Feather your Nest Friday, 25th, September 2026.
September is already almost over. This was a really difficult week. One of my closest family had a serious surgery (interstate) and I decided I would need to pray and pray and keep busy. My nerves these days have taken a hammering over the years. I guess that is the same for us all.
Anyway I decided to keep busy. I committed to doing something to improve things in the sewing room everyday and to saw even if just for a few minutes. Since my own pot holders are looking grim I decided to start with them. I did get lots cut out and three finished. The filling is the bits of pure wool blanketing that were not good enough to make rugs from.
I have several more cut out in farm/cowgirl theme.
My small bits of fabric will be come another quilt. But the bigger bits I want to make bibs, pot holders and pillowcase, for now.
Last week I found a huge crystal vase and enormous trifle bowl at the op shop. I can't wait to make a massive trifle at Christmas!
We picked more wild flowers plus a few from the garden. This bunch was just gigantic and went to someone who needed cheering up. Next week I really hope to make up many more.
I went to Chloe's with a planned activity for the kids. We started off threading beads which the boys took to and went on with for hours.
Later Chloe helped them and they turned earring hooks into actual earrings! Now they are working on a stash of Christmas presents.
That is me on the left with the red lips. In case you didn't recognise me. The beads in these earrings are actually beautiful and very old.
Then the boys came over here of their afternoon. I had bought a bike for Lily at the op shop and I thought this will be a good activity for them to clean it up, blow up the tires and so on.
They took this very seriously!
It was cleaned within and inch of it's life.
The other activity was helping move this shed. I just wanted it out of the way and then I found out Chloe has been wishing for a garden shed! So that problem was solved and helping in the tractor is very entertaining so that was more fun.
I admit after all this positivity I took the boys home, came back and got in bed. When I can't face the world any longer I take a bath and go to bed with a hot pack. Lucky for me usually if I do this I sleep.
Today I decided three bananas really needed to be used so I made a banana and walnut loaf.
Also I made a big pasty vegetable mix and have been making pasties... in the pie maker. It might confuse people to be eating round pasties. But anyway I made about a dozen and will make up the rest tomorrow.
The girls are laying. Big time! Tomorrow I am going to make a quiche for myself and I will be sharing some eggs next week at church.
The cucumbers I planted last week are coming up!
The lambs are weaned!! Now they are full time lawn mowers and manure spreaders!
I have quite a few raised beds and planters ready to plant up. I think next week I will get them filled.
My family member is out of ICU today which is a big step and I am praying for a good night for all.
I am on the border of my blanket. I think I have four or five laps to go. I can do a lap in an evening if I get to it. 😊
Chase showed Lily the ropes and gave her a ride on her new bike.
How was your week? How did you build your nest? We love to hear. Just do the next thing! xxx
Annabel, Prayers are with your family.
ReplyDeleteWhat a full week you have had, the boys look so proud of getting the bike ready for Lily, what great big brothers they are. The flowers, bowl and vase look amazingly beautiful. So happy that your garden is showing new life.
We have had a slow week here. Husband has been extremely ill and we have no idea what it is, doctor took blood work and has yet to get back to us.
We had a flood a few weeks ago, it caused one of our retainer walls to buckle, we were fortunate that the neighbor's landscaper fit us in and is rebuilding it with better drainage. No way could I lift the 70 pound blocks.
I am behind on things, I have bananas to use, plans to make banana raisin, walnut cookies. We have a cauliflower larger than a basket ball, husband will fry some of it and I will pickle the remainder.
We are busy getting our home ready for winter, hoping to check a few things off our list. We are hoping to have everything in repair before the first snowfall.
Husband will cut my hydrangea tree and bring in the blossoms for me to dry. I will be able to change out a number of vases.
Prayers for all bluebirds.
Dear Rosanne, I am sorry your husband has been so ill. Get right back to the dr or ring him for the results. This is urgent. I saw your lovely hydrangeas. They re beauties! Wow that is a lot of water to buckle the retaining wall! I hope this is a better week for you both, With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteAnnabel, I’m so pleased your family member is out of ICU, I hope they continue to recover well. I agree that keeping busy helps, and you certainly did that! Your sewing looks fantastic, and the pasties sound beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWe have finished the school term today, and I’m really looking forward to a quiet weekend. I have some craft books out from the library, as well as some fiction books to read.
