The biggest thing would be that we settled the sale of our house! And I completely finished unpacking the very last things that we brought home at the last minute. (And everything else as well.)
Also I came home with rosemary cuttings and I dug up little bits of violets to plant under my roses at the farm. So that is it for the old house!
I am heading to the city today just for one night. Chloe and I are going together! She is Christmas shopping. I will see the girls and do a grocery shop and have a few appointments. Anyway it is good fun just having girl time.
Some of the ways I feathered my nest this week included:
I made two impossible pies with several cartons of cream I got for 40c. Bargain! This made a dinner and most of the weeks lunches. For impossible pie I just add some gluten free flour. This saves needing pastry. So easy.
If I see cream on special I buy it and freeze it. Once I had Harper with me and she was pushing one of those little kids trolleys. There were cartons of cream for 8c! So I started putting them into her trolley since she likes to be in charge. After about ten she said "Nan Nan Bel I think that is enough cream..." haha
We had a big day with our ride on mower being delivered!
I have been watering the fruit trees. The fruit is growing! The mystery tree is an apple I think...
Whatever it is I hope the fruit is good as there are THOUSANDS of them.
We invested in bird netting. This was an adventure. It involved ladders, poles, cooperation and a lot of muttering... but we did it!
This is a pretty big tree... around four or five meters high! So you can imagine the fun of this. We decided this should be an olympic sport as it would be hilarious to watch!
Meanwhile we rescued a baby cockatoo one evening as it fell out of the nest. It was almost ready to fly. We interfered as Magpies we attacking it. The next day the parents came looking for it and we put it back on the lawn and they fed him. We watched all of this all day to see if he was going to be alright! On the third day finally he flew! Who needs TV?
Also we relocated our own bird into a big old cage that we found in the shed. We planned this but it was too heavy to move until Luke came and helped.
Luke always looks like he is having fun... because he is! But truly he is so helpful!
I did make him a chocolate thank you cake.
My niece is rising "good laying hens" in her ag class at school which is also a school fundraiser as they then sell them. I ordered five. Five of these are coming my way when they are old enough...
They are kind of strawberry blonde! They are at that awkward teenage stage...
I gave myself a hair trim.
I made up a bunch of essential oil gifts. Apart from moving house learning about essential oils would be the best thing I did this year. It is a life changer. Health wise it made a huge difference.
I made beauty serum for a friend. I use this and love it. In a small bottle I put Emu oil then I add a few drops of Lavender, Frankincense and Geranium. That's it! I copied this from a website where they charged $50 for it! It is lovely and deeply moisturising.
Then I made my copy of Clary Calm which I use coconut oil (the type that stays a liquid) in 10ml roller bottles. I get these from eBay. To this I add Clary Sage, Lavender, Bergamot, Chamomile, Cedarwood, Ylang Ylang and Geranium. Generally I do ten drops of essential oils to 10mls of oil. This is a bit flexible. This blend is divine and so relaxing. I basically wear this every day.
I made myself a hair treatment oil. I added Lavender, Rosemary, Tea Tree, Sage, and Ylang Ylang to Castor oil. When I do a treatment I use this on my scalp. I have a thing about having thick hair...
I made several that were already purchased blends i.e. On Guard, Console, Germ Fighter... just adding ten drops to my 10ml roller bottles and labelling these.
Then I made my ULTIMATE sleep blend. I made this up and now re make it often.
It is coconut oil and add several drops of each of Lavender, Vetiver, Chamomile, Ylang Ylang, Bergamot, Sandalwood, Cedarwood.... It is divine! I think I am addicted to this! If I wake up in the night I rub it on my wrists and it is genuinely dreamy.
This all gave me several gifts. Some I used my little boxes Lynette gave me and some went into little purses. When you have all the oils on hand it makes it so easy to make beautiful gifts.
I have a Home Pharmacy section in my index, there are lots of posts on Essential oils in there. You can get very good priced excellent quality oils! And they go a very very long way aS they need to be strongly diluted.
Next year I hope to post much more about oils. Now I have some essential oil jewellery so I will cover that down the track.
