Feather your Nest Friday, 21st March, 2025.
It is good to sit down and look over the week. We are flying through March and I feel I've flown through the week also.
Yesterday we had rain! Actual, wet the ground, rain. It was the first time in ages. Everyone was excited especially all the cockatoos! So this was great and now we have to hope and pray some more comes.
It was Chloe's birthday. Mum made her a cake and we had lunch at the farm.
Now that the weather is beautiful I planted a lot of seeds. The troughs are full! I just hope they come up.
These are full of peas and beans. This is what I can grow through Autumn. I knew I needed a trellis and support system and remembered I had a temporary fence that might work.
I am so happy with this! Progress is progress!
The second pear tree was ready!
They are beautiful! Basket after basket... my helpers agreed I had 62 kilos. (136 lbs.) That is a bit less than the last pears but still incredible!
The first pears are now ripening so I am going flat out using them. This week I made pear puree and juiced a lot. I watched Lily drink a cup of pear juice and want more very happily. Next week I will juice many more.
This photo shows pear puree... (it's so nice) plus the first trees pears compared to the second, the huge ones. A big size difference! The smaller pears I would say are average supermarket sized... and very sweet. These that were just picked are giants!
It will probably we ten days or so before they ripen.
I made up seed packets as little gifts...
Seeds are such a good gift for our gardening friends. They are expensive too! They fit in a card and envelope in the mail which is so handy!
Each day I did a little sewing. Finally I am using my stash of beautiful velvets. I made four cushions, so far.
I have some more cut out. I love them! I am just going to go until I run out of supplies! The rose velvet... I cut out carefully to feature the flowers. I was left with several strips that are still very pretty but not big enough for more cushions. They feel lovely as the velvet is thick and plush. I decided to make two large heat packs with them. One for myself and one for the gift cupboard. (At the moment they are sewn but not filled.) It is so exciting to turn supplies into gifts and things for the home!
Hopefully next week I can report some of my seeds are up. Today I bought some broccoli seedlings to fill another container planter. Maybe two. These will need to be covered as we get white butterflies attack them. I have covers ready. Then I will only have a few containers left to plant. Yay!
I also sewed a pillowcase for Mum... I got her a long pillow to use as a sit up and read in bed support. After making mine I love it so much I thought she needed one too.
The dogs needed more bedding and I filled a weighted blanket cover (that I didn't need anymore) with old towels and woollen items. When I zipped it up I had a new thick and soft dog bed.
Being cooler I walk to the hen house with the scraps... and on the way back I take little detours to fill my egg basket with pinecones. (Gently, on top of eggs!) Gradually I am filling baskets and they look just beautiful. Later most of them will be fire starters.
I was given bags of shredded paper. These will fill up all the nesting boxes with nice clean bedding. Nice clean bedding = clean eggs.
Today I had thrift store finds including a bedside lamp for the cabin. I ran out of day and these things are still in my car to be unpacked tomorrow. I have probably forgotten things I have!
Tomorrow my goal is to have a quiet day. On Sunday I have two young men coming to clean out the gutters on the houses. Each house collects (hopefully) every drop of rain water. But the gutters need to be cleaned so all the water flowers into the tanks. Water is not wasted. My idea of success is having all the rain water tanks full of water. So this will be fantastic. All we need then is the rain!
I hope you had a good week. How did you build up your nest? Keep plugging away at your pantry, you're preserving and gardening.
Let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up! (Galatians 6 9-10)xxx
You had a very productive and lovely week, Annabel. I absolutely love the pillow cushions that you made. The velvet is gorgeous. You always do such beautiful work.
ReplyDeleteI managed to get one room a bit more organized this week, in between doctor's appointments and illness.
It seems like the powers that be are literally spraying viruses into the air. Chem trails are real; it took me awhile to pay attention to them, myself, other than hearing about them. I saw more of them this past Monday. So much illness in this area.
Your pears are so nice. I think it would be a real blessing to have a wide variety of fruit that grew in one area. Our winters are far too cold for many fruit trees to grow here. We do have plums, elderberries, apples, currants and aronia berries. They can withstand the below zero winter temps and short growing season.
We had the longest internet outage that we have ever had this week. Apparently, several cables were cut. We do have quite a lot of building going on here, but there was no report as to the why.
Your mum's cake for Chloe was so pretty. All the women, in your family, are blessed with talent and creativity, it seems. That is a true gift.
With love,
Glenda
Dear Glenda, I am sorry you havent been well. I believe about the chemtrails. Something is up and it's not natural.
DeleteHaving fruit trees that are 20 to 30 years old and more is beautiful. My Nana had an orchard that was 100 years old. A big walnut tree we would climb was so beautiful. I hope the trees I have planted become big trees like these.
