Feather your Nest Friday, 29th July, 2022.
The week was a bit of a whirlwind. I took Mum to Adelaide for an appointment and another day drove into town to run some errands. So a bit of travel. But meantime back at the farm things were chugging along!
My Bantam Hen hatched eleven chicks! There were a couple of days later than I expected. My way of finding out if they have hatched is by putting my ear next to the outside of the nesting box and listening for chirps. This day I didn't have to do this I could hear chirping from half way across the yard. I peeked and this is what I saw.
In the end there were eleven and some are yellow and some are black.
They are quite tiny! MUCH smaller than regular chicks.
I guess at this point I qualify as a crazy chicken lady. I can even supply others with a complete crazy chicken lady starter kit! But I have loved birds since I was born so chooks are just part of life.
Speaking of...
When I went to town I picked up some more Quail eggs. The non verbal Quail man became friendly!! I wore him down. Now he is chatty. He "threw in" some extra eggs as well.
He also told me some things I didn't know about incubating. So I am learning.
While in town I took bunches of celery to the swap tables and I came home with seedlings which I was happy with.
My greenhouse is really filling up but soon a lot of plants will be traded and given away. I also planted quite a few more Jade plants into my garden. They are tough! I have a lot of rocks and they look quite pretty with them. We still have a month of winter but there are more and more signs of Spring coming. Flowers and blossoms are everywhere.
In the op shop I found a beautiful Dinosaur tee shirt which I think will be for Tom as he is very into Dinosaurs at the moment.
Today was lovely and sunny so I did a fair bit in the garden. I found some more big pots for my container garden and also decided that a couple of sad plants could get the boot and the pots would be better used for veggies as well. I filled two of these with soil and compost. I think these will sit and wait for the weather to begin to warm up.
This is my fancy rooster. I call him FogHorn. All the chooks were out scratching around today with me so happily. I am collecting a dozen eggs a day and that number is growing.
While in Adelaide I went to Aldi so I added quite a bit to the pantry.
How did you feather your nest this week? I hope there were many opportunities for you.
I have some crafting planned for the weekend to add to my present cupboard so I can't wait! xxx
Quite the farm you have going these days, Annabel!! This week I’ve been harvesting more from our garden- about 30 cucumbers, 3 giant zucchini that grew covertly, 12 big slicing tomatoes, 2 quarts of cherry tomatoes, another yellow squash, 2 big cabbages and the last of my green beans. As I pulled out my bean plants, they gave me another 2 cups of beans. Two days before, I got 1-1/2 cups. Little dribs and drabs at the end of their cycle, but together those bits were almost a quart of beans! So I pick and harvest even the littlest amounts!
ReplyDeleteAfter pulling out old bean plants and cabbages I harvested, I replanted those areas with peas and lettuce and green beans for a new crop to make use of every empty and available garden space! I will continue to do this as the summer wanes! I deliberately planted when I did because an hour afterwards we had a gentle rain which watered them!
All garden waste goes to the chooks and they convert it into compost and eggs! We continue to get about 3-1/2 dozen eggs even in our miserable heat!
So I used a new (free) service app on my phone to buy markdown mince from my local grocery for half of their sale price which made it $1.99/pound! I was able to get 10 pounds. I made some into a big batch of sloppy joes and the rest I molded and froze into 24 hamburger patties.
I used the remainder of a wrinkly apple I chopped into a batch of apple muffins (which used a markdown mix I had on the shelf).
So all in all, a good week!
What a wonderful week! So productive! Getting the mince at such a good price and making it up was fantastic too! The muffins sound beautiful as well. The rain on your seedlings was just perfect! Your chickens would be so happy and healthy and the eggs beautiful and bright yellow! I love your whole set up! Love Annabel.xxx
DeleteI have mainly been dehydrating lots of citrus fruits...lime...lemon...oranges and this week mandarins bought on clearance @ $1 per kg... Looking forward to doing veggies, more mandarins and limes and grapefruit...also Blood oranges when I find some. Eating my way through 3 freezers before I go on holidays. Planning Christmas gifts and collecting arise geranium and ither aromatics for Pot Pourri, oils and soaps... Also decluttering items to sell and gift... Rain and more rain for weeks here in Perth is a good reason to stay at home lots and sew, cook and craft...
