Feather your Nest Friday, 8th August, 2025.
What a busy week! There is nothing like a challenge and some sunny days to get things moving!
Today I had my helper. While the little kids have their after lunch nap Tom came over and we had a working afternoon. We had a bonfire, fed the chickens and collected the eggs, packed the eggs, picked stinging nettles and more!
I made a batch of Honey Mustard Chicken. It was so delicious. I had to dinners and packed up a meal for Chloe's family which was on top of a bed of rice.
I went to two towns and five op shops! So many amazing things. Two crystal items I forgot to photograph but I will include in photos next week. Some beautiful kids clothes to put away. Fabric, sewing notions, a huge amount of wool.... (there is more not in the photo that was in more messy balls!)
My friend also gave me some beautiful fabrics including a vintage/retro cotton sheet!
For the #everybitcountschallenge I :
Sliced up and froze a Lasagne for future ready meals.
I freeze dried Capsiscums I found on a great deal.
Found mushrooms on sale and freeze dried those.
Harvested to dry bunches of Stinging nettles.
While the fire is still going for the next few weeks this is my chance to get things dehydrated for free!
I am thawing some beef to make filling for pies. Beef, capsicums, onion, mushroom and carrots. And gravy. In the slow cooker. It will be like a challenge to see how many pies I can make!
Patsy said something lovely. It was to "have our pantry building eyes open." It is true there are opportunities but we need to "see" them. Then act on them! But it is surprising!
How did you feather your rest this week? We love to hear! xxx
Dear Annabel
ReplyDeleteI’ve never had manure and nettle envy before 😆
Sheep manure is great stuff and you can probably plant straight into it as it’s aged. You’ll have great vegetables!!
The eggs are gorgeous. Tom must love his Nannabel afternoons.
Kate
Hi Kate that is funny! My friend was at Stirling organic market... and saw Stinging nettle for $186 a kilo! It's probably cheaper to buy drugs lol. Yes this manure... some would be 30 years old! Im glad you understand the goodness! Have a good week! xxx
DeleteWhat a great little helper you have! I don't think most people have the patience to let children learn and work and develop these wonderful skills - and to make it fun at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI managed to get both ground beef and ground pork "on sale" - at prices I would have though ridiculous a few years ago - but that is today's reality. Also enjoyed a nice piece of salmon that I stretched over 3 meals so that made it doable - if not exactly cheap. I froze more celery and peppers and I have my eye out for a good deal on peaches - we are just into peach season here and I like to freeze some for future smoothies.
I meal prepped a week's worth of veg, grains, hard boiled eggs etc. - along with a batch of ground beef - so with the salmon, and adding in salad, I just mixed and matched things for easy meals this week. I plan on defrosting some chicken, beef and pork this weekend to bake a batch of chicken breasts and to make a meatloaf. Some of the cooked meat will go back into the freezer for future meals.
My best way of saving this week was to stay out of the grocery stores and jus tmake do with what I had - makes a huge difference.
All that manure made me smile - when I was a teenager I often worked Summers in a garden centre as the cashier - loved to be able to get on the mic and call for 50 pounds of sheep shit please as it was a very popular fertilizer!
Dear Margie, Thank you! It is so sad, I know so many people dont do anything with their children. Once we all grew up helping our Mums and Grandparents with everything!
DeleteIt is great you found beef and pork on old prices! Yes they have all gone up so much! I love peaches! I hope you find some at a good price.
It is very funny about the cashier and the microphone. I can imagine that. Some of this is going to be spread in the paddocks. You can imagine what that job would be called. haha! With much love Annabel.xxx
Hi Annabel
ReplyDeleteWhat a great helper Tom is, he clearly loves it. You got off to a great start with the challenge and found super things in the charity shops, what a satisfying week.
Every little bit really does count and I'm glad I'm joining in, it has given me extra impetus this week.
I made four jars of redcurrant jelly using redcurrants I froze earlier in the summer. I prepped and froze plums we weren't going to eat fresh and picked prepped and froze French climbing beans in small portion sizes. I cooked extra courgettes one day and extra carrots another and froze the excess to go in soups/ casseroles another day. I made three jars of bread and butter cucumber pickles and put two of them in the freezer( I left a bit of headroom in the jar for freezing.). The freezers are filling up! We cut two marrows and have put them to store in our cool back kitchen. My husband's client sent him home with lots of figs, some tomatoes and a type of eating apple we don't have in our garden.
From our garden we picked/ pulled beetroot, carrots, courgette, lettuce, potatoes, French beans, a few runner beans and a few pea pods, marrow. My husband lifted the shallots and onions and has laid them out to dry.
I spent an afternoon giving our patio pots some TLC. I can't remember exactly when I did it but I've cut dried heads of love-in-a-mist and put them upside down in a paper bag for the seeds to drop out and be saved.
I mended a PJ jacket for my husband and a tear in a pair of his work trousers.
