Feather your Nest Friday, 22nd September, 2023.

It has been a big, big week with glorious sunny days and a little bit of rain,  just enough.   I have been planting out seedlings every day.    My trays of seeds have been sprouting,  the warmth has got them all coming up.   As they grow big enough I move them out into the garden.   

My new planter boxes are here.  We filled them with compost we have been making and then filled with seedlings and also a couple of already large tomato plants a friend gave me.    Lettuces keep coming up and I keep moving them, potting them up and giving them away.

I realised that the big compost pile is great but I might as well put it all to good use as I can make more!  So each fruit tree got about half a wheel barrow of extra goodness.   This will boost the nutrients and add a bit more mulch through the hot weather.  

We did this x17.  They all got some manure and a deep water.   Then I thought... I still have a packet of Parsley seed that probably has thousands of seeds in it.  Some were saved from our garden and some from Chloe's garden.  So I dug a shallow ring around each tree (level with the tree guard) and planted all the seed.    A circle of Parsley will look amazing,  be watered along with the trees,  I can freeze dry,  use it fresh,  give it away,  trade and take to the swap tables... you can't ever have too many herbs.   If I really have too much, well,  they will benefit the chickens as well.   I am so excited to have so much planted in the orchard now.

As pumpkins are planted I pop a basket over the top until they are big enough to not be a crunchy bird treat.  So my pumpkin patches look like this...

I made Apricot Balls,  Blueberry Muffins and a second batch gluten free.   Mum came so I made her scones and she went home with a tray of goodies.

In the sewing room....   I made a velvet bag for a friend.   She is the friend who I gave the orange scrubbies.  She likes the 70s!   This velvet was perfect for her I thought.

I lined it and gave it two big pockets with a very similar cotton fabric.

Our main supermarket has gotten rid of plastic veggie bags.  You know the thin bags that stick together that you use for loose fruit and veggies and then they weight the whole bag?   Well, they are history.   So I figured besides myself a lot of us will need our own bags and they need to weigh nothing otherwise you are paying for the weight of the bag! 

The best ones are the tulle ones.   They really are like air!   But they are quite strong.

I also made some lace ones.  I made several sets.   For my own shopping I put four into a tiny purse so I have them when I need them.  

We had visitors over for afternoon tea.  I was able to offer spinach, lettuce, zucchini seedlings,  bay leaves and parsley.   My friend said yes to everything and took home a giant green bouquet and a little box of seedlings for her garden.  She seemed very thrilled and I felt so good to have these things to share.  

Another friend...who helped us out this week... I was able to give him lamb and a tray of my homemade enchiladas plus a box of lettuce and pumpkin seedlings.  He also was really pleased.

Andy did a heap of work on a chicken coop that needed some running repairs.  The orphan chicks are going to be promoted to this bigger house in the next few days. 

For a while I have thought I should have a spare washing machine.  Finally I saw and bought one.  I look for something simple,  something that is not fussy about the type of detergent etc.  I like it so much that I decided my old (but still working) one will become the spare and the new one (which is twice the washing load size) is installed.  I can now do queen and king quilts and so on.  Well,  I love it!!   When my Uncle died I also inherited his, as new,  front loader machine.  So now there is a back up to the backup.  If either of the girls,  Mum or us need a machine we have one.   Also, of course, the machine came in a really big sturdy box.  This was carefully saved for a future lamb or chickens.  😊

The week was just so beautiful and soaking up the sun, working outside, digging and planting has me so happy and sleeping well.   Gardening,  fresh air and nature might be the best vitamin of all.   

I haven't mentioned news and events in recent weeks.   I feel like most of us have eyes to see and ears to hear and get the drift.  This week though some news,  repeated over and over in different forms,  has me a bit worried.  For us Summer is by far the hardest season,  especially if it is a hot summer.   The last two years we had short and cooler summers which was fantastic.  This just makes me more nervous that this one might be a hot one!   Keeping gardens and animals (and humans) going in the real heat is hard but it is fires and windy days that are the hardest.  All year we work to be prepared for this.    We have already been warned our state and our neighbouring state are likely to have electricity shortages.   They have blown up (with actual dynamite) numerous power stations so it is little wonder why.  However this week one headline was "Perfect Storm brewing for blackouts in Summer."   Millions are warned we could be in for blackouts as sections of the grid are switched off to "share the power around."    Many of you wherever you live in the world may be hearing or seeing the same.     One article went on to say each household should have a blackout plan.   This is true, we all should.  Not blowing up power stations would be one of them! 🙄

They included handy tips:

Inform ASAP your electricity supplier if you or someone in your house is on life support or life supporting devices.

Keep a physical list of emergency contacts.

Prepare alternative sources of lighting, batteries and battery packs.

Have batteries for your radio where broadcasters will be letting you know updates and what to do.   For some this will also mean actually get a radio before you get the spare batteries!

Have a pocket wi fi modem in case the internet goes down.

Have boiled water and shelf stable food.

Have a BBQ and gas bottle on hand so you can cook.

Install safety switches to protect your appliances from power surges.

Use solar batteries.

They finished with "there is no knowing how long an outage may last."

I find they always tell us what is going to happen next.  So we have been told.   For anyone who has not taken my preparedness course I will remind you this is in my index,  can be done in any order and many of the ways you can prepare are completely free. 

We have been preparing for this scenario for some time and it is coming at people in different ways.  First the power can just go out.  Second they can now restrict how much power you can get and some appliances can be remotely slowed down or cut off.   Third you may have a reliable and continuous supply and simply not be able to afford it.   So as we head into the warmer months (while others are heading into the cooler months) we need to think on these things and prepare.   Seriously,  do not just hope,  actually make a plan and put it into action.   If someone asks you what you want for Christmas say a "battery operated fan" or "a water filter"  or "a generator."   Forget about perfume these times are no joke.

To the above list I would add to keep plenty of bottled or tinned fruit juices and the ingredients to make your own electrolytes.  (Recipes found in my course.)  Also to have a battery operated fan per person and back up batteries,  spray mist bottles and if you have a lot of frozen foods a generator to run 15 minutes in the hour to keep them all solid.    Also look out for others.  Families with small children and the elderly... they may simply be too overwhelmed already to do serious planning ahead. 

Every week as we feather our nests, build our pantries and gardens we can enjoy some encouragement from each other.   Don't you just love how Donna described how they managed through war and depression years and how family and friends helped each other!  Every week we can use our opportunities to be a little bit more prepared,  a little more stocked up or further ahead in some way. 

Being prepared  (or doing our best to be) is not fear.  It is responsibility.  But if you feel worried or fearful go and look up Psalm 37,  verse 12 to 20.  My favourite bit is:

"The wicked draw the sword

and bend the bow

to bring down the poor and needy,

to slay those whose ways are upright.

But their swords will pierce their own hearts,

and their bows will be broken."  

Last bit of advice for the week... collect and keep old Bibles.  Already they are producing AI Bibles with altered scriptures and they "sound" convincingly real with,  however,  content that is not.   

I hope you had a week of sunshine and goodness like I did!  We worked really hard and are tired but it is that good and happy, I will sleep well,  tired.  😊 xxx