I am happy to report it was a pretty good week. And we had one very important event! Chloe had her baby two weeks early! They have a baby boy and his name is Thomas... (will be Tom) after Dad. I did not see this coming so it was quite emotional and now Dad has two namesakes honouring him. Oh boy! he would be so pleased! Chloe, Luke and Thomas are not home yet. We are not allowed in the hospital so have stayed home and I am looking after the garden and animals for them and cooking for their return! I hope to have some photos next week!
Some of the ways I built up the home this week included:
We put up a new chicken house in the orchard. The idea is to free range some chickens during the day and hope that the proximity to the house, our activity outside and Scout will deter foxes and the hens will be locked up safely at night. I only moved six hens to try this out. If it works out then I will move 6 more. I have 30 hens and four ducks.... so I am avoiding having "all my eggs on one basket" and now have two hen houses going.
This is the fanciest chicken house I have ever had! I was so excited. I still am!
It is beautiful!
Ok now for the new house tour. It has six nesting boxes. ...
Roosting areas (for a good nights sleep) and ramps to get you there...
The first hens settled in right away and continued to lay daily since.
Yesterday I let them out to roam the orchard for the first time. They had a great time. So far so good!
If I loved it any more I would move in myself.
I completed a project. A while back I bought a freezer from Buy, Swap and Sell. It came with a chest of drawers. This was a random combination but I just said yes!
I like them as they have curved drawers... I always loved these!
Finally I finished them. They are lined with pale pink paper and the drawers smell of roses.
This is now my treasure chest of things put away for the babies. Including future babies. Things I gather and make for as they grow. Supplies. Gifts...
The roses are decals. I copied the whole thing from a picture I saw. It took a while but was pretty easy. I really like the end result.
Each day I have picked Chard, Kale, Silverbeet, Parsley... and filled the wheelbarrow. Some days this goes to the chickens and ducks other days to the cows.
My Pekin Bantam is sitting on eggs. I hope to have chickens soon. They will be tiny! I will be pretty excited if they hatch!
I have been going through Nans recipe book. Many are familiar recipes, things Nan made often. Her hand writing is so familiar to me too.
Nan was always baking. She made us beautiful things. If we went on holiday she sent baking with us. I loved everything. So many of these recipes will be made up now that I have them.
Old recipes are wonderful. Usually simple ingredients and simple steps that made delicious things.
My other Nana was Dads Mum. She was a big cook too. She always kept chickens and arranged flowers. This is another treasure Mum gave me. Nans school book. I include this page for the USA ladies as this was what they were learning...
The date was 20th July 1905. Every page Nan got a For Good Work stamp!
Mum gave me some meat for the dog, some feta cheese and some Halloumi.
I planted 12 Cherry tomato plants and some chives.
I dried some rose petals.
Chloe has Guinea Fowl. I collected some eggs and am trying to talk a chook or bantam into sitting on them.
So that is my week. Many blessings including a new Grandson.
With the early arrival I did not begin my pantry series as hoped. But I am working on it!
I hope you had a good week. How did you build up your home, pantry or garden? I hope it was a week of opportunities. There are so many little ways to get ahead. This is truly making hay while the sun shines! xxx
What a wonderful surprise on a new grandson so soon! Congrats to all.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely chicken coop - that is really nice. Oh my the dresser is gorgeous - what a huge difference.
Have a wonderful week.
Dear Cheryl, Thank you! I hope you have a good new week too. I love how the things we do add up and each eek is an opportunity. Parents and baby coming home too, to look forward to! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteThat’s the fanciest hen house I have ever seen. Well done Annabel. You have done a fabulous job on the drawers, just gorgeous. Loved seeing your Nans recipes. When my mum died I made up a photo book and put her recipes in it along with quite a few photos. Got a copy printed for each of the grandchildren. It’s a lovely keepsake. The kids loved it.
ReplyDeleteDear Bev,
DeleteI love what you did with your Mums recipes. I might do something like this. I made recipe books for the girls. I could add some copies of Nan's recipes into those books too.
We need to preserve and treasure the things. I also have crochet pot holders from Great Gran. Mum is going through cupboards and is coming up with all kinds of things!