I would enjoy having the berries you have though! That would be beautiful. I am glad you have the Internet back! Thank you re the cake. It was so delicious too. Have a very good new week! With love Annabel.xxx
Hello Annabel. Just wanted you to know that I look forward to Fridays because of your posts. Thank you so much for inspiring and sharing! You are so talented! Sue in NC, USA
ReplyDeleteDear Sue, Thank you! What a nice thing to say! Have a lovely week! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteWhat a productive week getting the pears off trees. They look huge. I think this coming summer I’ll make pear sauce. I usually can chunks but the sauce is a different texture and would be good to add to my baked oatmeal.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been working on a scrappy quilt made by cutting 2.5 inches so it’ll take me a while to do. I enjoy sewing and have binding to put on 3 quilts. So, when I get binding on I’ll post pictures.
I’m going to try a small garden this year in containers because my yard is pretty small I’ll do it in containers.
Thank you Annabel for this blog. Sometimes I need a little encouragement to try different ways of preserving foods, reading what others are doing in their gardens, what they’re sewing and what they find in op shops. Have a great week week bluebirds. Phyllis from Oregon
Dear Phyllis, I would love to see your quilts and look forward to that! You can grow so much in large pots or containers. It is surprising! And so easy! You will love it! Also gardening is so good for us, I even sleep better if Ive been gardening!
DeleteHave a lovely new week! With love Annabel.xxx
How wonderful that you got rain - and hopefully more on the way! We are now in Spring up here in the Great White North and we have had some lovely mild and sunny days - but - knowing how quickly our weather can turn I am not putting away my boots or parka just yet! We are a bit notorious for freaky April snowstorms and there just may be one headed our way from out west so every day is a decision - Spring Coat or Winter parka!
ReplyDeleteThose cushions are gorgeous! I was just taking a look at my place this morning and I plan on a few purchases and a bit of a change up for my living room over the next couple of months - and I think that I should be able to do it all for well under $500. I will wait until I have all the cash in hand so that gives me time to measure up a couple of things and to move a few things around. I don't get to do this very often so I will try to enjoy the process.
I went through my small freezer this week and inventoried my meat and fish - it's just me so there is plenty - but - I did manage to find some organic hamburger patties and some lovely turkey burgers on sale so they have been added to the freezer. I also filled in a few small gaps in my non-food pantry so I am pleased with that. I opened a new litre bottle of olive oil this morning and discovered that I only have one more bottle in reserve so I will be adding another next week. I have avocado and sunflower oil - like to keep different options - so not desperate but do like to keep supplies up while things are available. We are anticipating a lot of price increases due to tariffs so I will have to be very careful with my shopping.
Those pears look amazing! I managed to find two cans of pears this week - for some reason they seem to have disappeared from store shelves lately so I will keep my eyes open for more and also enjoy some fresh ones - at the moment both canned and fresh seem to come from South Africa. Occasionally I can find pear jam or "butter" but it is rare.
All the best for the upcoming week.
Dear Margie,
DeleteI like to keep ahead on olive oil too and it is really expensive now.. so if it's on sale I grab some. Making your living room over is a lovely project. Sometimes a re arrange and some changes make a world of difference and feel so good. Now and then we just need to. I think it affects our comfort and happiness to have things looking nice. We also have had funny things with tinned fruit... I have to shop around stores to find tinned apricots or plums. Well done on adding the the freezer and the non food pantry too. Each week these things add up! With love Annabel.xxx
I’m putting todays scripture on my fridge. It’s getting easier and easier to give in to weariness lately. Thank you so much. Again. Mel
ReplyDeleteDear Mel, I am glad that spoke to you. Mel is there anything I can do for you? You can email me at brinkzi21@hotmail.com and I would be pleased if you would. With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteThose cushions are very glamorous. I like the words from Galatians. So true.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Tracy! We all do get weary sometimes. But we dont give up! xxx
DeleteYour photos show what a good week you had, Chloe's lovely cake, fresh flowers are such a nice decoration for cake. Your velvet cushions are so pretty and the seed packets make great presents. We've been on holiday this week and came home with some plants we found at a really good price and some ideas for our home which we saw in our holiday cottage. I bought a book in a charity shop, an old homemaking and cooking manual which has some interesting advice and economical tips but also makes me realise how lucky we are with our modern conveniences. I caught the tail end of a radio programme about food security and how Eastern European countries are taking it seriously and the UK needs to wake up and I thought Annabel and Bluebirds are on it already!
ReplyDeletePenny in the UK
Dear Penny,
DeleteThank you! The homemaking manual sounds like I would love it. I know the UK in the war years had to have a big champaign to get everyone gardening and producing because without the shipping people would have really suffered.... and here we are again... if shipping was cut off there would not be much food security. History repeats! You cant do much to wake people up other than your own family and household. From experience we know in an iris the supplies in the stores last about five minutes! We must have at home the things we need to get us through... and hopefully be growing and producing at least some things. There was a series... on you tube... War time farm? Something like that. About the war years in England and the way everyone had to help by growing what they could, preserving, making soap, jam etc. It was really good.
