cows, scones, storms and calves.........

The most exciting news of the week is that my blog books arrived.............yes I did say books..........I realised I had not ordered 2022 so did that at the same time with the 50% off.........skimmed in on time.........did bugger up and order one soft cover by mistake but it's not too bad...........I have used the same cover since I started I think............always picking a highlight or favourite photo for the front and back from that year............ 

Now when I left last I was going out for dinner and going to make an entree..........

you can find my recipe here.........Chookyblue's Cooking

During one of the Chookshed Stitchers meetings I ordered some Bloc-loc rulers..........

I had decided on the 3.5in but Janet was on and she said she uses the 1.5 lots and I could see both options at the online shop so I got both............

the little one was perfect to cut my left overs from another quilt so I trimmed them...............

only another 41x8 left to trim...........but it was fun playing with the left overs.........

Opps I can see one on the bottom of the top right pic is the wrong was around.......but you get the idea.........there are options.........

The clouds have been pretty cool lately.............sadly not giving us very much rain.............

sunrise one morning mustering..........

can you spot Lamby...........no matter what she still lives with the black cows............she does not stay with any sheep............and I tried to get her into the yards to put some fly prevention stuff on her and she slipped to the side...........she wasn't too happy that she was separated from her friends when they were all in the yard but I was not getting her in there.........I usually have to bribe her to get hold of her for shearing.............

This little fella was busted after the walk to the yards...........probably only a day old if that.............he had a good long sleep..........

the dams are getting very low..........here is some old fence that we put in last time this dam was very low which was back in the big drought.........we need to pull it out before something gets tangled in it.........the edges of dams are starting to get boggy...........just another job to keep checking them daily to see nothing is stuck..........

According to my blog this dam was desilted back in Oct 2017.........see here

While mustering cattle this stupid ewe was lucky to be found........she was facing up the bank and I was about to grab hold of her and try and pull her out - not an easy task but she did a flip and was wanting to go into the dam further so I had to call in Mr Chooky reinforcements........as it was he sunk to his calf in the silt (with his boot still on) and it suctions onto you so it is not the easiest to pull your self back out of...........but the ewe got up and headed away from the water thankfully............we need to "ring" some of the dams...........that is going around the edge with the silt scoop and pull the bad mud away from the edges - hence "ring" around the edge......(desilting is going across the whole dam and the water level needs to be lower to do that)......we use a couple of tractors to do this........one pulling in and one pulling out............not a fun job.........need to find time to fit this in............

here is a link to some I have posted previously............desilting

Another storm threatened to knock us off work but it went around sadly.............

we only got 11 mm this week...........settled the dust and watered the lawn - didn't do much else.......

We had visitors at work this week and I cooked scones.........plain (served with jam and whipped cream) and date scones.........always a hit........

A stinker of a week coming up..........so i'll be busy watering and trying to keep things alive including myself....

hopefully on Sunday I will find some time to lock myself in the air con and sew......

see what happens...............

Catch you later............

Chookyblue..........

Just what I needed.........

 Sewing time with friends is just what I needed..........

I finally got my sashiko finished and there were a few of us doing sashiko yesterday.........Lynda, Jo, Janice and myself............it's probably going to be a runner...........

The Chookshed Stitchers had a great turn out yesterday..........

31 people joined in during the day.......But I think this was the most we had on at the one time...14 in the photo below.....We also welcomed a couple of newbies.........Joanne in Canada from Thread Head and Tonje in Norway from Made by Nemo..............both I have added to the left sidebar...............hopefully we weren't to overwhelming for Tonje and Joanne and they join us again...........but it was pretty hectic at the start like always with lots of chatter............just like any other quilt group I imagine............

Thanks Deana for sharing this photo with me.........I forgot to take one earlier in the day.......

We even enjoyed sunrise at the beach thanks to Peta............

I started another Sashiko..........this is one of the new ones I got at The Crafters Cottage

I'm sure I will slow down on the busier hexies.........

Wood cutting after zoom I found these mushrooms on some cow poo...........no I am not going to eat them.......just a cool pic.............

Lunch which I have shared on my cooking blog..........opps apparently those on at the time didn't know I had a cooking blog..........well i've only got a few things there but I know a few of you have cooked some of the things......it's been years since I added anything but I will add this one to it and really should think about adding more..........originally the idea what that I would print it out in the end........like my other blog books.........just it would be full of recipes..........