Have a good new week Bev! With love, Annabel.xxx
I loved reading all parts of this. It made me smile.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! xxx
DeleteCongratulations on your new Grandson! I was admiring your Nan's school work paper, what beautiful handwriting She had. Your dresser sure came out beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI have been emptying totes this week making progress on finally getting my house together. I have been finding so many things to use here and there in the house, lol it's like Christmas opening these totes. Dear Husband has been working on our yard irrigation to re route it because we are having a concrete pad poured to place our RV (caravan) on.
I made meatloaf on Tuesday, one for that night's dinner and one for the freezer. I also used up some potatoes and some milk from the frig and made scalloped potatoes. I have a few potatoes to use up still, I think I'll make some mashed for the freezer.
I love the new chicken house!
Have a wonderful week and I hope you get to see Chloe, Luke and Thomas soon!
Dear Laurie, Thank you! I am so glad you are finding good things as you unpack!
DeleteI haven't made meatloaf in ages yet I really like it. I might put that on the list! Sometimes I make it up in muffin trays or little loaf pans, like individual serves. They look nice this way and you can freeze single serves. I like them cold too!
We are still waiting on seeing the baby. One more day I think! It is hard to be patient! With love, Annabel.xxx
Dear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to you and to Luke and Chloe! This is beautiful news; I am so happy for you all. Your new chicken coop is a PALACE! Lucky chickens. And I LOVE the dresser...you did a marvellous job. I am needing to get to a paint job on a dresser...no curved drawers, but it will be very handy to hold fabric and sewing patterns when it is done. I'm thinking of spray painting it...have you gone that route before? I've used spray paint on other projects, but never a dresser and was wondering if it would be better to paint with a brush.
I spent all morning yesterday chopping, blanching and freezing some celery to use for cooking this winter. I have been doing everything I can think of with celery, and I still have about 20 heads out in the garden. Yikes! It's fine to keep out there for now, but pretty soon it will be too cold and my fridge is too small to store more than maybe 2 heads, so I keep perservering. This morning I went to do my weekly grocery shopping and ran across some pretty good deals on meat, so I stocked up. My freezer is now stuffed, though I guess I could thaw and can some meat if need be. I've made good progress on Christmas gifts, so I'm feeling pretty good about that. Our roof is finally all repaired, at long last! That is a big job that can finally be crossed off the list after 3-4 years of trying to get it done. All in all, a good week.
Wishing you wonderful baby snuggles very soon.
xx Jen
Dear Jen,
DeleteThank you! I used a roller and a satin paint for the drawers. Only a brush on the bits I couldn't really get to. It was very quick, two coats. I dont like to use pray paint on larger surfaces. it is great for small fiddly things like a vase or iron work etc. I kind of usually like a chalk finish... but I find the chalk finishes are hard to wash and keep clean. For those I use ceiling white and add some colour and stir it in... (cheap way!)
Well done on the meat deals!! Good to get them when you see them! Also very good on the roof repair. In time for winter too!
Have a really good new week. With love Annabel.xxx
Congratulations to Luke and Chloe on sweet baby Thomas. Yes, how pleased and happy your Dad would have been to have another namesake. Looking forward to seeing the little sweetie. I'm sure Harper, Scarlett, and Sidney are anxious to meet their new cousin.
ReplyDeleteYour chicken coop is really nice with the flower boxes to dress it up.
I love chests with curved drawers as well. You certainly fancied it up and what a lovely place to store baby goodies.
Blessings, Laura
Dear Laura,
DeleteThank you so much. Yes... Dad was so thrilled about Sidney. I think it was the happiest I have every heard him EVER... (we were on the phone) and the Thomas just added to it all. So this would be so special to him.
Andy said "do you really want the flower boxes?" and I was saying "yes I do!!" I think he thought WHY would chickens want flowers? Haha!
I call the curved drawers like that Baroque but I dont really know if that is correct! I have always loved them! Thanks so much, with love Annabel.xxx
Congratulations to you all!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Lana! xxx
DeleteCongratulations on your new grandson - I hope you get to see him soon!
ReplyDeleteThat chicken coop is quite spectacular - lucky chickens!
You are very artistic - that dresser is just beautiful and what a lovely idea to keep all things for the new babies in one spot.
Our infection rate is rising again so some things like eating inside restaurants, gyms & movie theatres have been closed again and we have been advised to limit contact outside our own homes and to be extra careful. Most of us just wear masks all the time now outside of our homes (it's not mandatory outdoors unless in a crowded area) - and I'm happy to say that there seems to be about 95% compliance so hopefully numbers will come down again. I've had both my pneumonia and flu shots already so at least that is sorted.
