Feather your Nest Friday, 8th July, 2022.

 I am so glad to sit down to look over the week.   It has been pretty busy.   One of the goals we set this week was to get well ahead in diesel engine oil as that looks to be a looming serious shortage and without it we would have a tractor that stands still.   So this was mission number one.   That is taken care of.

Some of the ways I built up our home, pantry and garden were:

I added soft nesting material to a clutch of Bantam eggs as the hen had 15 accumulated!  Now she is broody and sitting on them!  The Dad is one of the super fluffy grey/blue Roosters.  The chicks could be lovely! 


Another Bantam is laying also so I added shredded paper to her nest.  I am encouraging them along! 

Chloe's chickens are all old and like I do she looks after them forever.  She did however need some fresh laying hens.  There were bargain hens on offer from a farm.  These are two year olds that they retire... where as to us two year olds are young!  They were $7 each.   I went to pick them up.  Chloe got six and I got four... because I need more chickens! haha!   They are very healthy looking and we are happy with them.

I had a lot of moving animals around.  The first chicks I hatched in my incubator are now pretty big and kind of chicken teenagers.  I moved them out of the outside brooder and up into the main hen house.  Then I cleaned out the brooder.  I had used cardboard for the floor and by now it was cardboard and manure.  This went on top of my compost pile which will become my pumpkin patch in Spring.
Next I set the brooder up with fresh hay and my Quail moved outside.   They still have a little heat plate as it is pretty cold at night.   They were well and truly ready for this.  The inside of a cardboard box is only interesting for so long!

They just went crazy fluffing up and scratching and having a great time.


They are so tame and sweet.  They like greens which I cut up everyday with scissors.    Today little Thomas was here helping me feed them.


I have been working to fill my ready meals freezer.   Next week is baby week! 

I made a couple of dozen sausage rolls...


Plus spaghetti sauce and pasta bakes.   The freezer is now packed full of ready to thaw and eat meals plus some roast beef and cheese rolls. 

I went into town and ran some errands and did some shopping.  There are two op shops in this town and I went to both and had great luck!   I found lovely kids clothes which are now washed and put away. There were beautiful little boys shirts from RB Sellars which is a famous brand amongst Aussie farmers.

I love to use bone china cups and saucers.   Because I use them constantly after a few years I have breakages and recently my supply has been pretty low.   I found several sets which also included a side and dinner plate!   One had a gorgeous matching bowl and the other had a matching jug. 



There were also pretty glasses which I got for when the girls are here... I will use them for little fancy deserts.  (The sets were $6 each.)

In town I was also given a big bag of beautiful (and huge) fresh lemons.

The lambs have grown and have fresh hay in their little night time shed.  If they see me they come running so I watch them from the window and see they are eating grass really well. 

I cooked a big roast using a Turkey roll I had in the freezer.  I did a ton of veggies and after I served up our dinner I plated up a dinner for Chloe and Luke and another one for us.  I then had cold meat for lunches.   It was delicious and it is cold and good weather for a roast.   Of all the things to make at the end of the day we like a roast most of all.  

I am waiting on some wool to complete a blanket I have been working on in shades of pink.  There is a hold up with the yarn so I worked on some cotton tea towels...


Every one of these went straight into the gift cupboard.   After this my wool still was not here so I went through all my baskets to see what I had.   I found I had a lot of left over blues and some red.  The skeins were all op shop finds.  And pure wool.    


I wound the skeins into balls.  They are two ply.  There is one ball of four ply and the rest is eight ply.  I am using multiple strands when needed to add up to eight ply.    I decided these colours would make a very nice boys single bed blanket and I am loving it!   I chose a nice rustic textured stitch.  All day I am thinking that I can't wait for evening so I can work on it! 

How was your week?  How did you build up your home,  love your family,  add to your pantry or garden?
Have a lovely weekend! xxx  

























Comments

  1. Dear Annabel,

    Your week was wonderful. I like your ideas of using up yarns you have on hand - this is my favourite part of using up leftover yarn, to turn scrap into something beautiful and useful. I do this regularly! And the china plates are very beautiful and elegant!