A really good thing happened toward our preparedness. I contacted one of our neighbours who is on a property out the back of us. It is someone I used to know years ago! She knew my voice instantly and she sounded just the same too! We exchanged numbers and caught up. We came to an agreement to help each other out. If she is going to town and I need something she will get it. If I go to town I will ask her what she needs. She is caring for her elderly Mum. Also in the case of a fire we need to be in close communication. This is so good. She is so lovely and now I have a friend nearby!
My garden has grown so much! I have loads of baby tomatoes, the rhubarb is growing, the spinach and silver beet is almost worth picking. Ten weeks ago there was no garden at all!
I will do another wave of planting yet. I have Jane's seeds in pots. Once they are big enough I will find spots for them. I always find Basil doesn't do well until after Christmas so I will put in a lot more later.
If I go away for one or two days I can see things have grown when I get back. Things grow fast!
I strung up loads of outdoor solar family lights. I love them!
So that is pretty much my week. It is a beautiful day today, perfect Spring.
How did you build up your home, preparedness, pantry or savings this week?
Have a wonderful weekend!
I know I have at least one more Show and Tell to post yet as well! xxx
Your garden is lovely! Here in my part of the US, the beautiful autumn colors are gone and we've had snow twice already (good thing I love snow!). The snow this morning was absolutely gorgeous as it fell. I'm trying a new recipe tonight, so we'll see how that goes.
ReplyDeleteThis week was a great week for leftovers. We ate everything up and nothing went to waste, so I'm happy about that (and happy about all the time I got off from cooking!). I had to pick up a few extras for Thanksgiving this week, so the grocery bill was a bit higher than normal, but not by much. Everything I'm making other than the cheese potatoes, I already had on hand. My mom hosts; I just take dishes there. I'm looking forward to next Wednesday, which is the day I cook everything I'm taking. It's an all-day-in-the-kitchen kind of day, and my daughter, who is four, is excited to help me. :) The good news is, examining my pantry, it's in pretty good shape for the winter, and I should just be needing to fill in the gaps with fresh things for a while. That makes me very happy!
That impossible pie looks fantastic!!!
Dear Stephanie, Thank you! I have only ever seen snow once! To me it looks beautiful and magical.
DeleteI love leftovers! After Christmas there are often leftovers i.e. roast meats and veggies... I love those days! But anytime I love leftovers and not cooking for those days. And sometimes inventing things to do with this and that. Very often being inventive with leftovers is a way to get ahead with several meals... now this works in turn to allow us to put things away for winter or storage. It is the little steps that add up I think.
I love that your daughter is four and helping. She will be learning and remembering too. I think I was about four when I would shape bits of dough or pastry into little mice etc and Mum would bake them! I loved anything like this!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. This is a celebration that I wish we had here. We would all do well to think of giving thanks! With love Annabel.xxx
What a wonderful week you had indeed. I am so happy for you that the house sale is closed and you are all unpacked. So many blessing for you.
ReplyDeleteAll the garden items look lovely, YAY on the new mower, and how wonderful to have reconnected with an old friend. That will be a blessing for you both.
Dear Cheryl, Thank you! We have had some big steps each week! They are adding up to a lot of progress. It is so good to have a friend nearby. There are many things we can do to help each other. The nearest town is a half hour drive... So this was another really wonderful thing this week.
DeleteHave a great weekend! With love Annabel.xxx
Hi Annabel, what a wonderful week you have had! I'm so glad your house settlement went through well. I can't believe how lush and big your plants have grown in such a short time - you must have a great green thumb!! Your essential oil gifts look so beautiful - thank you for sharing your recipes. I would love to try the ultimate skin serum, when I can collect the right oils, it sounds devine! I have been gradually preparing for Christmas, between work and trying to stay on top of the usual housework, so Christmas will be less stressful. I am nearly finished gift shopping, and will start wrapping now too, instead of my usual wrapping everything marathon on xmas eve!! By doing this early, I'm aiming to have time left to then make a few homemade things for gifts too. Thank you again so much for all that you do and for the time and effort you pour into this blog. You really do inspire, mentor, motivate and encourage so many of us and I'm so grateful for you! Love Kelly PS. I will try and send you a photo soon of some xmas sewing for show & tell. xo
ReplyDeleteDear Kelly,
DeleteLast year Laine said to me how she wrapped things early as she could. Later she was really unwell and she was so glad she had all that wrapping done. So now when I have time and a gift completed I wrap something. Anything we get done ahead can be a big help later.
