Feather your Nest Friday, 14th April, 2023.
We had a cool and rainy week. I don't need to water any more but I did get loads of succulent cuttings planted. Finally everything I collected is in the ground! Andy also gave me the gift of a box of rockery plants and they look so nice snuggled in between the rocks. Things really have come a long way!
Easter was just lovely. We had a day with both families and all Grandchildren. I have to show you Chloe's cake....
Mum made Chloe and me a posy each from her garden.
In our family it is a tradition now that children get warm pyjamas at Easter. Mum and I conspire and she gave all the children warm winter jackets and other things too, the bigger kids got ugg boots. I did the warm pjs and a winter outfit each. Also this year (over several months) I saved up items to make the girls each a winter cold and flu hamper. For those not in Australia you have to remember Easter comes as our weather begins to get cold. I watched for good deals and ended up with hampers I was very happy with.
Both had Himalayan pink salt and I wrote up a homemade Electrolytes recipe to stick inside the medicine cabinet door.
You see my methods that increase preparedness ... 😊
I picked a lot of tomatoes! Even though we are well into Autumn the tomatoes are still ripening.
I made six fruit cakes. If I am going to make one (for Andy's birthday at the end of the month) I might as well make a few. Two are for thank you gifts.
After planting out all the succulents I had some tiny bits and pieces left. I potted them up into two containers for my outdoor table.
Calf number four was born on Thursday morning! I don't have a photo yet but I do of the other three...
I made three Lasagnes and lots of spaghetti sauce.
There were more apples ready to pick from our tree. They are huge! These are good eating apples, sweet and beautiful.
I got two big baskets and next week will pick more.
Thank you to everyone who replied to Jen and for her great report from New Zealand. It is so good to just learn and help each other!
Tomorrow I am getting organised as Harper and Scarlett are coming to stay. It is their school holidays. I have a lot planned including Harper continuing on with her sewing. Scarlett is thinking about it. She is two years younger I have to remember.... this is hard as she is the taller one!
I hope you had a good week. How did you build up your nest? I hope many opportunities came your way! xxx
PS. The lambs are weaned. They are really huge and fat. 🐑
Fat and happy lambs and Black Angus babies running around. Add two small girls into the mix and Nan Nan Bel has the home from heaven.
ReplyDeleteI had apples this week to deal with. Not the amount you had by any means. I ended up making Outback Tania's delicious apple slice and stewed up what was left of the apples. The stewed apples were made into apple pies. Our two GD's are with us and they absolutely loved the apple pies.
Bluey made a huge spaghetti lasagna this week. Half was two meals for the five of us and half went off to Katie's. She sent me a photo of Spencer and he was covered in the lasagna. He apparently enjoyed every mouth full.
Katie is still recovering from Toby's birth and is still unable to drive. I spent Tuesday with her, Toby and Spencer. I had an exhausting but wonderful day. I went again Thursday. Spencer had gone to work with his Dad so I was able to help Katie by giving the house a clean and getting all the washing done, line dried, folded and put away.
I usually crochet, knit or stitch in the evenings. This past week I have been in a very happy exhausted Granny state and have just sat. I didnt even open a book to read!
Tonight I made a rainbow marbled, double layer heart shaped cake. The cake has been layered together and covered in pink butter cream icing. Tomorrow we are having an early Birthday party for almost five year old Madison. She heads back to her Mum's on Sunday. This is going to be a surprise Birthday for Maddy. I think Bluey and I are more excited than she will be.
Enjoy your time with your girls. I know they are going to have the best time with you.
Dear Jane, I just love how apples can be used in so many ways. A lasagne or pasta bake is great.... Tom and Chase also scoff this kind of meal and are covered in it by the end! Its a good sign!
DeleteIt was great that while at Katies you could do lots of jobs. I am sure this is all a huge help to her. I expect this week I will be the same as you ... too tired to even crochet.
The cake was so pretty and such a hit. I love heart shapes and that was perfect. What a special day for Maddy. I know they have had a wonderful visit. You should have said "life is good but exhausting!" haha! With love Annabel.xxx
Love the post this week, you are incredibly busy! Chloe’s cake was astonishingly lovely, what a pity to eat it! She could do cakes for royalty, she has a huge amount of talent and patience. As I read about the weaned lambs, I wonder if they are biscuit trained ;). Thank you for this blog, it is a wonderful place to come and learn. Hilogene in Az.
