The sun is shining again...and all is well.

We have had a number of dismal foggy days and I missed the sunshine terribly. We really are a nation of people who love the outdoors and find it difficult to have to stay indoors for any length of time so it was just so wonderful to see the sun shining once again today. I don't know how our Northern Hemisphere friends survive those long freezing winters. I take my hat off to them.

 

Once the washing was on the line and drying in the sunshine I checked the garden to see how many weeds had sprung up since the rain started and there are heaps I must say. Once everything has dried out I need to spend a couple of hours pulling them out. I pulled the covers off the strawberries to see if the ants (which I presume are the pests that are eating them) had decided it was too wet to venture out for their midnight feast but obviously they had been hungry and had been chomping away at my strawberries which were almost ripe. So that's it! Out they come as it is no use trying to grow them in that garden.

I was pleased to see that the Landcress (Barbarea Vulgaris) had grown quite a lot and hopefully by next year I will have enough plants growing to help with deterring the caterpillars that like to decimate cabbages in particular. They don't seem to bother too much with the kale which isn't surprising ;-) I don't bother too much with it either.

I think a few of the cabbages are going to be ready to pick around the same time so I can see a lot of sauerkraut being made in the next few weeks.

I quite like sauerkraut and, if you have never made it and would like to give it a try, check out Rhonda's Making Sauerkraut from Scratch instructions. If you prefer not to use salt, Green Living Australia have a Probiotic Vegetable and Dairy Culture for making sauerkraut and kimchi. Kimchi is made with Chinese Cabbage which we don't have growing but if you do grow it Rhonda and Sunny have easy instructions in the post Making Kimchi with Sunny. I really need to have a go at making that soon. Fermented veggies are very good for you apparently.

I took a few shots while I was out in the garden while the plants were still wet from the rain.

I discovered a yellow nasturtium growing in the compost heap down the back which I had never seen before. I have no idea where it came from as I thought we only had the orange version. I think the bees were happy to see the sunshine as well.

I got as close as I could to this spider without it crawling onto my camera. Then it was time to go inside and get some housework done as I find it is hard to get motivated when it is raining so there was plenty to do which I didn't finish anyway as I kept getting tempted to go and sit down in the sunshine and just bask in the warmth. The housework wasn't going anywhere anyway :-)

Last but not least and true to my word, I promised my friend Sally that I would post a photo of these very cute buckles I bought on eBay after seeing them on Annabel's blog. I had decorated her birthday present with pink ribbon and a buckle and I just knew she would ask me where I bought the bling from which was from here.  It's like that with old friends ... especially when they are crafty...crafty in the nicest possible way of course. 

We are due for a few more sunny days and it is going to be quite cold as well but, as long as I can find a sheltered spot in the sun, I will be happy. How about you?