My small apt. pantry is pretty full - just picked up some more paper towels this morning - they are one thing that is in short supply here and limited to 1 per customer. I hadn't been able to get any for the past three weeks but this past week I've been able to pick up some rolls at three different shops so I'm pretty well stocked now. The only items still on my "add to" list are mostly non-food - dish liquid, laundry soap, shampoo and some other hair products. I'm not desperate so I'll wait for a sale and that should be it for the winter - aside from things like fresh fruit & veg and dairy as needed.
Looking forward to the pantry series.
Dear Margie,
DeleteThank you! We have one more day to wait to see Thomas. Is seems like forever... they went to the city to have the baby and home on Tuesday we think.
I have seen covid numbers going up in lots of countries. With winter coming too I think it is maybe harder. Good job on being well stocked up. When we had restrictions it was on many things for quite a while. This made it hard for a lot of people as the same numbers were for if you were a single person or a Mother of 10! ie 2 milk. 2 bread. 1 toilet paper. (if you could find any!) and so on. For many this meant multiple trips to feed their larger family. It was difficult for many. So I hope we dont go back to that. Things are good here currently... hoping it stays that way! But it is good to be prepared. In a crisis we do not want to be running around trying to get stuff!
Have a very good new week Margie, with love Annabel.xxx
Congratulations on your newest grandbaby! Also, if "I" loved that chicken house any more, I'd move in with you!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any plans for the day because I spent all day yesterday preparing for 5-6 inches of snow today. It's early for us, but not unheard-of. It has been snowing for about 2 hours.
We pulled up the garden Friday, just ahead of Wednesday's night first frost. I sorted the green tomatoes and have two trays ripening in the garage.
I tried and failed to repair the zipper on my daughter's tote bag--but Velcro did the trick!
I bought a Norpro apple peeler/corer at a thrift store for $4! (Wish I'd had it last week when I was making applesauce).
The biggie--I have been researching Medicare Advantage insurance plans because I have the type of policy that would not cover me if I go to the Mayo Clinic about my back. An insurance agent for a nationwide company told me that if a provider is in ANY of their networks I would be charged in-network fees! This could potentially save me up to $3,000 on the worst case scenario. . Best of all, Mayo is in-network! This is just a reminder to do your due diligence and ASK QUESTIONS if you are buying insurance or making any other big purchase. It also pays to shop around!
Dear Maxine,
DeleteThank you! Oh that sounds like a lot of snow. Says me who has never had snow! I did see people posting about snowfalls that were heavy and early though. You just beat the snow with pulling up the garden!
If your peeler/corer is anything like mine it is the best thing every!! This just transforms the job!
Well done on going into the insurance details. Sometimes time spent researching pays big dividends. Also peace of mind. The Mayo Clinic is very famous as I know if it even here.
Have a very good new week. Stay warm! With love Annabel.xxx
Oh my how exciting!!! Congratulations and hugs to all!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Holley! xxx
DeleteLove everything but especially that chest of drawers ! Right up my street !
ReplyDeleteThanks Fee, I can see the drawers are up your street! I remember a bedside drawer or small cabinet you did not so long ago which I loved too! xxx
DeleteCongratulations on your new grandson Thomas :) that was my granddads name wonderful name Wow I love the chicken house,& the chest of draws are lovely we spent the day mowing the lawns and painting our lounge room, iam ab out to start a shift this morning so I am enjoying a coffee & reading your blogs have a good weekend xx
ReplyDeleteDear Melissa, Thank you! Yes it is a wonderful name. I am so pleased!
DeletePainting the lounge room is a big job but it will be so nice. It is like a spring clean to paint after having to move everything etc. Will be lovely!
Have a good new week. It was a good and busy weekend! With love Annabel.xxx
Congratulations on the grandson. My father's middle name was Thomas. He went by Tommy.
ReplyDeleteDear Angela, Thank you! Strangely Dads Mum was Ivy and everyone called her Tommy. I dont know why! Lucy named Harper with Ivy as a middle name. So now we have a Tom as well. It is very nice. Thank you, with love Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel!
ReplyDeleteOh, it is all so lovely, and full of treasures! I am very pleased that you have another grandson, Thomas! Your chest of drawers is beautiful, with that permanent bouquet! I love your chook house, too! I hope that the free ranging goes well for your little darlings; it is so much fun for them!!
