A well worn desk, a wire bird cage and a horse biscuit cutter, all picked up at a local clearing sale for a few dollars.
Horse related activities including Pony Club and an outback gymkhana have taken up a lot of our spare time in the last few weeks. I think we are becoming a horsey family, who knew?
Ice-cream on the verandah for two tired, grubby kids who had spent the afternoon helping to truck feral goats. Growing up on a farm really is a wonderful thing. Everyday our children are learning so much, including a strong work ethic and a sense of responsibility.
I collected this tangle of rusty wire in the creek near our house. With just a little tweaking I plan to transform it into a bird nest inspired piece of garden art. Can you see it too?
Thanks to Jodie’s suggestion I blitzed a piece of elderly sourdough with some fresh sage leaves to make these chunky, fragrant breadcrumbs and later used them to crumb fish fillets. I need to get more creative with my sage plant, this was a good place to start.
How is your weekend progressing?
Are you riding horses or cooking or eating ice-cream?
Jane x
The Food Sage
Jane, you take my breath away with every post. Such evocative words and photos. My weekend? Here it is in bullet points:
Saturday
– Blogged about eating pintxos (tapas) in San Sebastian
– Caught up on a feature for work, which begins talking about eating pintxos in San Sebastian
– Trimmed back bushes out front of house that were about to take over the house
– Nurtured the veggie patch
– Cooked salmon steaks in chraimeh sauce from Yotam Ottolenghi's (awesome) book Jerusalem. It was a winner!
– Went to see friend – singer/songwriter – perform in a gorgeous renovated old Church. Perfect venue, lovely lamp light and comfy couches to lounge on. Caught up with old friends … made some new friends
Sunday:
– Lie in.
– Swept and washed floors throughout the house.
– Nurtured veggie patch
– Went to pintxos afternoon event at Movida restaurant in Sydney
– Cooked chicken with caramlised onion and cardamon rice from Ottolenghi's book – still cooking, smelling awesome
– About to go and blob about on the couch
Have a lovely week, lady x
Jane S
Your weekend sounds incredible Rachel! Thanks for calling in x
Ainsley
Many parallels in our household this week-end Jane! Horses, some herb inspired cooking, rusty barb wire creations and of course instilling kids with "farming" work ethics 😉 ! We visited Bunnings on Saturday morning instead of a clearing sale though!
Aren't the week-ends zooming by?!
Jane S
Thanks Ainsley, Bunnings is always a fun place to pick up a few bits and pieces! Yes, the weeks are zooming by!
tea with hazel
your finds all look so cool jane..i'm looking forward to seeing a photo of your bird nest art installation in situ..i can imagine your children love working with their mum and dad on the farm and see it as normal part of farm life so their work ethic and sense of responsibility becomes innate rather than it needing to be drummed into them..x
ps..i hope my email arrived ok..
Jane S
Thanks Jane…I sure did get your email, keep an eye out for your postie!
Missy Piggy
Farm life is looking pretty good! I like the idea of the breadcrumbs with the sage – I have a leftover 1/2 baguette and sage on the balcony…might whizz this up tonight. I've heard you can freeze breadcrumbs too.
Jane S
Farm life is mostly good Mel! Breadcrumbs freeze well…no problems there!
Bizzy Lizzy's Good Things
Hi Jane, I look forward to each and every one of your posts! YES, I can see the garden art made from that wire. So pleased to know you and be able to take a peek into your neck of the woods every now and then!
Our weekend? I am still recovering from another bout of illness, so we took it easy… a quick trip to the farmer's market on Saturday morning. I made some of Teresa Cutter's protein balls, photographed bees and flowers, cooked a fabulous chicken dish and took a nap in the late afternoon sunshine xo
Jane S
Your weekend sounds lovely Lizzy, I need to check the link to the protein balls, they sound good. I appreciate your comments as always.
Sarah Jane
Oh I wish that I could have been riding horses this weekend – I haven't ridden one since I was 9 years old but still love horses so very much. They are on my wishlist but as they are not a productive animal, and they cost so much, they're quite an extravagance to keep on 37 acres 🙂
I have been riding a quad bike though, or rather teaching Rilla to ride on the back of it behind me. She was scared of it at first but now absolutely loves it. My lazy border collie would rather ride than run 🙂
Happy new week to you Jane!
Sarah xx
Jane S
Thanks Sarah. Your border collie looks very happy on the quad bike…I loved that photo! We are very fortunate to have enough room for horses and my children are lucky to have a grandmother who supplies the horses and necessary equipment!
frogpondfarm
My week is progressing nicely. Would love a horse ride on the local beach and truth is I'm always eating ice cream.
