Feather your Nest Friday, 10th December, 2021.

It was a full week!  First I want to thank so many of you who shared experiences and tips re living with Covid and being ill with it.   I got so much useful and practical information.  Thank you so much. 

This week I got on with using the produce I was given last week.  I still have some to go and the weekend is going to see me make a lot with Bananas!   We enjoyed the most delicious pineapple I have ever eaten, a ton of salads and good things.

This week my Bantam hen was due to hatch chicks.  With my record at two I hoped she would beat it!  Nothing happened on day 21.  Nope, nothing.  Nothing happened on day 22...  and I was thinking how she had been sitting for three weeks all for nothing!   But then I checked one more time...  

Oh!!   I was thinking at this stage please please let there be more than two!! 

I should have stayed away and had patience but I didn't.   It became an hourly "I'll just check on the chickens..."  

Chicks started to appear and I could hear chip chip chip.  If you zoom in the egg on the bottom right has a crack... I could hear and see a little beak chip chip chipping away.     So exciting!! 

This went on for hours until we had 15.  FIFTEEN.   Not two!   Oh my goodness I was so excited you would think I sat on them myself for three weeks!  

Meanwhile...   my neighbour Mignon was packing up having sold her farm.  She keeps giving me things she thinks I might like.  This time fabric dyes and more velvet!   But she didn't stop there.

Every visit to Mignon's one of her dogs comes to me and sticks to me like glue.  She looks at me with "I love you, I love you, did I mention I love you?"  looks.   So I know this dog and she knows me.   You can tell where this is going.    Moving into town there are rules and Mignon has more dogs than you are meant to have.  And all her dogs are older, from 11 up to 15 or 16.    It is not easy to re home older dogs.

So guess who came home with me.  Zackie.   

She loves going in the car.   She was happy to get in and come with me.    Scout and Molly weren't too sure.   We made a place for Zackie to sleep and be her own.   

In the morning Andy let her out and mid morning he came inside and said Zackie is gone!    I went outside and called and looked around and yep no trace.   I got into the car and drove over to Mignon's farm.   It isn't a long drive maybe 6 or 7 kilometres.    

As I drove in the driveway there was Mignon and as I opened the car door guess who came bounding up to meet me?  Zackie.  She did good time getting there!   So we repeated the entire process, she jumped in my car again and back we came!  

Now she is settled in.   She is a very lovely natured dog.  I am giving her eggs every day as her coat isn't shiny.  I will soon fix that.

I had good luck at an op shop.  I found lovely jars full of soaps,  thick ornate velvet,  several fabric remnants and a puzzle for the girls.  

Mum came over and I made a simple apple cake. 

My big cook up for the week was baking a ham.  I made a rice salad and we have enjoyed this so much.   I gave Chloe a meal of ham, salads and fresh sliced pineapple.  

I bottled up my Coffee Liqueur for Christmas gifts.  I had some really good heavy bottles to use.

It is delicious!  

I continued on wash cloths.  The soaps from the op shop are in lovely colours and the idea is to pair a soap with a cloth for next years operation Christmas boxes.  

I made more cleaning cloths for the gift cupboard.

And I completed two bags, also for gifts.

Some days I sewed five minutes, some days half an hour.  It just really adds up! 

We topped up a raised garden bed with compost.   The tomatoes are doing really well and I will be picking tomatoes really soon.

Yesterday I set about my morning routine.  I had chicken feed and scraps in hand and as I approached the hen house with the chicks I saw a mess and that a fox had tried to get in.  It had dug around the hen house and under.   It had not succeeded but it didn't matter seven of my tiny chicks were dead.  I just felt sick.  Just heartbroken.  Seriously yesterday was just bad. 

I realise now I am very lucky to still have the hen and eight chicks left.   We fixed up the damage and now the chicks are managing to go up the ramp into the enclosed hen house that I can shut tight at night.    I should have done this in the first place or not let them down on to the ground part of the coop.    A terrible price to pay for this mistake. 

I am also now leaving Scout out overnight on patrol.   I hope we will be ok now.  

With the other hen and her two chicks this gives me ten chicks.    And another hen is sitting on eggs.   Although she is the unreliable and mentally confused hen who I have given another chance.  I guess I better not get my hopes up there too much!

It was a week of wins and losses but overall increase.   It is just getting dark now, the chickens are locked inside for the night.  Scout is on duty.

Someone I like a lot (and who's Bible studies I adore) is Phil Robertson.  He posted this week...

"The weapons we fight with are not weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to God." 

2 Corinthians 10. 4-5

Well it seems to me there is a giant ballet of good vs evil going on.   I guess there always has been but this last couple of years it seems amplified, accelerated... to me anyway.  But when I read those words!    We need not worry.  We just need faith and to be busy with what we can do and pray over the rest. 

I hope it was a good week for you. How did you build up your nest, get ahead, add to your pantry?  We love to hear! xxx