Today a friend gave me some fruit and vegetables, and another gave me bread rolls from their work. I also found eggs heavily discounted at the supermarket, so they’ll keep me busy.
I know I said I wasn’t buying yarn but, well I failed again! I bought 16 x 200g balls of 100% cotton for $60. So less than $1 per 50g. I looked it up online, and at retail they would have cost $420 NZD. The colours are lovely. I have no idea what I’ll do with it all, but it seemed too good to pass up. I have a problem 😅
I hope you have a lovely weekend, do you have grandchildren staying this week?
Jen (NZ)
Dear Jen, enjoy the school holidays. Well done on finding that yarn deal! That was amazing. Love, Bridget
DeleteIt's okay, Jen. I have that problem, too. We could form a club! Or we could agree to call ourselves Fibre Artists. Artists usually get free range in owning alot of supplies. ;)
DeleteJen I am on team buy the yarn. It's not going to het cheaper. Being about to make utility gifts and keep your hands busy is a good investmemt And it was a very good priice! I hope you love the holidays. And your friend giving you fruit and veggies and another bread... and finding eggs... there is a lot of potential there. Sadly I dont have grandkids staying but I do have my four next door to krrp mr busy! With much love Annabel.xxx
DeleteI know I don't comment often, but I wanted you to know that I look so forward to your post every week. I never fail to smile when I'm reading it. Thank you for bringing joy to my life.
ReplyDeleteDear Debby, Thank you very much! I am glad I can share some joy with you! xxx
DeleteDear Annabel,
ReplyDeletePraying for your family member to make a full recovery in good time. Your wildflower bouquet is gorgeous, and so are your grandkids! I'm making salsa to can as we speak, so have to get back to the stove so nothing burns. God Bless. xx Jen in NS
Dear Jen, I love salsa. I figure you are dealing with the last tomatoes. I wam watching for more wildflowers to ocik... they do make lovely gifts. Soon also we bring to pick up pinecones. With much love Annabel.xxx
Deletehi annabel, you sure have been one busy lady this week- i've been busy too. monday i shampooed the carpets in several rooms. they sure get dirty, but look so nice afterwards. now they are ready for the holidays. tuesday i went to a senior pantry day in our town. you must be 60 or older and live in this county. you receive a large grocery bag of food and personal products and this time everyone also got a turkey. i got 2 because my friend didn't want hers. so today i'am canning a turkey and the second one will be for thanksgiving. all this is free. also froze 10 lbs. of ground beef which our local store had for 3.99 a lb. i believe the freezer is full now. but you know, winter is comming. must go now and mow the yard before the rain comes that we are supposed to get on sunday. hope you have another good week. bonnie in southern pa.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness how wonderful! And two turkeys! There is so much you can make with one turkey! That is fantastic and I know you will put it all to really good use. What a blessing! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel, you are an inspiration to us all. You have had an extremely tough week. I am very happy to hear your family member has been moved out of ICU. That is a very promising and positive sign. You were wonderful to organise these wonderful activities for your grandchildren. I visited a big shopping centre yesterday, the prices are up and up. I think things will get more expensive if they can’t work out the diesel. I think my nerves are shot too these days, and like you said we are probably all together with that. I love getting into bed early, rest is so important. Lots of love, Bridget
ReplyDeleteDear Bridge, Thank you for your kind words. It is freaking a lot of us even on an online order I sae things that are a $2 more than last week and this is week over week. I also see people confused in the stores not knowing what to get and muttering. I know Christmas is going to be a big pressure. We are already making gifts that will be nice and thoughtful but we are keeping costs right down. Lots of biscuit making later on. I love getting in bed early! It is my relation time. A bath a cup of tea in bed. Like I have to decompress! Have a good week! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel, Another Industrious post. You are amazing to achieve so much over a very stressful week. I continue to rapidly improve and heal, I feel better every day. I am amazed really. Thankyou for your encouragement to always keep doing the next thing even in hard times. Your little ones are building such a big catalog of memories with you, Love Clare