ReplyDeleteWhat a great week and I love your plans! I have my essential oils out this weekend to work on some gifts. I like Geranium oil in relaxation blends it is beautiful. Rainy weather is perfect for crafting and sewing! We have rain coming too... as what you have generally arrives here a few days later! Have a great weekend! Love Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel, Your chicks are so beautiful. Little tiny fluff balls of happiness. I want to report an "ask and you will receive" story. Last night my husband took me to a local farm that he had heard bred and sold bantam hens. Earlier in the day I was thinking about how many bantam hens I would get, one, two maybe three. Then my mind wondered and I was thinking how one day I really would love a hen that laid chocolate coloured eggs. I said a little prayer asking God if I could have one, one day. I have looked for these in our area but never found any. It went out of my mind as I thought about bantams. When we arrived at the farm the lady showed me a beautiful black and peachy bantam hen with five, 4 month old chicks that she was willing to sell as a set. Then she let my daughter pick out two bantam hens to be her rooster Archie's mates. My daughter choose a beautiful brown laced one and a lavender with almost peach through it. All these are Belgium ones much like your little hen I think. We put these in the back of our ute. I was happy. At the last minute the lady said you wouldn't want a hen that lays green eggs would you? Yes please, green is not chocolate but still exciting to me. I choose a beautiful standard sized brown hen with a lavender tail. Thinking I was so lucky and done, you might guess, she said I have an easter egger hen for sale over the back who lays chocolate coloured eggs if you would like. I was one happy person driving home. I love my chooks. You are right Annabel, God does hear our little prayers. After two yukky weeks of sickness in the house I felt so happy and grateful to be able to have a dream come true. What fun. Love Clare
ReplyDeleteDear Clare, Oh my goodness!! Firstly the bantams are going to be wonderful! They are good mothers and you will soon have them hatching. M could have a little business selling them even. The hens that lay coloured eggs!! I have seen greens and blues but never brown! I would love to see a photo when they start laying! For that lady to mention these just as you are leaving... she was prompted to do so and that is God caring for your hearts desires. I am so happy for you! What a lovely week! Also I have never seen a brown and lavender hen... I have to see a photo if you can manage it! So happy for you! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteOh Annabel, what can one say!? Other than you are amazing! and a human dynamo who never stops. Your life is so very different to when you weren't on the farm - no comparison. Your life is rich and satisfying and rewarding with what you have worked to achieve. Your dear Dad would be so proud. Enjoy your weekend with family and crafting Annabel, Blessings from Robyn, S.A
ReplyDeleteDear Robyne, Thanks so much. I am really grateful Dad got to see how I thrived here and how deeply I loved it and our first two years. But we continue to grow and expand and I feel he would be thrilled. He would be thrilled with two more Great Grandsons also! Thank you for your kindness! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteAfter reading this week about the hot temperatures in Europe, experts are warning that Australia may also experience hotter temperatures this coming summer. This will be a challenge to protect our produce gardens!