    Your baby animals are lovely - every day must be a joy with them (but also work, feed and worry). Here I come with my big news of the week - I got 4 beautiful golden chickens, my very first chickens ever. They are young, beautiful, golden like (I posted a photo on instagram), already got some eggs and am very proud of them. So far my husband is the chooks whisperer as he was home more time these two days.

    The bad news is a major car breakdown, we must repair it or think to replace it somehow but we^ll see.

    The drought is a big problem in our area, the worst in more than 30 years, so I expect there will be another problem in food shortages. It is kind of deja vu, my grandmother told us about the dry years after world war II, when there was a big famine and people were struggling with it along with the after war problems. The stories are hard to swallow, but it is a lesson of how prepared people can survive. And prepared means also to learn skills that can help you, to know what to forage, to be prepared for winter or for new born babies, to sew, cook, spin, raise animals and plant a garden, think outside the box, trust God and don*t think everything is dark.

    This week I gifted almost all my work mates with pelargoniums cuttings and dianthus seeds. They loved it - hope their garden will look lovelier because of this.

    Have a nice week end! With much love, Laura_s_world from Romania

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    1. Dear Laura, I went and found the photo on instagram! The chickens are a stunning colour! Just lovely! I am so pleased for you.
      That is very interesting about what your Grandma told you of past droughts. I know there were unimaginably hard times through and after the war years. I didnt know there was drought there as well. How beautiful to give your work mates plants and seeds! I bet that brightened everyones day!
      I hope your car can be repaired. As your chickens settle in your egg supply will become steady. A big blessing! With love Annabel.xxx

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  2. Dear Annabel,
    I love your blog! So interesting and full of great ideas! Here in Tampa Bay it is 90+ F every day til September! Yes! Keeps me watering!! But I have some lovely potted zinnias, marigolds, and geraniums blooming! Plus some ripening papayas!
    I feel like I’m back in my youth when you tell of some of your “antics” but what a comfort! When the power went out in winter in Michigan, where we’re from, we'd pop pop corn in the fireplace and waited! If the power came on, we’d quick run and make fudge for the next outage!
    Prices are high here but not like yours! Gas is $4.35/gal and just had a $3.99/lb burger sale so bought 6 lbs and froze in 1 lb bags! I always watch for sales! Also am addicted to thrift shops. When my sister visits from up north, we hit them all! She always pays for my things! Sweet of her!
    I print your newsletter every week for my soon to be 96 year old ML, Donna, in N. Indiana! She lived a life similar to yours! Always says to use warm water for chickens in winter for better laying! Really!
    Well, keep up the goo work! Best of luck with new chicks! Can’t wait to hear about lambs come spring!
    Wish I could crochet as
    you do!
    All the best,
    Rick in St. Petersburg, FL

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    1. Dear Rick, This is lovely to hear your print my blog for your Mum! I am saying a big hello to her! Warm water is a good idea! Truly get yourself on you tube or on Attic 24 blog. If you can master chain, single and double crochet stitches you can crochet pretty much anything from there! Your youth sounds like fun days. We pop popcorn the old fashioned way also. Thank you for your comment it made my day! Love Annabel.xxx

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  3. I just love the lovely colors of your baby quail, Annabel! And I bet the baby chicks will be pretty, too. Sounds like a wonderful week of cooking and crafting, as well as keeping up with your chores and animals. Our strawberries are slowing down a bit, and I did add some more to the freezer. Also made another "use it up" quiche for dinner - yummy - and some donut muffins for dessert. I got my red and tan quilt back from my quilter and will be adding the binding this weekend. Also added a very nice on-sale supply of regular and wide mouth canning lids to my stores for when the tomatoes need canning (hubby planted 17 plants, so I'm guessing we'll have a few :) ) Hope you and all the other Bluebirds have a good weekend!

