June at Marmalade House ( and a bit of May ).

We’re hunkering down for Winter here at Marmalade House.

 This gorgeous old farmhouse inherited that name because of the abundance of old citrus trees. We also dreamt  that we’d have marmalade jam spilling out of our preserves pantry by now. 

Nah, that hasn’t happened yet ….( neither has the preserves pantry ).

However, I have used these mandarines squished up into a cake after simmering on the stove for an hour. 

Our mandarine tree is a sight to behold. Still some growing time needed for the fruit to get bigger but we’ve already consumed lots of juicy goodness. There’s something very satisfying about pick, peel and eat right where you are standing.

The oranges sadly lack the same sweetness so they often end up on the ground, but I have a plan for some of them. It requires using concrete so I need to gather some supplies. Stay tuned while I dilly dally with that idea. 

The lemon tree.

The grapefruit tree.

On a whim one day, I sliced some of the grapefruit and dried the pieces for decoration. It took way too long in the oven though.

Helen planted a blood orange tree in our citrus grove area. They tasted so sweet and delicious. I’m sure they’ll become a favourite.

Some garden delights over the last couple of months. …proteas, hardenbergia, leucadendrons, pin cushion hakeas, gorgeous grevilleas and a new kangaroo paw.

The Fairy Garden.

More plants.

……and look what happened. 

Scattering seeds can sometimes be a bit hit and miss here so this pretty packet of seeds needed to be sown somewhere that they didn’t get lost. They comprise strawflowers, Swan River daisies and everlasting seeds.

Jack….our little organiser and a man of fact.

We celebrated his third birthday in May and built a sandpit/construction site in the backyard.

A Construction  site birthday cake made by Aunty Claire and Aunty Sara was devoured by all and some  piñata  shenanigans from Aunty Alice took place afterwards.

The babies were given some special gifts from Chelsea.

They can both carry on a complete conversation at any given time ( who knew).We adore them.

Out and about….Mmmm, that sounds easy doesn’t it!

Home.

Bill has been labouring over a new window awning for our back exterior door.

 We’ve had a landing and ramp constructed out there to allow access to the back of the cottage.

 Helen helped him attach it above the door.

I’ve been looking at quilting sites online and becoming inspired to start something new….it must be a Winter thing. Funnily enough, the fabrics I’m drawn to are all a bit citrus-y. Getting my sew and sew mojo back. 

Here’s the cake folks. A bit cracked from getting it out of the tin but the flowers are there to distract you.

From today…..sausages anyone?

 Mind you, I still probably wouldn’t know what day it was!

Keep warm and well everyone.