Feather your Nest Friday, 13th September, 2024.
It is almost mid September. There have been some sunny Spring days and it's been a week of this and that.
I started off with making another Lemon cake. Mum really loves this. The recipe is coming up in a basics post.
Last Friday I reported that my eggs were chirping in the incubator. It was not long before I saw them hatching.
Listening to eggs as you would hold a seashell up to your ear... sounds crazy but you can hear them chipping away!
They just kept popping out until I had ten. Ten chicks from twelve eggs is really good.
They are super cute and all different colours.
Duck eggs are still in the incubator. I am not too confident on those but they are due this weekend if any do make it.
Then the incubator is vacant and I already have Sussex eggs coming next Friday for a new round of hatching!
AND calf number three arrived today (Friday!) I did not go too close. As I saw one cow far off from the rest I knew. They head off to be alone to calve. And yes there they were under a tree.
This little guy already looks cheeky and naughty to me.
This one is much smaller. I notice one mother does all the babysitting of both of them. (But not the feeding.) They have come to some kind of arrangement it seems.
Or this:
Doris herself is pregnant and pretty podgy although this ins't showing in the photos.
This week I planted the first spring veggies. Quite a few things are already going well in the garden as they went though winter. These are Spinach, Chard, Silverbeet, Celery, Parsley, Chives and Oregano.
This is really good as I am not starting completely just with some things. Over winter I added manure and compost to pots, fresh soil in some... so as I planted I weeded first and collected greens for the chickens. Weeding is so much better when I know the chickens are going to love it.
This was my basket of weeds topped up with some chard and parsley for good measure.
Here are some of the chooks enjoying it....
Back to the planting.... I had a section but mainly tomatoes.
I got them all planted, it was twenty something tomatoes, six capsicum, three zucchini and four cucumbers.
I made a batch of bone broth....
I sat some aside and froze four. They are a thick jelly. Using the bit I saved I made Lily's first pumpkin puree.
Speaking of Lily she is six months old now!
She is a very kissable baby! I have to say her brothers are very loving with her. She loves it all!
I asked what will I cook? Tom was pretty quick to jump in and say "sausages, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots." So that is what I did. Could not be much easier.
Craft time is a rest as well as lovely. We all need a creative outlet I think.
As I still have heaps of nice bottles I made myself some relaxing essential oil bubble bath.
In the evenings I am working on crochet edges around kitchen towels.
I am addicted to them!
I figure a basket with one of these, some Bay Leaves and Parsley, a bottle of Vanilla Essence and some Christmas baking will make a present.
Christmas gifts are going to be useful basics. If ever there was a time to re assess our giving this is it.
It was a week of increase and tidying up... I might even get to some sewing tomorrow. How was your week? Did you manage to get ahead, add to the pantry or garden? We LOVE to hear.
I guess I should go listen to my duck eggs. 😊
xxx
Annabel and Dear Bluebirds,
ReplyDeleteAnnabel what a lovely week you have had and so productive. Seeing all the new life on the farm alone is beautiful, prayers your ducks hatch. Your garden is growing with all your additions to it and what has wintered over is doing well. I love your dish towels!
We traveled this week for husband's job, I was able to take the car while he worked. I had great plans to go to thrift stores near by. Unfortunately I found out both closed for good. So then I though I would go to one of the grocery stores, looked at their ad and it wasn't worth the drive. I ended up at Michael's craft store and purchased a small skein of cotton yarn with the 20% coupon they offered. At least I brought my gallon ziploc bag full of yarn scraps and sat in hotel and crocheted scubbies.
The remainder of the week was laundry, picking up house, mostly just dusting and vacuuming and watering houseplants.
I had milk left over so I made some chocolate pudding, from scratch, didn't want the milk to go to waste.
My next project is de-cantering my elderberry elixir for the winter here.
Prayers for all bluebirds and their families.
Dear Rosanne, It is not good when thrift stores close down! It was great though that you took yarn to work on in the motel room.
DeleteI thought the puddings looked delicious! Also the Elderberry looks just fantastic, well done! How valuable to have that! With much love Annabel.xxx
Sausages mashed potato peas and carrots….haha the exact same meal our grandchildren like to have when they sleep over. And they love it so much. Sharlene.