ReplyDeleteThank you Hilogene. These lambs so far have not liked biscuits. I will keep trying though. xxx
DeleteThe pink salt is so good. We use it for all our cooking here. I like the warm clothes and PJ's tradition. It has not made much effort to warm up yet here in the Southern USA but any day now it will be hot. Outdoor cleanup is being done here. Hubby is pressure washing and every thing is looking fresh and clean and ready for outdoor living. I am ready for meals in our screen porch and evenings on the porch swing!
ReplyDeleteDear Lana, We love outdoor living when the weather is good. It is so nice. A screened in porch is ideal. For us it is rapidly cooling off! Have a great new week! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteI feel like your Easter is roughing when US Thanksgiving is and plan to use some of your ideas. I try to give practical gifts during the holidays.
ReplyDeletePlus I love harvest and autumn.
Amy that would be a great idea! A gift of help is the best gift of all I think! xxx
DeleteWhat a lovely week Annabel! Once again I’m in awe of Chloe’s cake decorating. That is a lovey tradition for Easter, and I’m sure Lucy and Chloe really appreciate the warm clothes and pyjamas for the kids too.
ReplyDeleteI love the leftover succulents in the pot! I was given some succulents from my neighbour and I’m hoping to make pots similar to what you’ve shown for Christmas gifts. If I can make something that looks like yours I’ll be happy.
Yesterday I found gluten free pasta on clearance, less than half its normal price. This hardly ever happens with gluten free food so I was very quick to buy the five bags they had left.
I always look forward to the pictures when you’ve had the girls come to stay, I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Jen (NZ)
Dear Jen, Thank you! I used an old colander as a container and also some old kettles... with the succulents these look really nice! What a great opportunity with the pasta! A great chance to stock up!
DeleteI am going to have a LOT of pictures tomorrow! We had good times but oh boy I am cleaning up today! With love Annabel.xxx
Hi Annabel and everyone,
ReplyDeleteThat is the most gorgeous bunny cake and lavender! I love the gift baskets and baking, too. Lovely apples!
Most of my efforts this week were outdoors; I mowed the front and back yards, raked up 3 bags of leaves/trimmings/spent plants and disposed of them, tended the radish plants and blackberries, and got a few seed packets for lettuce and greens at the farm store (40% off!). One weird thing is there were absolutely no greens seedlings, and there usually are this time of year. Maybe everyone else beat me to them! Plenty of tomatoes and peppers though (I have seeds for those), and they had gorgeous strawberry starts, so I may go back for a few plants for my containers this weekend. Cooking-wise, I made up a big pot roast with noodles and veggies, muffins, and a big batch of spaghetti sauce, and pulled meals and snacks from the freezer. It was a busy work week with a special event, and then we had a visit to the medical center a couple days later for imaging, so it was really handy to have those tucked away. I also washed a couple more windows. It is working to do them bit by bit!
After 14 years, my washing machine finally broke beyond repair - it was the best possible time it could have happened, because there was a big appliance sale and I was able to buy the replacement with a savings of $170 (and they installed it for me and took the old one away). Not a purchase we had planned at this time, but the new one works so well and is EnergyStar rated, so should cost less to run, too. I did tons of laundry after it was delivered! (I feel silly saying this, but I do love when everything is clean and put away, and the linens are fresh. It just gives me a lift.)
Crafts-wise, I worked on a x-stitch piece for Christmas and a little more on my fingering-weight shawl - I think it is about halfway done now. My dad brought over some favorite sweets and a beautiful lead crystal biscuit/sweets jar he found thrifting - it is so pretty and the pattern is a bit like bows or trailing ribbons.
I hope everyone has a good weekend.
<3
Kathy
Dear Kathy, I do understand... fresh clean linens and clothes are morale boosting for sure. I smell the linen... and the feel of it... I love fresh linen!
DeleteGood job on getting a good price and on your new machine. Hopefully you will get another 14 years!
I like that your Dad is a thrifter and the sweets jar .. how beautiful!
Your cooking all sounds delicious and well done on the windows! If I do the kitchen and lounge room windows these alone being really clean makes a big impact as these are the ones we look out of and notice most by far! If I polish mirrors and glass in the house this also makes things sparkle and has a big impact.