I hope you have a lovely new week! With love Annabel.xxx
Very nice pictures each week! Heart-warming!! God bless you, Annabel. 🌷Esther
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Esther!xxx
DeleteHello Annabelle, I am so happy that you will get cooler weather and be out of the stress of fire danger. The cake is gorgeous and the pears are beautiful. If you have more than you can use, I am sure that local food banks or church food pantry's would be grateful to have some pears. You can also slice and dehydrate them with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar or nutmeg for a healthy snack (or gift) served with a jar of caramel or chocolate sauce.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to ask if you ever finished your "shop" cabinet room? I am excited to see the photos.
Blessings, Elaine
Dear Elaine,
DeleteThanks for reminding me... I need to post some updates on my "shop" as I have added a lot to it and now I am stocking it, week by week as I can. I will get to that!
I give away a lot of pears and then the swaps tables too. None will be wasted that is for sure. Pears are nice and chewy dehydrated which I think are delicious. I will be working on a lot this week. The kids all loved the juice.
Have a great new week! With love Annabel.xxx
Happy birthday to Chloe! I love that you over-catered so she wouldn’t have to cook, that’s actually my goal when I have kids parties!! It’s a success if there’s enough leftover food to call it dinner as well lol.
ReplyDeleteYour cushions look fabulous - they remind me of something Mimi would make! And what luxurious heat packs they will be.
We moved into our new house and are surrounded by boxes. It is so nice to unpack and start to feel more settled.
I have picked up some casual days of work over the last couple of weeks and that money will help build up our savings again which have taken a bit of a hit with the move.
I hope you had a restful Saturday and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
Jen (NZ)
Lovely cake! I can see that all the women in your family are good at cake making. 😊
ReplyDeleteYour cushions are gorgeous and look equally soft. Congratulations on your pears. I can see you worked hard at watering and mulching them. 🍐
My week was busy with Spring chores. Picked up mulch for flower beds, raking, prepped potatoes to plant, starting seeds indoors, and incubating eggs. I crocheted a wash cloth for a gift. Also we celebrated 3 birthdays! Whew!
Today we are celebrating my youngest daughter's birthday. She asked for an Alice in Wonderland tea party. Also all guests were to dress up! We had: 2 red queens, a knave, the carpenter with his walrus, the white rabbit, the March Hare (me), the Mad Hatter, Alice (the birthday girl), and even cat Dinah made an appearance. It was fantastic!
Love, Leslie in Ohio
The Alice party sounds gorgeous Leslie. Happy days.
DeletePenny in the UK
I am finally feeling better. The flu I had in late February really knocked it out of me, but this week, I not only had ambitions, I had energy to match them. It is Spring here so I have been outdoors, in all the pollen, cleaning up pots and seeing what is growing and coming back. Oregano, chives, sage held on through the cold winter. I found a single sprig of mint today from the big pot I had last year. I think I'm going to have to move that one yet again. Today I thought to check on the fig tree that I bought last year, and it has new leaves upon it and fat buds on the branches that haven't yet leafed out! I'm so thrilled. I plan to move it into a much bigger pot and see if I can keep it going this year.
ReplyDeleteIn an effort to see better lab work next doctor's visit, I have been following a new plan of eating, and I think I might actually be losing some weight. I definitely am seeing better glucometer readings so that is a big bonus.
Last week I roasted a big chicken and then boiled the frame for stock. I bought a bunch of celery a couple of weeks ago and cut away all the leaves. I always look out for leafy bunches because I love to dry the leaves to toss into things like soups or potato salad and such. They never have the bitterness of the celery seed or that celery itself can sometimes have. I made bread and today I made pizza. I made a big pot of soup from a portion of roast that was too small to feed too, but with broth and beans and zucchini and carrots and such made a big pot of lovely soup. That fed my family who came by unexpectedly and I had 2 quarts to put into the freezer.
I am slowly switching things up indoors for Spring, moving from dark moody colors to lighter and brighter ones that suit the sunny seasons ahead.
Probably the thing I've done that has saved us the most is that I haven't been in the grocery store at all since we went to Aldi a couple of weeks ago. I have nearly all of my monthly budget left and I'm thinking I might just wait until next month to go to the store again. It does mean I'm missing out on clearance items and such but also on loads of impulse items.
The fun thing has been gathering moss from my own yard to build a fairy garden with my 5-year-old granddaughter. I spent $5 at the dollar store on figurines and today I recycled a plastic container with a deep lid to make a 'pool' and a fairy house for our garden. I thought we might glue on some twigs to make a roof and perhaps cover the sides with more twigs all of which we can find salvage from what I've picked up in the yard. I can't wait to see what else we can add for free.