Feather your Nest Friday, 7th October, 2022.
It was a bit of a "slow and steady wins the race" kind of week. We had an inch of Spring rain which is really good. Because of the rainy days I got some sewing done and the veggie garden just exploded!
Chloe had asked me to make some of my big size thick kitchen towels. I needed a sewing project so I went through my fabric stash to see what I had that might be suitable. All my op shopping has paid off with a really good fabric supply! (This gorgeous French print was a gift from a friend.) Also I have a collection of braids and trims which I decided to use if they went well with my fabric.
Some of them have a cotton waffle fabric backing which is really soft and absorbent.
I had good luck with trims that matched.
I think I am up to number nine... I ran out of the waffle weave so the rest I have two layers of cotton with a layer of flannelette sandwiched in between. This is how I make bibs so they are absorbent enough so I thought it would work for kitchen towels. I keep flannelette sheets that I was up (from op shop) for these kinds of things. The result is a really thick soft towel. I have farm yard fabric with gingham on the back, lots of different themes. I thought after this I could make sets of napkins, since they save money and waste so more people are going back to cloth. I am trying to sew a bit each day.
My container gardens are bursting and over flowing. The newer things that I have put in like tomatoes and cucumbers have taken off as well.
Several weeks ago I planted Zucchini, Cucumber and Pumpkin seeds in small pots. I was about to give up on them and suddenly a heap have come up. Next week I will add these to the gardens.
I have duck and Guinea Fowl eggs in the incubator already but Chloe's birds keep laying. I was able to give a friend 14 Guinea and 7 duck eggs to hatch. She was really thrilled!
Guinea eggs are hard as rocks and pointy. I find the shape of the somehow hilarious. Like torpedos.
Speaking of eggs... this week my Quail started to lay! I got five eggs in one day!
Such a nice surprise! Like the Quail themselves no two eggs are alike!
My meals freezer was a bit low so I made up several trays of Enchiladas.
I continued on the #everybitcountschallenge and this led me to make an investment and get a food processor. I keep watching Becky on Acre Homestead process industrial quantities of her home grown produce and do it so fast! This women pushes the whole wheelbarrow into the kitchen (loaded up with pears and all kinds of things) then processes it all in marathon sessions. She shreds, freezes, dehydrates, freeze dries... purees and bakes and it's all going on! I have studied how she uses her food processor in basically every episode and what she uses it for. Finally I ordered one. Determined it becomes my right hand kitchen buddy I cleared my benches so that my food processor can be out and ready for action at all times. I even read the instruction manual. That is saying something as normally I would reserve that for getting out of trouble. Then I tested it on one of my big bunches of Celery I am bringing in.
Oh- my-goodness why have I been slicing everything up by hand!? I had trays of chopped celery piled up and ready to go in minutes.
It also dehydrated super fast... mainly because it was sliced finer but also because it was even. When I cut it by hand I always have some thicker bits in there and they hold things up. Because it was faster I felt it was a brighter green too. I will have some more about this on Mondays challenge post.
So it was a good week just "doing the next thing."
Our little Chase is almost 3 months old! He is all smiles and little noises trying to talk.
How did you build up your home, pantry, garden this week? I hope some great opportunities came your way and you were able to create a peaceful haven for your family.xxx
Dear Annabel, I am very happy you had such a nice spring week.
ReplyDeleteChase is adorable! I love he is all smiles - shows a happy and healthy little fellow, ready to grab all good things in life. God bless him and all his family!
This week I continue to pick some champignon mushrooms from the garden and lots of wallnuts every day. The tomatoe plants are done but the chilli peppers still keep producing and I harvested cellery leaves and mint for tea. The new thing in the garden are quinces - beautiful gold fruits that glow in the dark like yellow lanterns. In the weekend I will make some jam and some jelly that will be delicious in the winter days.
For the first time in my life I have a shortage of jars - although I keep every single jar this year I preserved so much that I am almost out of them! Never happened before but then I never felt the urge to put away as much as I can.
Days are shorter now and colder - the evenings are for cooking, knitting, family time and playing with the dogs and kitties. Dahlias, geraniums and roses are making a nice theatrical display in the garden and the grapes in the vineyard are almost ready to harvest and prepare the home made wine. I guess next week....
I try to make the best of every day as the war news are scarier then ever. Just take one step at a time, breath and pray.
Thinking of you every day - Laura_s_world from Romania
I'm thinking I would like a food processor too - for shredding and slicing for sure! Oh my gosh that Chase is adorable! Don't you just love being a grandma?? :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a darling little boy! I love my food processor and use it all the time. I also have a Mueller chopper that is in constant use.
ReplyDeleteI added 3 quart bags of chopped and sliced peppers to my freezer and a quart of chopped celery. We found too many deals at the grocery and salvage stores to even remember now but one big find was a case of vegan butter for $2.99 which we will use to make bread. This saves a lot over using real dairy butter and seems to be a good substitute. We harvested a few handfuls of grape tomatoes from our container garden.