My life is pretty good, too! In this last week, I received more, regular gardening work (I have already begun four hours per week in a large garden used for floral arrangements! Amazing! I have learnt to feed roses and camellias!!!) and more regular cleaning work (using miracle cleaner!). From one family, I received a big old chest of drawers that had belonged to the great grandmother (not antique, but do-up-able! Haha!) and plants from disappearing gardens. This means agapanthus, roses, hydrangea pieces, violets, elkhorns and other greenery (and not sure about the lily bulbs! Haha!). From another customer, Dad helped me pick up a surplus bathroom cabinet with basin (to sell); outdoor chairs; and a surplus round spa bath for the animals (and me to paddle in during summer?!). I think of Rick and Vicky, and how we can be resourceful with what others don’t want (and don’t want to have to handle buyers coming to their home). My new ram lamb is settling in, too! His name is Moses, for me to remember that I have been drawn out of many difficulties, as Moses was drawn out of the water! I can say that he is Moseing along!
Rachel
Dear Rachel, Thank you very much! Well, so far so good with the six chooks. They are out and about from about 11 30 to 4. They are having a great time. And all eggs are in the nesting boxes. (I am trying to avoid egg hunting!)
DeleteThe garden you are working in sounds heavenly!! A very nice work place! A spa bath! Ok when we were talking and I thought of using the pink bath and having a goose... and thinking what could be nicer than a goose in a pink bath tub? well... I am working on that! You had many bonus blessings! Congratulations on your ram also! Maybe Moses and Woolie will become an item?
Very glad about your regular work. This really sounds like it would suit you! With much love, Annabel.xxx
Congratulations Annabell, a beautiful new grandson. Such a proud moment, named after your gorgeous Dad too, and years of happiness ahead with him and your other grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteYour chicken house is amazing. Lucky chickens to live in such palace. No wonder they are such good layers.
Your blog is an inspiration to read. It has me heading off to the kitchen to cook something every time. . Already I have the ingredients for cheese scones on the go. My DH will be happy to wake up to the aroma of baking.
Dear Marilyn,
DeleteThank you for such a kind comment. Cheese scones! I love them! Very nice. Yes baking and delicious things do make something beautiful to wake up to or come home too.
I moved some more chickens into the house now so nine are in residence. So far so good! They are having a good time under the fruit trees during the day. I hope your new week is off to a very good start! With love Annabel.xxx
Annabel, congratulations on the arrival of Thomas. Your Dad would have been thrilled. I love what you have done with the chest of drawers. I have an old set from when I was a teen I was thinking of painting but it is a big job. I even bought some pink drawer handles from eBay ages ago but that is as far as I got. I have done some decoupage on terracotta pots for indoor plants and found that my over twenty year old gold foil still works. Is used it on the top rim. I think those chooks must be in heaven living in that flash coop 😀
ReplyDeleteDear Nanna Chel,
DeleteDecoupage using paper napkins is really good. They work as well as transfers. I didn't take long on the painting. A half day all up I guess as it was two coats. My key is no surface preparation! This usually gets great vintage looking results. Sometimes a nice eggs shell antique and people ask me how I achieved it. No surface preparation is my answer lol!
Thanks so much I am so glad we have this coup now and now there are 9 chooks free ranging. So far so good! With love Annabel.xxx
Congratulations 🎉 on your new baby grandson ! What a blessing ! Love the hen house just gorgeous ! And the drawers are fabulous. With much love, Sonia.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Sonia! xxx
DeleteHi Annabelle, Congratulations on another grandson! I got to hold my great grandson this week and play with my two great granddaughters. Nothing better than that do you think! I love your dresser you redid and your chicken coop is adorable. Now that I wore the heart monitor for a month and no longer have it on my heart is acting up tonight! Isn't that the way. You are just starting your gardens and here in Indiana we have put ours to bed. I still have the cold frames going. Nancy
ReplyDeleteDear Nancy, This is typical... like when you have a toothache as son as you make an appointment and go to the dentist is goes away. Well I hope the monitor still tells the doctors what they need to know. And I hope you are ok.
