January draws to a close

It's been a week for cooking.  Every one is back at work, the grandkids at school and sunny skies above.  We do have two cyclones threatening in the Coral Sea - but they are in the future!

First kisses go to my Cherry Guava tree which is laden with fruit... so laden it's turning itself inside out as it branches are dragged downwards by the weight of fruit.  On Sunday, I picked 2 kg of fruit and baked a beautiful Guava Crumble for our desert... Drew lots of praise from Hobo 1...Guava ice cream is next.

Second kisses are for me for making an attack on the garden invaders. I've been procrastinating long enough.  So this week I attacked the jungle!  I found green tomatoes and burr gherkins amongst the roses and zinnia.  With a couple of onions and a few herbs, I turned the fruit into 5 jars of Green Tomato and Cucumber Relish which on a Sao biscuit made a tasty morning tea. (Thank goodness for the Internet...had no idea what I could do with the Burr Gherkins!)

Kisses also for my seven old hens.  They keep us in eggs.  I saw the brown hen sneak into a hole in the hay so I put on the flash and snapped her in action!  But look!  There's not one but two hens in there and a third one was waiting outside.  It goes without saying. There'd been no eggs in the chook house for several days but I found twelve eggs in this secret nest in the hay!  Several of the eggs were immediately used to make a custard for the Guava Crumble.

I wish I could get back into the garden but all this cooking and organising of photos to get my blogs going before January ends has drawn my gardening program to a halt.  Are the roses trying to tell me something as they form bridges in the sky? Or are they just advertising my waywardness? ..."Rose hips, black spot, leggy branches...Help us please!"