Feather your Nest Friday, 28th May, 2021.

 It was a great week!  We had more rain and some sunny days which has produced a blanket of green.   It is beautiful.   Every time it was sunny I got out in the garden and planted more cuttings that seemed to be ready to go in.  All of this is making a difference.   My garden is looking much more lush.   I think the bonus is how the sun, fresh air and loveliness of it help me sleep well.   You get a full dose of Vitamin D and God's beauty that does you more good than almost anything else.  Maybe I would add animals to that list.  The sweetness of animals is so beautiful.  All this does your heart good.  

I have been thinking on industriousness.  Mum and I were talking about happiness and contentment.   I've said it over and over but it never stops amazing me how all the people I know who have happy hearts are industrious and busy with their hands.  I can't think of an exception.  Busy hands really do make happy hearts.   I know it is not a fluke that so many Bible verses have a depth to them that seems endless.   "She works with her hands with delight" (Proverbs 31:13) is not just a formula for being on top of your work,  creative and frugal but a prescription for health.    Again this week Australia has millions of people in lockdowns, children home from school, businesses impacted and more.  I won't even list the things I am seeing that many of your are experiencing.   All I can say is we have been preparing, building up our pantries and preparedness and we are not afraid of the winter as we have been doing stuff! 

 I watched as some of my friends were plunged into lockdowns and did they complain?  No!  Cath and Wendy were two who began to plan right away how they would use this time!   Wendy declared she will get busy soap making.   I have a list of blogs I follow posted on my homepage here.  Cath's blog is Debt Free, Cashed up and Laughing.  Wendy's is My Abundant Life.    I thought yes!!  These girls are industrious!   

Ok,  I better report the ways I feel I built up the home and pantry this week.   These include:

I made Friands.   They are made with Almond meal and berries.   They are delicious.  Easy for a gluten free treat.  

I had a couple of lemons that were pretty well past it.   I sliced them open and put them in the dishwasher. Then I threw in a large tablespoon of Bi Carb Soda and ran a cycle.   This makes it come up sparkling clean and smell beautiful. 

Mum gave me some meat for Scout and that added to her little section of the freezer.

In the op shop I found an animal carrier suitable for a small dog or chickens for $6.  It even had a brand new dog lead inside.   Then I found packets of all kinds of needles like darning, upholstery, embroidery and more.   Also some brand new cottons.   These went into my gift cupboard as I am making sewing themed gifts.   Something else towards these gifts are these button cards.    

The cards are a free printable from Jenny (who's blog is also on my reading list) and I made 30 of these then packaged them into little cellophane bags with a pretty sticker.  Into the present cupboard they went.   I have found doing multiples of things builds up my present supplies faster than anything else! 

I have started a little challenge to each week do at least one bulk cook up.  This week it was Pasties.  I made 16 man sized/meal sized pasties.   I gave Chloe 4 so that covered two meals at her house.  

These are full to the brim of beautiful veggies and a little meat.  I serve them with relish.   They are like pies kind of, I say this as I don't think these are common in the US.   They (also like pies) freeze so well.   A pie/pastie is a meal all in one. So handy.

So by the time I gave some away and we had a meal of them I had ten left to freeze.  This was five meals  added to the freezer for us.    Last year I made it that I would have at least one month of meals ready to thaw for emergencies etc.  I am working back up to that again as I let it slip a bit.

This week my investment was in needles for my sewing machine. 

Now for an adventure.   Every night I check the Facebook Buy, Swap and Sell sites for my area and these include livestock and poultry groups.    Won over to roosters by the two roosters I did a swap for I decided I could take in some more.  In one evening three people posted the most gorgeous roosters ever.   Thinking they were stunning and they were free I applied for them all, assuming I would be lucky to get one.   

So you already know what happened.  I got them all. 😬

The animal carrier has had a work out already.    The first rooster I picked up from a lady in the supermarket car park.   We had a pretty basic arrangement to meet there and I had to sit and consider if people looked like chicken people.  Finally someone approached me and asked if I was Annabel.  It was kind of like a drug deal haha.   I was handed a box that was taped up as though Houdini might be inside.    I put the box into the car and noticed it was surprisingly heavy.   I gave the lady a pack of my cards and gift tags as a thank you. 

At home a couple of hours later I lifted the box out and walked into the hen house with it.   I had all this tape to contend with.  As I was trying to get it open it felt like I was opening a big present.   It was exciting!   Finally I got the box open.   All I could see was a box full of feathers.  Full to every square inch.  There was no obvious head or tail just millions of feathers.   I put my hand on top and kind of stroked.    Up popped a head and he stood up.   Packed into that box was a rooster the size of a small car!  

He shook and straightened himself out and hopped from the box.    I was just amazed!   I have named him George although Foghorn Leghorn came a close second. 

His feathers are just amazing.  And he is very quiet which is lucky.  

Since I have repeated this kind of performance 4 more times.  Now I have 7 roosters.  This is chicken maths for you.    I probably can't keep them all.   Over the weekend I will figure it out.  I have four hen houses so I can keep four.  Two of those have almost 20 hens each so those two can probably have two roosters....    The idea is to have chicks and increase sustainability.   The roosters protect the hens as well.     And now I have to stop getting more chickens.  👀

I rescued lots of little succulents from an abandoned garden.  Oh my goodness some of them are gorgeous.   They were so long without water I wasn't sure if they would survive.  I soaked them in a bucket of water overnight and they sprung back like little sponges.  I saved all but one.  

Next I potted them up.   I will nurse them on a bit before planting them out.  

I got two trays like this.  So thrilled!   

So that about sums up the week.  I hope you had opportunities to build up your home and garden and get ahead.   We are going into winter in a couple of days.  I am glad to have easy meals in the freezer if one of us isn't well.  This weekend I have some apples I need to use up.   The fire is going and I have a blanket to work on. 💖 xxx