Thank you for such encouraging words. This blog has tuned into something I never expected but the encouragement and friendship I get helps me so much. It motivates me a lot! Thank you for always contributing too.
Emu oil sounds like an odd ingredient. It is not terribly expensive but it is really good on the skin. I am looking out for other luxury type concoctions so hopefully I can post some more recipes!
Have a lovely weekend! With love Annabel.xxx
A lovely week. I hope you had some of the beautiful rain this past week. It was so nice to get some onto my fruit trees. I've been making up the sleep draught from Strangers & Pilgrims. It smells awful, but it seems to be helping with getting me relaxed enough to sleep and stay asleep. It must be making a difference because AJ commented on how much happier and energetic I've been the last couple of weeks. Getting sleep does this! It's been busy here, getting ready for the Crafty Mums sale. Lots of crafting and packaging going on, the kitchen and familyroom have little piles and boxes and baskets of things everywhere. Not much done in the garden other than weeding and a little watering, that will change next week after the sale. We had a very friendly kookaburra visit for a couple of days. He'd come and sit on the clothesline and talk to me when I was on the verandah. Such a happy fellow, and not at all frightened of me. Baking today, brownies, date loaf, cupcakes and sausage rolls to get us through the weekend. I've been loving the show and tell posts, everyone is so talented. Have a lovely weekend, Cath xxx
ReplyDeleteAnnabel, as always, you lead the way with getting things done. I have had what I thought was a lazy week, until I went back through my journal and realised I have achieved quite a lot. Mind you the achievements are just the everyday living things that mean life can go along without the big bumps.
ReplyDeleteBluey was given a huge hand of large bananas. Between eating these, almost a meal by themselves, I have made up banana muffins, choconana muffins and plain old banana cake. Katie is in the process of moving out so she took a few with her to keep her and Jared going.
I'm expeciting friends we havent seen for three years today and they will be served some as well.
I finished a quilted wall hanging Advent Calendar for the little girls. Maddy has a new redwork stocking and a summer romper. Tilly has two of her own Christmas ornaments made by Granny. These will go in the post on Monday.
Bluey picked up a cabimet at a Garage sale that will end up being gorgeous. Right now it is covered in layers of thick paint and does not look much at all. It is ready for Bluey to work his magic on.
Bluey and I are working on a paving project. I am the TA and have been digging out lawn and putting this in holes in our driveway. I have also dug out and redistributed ten barrow loads of dirt. The pavers are waiting to be cleaned up. That will be my next job.I have muscles in my body that are not my friends right now.
Life is good.
that's good about your neighbour and helping out with items too is a godsend; i can't drive distance & one of my neighbours does her shopping weekly & kindly does a bit for me too each week.
ReplyDeleteyour little plants are huge now! basil does prefer a bit more shade spot when it's very hot, same with oregano & marjoram, any of your soft herbs prefer more shade.
i love having girl time with my daughters, don't get to see them very often & time spent together is cherished
lovely post
thanx for sharing
Dear Annabeland beautiful bluebirds,
ReplyDeleteWow what a week You have had Annabel, animal rescue Olympic tree climbing, impossible quiche, should be called possible quiche because it is possible!.
I have had a big few weeks, I apologise if I haven't commented as much as normal. It's been a rough month and not just for me I know.
Anyway my savings this week have been
Centacare services: 8hours this week so a saving of $350 compared to full priced private services.
Christmas shopping: saved $10by getting free postage and received a free gift worth $25 so $35 savings which will go into my emergency fund.
Used a $10christmas gift voucher and got a product for free basically because it was $10
Got some clearance items at spotlight$41.85worth I paid 17.85, a saving of $24 which will go into holiday savings.