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing Sharlene! So easy to make this up. The girls favourite is Butter chicken so I also make that every time. They never seem to get sick of it! xxx
DeleteIt's always such a pleasure to read your posts. I love seeing all the things you do and make. I really need to learn how to crochet edges. It looks so pretty.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was looking at your pictures, I couldn't help but think about the little miracle inside of each egg and how God created them to instinctively know to peck their way out! They're such cuties! With the price of eggs now, your hens are more like a Golden Goose.
Great start on your spring garden. I hope it feeds you well!
Dear Debby, Thank you so much! I have a full tutorial on how to do crochet edges... if you look up The Bluebirds are Nesting Blog - Crochet edges you will find it. It is really easy and so much fun. And it makes something ordinary fancier! Yes having eggs is really valuable now. It took a while to build my hen numbers back up but now I am going to work at keeping them up and try to give Chloe a few more too. Thank you so much. Love Annabel.xxx
DeleteCongratulations, Annabel. So many new babies at your place! And I am so inspired by your lovely towels. And the bubble bath look so pretty.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the reminders that Christmas is quickly approaching.
I have been canning grape jelly and applesauce every afternoon this week. I like it that I am adding to the pantry and the gift pantry.
A friend gifted me with a massage and some grass-fed beef! My bartering friend gave me some freezer-burned steaks. No problem, I can rinse them then cook them with a spice rub. And last night I received some unwanted clothes from a friend. These are mostly for my younger teens. What a blessing!
Loved the photo of Lily. Such a happy baby.
Blessings to all Bluebirds,
Leslie in Ohio
Dear Leslie, A lot of good things came your way! I am always washing up clothes and sorting them into sizes, ready for use. The beef was great and very nice to be gifted a massage.
DeleteWell done on your applesauce and grape jelly. Adding to your shelves is so good. That was a very happy week! With love Annabel.xxx
Dear Annabel, first of all, Happy anniversary to Beautiful Lily - she truly is kissable with her smiling little face! and welcome to the baby calves and baby chicks, they are very very cute!
ReplyDeleteYou are right about crochet addicted, your work looks gorgeous. In fact, the white hen with the golden chicks look exactlu how my favourite chicekn, Pinky, looked with her babies somewhere in June. Now, they are equally big and I have to look twice when closing in the evening, to count all of them. I now have 12 + 2 ducks.
And today is a week since we are having a little puppy which will grow big and a proper home guardian. It looks like my Athos when he was little, and now I will miss him a bit less. Rocky, the new pup, is friendly, playfull and very curious. Will be a good friend to my other dog, Charlie.
I haven*t written last week, some days were bad - combined woman*s problems, hemoragy, ER, a stomach virus, fever - doctors appointment - I am well now, but still have to go through treatment and after that a MRI. But I reaaly feel good now.
I did some painting while in bed rest for a friend*s daughter (post on insta) and on good days I managed to do:
- a batch of eggplants/aubergine zacuska in jars and stored in the basement;
- fire roasted red peppers for the freezer;
- pickled hot peppers and onions in white vinegar and sugar, in jars down in the basement;
- pickled cucumbers for the winter months, kept down in the basement;
- pickled 10 kg/20 pounds of donut peppers;
- made another batch of apple cider vinegar.
The rest was the same - some cleaning, some cooking, some working at the office, some knitting for me, a red warm cardigan. Somehow, I prepare for the next season, as the leaves, the lights, the harvest and the animals anounce the Golden Atumn is arriving.
PS - My son have chosen to go to Medical Nurse School. A three year period with a good career after that.
About economy, politics and war on an other comment - today is too beautiful to write about th Russian president threatening Nato countries with war and nuclear weapons.
Wishing everybody a lovely weekend, I could hug each and every one of you from far away, Laura_s_world from Romania
So sorry you have been ill Laura - but my goodness, you have still accomplished so much!
DeleteI saw on the news this morning about a lot of flooding in eastern Romania - I hope that this issue isn't affecting you! Take care.
Thank you, Margie. We have terrible flooding, with tragical deaths, in the Eastern parts of the country. Up in the north was just heavy rain and we are all right. Thank you for checking on me. Sending love from far away
DeleteDear Laura, I am also so sorry you have been unwell. That doesnt sound good. I hope you are doing much better.
DeleteI went to instagram... I love your painting it is beautiful! A very nice gift.
Counting the chickens... this is also my life... count and check. Twelve is a very good number.