ReplyDeleteThe last two summers have been very mild. The summer before that we had one extreme day where birds fell out of the trees dead. I really hope the experts are wrong. I am heartened by the fact experts usually are wrong. I hate the heat. It is hard on people, animals, then there are the fires. eek. I should work out shade options for the veggies... than you for reminding me I will do that! Love Annabel.xxx
DeleteWhat wonderful photos of the chicks! Brings a smile to my face ;). I look every week to see what animals will be following you for biscuits or arriving under a fluffy hen! Glad you made such great progress. Thank you for your blog. Your thoughts and commentary have really helped me learn so much! I grew up a city person and now have a pantry and am on the verge of starting a small veggie garden, at age 67! Hilogene in Az
ReplyDeleteDear Hilogene, A small veggie patch can produce soo much! A tip is to send things up as climbers as this increases your area a lot. I think this is a great idea and you will love it. Veggies have become really very expensive here. Thank you for your kind comment! With love Annabel.xxx
Deletethis was a busy week for me as normally it is just the two of us but we had our daughter and 3 of her 9 children with us . she was teaching at a local goodnews camp and it was 70 miles from their home so they used our house as a bed and breakfast, sort of. today i'am getting the house back in order and laundry. the kids were all a very helpful bunch. went to the thrift shop this week looking for a large ceramic bowl for sourdough starter (daughter doesn't like to use plastic) thought a liner from a large crock pot would work just fine. there were many at the thrift shops. a good way to recycle a crockpot. planted peas yesterday in the spot where greenbeans finished up and made maranara sauce using some grated zucchini, carrots and tomatoes. pureed together you don't know those other veggies are in there. good for picky eaters too. your chicks are so cute- wish we could have them too but we have so many predators around we would have to make their house like fort knox. oh well! hope your weather continues to go well,our summer has been pretty good here in pa. but not so in a lot of places. fires, flooding and drought ect. blessings to you all bonnie
ReplyDeleteDear Bonnie,
DeleteI use only glass or ceramic for sour dough too. A crock pot insert is an excellent bowl! I have my hen houses like Fort Knox although the largest predators are foxes and you might have much larger ones!
I love how so much can go into a marinara sauce too. So healthy. Extender too. It was nice to have your Daughter and Grandchildren there. Great you got the peas in! A good week! With love Annabel.xxx
We haven't had any relief in the heat/drouth department here in central Texas but I hear other states are having floods. I'm just watering trees and what's left of the gardens (okra and tomatoes). Also putting away things that I find on sale at the grocery store. I check the pastures when driving to town and I notice that early in the morning the cows are standing under shade trees but when I come home around noon, they are all standing in the middle of the water tanks. Ranchers are lined up at the sale barns having to sell their cattle because there is no grass. I lost one of my chickens to the heat in spite of their pen having afternoon shade. I put a big fan out there and I think that is helping.
ReplyDeleteAnnabel, your chicks are adorable and your plants look beautiful. I am waiting on my broody bantam to hatch out some babies. I've wondered if the heat will affect that.
I was at my daughter's for a few days and that was good. Youngest great grand turned two this week and she is a joy to be around. I have been working on a new meal plan to make things easier. I thought if I designate certain days (besides my soup and sandwich Saturdays) as Italian, Mexican, fish, freezer meals, casserole days and possibly leftover days that may simplify my meal preps. I keep ingredients on hand to make just about any dish and one of the goals is to use up leftovers and things past the use-by date.
Hope everyone is safe and healthy and that you all have a wonderful weekend!
Dear Pam,
DeleteI hope your hen hatches her chicks! Hopefully! The heat is very wearing. I am so sorry hearing of farmers having to sell their herds.
I use up left overs night is great. I try and review what needs using as I plan dinner. This usually dictates what we will have. It really extends the meals and sometimes it is like a free meal.