Maybe more people are putting in greens? The prices of lettuces here would have to mean more people are trying to grow their own. For me I am working on what I can grow over winter. Any fresh greenery is good ie fresh parsley to sprinkle over soup or pasta... thyme with lamb... or rosemary... mint with a curry... some bursts of freshness are nice.
Have a lovely weekend, I hope your husband is doing well, with much love, Annabel.xxx
Dear Annabel
ReplyDeleteChloe is a very gifted artist even though I’ve only seen her cakes. I hope one day she can try something more lasting than icing 😉
It’s a lovely comforting feeling to have your new plants in their places and watch them settle in with winter rains and dream of how big they will grow in spring.
I’ve been doing a bit of sneaky gardening again this year and have been sprinkling my spare home grown flower seeds in the public gardens in town. I’m not excited by the dreary low maintenance rushes that landscapers plant every where, so a few dozen vermilion cosmos and dark blue columbines might be obvious but let’s see how this lot grow.
I have a strong feeling that a sense of beauty, happy anticipation and spontaneous joy are absolutely not encouraged by decision makers. I’ll do my little bit to make someone’s day if they like random flowers in boring council gardens 😉
Thank you! Chloe has done paintings and a lot of crafty work in different mediums. The cakes are more of a recent thing. I like your sneaky seed dropping! Ingenious! We need all the flowers we can get in my opinion!
DeleteFlowers do spread a great deal of joy. xxx
I baked a couple dozen chocolate cupcakes and through them in the freezer so I wouldn’t eat them all. Haha. When I want a sweet I will take one out. I helped a friend today with a garage sale so I got a basket with a lid for $.25. Couldn’t beat the price and a cane for my son for $2.00. It was fun visiting and helping her get rid of things. I finished a quilt top last week so took it to the long armer and got it back today. Will post pictures of it on Tuesday. I have a new garage door coming on Tuesday so have to move a few things in the garage so that’s what I’ll be doing tomorrow. Will try and get a few freezer meals made up tomorrow also. Annabel, love the pictures of the calves. They don’t stay little long. Hope everyone has a great weekend. Phyllis from Oregon
ReplyDeleteDear Phyllis, I do the same as you... I make cakes and freeze them so when I am looking for something I just thaw one. This works really well!
DeleteYour quilt was absolutely gorgeous! Thank you for the photos in the club!
Freezer meals are like money in the bank and so helpful! The calves are just so sweet and so tame. I never get tired of checking on them! With much love Annabel.xxx
I feel like I should know the answer to this, but I am not remembering right now. Why do you guys not drill wells? Why the rain catchment systems? Thanks, Bobbi
ReplyDeleteHi Bobbi, We do we have a bore... which pumps up underground water for most of the stock. We have a solar set up for all of that. This has some salt in it although not too bad. We also catch every drop of rainwater we can from every rooftop. This is what we drink and use in the house. Because it is a long distance from the bore and pumps to some of the troughs we have storage tanks along the way. This also ensures supply if there was a problem with the pump. This all makes us 100% independent for water which I love. I hope that explains it! xxx
DeleteDear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful Easter cake. All the photos are so inspiring. And when I read everyone's comments about all they've been up to, I think "What a wonderful world"! :)
This week we had some nice weather, so have been out clearing out flower beds, clearing out and feeding/mulching the red and black currants, hubby has trimmed the apple trees and sprayed with dormant oil, and today I'll go out and do some more flower bed work plus maybe get a start on pruning the grapes. We'll have to have a big bonfire soon!
Wednesday was a cloudy, showery day, so the girls and I had a "craft day": we watched movies, ate snacks, and worked on knitting/crocheting projects. Otherwise, it's been the usual: made bread, yogurt, cleaned the house, hung the laundry (and the laundry line did its annual spring "break", which hubby has fixed, and it's now in use again), etc. Hubby is getting excited about trying a cardboard box incubator that he's going to make. He's busy testing out the hygrometer he bought. Sounds like he wants to churn 'em out, but I'll be happy with just a few laying birds for this next winter! (We already have meat chicks arriving in a week and a half, and lots of layers that can last another year, so only a few chicks are needed! :))
The starlings are busy building their spring nest in the hole of our chestnut tree that is across from the kitchen window, so we've had fun watching them. The hole gets smaller each year, and this year they really have to PUSH themselves in and out until POP they make it. :)
Have a wonderful weekend!
