14 February 2020

Weekend reading

I'm very pleased to tell you that it's been raining here for the past nine days. On the last rainy day, the rain gauge overflowed.  A total of 265 mm/10.5 inches all up. It's changed the feel of the backyard and what was brown is now green and growing fast.  The rain here resulted in a few flooded areas but up and down the coast, with the effects of Cyclone Uesi battering the east coast, it not only brought rain to areas that had been dry for many years, it also put out all the bushfires. That is good news for us all.

Full to the brim and overflowing. A sight for sore eyes. 


And here is, the wild, rain-soaked garden, untouched since before Christmas. It's full of weeds and overgrown, a nice project to look forward to when the hot and humid days finally pack up for the year.

Here are some links for you to explore when you have time over the weekend.  I hope you've had a good week and can now enjoy time at home with your family.

Morning Chores
28 Farm Layout Design Ideas to Inspire Your Homestead Dream
How to Choose the Perfect Hand Hem Stitch for Your Project
The real problem with your Netflix addiction? The carbon emissions
Buildings kill millions of birds. Here's how to reduce the toll
The bushfires’ path of destruction - before-and-after photos
80 Vintage Dinner Recipes Worth Trying Today
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18 comments

  1. love, love, love your reading recommendations!

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  2. Good afternoon, really big thunderstorm and soaking rain happening in Victoria Rhonda! Dogs are freaky but I'm sure I can hear big trees sighing with happiness.

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    1. That's such good news! Get that rain into the ground to get the plants and worms moving again. I hope it lasts for a while, Jenny. Thanks for telling us. I'm sure it will make many people happy.

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  3. Hi Rhonda,
    We have just returned from a week in western Victoria and found 112mm/4.5 inches of rain in the gauge! What a wonderful homecoming! Tanks and dams are overflowing and the houseyard needs urgent mowing. Maybe we should go away more often, if that is what it takes to get decent rain.

    So pleased that you have had 10.5 inches, Rhonda. Our daughter near you has had the same.

    God bless,
    Lyn in northern New South Wales.

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  4. I find these lists fascinating, the recipes that Americans are are so very different to what might have been made in Britain during a similar period. I wonder how different the recipes are compared with what might have been eaten in Australia at the same time.

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    1. Hi Karen. All families would have a different take on this, I think. My family came primarily from Ireland and England, with a small percentage from Sweden and Norway. We enjoyed mainly Irish, English and Swedish food in my childhood home and that is what I cook now. We eat a few foods now that are considered "new food" but in reality, these are traditional foods we've always eaten that have been rediscovered by younger folk.

      Many American recipes I've used in the past have been too sweet for our tastes. I usually take off 25% of the recommended sugar listed in American recipes. Apart from that, I find them similar to the English recipes. The one thing that stand out to me from this list of recipes is the corned beef. The American recipe is identical to how we cook it, and how I think most Australians cook it. However, I was surprised by a version of corned beed on an English cooking show recently that was completely different. It showed chopped up corned beef that was grey, which was then packed into a form tin and pressed. It was eventually served as an odd loaf of corned beef similar to what we have in tins here.

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  5. So grateful for the rains you've had to put out those nasty fires. What a blessing.
    Enjoy your weekend!
    daisy from NC, USA

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  6. Good news, Rhonda! Rain to nourish the earth and stopping any new fires. We need rain here too, so far none in sight. It looks like a good list of reading for this weekend.

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  7. Great to hear you have had rain - and love the green garden! Not a drop our way (South Australia), but then our "wet season" doesn't start until the autumn rains. Hopefully we will get some this year.
    Thank you for the weekend reading - have always loved your selections throughout the years. Enjoy the wet! Gail

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  8. I love your weekend reading, thank you for bringing it back!

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  9. That is wonderful news. You all must feel so relieved.

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  10. Loved the Morning Chores blog. Very interesting reading. The article I read reinforced the notion of start where you are! Great reminder.

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  11. After drought & bush fires of last year we have also had very welcome rain at our place in the Clarence Valley. No rain in past two days but prior to that we had 364mm in a week. Of course the weeds are now going rampant but I don’t care as it’s just so good to have moist earth.
    Lyn xo

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  12. Hello Rhonda,

    Our farm has come to life again!!
    We haven't had the rain that you have had, but the tanks are full and the paddocks are green.
    My garden is looking beautiful, it is all so uplifting.
    To look outside and see green does the soul good!
    Our cattle are alot happier and the work load has lightened!
    Our family is enjoying this time of watching the land we love and work hard to take care of spring back to life!
    My vege garden is a beautiful rambling jungle, we are just so very thankful.
    Praying now that we get some good run off rain to fill up our dams and keep that grass growing!
    What a blessing rain is, so precious!
    Jo xxx

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  13. I love it when you recommend other fun blogs and reading recommendations, always so informative. Thank you

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  14. We are overseas with no news of Queensland so good to hear about your rain Rhonda. Best wishes and rainy days, Pauline

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  15. I love the weekend reading, even on a wednesday :) Thanks for the list, almost everything is new to me!

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  16. The rain putting out the bush fires is an answered prayer, I have been praying for rain for you for that very reason, those destructive fires. Hello from California.

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