Once Dish Korma Curry @ Chookyblue's Cooking

Also while on zoom I had to go help put some posts in.........

later in the day I took a pic..........

not great but it's more memories and that is why I write this blog.........

Have a great Sunday......maybe back in a few weeks..........

Catch you later........

Chookyblue......

flat bread the screen shot version

flat bread.....

Its a nice rainy cloudy day.......we've had about 28mm of rain here mostly over night. Soft and gentle all soaking in........my neighbour rang me to check the directions for the flat bread and I just had to make some too...........and I remembered to take some pics to share with all of you..........

Combine 3/4 cup/ 185ml of milk and 50g butter in a saucepan just until the butter has melted.....don't over heat it.....add 1/2 teaspoon salt........add 2 cups/300g plain flour (all purpose flour)........combine together and turn out onto a floured surface.......knead gently and then you can wrap in plastic and leave it for 30 mins then back onto the floured surface and cut into 4 equal parts. I have not noticed the difference of leaving it or just going straight into cooking the bread.........

this is one ready to roll out...........

My Nan's old rolling pin.........

place into a nonstick pan with a little oil...3/4 heat...watch it start to cook........sometimes small bubbles......

Some times big bubbles.....

this one is now ready to turn....you will see the flat bread has changed a bit..........it only takes a few minutes.....you can use them for wraps........you can keep some uncooked in the fridge for a few days roll out and use baking paper or plastic wrap between each bread.......

cooked ones I kepted in the fridge and ate the next day...few seconds in the microwave and it was great..........none have made it to the freezer but they freeze well I am told.....

so variations

add a dash of minced garlic......that was so delicious.......wish I had remembered that today.......

dairy free use oil and almond milk.......

Gluten free use gluten free flour......

Let me know how you go.........

Catch you later........

Chookyblue.......

100 plus aggies.............

Not the best pics as it was late in the afternoon but this week in between everything else i have managed to plant about 100 agapanthus maybe more.......thankfully I was given some.......2 sizes.......lots of medium size and the standard large ones...........here are pics of a few spots I planted them

This poor bed has at times been edged with white roses which I have lost several times with droughts and the bed has been in disrepair for quite some time.............I decided I could plant heaps in here............while I have loved the roses I don't think I could take losing them all AGAIN.........there is one sad rose left..........

\

edged this garden bed too..........

sorry for the blurry pic.........

Many years ago there was a fund raiser in town and they got a truck load of aggies from the mountains.............they came by the tonne...........I got a tonne.......mostly aggies not much dirt there was hundreds and hundreds............this drought I have lost quite a few.........i used to have them all around this tree but slowly they have died...........I am trying again as they really are pretty tuff and worth replanting............hopefully they will settle in before we get too much HEAT again...........

I LOVE aggies......I have them everywhere....

once when sorting and dividing I potted up 2 aggies/big pot and sold them $10/pot....(at the time $15/pot with 1 aggie at the nursery).......we made about $600 just on the aggies for school..........so you can only imagine what these would have cost me to buy these.......actually I would never buy aggies as you can always find someone who wants to split some up and can get a few here an there............

dinner last night...spaghetti bol.........my delicious recipe here.......

preparing some Bathurst posts...........so look out......

Catch you later

Chookyblue

My favourite meal.......

My favourite meal. 

Eggs on toast or bread....... 

I could live on eggs and bread,  

Scrambled,  fried, poached, dippy eggs, French toast...... 

All quick and easy.....

Pretty healthy to......

What would you live on if you had to choose 2 foods???

Catch you later... 

Chookyblue..... 

Chicken bites with Satay sauce.................

Yesterday Mr Chooky brought home some chicken thighs............he didn't look too hard but is was already cut up into lots of little bits............would be better if he cuts the bits next time but anyway so long as I didn't have to cut it up............

He also brought Kan Tong Honey Chicken Asian Meal base......(not to bad.......we served it with rice........

Anyway we had too much chicken for that so having read Simply Joolz blog (she has heaps of good food) early in the day she posted a satay recipe so I decided to do that for lunch.............

