Feather your Nest Friday, 27th October, 2023.
We are almost into November! We had an interesting week as we went back to winter weather, rain and even hail!
Early in the week the guys who trim trees around electricity lines were on the property. I am friendly with them and soon secured all the mulch from here and the neighbours property! Only gardeners will understand my joy!
It's a mountain! Now, this came only a couple of weeks after me using up the compost we have built up. I filled those last pots. We are up and running again!
When it hailed I was worried about my tiny apples and pears that are just forming...
When it stopped I ran to the orchard to examine the trees. They look ok, the fruit is tiny and looks to have hung on! So then I celebrated the rain and hail as some tanks that are now connected up (since the work on the shed) are filling!
Andy did a plumbing job on one of our backyard rainwater tanks. This tank feeds the house. A pump moves this water in. If the electricity is out our generator kicks in and so it should still pump. But as a back up to the back up we put in a tap that would just gravity feed, no electricity needed. It is placed a foot or so off the ground so we can get a bucket under it. I was helping a Bluebird with how this can be done and took a photo.
If the power is out does water still come into your house? If you have a bore or well can you still pump water? It is vital that you can.
A friend gave me six big jars with lids.
I bought 800 buttons for $5 on Facebook marketplace. Now I am sorting them into sets to make up pretty button cards. Since most of my friends knit, crochet or sew buttons are a nice gift. Some will build up my mending supply.
A calendar I had this year featured gorgeous birds. I got some boxes in the cheap store... they have a magnetic closure. Now I have a series of special gift boxes.
Tom came over to play. He "takes Andy for a ride" on the lawn mower but now he is learning to operate the little digger. He is actually pretty good!
He is so keen and serious.
At three he can steer things in reverse better than me.
Tonight after a beautiful day (and the weather returning to gorgeous Spring) Zackie looks like this and I am not far behind.
Dog tired. 😊 (She snores.)
Thank you for all the wonderful replies on the side gig post. There were some fantastic ideas. Something for everyone!
How did you build up your home, pantry or garden this week? Be encouraged that it all adds up! xxx
Dear Annabel and beautiful bluebirds ,
ReplyDeleteThank you Annabel for such a lovely post as usual . I apologise that i havent commented for such a long time , i havent had a lot to contribute and by the time i am up to commenting another blog comes out and i have also had a lot of extra health issues.
i finally got back into craft as you would know by now , i made my first card in along time , oh how i missed it .
christmas gifts are nearly all organised, just have to start wrapping the gifts but i have all the wrapping supplies and trims ready to do.
ive shopped wisely lately and taken advantage of salesand discounts, ive also started my emergency fund again and paid down a fair bit of debt and am ahead on all my bills.
I tidied my pantry up with help from one of my lovely support workers and my kitchen pantry is looking healthy as are other pantries .
i have a collection of items ive bought over the lat month to donate to a local charity and gifts from my gift cupboard to gift to another local charity to give out at christmas.
have alovely weekend xx
Barb
Dear Barb, Well done! Especially with being so sick often this year. It is great to have some things for the charities as a lot of people are struggling this year. It is great to hear your pantry is well stocked and you are building your emergency fund! Good to hear you are back to some crafts as well! With love, Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel, Tom is very handsome! I love the picture with him and Andy, you should make a framed picture to hang on the wall. So precious moments!
ReplyDeletePictures with Zackie and Molly - thank you.
Your farm is wonderful, the compost is black gold, in my opinion. I have three different places where I work on my compost, in order to rotate and use it all year long. Your weather returning to Winter is the opposite of ours, we have warmer temperatures than we should for the calendar and lots of rain. We harvested some quinces from the tree (not many, like other years) and turned them into delicious jelly and still pick wallnuts every day. (we have 4 wallnut trees)
Autumn is a splendor here, with all the warm colours of the leaves - I am fascinated by the look of the hills surrounding the town, and even went to a little walk on Sunday morning, crossing Iza river and up Solovan Hill - it is the closest to our house. My dog Charlie was very, very happy! And I was all smiles.....
I love the way you turn every little thing into gold. Those gifts would be very good for someone to use and also, so pretty. No wonder Chloe has the talent for decorating!!!!
I read with interest all the jobs and side gigs you had, just haven*t time to answer (my secret wish is to have 27 hours on a day...). All the ideas from the comments were so creative/inventive! some I will think of really hard, because it may suit me.