Also I heard about flooding in Romania. I hope not in your area but it sounded terrible.
The puppy... I know the puppy will bring you joy! I hope also he will grow to be a guardian and protector.
What a wonderful career your son has chosen! You must be very proud! I know he will be very successful!
You added so much to your pantry/basement. What an asset it is to have a basement. Despite being not well you added so many good things! Well done! With much love Annabel.xxx
Oh Annabel you make me laugh! I don’t know anyone else who would arrange a lovely basket of weeds!! 🤣🤣🤣.
ReplyDeleteHaha thanks Vicky. I go one way with a basket of weeds and come back the other way with a basket of eggs! It is very nice!xxx
DeleteWhat a lovely ad productive week, Annabel. Love the calves and cards. Hubby and son are leaving tomorrow to visit with his mom and sister and BIL. I'm staying home so I can do the tomato canning. This is a nice time for my guys to visit with Grandma, and I like a week of alone time, too. :) Have a good weekend!
ReplyDeleteDear Jill, I hope you are enjoying canning and working away on your own. You can get a lot done with no interruptions! I hope your husband and son have a great trip too! With much love Annabel.xxx
DeleteWhat a lovely and productive week you had - and I look forward to the lemon cake recipe as that is one of my favourites and I'm always looking for some variations.
ReplyDeleteHad a friend over for coffee on Wed. instead of going out and we had a good catch up. This meant that I had a some incentive to get my apt. tidied up! Last weekend had been extremely busy out of the house and the weekend before I had been sick so things were more than a bit dusty and messy! It is good to have a nice clean home again.
I have continued to get things into jars for long term storage. There is a good price on sugar this week so I put 3 half gallon jars away in my baking cupboard last night. There is also a good sale on cans of baked beans (which have sky rocketed in price) so I bought 4 cans yesterday and plan on getting another dozen tomorrow - added to what I have I should then be set for the Winter.
I did office work from home this morning but this afternoon I plan on making a chicken curry and a cottage pie using a can of corned beef and some canned veg that need using up. I'm also caramelizing some onions at the moment and will freeze some peppers as well. Every little bit adds up.
Have a wonderful week everyone.
Dear Margie, There is nothing like visitors to make us spring into action and tidy up! It has a good effect on me!
DeleteWell done on all the stocking up. It is so good to get ahead this way.
Getting to make the curry and pie and onions etc is lovely and sounds delicious. Yes everything soon adds up! You did well! With love Annabel.xxx
Oh that apple pie T-Towel!!! 😍 😍 I think your Christmas hampers are wonderful! So much homemade, practical goodness!
ReplyDeleteThe baby chicks are so cute. I like how you are thinking ahead and have more eggs on order. Planning ahead is a weak character trait of mine and something I’m trying to get better at. Time will tell.
This week husband and I had a rare weekend away in Sydney for our 28th wedding anniversary. We had a great time, but it was not one bit frugal! 😁
I had Tuesday and Wednesday to madly wash clothes, clean and prepare meals before being back at work on Thursday and Friday. But I did manage to get ahead a little. Strawberries were very cheap and I came home with a box of them. Most were simply washed and frozen, but I experimented with processing some in the Fowler Vacola unit…they are a work in progress…
Onions were really cheap too I bought a huge bag and todays job is to chop and freeze the lot!
Mulberries are coming in by the huge bowlful. They are washed, stems removed and frozen until I can find time to make jam.
I have ordered some vanilla beans!! Ha ha! These won’t be for gifts I don’t think, as I just used the last of my vanilla this week and it needs replacing.
I’m ready to tackle the week ahead, there’s so much to do!
Love from Cheryl 🪺
Thank you Cheryl, The key to panning ahead is having lists and a planner and having time to think. Most things (but not all) we know are coming. Just jot down notes as you think of them.
DeleteWell done on grabbing the onions and strawberries at such good prices!
I hope you are very pleased with the vanilla. It is such a luxury and the whole house smells good when you open them! Have a good week! With love Annabel.xxx
Your posts are always so lovely Annabel - thank you so much for all that you share with us out here. Love it all xx
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Julie for such a kind comment.xxx
DeleteAnnabel your baby chickens and calves are just adorable and how wonderful you can hear the chicks chirping in their shells. The crocheted tea towels are wonderful are all the meals you prepared for yourself and the family too. Lily is just so adorable and happy. You have done so much preparation for your gardens planting out all those seedlings.