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toss the small bits of chicken (about 300g) in a beaten egg.

then toss in corn flour....

pop some oil into the wok and throw the chicken bits into the wok.............ok well place gentle incase the chicken drops into the oil and splashes oil all over the floor (if you do this get your husband to wipe it up)

toss the chicken around in the oil until they are nice and browned............drain onto paper towel.........

While your cooking the batches head to Joolz blog and check the recipe for the Satay sauce...scroll to the bottom of her post........

I couldn't find the chicken stock so use beef and forgot the lemon but what was runny and looking yuck turned into a lovely thick sauce very quickly............just as Joolz said.........

I loved this and will be doing it again soon......pretty quick and simple..

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I have lots to tell you........

## final summary of a big project.........

## desilting..........

## haven't forgotten you Rachel either.............should have that together soon too..........

## Getting excited because it's 3 weeks until the bush bloggers bash in Bathurst..............heaps of girls coming....man there's going to be some chatting......and shopping.....and eating and heaps more chatting.......OMG so excited.......new bloggers to meet too can't wait........

Are you coming??? If not you should be!!!!!

Catch you later

Chookyblue

PS if you need a LOL

got an email from a friend........

I have not been feeling the best...anyway went to Doctors

Blog tests done...and because of my symptoms he wanted.......

it was a very serious email but I think she meant blood!!!!

...she's definitely a blogger don't you think......

the good and the bad.............

so lets start with the bad.......I need to do some reverse stitching.....

see the pic below..............I missed part of the cutting directions because when I cut half triangles from rectangles I do it like the right side of the pic.............what I needed to do was the left side of the pic...............
edit: yep that was wrong too see my next post

wouldn't think it would make so much difference but look below....the correct one is on top.....

quite a different shape..........

 it means this pic would then look straight across the top (sorry pic on side) instead of weird angles that look like they need to be trimmed.............

What I should have done is email Heather and ask 2 days ago instead of last night.........

my mistake not hers but she helped me work out where I had gone wrong..........

But the good news is I now have a new laptop.............my connection to the world we share.......so life online will get back to normal doing everything the way I normally do it...........and I can open all my own files and pics etc.......all my logins work...........LOVE IT........and now I even managed to get the printer working wireless which I could never get going before................

 Yummy Sausages for dinner in the slow cooker.............my recipe here

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

spoilt............

Late last week I got a parcel in the mail from one of my gorgeous bloggy friends...............

to "Chooky love Peg"

Hasn't she done so well thinking about this present.........so spoilt.............and precious it is the first thing to hang in my new sewing space which has been nice named the "chook shed" 

the tea-towels will be prefect for the new spot too...........

And for the girls who commented on Peg's blog yes I do LOVE it..........you were correct.....

(borrowed this pic from Peg)

Anyway back to the weekend........I was spoilt on the weekend.......... christening of the Chook Shed (no pics)............friends were supposed to be coming but for various life reasons some couldn't come............Lea rang late Friday so ask if was too late to come - absolutely not..........she was here bright and early Saturday morning and stayed Saturday night..........another friend had come and stayed Friday night...........then it rained on Saturday and some others who were coming couldn't come.........so it was a little disappointing missing time with them but we had a great time anyway............

enjoyed some glasses of champagne..........nibbles..........lots of cuppas

I felt so spoilt........I just played with bits and pieces............I haven't sat at my machine and sewed like this probably since before the cattle went out on the road last year...........but I felt so inspired and just played.........I worked on several things.............even got inspired to work on the sashing for a FQS BOM from way back..........If you recognise it do you have the directions for block 5...........

onto something completely different.........

Pumpkin Soup in the Slow Cooker

1/2 a pumpkin - peeled and cut into chunks

medium sweet potato

1 litre chicken stock

2 small/medium onions

salt/pepper

sprinkle of nutmeg

teaspoon coriander (dried) (couldn't get fresh)

Into the slow cooker for 3hrs on high (because I was little late getting it on)

Then I took out about 1/2 the chicken stock.

Mashed the pumpkin roughly in the slow cooker and then pureed it with the hand blender.

Pour in a tin of coconut milk 400grams.

Warm through and it is ready to serve.

A cold wet weekend perfect for champagne, soup and late night sewing with friends........

Hope your weekend was wonderful too............

Catch you later..............

Chookyblue

fast but slow............

