Feather your Nest Friday, 11th July, 2025.
It has been a massive week! It has rained and rained! I think my rainwater tanks are full or close to it. This is amazing!
I managed to go to five op shops (thrift stores) in one week! And just wow!
I found sweet little motifs for things I make for Lily....
Lovely sets of buttons, eyes... I have tins for all these kinds of items. I also stocked up on cotton thread at my 50c a reel favourite price!
This thread was given to me and just lovely. The cotton fabrics were also a gift. Gorgeous!
Back to the op shop... a curtain with a divine ruffle.... the cotton is beautiful and it's fully lined. I have not measured this yet but it is huge. It is a weekend job to wash it. I THINK it will actually become a curtain in the girls room. It is just so pretty. I said $20 for this but for the fabric alone it would be hundreds probably. I want to identify it and find that out just for fun!
I think it's very French!
Also I found this beautiful large crystal jug, suitable for a vase.
I had been using marketplace as an alternative op shop. I ordered this bundle of fabric from a lady at pretty much op shop prices. When it arrived I was in love. It is all the best quality cottons. Happy happy! Such a deal, I wrote back and said thank you so much!
And a friend posted me a bundle of fabrics... I nearly feel over when I opened it! This is just some of the parcel! Heavenly!!
So I was very blessed, beyond measure!
I completed this quilt block... and have only a little bit to go on another. I need to catch up and get a photo of this sewn up. But I like it. And I was able to use up a couple of odd bits up in this design.
I made an apricot slice, this is before the icing went on.
My cook ups were... a big beef casserole full of onion, capsicums and mushroom. The meat was so soft. It made me happy hearing Lily scoffed so much of it. I got two dinners....
Annnndddd..... chicken kebabs on rice with veggies... I also got two meals and fed Chloe's family.
On another subject... this is my compost heap. It is heading in the right direction for spring. There are many trailer loads there.
Today Chase turned three! Chloe threw a beautiful party and it was so happy. 🎂
Chase was very excited and ate a ridiculous amount of party food haha!
As usual Chloe made a fabulous cake!
So big number 3!
Lily wore the dress I made her and stuck with Nana Pat for lots of the time. 💗
At the swap tables I got tiny lemons (but they are really juicy) and mandarines.
In the store I got less than half price laundry products on clearance.
I added some gifts to my present cupboard. I'm losing track of what is in there but it's looking very full!
Sometimes you just see the perfect gift for someone... this happened so in they went. Later... I will be so glad!
Now I have some things I feel excited about. I have a new post called "Looking in all the wrong places." Also we have a challenge coming up on the Tuesday club (2 weeks) that Patsy and I are planning to launch! And....this is awesome... I have an Italian cook willing to teach me easy, cheap and nutritious meals. Things outside of my normal sphere.... but delicious and so economical ... I thought sharing these recipes would be helpful as what family does not ant to cut food costs but still have highly nutritious meals for their children? So Frugale Tabitha is going to join us. It is dream to have totally delicious food that is also based on what you have, extremely basic ingredients and very easy to make!
I just LOVE things to look forward to and plan. Next week I will share what the Tuesday Afternoon Club challenge will be and a link to join if you wish.
This week I shopped at the supermarket with a friend. We both had our trolleys and we both did our thing but dumping into each other many times through the store. Both of us were !!!! WHAT ON EARTH is going on!? So many areas of the store were empty. Many things on my list were just not there. Many areas were empty spaces and others they had moved things to make it look less empty. It was across basically everything, meat, bakery, fruit and veg, dairy, rice, cooked chickens (none) and more. Yet no obvious explanation. We looked at each other going mmm.
I hope it was a great week for you and you had lots of little opportunities to love your family and build up your home!xxx
Happy birthday to Chase! It looks like a lovely party. It’s always fun to see Chloe’s incredible cakes. Great op shop and marketplace finds!
ReplyDeleteIt was the last week of holidays here, we’ve had such a great time. I actually love the winter holiday break, staying home when it’s cold and having soup and baking is my idea of fun!
