Feather your Nest Friday, 23 September, 2022.

We had a rainy Spring week.  All my seedlings have liked it and look really good.  There was only so much I could do outside so I got on with Spring cleaning,  my #everybitcountschallenge and some sewing.    With so much time indoors I decided to go through my present cupboard.   I have been filling that since January with things I have been making,  good deals and op shop finds.   It was full and over flowing.   I have most of my Christmas gifts covered plus our family Birthdays for December and January!  I found some gaps too so I have made some lists.    Our Tuesday Afternoon Club has us working all year to reach this point.  Saying that,  there is still time to make a lot of presents!   And I finish off with Christmas cooking some gifts as well.   October is fruit cake month and I have gathered all my ingredients.    If you are not a member and you would like to get your Christmas gifts made you can find the Tuesday Afternoon Club here.    

One thing I did (after hauling everything out of my cupboard)  was make my cotton dish cloths into little bundles ready to give.   I have scrubbies and dish cloths.  



I also worked on simple cards using a book from the thrift store ($1) and when I had sets I packed those up into gifts to give as well. 


If you make cards they make a beautiful gift because everyone needs them and they are expensive to buy.

I finished up my bib making (for now) with ten completed and delivered to Chloe for the boys. 


Chloe sent me a photo,  her Guinea Fowl and Ducks had made a nest. 


A real example of feathering our nest!   We decided to wait a week and see how many eggs there were.   I looked up incubation temperatures and times.  Both were 37.5 degrees and 28 days so I now have my incubator full of some of each.  This will be interesting! 

I have to tell you about the day my son in law was putting a new trough in the Alpaca yard.   Once the trough was in the first thing to do was fill it with water.   All normal so far.   As soon as it was full Paddy the Alpaca carefully stepped into it and sat down.  Right....


Both actually got in and they spent a lot of time getting in and out.  We told Thomas they liked having a bath.   That was unexpected! 

A friend gave me a big armful of bright pink daisy bush cuttings.   I trimmed them all up and have some planted and some in water.

I made scones and a big pot of spaghetti sauce and added to the meals freezer.

My weekend plans have changed so I will be cooking and preserving.   See you on Monday with the #everybitcountschallenge! 

How did you build up your home, pantry or garden this week?  I hope a lot of opportunities came your way!  xxx









Comments

  1. We are having a laugh over the alpacas and the water trough! We had great deals at the salvage grocery and also bought 25 pounds of apples for $10. We have lots of applesauce to make and can now.

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    1. What a deal Lana! Apples are so good, sweet or savoury they have so many uses! xxx

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  2. Ah the alpacas at pool time ;). Surely something I have never seen! Glad you had a good week indoors making big strides. I started a list of fall projects and so far have done two. Woohoo. I have also started a 2023 list and that also creates a list of preparation tasks ahead of time for me to accomplish this fall. I think back to your 30 day preparedness course from a year or more ago and want to thank you again! That course helped me think through what I was preparing for, and how to make tangible steps forward. I do need to do another round of cooking and freezing meals because my stores are down ;). Hilogene in Az

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    1. Thank you so much Hilogene! While you do Fall projects I am doing Spring projects and it is so good to get them done! My ready meals in the freezer are a bit low too and could do with some stocking up. Have a very nice weekend! xxx

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  3. A very good week, Annabel! Well done of having such a full gift closet, and the gift bundles will be appreciated, I'm sure. I LOVED all the lovely variety of feathers in that nest. I used to make cards and used pretty feathers like that in some of them. And the alpacas were so funny! I hope to get some jam made this weekend and perhaps one more batch of canned roma tomatoes. The flooring is 2/3 done in the kitchen, so I can get to the stove and sink now. Best wishes for a lovely weekend to you and all the other Bluebirds!

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    1. Dear Jill, You have got me thinking about cards with feathers!! I have access to a lot of different feathers...
      It is great the floor has progressed so far and you can cook and get to the tomatoes and jam. Have a great weekend! xxx

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  4. I just love those crocheted dish cloths! I was gifted 2 of them a couple years ago, and they are so durable. Just toss them in the wash and they are good as new. I wish I knew how to crochet. One of these days......

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    1. Kathy I will help you get crocheting. Get yourself a hook and some yarn. We will get you chaining first. You will love it. Get back to me when you have worked some chain. You tube has great teachers on each step. ut you can be up and running in less than a week! Its so much fun. xxx

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  5. Hi Annabel and everyone,

    All of your crafts are so pretty and beautifully made, Annabel! What nice gifts they will be. The alpacas are adorable and I love that they decided their trough was a bathtub (or maybe a spa!)