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    1. Dear Jill, I think a Quiche is a great meal to make some left over ham or bacon, cheese, tomatoes etc go a long way and is delicious. Donut muffins sound beautiful too!
      It will be exciting to finish the quilt. So many steps... the binding makes me think of how the edge of a crochet blanket is the last stage to completion.
      It is great you were able to harvest more Strawberries. Have a lovely Sunday Jill, with love Annabel.xxx

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  4. Good morning Annabel, when I hear all you achieve in your week I often think wow! how does Annabel achieve all that. However thinking back over my week I find that I also have achieved much. I’m older than you and well into retirement so I’m slower than I used to be, but find I do my most jobs in the mornings when I’m fresh. There are just the two of us and we now live in town, so our garden is smaller. We gave our 4 chickens away to a friend as we were having trouble with them ruining our backyard where we grow our veggies. I’m sad about this but hens need to be able to scratch around and get their green pick. So they are now happy on a farm with lots of grass. My friend sell here eggs so we will always have fresh eggs. I was given a beautiful silver canteen of cutlery yesterday, with bone handle knives. What a wonderful gift.
    I also did quite a lot of cooking for the freezer mainly patty cakes for morning tea. Today I’ll be making sauce to go with my homemade pasta, so I make extra for the freezer. I’m also crocheting squares with my leftover wool to make another rug. I enjoy doing cross stitch in the early evening and completed a little Christmas decoration and also a journal cover which will be gifted. So thinking back my week also has been very productive as well. Thank you always for the effort you put into your writings and may your week ahead be blessed. Gail x

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    1. Dear Gail,
      I love bone handle cutlery! My Dad loved it also! What a lovely gift.
      It is very easy to wonder what on earth we did each week which is why I keep track. I feel better following a bit of a plan then doing a review before the next week. Mostly we do more than we think! You did lots with the freezer cooking and now the pasta sauce. Very good things to have. You sound like me in the evenings stitching away! I think the leftover yarns make the most interesting rugs. I enjoy choosing what colour to do next and keep going to the next colour change! It is hard to put down!
      Have a lovely Sunday and new week. With love Annabel.xxx

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  5. Annabel your gift cupboard must be a real place of beauty, when you open it.
    I returned to work on Wednesday after having covid. Yesterday I was very tired and work was very quiet so my manager sent me home for more rest. I am feeling a lot perkier this morning.
    I am busy changing phone companies at the moment. Our current company couldn't come to the party with a free modem for the fibre installation, so I am sending it back and going with another company that can and not only that the cost is ten dollars a month cheaper. This will save us around $540 dollars a year.
    Added to this no more bottled water fees and we have over $1100 dollars a year back into our pockets.
    I have also been busy earning survey rewards which have already covered a September birthday and now I am on to saving for Christmas.
    Your wee chicks are so cute and I love the new cups and plates.
    I hope all goes well for the babies arrival this week.


    Mandy(NZ)

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    1. Dear Mandy,
      My gift cupboard is full and now I have a pile in a ig basket in front of the gift cupboard. First time this ever happened!
      That was very considerate of your Manager. Probably the weekend came just in time too for you to rest some more. You are going to feel knocked out easily I would think so be careful.
      Good job on the phone company! Thats a big savings!
      Today (Sunday) Chloe is heading to Adelaide and Im starting to get a bit antsy... lot of cleaning, gardening and cooking will be happening here today and tomorrow as I need to keep busy! Now Im nervous talking about it.
      Have a restful Sunday and good new week! With love Annabel.xxx

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    2. Oh, I know about Covid tests! My husband and I both tested positive over the weekend. Thankfully, we seem to have mild cases.

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  6. You are having wonderful success with your flocks Annabel.

    As usual your preparedness is inspiring. With your encouragement I encouraged my hubby to buy a couple more jerry cans for petrol and diesel as we run big ride on mowers etc, will will rotate them often so the fuel isn’t sitting around for long.

    I’ve had a horrid week, 2 family members got COVID this week (two had already had it) and I was the only one who hasn’t been sick...until Wednesday night! But my rat tests are all negative, I’ve had a PCR and they are testing for influenza as well, I suspect it will be influenza, I haven’t been this sick for years! Anyway, before I got sick I made huge progress on the expansion of my vegetable garden, hubby and I bought the hardwood edging and he screwed it all together for me, and it’s sitting in pride of place in its new spot in the backyard. When I am better I will fill it with good compost and away I go! It’s so exciting!!