I found two brand new rope dog toys in the charity outlet, one of the ladies told me they try selling donated goods in two different shops( they have multiple shops) and then they are brought to the outlet where everything is 50 per cent the ticket price and sometimes they mark things down even further, then if still not sold they go to recycling/ waste disposal after a set period of time. I will definitely visit the outlet again!
Best wishes to Bluebirds.
Penny in the UK
Dear Penny,
DeleteThank you! I do feel happy about the week! I was wiped out today but it was worth it! And weekends are for recovery time!
You are getting so much wonderful produce from the garden then the extras from your husbands client! Added variety! Love in a mist is so very pretty.
Great job on the mending and finding the outlet shops, they could be well worth watching! Have a good week! With love Annabel.xxx
Your week sounds wonderful! Good work out in the sunshine is just the best! I had to laugh about the next quilt comment! You may be hooked! That's the way it goes!
ReplyDeleteMy week was good but busy. I'm learning to knit and found a good yarn shop. I'll have to look at our thrift shop for yarn now and then!
I'm doing a grocery challenge this fall to keep my cost down for our family of four grown adults. It's definitely a savings from what I was spending at the grocery store. I used to think that I should buy whatever I wanted because it will get eaten. But now I'm thinking we should eat what we have on hand. So it's a pantry challenge too!
I hope your week is lovely!
Stacy in Virginia
Dear Stacy, Thank you! I sure sleep best when Ive had a day outside working!
DeleteFeeding four adults is a big job. I work on a what do I have that needs to be used up meal plan. And top up what I have with the best deals. And so on. Also a challenge is very motivating!
Keep at the knitting! I hope you love it! It's crochet for me and by the looks of it patchwork. But I can crochet in the evening when I cant sew... and take it places with me. I love it! Have a good new week! With love Annabel.xxx
What great harvesting you're able to do even in your "winter" months.Here in Alberta we're harvesting our garden which has been the best we've had in years because of so many years of drought.Our reservoires were all dangerously low but The Lord has blessed us abundantly with rain this summer.My husband and I both have the feeling though that we need to preserve as much as possible not only because prices keep going up but we have the same feeling in our spirits that we had before covid that something is coming and to be prepared.We were prepared before covid and made it through fine during the lock downs.My 17 yr. old granddaughter asked me to take her to the thrift store because she didn't want to pay $100.00 for a new pair of jeans.We found a nice pair that she loved for $5.00 and 2 pairs of jean shorts for .50cents each so I was happy to buy them for her.Your quilt is going to be beautiful when you're finished.
ReplyDeleteDear Peggy, In January 2020 I had a great deep feeling. This was on top of a feeling I had from about 2017 to prepare. I also have it again.
DeleteI am so glad you have had the rain and have a good garden! I hope you are able to preserve a great amount!
Your Grand daughter did so well. I think now she will be a good thrift shopper for anything she needs! Helping her this way was so lovely. I bet fun too! Have a great new week! With love Annabel.xxx
What a productive week you had Annabel! I’m very impressed with Lily’s love of sausages lol. What a great find the wool was! And such a useful colour to mix with others.
ReplyDeleteWe’ve had a house full of sick people this week, winter coughs etc. Thankfully we’d been given three bags of lemons the week earlier so they’ve been out to good use! Everyone is improving so I think by Monday they’ll be ready to return to school.
I found some great deals on spaghetti this week - 2 tins for $1. So I loaded up on them.
I cleared out and organised the linen cupboard and another storage cupboard so they are functioning much better now. I had spare storage baskets from our old house so didn’t need to buy any.
It’s going to be raining in the weekend so a nice relaxed opportunity for everyone to recover!
Have a great weekend
Jen (NZ)
Dear Jen, I hope everyone is feeling heaps better. The lemons came at a good time! I am amazed you could get tins of spaghetti at that price! Even getting a tin of anything for $1 is rare enough! I hope today you are all snug and warm and doing better. A good rest is often the best medicine. With much love Annabel.xxx
DeleteSuch an amazing week! You were busy in all areas, Annabel. Love it that Tom is already a farmer! 😁 Fun to see him pose in front of the manure pile.
ReplyDeleteI feathered my nest. A friend invited me and the kids to pick apples on Tuesday. I've canned 8 quarts of applesauce and got 2 cups of dried apples. Then my husband picked 10 gallons of apples at his mom's. More on the way next week. Our blackberries are ripening. Plus some berries on sale. So I got 5 pints of jam. And with so many eggs on hand, I made lemon curd. 4 pints. Tomorrow I will finish the pickle relish I started. Also I dried a lot of celery leaves, oregano, and basil.
God is good! Still trying to finish my daughter's quilt by the end of the month.