    This week I added to my home by doing a baking day (lots and lots of muffins), adding canned fruit and fruit juice to my pantry (I know juice isn't frugal, but it's a good way to get some nutrition/calories into folks who are having trouble eating, so a good thing for us just in case), and cleaning more of the cardboard etc. out of the garage. My husband's birthday was this week - I cooked him a big birthday dinner (rib roast, potatoes & veg, chocolate birthday cake with peppermint frosting and chocolate ganache) - he enjoyed it (yay!) and I was able to freeze 4 more meals for future us (and several portions of cake). All of the floors were cleaned/vacuumed and I cut the lawn and dealt with the weeds. More lettuce seedlings are peeping up! My Lemon Queen sunflowers are still producing, so I cut some of them and some anise hyssop to bring some beauty indoors.

    We had one oncology appointment - the doctor says my husband is doing well, and that there is a 75% chance of the treatment either shrinking the remaining tumors or keeping them stable so that he still feels good. This is more hope than we expected - I am thankful and trying hard to remember to give thanks for every positive thing, as well as pray about the scary things. He has a few more weeks to heal from surgery and a few more appointments next week (imaging, port), before he will be able to start the rest of his treatment. Thank you to everyone who is praying for him. He is doing much better in spirit this week!

    Crafts-wise, I am slowly putting in stitches on another Xmas ornament, but it is getting there. Even 15 minutes in the evening is yielding some progress, and helping me relax. I did start practicing making chains in crochet this week! I think I am pulling the "tail" too tight and getting too much tension, but I will keep trying.

    We unintentionally added to our home this week in a funny way - the shop sent me an extremely large steamer/fryer/baker appliance instead of the carpet shampooer than I purchased. It is humongous and I didn't know they made such an appliance so big! I tried to give it back and they told me they had no way to correct it in their inventory, so to please keep it as a gift and they would send my shampooer right over (which they did, and I am excited to try it out). It gave us a big laugh and will make a nice gift for someone at the holidays.

    I hope everyone has a good weekend.
    <3
    Kathy

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    1. Dear Kathy, I try and keep some canned fruit juices because they are so valuable for rehydration and homemade electrolytes. They can be a very useful thing.
      Your baking day sounds wonderful! And the dinner you made for your husband's birthday sounds so good!
      The oncologists report is very positive and it is great to hear your husband felt better in himself this week. That is a lot of good news. We will keep praying!
      I think you are doing so well. The things you are doing, the baking and things you alway did are great because living your normal life is very reassuring and good. Good jo on the chain! Aim for an even length of chains. When you later use them as a foundation row they are loose for that.
      Your free unexpected appliance might even be something you could sell! It sounds interesting! If you have someone on your gift list that it would suit well that is handy too! Once you get going with the carpet shampooer you wont be able to stop. When you pour out the water and see the dirt you removed it is ridiculously satisfying!
      Have a lovely weekend! With love Annabel.xxx

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  6. I LOL at the picture and description of the alpacas. I showed it to my husband and he did, too! There used to be a small alpaca farm at the end of our road. Alpaca poop is wonderful garden fertilizer.

    This wasn't much of a frugal week because we went to Fairmont Hot Springs in British Columbia, Canada, for 3 days. Prices in Canada are generally higher than in the US, but the strong US dollar mostly made up for it. Fairmont is located in the Canadian Rockies, near Alberta, and a few miles from the headwaters of the Columbia River. I lived in Portland, Oregon--where the mighty Columbia runs wide and deep--for 40 years. I was thrilled to see where it begins at the south end of Columbia Lake. It's only a few feet wide and it's in wetlands, so hard to spot. I was also thrilled when a young black bear crossed the highway about 50 feet from us and turned and stared at us when he was directly in front of our car. A trip like this isn't exactly frugal...but it is why we ARE frugal, so we can do things like this occasionally. Fairmont is 200 miles from where I live. We got 29.7 miles per gallon with our 2018 Honda Pilot--the best gas mileage ever.

    My husband accidentally left his jacket at home and it was cold at night and in the mornings. We went to Invermere, the nearest town, and did not see a Wal-Mart or anything like it. Then I spotted a thrift store! He found the perfect jacket, in excellent condition, for $15.50 Cdn! It's his new fave.

    I've harvested 2 zucchinis and 7 tomatoes since we got home. The Early Girls are about done. The tomatoes from the volunteer plant might be Big Boys. I also have two more zukes on the vine. The mystery cantaloupes aren't quite ready to pick, but they are getting there. (I watched a You Tube to learn when to pick). I chopped up my backlog of zukes in the mini-processor and froze six 2 cup bags. I also used most of my backlog of tomatoes to make three more half-pints of tomato sauce, which I also froze.

    I saved nasturtium seeds for next year. (I grow the Alaska variety, with variegated leaves).