I saved $25 on groceries by buying half price specials and only what I needed, that will top up my slush fund for tea bags and other half price specials.
I am very sore today so I will not go in. I had a good week savings wise.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. Thank toy for featuring my cards in show and tell Annabel. I love everyone's items. You ate all S OK talented and creative.
Love Barb W
Dear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteI love the photos of your garden! That fresh silverbeet looks so lovely compared to my season's end stuff!!! :) You have been so busy...and look at all the comfort and goodness you have as a result!! I also love the photo of Luke with the cage...hilarious! I am rooting for those being apples, as that was my guess! (Ha, ha!) I am just imagining the gymnastics required to get that bird netting on that tree! This is what we really need to do for our cherry tree...not only do the birds descend en masse when it's just about ready to pick, but the raccoons climb up and eat them, too...the whole tree can be picked clean in one night!
I am hoping to take a photo of the craft sale items tomorrow to send to you...made some cute little tree coasters today using up scraps of flannel and an old hand towel for the batting. After this weekend it is full out crafting for Christmas!!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Love, Jen in NS
Hi Annabel
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks amazing! It’s grown so much. I’m glad your house settled without any dramas. That must be such a relief!
Thank you for sharing your blends, I love being able to give roller bottles as gifts. I have a lovely friend in hospital this week & I was able to bless her with an anxiety blend to roll on, a reassurance blend to diffuse and 2 other pre-made blends 😊.
This week we made some savings by reviewing the costs going out of our accounts. I was able to cancel some subscriptions which will make a difference.
I’m currently trying to work out how to continue to lower our grocery bill as it seems fresh food has increased in cost again (or at least keep it stable).
Melissa
Hi annabel.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy reading your blog each week and thank you for all your efforts.... they are appreciated and you are helping and encouraging many of us along the way... i was intrigued with the impossible pie... do you have a recipie???
Thanks ruth x
Dear Ruth, Thank you so much! Impossible pies are wonderful as you can use so many things up. They are good hot or cold so great in the lunch boxes. Also picnics! There are all kinds, sweet and savoury. Mine is really an impossible quiche. Here is a link to get you going but it is very flexible!!! I love to add in sun dried tomatoes, bacon or ham, cooked onion, herbs, it can use up soft cheeses too. https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/impossible-quiche-2/8244d479-b108-4b9c-9727-25e7041d8fd2
DeleteThey are good with s salad and relish. They can also be made up as muffin style. I just use GF flour instead of the usual flour. Oh and really they are good for breakfasts too! I hope this helps! Love Annabel.xxx
Annabel your gardens are looking fantastic and it must be good to finish unpacking everything and have things in their places. A great idea to work together with your neighbour for potential fires and shopping trips and how lovely you know her and have a friend close by :).
ReplyDeleteWe got to go to our soon to be new farm home today and had permission to drop off some items into the sheds there prior to settlement. A load of firewood went over today and we sat in the lean to 3 bay shed and admired the view after unloading the firewood :) and the cool breeze was wonderful. Of course more planning got done as well.
Our Vicky challenge added up to $505.81 last week :).
Purchases -
- Bought a 7 pin flat - 7 pin small round trailer adaptor on eBay using a $10 off purchase voucher saving $28.90 over buying it locally.
- Purchased 3 x $240 for $200 Woolworths grocery e-vouchers off eBay saving $120 on grocery costs. I will of course couple this with any half price specials that I find to save more on items we use.
Sales -
- Sold DH's scooter to a friend who we took it to to get it going after sitting for a number of years for $500 that we will put into the bank our future home improvements and some small repair needs.
- Made $48.90 from sales from my eBay store which we used for a few things for the home.
In the gardens -
- Saved from divisions 6 thyme plants, 6 calla lilies, 6 of each yellow and tigerlily orange canna lilies and 6 more rosemary cuttings from the gardens saving $307.76 over purchasing them locally. These will be starts for our new home gardens.
Home & garden organisation and moving -
- We have now packed 3/4's of the house into marked boxes.
- I cleaned out the inside of cupboards as we emptied them.