    I will try and cut up some old flanelette sheets today if (I’m well enough) to later sew for soft face washers and maybe even hankies, that seems like a light but useful activity, and I can stop at any time if it’s too much.

    Bluebirds I can’t stress enough to keep homemade meals stocked up in the freezer, as our dear Annabel is always stressing to us. I didn’t have a lot there, but what I did have was a God send 🙏

    Oh I almost forgot early in the week I pressure canned some homegrown pumpkin for the very first time, I now have 6 quart jars of pumpkin on the shelf and only 8 more pumpkins to use up ha ha! It was a great year for pumpkins 🎃

    Take care everyone ❤️

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    1. I wanted to check back in and advise everyone definitely do not trust the rat tests, they are a questionable tool at best I’ve decided! My PCR came back positive for Covid it wasn’t influenza at all, all my rat tests were negative even when I was very symptomatic!

      Also I never did get to cutting up the old sheets like I thought I might, it was a case of my brain wanting to but my body not willing! 😉

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    2. Dear Cheryl, I think jerry cans are a great thing to have extra. Also tell your husband that Diesel engine oil looks to be a next serious shortage.
      I am sorry you are so sick! You have worked really hard but now you must rest! The hardwood edging sounds beautiful and it is great how your garden is coming along. But now rest and do all the right things! Old flannelette sheets make the best ever sick days hankies. So so soft. I make them big too. I supply everyone with these. Thank you too for the comment on the ready meals. When we are sick we still need good nutrition, more than ever actually and decent home cooking is the best. I hope you have plenty to get you through now.
      The pumpkin sounds wonderful! I had a fail with my pumpkins last season but I am working flat out to build up my soil and re try this spring. I just love pumpkin it is so good and so useful.
      I hope you feel much better soon! With love Annabel.xxx

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    3. OK, I'll bite--what's a rat test???

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    4. Maxine it is Rapid Antigen Test = covid test.xx

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    5. The man who invented the test said they were never meant for this type of thing I believe? So I am not surprised your test was incorrect.xx

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  7. Dear Annabel,

    Your stack of tea towels is beautiful! I agree with Mandy, that your gift cupboard must be delightful to peek into!

    Things are very busy here, as we are now into harvesting season. We managed to save some sweet cherries from the birds and raccoons, and I canned up a few quarts, plus fresh eating. This is a miracle, and has only happened twice in all the years we've lived here, so I'm thanking the Lord for the harvest! The tree is much too large to net, and most of the time the cherries succumb to brown rot before the critters get to them, so it truly was a blessing this year. Now the red currants, black currants and raspberries are coming on, and I spent hours today cutting and thinning the swiss chard, and then blanching and freezing 11 huge bags of it for the first cutting. Tomorrow we are hoping to have a yard sale, though I feel I should be spendng my time in the garden instead...but hopefully this will help clear some things out without having to pack it all into a thrift shop to donate.

    Next week will be exciting!!!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing all you've done this week, inspiring us all, as usual!

    xx Jen in NS

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    1. Dear Jen, Thank you! I have never had so many gifts this time of year. Im pretty thrilled!
      You are harvesting already! It seems so quick! The cherries sound beautiful and Im glad you got some!
      All the berries coming in will be fantastic. The Chard sounds good too and so much! I hope the yard sale is a big success! I am working outside a lot today (Sunday) planting lots of free plants! Im hoping to wear myself out so I sleep well tonight as tomorrow is baby day! With love Annabel.xxx

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  8. Dear Annabel, your cotton tea towels are beautiful, and the blanket sounds wonderful too. You have inspired me to add sausage rolls to next week's meal plan! Do you usually add anything to the sausage before adding it to the pastry?

