Just a few good things for today - Friday

Pumpkin - actually this is for our pigs!

Pumpkin pie! Definitely NOT for the pigs!

Lovely fresh lemons - thanks L!

Beautiful orchids

A good read

Hope your Friday is shaping up well. It's a bit overcast and windy here on CTF. Have been outside to plant the last 2 packets of the Spring daffodil bulbs - way late I know but I have had them in the fridge so they should hopefully come up OK!

Update for mid July

Life has been fairly busy recently. We're on the last day of school holidays and after a nice break from class D is ready to go back! The first week we spent a few days down in Auckland, visiting the zoo and a crystal museum, and caught up with reli's.

D with huge quartz crystal

A very tame parrot (Kea)

This week just gone wasn't quite so fun however, as I was unwell and got to spend a couple of nights in hospital! Nothing major though, and I'm on the mend. Just not so exciting for the wee fellow, although by default he did get to visit a few playgrounds en route to visiting the Docs and the hospital!

Consequently, this has put a bit of a halt to doing much outside, which is a real shame as I have loads of things to plant! Will have to get into it as and when.

At least the garlic is in and coming up, and I dug up the last of the carrots. The swedes are getting a good size now, and I'm still getting lots of herbs from the garden. The broccoli is also doing well:

The daffodils I planted out a while back are starting to come up. This lot are in a lovely wooden barrow handmade by G's late Uncle:

Hope all's good with everyone, look forward to catching up on your blogs in the coming week.

Lemonade scones

Since we don't usually have store-bought lemonade on hand, I have not made this unusual scone recipe before. However I had it in mind that I would try it out soon and today was the day. Apart from just being a tasty treat for afternoon tea, scones are extremely quick and easy to make. When G is outside working in all weathers on various projects around the lifestyle farm, scones and a cuppa are just the ticket.

Anyway, the recipe I used was - 2 cups of flour, 2 tsp baking powder, about 150mls cream, and 150-200mls lemonade. Mix all together gently (add sufficient lemonade to make the dough just the right scone consistency - should form a soft dough but not sticky or wet or sloppy!). Cut out scones with floured cutter, brush with milk or egg, and bake on cold ungreased tray for about 12 mins at 190 deg C.

Also, I did not realise until today that scones should be placed on the tray so that they are touching each other in order to help each other to rise..it worked! and the scones tasted lovely especially with the homemade strawberry jam.