Catching Up

A few days respite from the summer heat so you might guess what's going on here in my kitchen. If  the temperature is going to be below 24C, you can lay even money this little baby will be alight and cooking up everything I can possibly fit in the oven and on the top.
Peach and rhubarb jam is bubbling along nicely in the big pot, with a saucepan of beetroot picked from the garden this morning, a big pot of stew for the dogs, the kettle on for a cuppa, and small cakes in the oven.

Made a plain cake batter with some sour cream I found at the back of the fridge, mixed in some cinnamon, folded through chopped fresh peaches, sprinkled the tops with raw sugar.

I watched them rise through the oven door...... and then watched them sink.  Not looking like a magazine food shot, but I can attest to their delicious-ness.
I may have eaten one too many with a cup of tea.

The farm gate stall is stocked with seasonal produce, jams, sauces, chutneys and eggs. Quite the busy little place lately.

This has to be bragged about. I did some sewing!!
My favorite shorts that I bought at an op-shop for 50cents nearly five years ago are showing signs of wear.  Really, wouldn't you think they would last a bit longer than that? ;-)
I set up my sewing machine and really needed to take a lot of deep breaths to remain calm and in control of the situation. Slowly, I started sewing with zig-zag stiches until I felt confident and then there was no stopping me.
I used to sew clothes for myself and young daughters back in the late 70's and 80's. It's hard now to think I could have ever done that, but I'm planning on having a go at another random patchwork bed cover for my newest grand daughter Clover. Her big sister Isla received my first attempt at a patchwork bed cover when she was born three years ago. I want them both to have a Granny's bed cover as an heirloom to take with them through their lives.

 Yesterday's Plumcot jam. Labelled and ready to go into the farm-gate stall and into the outlet shops. I use donated and collected re-cycled jars for the farm-gate sales, but the jams that are sold in outlet shops are put into new jars.
I need to finish off writing the weights on these outlet shop jars, plus a small sticker with a "use by" date.
No prizes for guessing where it's cheapest to buy this jam?

 I never take it for granted that most meals we eat are almost completely from what we grow here on our small farm.  Last night's dinner of fillet steak, sausages, zucchini, and tomatoes cooked on the barbeque. (We bought the gas)
Beetroot and potato bake cooked in and on the wood stove.
All ingredients grew here except for the rice that we used to make the sausages. That makes me feel very satisfied that the hard work is worth every sore muscle.
It's a week since I last watered the vegetable gardens as the soil is holding onto the moisture with this cooler and humid weather. I LOVE it, but warm days are coming up again.
How many days until Autumn?
Cheers for now. :)