- All of our grass clippings have now been used to heavily mulch all the remaining garden beds to stop weeds growing before we leave. We also weeded them all.
In the kitchen -
- Cooked a double batch of chocolate and coconut queen biscuits saving $14.03 over purchasing them.
- Made a large bacon and silver beet quiche from eggs given to us, pastry we made from food storage and silver beet from the gardens saving around another around $20 over purchasing it.
Have a wonderful week ahead everyone :).
Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).
Dear Lorna, How exciting it must have been to go to your place! That was very nice they let you have early access. How great you have a good place dos tore wood too. We have found our spot to pile wood in racks in the big shed there is kind of a wide veranda on the other side... anyway it is dry and a good place to stack. I love the sight of a good woodpile! It is security!
DeleteI am continually amazed by the prices of plants... I am seeing all the time because of starting this garden. There are huge savings in germinating, dividing, striking etc. Mind blowing!
Your sales were excellent! That was a boost for the week!
Your quiche sounds beautiful. Eggs are such a bonus. I think chooks would be wonderful for you! They are the ultimate recycling machines!
Lorna can you possibly email me with your new mailing address...
You are doing great on the packing up! So exciting that things are so close now! With much love Annabel.xxx
I'm so envious of you having everything unpacked and I am just starting to pack everything up!!! I get so overwhelmed when I think of everything it's going to take to move this house!!! We did make some headway this week though. We decluttered small areas every day this week. I also sent the last bit of paperwork off to the mortgage company and wired the money to the closing attorneys. We are supposed to sign the papers for the new house on the 26th of this month. I'll believe it when I see it! With Thanksgiving next week, I'm afraid the date might get pushed back. We will see! We are planning on emptying the attic and packing it up next week during the Thanksgiving holiday break. Just trying to take one step at a time! Hope you have a wonderful weekend! Hugs, Holley
ReplyDeleteDear Holley,
DeleteI feel your pain! Honestly I just thought moving was endless and we would NEVER get everything done. To get to the point that a room is empty, cupboards wiped out, floor clean etc and walk away from that room is pretty much endless... x by how many rooms you have! We in general dont have attics or basements. So adding these in I cant imagine! I hope the paperwork all comes through for you. Having Thanksgiving as well will make things even more hectic! But seriously one step at a time and you will get there. By Christmas hopefully you can look back and think thank goodness thats done!
Since moving I feel much more organised, decluttered, I know everything I have and where it is... so you can kind of use the process to get better set up than ever and it is really good.
I hope you have a good weekend too! With love, Annabel.xxx
Have a lovely girls trip with Chloe!!
ReplyDeleteYour week was really good Annabel, and what a relief to now just focus your efforts on the farm house. The garden is looking fantastic! We have planted some seedlings this week, just basic salad vegetables. If we can grow tomatoes and cucumbers I will be happy, anything else will be a bonus.
I bought lots of Christmas presents this week, and had a morning of wrapping when everyone was at school and kindy. I'm feeling so much more organised for Christmas than this time last year! I stocked up on wrapping paper which was discounted to clear, and then had another 50% off at the checkout. Some was Disney themed for $1 a roll!
I have loved the show and tells this week, I'm sorry I haven't sent any photos but I am having issues with technology. I think it pretty much amounts to having quite old devices that are dying slow deaths lol. I will try to send some pictures through, but don't hold your breath!!
Your essential oil gifts look fabulous, and no doubt smell even better. I'm sure anyone receiving them will be very happy. I love that you have reconnected with a friend. I feel like that idea of helping each other out is pretty much how the world is meant to work :)
Have a great weekend everyone
Jen in NZ
Dear Jen,
DeleteI hope your veggies grow! I think any success I have is just checking things twice a day, watering and getting them going. In terrible heat I might go out and throw over a sheet or make some shade somehow.
The wrapping paper was a great deal! When you are busy wrapping and getting these things done when you can is a really good idea. You will be hiding a lot of things now!
I will look forward to your photos anytime! You have made amazing things in the past. You are one clever girl. So I hope you can find a way to show me what you have made this time.
