Lemons lemons lemons

 Hi everyone. I hope you and yours are all doing well. I thought spring had arrived but now we seem to be back into winter. 

I have loads of lemons on our backyard lemon tree, and it has started flowering again, so I picked a few yesterday to make Lemon Butter and a sweet French Marmalade. It didn't seem to make much difference to what was left on the tree. I need to start giving them away. It was a wet dreary day yesterday, perfect for a morning in the kitchen. 

I have blogged about the Lemon Butter making a couple of times before - if you click here you will find see more: Lemon butter

Here is the recipe: 

• Juice of 4 lemons and finely grated rind of three
• 500gm (1 lb) white sugar
• 250gm (1/2 lb) butter
• 4 eggs, well beaten together. Make sure they are well beaten so you don't get strands of white in your mixture. 
• 
  
• Place all in a large bowl stranding in a pan of boiling water on the stove. Stir constantly until the consistency of honey, but do not allow to boil. This takes about half an hour. 

Bottle and keep in fridge. Delicious on scones! or slathered on a sponge with cream. 

I also made French marmalade out of my old Australian Country Women's Association Cookery Book and Household Hints. This marmalade is a sweet marmalade made from carrots, lemons and sugar, and is so easy to make. 

3 large carrots - I always find this a difficult measurement - how much is 3 large carrots?

2 1/2 kg (5 lb) white sugar

4 lemons

8 cups water. 

Grate the carrots. Cut the lemons into quarters and dig out the seeds. Put through a mincer, including the peel. Mix the carrots and lemons together and leave in a basin overnight with half the water - 4 cups. 

In the morning add the rest of the water, and boil for half an hour. Then add sugar and cook for about 2 1/2 hours. Bottle immediately in hot jars. 

Note: This marmalade still seems very liquid when it starts to set, so please test as you go so as not to overcook. I just spoon a small amount onto a saucer and put in the fridge for a few minutes. If it doesn't move around on the saucer when cold it is ready. 

My friend in Malta made this recipe with half lemons and half oranges. She said it was delicious too. 

This is an old favourite photo of mine I created for a special friend on the other side of the world one morning a few years ago. I couldn't resist sharing again. Sharing a cup of coffee or tea with a friend doesn't need to be complicated. 

While the French marmalade was bubbling away I also made a batch of muffins from a packet I bought when we were out in the wheatbelt recently. These are gluten free made from lupin flour. They were nice, but a bit heavier and grainer texture than the muffins we usually make with normal self-raising flour. 

My quince tree has an amazing number of flowers on it this year for such a small tree. I love quinces. Do you? So delicious. I am already looking forward to quince season - but I will have to wait till around March-April! We always net the tree to keep the birds off. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. Do you make jam? Do you have a favourite? Perhaps you would like to tell us about it in your comments. 

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Stay safe and have a wonderful week. 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

ps: what else is yellow right now? Wattle is everywhere! 
   
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf

Sharon's Sovenirs 
Our World Tuesday
Pictorial Tuesday 
ThroughMy Lens 
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera 
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity. 
       and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday 
Welcome to Nature Thursday
The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

October garden

Hi everyone, just a few photos from around my garden this week. It is spring here in Australia and it feels like, to me at least, that it has been a weird start to spring, cold and wet days, and then a burst of warm weather. But perhaps the change in seasons is always like this. We are into the last two weeks of October and tonight we have the fire on - it should be warming up by now. Though I know I shouldn't complain as I know the heat is coming. But I must say I think our garden is enjoying the rain, cooler days and sunshine.

In our back garden our apricot tree is rocketing away with new fruit - we've had to put the net up to keep the parrots off, we have blueberries ripening - so fantastic to eat straight off the bush, the lemon tree is flowering even though there is still some of last season's fruit on the tree, the tomatoes are putting out baby tomatoes, and the grape vine is forming grapes. 

 I made French Marmalade and Lemon Butter with some of those lemons. The marmalade has carrots in it and is delicious - not a sour marmalade like some of them can be.

My new quince tree has flowers! I adore quinces, so I am looking forward with anticipation to my first piece of fruit. I can even see the start of tiny quinces!

In my front garden there are flowers - the green kangaroo paws are reaching up their green heads on long stalks, the Bird of Paradise is putting out a couple of final flowers, the lavender is flowering, the pelargoniums are looking fantastic, new buds are bursting on my roses, and this yellow native is making a bright ground cover.

 The kangaroo paws are native to Western Australia.  The type I have is a tall green kangaroo paw - Anigozanthos flavidus 'Green' - which grows up to 2 metres tall. It flowers throughout the summer. 