For now, besides finishing up the knitting orders, I have seen the opportunity to sell wallnuts to cake shops. They pay really well, I just have to crack and clean them. But I have a good quantity and we won*t eat as much as we harvested or gave away. One has to walk with eyes and mind open.
As always, thank you for all the ideas and encouragements, and sending good wishes to everybody,
Laura_s_world from Romania
Dear Laura, Your walnuts are a great asset! Very healthy and yes nuts are expensive and good to sell! Autumn and your walks sound beautiful! It is hard to find much news on the area as all the attention has turned to the Middle East. I try and search for news for Romania/Ukraine to see how things are.
DeleteI imagine you are either knitting or shelling walnuts in the evenings! This is so good! Yes you are right... we have to have eyes to see our opportunities! I think I need to so a system like yours where I have compost in various stages. It is like gold I agree! Have a very lovely weekend, With love Annabel.xxx
That is wonderful to have a water source when the power is out. Our bore well is almost 300 feet deep and after looking into it we found out that nothing can pump water up that far except electricity. So, we keep a lot of water on hand for an emergency and we do have a creek down through the woods where we could get water for flushing toilets if need be.
ReplyDeleteDear Lana, That is a long way down! We have some bore water we pumps up and keep a big tank full... that can then be used if something went wrong with the pump (which is solar) but for only so long. A creek near by is a great water source! Have a lovely restful Sunday. Mine is almost over but it has been a beautiful day. With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteHi Annabel,
ReplyDeleteWell, another productive week for sure! What luck with the power guys and your compost heap! My son-in-law always wonders why I chat people up: well, you can see that it often pays plus it often makes their day to think you’re interested in them and their work! It’s amazing what some people will do for you if only you ask!
That Tom is quite the “little man!” He’s just so cute!! And clever!! (Good teachers!)
In my garden, my purple orchids are blooming! One has 16 lovely 4”-5” blossoms! I’m thinking I could sell cutting for my side gig! I have 5 large plants plus others. Hmmmm!
Great advice about a back up to your back up for water. We water with all city water while the rain water drains away! Trying to lobby for a rain barrel! We can’t have a well in our mobile park.
Planted one of two dwarf Hawaiian papayas plants! One to go plus some little yellow potatoes that are sprouting!! Weather perfect! Must “Stir my stumps!” As my Mom would say!
Thanks as always for your great and beautiful blog and pics! Love those “chooks” and those paper roses!
Lots of Love and All our Best, Rick from Florida &
Donna from N Indiana!
PS Some wonderful soul sent Donna a letter (I’m thinking NZ) and she was so very pleased! (They’re closed with an attack of Covid, but Donna only mildly ill!) Made her day!!
XXXXOOOO
Dear Rick and Donna, Ask and you shall receive, thats my motto! Your orchids sounds stunning! You sure could sell plants of blooms.
DeleteI posted to Donna but dont know if she will have that yet. I am so glad she is getting letters. A rain barrel is great. Any surface that rain runs off is a potential way to harvest water!
A big hello to Donna and hope she is feeling ok and she has nothing serious. With much love Annabel.xxx
Hello Annabel and everyone,
ReplyDeleteThat mulch is fantastic! That will be so nice for your plants. Tom and Andy working the machinery together just warms my heart - little Tom is a natural! Your boxes are so pretty, and so are the freeze-dried carrots!
My big annual report for work is due in a couple of weeks, so I continue with trying to do just a few extra things as I can. (I do keep up with the house, laundry, grocery shopping & other regular things). One day I planted daffodil bulbs under the tree in our backyard. A cooking day produced a bbq brisket, homemade rolls, roasted veggies, and chocolate hazelnut butter; lots of dinners and snacks, and several meals for the freezer. Mid-week, since the forecast called for rain I broadcast clover seed through the front yard. We did have a lot of rain - good for the rain barrel! - and I'm seeing tiny clover seedlings pop up. Super excited to have another pollinator plant in the spring, and better coverage of the ground will also look pretty. A crafting afternoon produced some more finished cross-stitch pieces. The card stash was used to send a little joy to a few friends and family members.Crafts-wise I have been knitting away at my shawl and sweater when I have a few moments, here and there.
