Borage...


Blue and beautiful...


Blue borage flowers are a stunning colour, 
and the bees just adore them.
In fact blue borage honey is one of my favourites.
The borage self-seeds freely in the garden. 
For a special touch to summer drinks, 
the little blue flowers look fabulous if you freeze them in icecubes.
The young leaves have a cucumber taste.
If grown near tomatoes, the borage is meant to improve flavour,
 as well as being a bee magnet which is great for pollination.

Choc Cake

Delicious Chocolate Cake...

Very easy to make, secret is to avoid overcooking so cake is a little moist.


Preheat oven to 180 celsius.
In a large pot melt together:
150 grams butter
1 cup cold water
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon of Baking Soda
2 heaped Tablespoons of cocoa powder

Bring to boil, stirring, until mixture froths and doubles in size.
Put aside to cool for 15 minutes.
Whisk in 2 lightly beaten eggs and 1 1/2 cups of self-raising flour.
Pour mixture into a square paper lined tin, or a round greased tin with a removable bottom.
Bake for 30 -40 minutes. It is cooked when skewer comes out of centre clean. 
When cold ice with chocolate icing of your choice.

I use this recipe for many variations...
Omit cocoa for:
Ginger - 1 or 2 teaspoons of powdered ginger. Ice with ginger icing.
Orange - Add 2 tablespoons of finely grated orange rind. Ice with orange icing.
Coconut - Add 1/2 cup fine desiccated coconut. Ice with raspberry icing.


Red Camelia...



I love camellias (but then I love all flowers!).
A lot of people hate them, because they are messy.  
But I think the floral display they have is worth every bit of mess. 
This camelia is a Japonica variety.  
It is called 'Pirates Gold'.




Stunning Azalea...




This azalea is stunning with the brightest pink edged white blooms.
Now growing in a large pot situated on a sunny deck.  Probably not ideal conditions for it, but it's very happy and has doubled in size since last summer.
I don't know the name of it, as it was an impulse buy from the supermarket plant stand. And it just had a label that said 'azalea'!
Don't you just hate the way they position that stand of flowering plants just as you enter the supermarket.
I always seem to have a plant in my trolley at the start of every grocery shop!





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