Kangaroo paws belong to the genus Anigozanthos, which has 11 species. The closely related Black Kangaroo Paw is called Macropidia fulginosa. 
 Anigozanthos and Macropidia occur naturally only in the southwest of Western Australia. They occur in a variety of habitats and soil types    Australian National Herbarium

 
 My Port Wine Magnolia is looking beautiful, but the little birds haven't built there this year.

On Friday I was invited to photograph a beautiful garden in the Ferguson Valley for the coming Ferguson Valley Open Gardens weekend - 10-11th November. More on that in the next couple of weeks. 

And I met a baby lamb only 10 days old, one of a set of triplets kicked out by the other two, and still learning to suck. It was good to hear yesterday that she is now doing well.

Just a short post from me today - life has been hectic this last week and I need to catch up. But thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.  

Next week I will be back to share another photography project I've been working on. See you then! 
 
You might also like -
Oranges and lemons
Go away winter 
Wet weather street photography 

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
Mosaic Monday 

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at: Deep Fried Fruit and 50 Shades of Age
Little Things Thursday

Life in Reflection

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

An InLinkz Link-up

Oranges and Lemons - Wintery July in Western Australia

"Oranges and lemons say the Bells of St Clements"

This post has nothing to do with the nursery rhyme and it's rather sinister background, but the oranges and lemons growing in my garden did bring the nursery rhyme to my mind, 
 and then coincidentally the little girl, Ivory, in the book that I am reading -  Kate Morton's "The Forgotten Garden" - was singing this rhyme in the hidden garden in the chapter that I have just read. 

Have you read it? It is a fascinating story with each chapter set in different years - 1900 - 1913, 1930, 1975, 2005 - and following the lives of several women who are woven together by a family secret - Nell (whose actual name is Ivory), Rose, Elisa and Cassandra. Mostly set in Cornwall, the earlier chapters are set in Brisbane and London. When Cassandra's grandmother Nell (Ivory) dies Cassandra discovers she has inherited a cottage in Cornwall. Cassandra travels to Cornwall to find out the true identity of Nell and why she was left sitting alone on the wharf in Brisbane in 1913 with a suitcase containing a book of fairy tales. I love these sort of books that flit between characters and times.  
I would love this book to come out as a movie!

If you would like to learn more about Kate and the inspiration for her books, go here - Kate Morton

 How about meeting on the porch with friends? French marmalade on bread. Delicious.

It is winter here in Australia, and a lovely time to be curled up with a book, especially if it is cold and raining outside.

But we have beautiful clear blue sky days too, when the air is crisp and the sun is deliciously warm.  Perfect for getting outside. And lets face it, in winter, we need all the sunshine and Vitamin D we can get.

These sunny days are perfect weather to spend time in the garden. The bees on my yellow daisy bush were enjoying my garden too. A few last yellow rose buds are hanging on, the last of the grape vine leaves are ready to drop, the spring bulbs are pushing up, and I planted out some new herb plants.

And with an abundance of lemons on our tree this time of year it is a great time to make lemon meringue pie and lemon butter - both are family favourites.

These crisp winter days are a great time go for a walk and after the crowds of Europe it has been lovely to get out in the bush and enjoy the peace and the fresh air.

We went walking in the Myalup 100 Acre Wood which I had known about for a while but hadn't visited. Whilst there is nothing spectacular about this walk, it does take you along relatively easy sandy tracks through a variety woodland to the beach, and during spring I am sure there would be lovely displays of wildflowers. There are a couple of different trails which are marked with coloured posts. You access the walks from Reading Road, where you will see a map at the information shelter.

This are Cockies Tongues - Templetonia retusa - which we saw along the trail.

 It was nearly lunch time by the time we finished our stroll, so we drove a few kilometres up the road to The Crooked Carrot Cafe. We have passed this cafe many times on the way to and from Perth, and there are always cars there, but we had never stopped in. We enjoyed a delicious lunch. There are various sitting areas ranging from inside, to the patio, to outside. There is also a fabulous children's playground. This is a great place to stop on the way south.

We also went up to the bush with our grandkids. The water bush, which you can see in this first picture will be flowering soon. Noodle Cups made a easy lunch for us.

This morning it was a perfect morning to walk around the Leshenault Inlet in town, finishing with a coffee at the new cafe at Koombana Bay just along from the new children's playground which opened earlier this year.  It is school holidays so there were lots of families enjoying the playground.

Another walk close to home is along the shady Cathedral Avenue at Australind beneath the old paperbark trees and beside the Lescheanult Estuary.  There were lots of black swans on the water, but I couldn't get close enough to take a descent photo. We are lucky to have a number of walks close to home 

Last weekend our son and daughter-in-law were doing some work out at their small acreage which they recently purchased.  They invited us out for roast dinner cooked in their camp oven on the hot coals. The kids enjoyed their swing tree and the kangaroos were curious to see what we were up to. By the size of her lower belly, I am fairly sure she must have had a joey in her pouch.