    Sending you love for baby week,
    Kelly (Mrs. Kiwi)

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    1. Dear Mrs. Kiwi, Thank you! Some grated carrot, just enough, can extend the sausage mix and add veggies and it isn't noticeable when they are cooked. They are delicious. We like them with some relish. Thanks re baby week! With love Annabel.xxx

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  9. Loved reading about your week. The thrift shop China are so pretty and the crochet edging on the towels make them so special.....Nancy

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    1. Thanks so much Nancy! xxx

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  10. Dear Annabel, I love your baby quails. They are so cute. I think those chicks will be beautiful too. Chickens sell like hot cakes here. I love that you bought those chickens, what a great price. I love roast turkey and I love turkey sandwiches and wraps too, this is a great meal. I love your cook ups and the sausage rolls look delicious. The china sets are beautiful, it will be lovely to drink your tea from those cups. What bargains. I love those tea towels as gifts. I am always amazed by what you achieve. Biscuits were made here this week and bottles/cans were cashed in so an op shop visit was warranted. Shoes were found at a great price for the children. I was also given some children's clothing which is a great help. My husband got a bike for me too. So I think this will be a big help and is another mode of transport. Fuel prices are big. I am doing meat free Fridays and it has been helping. I am also thinking of how I can use things differently. If a recipe says broccoli, sometimes I will use spinach etc I need to keep thinking outside the square. A banana cake is planned for the coming week and I am trying to make a soap saver bag for the garden tap. I am very excited about baby week. I am praying for Chloe and for the baby. Sending love, Lily

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    1. Dear Lily,
      Roast turkey is so good and I agree the cold meat makes the nice wraps etc. My favourite is Turkey, cranberry and cream cheese. I just love this. Or add avocado! You did well at the op shop! Also the bike! That is fantastic. I think a bike is a very good idea. Another idea is to use a meat like bacon or sausage where the flavour is strong and it is more or a garnish or accompaniment. Like BLT sandwiches or fried rice... the meat is really not much but gives a big impression! This is a good trick. I do really appreciate your prayers for Chloe and the baby. With much love Annabel.xxx

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  11. I tucked into deep cleaning the kitchen this week and in so doing starting rearranging seating areas. This netted me a chair for the living room that hasn't been in that room for 5 or 6 years now. Since we bought two new chairs (no couch for us just chairs) and had two newer used chairs the slipcovered chair stands out like a sore thumb. I ordered ticking stripe fabric to either recover or make a new slipcover (thinking I'll recover but we'll see) that chair. It was not expensive and now since I ordered, I must wait and see if the weight is right for upholstery.
    I recovered two ottomans with sale purchased fabric. New ottomans were $450 each and slipcovers were ridiculously priced at $289 each. I recovered both mine using a staple gun and fabric for a total of $17.
    I potted up several separate plants into a hanging basket planter to make a pretty new planter to hang on the porch.
    I harvested my first basil. The rain we've had this week, real heavy showers, and the heat has pushed the basil to grow like crazy where two weeks ago they were an inch high. I'm rooting a few pieces, plan to plant more seeds as well.
    I am slowly re-working our budget and reallocating some funds to areas that are higher in cost, which means lowering in other areas. There's a reason why it's called 'balancing' the budget!
    Skipped grocery shopping this week for the most part since I found sales weren't what I'd choose. I will run into grocery when we leave church tomorrow to pick up sale priced butter at one store. I can place that in my freezer.
    I was doing something that involved going into my husband's music room, a place I generally don't walk into when I looked up at the curtains in the room and realized they match the ones in the living room. I've discovered I need a third panel at the double windows so I can fully draw the drapes to block out heat and sun on these scorching days when the sun is pounding the windows. I'd been looking online and simply couldn't afford three panels of anything suitable...Now this next week I'll be swapping curtains from one room to another. His window will get curtains from the guest room that I don't care for in that room. I'll replace those with a pair of handmade cottage-y looking curtains that suit the room better while I seek a single pair of curtains that will work better for insulation come winter.
    Used up lots of leftovers this week and didn't toss anything out.
    I'm being super conscious of the need to save our electric as much as possible and that included cutting off the AC for an hour this week and letting it simply rest after during a particularly strenuous heatwave when it just wasn't keeping up. Drawn drapes and the new underpinning on the house proved their worth as the temperature indoors only rose 2 degrees while the AC was shut off.

