The little birds...

If you watch little birds you will see they are busy and happy! Using whatever they can find they create the most gorgeous little nest.
I would be the little bird with some glittery thread in her nest!
We can be like this. Happily working away with the things that are available to us to create a beautiful and happy home.
All the while with a little song in our heart.

Banner by Free Pretty Things for You.

Thursday, 27 April 2017

Feather your Nest Friday, 28 April, 2017.

I am moving at a glacial pace today!  I have to be honest about my week and say it has been slow going. I still haven't been well and they think I have Glandular Fever or a bacterial infection. It is harder to tell as I had Glandular Fever when I was young... but that is my guess.  The worst part is I might be infectious so I can't see the girls as I can't risk it with a baby and a toddler.

There are some good things to report. As if word went out or something I had beautiful mail this week!  Lovely letters and even presents! What good timing! Everyone knows who they are!  I got postage stamps (which I love!) and take a look at these transfers! They were from Mimi!


Jen in NS knitted the most gorgeous little socks for Scarlett.... I will show them in Show and Tell next week!  
Mail is just beautiful to receive. While I am resting I will hopefully get some letters written myself. 


Earlier in the week I achieved a few things, thankfully!

I made four trays of Enchiladas. Some were for Lucy's household, we had some for dinner and the rest are freezer meals.


I made 21 full size sausage rolls and 6 mini sized ones for Harper... (who loves them apparently!)



I did my shopping at Aldi.

I re joined The Cheapskates Club and have been catching up with favourite threads including Wendy's $300 a month grocery challenge. 

We had plenty of rain. Things are soaked. There are precious few flowers now and lots of autumn leaves everywhere.  



We made progress on the bathroom.  Hopefully the next step will be tomorrow!

Andy had some work come in (about three days worth) and he has a big interview on Monday!  😊

I have pumpkin soup in the crockpot and dinner organised! 

Well that is my week.  How was yours? How did you build up your home or get ahead? 
Have a lovely weekend! xxx




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28 comments:

  1. Mrs. Kelley Dibble28 April 2017 at 00:18

    Annabel,

    Warm hugs and prayers to you for health and strength, dearie.

    And you've gone and done it by mentioning Pumpkin Soup. What time is soup on, please? I'll be right there!

    ~HOW I BUILT UP MY HOME~
    --I added two folding chairs to the other two I have. I want to get three more pairs. These folding chairs never go on sale, and the seats and backs come off so I could repaint the frames and recover them if ever need be.
    --I added free newspapers to my newspaper stack. Under my kitchen sink I keep a stack of free newspapers. I love newspaper for all sorts of tasks: cleaning glass, peeling potatoes over them, dirty jobs, etc. When I get them home, I pull each sheet out separately so I can just reach under my sink and pull one sheet out. I put the folded side toward the edge (like pulling a folded napkin out of the holder).
    --I set my timer for 60 minutes and worked every day for at least one hour. I wrote myself a note, 8.5 x 11-inch, that says, "ONE HOUR EVERY DAY." I taped it to the floor tile in front of my guest room where I sew. It's a great reminder, "Oh! I didn't sew one hour yet today." I've been accomplishing heaps.
    --Heaps: finishing potholders from Mother's cast-off ironing board cover and embellishing them with yo-yos; sewing a dress whose skirt I cut off to a T-shirt (turning out adorable!); finishing five more baby boy "Gramps Shirts" burp cloths which I had previously miscounted; mended some snaps on a top; mulled over how to valance the window in there
    --Making progress on my "To My Daughter With Love" journal
    --Stocked up on a canned goods
    --Made/Froze four turkey mini-pot pies that will cover four Hubby dinners (I'm vegan). I only crust the tops of them.

    *hugs*
    ~Kelley

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  2. Jane28 April 2017 at 03:08

