Feather your Nest Friday, 6th October, 2023.

It has been a big week!  I am so glad to sit down and look at my list and photos. 

Most of my week revolved around having my Granddaughters here.  I always plan ahead so we have some new crafts and things to do.   We also went and visited Mum (Great Grandma or Nana Pat) and that was a great fun day.  Mum had pressed flowers for the girls to make cards.   We came home with a bucket of flowers which I tried in the freeze drier.

I knew the Lavender would dry but was not too sure about the Daisy or Bottle Brush.   They all turned out really well!

I am thinking of all the edible flowers that could be used on cakes!  So many possibilities!  (The above photo is the freeze dried result,  so after not before!)

The craft projects revolved mostly around Christmas.   We made crystal Christmas decorations for the girls teachers.  I had saved the crystals from broken chandeliers.   The first job was to wash and shine them all up which was all done on the outdoor table.   Then each had a ribbon,  tissue paper in a little box and card.

Another project was key rings.   We used silicone beads (which feel so lovely) and they were easy and looked great.

They were really proud of the results.   I gave them each a lovely big box for everything that needed hiding until Christmas.   As they added to their boxes they were so excited!

Another gift we made were bookmarks...  a laminator gives us a lot of possibilities! 

We wrapped soaps and added some sparkles to make them festive. 

On Tuesday afternoon we went to see Aunty Chloe and the boys.   Tuesday morning we spent the whole morning making different coloured play dough.  I made eight double batches!   Each needed kneading until smooth and a fair bit of glitter was added!   I had a couple of containers I saved from toys and we used those as packaging.  We made a set of colours for Tom and Chase and a set to take home to Sidney.

They absolutely loved this!   And the boys all loved it too! 

At Chloe's the boys have little tractors.  We went walking/riding depending on your age.  Tom is in charge of gates.  No one else is allowed to open and shut gates apparently.  😊

Fresh air and sunshine,  animals, making things... helping with the work in the garden...  We never have the TV on when the kids are here and they never once have asked for it. 

The swing Andy made was a big hit.  They played on that so much plus generally running around and playing with the dogs who love them!

In between all of this... I took eggs to the swap table and got Dahlia bulbs and a Geranium cutting... both pink!   To plant the Dahlias I had to do a quick google as I have never grown them before despite loving them.  

We had rain which was a big help.

Some of my Capsicums were big enough to plant into my garden beds.   More Zucchinis were planted out in the orchard.  

After taking the girls home I've had a couple of big sleeps and a clean up!  THEN I got everything out of the present cupboard!   This was so exciting!   As always I had forgotten things I had made earlier in the year.   Now I am working out all I have,  what I still need and begin some of the parcels that will be posted.   For The Tuesday Afternoon Club members this is when all our hard work pays off! 

So it was a happy week full of goodness.  You can't ask for more than that.   I hope you had a good week with lots of ways of building up your family, home, pantry and garden.xxx

You can find The Tuesday Afternoon Club here.   

The Play Dough recipe I used was:

1 cup of flour, 2 tsp cream of Tartar, 1/2 cup of salt, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1 cup of water, stir all together, add food colour... cook on a medium heat in a saucepan.  Stir constantly, it comes together and forms a ball.  It takes about 5 minutes.   Once it is a soft ball of dough turn it out into a bowl to cool.  When it is cool enough knead it until lovely and smooth.  I doubled this amount each time.   Save little buckets or containers with lids and you have a very inexpensive but great gift!  xxx