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    1. Dear Terri, You do so well with your upholstery pieces. Amazing!
      There are a lot of areas costing more, electricity is a major one for us. Balancing the budget is going to be harder for everyone. Mild weather is the greatest thing for keeping the electricity down if only we could control the weather! So lovely to have Basil to harvest that is one of my favourites. The smell of basil is beautiful. I hope much more continues to grow. The hanging basket will look lovely on your porch. Fresh plants look so nice. I have been messing around with planting all day and we had sunshine too but it is coming in so cold now! I hope you have a good Sunday with love Annabel.xxx

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  12. Sounds like you have had another eventful yet productive week, Annabel! Like you, we keep our hens forever, long past their laying age. As we live in the suburbs this gets hard as there isn't much room for more chooks, but at the moment the two Isa browns have started laying again (they stopped when winter first arrived) and I'm so thankful for their eggs. They're such a generous size and delicious too. Didn't compare when I had to buy eggs for a few weeks.
    Everyday we have sunshine here I'm so grateful. Cleaning up leaves and giving them to the chooks to scratch through, emptying the garden beds and just enjoying the sun is a blessing. My plan is to get on top of some freezer meals this week - your gorgeous sausage rolls always inspire me!
    I hope you get a restful weekend before baby week! Blessings to all, Kirsty x

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  13. Sounds like you have had another eventful yet productive week, Annabel! Like you, we keep our hens forever, long past their laying age. As we live in the suburbs this gets hard as there isn't much room for more chooks, but at the moment the two Isa browns have started laying again (they stopped when winter first arrived) and I'm so thankful for their eggs. They're such a generous size and delicious too. Didn't compare when I had to buy eggs for a few weeks.
    Everyday we have sunshine here I'm so grateful. Cleaning up leaves and giving them to the chooks to scratch through, emptying the garden beds and just enjoying the sun is a blessing. My plan is to get on top of some freezer meals this week - your gorgeous sausage rolls always inspire me!
    I hope you get a restful weekend before baby week! Blessings to all, Kirsty x

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    1. Dear Kirsty,
      I am grateful for sunny days here too! Today is pretty good, I get some things done outside. Store bought eggs mostly just seem sad in comparison. My Aunt once described an egg so pale and insipid that she thought the hen had to be depressed lol but its probably true. I love how chooks are so happy with leaves or anything to scratch through, they make me happy watching them!
      I hope you are doing well on the freezer meals. Some of mine are set to be used in the next weeks and Ill be back to building them up too! With love Annabel.xxx

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  14. Hi Annabel you did well with your diesel engine oil stocking and yes got to be ahead on looming shortages as they are wide and varied. Your little quail are so cute and glad you could move the chicks out in to the large hen house. What pretty crockery sets and glasses you got at the op shop and glad you are stocked up again. Fantastic you could also fill the freezer with more freezer meals too.

    In the kitchen -
    - Baked 2 loaves of wholemeal white bread in the bread making machine saving $6.98 on usual prices.
    - Cooked all meals from scratch.

    In the gardens -
    - Harvested the first ever crop of 1.5 kg of navel oranges off our small tree saving $6.50 on usual organic supermarket prices. We made them into a lovely juice and had some whole.

    Purchases -
    - Filled up some empty fuel jerry cans using our 4% off e-gift card and used our 4c per litre rewards fuel vouchers reducing the fuel from $1.965 to $1.837 per litre saving $19.08 on usual prices.
    - Bought $50.89 in groceries before discounts and used our 5% off e-gift card, bought on half price sale bottles of coca cola, moisturiser on sale, harvest long life tins of meat and vegetables on sale and used our $20 off Rewards dollar to save 56.28% or $45.31 on usual prices.
    - Bought 2 lamb leg roasts on markdown from Coles bringing them down from $13.50 to $7.72 and then used our $10 off flybuys dollars to bring the cost of the lamb down to $7.79 kg.
    - From a discount store 70% off closing down sale we purchased 2 packets of C4 25 pack envelopes reduced from $4.99 to $1.50 ea and 7 x packets of 6 blank craft cards and envelopes reduced from $2.50 to 0.75c per pack saving in total $19.23 on usual prices.

