Feather your Nest Friday, 21st November, 2025.
We are very close to a month out from Christmas. I decided to get a move on and make the Coffee Liqueur. This smells so good. It takes care of some of my foodie gifts. Next week I hope to make the Christmas cakes.
This is so easy to make but it needs to brew for about a month so now is the time! Coffee Liqueur.
For anyone who likes coffee (or Kailua) this is a winner!
My cook up was meatballs and cherry tomatoes. I did a huge bake.
(This meal could be frozen at this point for cooking later.). There are so many variations ie you can add capsicum, onion, zucchini... but when the tomatoes are plentiful this uses them up.
Once this was cooked it was so good.
This week I got out my scrap books. Since I was thirteen or fourteen I have made scrap books with the things I love, crafts and ideas, recipes etc. I have kept every one of them.
I went through them and it was a trip down memory lane. My idea was to hunt for economical Christmas recipes and simple packaging ideas. There were heaps! In all these years my taste hasn't changed much and the things that were once my dreams... a farm, a pantry, animals, a garden, preserving, sewing .... and how I would like my house to look are now my life! Many things I wished for now surround me. Even including the gum trees filled with birds.
This recipe... the "roll into balls" version... is absolutely delicious. And they look fancy! Of course you get your biscuits and or cereal on half price! I have made this over and over.
Presentation is everything! Today at the thrift store I saw so many very pretty small plates, even crystal for $2. A little plate of truffles would be a perfect gift. Also I bought a beautiful handbag and a Country Road top for one of my Grand daughters.
The weather today was gorgeous. The sun is setting now and the cockatoos are making so much noise in the trees. It sounds like they argue about who gets the best spot on the branch. But soon they will all be silent as it becomes dark.
It really was a bit of this and that kind of week but this and that adds up! ANYTHING we can get done ahead of time for Christmas (or Thanksgiving!) is a good thing and makes it a lot less hectic and able to enjoy the special moments.
How did you build up your nest this week? I would love to hear and encourage you!xxx
Annabel - a bit of a slip up on the date ! 🤣 wishing our lives away😆
ReplyDeleteAnnabel, What a wonderful week you have had, full of accomplishments and wonderful finds. I love that you keep your scrap books. I have the same, it is wonderful looking back on them.
ReplyDeleteWe had a full week here with travel, where I was able to go thrift store shopping, I was blessed with 2 dresses a top and a long cardigan all for $8.96, love shopping like this and finding top brands at affordable prices. I was also able to crochet while riding in the car, it felt good getting more of my next afghan worked on.
I didn't accomplish much at home, the usual cleaning and laundry when we arrived home, between PT and a procedure the remainder of the week disappeared. We are hoping to refill the car and gas cans along with grocery shopping today. We realize with winter we always need to keep on top of things and our pantries stocked.
Prayers all the Bluebirds are blessed this coming week.
Dear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteYour scrap book can be a testimony for a life fulfilled, and your big beautiful family for a life well lived. I am very happy for you!
While your weather turns to warm and luminous, ours is cold, rainy and dark - I leave home for work at 7:30 am in dark and get back at 5:30 pm to pitch dark - not much to do outside. I have already moved all the big pots filled with mint, pelargonium, gladioli and dahlias down in the cellar and chrysanthemums are under the roof at the entrance door, still displaying beautiful bold autumn colours.
In my country we all go on 1st November (All Saints Day) to the cemeteries with candles and flowers to honour our loved ones. It is very heart warming to see all the candles lit in the dark and many people out in the evening, we remember and pray for our families. But at the first frost the poted flowers, ussually chrysanthemums, die out. Most of them are left there then thrown in the garbage - well not me! I feel pity for the flowers and I hate waste of any kind, so I always go and collect ours and bring them home, overwinter in the cellar and replant them out in the garden in Spring. I am starting quite a collection!
Due to long evenings and self-imposed austerity, the turn has come for my clothes. I usually don*t buy many clothes, I don*t like it and have many given to me, like hand me downs but that means I have to do some modifications or mending.
It is not just about saving money; it*s about refusing to waste what I already have.
Most clothing can be repaired with just a needle, thread, and a little patience (or imagination). Even if my sewing isn’t always pretty, it’s functional, and there’s no rule that says every piece of clothing has to look brand new. Also, I am confident enough to wear what I like. Hence many of my knitted/crochet piece in my wardrobe. For many of them, old sweaters were unraveled for yarn, but that is a habit I learnt back in the communism years from my Mum, Aunt and Grandmother - all of these Ladies could turn gold out of nothing! And passed their knowledge to whoever needed it.
Long post today - presenting the things that fill my days. Sending best wishes
and warm thoughts from far away,
Laura_s_world from Romania
Ohh, and my son turned 20 years old on 19th Nov. We have a big boy now!