Love to all,
Leslie in Ohio
Dear Leslie, Tom really is a farmer. I am fixing up the sheep yards. He said this will be really good for him when he gets older. :)
DeleteHow beautiful to be invited apple picking! Now that is my idea of a lovely day! Plus the ones your husband picked! And the eggs! And jam! What a lot of goodness. I know you will be busy but in a good way! I cant wait to have basil growing again. It has to warm up here quite a lot to be any good for basil but then it takes off. it is my favourite. Great work on the quilt too... you still have a fear bit of the month left. With love Annabel.xxx
Bless Tom's heart, he's an absolute treasure of a young lad, Annabel! And what a wonderful big brother for his younger siblings to look up to.
ReplyDeleteI'm always amazed at what you find in the opshops you visit! God bless you!
Hugs
Jennifer
Thank you Jennifer! Tom was born a natural hard worker. His plan is as soon as his legs are longe enough to come use the ride on mower and do my lawns! :) We have a little team now and tell each other what we are looking for and cover a lot of op shops... while it is so worthwhile I am storing up! Have a wonderful new week! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteGreetings Annabel & Bluebird friends, :)
ReplyDeleteTom is such a great helper. It's wonderful that he gets to spend time and have fun while learning life skills. What a wonderful "Grammy" you are :) The op shop bargains are terrific, especially the books.
This week I built up my home by:
Making bread. I used some rye flower from the pantry and the bread maker. It was a tiny bit cooler that day, so I turned on the oven. I like the shape bread baked in pans in the oven instead of in the bread maker. I don't care for the hole, in 1/4 of the bread, that the bread machine leaves.
Harvested and substituted chives from my herb patch, instead of scallions that a recipe called for. Every little bit helps.
It's been in the mid 90's here (across from Memphis, TN) and what feels like 90% humidity. I weeded for 1 and 1/2 hours several days this week. Getting out by 6 a.m. certainly helps, but I am DONE with the heat afterwards. The weeds are flourishing, and the veggies, flowers and lawn are suffering. We haven't had more that a 5 minute sprinkle of rain in several weeks.
Keeping up with work around the home, scheduling routine maintenance ( the annual termite visit, and car oil change) keeps me busy.
I hope you and all the Bluebirds have a restful Sabbath and a wonderful week.
Ellie in Arkansas
Dear Ellie, Thank you so much! I also like the bread machine for the kneading but the pans for the shape!
DeleteI am sorry it's so hot and humid! It is exhausting! I hate the heat. I hope by now it's broken and you get some rain! Have a lovely week! With love Annabel.xxx
Dear Annabel, I love hearing about you and little Tom's adventures together. It is beautiful that you are spending time together and at the same time teaching him new skills. It is beautiful. I love your quilt work. I also thin your thrift store finds were wonderful. I am definitely cheering you on with the everybitcounts challenge and am saying it every time I go to the fridge or cupboard. It helps me use things up. With the way prices are going, we need to be extra mindful. Beautiful photos! I went to the local thrift store and they had a 50% off rack and I found two things. I think it good to keep watchful and eyes open all the time. Lots of love, Bridget
ReplyDeleteDear Bridget, I had Tom again today and he keeps me busy but it is really fun. Thanks Bridge. I am glad you are thinking creatively.... yes it is necessary, truly every week I am still learning something new still. Great work at the thrift store! Yes be watchful and keep checking the stores and the thrift stores. Even if you get ahead in some bigger clothes for the boys this will pay off! With much love Annabel.xxx
DeleteOh I have been so busy building up my pantry and freezer and other supplies in this challenge. I am going cautiously ahead, looking for sales and stocking up a little more heavily than usual. I've already gone over our winter cold supplies and I think I am missing nothing but I would like to top up two medications both of which are inexpensive.
ReplyDeleteI am watching prices everywhere and in our area meat is going up (predictions said it would due to killing so many cattle during last year's drought), but other prices have fallen a decent bit. I am changing my opinions about what is a good price on certain cuts of meat. I've always relied on inexpensive cuts but had cut out Chuck roasts as I felt they were no longer a good price. Well glory you wouldn't believe what they went up to this past month! lol I may never eat another chuck roast in my life if they keep on at that pace.
For the #everybitcounts challenge I'm tracking those on my blog and will finish up a post about the first ten days this evening. I pulled out my electric pressure canner which I'd been reluctant to use though I've had it for two years and I managed to can up broths and everything went on just fine. I was very proud and this week I've plans to can a few things more.
I've bought seeds to plant fall crops and mean to get those in the ground before this month is out. Thankfully we live in a milder climate and don't have frost until mid November. Even then I should be able to grow a few things like radish, beets, chard, peas, lettuce until winter and then in mid-winter I can plant the lot all over again.
Today I harvested seed off a plant outside our church that I simply love. I've been watching those seed pods for months now waiting on them to be ready to pick. I brought home quite a few of them and hope to get more next weekend. I'm all about free seeds!
Dear Terri,
DeleteWell done on your pantry work and building up the freezer too!
I have had to also re assess what is a good price. Otherwise Id buy nothing.
I will come over and check out your blog posts!
Very good to watch those seed pods and save them! I hope they grow well for you! Love this! With love Annabel.xxx