    Hi Annabel,
    feeling so blah is never nice. It's the feeling of being worn out, being unable to help with the babies(grown and tiny)and just not being able to keep up with the everyday that makes your illness so frustrating for you. I wish you well and hope that some answers can be found. Once you know what you're dealing with you can take steps towards wellness. Praying for you.
    This week we were gifted 2kg of fresh caught prawns. OMG they were divine. Bluey, Katie and I made very short work of them. We hade them with salad from the garden and Bluey's home made mayo and fresh sourdough loaf.
    Mum and Dad came for a visit. I went through making sourdough with Dad and sent him home with his own active starter. I haven't heard how his loaf making has gone. My Father has quite a sweet tooth and Mum does not. Dad cleaned up one banana cake I made and took a frozen one home. Dad also only eat peas, potato, carrots and corn veges. Mum loves veges so she raided the garden and went home with a big bag of various greens just for her.
    I did a substitute teaching day this week. This is the first work I have done since Bluey got ill last year. Looking forward to doing this a couple of times a week.
    Our plumber fixed our electric water heater and we now have lots of lovely hot water. It's finally cooled down so this has happened just in time.
    I have just strained out a big bowl of chicken stock that has been in the slow cooker since last night. It smells divine.
    A lot of work continues in the garden. There are lots of little green tomatoes coming on, the first of the zucchinis went home with Mum.
    We had our bore water tested this week and it is perfect for human consumption. I use this all the time on the garden and we had wondered if this would be a good alternative water supply in a time of need.
    Life is good.

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  3. Anonymous28 April 2017 at 03:32

    Hi Annabel and Beautiful Bluebirds!!

    Annabel, those pink flowers in your post are beautiful! Mimi, the rose and blue bird transfers are good medicine for a floating glacier! Ha ha!! Jen, I am looking forward to Show and Tell, to see your beautiful little socks!

    I had some fun today, training the dog and guarding my outdoor cooking at the same time. Amidst all that, I finally realised why my roomy back pocket had sounded like stitches tearing .... and why that pocket started feeling wet when my damp work cloth was in a pocket on the other side! Ha ha - I had forgotten that the two eggs I was about to cook were in that pocket! I've not done that before! I rescued the yolk from the broken egg, but that's all!!

    Having rescued some small green lemons, my interest was captured by a recipe in which the lemons are cooked whole before making them into marmalade. I cooked my little lemons whole, after which they were like soft figs inside, and I feel grateful that the resultant chunky, all-of-the-lemon jam (my variation) turned out! It is strengthening, and the seeds of the younger lemons taste nutty!

    Jane, Annabel showed me your photo of your olive bread. It looks good, and I reckon that I'll be making olive bread often, after two more months of olive curing! I thought your tea set with kookaburras was both exquisitely beautiful and relaxing (Aussie style) all at once!!

    There is a lot to look forward to!!

    Gratefully,
    Rachel Holt

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  4. Nanna Chel28 April 2017 at 05:14

    Goodness me, Annabel...I hope you recover quickly. Having Glandular Fever is so tiring apparently. Make sure you rest as much as possible. Big hugs and I will be praying for you.

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  5. LaurieS28 April 2017 at 06:30

    Annabel, I'm so sorry to hear you are ill. Hoping you can get lots of rest.
    Yes it's very contagious.
    Glad to hear Andy has an interview in the future!

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  6. Fiona28 April 2017 at 06:44

    Praying for the return of good health to you Annabel, and a good outcome for Andy's big job interview.

    You have still achieved plenty this week. As always your cooking is scrumptious.

    I don't have much to report, so will close off with a big hug for you. Fi xx

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  7. Sarah28 April 2017 at 07:49

    Annabel, I am sorry that instead of getting better, you seem to be languishing! Mail is so wonderful though, glad that you have had a little bright spot. Hopefully you will be feeling better soon!

    I have been reading your blog long enough now that I will say things like "You know my Australian lady's blog? Well I read..."! and my family know who I am talking about. They are fascinated by little tidbits I pick up through the blog and comments that are different then how we do things here. I am too!

    As for feathering, my husband and son went and picked up a huge entertainment center my mom was getting rid of. It was made from trees on their property she had cut down. It is beautiful, but she moved into a smaller house and this thing is huge. Well, we got it home and it is so big we can't find just the right place for it! So right now things are all out of whack as we keep moving furniture around and saying "Well, lets live with it HERE and see what we think" haha, hopefully we can find it's proper place in the house soon, because this weekend he is going back to pick up a piano! I also finished one of my plastic bag rugs and set it out on the back porch to hopefully stop some of the mud that the kids track in. Spring is such a dirty time on a farm. We always do a summer tidy instead of spring clean because summer is drier and we track in less dirt!