Have a lovely weekend to you too! With love Annabel.xxx
Trying to feather my nest, but it’s felt like 2 weeks of all the groceries disappearing within a few days of bringing them home (typed with a smile and laugh, I have two teenage boys who seem to need to eat as often as a newborn). I am working at making more filling meals and keeping the cupboards stocked with wholesome, filling food. Any ideas are appreciated! Working right now on a pot of spaghetti and sauce mixed with tuna fish. I never thought to try it, as I am not a big tuna fan, but we did try it this past year, and when it is seasoned right, our family likes it better than pasta with beef sauce.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine had five teenage boys all at one time. She would time the bread maker to be ready for breakfast and ready for after school. She made cookies in huge sizes like 4 or 6 to a tray. She did giant baked potatoes to go with a meal. I would suggest a toasted sandwich maker and a good recipe is egg, grated cheese and ham mixed together. Protein is the thing. I am already thinking how it will be when my Grandkids are teenagers! We will be cooking full time I think! xxx
DeleteDear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteYour little chicks are just precious. I love Bantam hens because I really like the fact they are small. The jade plants are lovely. I can't have those as they are toxic to kitties, but there are plenty of other houseplants that are safe. Thankfully, we are fine except for the heat, but elsewhere in the US the heat and flooding are horrible. Blessings, Laura
Dear Laura, Bantams are a great option for people with small spaces too. They are good little egg layers! The extreme weather is terrible so glad you are ok there. Have a lovely weekend! Love Annabel.xxx
DeleteA quiet week here. I did pick a large colander of snow peas, so we had those for two meals and I'll freeze the rest. I have a medium bag of apples I'll be turning into applesauce this afternoon. Hubby had 14 yards (a full dump truck full) of red granite dropped yesterday morning to put in and around the refurbished coach house he's been working on. Had a nice blessing when our wonderful ex-next door neighbor was riding his bike by and saw the delivery and offered to bring over his tractor and blade to move the gravel around! Yes, please! The two guys moved probably 80% of the load around, so hubby only has about 20% to move by wheelbarrow. This neighbor, Pete, remembered when Jim helped him put up roof trusses when he was building his new house 20 years ago, and Pete wanted to repay the favor. Such a blessing. I added a small bit of sale meat to the freezer and used up some other freezer items as rotation. We are going to visit hubby's mom in MI a week from today, so I have my lists of what needs to be done before we leave and what needs to be packed, already printed out and started. We'll be gone a week, and while I would prefer not to go, I must. My next door neighbor will be watching our two elderly cats (who require medications), so may I ask for prayers for an uneventful week while we're gone? My cats, ages 15 and 17) don't take meds well, so it's a daily dance to get them to take the meds, and I hate to inflict that on anyone else. Thank you!! Annabel, I just love your "chooks"! I love reading about all you and the other Bluebirds accomplish! I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!! .
ReplyDeleteDear Jill,
DeleteYour neighbour offering the tractor was a big help! Just fantastic! The Snow Peas sound lovely, we love those.
I hope your trip goes very well and your neighbour manages everything very well for you! Thanks so much Jill, with love Annabel.xxx
Oh Annabel, those quail eggs are gorgeous! Good on you for getting quail man to chat! If anyone could, I'm sure it's you and your interest and questions. It's so good to always be learning. Your flower blooms look beautiful! We've just had a very big frost overnight so I think our blooms are still a way off :)
ReplyDeleteStill, we've had a productive week - harvesting potatoes, clearing out the garden beds, composting, fixing up the worm garden, dehydrating green onions and peppercorns, plus a stock up run for the pantry. All round, very pleased!
Have a wonderful week :)
Dear Kirsty, Thank you! You did have a good week! Great to get potatoes to bring in and all the gardening jobs done. Very nice to have the green onions and peppercorns dehydrated too. Enjoy your Sunday, it is freezing and windy here! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteSo fun, I love seeing your pictures! We had chickens when I was a child, I remember naming them and loving them so much. I have told my husband that I would like to have chickens someday, but he thinks I would hate cleaning up after them. If you have a post about the keeping of chickens, could you please forward me to it? Also, I'm curious what you do when the chickens no longer lay eggs.
ReplyDeleteDear SavingsinSeconds,
DeleteI dont have a specific post on chickens. I would suggest Appalachian Homestead, Roots and Refuge Farm on you tube, also Justin Rhodes. However if you have a secure predator proof coop and a garden with greens for them they are very low maintenance. Hay in the coop becomes your garden fertiliser. In current circumstances I think chickens are high on the list of things to really improve food security. For two people 3 or 4 hens is enough. They lay many years... I keep my old birds and bring in young ones. I dont get rid of any birds because they are old. I have a Bantam still laying and she has to be 6. They are just a joy. I hope that helps, with love Annabel.xxx
I hadn't realised that quail eggs were so varied, no wonder they command a premium price, they are simply beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI have been putting together a migraine kit for myself, I am far too incapacitated when I have a migraine to get things, so I decided it was about time I collected these things together and put them easily to hand. Why have I not done this before?