Deleteoops I sent too soon! Thank you Nancy. If you feel your heart doing really rage things maybe go to Emergency and if they put on a monitor they may see... With love, Annabel.xxx
DeleteAnnabel congratulations on the early arrival of your new grandson and please pass on our congratulations to Chloe and Luke too :) . The new chicken coop is divine and the chest of drawers you renovated is just so pretty with the lovely rose decals on it.
ReplyDeleteI have not got anything to report in the way of frugal accomplishments as DH's operation has been brought forward to Monday and we are away from home. It was all a bit of a rush trying to get organised on short notice and we left on Thursday to be near the hospital for Friday for a scan.
Hope yourself and everyone has a frugal week ahead :) .
Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).
Dear Lorna, I only just read this... I hope that this bringing forward the operation is a positive thing. Now it must have already happened so I am hoping and praying this have gone well. When things happen fast we kind of have to run! I pray for good news and good results. With much love and hugs, Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel, congratulations on the birth of your new baby grandson- Thomas. Congratulations to Chloe and Luke. How wonderful that he was named after your Dad. I think Tom will have a wonderful time playing with his cousins. They are all close in age and will love spending time together. How magnificent and emotional all at once. I just love those drawers. I love how you painted them, it really is beautiful. I also love how you are using them for putting in things for the babies. How special! I have had a good week. I have bought some paper cups(thank you, Annabel, for this great idea) and am planting them out with seeds. I think your grandmother had beautiful handwriting- look at that title too. Very artistic. I had a little luck at the op shop with some shorts, top and pants for me and some little kids' books. I think some things are overpriced though, so I need to keep an eye on that. I picked up some new baking dishes and my old ones can be played with now. Lots of love, Lily
ReplyDeleteDear Lily,
DeleteMagnificent and emotional is a good way to put things. Things are beautiful and sad all at once. I really think the paper cups are neat, look nice, cheaper than pots... also I save any take out cups from a coffee I might have in town. It was great you had op shops finds. I did too yesterday! It certainly is a matter of keeping our eyes open! With much love, Annabel.xxx
Congratulations to Chloe & Luke on the birth of Thomas! Wonderful news :)
ReplyDeleteMuch love, Heidi xx
Thanks so much Heidi! xxx
DeleteCongratulations to your entire family on the precious baby boy! The dresser you turned into a baby gift cabinet is fabulous, and what a perfect use :) I'm astounded with your Nan's handwriting in her school book. I really wish penmanship was still a thing this century!
ReplyDeleteWe had a few building up happenings this week: My husband brought home scrap building materials from a jobsite so we now have kindling for fire starting, plywood for the top of the kitchen island coming soon, and wood for the new shelf in the pantry. We opened checking and savings accounts for our teenage daughter and changed our savings account all to an online bank with no fees. I redeemed Swagbucks for a $25 Amazon gift card and added to the Christmas funds. I spent rest time each day reading blog posts and watching some favorite vlogs.
More on my blog at https://cottageonblackberrylane.com/frugal-fun-homemaking-for-october-24-2020/
Dear Jenny,
DeleteThank you! I still love handwriting and think a lot has been lost! I am encouraging my Grandkids to practice good handwriting. Mine I admit has gone downhill due to so much typing!
It is really good your husband could save the materials from the building site. They re all expensive to buy! I hope your teenage daughter is encouraged to save from having her own account. When there are sales your gift card will be worth even more! I save gift cards and sometimes get double the value this way! So it adds a lot to the Christmas funds!
I hope this week has gone well. It is Thursday already and almost the end of October too! With love Annabel.xxx
Dear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your new Grandbaby Thomas. I am very happy for Chloe and Luke. We have in the last month welcomed a new Nephew and also a new Great Nephew. Boy babies everywhere! Your chook pen is DIVINE. I love it. What a joy to look at each day. Annabel, you are so creative, the cupboard you did up is really beautiful. Last week one of my little bantams hatched two chickens. I have another sitting on some eggs for a lady up the road who has fancy big chooks that don't like to be mothers. Fingers crossed I can hatch some for her. All is well here, we are getting a lot done around our yard. Today will we be working in our chook pen as I need to divide it in half because we picked up a bantam Australorp Rooster (so black and shiny) on Friday for my two Australorp ladies. I have a funny little white rooster that I cannot part with hence two pens needed. Chooks are additive. Thankyou for another beautiful, inspiring post. Have a great week everyone, love Clare
Dear Clare,
DeleteThank you! I love that you have little Bantams and I hope the other eggs hatch and she might share some with you! I have a hen and a Bantam both sitting... Chloe has one hen sitting. I have duck eggs under one hen! It is going to get confusing !