    Not really a feathering but maybe an idea someone could use. My husband takes each one of our kids out for a one on one date around their birthday, as there are 6 of them, one on one time is hard to come by. Anyway, last night he took one of our daughters out for dinner and a concert at the college. The concert was put on by students there, and they came home saying it was much better than they expected (not that they expected it to be bad, but you know what I mean)and that they'd had a lovely "grownup" evening listening to the FREE concert. Next month he is taking another daughter to the same college for a free swing dancing event, not that he can swing dance, but he is always willing to try for his "girls". So maybe checking out your local college's events board would prove useful or fun for someone here.
    I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

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    Replies
    1. Annabel28 April 2017 at 21:43

      Dear Sarah, That is funny! Your family probably think that Australian lady is "interesting" haha!
      It sounds like a major re arrange is happening at your place! Moving everything is a big job. You may even have to think using it differently... I will be interested to hear what happens!
      I love that your husband does this! He is a good guy! These times are precious times! I love that! And you are right this does have to mean an expense. It is time that is the important thing. Also conversations are had that would never take place necessarily in front of others... this is special.
      He will be paid back many times over for this kind of thing.
      Thank you for your comment! It lifted me up thinking we come into your conversations! With love, Annabel.xxx

      Delete
  8. Anonymous28 April 2017 at 08:39

    Dear Annabel,
    You are in our prayers for a speedy recovery. Resting as much as possible is key!

    We stopped in an op shop this week and I got quite a haul for $3. This included 4 floral pillow cases, one very large red table cloth to possibly be cut up and used to make table runners for Christmas, 7 Limoges china small plates with a 22 carat gold trim to be used as dessert plates, 5 tins that will be painted over at 5 cents apiece (how could I pass those up), several doilies, and two lace valences, 3 books, "The Big Book of Peter Rabbit", "Tea and Inspiration" and "Romantic Gardening and Landscaping", all for their illustrations to be used on cards and tags, etc. Cleaned and reorganized the bathroom vanities, and the secretary. Worked on some craft projects and cooked all meals at home except one. Blessings, Cookie

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    1. Annabel28 April 2017 at 21:36

      Thank you Cookie. I cannot believe you got Limoges in that haul. Simply amazing. I consider Limoges to be one of the best brand names of all time! Thank you for the photos by the way! What a haul!
      You had a good week! Now I hope you have a lovely weekend! With love, Annabel.xxx

      Delete
  9. Anonymous28 April 2017 at 09:12

    Annabel,
    I hope you feel better soon! Even sick you still get a lot done I don't know how you do it. The transfers Mimi sent you are gorgeous! I am having a hard time finding any around here these days if they are the kind you rub on. and I can't wait to see the little socks Jen knitted!
    We are coming along in the big projects and making progress finally! We added some Neosporin to the supplies and more coffee and 2 gallons of water. I have a few craft projects I hope to get to really soon as well. On the nice days the laundry has been going on the line, but mine isn't as pretty as yours and so now I am jealous! LOL
    I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.
    XOXO
    Vicky

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    Replies
    1. Annabel28 April 2017 at 21:33

      Dear Vicky, I adore transfers! For anyone reading Arwen Moore Design studio on their website or ETSY sell gorgeous transfers. I am not sure where Mimi got these but they look like the ones I always look at! You can get birds, all kinds of flowers and colours...
      You are getting so much done Vicky and its big things! Imagine how happy you will feel with all this done. What a good start to the year too... all done before May! Cant wait to see everything... with love Annabel.xxx

      Delete
  10. Anonymous28 April 2017 at 14:16

    Praying for you and your family, one that your health is quickly restored, and two that Andy gets that job :)
    Love,
    Donna from Dallas xo

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    Replies
    1. Annabel28 April 2017 at 17:19

      Thank you Donna! I will let everyone know what happens with the job! Have a lovely weekend! xxx

      Delete
  11. terricheney28 April 2017 at 16:23

    Dear Annabel, I shall put you on my prayer list! You've had a hard go of it lately. Remember it's just a season and it must happen in it's own time. So happy to hear of the interview. Now there's an answer to prayers!

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  12. Teri S28 April 2017 at 20:08

    Dear Annabel, Please rest and take good care of yourself! I will be praying for a speedy recovery, and for Andy's interview.

    You really accomplished a lot for not feeling well. Have a restful weekend! Love, Teri

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    Replies
    1. Annabel29 April 2017 at 23:18

      Thanks so much Teri! I will report what happens.... (with the job) and I have had a very restful weekend! Have a good new week! xxx

      Delete
  13. Sherri28 April 2017 at 21:05

    Dear Annabel, I hope you are feeling better soon. Until then it is a good time to rest and listen to that still, small, voice within.