    I stocked up on batteries and computer paper. The paper was on sale and the batteries were a 100% rebate deal. I was able to use rewards from a previous battery deal to partly pay for this. I also bought a pint of vanilla extract at Costco for $11.99, which I thought was a good price.

    BIG NEWS--My daughter-in-law invited me to go to Scotland with her Oct. 4-11. Specifically, the Orkney Islands, way up north. I've never once considered going to the Orkneys, LOL. I'm just thrilled my daughter-in-law invited me! I made our first and last night's reservations in Aberdeen on trip dot com, which saved about $15 night over the other reservation sites.

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    1. Dear Maxine it sounds like a wonderful trip and now you have another one to look forward to! It is great you have Zucchinis and tomatoes coming in! I would love the Nasturtiums with variegated leaves! My regular Nasturtiums are taking off and just starting to flower I am so pleased!
      Very good to stock up on batteries and paper! I keep adding to my battery supplies too. A very nice week! With love Annabel.xxx

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  7. Annabel I am glad your vegetable and other seedlings are looking good with the rain and we have had a bit of rain here too and good to see our rain water tanks full. Your bundles of dishcloths look divine and the bibs and cards are beautiful and good to hear you have so much in your gift cupboard adding bit by bit as you got time during the year :) .

    We are spending a lot of time outside in the gardens when it is not raining weeding the gardens beds and lawns and preparing our garden beds for spring.

    Purchases -
    - Bought some groceries through WW online and used a promo code for $15 off and used our 4% off racq e-gift card to save $21.94 on usual prices.
    - Dh wanted some more of the polar fleece hooded sweatshirts I purchased on sale before and luck would have it that Rivers had them on sale again so I got a few more and 1 zipped sherpa jumper on sale for $10 ea and saved $494.89 on usual prices.

    In the gardens -
    - I weeded one garden bed we amended and covered it with weed mat until it is planted to stop weeds growing in it.
    - We continued to dig out crabgrass out of the back yard lawns and put it in a pile out the back ready to burn when it dries out a bit.
    - DH mowed the lawns in the house yard and property which should make it easier for us to see and dig out the rest of the crabgrass and also get rid of the seed heads on the plants. DH put the lawn clippings up the back of the property to fill in a hole in the creek embankment.

    More yet to do with the weeding and shortly we will start putting grass seed down in the bare spots in the lawns we have removed the weeds from.

    Hope everyone has a frugal week ahead :).

    Lorna.

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    1. Dear Lorna, Thank you! Oh my gosh you got huge savings on your husbands clothes! That is amazing! Good work!
      You both did a ton of garden work. It will be looking good. We keep getting a bit more rain and work outside in between like you are. It looks beautiful when the weeds are under control! Also I found some spaces to plant veggies! Hope it has been a good week, with love Annabel.xxx

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  8. I had quite a good week. I went into grocery to pick up a sale priced chicken as well as frozen ravioli for convenience meals, as well as fried chicken for lunch that day. I put leftover chicken into the freezer to save for use later. I made meatballs and spaghetti for supper one night. We had plenty of leftovers so we made meatball heroes for supper another night. Then the very last cup of spaghetti sauce was put in the freezer in a container that I've been adding to for making soup. I made stuffed cabbage rolls for dinner, using the dark green outer cabbage leaves I'd frozen for that purpose over the last few months. I put leftovers of that dish in the freezer for another meal. I made Arroz con Pollo (Chicken and Rice) for dinner one night, used some of the leftovers to make tacos and have a little more left that I mean to make soup from with the addition of broth, chopping the last of the chicken, etc. I ordered a flat sheet and a set of sheets as well as a new mattress protector on a very good sale. I'll be well stocked on sheets for our bed once more. We bought a new lawnmower this week. We shopped around and saved nearly 1/5 of the cost by husband's research on different motors pros and cons. He's pleased as a kid. We got a refund on electric bill this month, totally unexpected and so happy for that. I added another chunk of funds to my upright freezer fund courtesy that refund. We were pleased to see that our gasoline for last month was down courtesy care of how we were using the car. Good thing as this month, despite lower prices, we've had to do lots of extra driving. I used what I had on hand to change up my decor. It's amazing how moving things from one room to another or removing from storage and putting out as fresh. I deadheaded a potted mum and watered well. I'm pleased it's now blooming all over again.

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    1. Dear Terri,
      You did a lot of good work in the kitchen! I love what you said about your husband being pleased as a kid with the mower! It is very good to be ahead with sheets. Especially on a good sale!
      Yes it is amazing how freshening up the home has a good effect. Since Ive been Spring cleaning I have been doing that and putting lovely things into good use. Everyday I notice the changes that look nice (or better!) I hope your week has gone well it is almost Friday again! With love Annabel.xxx

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