Time is flying by...........this time in 2 weeks i'll be in Sydney at the Quilt show.................catching up with lots of friends...meeting some online friends......checking out the amazing quilts.........shopping supporting the shops who make the effort to go to the quilt show............I know it is a huge effort and I was disappointed to find out this last week that a shop I loved visiting last year isn't going this year  :(

Anyway the blog meet is going to be on the Friday and i'll put some details up when and what time etc in the next few days...........

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The slow bit is the slow cooker marathon I was on.............4 days in a row I cooked in mine and this in another recipe we used...........I wasn't in town so couldn't try some of your recipes........

heard a couple of girls have tried Lisa's whole chicken and said it was beautiful............

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&&

Butter Chicken........

sort of followed the recipe...........I had a couple of trays of chicken legs and put them all in the slow cooker and added the packed mix and onion, 1/2 cup tomato paste and a large tin of crushed tomatoes (my addition to cover the chicken a bit better)..........it worked out fine and I served it on a bed of rice..........

Thanks to all the girls who put up posts and/or a tip/recipe in the comments............I added that post to the left sidebar and added more links to the girls posts as they have put them up..........i'll still add more as I find them............need to go shopping for a few ingredients for some.........

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Supposed to have some friends coming to sew this weekend but rain is forecast so who knows what may happen.............

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

Slow Cooker recipe weekend..........

Hey does anyone want to join me.............

With a big cold weekend forecast for at least South Eastern Australia and everyone had so many great suggestions I though if today and over the next few days maybe you could post your favourite recipe for the slow cooker.............

Yeh I know you could google slow cooker recipes but I do love the recipes best that I get from friends.............

So today I am painting a room and the slow cooker is going on now..........

This is one of my quick ones and wonderful in the campoven too............

Mild Chicken Curry

McCormicks have some other great slow cooker packets too

I vary mine as needed..........unfortunately I can't always get coriander even though I love it so today with the packet i am adding

 chicken thighs 

(they say 1kg for the packet but I only have 760grams)

1 x large onion

2-3 x carrots peeled and sliced

1 x green capsicum chunks

1 x 400g can coconut milk 

I'll flour the chicken pieces before I pop them into the slow cooker.

I won't pre cook anything today........

Mix the coconut milk with the packet mix and place everything in the slow cooker.....

hoping this will be lunch so high setting for 4 hours

I also have a bunch of bok choy that I will add when I come in to cook the rice

Joolz posted this slow cooker lasagne and I will be giving it a try as soon as I get the ingredients.

Go dig out your recipes and if you post one on your blog pop a link to your blog in the comments so we can check out the recipes.

I love meals like this in cold weather............

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

PS we got 39mls of rain which is wonderful..........

ADDING links here
Deb's Mexican Chicken
Lisa tells how she does her Roast Chicken
Narelle Beef and Vegie Soup

Jane's Chicken and vegies
Sisbabe has her Chicken Casserole 
Sue Meatloaf
Fiona's "Cheating" casserole (she told me it is cheating)
Kris' Burgundy Beef with cheese & herb dumplings
Sue's chilli dish
Sue's Meat Loaf
Lise's Silverside
Chookyblue's Pumpkin Soup
Bev's Chicken and Lentil Curry
Gayle's Beef Stroganoff

I'll keep adding links here so if you look at this later and want to do your own post with a recipe then leave a comment here and I will add links as required..........

Slow Cooker /crock pot recipes..........

So what's for dinner at your place..................

Sausages with tomato and onion gravy is on the menu at my place...........

I'll do some mash potato to have with it.......

I speeded this one up by giving the sausages a quick cook in the fry pan first and then into the crock pot..........

usually I am lazy and just like to throw everything in at the start and give it an occasional stir.......

Used one of the slow cooker packet recipes with it.............

Sometimes I do my own thing...............

what do you like to cook in a slow cooker/crock pot.............

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

cooking, shearing, autumn.........

Extra cooking this week for shearing...................scones

Choc Chip Biscuits........

also did Anzac Biscuits and a chocolate cake.........

Shearing.............

more autumn colour...........

a great succulent..........

clear sunny day.............chilly nights......

.....couple of light frosts this week......first for the season...

Really need some rain.........

Catch you later..............

Chookyblue