ReplyDeleteThis week I caught up on buying staples for the pantry as we were away from home so much my inventorying was almost non existent. I topped up on lots of powdered milk, plain and wholemeal flour for bread making and sugar with a $10 off promo so our stocks are back to normal again.
We are starting an exciting new garden project and are renovating our garden beds so we have all 90cm high above ground garden beds to stop us having to bend and having back pain. I had been saving our gardening budget to do so and have now purchased all the garden beds and we will repurpose the ones we had to make higher garden beds stacked on top of each other. The last couple of days we have been leveling the areas for the garden beds to go. Once that is done we will lay down some weed mat and put the garden beds in place and order the soil. It is still a little cool to plant here yet so it is a good time to start the garden bed prep.
In the home DH and I have continued with cleaning the walls and ceilings in the home and have now done the bedroom ceiling so that room is done. Only got the ceiling in the walk in pantry room to clean and tops of walls and half the rumpus room and ceiling and the job is done. Amazing how clean the walls and ceilings comes up that you don't notice when you are busy. We also finished lining the last 3 kitchen cupboards with the pots and pans etc in them and cleaned them out.
Have a wonderful week ahead everyone.
Lorna.
Dear Lorna,
DeleteThank you so much! You have reminded me to look at powdered milk. This is such a good thing to have. I can use powdered milk in all cooking and no one would ever notice. I always added a spoon of powdered milk into my bread mix as yeast likes protein so much.
90cm is a great height for the gardens! So good to work in!
I really need to line my pots and pans cupboard! mmm I think this will go onto my spring cleaning list. Lined cupboards and shelves look BEAUTIFUl and fresh.
Our weather reverted to winter... but I will follow your lead with Spring cleaning! With much love Annabel.xxx
Dearest Annabel, Lily is just a ray of sunshine !! Well done on all your work ! I love the t towels and want to learn how to crochet. I wish I had someone to teach me ! Bone broth does your body wonders ! Not even when you're sick !!
ReplyDeleteVery tragically a Aboriginal brother and sister here very young in their 20s and 30s committed suicide. The church did a vigil last Saturday night. There's going to be over 1,000 people at the funeral. I didn't know these people but we are a close.community. I have told the elders and their daughter I will help volunteer my time with catering for the wake. I think I will just cook some cakes. A very sad time for all here. I hope this post doesn't upset anyone. Prayers for all bluebirds. Love Sonia. In Sydney, NSW, Australia
It is very sad when people so young don't see the light, joy and beauty anymore and choose ending. But feelings can be very deep so I never judge somebody's actions. Sending prayers for the family and your community - it is very nice that you are helping for the wake. Love, Laura
DeleteDear Sonia, That is just terrible and tragic. Bless you for helping in this time. Also I am so glad you are part of a close community. Thank you for your kind comment! With much love Annabel.xxx
DeleteHi Annabel
ReplyDeleteLily looks gorgeous and her smocked dress is beautiful. In fact everything is beautiful this week, the calves, the Beatrix Potter cards, the edged teatowels etc. I'm so glad to see it all.
This week I sewed a button back on a handbag, put several more bags of tomatoes in the freezer, baked raspberry crumble bars to take to my sewing group and picked lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, beetroot, mint and runner beans from the garden. I batch cooked the beetroot and made a big pan of soup and salads with it. My husband bought home more tomatoes from a client and another kind client gave him a lime from her greenhouse lime tree for my gin and tonic. He didn't have the heart to tell her I rarely drink. I will squeeze it into my water glass.
It has been quite a spendy week but all in a good cause and necessary. I found a nursing vest top for my daughter and some maternity leggings in Lidl at a very good price. We needed a new super king size fitted sheet for our bed and because our mattress is deep it isn't easy to find the right dimensions. I found one this week with a few pounds off so snapped it up.
I bought two birthday presents and two Christmas presents this week in our local bookshop, buy one ,get one half price. I also had a great buy in the charity bookshop, a like new copy of a collection of British Library Crime Classics ' Murder for Bibliophiles'. The crimes are never gory or shocking, think Miss Marple.
I stocked up this week on coconut milk for the larder and shampoo and conditioner.
Hope all Bluebirds have a good week.