We joke about Chicken Maths. You get a couple of chickens and then you get a couple more then you have 40. haha! Yes it is addictive! Believe me I totally get it! With love, Annabel.xxx
So happy for you to have a new great grandbaby. Congratulations to you and Chloe and Luke! Well, that is about the neatest chicken house I ever saw. It is beautiful and so is your recycled chest! I didn't know you could do something like that with decals! We used to do a lot of refinishing but that was in the days when a natural wood finish was more popular. Now that looks so old and drab to me while the painted pieces look fresh and new. You did an outstanding job! Is this piece going in your cottage?
ReplyDeleteDear Pam,
DeleteI have found you can also use paper napkins quite well in place of decals. They are very similar it is just you need adhesive and varnish. The cottage is more manly/farmer style as probably my target audience is guys who want to go camping, birdwatching, hunting... So the chest of drawers is for me. Already landing up with baby things! I really like things to look fresh and bright. So I pretty much paint everything I always have. It was scary at first but now I have painted so many things. Thank you so much! With love Annabel.xxx
CONGRATULATIONS!
ReplyDelete*hugs* all around xxoo
Thank you Kelley!xxx
DeleteEverything is so beautiful, so exciting, and I loved that walk back through memory lane of hand written school books in the most delightful hand writing. My Nana had gorgeous handwriting and was most impressed when I won "neatest books in 6th class" when I graduated primary school. Wish my handwriting was as nice now! LOL!
ReplyDeleteWe too have a new chicken coop, much smaller than yours but we only have three hens and that's enough on our rather full 1/4 acre. With regards to building up the garden we have sourced some seeds for a variety of vegetables which just might grow in our ghastly tropical summer/autumn so we've planted and prayed. Hubby is most excited, and I cannot wait to see how we can extend our normal winter growing season.
Hugs to your girls and their babies!!! My heart is overflowing with joy for you all. have a wonderful week, Annabel! xxx
Dear Jenny,
DeleteMy handwriting has gone down hill too. Not that it was every wonderful. So much typing I guess has caused this. I do handwrite still and love handwritten things. I admire beautiful script especially.
Thank you for your good wishes on the baby. I hope your seeds are a great success. We have to go with our climate and do all we can that will work! Our winter season is very slow. So now we are just coming into our real growing season, even more so after Christmas.
I hope you have had a very good week! We are nearly at the end plus the end of the month! With love Annabel.xxx
Congratulations on your grandson!
ReplyDeleteP.S. /is the coop a kit? Did you build it yourself? Lovely!!
Dear Gigi,
DeleteYes the coop came as a kit. Thank goodness. It was a big circus putting it together but it was done in a day. I think to start from scratch it would take us a year! Thank you! I could easily be adding little houses everywhere for the goat, ducks etc. It is tempting! With love Annabel.xxx
Thank you for the reply. Would you be able to share where to purchase or find building plans? Thank you! :)🌸
DeleteGigi,
DeleteIt was called the Royal Barn chicken coop. I got it from My Chicken Coop online, in a sale time. We are very happy with it. I see it is available from other companies as well.xxx
Thank you!
DeleteBoth your Grandmothers' handwriting is so neat. I love the Copperplate your Dad's Mum wrote in...my how children used to learn in school! Your chickens' coop reminds me of what Martha Stewart called her chickens' palace: Palais des Poulet - LOL! All your animals eat so well: fresh, home-grown greens, etc.
ReplyDeleteWelcome little Thomas!! Praying for the new family. I imagine you can hardly wait to hold your wee bairn and check on your dear Chloe in person.
We actually got some rain here today! Very welcome~and our temps are in the normal Fall range...for now, anyway ;)
xxMary in San Diego
Dear Mary,
DeleteThank you! I always decorated my pages when I was in primary school. Now I see Nan decorated her titles. She did this on every page!
Thomas is just beautiful. Today I helped Chloe with the first bathing at home. That was fun! We have some rain here too! It started off very gently but now it is actually raining properly. This is very helpful.
I hope you have had a good week Mary! With love, Annabel.xxx
My hot tip is to get a solar door for the coop. The hooks put themselves to bed when it's dusk, then the door automatically shuts them in.
ReplyDeleteIt saves dramas if you forget or are out at night.