It is so handy having someone near by especially when living out of town. As you would know trips in to town are time consuming and costly. So any help like this is good.
Have a restful Sunday! I am trying to have a kind catch up day today! With love Annabel.xxx
Annabel, this all sounds just so wonderful! Thank you for the roller bottle recipes/methods. I'm sure it feels good to have the business of closing out your house in the city and being able to close that door. Now, it's on to turning your new house in the country into all you want it to be. I am excited to follow along with you on this journey.
ReplyDeleteThank you Patsy! What a year it has been for you too. You would be glad for some "normal" times. But we both made a lot of good progress! xxx
DeleteDear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteYou have accomplished so much already at the farm. Your energy never fails to amaze me.
I am so glad you have a friend close by to share with.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Love and hugs,
Glenda
Thank you Glenda! WellI am tired today (Sunday) Chloe and I had an overnight trip to the city and we did so much! But I am tired now!
DeleteI do need a catch up kind of day but the weather is beautiful. Have a good weekend there! With love Annabel.xxx
Dear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the house! What a relief to have everything finalized and be completely settled in at the farm.
Your garden looks amazing! We just had a freeze so mine looks rather pitiful right now but I think the cold hardy plants are going to make it. I sure hope so. For our citrus tress, Colton decided he didn't want to be moving them around all winter (they are in tubs) so he built a greenhouse! I'm thrilled with it and it's pretty ingenious. He used an old tent frame (the canvas had worn out long ago), some glass shower doors from our dump, and painter's plastic we already had. Sometimes it just pays to have a junk pile lol.
We have been wanting to plant an oak tree to shade our back patio. We saw that trees at our local farm and ranch supply store were 20% off! We have made friends with the people who work there, so when they saw us looking at them, they let us know they had just marked them down to 40% off. So we got a deal!
We got another major project done this week that we (mostly me) had been putting off. We ground up hog and deer meat that Colton had harvested and froze in sections. Now it is ready to be turned into sausage.
With Thanksgiving approaching, the grocery stores are offering major sales. We took advantage and bought canned goods at 50 cents each. I try to buy enough to last me through the year. We also bought sweet potatoes at 4 lbs for $1. We bought about 25 lbs. Most other things we bought were also deeply discounted, so big savings there, and a full pantry. Very good feeling. I love Harper's comment about the cream! That's too funny.
My neighbor just told me this week she is pregnant! She is a good friend and we are so excited, but she gets horribly sick at the beginning of her pregnancies. I know how that feels, so a couple nights this week I took meals over for her and her family. That way nobody had to cook and she didn't have to smell it! I also made a heap of bean and cheese burritos for their freezer so if anybody gets hungry or wants a snack during the day, it is quick and already prepared.
I went through John's clothes as he is moving into the next size. The old ones that we are keeping are being packed away into vacuum bags and stored in totes in the attic. The rest will be passed on to others.
In the shop this week I took a good hard look at my costs as I discovered some hidden expenses that I hadn't accounted for. I looked at every penny and adjusted my prices accordingly. Still learning! I also added a couple of new items, as well as worked on custom orders for friends.
That was my week and I am tired! I hope everyone has a lovely weekend! I'm looking forward to a restful Sunday.
With Love, Kelsey
Wow! to your week Annabel! Congratulations on the house sale being finalised. Your veges are looking very healthy , and good on you for meeting your neighbour and working together to help each other .
ReplyDeleteLooks like Andy and Luke as well as being good workers , have fun together, Andys a smart dresser too ;-) familiar outfit hehe.
We had a lovely week of weather to tempt us with summer. I took G/son 4 to gym in the morning and the beach in the afternoon.The wind was a little cool and he wanted his hoody on, he;s still not use to our cooler weather he was born in Qld by the beach , but eventually once he sat on the sand with buckets , and utensils he was happy for ages, and I was able to sit and watch and hand out nibbles when needed. That suited me as I was still left with the remains of flu from the previous week ie constant nose blowing and dry cough.Much better now though , as Im late replying here .
Hope everyone had a restful Sunday , with love Maria xxx