I bought more milk powder (2.5kg) which will last me over 4 months, but given the enormous rise in the cost of milk, I am contemplating buying a case, I need to go back to the shop and speak with the owner and see if I can get a discount! It has been said that both milk and butter will become luxury items in the not too distant future.
I am harvesting 'volunteer ' potatoes, which seem to have survived the compost bin! I wouldn't mind but every time I deliberately try to grow potatoes they get eaten by slugs, these are thriving, just in some unlikely places.
I am having a bit of refresh of my furnishings too, some things that don't really work for me, like my dining table ( beautiful, but too big and bulky and dark) are going to get replaced, but this requires serious consideration! I want to get it right.
Anyway I hope everyone has a good week.
Dear Su, Yes the eggs are just so pretty! Literally no two are the same! When they hatch no two quail are the same either!
DeleteI understand about migraines. I found it necessary to have everything on my bed side table as I would be caught in terrible pain and not able to get to the kitchen or cupboard for tablets. So I like your plan.
I am keeping powdered milk too. I know the low fat keeps much longer. Great way to get some potatoes! I hope they keep coming!
A refresh is very nice. I think when Spring hits I will be doing the same. I hope you have a lovely Sunday and great new week! With love Annabel.xxx
I think I sent that as anonymous, but it's from Su in the UK.
ReplyDeleteAnnabel your little Bantam chicks are just so tiny and adorable and what a clever mumma she is hatching 11 of them :) and how lovely you got some more quail eggs to to incubate. I love the jade plants that you have taken cuttings from and hope they thrive in your gardens. Great op shop find for the dinosaur t-shirt for Thomas too.
ReplyDeleteBit of a mixed week here as we found a neighbour had injured himself trying to cut limbs off an ironbark tree as the tree branch was not undercut and the branch twisted and went through the ladder he was standing on and launched him. As he was being checked out by the ambulance officers he asked us to cut down the tree he needed removing and we could have the wood so he could get his shipping container delivered that he had on order in a couple of days. Happy to help out a neighbour in need and offer him service when he most needed it :) .
In the kitchen -
- Baked 4 loaves of bread in the bread making machine saving $16.94 over buying them locally.
- Cooked all meals from scratch apart from the day when we cut down the 9+ metre ironbark tree and chopped it up as we were so tired we bought ourselves a hamburger at the corner shop for dinner.
Purchases -
- Bought fuel for $1.779 per litre and used our 4% RACQ e-gift card discount and coupled that with our 4c per litre off rewards to bring down the fuel price to $1.667 per litre saving us $25.66 on usual prices.
Finances -
- Paid an extra large part payment off our mortgage.
- Put extra funds in our 3 month emergency fund.
Firewood cutting -
- Cut 2.5 cubic metres of ironbark firewood free from a property two doors up saving us $450 over buying it locally.
Hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead :).
Lorna.
Dear Lorna, I hope your neighbour is ok! Really good you could finish the job and also get the wood. A 9m tree is a lot!! What a job! I think buying a burger that day was a good option! Certainly worth it for the savings made that day. I just think a wood pile is the best thing. If ever you cant cut wood you have plenty stacked anyway. Over time we have probably at least a years supply in an old shed.
DeleteYour extra mortgage payments and funds in the the emergency money are wonderful. These are both just so wise. Yet many dont think of it. I know people with no emergency fund and no pantry even that go overseas and spend big yet dont consider how close they are to disaster. Now with prices as they are, mortgages going up the pressures are going to hit hard and fast. This is all another example of how we can make hay while the sun shines because inevitably sometimes hard times come! You are both very wise. Have a lovely Sunday. It is cold and windy here! Love Annabel.xxx
Annabel thank you :) .
