Happy Easter

I just wanted to wish all my readers a very Happy Easter.  In Australia it is a four day holiday over Easter and, as it is also the start of the school holidays in Queensland, many families take the opportunity to go camping, visit family, drive to the beach etc. and I pray that you will all be safe on the roads.

 I have been reading how some of my favorite bloggers are so productive lately but unfortunately that is not the case around here as some days the most I seem to achieve is keeping my eyes open. LOL! It only takes a few sleepless nights to make one feel quite lethargic and certainly not motivated to do all the chores around the house that need doing.

Still...I did manage to make some soap yesterday which I cut this morning. I used cow's milk for the first time in this batch and also added activated charcoal for the darker colour. The fragrance oil I used in the darker soap mixture should turn it even darker eventually. More on that in another post next week. I think I will call it Chocolate Milk Soap as the fragrance oil is Rich Chocolate Fragrance Oil from Brambleberry. 

 I also got up early today and dragged myself off to the farmers' market for some fruit and a few veggies. I buy a pineapple each week from a couple who are there and I cut the tops off and plant them so have a little row of pineapples growing at the moment. A friend of mine told me about the Moringa they also sell there and, as I had never heard of it before, I bought a bag of it to try it out. There are a few articles about it on the internet so check them out if you are interested. Moringa: Really a superfood? by Wellness Mama is also an interesting article. It tastes a little like rocket and has a bit of a bite but is quite nice to eat.

I have also experimented some more with the Deep Dream Generator and quite like this one of a kookaburra on our clothesline....

...and especially this version of an old photo of my granddaughters taken when they were little.

I took the odd photo trying to get a good snapshot of the beaded hearts I have put in some of my potted plants. I have attached them to chopsticks with a pointy end but, even though I take them out of the pot when watering the plant, some of the chopsticks are going mouldy which would be because of the rainy weather we have had. So I must remember to bring them inside during rainy periods in the future.

I was reminded on Nanette's blog Stitch and Sow  that it is one year since Cyclone Debbie made herself felt in the area where she lives as she had rushing water running under her floorboards one scary night and thankfully she survived. You can read her account in the blog post Mud and water as far as I can see. 

Those who are new to my blog may not have seen the photos I took in one of our supermarkets in the aftermath of the cyclone which incidentally didn't hit in our area although we did get some rain. The photo above was taken in Coles of an empty shelf on which there was a sign saying that supplies were unable to get through as there was flooding around the distribution centres. I was amazed that this happened as we live not far from the Lockyer Valley which is referred to as Australia's Salad Bowl' and there was no flooding down there. Obviously they weren't the suppliers for this supermarket so I wonder where they sourced their tomatoes from. 

At the time of writing ex-Cyclone Iris has turned towards Australia and is working her way up the Queensland coast and is going to bring more heavy rain to the already drenched Tropics unfortunately. I know Townsville locals were hoping for rain this year but I think they have had enough for the moment and the city can now lose its nickname of  'Brownsville'. 

Stay safe and have a happy and holy Easter.