    The sale of our town home was finalised this week, so now we are full-time homesteaders, rather than week-end warriors. I am still working full-time but my husband retired last year and will have plenty to keep himself occupied around the place.

    We have had our puppies for one week and one day. They are nine weeks old, Kelpie/Border Collie cross. One male and one female.

    I have planted some more lettuce this week and set up a perennial 'onion' bed with spring onions, society garlic and chives.

    We have been having super weather the last few weeks. The soil is still damp from the rain received from Cyclone Debbie so little watering is needed. Hooray!

    I still have some unpacking and rearranging of things to do.

    Sarah's plastic bag rug sounds very interesting, doesn't it?

    Praying that you have a speedy return to good health and for Andy's interview to be successful.

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    Replies
    1. Annabel29 April 2017 at 23:17

      Congratulations Sherri! Your puppies sound beautiful (I love Border Collies) and you will have a very busy, full and happy life as homesteaders! I think its really exciting! Enjoy the unpacking and settling in process! xxx

      Delete
  14. Mel28 April 2017 at 23:32

    Dearest Annabel
    I hope you pick up soon there is nothing so frustrating as being sick and unable to see loved ones or get things done. Praying for you my friend.
    This week has been a good one though I am left exhausted by it. I worked two extra shifts this fortnight and also the two public holidays, so I am looking forward to a bit of extra pay this coming week. I made all meals at home and froze twenty single serve portions of meals for coming days when I am not feeling like cooking or am not well. I have begun making some Christmas gifts and I purchased two from Aldi on special. I have been working hard on weight loss still and am having encouraging results. I have also been culling clothing and saving any patterned clothes that I can reuse as the basis for gifts or home decorating. I bought a few items that were for sale at work for next to nothing and I was able to use them around the home or for food storage. I bought a few items on sale and tried two new recipes. I have been encouraging the girls to help in the kitchen and around the home with great results. I have also been reading blogs on frugality and learning new things.
    Much love Mel S xxx

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    Replies
    1. Annabel30 April 2017 at 01:29

      Well done Mel, you have done amazing things especially as things haven't been easy and you still have achieved so much. All the meals will be so handy. Saving good fabric is worthwhile too. Thank you for your prayers too! With love Annabel.xxx

      Delete
  15. Anonymous29 April 2017 at 01:52

    Thoughts and prayers for a fast recovery freel for you and a successful interview for your hubby!
    💗 Melody in OR

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  16. jomorro29 April 2017 at 02:45

    Hi Annabel, Hope you are soon feeling lots better.
    Take good care,
    Jo

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  17. Rhonda29 April 2017 at 19:27

    Oh Annabel, I hope you are well and feeling good and no longer contagious very soon.
    Your cooking looks delicious. I made enchiladas today. I didn't roll mine, I just layered them like lasagna, they were so easy that way and tasted just the same as rolled enchiladas. Would you believe I was thinking about your recent lasagna post while I made them? I really was

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  18. Anonymous30 April 2017 at 00:13

    Dear Annabel, I hope you find out what's ailing you and that it's not as thought. Wishing Andy all the best for his interview tomorrow fingers and toes crossed!
    Painting of the guest room inside windows ,and although going slowly progress is happening. I hope to start on the walls the first warmer day ,mid week by look of the weather forecast.
    I also made enchiladas Friday , fajitas,chicken and vege quiche, meat pies and lasagna.To build up some freezer meals.Saturday I made sticky sausages which was on Friday's agenda but Id run out of time and energy to make. It all worked out as our daughter came for dinner. We've been out for a family birthday lunch ,and cookup leftovers I turned into a sort of moussaka. It was delicious! Those meals equalled about 40 single serves . But next time I will focus on just two in bigger amounts , as it was too tiring for me on Friday.
    Have a lovely week everyone :-) Love Maria xxx

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  19. Annabel30 April 2017 at 21:06

    Thank you for all the comments and messages! I haven't managed to answer everyone I am sorry. I will try and catch up on the post today (Monday) Have a good new week! xxx

    ReplyDelete

I really appreciate your comments thank you! The aim of my blog is the be a place of encouragement and happiness. Very rarely is anyone rude. Actually only twice so far! If you post a rude or aggressive comment I will read it but not publish it, thanks for understanding.xxx

Spam is never published... if you are advertising a product or selling website your comment wont be published. I am inundated with stuff about drugs, horses and weird things! I am not going to publish this stuff! Thank you.




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