Jen in NS
Dear Jen,
DeleteI love a bon fire! You are making lots of progress in the garden. I love the sound of your craft day with the girls. Brings back memories for me!
I will look forward to hearing about the incubator! I think you would have no problem selling chicks if you had excess. So exciting!
How funny the hole in the tree is closing but they are sticking with it!! You might have a rescue job sometime! I hope the week has gone well.... I am catching up today as I took the girls home yesterday! With love Annabel.xxx
Chloe is a remarkably talented artist whose creativity knows no bounds !
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!xxx
DeleteAnnabel, We had a hot week, then a cold rainy weekend. Lots of wind, so I'm holding off planting any of my garden. My Farmer got the 500g water tank out for filling the sprayer. It's almost planting season. He'll probably start this week. And his birthday is next Monday (the 24th). So many similarities. :)
ReplyDeleteWe also have baby calves. I believe there are 8 out in the lot. I love to watch their "Zoom" races while the mothers are up at the trough, eating. I've been trying to tame the 2 heifers we have in the feeder pen now. We will put them out with the herd when they go to pasture. It would be nice to have them somewhat as tame as yours.
I've made my menu for the week. Tomorrow is spaghetti and I'll use the sauce I canned. Easy and quick for a Monday evening.
Have a wonderful time with the girls.
Dear Kay, It sounds like we have a parallel universe going! Our calves are running around having great fun too. I love watching them! Some of my cows were completely wild... but they now come to the car for an apple. Only two (Loui and Laffie) eat out of may hand and put their head in the car.
DeleteSpaghetti sounds beautiful. I think I will plan that for next week. I am making soup once a week from now through to the end of winter as well. I have had a beautiful time with the girls... lots to report tomorrow! With love Annabel.xxx
Amazing cake! Thank Chloe for sharing her art with us.
ReplyDeleteWe are thankful to finally get rain barrels hooked up to our down spouts! These are the proper ones that keep the bugs out and have a spigot at the bottom. The city charges $85 per barrel with kit! My husband installed 3 for $35 a piece. The barrels were free. He just had to buy the kit at Lowe's. We live in a rainy state (Ohio) but why pay to water our animals and garden?
Congratulations on all your accomplishments, Anabel. God is blessing you for your obedience and ministry to us! -Leslie
Dear Leslie, Thank you so much! I am so happy about your rain barrels! As you know we catch all rain. To me it is so valuable. I absolutely love rain water! Your husband got a great deal too! Thank you for your encouragement Leslie, With much love Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel, Chloe's cakes are marvelous! What a talent! I love all the pictures you have posted, the cute calves, the beautiful lavender posies, the delicious apples, the succulents and, most of all, the electrolyte recipe. Practical gifts are my favourite. My days were quite tiresome, preparing for both Easter holidays. I spring cleaned the house, washed all the windows, deep cleaned the bathroom and kitchen and cooked meals from scratch. We had visitors, my cousin and ger family and today we are going at their house for lunch. I did not over buy or over prepare, just the right amount and nothing goes to waste. Put some more stuf away for the pantry, food, socks, washing powder, etc - it was good price. As warmer weather is here I put put the pots from the cellar, mint, dahlias, crysantemums and royal white lilies, cellery an tarahorn and my son planted red and white gooseberries while I sowed red clover seeds all over the yard. It will be good for the chickens. Next week I will sow wild flowers and grass seeds in the orchard. A good idea was putting the chickens to work for my garden - every day for a few hours I let them out under a special cage made by my husband and while they are hapilly chat and scratch for bugs and fresh green shoots the soil is ready to be worked and then I will plant some. Have a great week ahead with the girls - there will be many laughs and beautiful memories. With much love, Laura_s_world from Romania
ReplyDeleteDear Laura, Thank you for encouraging Chloe! You did a lot of work getting ready for Easter! It is nice you had visitors and also got to go out as well.
DeleteVery good that you got some things added to your various pantries! I am glad it has warmed and you can be planting out! Also how nice to be working in the garden! I can just imagine the chickens being so happy digging around, it is so good for them. I think sowing seeds in the orchard is a great idea... all of this is extra chicken feed and very healthy for them.
It has been a beautiful week! I have a lot to report! With much love Annabel.xxx
I would love to watch video of Chloe decorating cakes!!!
ReplyDeleteDear Stacy, mmm this is an idea! I might be able to get her to do a tutorial or something... we will work on it! With love Annabel.xxx
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