Today I got some excellent deals on sheet sets, handy given that my two eldest boys both wore a hole in theirs this week lol.
I’m absolutely using your idea of having a baking day to end the holidays, the kids will love it and it’s so handy to have supplies for the school term. I’ve also got some ingredients that need to be used up.
I hope you have a lovely weekend, and look forward to hearing about your challenge coming up!
Jen (NZ)
Dear Jen, I hope you've had the big bake up! Awesome lunches make going back to school a bit special. We will be doing this next weekend (with the girls) and I know they will love it!
DeleteIt was great to get the new sheet sets! Sheets can be a shocking price! They are a good thing to stay ahead on.
I know you made the most of the holidays! It revives everyone I think. Cold weather makes everyone more hungry or it seems so. Mum and I are working on trying some slices that cut up neatly, are nutritious... for the kids lunch boxes. We are going to do some fun things too like faces on biscuits. Have a great new week! With love Annabel.xxx
Annabel, What a beautiful Blog. Your Grandchildren look so happy and Chloe's cake is perfect for a little boy, her talent truly shows.
ReplyDeleteWhat amazing finds at the Op Shops and the gift of fabric, oh I love them. I am so happy hearing you found such treasures.
I am sorry to hear of the grocery store though, we need to keep our eyes and ears open and continue to work on our homes.
We had a slow good week, I used some older blueberries to make blueberry muffins and after receiving some free yarn I am working on a new afghan. We ate out of our pantry all week as we have a large birthday party celebration on Sunday, most will be made from our pantry, though I need to purchase a few things from the store.
We are going through a dry spell and our grass and plants are suffering. The deer are now already eating our plantings, husband ordered fencing to deter them.
It has been a good slower week that we both needed.
What a wonderful week - so happy you got so much rain. We are in the 30C's with a lot of humidity and thunder storms on the way.
ReplyDeleteYour quilt blocks are really coming along! My stepmom is a qulter and has made all of us quilts over the years. She is in a guild and they often sell the quilts made to raise money for various charities.
That is odd about the shelves being so empty - was it just the one shop (maybe they had delivery issues) or is at many different stores - this would be more of a supply chain issue. Makes you very happy to have a well stocked pantry doesn't it!
Happy birthday Chase!
Your week was very blessed, for sure. Every picture you posted was beautiful, Annabel. The fabric is all lovely.
ReplyDeleteShelves here are hit and miss, also. We, normally, grow garden, but this year neither of us was up to it.
With much love,
Glenda
Thanks so much Glenda! I am sure you are well stocked even with no garden this year. I am starting the new week with baking and it is raining so this is good!xxx
DeleteGood afternoon (here) to you, Dear Annabel, and all The Lovely Bluebirds
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Chase! You are a handsome boy, with beautiful eyes!
Congratulation, Chloe! Your cakes and design deserve to be awarded!
Lily and Nana Pat look lovely, one more beautiful than the other !
What a great week it was for you, Knowing you, all the precious treasures from the op-shops will be used in many wonderful pieces of art. Can*t wait to see. I like very much how the quilt stars grow, with different paterns on fabric and different colours.
It is a great ideea sharing receipes that would help many of us eating delicious food while cut waste and money, and I want to thank you in advance for thinking of us, as always. Especially in these times. We did not experienced empty shelves, the supermarkets are full but all the prices will rise from the first of August.
What prices are increasing and by what percentage , according to the tax package
Food VAT 9% ➜ 11%
Standard VAT rate 19% ➜ 21%
VAT on homes up to 120 sq m 9% ➜ 21%
Fuel will increase by 10% starting August 1
This is the first austerity package undertaken by the Government and we will pay much more for everything we buy, any good or service will be more expensive than before. Time to go back to basics!