ReplyDeleteThank you Clare! I am so happy for you. You will be able to enjoy Christmas and do all the things now this is behind you! What a relief! I hope this week is lovely but dont over do it! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteAnnabel, thank you for another encouraging post. I pray your family member is mending well. I did a tiny bit of feathering this week. I was able to plant my window boxes with fall flowers. I took the summer flowers of geraniums and petunias from the boxes and transplanted them in my back flower bed. I think they still have a few weeks left of blossoms to enjoy from my kitchen window. We finally got some rain this week but are still in drought conditions. Other feathering included purchasing a few canned meat items and some canned soups on sale for the pantry. I decided to harvest and dry a bunch of parsley and when I brought it in to wash discovered 3 monarch caterpillars! I put them in a big jar with parsley and took them to the first grade class I read to weekly. They are anxiously awaiting for them to make their chrysalis and turn into butterflies. They named them Huey, Dewy, and Lewy after Donald Duck's nephews from Disney:) I have tried to plant kale and radishes 3 times in the past 4 weeks but something keeps eating the little seedlings. I will try once more and put protective netting over the area and hope for something we can eat over the winter. They are predicting a hard winter this year so we are stocking up so we won't have to go out should we get a big storm. Wishing all the bluebirds blessings this week! Marley
ReplyDeleteDear Marley, Good idea on taking the caterpillars to school! ll very interesting! Like the names! I am glad you are stocking up. If you have a winter storm you want to be well an truly ready You added to your pantry too. I am drying parsley tomorrow so I'll be watching for caterpillars! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteI’ve thought about you a lot this week and hoped the surgery went well. I was so relieved to read that your family member is now out of ICU, and I hope the recovery continues steadily from here.
I really admired the way you kept yourself moving through such a difficult week. Sewing for a few minutes, working with the boys, baking and tending the garden - just doing the next thing. You have more strength than I think you sometimes realise, especially when life becomes hard.
I also loved seeing the boys helping with Lily’s bike and the shed. There was so much care and purpose in those little moments.
My week has been full too, with some preserving, sewing and the usual little household jobs quietly adding up.
I hope the coming days are a little easier for you and your family xox
Thanks Stephanie, I really come undone if I sit and worry. so I am much better finding a way to help and making meals is always helpful. The boys loved doing up the bike! It looks petty good too! I am always thinking for a project they can help with on the Thursday. This week it might be veggie planting. I need some compost moved and they are pretty good with wheelbarrows and shovels.
DeleteDoing the next thing is still the wisest advice ever. Or when your going through hell keep going! You are an example of getting a heap done in a week, every week! With love Annabel.xxx
Dear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteSo sorry about your dear one in the hospital. So glad they are home and recovering.
So cool to see the boys spraying the bike with the pressure washer. What a wonderful find for Lily! And wonderful that you were able to bless Chloe with a shed. I'm sure she will make it beautiful.
The majority of my home-making happens on the weekends, now. So I will make up some baked goods and healthy snacks on Sunday.
We enjoyed my niece's beautiful wedding today. And 2 of my teens got their best times in their cross-country meet.
So lots to celebrate.
Love, Leslie (OH)
Prayers for Laura and Kathy
Dear Leslie, Yes you must have busy weekends! How lovely to have a family wedding and well done to your teens in their events. The bike has had much use already! With much love Annabel.xxx
DeleteI love your hot pads...a good way to use the wool batting. The pictures of the boys were adorable and you kept them busy. Glad your family member is doing some better and hope they continue a great recovery.
