Feather your Nest Friday, 17th February, 2023.

We had a warm and busy week.   Each day I picked something from the garden,  mostly tomatoes, zucchini and basil.   I made some nut free Pesto for Chloe which still turns out well and she has meals she likes to make with it.    I also planted Broccoli into some of my raised garden beds.

We have a hen house that needs some repairs and I decided to put all my laying hens together and have a serious think about which hens to let hatch eggs and so on.  It was quite a chicken re shuffle.   I also realised I have too many ducks and freeloaders.   Chloe said she would happily take some female ducks so I caught three to take over to her place.   Ducks are harder to put in boxes than chickens because their heads pop up out of any space!   Finally I had three ducks in three different boxes.    

Like we do Chloe has a big old tennis court that she uses as an animal enclosure.   It is lovely.  She has one goose called Jemima.

Jemima is the boss but she likes ducks.   They all have so much space and a giant deep bath tub with a ramp to walk up and down.

There are also Guinea Fowl and various chickens. 

We released one duck at a time.  Thomas watched closely as I opened each box.  Each duck looked around for a minute before working on jumping out of the box and Tom declared "Good job!" when the were successful!   I was so surprised how he was kindly encouraging them! 

They all fitted in perfectly and I have four less mouths to feed.   I am also glad Chloe has her own laying hens.   If I get too many chickens I can also top up her laying flock.   If we get low on hens I can incubate some eggs and grow some more up.  Keeping the health of hens up and feed costs down are on my mind too. 

I had a trip into town for shopping and errands.  It was a huge day and I did a big stock up.   I went to the swap tables and ended up with some lovely jars and a giant zucchini.   Someone put a notice on the swap table Facebook page "could the person who made the dish cloths please contact me."   I said "that was me!"  and the lady gave me a bag of crochet cotton!     AND, even better still,  someone else started a road side little library!   To notify everyone this lady wrote on the swap table Facebook page that her husband built her a shed out the front of their house and she has a free library.    Knowing this I took some books with me that we were glad to donate.   I found the library and it is so beautiful...

I left four books and found three that I thought Mum would really like (which I gave her today.)  Inside the little drawers of the cabinet at the top were handmade book marks.   I cannot wait to go back and am thinking of what I could add.   Maybe a little vase of dried flowers?   Maybe a card to say thank you. ♥

In the thrift store I found two good leather belts.  I buy these to make collars for lambs, dogs and calves.   They make excellent collars so I pick them up for $1 or so and keep them for when next needed.

Andy will punch new holes and cut them to any length I need.   With calves and lambs.... they only need a collar for one or two days when they are learning to drink.   Once they are drinking I remove the collar as they will now chase me instead of me chasing them! 

I also found some beautiful cotton sheets and began to make them up into tea towels.   Double thickness makes them just right and I plan to add crochet edges.  I got two sewn and the rest cut out today.

I decorated two more candles, this time to keep myself.

Yesterday I made up a big chicken enchilada mix and made several trays of enchiladas for meals,  to freeze and a tray went to Chloe's today for their dinner tonight.

This week I freeze dried a fresh pineapple and oranges, both cut into slices.   They turned out really well.

So a bit of this and a bit of that but it all adds up!

Thank you to everyone who encouraged Fiona and thank you Fiona for your wonderful report from NSW. Next week our report is from Glenda in Wyoming, USA.  

How did you build up your home this week?  Have a lovely weekend!  xxx