DeleteThe neighbour was a very lucky man and had 3 hairline fractures to his pelvis, spent the afternoon and night in hospital and was discharged the next day. Considering he was about 4.5 metres up the ladder and got launched out from the tree about the same distance and down it could have been much worse but of course he will be in a lot of pain for some time.
We are very grateful we have a good wood pile that we have cut over time and will increase that more in the coming weeks as we cut in a property where we have permission to cut at.
I agree with the mortgage interest rates going up and up each month it pays to be ahead of them and we are currently paying like we have a 13.98 % interest rate rather than the 3.44% we are currently on. We adjusted the budget and took out categories we didn't need (as we had accomplished those goals) to pay much higher the mortgage payments than we were before. We now only have 41% of the purchase price of the home to pay off accomplished in 3.5 years with the initial 40% deposit we made on it.
Happy to say we are very close to our target with just over $700 to go to having our emergency fund fully done. So glad we mostly built our grocery stockpile over time to the level we wanted before all the price rises too but have just a few things to increase stocks on that we can do gradually.
We are living in very hard times financially so I am really feeling for those with so many price and cost rises in mortgages and everything who are no doubt finding things are getting harder and harder.
Indeed we all need to make hay while the sun shines and take advantage of any ways we can to financially and food wise prepare, safeguard and shore up our family situations.
Have a great week :).
Lorna.
Annabel--Last year I wanted to go to Anchorage, but covid prevented that. Now I have had my visit to Anchorage for 6 weeks in the hospital with sepsis. I didn't have any time to enjoy myself! Home now but limited in what I do. Our son planted most of our gardens so we are enjoying fresh vegetables.
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful for the doctors who cared for me and their willingness to try to preserve my bodily functions. Also thankful for good insurance--so far we have been fully covered!
Oh my goodness I am so sorry I know how dangerous Sepsis is. I hope you are feeling much better and so thankful you had insurance. Also well done to your son! xxx
DeleteGood morning! Annabel, I still read your blog every week despite not commenting. I had a laugh at your crazy chicken lady starter kit! I have a friend who is one too and she collects all the feathers to use to make beautiful jewellry like earrings-this could be another idea for you. I had a heap of lovely feathers that I've collected on walks and used them to make a dream catcher for my son's bedroom. Our chicken area and coop is finally done, we used items we had laying around to make it. Now we are just waiting to get some chickens, which are in high demand. We were told they would be ready early August, now this has turned into mid-August. Every day I try to get some something done that will help us towards self-sufficiency. I currently have frozen peas and beans in the dehydrator, as I've heard they are hard to find there and I expect this to have a ripple effect in WA. The garden is going well and I picked a large bowl of lettuce which we ate in wraps with chicken, carrot and cheese for dinner. I've done lots of baking this week, mini banana breads and a chocolate cake. I also stocked up on some spices from our local Asian grocery and found some little glass spray bottles, warm jumpers and some books from the op-shop. Thank you for everything you do to advise and support us all!
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Mel xx
Foghorn Leghorn?? LOL Love the picture of the mama and the yellow and black chicks! I am a city girl and I don't think I've actually ever seen a black chick except in pictures...and they are adorable.
ReplyDeleteI am more or less back to normal after my husband and I both had Covid. We are in the middle of a heat wave with 100+ degree temperatures. We are using ceiling fans in addition to the AC so we don't have to crank up the AC quite so much. Other than the heat, it has been a pretty good week.
I'm still reading a lot--three books this past week. I have two more to take with me when we visit my son next week. All from the library. The library also just accepted another suggestion from me for a new book buy. I not only get the books I want, but I get it FIRST.
I got 4 meals from a 3 lb., $4.99 Costco rotisserie chicken, plus stock and chicken bits in the freezer for a later pot of soup.