Monday our library had their last day - bag sale (fill a giant paper bag for $5). I could not resist stopping back in and for my $5 found some very useful reference books - gardening, knitting patterns, a knitting stitch dictionary, sewing easy items, spring cross stitch designs, two cookbooks - some loose cross-stitch patterns, and a heap of cozy mystery and gentle fiction paperbacks, which I love to read a few chapters just before bed. Definitely worth the trip!
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
<3
Kathy
Dear Kathy, With big things going on at work you still did very well! The library is closing down? Your $5 bag of books was incredible. Good investments I say.
DeleteIt is really good about the rain! Rain is like help... less watering to do. Also the results of rain are always better than of watering.
I am looking forward to seeing the shawl and sweater. A crafting afternoon sounds beautiful. I think I need a crafting afternoon! Have a really good new week to you both. With love Annabel.xxx
Dear Annabel,
DeleteI am sorry for not being more clear. Our library is not closing - we are fortunate to have a main library and two smaller branches of the library in our town (in the more rural east and west areas). The Friends of the Library collect book donations (including audiobooks, craft books/leaflets, and dvds) throughout the year and have several small themed sales (Valentine's, Cookbook Sale, Better Books Sale) and then one big sale in the fall every year to raise money for library programs. On the last day of the big sale, you can always fill a large paper bag with books for $5.
<3
Kathy
Yes, I definitely have mulch envy! Cute picture of the pup, also!
ReplyDeleteKathy in VA
Dear Kathy, Thanks. I knew gardeners would get it! I can do so much with this. Zackie is 16 now. She snores a lot. A hard days work and she was snoring away! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteAnnabel I think you must be one of the most creative people I have ever known. Your gift ideas are beautiful and gentle on the budget. I am constantly inspired by what you and other Bluebirds share.
ReplyDeleteI have had a very stressful year. Having covid twice, losing a loved extended family member, family and work stress I am feeling exhausted. I have this next week off work and plan to rest walk, garden,read and look after my mental, emotional and physical self.
Coming and reading your posts here and in The Tuesday group are soothing and encouraging and while I haven't commented as much this year I am always reading, nodding and smiling along.
With many thanks to you and all the Bluebirds.
Mandy(NZ)
Dear Mandy, What a kind thing to say, thank you. I am really sorry you have had such a tough year! sorry for your loss and for being sick. You do sounds exhausted. I hope you can truly rest and restore this week. Sleep and unwind and I hope it helps. Thank you for your lovely words! With much love Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel, Another busy, productive week for you. Thankyou for the reminder of how important it is to think things right through - like your example of gravity fed water and being able to get a bucket under the tap. I have had a busy week too. I watched youtube yesterday to learn how to clean and disinfect feathers. My friend tells me people love to craft with chook feathers - so I went out to the pen and found lots of lovely ones. They are drying by our fire that we had to re light two nights ago as the weather is so topsy turvey here too. I am also working my way through my poppy patch - hanging and drying the pods in lots of 20 or 30s. I have my overlocker on the table - I need to re-thread it and hope to get some dish cloths done today. Love Clare
ReplyDeleteDear Clare, Thank you! I collect feathers for all kinds of uses. I saw recently a lady who is a florist and in all her arrangements she includes a few long pheasant feathers. I loved it. I have red tailed black cockatoo feathers and I saw someone selling these for $50! But many feathers are so pretty and good in crafts. And the poppy pods... they are for sure an item people would buy! They are gorgeous! We just have to keep our eyes out.
DeleteDish cloths will be great! They are your speciality! What a nice week! With love Annabel.xxx
Always enjoy your post Annabel. So informative. I have had my dehydrator running all week. Firstly onions, then basil, oregano and then celery. So good to have them finished and in the pantry. Our summer veggies are coming along nicely. Just about to pick our first zucchini. Some mending an altering things and also just finished knitting my husbands 2nd pair of socks. Other jobs here and there and overall a productive week. We also had some rain so the garden is looking very happy. Have a great week. Blessings Gail.
ReplyDeleteDear Gail, Thank you so much! You gave your dehydrator plenty of work to do! Lots of good things added to your shelves. You are ahead of me with Zucchini but I have tiny ones just forming... and hope they will be successful. Rain is the best help! Your mending, alternating and knitting sound beautiful too. Lets have another very good new week! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteThis gardener knows just how precious those tree mulchings are! What a score indeed.
As always you’ve had a very productive week on the farm. I love seeing the grandkids learning how to use the machinery, such a good skill for them to learn.
