What are Rhonda and Hanno doing? Let's see...

It's such good weather here at the moment. The nights are coolish at 15C and the days are warm and comfortable around 28C. The true marker of the start of cold nights hasn't happened yet but soon I'll get out a set of fluffy flannel sheets, add a doona to the bed and we'll be in winter mode. I love this time of year.

Last Sunday we went to the local Chipmunks for Jamie's eight birthday party. Sunny flew back from Korea on the morning of the party so it was lovely to catch up with her and all the family news while we sat and had a cup of tea. Shane brought Alex and Eve down for the party too so it was a good day for being with our family and celebrating together.

Hanno had two teeth removed yesterday so he's taking it easy and can't eat solid food for another day or so. Lunch today will be sweet potato, barley and vegetable soup, that I'll blend to silky smoothness, then stewed apples and custard for dessert. It's simple food but nourishing and delicious. We're not complaining.  I'm slowly moving over to my cooler weather meals. This is the food I love to cook. I made cabbage rolls and curry last week. It's all warm and hearty food, and the smell of cooking filled the house for hours with such delicious promises. Later this morning I'll pick more passionfruit and make up another bottle of passionfruit and citrus cordial. The passionfruit has been magnificent this year with very large round fruit and a lot of them.  I guess it's making up for the oranges which will be ripe in June, but there's only about 20 of them on the tree.  We put that down to the drought and like last year, hope next year will be better.

This little lady lost most of her body feathers during the last hot spell. She's got them all back now but all the chickens are slow to restart laying after their moult.

The garden is coming along well. Hanno dug over two of the gardens and this morning he's sowing the beetroot and turnip seeds and planting  the rest of the kale.  I had good germination on the silverbeet I started a few weeks ago but last week, overnight, all of them were eaten down to soil level. Spinach and pumpkin were growing beside the silverbeet and none of it was touched so I'll sow more seeds, cover them, and see what happens.  The drought has brought in some insects that I haven't seen here before so the culprit might be one of those.

Inside I'm crafting up a storm. I'm knitting more hemp dishcloths with the wonderful hemp from EcoYarns.  Check out their website when you have time because there are some new yarns that look perfect for autumn projects and winter wearing. I still haven't finished the little curtain for the toilet yet. I've cut it out so it won't take long to finish it off. Later in the week I'm going to cut out a new Maggie rabbit to make up for my granddaughter Eve's birthday this month. When I was making the last one at Christmas time, Eve was here and she kept coming in to my work room and cuddling the rabbit I was making for another little girl.  Eve has a Maggie, I think the first one I made was for her, but this one will be smaller, one that she was carry around, play with and cuddle at night.

And on the subject of sewing, I need a few new aprons and have enough fabric in my stash to make them. Back in the early days of my blog we all used to make aprons together - in all the far-flung corners of the world - and I was wondering if anyone would like to join me in an apron sewing bee.  There won't be a swap, but I'll gather a few easy patterns for us to follow, so even if you're new to sewing, you'll be able to join in. Aprons make wonderful gifts and are a good first sewing project. It's all straight sewing, there's a small amount of fiddly work making and attaching the ties and pocket, but 95 percent is extremely easy.  I thought I'd put a time limit of two weeks on it, to give our paid workers here the chance to join us, and I'll start a new Instagram account to show the aprons.  All you'll have to do is to email me your photo and I'll add it to the Instagram apron gallery.  There'll be more details later but I'd like to know now if you're interested in joining.  Maybe I'm alone in wanting to make aprons, if so, I'll sew alone (sniff sniff). Let me know in the comments.

I know I'm not alone in loving this time of year - either going from hot to cold or cold to hot. It seems to be the best of times when hot tea warms us up and the aroma of soups and casseroles signals a hot nourishing meal to enjoy later. Life seems easier and more simple now. We eat soups, curries and stews that cook themselves and for me, it's easy to feel tired and content at night when I've spent most of the day in the garden. I hope you're enjoying every day too.