This was a good week at the grocery store! One store had top sirloin steak for $3.99 lb. (my pre-Covid go-to price) and blueberries for $1.39 per 18 ounce package--that's less than $1.24 lb., which I haven't seen in years, if not decades. I bought a bunch of both. I had the meat cubed for country fried steaks. I'm taking some with me to my son's next week (it's his favorite meal) and froze the rest. I bought 14 cartons of blueberries. I measured the amounts for two batches of cooked jam and froze them in one gallon zip-locks, along with several one-quart bags. Another store had boneless pork roasts for .99 lb. and I bought one, cut it in half and froze it. (I haven't seen that price for a long time and probably should have bought two). I also bought strawberries for $2.49 for two pounds and nectarines for .99 lb.
Using my Medicare Advantage over-the-counter benefit, I bought $60.69 worth of drugstore products for $0.
I pulled up and composted the lettuce when it bolted in the heat. I've begun harvesting green beans and I have two zucchinis on the vine. I also have mystery plants growing in the strawberry bed. I thought they were zukes, but the leaves and blossoms are different and they have a sprawling habit. I can't wait to see what they are! (I am easily entertained, LOL).
I moved my houseplants outdoors for the summer. Using parts I already had, I added a drip irrigation sprinkler so I don't have to water them.
Best wishes to you and to all of the Bluebirds from northern Idaho, USA.
--Maxine
Hello Annabel and dear bluebirds,. Missed writting here but could not, even I have read all the posts and the comments. We had some bad days in the last 2 weeks, with my husband loosing his job, two of our pets died, I have to take a mamogram on 9th of August altough they say it is just to exclude anything else, one tv and on telephone officialy given up, and the terrible heat. It was one after another in a short period of time. Now we get prepared to fight, last night we had a nice gentle rain ( no big storm like in other parts of our county) and the garden looks so happy. I took all my flower pots outside in the rain and they got a good shower. I continue to harvest from the garden and container garden, it is very nice to come everyday in the house with tomatoes, herbs, pepers, chilly, mint for tea, apples, roses or gladioli. I continue planting lettuce from seeds, this way I have them all summer fresh, and basil, mint, thyne and taragorn from cuttings. My son and my husband helped me water the plants every evening. I water each of them just at the rootsin order to not waste a lot of water. I took the opportunity and help of the hot sun to dehydrate green beans for winter saving on energy. And my chicken are slowly laying nice tasty eggs. Annabel, you were right, it does give you an addiction. Now we are looking for a rooster and some more chicks. They are very easy to care for, and they got a lot from the garden. I have to thank you for this help in my life. We strugle a bit now but we are prepared for hard times and continue to add to the pantry. Luckily our farmers market is full with nice fresh local produce and I am champion of finding bargains. All the prices are very high and it is scary how more often the helicopters are patrolong the border with Ucraine. Almost every night we have the alert siren going off and it is kind of nerv wrecking. I wrote a lot but it is like chating to a good friend. Love you all, take care. Laura from Romania
ReplyDeleteHi Annabel
ReplyDeleteWhat a week you had.
The first few days DP was home (still getting used to this and we are not in a routine as yet) then he left for work and is due home Wednesday morning. So I went off sewing for a day, housework and some more sewing and managed to finish quilting my quilt and it will be ready to have the edging put on when I go back in and then it will be hand stitching. I purchased another jelly roll and plan on making this for Mum for Christmas.
DD12 went for a sleepover on Friday night and I watched 2 movies that night and 2 the next day whilst getting the jelly roll set up for the next quilt.
I have had a bit of a clean out in some areas and have managed to rotate things in my emergency kit so that our tinned food has better dates and we are now working our way through the older items. Next will be the first aid kit although now most of this is essential oils and creams made with essential oils.
Love seeing the gorgeous photos of the rooster and the hen with her chicks. I love the fancy rooster, the colours and the markings are just spectacular.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to their week
Take Care
Aly xxx