 Unfortunately on one of our walks my small Canon G11 go-everywhere camera decided it didn't want to focus anymore, then the lens wouldn't retract, and it stopped working altogether. I've had this camera for a long time, and it has been repaired for a similar thing previously in 2014, but it has been a great little camera for when I don't want to haul my "big" DSLR camera. So now I am waiting to find out if if can be repaired. If not I think I might buy one of the new mirrorless cameras. Do you know anything about mirrorless cameras? I would be interested to know if you have one what you think of them.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 

You might also like:
Paperbark Walk, Cathedral Avenue, Australind 
Leschenault Inlet, Bunbury 
Bushwalking at Hoffmans Mill, Harvey 
 
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

   
All Seasons
Mosaic Monday 

Our World Tuesday

Pictorial Tuesday 

ThroughMy Lens 

Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 

The Lovin' Life Team over at Deep Fried Fruit
Little Things Thursday

Life in Reflection

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

If you are a blogger you can also link your blog to Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global. 

Summer is on its way in Western Australia - & making lemon butter

I hope your week has started well. This is not originally what I planned to bring you today, but I have been caught in the "summer is on its way" feeling.  And how could I not be? The Jacaranda trees in my area are in full bloom, the Banksias are sending up what I call their Christmas candles, there is a yellow pea flower blooming along my morning walk, surf-club is in full swing down at the back beach, and it's a lovely time to enjoy coffee with a friend at one of our waterside cafes. I love living here so close to water, even if I do have to walk or drive to get to it. We have the river, estuary, inlet and ocean only ten minutes away.

 Here some more pics of that Banksia tree. These flowers are about 12 inches or 30 centimeters long. Don't you think they look like candles?

  
Summer is coming to my garden too.
The green kangaroo paws have put up their long flower stems over the last week or so, the agapanthus is shooting up it's blue flower heads, the hydrangea is putting out its first flowers, my lovely double creamy yellow gerbera is full blown, the lavender is putting up new shoots, the roses are blooming, as is the honeysuckle, and my pink native rose, and the yellow daisies that border my garden have erupted in a riot of yellow this past week. 

 In my back garden the grape vine has promising bunches of grapes, the apricot tree is covered in paper bags to keep off the fruit-fly and the birds, the parsley plant has gone to seed, the lemon tree is loaded and the tomato plants are starting to flower.

What to do with all those lemons?  Make lemon butter of course! And what is not to like about lemon butter!

Here is the recipe I use: 

Lemon butter or Lemon Curd

500 grams (1lb) sugar, 250 grams (1/2 lb) butter, 4 eggs, juice of 3 lemons.
Grate rind of lemons and mix with juice and other ingredients in a china or glass bowl. Stand over boiling water on stove. Stir until consistency of honey, but do not allow to boil. 
This takes about half an hour. Bottle and cover immediately. Makes about 3 jars. Store in the fridge. 
Enjoy on fresh baked scones or just slather on bread.

Do you make lemon butter? You should try it. It is fairly easy to make.
But there are a few tricky questions: 
How much lemon juice is in 3 lemons? I never know when a recipe has this sort of instruction. My lemons are very large and produce a lot of juice. 
It is also difficult when you are cooking to know when you have reached the right consistency. "like honey" I guess is a good guide. I find the lemon butter does thicken a bit more after it has been refrigerated.
The most tricky part is resisting eating it straight from the jar! It is so delicious.

Here is a little photography hint for those budding food photographers out there. If your lighting is a bit dull, try adding some "fill in light" on the front of your set up. You can do this with a white bounce card, or a light. I have just purchased a Metz Mecalight LED-480 led light which works perfectly for small set ups. You can see the result below. You don't need an expensive light for small set ups. I've also used a fluorescent camping light which has worked well in these situations.
If you use tripod in low light you can also increase the exposure (ie slow down the shutter speed) when you take your pic or lighten the exposure in post processing after.  

You can see with and without a light below. Big difference. This was taken on my patio. 

 Lastly a few flowers just because.

Some summery yellow daisies sitting in a piece of my grandmother's cruet set and processed with a texture. 

 And a close up of that beautiful gerbera in my garden.

 Do you make lemon butter? What is your favourite lemon recipe? Perhaps you would like to tell us about it in your comments. 

I hope to be back next week with the next part of our recent spring wildflower trip. I working on identifying as many of the wildflowers as I can for you. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

Mosaic Monday
Travel Photo Mondays
Lifestyle Fifty Monday Linkup 
Our World Tuesday
Through My Lens 
Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Worth Casing Wednesday
What's It Wednesday
Travel Photo Thursday
The Weekly Postcard



 You might also like:
Hello sunshine yellow and lemony delights 
Hydrangeas and Melting Moments in my garden 
Summer is here  
The trees are blooming for Christmas