We continue to pick up deals on items for Christmas gifts. This week batteries were a good deal so we bought them for all the Christmas toys to avoid disappointment on Christmas Day.
Three meals of macaroni and cheese were added to the freezer and it used up a bunch of bits and ends of cheese. My meals freezer is low, too. I have a lot of baked goods and odds and ends but few meals and that needs to be attended to soon.
Hello Annabel! Your industriousness never ceases to amaze me! Your towels look like something you would get from a boutique and that celery looks like it is bursting with good health and vitality. I hope you get that photo of baby Chase printed, he’s so gorgeous! Which food processor did you order? I have a very basic one that only chops food and I can’t get accessories for it. My old Breville used to do everything making food prep so quick and easy. I would particularly like one to slice and grate food to give my hands a break. Looking forward to your next post. Jennie from Queanbeyan💚💚
ReplyDeleteDear Jennie, Thank you so much! I will show the food processor in tomorrows post... it is a Kitchenaid. And I got the larger size because now with the garden I have a lot of produce coming in. I havent used all the functions yet but it has a lot! I am thinking especially with carrots I would love to see them evenly sliced to blanch and freeze. This week I have the girls coming to stay so I might not get much done but I want to give so many things a try and see what it can do! I think I got it just in time as the garden is bursting! Thank you so much! Love Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel, I am so glad you are enjoying your new food processor. I have a mini food chopper and reach for it all the time. It saves so much time! Yesterday I used it to mince carrot to make sausage rolls. The minced carrot is also great for dumpling fillings or carrot cake.
ReplyDeleteAs always, I loved reading about your week!
With love from,
Kelly (Mrs. Kiwi)
Dear Kelly, I love to out carrot into sausage rolls and I love carrot cake... I hadn't even thought of these things yet! I can no doubt get the carrot finer than my hand grater too! Thank you so much! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel, oh my goodness Chase is such a beautiful baby! He is adorable. It must be lovely visiting him. He looks like such a happy boy, credit to his mother and you all. I love your kitchen towels. They are magnificent. I crochet edges around ones I buy, I think next year I must sew some. The ones from the shops aren’t absorbent. Well done on all of your hard work. I love seeing your celery. I have had a virus with headaches being really bad, so have done the minimum. I had a big spring clean today though, so things are looking up. I also made some homemade hummus dip in my food processor and washed it and the bowl broke as it crashed on the floor. I googled the model number and found a replacement piece! I must use it to chop more things for the dehydrator, that’s a brilliant idea. Love, Lily
ReplyDeleteAnnabel your kitchen towels are so pretty and would take pride of place in anyone's kitchen :) . So lovely your gardens are bursting with produce and the rain water certainly helps them to take off. Good that you have filled up your freezer with more
ReplyDeleteChase is a cutie! That smile starts the day off right. I think my biggest problem is getting the big appliances down out of the cabinet and finding a space for them on the counter. It would be nice to just have an appliance cabinet ..that would be good. Although with the frosts we are officially done with the garden..we are planning for next year in our heads and cleaning up the garden beds before snow hits. It's busy busy most days. Your sewing is very pretty!
ReplyDeleteDear Vickie, Thank you! I could have my pantry as an appliance cabinet but I think it is more important to have it stocked with food. So I am set up now with my kitchen aid and food processor on the counter... and kettle. A roll around trolly can be a good appliance centre too or an island bench if there is room for one. It sounds like you had a good garden season! Many thanks, Love Annabel.xxx
DeleteAnnabel your kitchen towels are simply beautiful!! And I LOVE that they are made from repurposed/opshop fabric 👏 Are these used like a T-towel (for drying dishes) or something else?
ReplyDeleteI’m feeling pretty proud of my garden at the moment too, so much growth in this sun and rain ❤️
I managed to buy some more Fowler Vacola jars on marketplace this week, I was so happy, I look at marketplace nearly every day to try and find these jars for sale in my local area, but they rarely come up, my persistence paid off this time and I was the lucky first person to respond to the add by a mere 10mins 🙏 I think I have enough jars now, but I know it will be hard to stop looking…just in case 😂
I bought 20 bunches of asparagus for $1 each yesterday and tomorrow I plan to preserve them in my Fowlers Vacola unit in a pickling solution. It is such a money saver doing it this way, and so much fun!
Dear Cheryl, Thank you! Yes like a t towel. Maybe bigger and thicker. I used them to dry up, wrap and transport a casserole, wrap and keep foods warm, as a drying mat when jars are drying and many more things. Oh, very often to line a picnic basket or food hamper, cover food that is cooling... and so on.
DeleteI love Fowler jars! They are beautiful. I use the for dry goods as well as canning. You can never have too many jars!
What a deal on Asparagus! That is amazing. I think pickled they will be great. They were a wonderful find! Growth in the garden is so good to see! With love Annabel.xxx