In the chicken yard we have some drama. After almost a week with not one egg collected It looks like some of them developed an egg eating habit, I caught two of them in action, although all the garden gates were wide open and they could go out having all the fun and free acces to food (cereals and black sunflower seed and greens. Ocasionally cold water melon, strawberry and raspberry from the garden). Also, dark cozy nesting boxes and additional calcium - I think they had it all but I suspect the two new Australorp chicken that were add at the begining of the month in the chicken run could have taught them that eggs are delicious. I am pretty sad about it, I imediatelly moved the two chicks in an other yard and now I try to figure out what to do next, balancing between trying something more to do or just cull them. What is your opinion? I am a too young unexperienced chicken keeper here.
This is my report of the week, we have a beautiful July, with hot hot days and now cooler and some much needed rain, the sour cherries are done, picked and I will work with them this weekend.
Sending good wishes and lots of love.
Laura_s_world from Romania
Hi Laura
DeleteWhen we kept chickens we had a similar problem with them eating eggs. We put two wooden eggs in the nest boxes and rotated them and it helped with the problem. Pecking a wooden egg wouldn't yield much!
Penny
Dear Laura, Thank you so much! Are you finding broke bits of egg shell? You dont have a snake? Here a snake will just take whole eggs... but I am not sure about what predators you have. It still could be only one guilty chicken ... I would put some eggs in a nesting box and try and stand back and watch. This could take patience. But soo others will learn from one... it is still possible it is only one or two...
DeleteGoodness they are significant price rises on top of others you have mentioned. It is harder for everyone.
Oh the sour cherries sound so good! I hope you have lots and lots and more good things to pick soon! With love Annabel.xxx
Hi Annabel
ReplyDeleteMy word, Chase's cake! Chloe is so good at this, I couldn't get over the cascade of chocolate buttons etc, he must have been so pleased with it. My Mum was a whizz at decorating cakes and my girls still remember them fondly.
Your fabrics and haberdashery pieces look lovely, what a great week. I'm looking forward to seeing the recipes etc that are coming soon.
I've been cleaning the house from the last guests. and prepping for the next lot, arriving next week. They're all extended family. One very hot day I stayed inside and cooked, maybe a bit perverse to cook on a hot day but I cooked a big vegetable moussaka and gooseberry crumble cake to last for several days so easy just to reheat. Also used up some yellow split peas and veg to make lots of soup which is in the freezer for colder weather and prepped and froze cherries too.
While the weather's so sunny I'm washing big items like sofa throws and blankets and drying outside.
My husband has been potting on lots of nicotiana and wallflowers for next year's flowering and planting out leek seedlings in the garden. We've picked lettuce, tomatoes, basil, carrots, potatoes, blackcurrants, gooseberries and plums and given some away to neighbours. It's been a bumper year for fruit. ( I don't want to see any more blackcurrants for a while!)
Hoping to sew this afternoon in the cool.
Best wishes to Bluebirds
Penny in the UK
Dear Penny, There is nothing like visitors to cause a shake up, for me anyway! I LOVE using the sunshine to get the blankets and throws etc all fresh and washed. Nothing smells as good as sunshine. That is a very satisfying job to get done.
DeleteA moussaka sounds beautiful. And all your fresh produce sounds fantastic. So many blackcurrants are a good problem to have! lol. Berries are very expensive here, way too much for most people. They do get a bit cheaper in summer but you would probably die of shock still. I hope the garden keeps giving you so much goodness! With love Annabel.xxx
Hello Annabel (and everyone),
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, those fabrics, trims, and that curtain! So pretty. Each new quilt block is also prettier than the last. I would have snapped up that beautiful vase! Chloe throws the best parties, too - happy birthday little one!
This week I trimmed the big mulberry tree in my backyard (just the lower branches to preserve the little sitting areas). Tomatoes, Swiss chard, and cucumbers were harvested, and I sowed more lettuce, chicory, monarda, coneflower, and tromboncino squash seeds. Tromboncino are supposed to be resistant to squash bugs, which are the size of elephants in Oklahoma! My sweet dad took a beautiful old rose cutting for me to try to root - I don't know the name, but it's the softest peach-pink, dense with petals, and so fragrant. I stuck it in the jar with chocolate mint cuttings that are growing roots, hoping the rooting hormones already present will help.
