In Helsie's garden:
Spring, Queensland style, has sprung into action with the daytime temperature going straight to the mid to high twenties though the nights are still pleasantly cool - around 13 degrees C.
The Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow ( Brunfelsia) is coming into bloom.
Lovely perfume and flowers that change from purple (yesterday) to lavender ( today) to white (tomorrow)
The Grevilleas are well into their best and full of honey eating birds.
I'm trying some flowers in pots like they do in the UK.
Blue and yellow theme in this one.
Hoping for success before it gets too hot for them.
and this little tree.
This is a Lemonade Tree. Do you know this fruit?
It tastes like lemon but is not sour like a lemon.
Very refreshing.
I know I should not have let these fruit progress on such a small tree but I could not resist.
As soon as they turn yellow I'll pick them and prune the poor little thing right back to thicken it up.
They bear prolifically and there are lots of flowers and more tiny fruit but I'll be good and take them off.
You can't buy the fruit in the shops and I have a reason for growing them.
I have a delightful Summery cocktail that I have invented that I have named .....
Helsie's Downfall !
It can only be made with these lemonades.
Just lemonade juice and Malibu and shaved ice......
Delicious !!
(but not too many now ... and go easy on the Malibu !)
In the kitchen :
Corn fritters for Sunday lunch.
They tasted pretty good too.
Now I'm on a roll so Corned Beef Fritters planned for sometime this weekend.
We have a new BBQ, a Weber Q, so we had to try a pork loin roast on it.
Very successful and good crackling too.
A healthy breakfast
No, it's not that big !!
This is a tiny one-person pan !
It's made with one egg for protein, one tablespoon of oat bran for fibre and one tablespoon of low fat cottage cheese for calcium.
Add a bit of sliced tomato for vitamin C and you are not hungry till lunchtime for under150 calories.
The same breakfast in my new Firestone pan - as seen on TV !!!
It is living up to the ad so far.
Nothing beats red Paw Paw ( or Papaya )
Well mango does but it's not available yet !!
Salad, salad, salad.
Still a bit chilly for dinner but BBQs will soon be the order of the day.
Around the house:
The Positano Room had its unveiling recently.
One more cushion to go - that large cream one on the sofa.
I have framed some postcards and placed some actual photos of the same place in Positano and hung that on the small amount of wall there is available for decoration.
Sorry for the reflections but this is the best I can do in the daytime.
Underneath the photo frame is the little table made out of an old Singer sewing machine where I always put out the coffee and tea things
Above the door I hung some stings of plastic lemons I found.
It's coming along very nicely and can go back to normal very quickly with the removal of a couple of props.
A bit of fun and bright and cheery too!
So that's what's happening around Helsie's Place.
Cheers.
I had some yummy red pawpaw recently at a brunch hosted by our Hospitality students. I don't normally buy red pawpaw. Everything is looking very Summery at your place Helen.
ReplyDeleteWe've had a reasonably long cool Winter for us Carol, it makes it a bit easier to head into my least favourite season. Let's hope Spring lasts longer than a week !!
DeleteGood to hear from you had wondered where you were! when can I come over to your place as it all looks lovely, the food delicious and the garden good too though of course I probably wouldn't recognise many of the plants! Take care of that little tree we had an apple which we allowed to have too many fruits in its first year and one of the branches broke right off - it lived to tell the tale but is a rather strange shape now! Enjoy your spring before it gets too hot we are having similar temperatures to you just now as we are enjoying a lovely Indian Summer before we start the descent into autumn and winter.
ReplyDeleteI know I've been away from the blog for a while Jane. Just looking for something to blog about. I hope my little lemonade tree doesn't get damaged. Surely those fruits will turn yellow soon !
DeleteWow!some yummy looking food there.Love the positiano room.Lovely place.In the background of the tree photo there looks to be a giraffe!!or am I imagining things.Good to see you back blogging.
ReplyDeleteHa, Ha yes Muffy that's a giraffe !! It's a bit of a case of garden ornaments on steroids !
Delete"When I was just a lad of ten, my Father said to me," - there was a song in the Hit Charts which went something like -
ReplyDelete"Lemon Tree very pretty,
And the Lemon flower is sweet,
But the fruit of the poor Lemon is impossible to eat."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2GuwDfXlHk
She took away the Sun.
And I'm afraid Helsie, that I can't look at Lemons
without thinking about her.
Beautiful rooms though.
Cheers B
Ah yes, Bernard I remember the song. Wasn't it Burl Ives ??
DeleteWell I'm pleased to say that you can eat the fruit of this little tree. When we were in Italy I had a neighbour coming in regularly to water it so the fruit would grow big and strong... and they did !!
Ahhhhhh Bernard , I just followed your link ! Of course it was Peter, Paul and Mary !! Lovely song too !
DeleteThe Positano room is looking positively lovely. Every time you use it , its going to be like being on a lush holiday. Love the hanging lemons- a very Italian touch!
ReplyDeleteQuite a bit happening at your place- all of your dishes look delicious too!
The Positano Room is a bit of fun for a while. Don't know if I'll be changing it around every time we go on hols. Wonder what I would have to do to change it to a Scottish room !
DeleteYour Positano room is coming together so nicely. What a lovely place to spend time this coming summer. Your current temperatures match ours - down to 11 or 12 at night and up into the 20s during the day. Lovely weather for sleeping and for being outdoors. But I'm going to be cleaning out my garden instead of seeing it just begin.
ReplyDeleteYes Lorrie it is a nice time of year but unfortunately it doesn't last very long here before the hot weather arrives. We're making the best of it though!
DeleteYour new room looks fabulous , as do all your culinary efforts!!! Ros
ReplyDeleteWe'll be eating most of our meals out there soon Ros. Thanks for visiting.
DeleteI've never seen Brunfelsia before
ReplyDeleteQuite lovely
It's one of my favourite plants John. We have a ten metre hedge of 2 metre tall plants so it looks lovely when it flowers and smells Devine.
DeleteThat's loads of things! No wonder you've been quiet for a while. I love the citrussy theme of the Positano room. It looks very mediterranean and really fresh. Your food looks stupendous too! What a fantastic time you seem to have all the time!
ReplyDeleteWell not much of interest happening. Just Life rolling along.
ReplyDelete