Africanaussie

  I have been making and using beeswax wraps for about a year now. Reducing plastic in our lives is so important. Plastic never goes away, and it is really worrying to think about that fact. Micro-beads of plastic are showing up in the fish we eat, and the only way we can stop this occurring is to STOP USING PLASTIC. One way is to use beeswax wraps instead of cling-wrap. Choose pretty 100% cotton fabric, and cut it into the sizes you desire. You can pink the edges, or sew with a three point zig zag as I do. I buy my beeswax locally from a dear friend who sells honey, and I love the fact that it is a little bit rustic, and even sometimes has the odd little bits of unknown objects in it! I used to grate it but find it is easier to take a large knife and just shave pieces off it. If you get natural beeswax like this, then I would suggest you select fabric that does not have a lot of white background, as the wax tends to yellow it. You can buy beeswax pellets that are white fro

Living in the tropics, I find that the soil must be covered at all times, either with plants or mulch.  The pine bark mulch at our local supermarket was on special, so I rushed in to get 14 bags.   I tend to switch what type of mulch I use in the garden over time. Last year I used hay mulch, and the time before it was peanut husks.    Of course, all the time I also have lots of leaves falling from my lychee tree.  I do pick up a lot of those leaves for the compost, but plenty lie under tree slowly forming leaf mold.   They can draw nitrogen from the soil as they break down, but I find a sprinkle of home made  compost on the leaves every now and then seems to fix that problem.  The first area I added the mulch was the little bed right outside the bedroom window.  I had weeded that bed the day before, and removed the mondo grass edging as it was getting too invasive. I think the ground orchids will grow well in that area now. Those are pink and purple, and I just noticed how much red the

 Just over a year ago I published a post here on this blog that announced I was moving to wordpress.  I had lost my job, the pandemic was big news, and I was feeling quite vulnerable.   I thought I would monetize my blog, and change to wordpress.   I gave it a bit of a try, but never really thought of that blog as "home"  After about 6 months I just stopped blogging.  I ventured into other avenues, and then eventually this year I officially retired.    Life changes always make me re-think every aspect of my life.  I needed to assess where my happy places were.   One of them was writing this blog, so I am hoping I will slowly gather back the old readers and maybe add a few more along the way.   Turns out I didnt need that fancy monetized blog, I just needed a place to share my gardening, crafting, cooking ..... whatever struck my fancy, and blogging ticks all the boxes, so I am back!   😊😊 One of our favourite things to do is to walk on the beach every afternoon, and that has