    Hope everyone has a frugal week ahead :).


    Lorna.

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  15. Hi Annabel & Bluebirds!
    Just wondering if anyone has had any success here with getting rid of caterpillars eating the leaves of Gooseberry bushes?! I don't really want to sit and pick them off - had read Neem oil may be useful? Has anyone used this? It's disheartening to say the least.
    Great find with the china set! Have a wonderful week :)
    Love Heidi xx

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    1. Dear Heidi, This is a hard one. For smaller things I am covering them with fine net bags... but Gooseberry bushes I am thinking are too big for that. When I do find caterpillars I like collecting them for the chickens as they go mad over them. Otherwise I would try the neem oil. xxx

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  16. Dear Annabel,
    The dish sets are beautiful. How exciting that it's baby week. We are sending prayers for Chloe and all those who will be attending her. It has been a busy week here cleaning up after a strong storm that produced golf ball size hail last Saturday night. The hail damaged the chard and sweet potato leaves but we didn't lose them. However we did lose all of the kale. Fortunately we can replant and have a late fall harvest. How I built my garden, freezer and pantry this week. I planted more basil that I had rooted from the stems of the basil that got harvested to make 4 half pints of pesto for the freezer. Harvested chard and froze 4 quarts. Planted more heat resistant lettuce. Planted more zucchini. Harvested zucchini and mad 2 quarts of base for cream of zucchini soup.Made enough stir fried vegetables and fried rice for dinner and an extra meal for the freezer. Made 3 dozen English muffins for my husband, 4 dozen brownies, 2 dozen gluten free shortbread cookies. Baked a dozen and a half gluten free blueberry muffins using coconut flout. We received 2 $5 coupons from Staples and used them to add 2 cases of bottled water to our supplies. The coupons made them free. Received 30 pounds of blueberries and froze most for the winter.Used leftover meatloaf to make a pizza casserole. With my card stock and paper scraps I made rosettes to embellish cards and to give as birthday gifts to my friends who also make cards. Wishing all the Bluebirds a safe and productive week ahead

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    1. Dear Cookie, Oh no.. I cant even imagine the mess golf ball sized hail would make! I hope you can replant and still get a late harvest as you say.
      The Basil will be beautiful. I love how it roots in water and once I discovered this I have perpetual basil! The English Muffins sound beautiful! All your baking is declines! You did a lot! I know how lovely your cards are. The rosettes sound just lovely. A special handmade card is a gift in itself and I have kept the ones you have sent me in my Bible. So they are kept forever! With love Annabel.xxx

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  17. Hi Annabel

    Baby week how exciting

    What a week it has been here. End of the school holidays, and school was back in on Monday. A few afternoon appointments for DD12 . Getting used to having DP home for a week at a time as he is now on 7 on and 7 off after 8 years of being away so much and getting organised for a house inspection today. Lot's of tidying up that we got done. So much so that here I am on inspection day sitting around with only a few last minute things to get done.

    We took a day trip to a beautiful secluded area to a beach in the shape of a horseshoe with a lovely cafe looking out over the beach and had lunch and did a little exploring around the town. The views are breathtaking and of course we did not want to leave.

    DD12 has decided that she would like to start cooking a meal on the weekends and did so last weekend. A delicious easy pork noodle dish. So now I will be looking for easy dishes for her to cook

    The chicks are so gorgeous...makes me want some

    Take Care
    Aly xxx

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    1. Dear Aly, It is hard to change routines but you will soon get into the swing of it. I think it is fantastic for DD to make a meal on the weekends. She is going to learn so many new skills and feel very proud of her meals. Love it! I hope the inspection went well but I am sure it did! It has been a huge week here! With love Annabel.xxx

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