Love your blog and photos
Jane S
Thanks Julie, I appreciate your generous comments!
celia
Not riding horses or eating icecream, but I have been blitzing sourdough into breadcrumbs! I save all leftover loaf ends and freeze them, then when I have enough, I dry them on a really low oven (100C) for a couple of hours until really dry, then blitz. They keep for ages that way. Like you, we use them to crumb fish fillets. Another thing we do is deep fry them and sprinkle them on pasta – old Jamie Oliver trick, that one! 🙂 Your kids always sound so happy on the property, and I can see the birds nest already! xx
Jane S
Thanks for sharing some Celia and Jamie Oliver tricks! Very useful and great bread ideas as always. My kids are mostly happy…but they don't know any other way of life either! x
e / dig in
i can definitely see a birds' nest there with that tangle of wire. that or a fabulous chandelier! (could you suspend lightbulbs from it without electrocuting yourself?).
and the sourdough and sage crumbs – a delicious idea i may steal…i am thinking for some crunchy contrast on a yummy creamy mornay.
thank you again for some peaks into your beautiful life, jane.
Jane S
A chandelier would be great e! Please steal my breadcrumb idea as I stole it from someone else! I appreciate your comments as always 🙂
Amy zhong
thats a really nice pic, simple and classical.
Jane S
Thank you Amy!
cityhippyfarmgirl.com
Oh that table is divine. I would love that in a little room that was mine, all mine. (A girl can dream)
Jane S
That is lovely idea Brydie! Thanks for calling in 🙂
Catherine Bedson
Yes children growing up on a farm experience things that city children just don't, it's a wonderful thing. The barbed wire will make an beautiful birds nest. Love your thinking and creativity.
Jane S
You are very kind Catherine, but I am not so sure about my creativity!
Anne (Life in Mud Spattered Boots)
I love your "lately" posts – very evocative – and looking forward to seeing the wire nest in one of your future "garden" posts.
It's too cold for ice cream here and our horse family days have passed though I have lots of good memories of fun times at gymkhanas. My weekend was watching rain fall as I stayed inside and baked cakes.
Jane S
Thanks Anne, no doubt the nest will appear again in blog land. Rain and cakes sounds perfect…it is so dry here, we are looking towards the horizon for rain constantly!
Kylie
Hi Jane, I was just over at Zara's and I saw your name in the comments. It reminded me that I must let you know how much we loved your friend's olives. I keep forgetting – so when it popped into my head, I thought, right, get over to Jane's pronto before you forget again! Please tell her how much we enjoyed them.
I love the tangled wire, and the little rustic vignette in your first pic x
p.s. I have helped to load feral goats in my governessing days.
Jane S
Hi Kylie, always good to hear from you! I am pleased you enjoyed the olives, they are always tasty! Keep up the great work you are doing for Frocktober x
Nathalia Lindvall
I love this. We are moving down to my boyfriends family farm in the middle of nowhere in a week and I really look forward to the day when I can raise my own children out there. I know the richness of living a life on the country.
Jane S
Thank you Nathalia, good luck for your move!
Jodie
Everything at your farm looks and sounds simply gorgeous Jane… I'm so glad that you are using your Sage bush and your sour dough bread crumb sounds divine. I love your picture of tangled wire and can definitely see a birds nest in the making… 😉
Take Care… xx
Jane S
Thank you Jodie!
floodproofmum
Love the old desk. Reminds me of my school days…oh so long ago. Glad I found your blog via Jacana 🙂 Beautiful photos.
Jane S
Thanks for calling in Tanya, lovely to meet you!
look see. by naomi fenton
I love the sound of that crumb for fish – it must be lovely and fragrant and crunchy. And the desk, birdcage and biscuit cutter are just perfect!
Jane S
Thanks Naomi, great to hear from you 🙂
Donna
Hi Jane! I can totally see your inspired piece of garden art with the wire come birds nest. Great scores in the first pic – the desk and bird cage. Hope you have a great week. x
Jane S
Thanks Donna, I am pleased a few people can see the bird's nest in there!
Jacana
Looking forward to seeing the end results of the wire bird nest
Jane S
Thanks Jacana, stay tuned!
lucent imagery
Oh your daily life photos are just lovely. I hope you're all enjoying lots more ice-cream! x
Jane S
Thanks Lucent…I happen to be craving ice-cream right now!
tea with lucy
ah clearing sales. more fond memories from my childhood that you've ignited jane! several pieces dotted around my house that were picked up at clearing sales by generations before me. your pieces are divine!
rachel xx
Jane S
Love a good country clearing sale Rachel…they brings people from miles around in our part of the world!
Shell McClure
Yep, I see the birds nest!! One of my favorite things to do with sage is melt butter in a pan and add sage and walnuts – ready when the butter is browned and sage is crispy, top a tomato – y pasta dish YUM!
Jane S
Oh, your sage idea sounds delicious Shell. Thanks for calling in 🙂