Dear Frogdancer, I think this could be a good back up to have! If I forget it will still be shut. Thanks for the idea. Yes it could be a bit of a disaster if I wasn't here or I forgot! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel, hearty congratulations on the birth of your newest grandson. Your cup is overflowing with joy and love for your new babes. Congratulations to Chloe and Luke, their precious family has just begun.
ReplyDeleteWell I’ve never seen a prettier chook shed! It is gorgeous and well set out.
Your chest of drawers is truly beautiful Annabel, from the colour to the stunning decal. You have such a great eye for making everything you touch shine.
I love your Nan’s recipes and handwriting, what a gift from your Mum to treasure.
We’ve had a mixed bag here in the farm the last few weeks. Jeff had an accident on the buggy and ended up in hospital. Very scary for us both but thankfully he’s nearly back to normal. No broken bones but massive bruising in many places on his body. It took a while to get back to normal.
Since then we’ve erected a new shed, Jeff’s finished building our big deck and we replaced the bore pump that broke. Never a dull moment.
Our 4 chooks lay every day and I have huge amounts of eggs I share with friends.
I was voted President of the local CWA (Country Woman’s Association) and I’m so proud. I’ve never held office in any organisation before so it’ll sure be a learning curve but loads of fun I’m sure.
We sent our first load of goats to the abattoir.
Our two baby Billy’s we hand reared are still with us. Jeff babied them too long now they don’t want to be with the herd. I don’t mind except Louie, the biggest boy, likes to head butt my legs when my backs turned and he’s getting a fair size. They are 5 mths old now.
My veggie garden is a huge joy to me. I love working in it, so rewarding. Our strawberries are the sweetest and have eaten silver beet and peas and broccoli, cauliflower and snow peas for months. The next veggie nearly ready to eat are my zucchini. I can’t wait.
Well enjoy your precious time with Chloe, Luke and your new Bub Annabel.
Love and hugs, Lorraine xxx💁♀️
Dear Lorraine,
DeleteThank you! It is very good! I love the chook house too and it is actually very well designed. They love their nesting boxes and have laid every day since they moved in! So I guess they are happy! Oh congratulations to be president of your CWA. I would be proud too! I remember one time the CWA ladies were on Masterchef. Well they outlooked everyone! They were completely amazing. One lady became a bit of a star then did a cookbook. I remember her name was Merle.
Ok my goat, Eddie, he did the same think. He thought it was great to head butt me. Then he started attacking the wheel barrow. So he is not a wether and problem solved. Seriously in a week he was back to his nice baby self. (complete change of attitude lol). You cant risk getting knocked over really... even though they think it is all fun!
Your garden is ahead of mine... I have baby zucchini just forming and I am excited about that! Thanks so much Lorraine. With love Annabel.xxx
Oops I just dropped my phone and lost my comment!
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful news Annabel! Congratulations to Chloe and Luke, I hope they are home and enjoying every moment with baby Thomas! Hopefully you've been able to meet him by now and had some nana cuddles. Just think, at the start of this crazy year you had two granddaughters, now you have two grandsons as well!
Love the chicken mansion and the drawers!
Things have just been ticking over here, I've been ticking a few things off Christmas lists and trying some new meals that use little or no meat.
Have a great week
Jen (NZ)
Dear Jen,
DeleteThank you! Thanks for restarting your comment to!
Yes they are home now! Today I got to help with Thomas' first bath at home!
Yes we have evened up the numbers! It is very nice!
Meat is a cost for sure. My low or no meat options I use often are pizzas, impossible pies, soups, fried rice, pasta carbonara, and BLT sandwiches and similar as a bit of bacon seems to convince everyone they had a meaty meal.
I am working on my Christmas lists too. I thought when it is November I wills tart on cards etc and well it is November in two days! Already!
I hope you have had a good week! With love Annabel.xxx
Hi Annabel
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Luke & Chloe on the birth of Thomas. How lovely that he was named with your beautiful father in mind, such a befitting tribute to the special place he held in Chloe's life.
A Grandson how exciting that both boys will be so close in age an grow up together.
The chook house looks fantastic
Take Care
Aly xxx
Dear Aly,
DeleteThank you! Dad was a big influence on my girls and this is so nice they both named their first sons including Thomas in the name. Thanks Aly, I hope its been a good week for you! With love Annabel.xxx