I'm noticing the same issues with our local grocery stores. The price club was still well stocked, so I added some baking supplies, pasta, and soup to my pantry. Two thrift store visits yielded some pretty dessert glasses and a small crystal bowl with irises - incredibly, this matches a crystal platter with irises that I found last summer! A little knitting rounded out the week.
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
<3
Kathy
Annabelle, Everything is just beautiful and I love how people give you gifts they know you will love and use. Chloe made another amazing cake, and Chase looks so happy. Your chicken skewers look delicious and fun to eat. I am excited for the Italian recipes. By the way, you were going to post a picture of your "shop" room with the two hutches. I am excited to see that when you have it all decorated and ready.
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Elaine
Hi Annabel,
ReplyDeleteI love all the meals you posted. They look so good, and I just had a nice lunch out with family! Chloe’s cake is awesome as usual. She is so creative. I hope some of your Tuesday club meals make it to your blog. I just can’t stand the thought of joining Facebook. The lack of privacy makes me cringe. I’m told nothing is private anymore. Still…
Thanks for all your posts, Mel in Co.
Same for me. Don’t want to miss out but don’t want to be on Facebook either.
DeleteHi Mel, All my recipes are here. Patsys class was o FB. This challenge... I could post my seven items I preserved in Friday blogs... and all could see but this would mean you dont see what everyone else is doing. You can join FB with a non photo picture and a "writers name" and no personal details. Some ladies joined for Patsys class then unjointed. Also I will post each day on instagram. I do this because I want to encourage as many people as I can to put up food. But it is perfectly ok to participate any way that you want and I will be pleased! It is really fun to do a challenge and it makes me get more done! Many thanks! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteHappy birthday, Chase! Oh what a little sweetie. I just love the party Chloe had thrown for him. It is wonderful! I love the cake too. Little Lily is just gorgeous, a little dolly and I love the dress on her. You had some amazing finds at the op shops! I love everything that you got. I also love that curtain. It’s beautiful. I love the thought of the new posts! I’m excited about them! Reading your blog is like having a lovely cup of tea in the sunshine, it does us all the world of good. I think I’ve been doing a bit too much out of the home lately and need to scale that back, this is the important work. I did pick up some frames cheaply for the kids artwork. And have done lots of crocheting. I hemmed shorts and sewed a bookmark. Lots of things on the go. Lots of love, B
ReplyDeleteWell, Annabel, you had quite a week!
ReplyDeleteLast week my DD and I joined Weight Watchers. She gained a lot of weight when her meds quit working and her father was so sick and died. She didn't want to go to the trouble of losing the weight, and as a developmentally disabled person, she didn't really understand the ramifications of the excess weight. Anyway, we went to our first meeting last week and she is now 100% on board. I joined with her because I have 10-15 lbs I'd like to lose and she really wouldn't understand the meetings or have transportation if I didn't go. Interestingly, neither of us has been hungry this week.
I hired a handyman/friend to come and help me sort and price what's left of my husband's tools for an estate sale. (I've already given away most of the good ones). The signs are going to say: Estate Sale TOOLS! That should bring 'em in! I told Brian to take anything he wanted and he took quite a few of the oddball stuff. He wanted to pay and we finally settled on bartering his help for the tools. He is coming back Tuesday to help some more.
Hilogene, just wanted to tell you I know exactly what you meant when you posted last week. Thank you.
Best wishes to everybody here!
Some shops in the UK had empty shelves a few weeks ago due to a hack that affected their supply system, so perhaps it is something like that or just a problem with the system going offline. These things work wonderfully well, until they don't!
ReplyDeleteYes it's a pretty vulnerable system. Before covid I had never seen empty shelves. Since they are on and off. It's like the new normal but worse last week. This is why a pantry is a good thing! xxx
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