Penny in the UK
Dear Penny, You had a very big week! So much goodness from your garden and the extra tomatoes and even a lime! The crumble you made sounds so good! Great finds on the top and leggings for your daughter and the right sized sheets. Fitted sheets are kind of a battle. I buy a size up because it becomes so hard to get them to fit and stay in place.
DeleteI hope this week is going equally well! With love Annabel.xxx
Hope you are ok in Romania Laura. Just saw about the flash floods that have made Australian news. Stay safe.
ReplyDeleteS.O.S. I have just caught my chickens sharing and fighting over a raw egg and when checked, the nest box had eggwhite between the hay. It was a matter of minutes - the hen was in a nesting box, I went to check the garden and came back, maybe 10 minutes all. I need advice, as ussually I will come to the hens after 5 o'clock, when I got home from work. The last two weeks egg production was very low but I thought it was the extreme heat wave and molting to blame. I am upset, the food for them was so good and rich everyday. And the problem is Idon't know who started but they all were enjoying, so what will I do with them? Especially as the 7 young ones are about to start laying ....Thank you all.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura, I have had the same issue now and then. But I think it is more of the egg breaking because of the occasional thin shell than a chicken breaking it on purpose. And all the chickens love to get in on a free egg treat, even with a bit of squawking in the mix. That's just a suggestion. Good luck! Judy in Maine USA
DeleteIn my experience they need extra calcium when they start doing that. Their eggshells get thin and they love the eggs. In the US you can buy forms of crushed (not powdered) calcium supplements specifically for laying hens. You can also just crush their eggshells and feed them back to them. Offer it separately from their other feed so they can eat what they need. Many people use fake eggs in the boxes (wooden, ceramic, golf balls) that they can’t peck to discourage hens from eating the eggs. We have never needed to to that as long as they have enough calcium. But as hens get older sometimes their shells are naturally more fragile and they can even break when they are laid.
DeleteLaura I hope it was just that an egg got cracked and they ate it, rather than now they deliberately break them... so just wait it out and see if it becomes a regular thing... it might not. I hope not!xxx
DeleteWe have had a very full and busy week, as well as weekend. I am weary but blessed. On Monday evening, my four year old grandson came to stay with us while his baby brother was having his 'borning day' as Caleb said. We added Henry to the family on Tuesday. We took Caleb to meet him and see Mommy on Tuesday evening then we had him two more nights and days. On Thursday evening he was delighted to go home.
ReplyDeleteWe worked hard on Friday catching up on housework and resting as much as we could. I also took one of my older grandsons out to lunch to make up for missing out on Grandparents' Day at his school. We had schedules that conflicted with other children.
Yesterday we picked up our granddaughter at a meeting point about halfway between her house and ours. We took her to meet the new baby brother and she stayed the night with her mom. We picked her up today and took her back to her dad at the half-way meeting point. All in all, we've traveled a LOT this week and especially this weekend.
This morning we decided to stay home and watch the Live stream of our church service. Before it got started, I managed to get the house cleaned up, put some leftovers into the freezer as a 'makeover' meal, set vegetables in a brine preparing to pickle them tomorrow and sorted out the refrigerator so I know just what we have on hand and what should be used this week.
When we left to go get Taylor this afternoon we stopped by a grocery that was on our route and picked up a bulk purchase of cheese that was on a very good sale. I typically buy the limit which will last us about the same amount of time it takes for this particular sale to come around once more. Last week I bought milk in bulk while it was on sale and made yogurt and Granola.
Glad I made the yogurt as the 4-year-old really liked that and 'ordered' it every morning for his breakfast. Each morning, he had breakfast when he got up and about an hour later would ask for 'next breakfast' and he'd eat another whole meal. He is not overweight nor greedy, but those morning meals are what sustains him the rest of the day, lol. Baby brother is already downing 2-ounce bottles of formula every four hours, so it must run in the family!
Terri @ Blue House Journal
Congratulations Terri! How wonderful! That makes a big week already! You did have a lot of travel! Watching a live stream of Church is a good back up for when you just cant manage to get there. I do this too although I have to use other bigger churches as our little church doesnt have it. But I find it quite amazingly uplifting. This is a really good thing... I have watched church from all over the world!
DeleteYour homemade yoghurt is a hit it seems, so healthy and good. I am glad the new baby sounds like he is going well! With much love Annabel.xxx