Oh Laura, what skills and contributions you make to our community! I fear that the things you have learnt from the ladies in your life are going to be skills that are desperately needed shortly for everyone, and we simply don't have them. I would love to hear a "how to" prepare yarn for reuse at some point if you have time.Or anything else you think of that might be useful. I have a lovely floor rug made of old jeans that have worn out - basically, when the jeans are beyond saving, I cut the flat decorative seams off and roll them up securing with hot glue and make them into drinks coasters. Then I cut the rest of the jeans into long strips (ideally long ribbons) of denim - the thinner the fabric the wider the strip - and crochet it into a round rug with a big hook. As I get more jeans, I do a bit more. I do the same thing with t-shirts when they wear out as well... I'm not great at sewing, can only do the basics but I can crochet. Missy
Delete.Laura, Happy Birthday to your son! The November 1 special time you mentioned sounds so nice to me. I agree with you regarding clothes. Most of mine are hand me downs and very comfortable. I just want to look neat and tidy and don't need to be super stylish. My chickens don't care one bit! My kids love me anyway. I'm always happy to see your comments and to know you and your family are all right.
DeleteHi Annabel
ReplyDeleteYour quilt block is beautiful, such lovely colours. The meatball bake looks so good, it's satisfying to have meals on hand and to give away.
My batch cook this week was a sausage meatball, spinach, pea and cheese and pasta bake so we're thinking on the same lines! I made a batch of banana and blueberry muffins for the freezer for my granddaughter and chocolate chip fairy cakes for my husband.
I took a big butternut squash to a friend and said I'd forgotten flowers. She laughed and said food is always welcome. She gave me a jar of her homemade plum chutney.
I've sieved and sorted the seeds I saved from the garden and put a big teaspoon of seeds into glassine envelopes which I sealed with Christmas stickers and wrote the name of the plant on the front in colourful gel pens. I enclosed a couple of envelopes in Christmas cards I gave to visiting friends today knowing I won't see them before Christmas.
I had an idea for my sewing group Secret Santa ( my recipient is a very keen gardener) and found just the container I wanted at the garden centre for exactly the right price.
I found a deal on lovely tins of chocolate biscuits so I snapped a couple up for raffle prizes.
I redeemed yet more points from my consumer research panel rewards( I've been saving them up for Christmas) and spent some of them in TK Maxx on Christmas presents.
A client gave my husband some dahlia she had lifted and split, if we can overwinter them in a greenhouse they can be planted out next year. I planted up one outdoor container with crocus, narcissus and tulips and planted prepared hyacinth, hippeastrum and fragrant narcissus for indoor flowering over winter. We combine a big order with friends and get the bulbs from a wholesaler so they're cheaper.
I was thinking of buying an Advent calendar but when turning out a drawer found one I'd bought in January in the sales. Result!
Hope all Bluebirds are in good heart.
Penny in the UK
Love this post!......Nancy
ReplyDeleteHello, Bluebirds, from southwest Virginia mountains. this week I realized I needed freezer space so I dehydrated 8 pints of pumpkin from the freezer. Once it was good and dry I ran it all through the blender in to a powder. It all fit into a pint jar. I still have 9 more pints in the freezer. I was able to get some things to add to the pantry on sale this week. I checked each store's coupons and discovered I had coupons for 3# of free bananas, a free can of soup, buy one get one for cans of tomatoes and dry roasted peanuts. I found 3 marked down individual flavored yogurts for .29 each There were just a few left so I only bought 3. I was able to get our Thanksgiving turkey for .49/#. I bought a 20 pound bird for lots of leftovers to share and freeze. Every year I make the grandkids a special Christmas pillowcase. I went through my fabrics and found everything I need to complete this project. No money spent. We were out of town all last week so not much more feathering was accomplished. With Thanksgiving next week I will be focused on cooking ahead for the holiday. Wishing the bluebirds a great week full of blessings. Marley in the Mountains
ReplyDeleteI feel like meatballs for dinner now Annabel! That looks beautiful. I like that patchwork square too, can’t wait to see them all come together. I agree that truffles presented nicely is a lovely gift. I’d be happy!
ReplyDeleteWe are at the busy end of the school year and now more than ever I feel like organisation is the key. Taking a look at the week ahead can make such a difference, working out what days I need to put the slow cooker on, when we’ll need some extra snacks with us etc.
I took morning tea to work this week, and baked a focaccia, lemon cake, jam drops and some gluten free cookies and cupcakes. I made enough to be able to keep some at home and feed us as well!
I got some boxes of chocolates to use at Christmas time for half price, and have stocked up on some nice drinks too.
With the business increasing I’m also aware of wanting my house as simple to manage as possible. So I’ll do another round of decluttering to make certain areas more manageable.
I bought a mint and sage plant for $1.50 each, they had a few yellow leaves that I pulled off and they both look great now.
I hope you have a lovely weekend
Jen (NZ)