Scout looks like me at the moment! I crawled into bed at 7.45pm last night, and slept solidly until 5am! I was so exhausted.
The preparedness I have been doing for the past 2 weeks has involved working outside of the home to earn more income. I usually work 40 hrs a fortnight, but this past fortnight I worked 69 hours 😩 With inflation the way it is and Christmas looming, the best use of my time was to take on some extra shifts to top up the coffers, but boy am I tired. I’m just not used to it! Next fortnight will be easier, I’m taking on extra hours, but only 9 more than my usual.
Have a lovely week Blubirds 🐦🪹 From Cheryl
Dear Cheryl, Yes you would be tired! I hope you're getting a good restful weekend. The extra hours and income will no doubt be very helpful. Well done. It is a good point... that bringing in extra income is preparedness for sure. Sometimes we have to take those opportunities. Even this fortnight an extra nine hours will add a lot to your pay. A good sleep does so much good. I am having a very quiet Sunday and hoping you are as well! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteAnnabel the mulch is like liquid gold for your gardens for sure and glad they left it for you free of charge and it can be used in so many places. Tom is very grown up for his age and willing to learn which is lovely and how precious is the photos of Andy and Tom learning together. The buttons were fantastic and they are so dear to buy so would make lovely gifts and help you with your crafts as well.
ReplyDeletePurchases
Ordered a fair supply of allergy tablets from eBay for a far cheaper price than in the online and local chemists here saving $47.40 on usual prices. With the bush fires around us and me having allergic asthma and DH having asthma too we go through a lot of them.
I upped my supply of white sugar by 2 x 10lt tubs considering the commodity prices have gone through the roof and they are saying we are going to have a shortage due to nowhere near the same being harvested this year around the world due to weather conditions.
In the gardens and home organisation
Raked up dried leaves around the trees down one side of the home and saved them to put in the garden beds when we order soil shortly.
Repotted with fresh potting mix a mandarin tree, divided the pups off an aloe plant to make 4 pots of aloe vera, repotted my strawberries into 3 different pots (two plants ea) as they have started to reshoot after our cold weather here. I saved the old potting soil to fill in divots in the lawns with.
Organised our medical and put everything in date oldest to the front and newest to the back on one shelf and spread other things just thrown in there on a third shelf.
Used our outside broom to get off cobwebs from half the back and one side of the home.
Started filling in divots in our back lawn with black soil we picked up in a pile on the side of the road in a rest area.
- Went through half of my clothing in the storage room and got rid of 5 grocery bags of clothing that no longer fitted me and took them to the op shop.
Hope everyone has a wonderful frugal week ahead.
Lorna.
Dear Lorna, I am very sorry about the bushfires and smoke is really dreadful for even the best of lungs. It has been shocking how many homes have been lost, let alone lives.
DeleteSugar is a good thing to have stored. It keeps and I think of all the jams I make.. it is a preservative. I love it when the Aloe has pups... also any other succulent! Potting them up is great for gifts/trade/selling.
I need an extension cobweb brush. We have some really hight areas outside I cant reach, you have reminded me to figure something out.
Great savings on the medical purchases. I am finding some good sayings on online chemists, some of them are excellent. Have a very good week ahead! With love Annabel.xxx
Congratulations on the mulch, Annabel! Yes, only gardeners would understand. ;)
ReplyDeleteLove how Tom helps Andy. It never ceases to amaze me how capable little ones can be! Your boxes are gorgeous. Well done on the carrots...they look so lovely in jars. Can't wait to see what you do with your button stash. I must pull out my buttons again for my children to craft with. We once made covered buttons together and had a great time.
My week was busy and productive. The kids worked every day (but one) shucking corn. Because I drove so much, I was able to squeeze in a visit and a walk with two separate friends. Saved gas, too, by not returning home and remaining in a town near the cornfields. Picked apples at my mother in law's... nearly 2 bushels!
I was blessed with frozen chicken from my bartering friend. And my husband scored some give away canned goods at the thrift store. Because I have so much in my pantry, I can use some now and save for later. I barely have to buy groceries! With the savings, we are paying down bills. Also I have extra food to bless others. God is good! But I am not slacking, I am still canning pears and drying apples.
Have a blessed week, everyone!
I continue to find such motivation in the side gig post.
Blessings, Leslie in Ohio