ReplyDeleteThank you Vickie! I have just tons of wool to use wherever I need.. I might even make some dog beds.... I had the boys again today. Oh boy they in this case they kept me busy! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteDe-ar Annabel, prayers for your family member for good health. I admire You for the positivity You are showing during hard times. I have some technical problems so I will be short. Today îs my birthday and we will celebrate with a home raised turkey meal. I was gifted with that nice turkey by my work coleague in exchange for helping her daughter in latin studies. She is so good she goes to national contest in latin. I love Lily's bike😍. Sending lots of love from far away, Laura_s_world from Romania
ReplyDeleteDear Laura, I hope you had a beautiful birthday! And I am so happy you got that turkey! What a beautiful gift/trade! I bet you would get many meals from this! Also I love turkey. You too are positive... I am watching developments in Europe and really the whole world. I think of you every day! With much love Annabel.xxx
DeleteI went into the grocery warehouse store with a friend who had to do some shopping and grabbed items I knew were on my list at home (cheese, lettuce) but not much else. I have been sorting through my pantry and giving things away that are too much for me to use on my own. Katie took home a few things last night and Sam took a few things this morning. I feel less burdened by the fear of things expiring before they are used up, now. I've been trying to plan meals for the coming week. I generally start with the protein and then fill in with what I have on hand. The protein is also on hand. This week I have a pork chop, a pair of chicken thighs (2 meals) and a beef shank that I will braise with vegetables and dried cranberries to make a yummy stew. One of my favorite cooler weather dishes!
ReplyDeleteWe have had cooler weather and I've been opening windows each morning so the AC doesn't kick on until much later in the day. Not quite beyond the need for AC yet, next week will see temperatures in the 90s once more but the night temps will be cool and seasonable.
I found a length of fabric that matches some I've used in a room already and plan to use it to remake a curtain for my laundry area (basically a closet without doors).
Glad to hear your family member is gaining in strength and healing.
Dear Terri, I am glad you are eating properly. It is easy to not when on our own. But we must. A new laundry curtain will be lovely! I took watch dates and pass on to the family. Right now it is peanut butter utensils Im thinking of making cookies to use some up. Autumn is beautiful.... I have Spring of course but both seasons are really lovely. It is easier to get stuff done in reasonable weather! With much love Annabel.xxx
DeletePrayers for your family member and I hope that this week will bring good news about their recovery.
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful brothers they are! They did a wonderful job on the bike and it is yet another learning process for them!
I would like to make more progress but things are a bit on hold at the moment. I'm waiting for the plumber to arrive this morning asI'm having an issue in the kitchen. It also looks as though I need a new stove (one burner and the oven have died) and the fridge = if I turn it up enough to keep things completely frozen then items in the fridge begin to freeze - and if I turn it down then things start to drip in the freeer! Luckily I live in a rental apt. so the super is making all the arrangements and there will not be any cost to me - except time! I'm reluctant to stock the freezer anymore until it's sorted and of course I'd like to get some cooking done but without an oven I'm limited. Oh well, it will all get sorted eventually. I'm just in the mood to cook and bake again after doing a limited amount over the Summer.
I did use a good bit of this month's grocery budget to restock a number of non-food items. Not too many deals but did the best I could. I don't drive so rely on public transit and a bundle buggy for shopping. This can be a bit tricky once the ice and snow arrives so I try to stock up on heavy and bulky items beforehand.
It has been a busy few weeks as many programs started up again at the church where I work. I also volunteered at both our Fall Book Sale and for our English conversational class for newcomers and Int'l students. It certainly keeps me busy!
Margie from Toronto (Google has somehow dropped my info and shows me as anonymous for commenting)
Dear Margie, I hope your oven and fridge are replaced quickly! You need those and dont want to lose food. Well done on such good community work!! Yes I would stock up before snow too. I would not want to be out in the really severe weather! With much love Annabel.xxx
DeleteMany prayers for you and your family member. Your post brighten my days! I'm glad you got some sewing time in!
ReplyDeleteI'm slowly getting back to work on little things throughout the house. I'm filling my freezer again and cleaning at home. I'm still taking time in the afternoon to sew because by then I'm tired. I know it will only be a little while before I am running through the day again!
Many blessings to you and the Bluebirds!
Stacy in Virginia
Dear Stacy, You are making good progress! I also wait until Im running out of energy in the day then I sit and pay bills, write, sew... something quieter before it is time to wrap up the day and cook dinner. It works! I am glad you are able to get stocked back up in the freezer. Last night I was just had it and went to my freezer and pulled out two frozen turkey and brie sandwiches which I put in the sandwich press. Life saver! Actually delicious too. These meals are a saviour at times. You are doing very well I think! With love Annabel.xxx
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