think I found this in opp shop.
The old gold lipstick container I bought in an antique shop as I remember my Dad taking me to a white elephant sale when I was about 4 or 5 and he bought me my first ever lipstick it had been used but I remember I used to love the smell of it it was some apricot colour think it was some old ladys as it was in a gold container like this one.
I think with childhood memories we could go on and on for ever and go into many many subject, like our home, shops, around the area , where we used to play , school days ect ect ect.
Its just such a lovely time in our lives where everything is so simple
So I will end it here for now x

Quirky opp shop

I have been extremely lazy with this blog of late, I just dont like sitting on the computer to much or even sitting full stop, I rarely sit down to watch tv. I think the only time I sit is to eat meals.
Finally now school is back I can get back into my favourite past time opp shopping.
I have a couple of favourites the sweet little ones only open a couple of days a week where they are genuine opp shops with lovely ladies offering cups of tea these are the opp shops where my donations will be going. Rarely is anything over $5.00 these opp shops are few and far between these days. They are run by volunteers everything is donated and everything is sold cheap Im pretty sure thats what a opp shop is. I think these other opp shops that some of the prices are ridiculous if you go to a sale in a department store they are cheaper. The other day I went to the Brown Hill opp shop I quite liked a tea towel the price was $5.00 I asked the lady is this right she said yes, hmmmm ok and out I went it wasnt really worth looking at another thing who buys a tea towel for $5.00 from a opp shop.

Dad and I took a drive to Ballan where there are two opp shops. Steptoe and son has just moved from an old garage to an absolute quirky gorgeous little house. The prices seem to be pretty good . The lionesses run the shop. The thing that strikes me is the garden out the front , I fell in love with it, the house used to belong to an artist who did all the gardens and had tea rooms there.
I loved this garden as there were so many recycled things in there cups ,saucers plates, teapots, sewing machine , bird cage, knifes, forks, pots, pans.
If your in Ballan this little place is in the main street. I know its open on Fridays. Its worth a peek.