Feather your Nest Friday, 23rd July, 2021.

 What a long week!  Last Friday seems a month ago.   We had rain and more rain.  

There is water across the flats and a little river!  And the other night we had a new noise.  I stopped and listened....  frogs!  Hundreds of frogs!    

Look at that rainbow.  God's promise.   My heart is happy every time I see a rainbow. 

How happy Dad would be to see all this water! 

In Australia things went from bad to worse and our state went from lockdown into a worse lockdown.   The new rules were coming in at 6pm (early in the week) so Andy went into town for things he needed.    Our closest town with a store had gone crazy.  There were no car parks, the supermarket was packed, all basics like bread were long gone and the police had been in there questioning shoppers if their goods were "necessities."   How do you decide this?  Is an Avocado a necessity?  I don't know. 

I have stayed put.  Between rain showers I run outside and do the outdoor work.  We had one mostly fine day.  That was Wednesday.   So we had a day working in the orchard.  The plan was to prune the three big old fruit trees that were here when we arrived.   One is a huge apple tree and the others are two types of pears.   The first year I was able to put nets over them and I got so much beautiful fruit.   But the last two years I could not cover them properly and parrots pretty much got everything.   So we have taken action.  We pruned these trees back to a size we can cover.  Then we erected frames over them for the nets to go over.   I planted three new fruit trees and wrapped wind protection around the steel surrounds Andy made for all the new trees.  Now I have 19 fruit trees!  All trees were fertilised and new trees watered in.    

I came inside and made a nice roast chicken dinner.   Once in bed every muscle in my body was complaining!!  But we achieved so much that day! 

During the week I continued to put all the nice fruit and veggies I was given to good use.  I tried to do something each day. 

Lemon Butter...

(Used up lemons and eggs.)

Impossible Pies.   (Used up capsicum, onion and eggs.)

A big pot of soup.   (Used up green veggies.) 

Beetroot Relish.  (Used a whole bunch.) 

I grilled some sausages and we had the relish and salad.  Well, it was so good!  

I made some Gluten Free little chocolate cakes to take over to Mums.

I am just realising I cooked a bit!

I made two slabs of Banana Cake.  

One slab I sliced up and froze. It is for the girls school lunches.   My lines are not very straight! 

(These used up six bananas.)

I collect fallen branches and weeds to add to the hay for the kids. 

The chickens are out in their run most days.  They know now that when I open the little door it is party time!   It is funny to watch them jump over the step all excited to get to the grass. 

Lots of efforts have gone into finding ways to feed everyone with less dependance on the store. 

Teddy is now eating really well and the rain has given us plenty of long grass.

`I wrote some snail mail to someone I know is lonely.

On FB Buy, Swap and Sell I found beautiful wooden trucks and a train for an amazing price.   They are just lovely and Thomas has his already.  (Before lockdown.)  

I ordered a heap of shampoos and conditioners online.  The prices were fantastic even with the postage factor. 

This week kids could not go to school.  Most shops were shut.  Many will never reopen.  Parents were trying to homeschool and figure out how to work from home and pay the bills.   Lucy set up home school on the dining room table.  Harper speaks to her teacher on face time then begins her work. 

I am really blessed to have friends all over the world because of the bluebirds who write to me.   It is like having eyes and ears on the ground in lots of places!   Now, in Australia over the years I have found most of the time we follow a little behind the USA and UK in pretty much everything.   This pandemic I avoided several shortages just because the USA ladies told me what they were low on and I stocked up on those things.   Sure enough we followed!  

This week two Bluebirds from the UK shared with me how things were going for them.  One report was from Bedfordshire where supermarkets now only have shelves stocked for TWO days a week.  If that.   Another was from Birmingham where my friend said a stock up shop she hoped to do was much harder as the stores were so low, especially the bigger stores like Aldi.    I have seen some media coverage of the shortages but really not much considering.   There are a list of reasons but one of them is a lack of Lorry Drivers.  We would say truck drivers.   When the trucks stop running the shortages come quickly.

In Australia the truck drivers are having a really hard time and have had protests.  They need to get from A to B in a certain time but are stuck in a queue to get a covid test instead.   Trucking is a pretty demanding and tiring job already.   So I can see this is an added strain and very time consuming.   We could easily follow the UK and truck drivers begin to give up.    I am telling you this for a reason.   The stores are only ever a day or two from being decimated.  Do not place yourself in the position of having no supplies if the trucks stop, the power goes out, there are lockdowns or any other reason.   Be watchful and look well to the ways of your household.  

I am thinking if there are stores so low on stock then how will things be as we approach higher demand of the Christmas season? mmm   For this reason I am upping my game to be ahead for Christmas.  

How was your week?  I hope you had many opportunities to get ahead in little ways and build up your pantry.  When this lockdown is over I am thinking to do my best to support the small local businesses who would have been hard hit.   We need them.  And to thank a truck driver!  xxx