Feather your Nest Friday, 21st December, 2018.

Here we are a few days before Christmas!!  We have been doing so much to try and have a few days to feel the Christmas spirit and new farm life.  Last night we did just that.  We had returned from a trip to the city.  Boy was it ever busy in Adelaide.   The traffic on the way home was busy too.

So when we ate dinner outside on the deck we just soaked in the peace, the birds and we both kind of went ahhhh we are home.   THEN  two huge Wedge Tailed Eagles flew over us and circled around for several minutes.   We just sat there and didn't move!  Yes we love it here.  They welcomed us home I decided!

Some of the ways we built up the nest this week included:

I fixed up two old beds.  These were Chloe and Lucy's beds when they were little.  They got them for Christmas one year.  I saved up for these and they loved them.  In fact they still remember how on Christmas morning they woke up in the beds.  They thought Father Christmas had magically transformed their beds.  So you can imagine... while they slept I constructed each bed (they came in a ton of pieces) and lifted each child into the new bed and moved out the old bed... and neither of them woke up!! haha!  

Well... I could never part with the beds.  They have been kept in the shed all these years.  And now here I am with a bigger house and two Grand daughters...

So we dusted them off.  I was worried about rust and if I still had all the bits and so much porcelain that might be broken...  but nothing was! I had boxed up all the little pieces and it was all there.

With a lot of scrubbing and polishing they came up ok and I even put them together myself as I knew exactly what to do.

I just needed two mattresses.  Meanwhile I collected all the linen I would need. 

The end result...

It still needs some finishing touches but I have a room and I have little story books I kept that were Chloe and Lucy's favourites plus toys. 

The next room to conquer is the spare room that will have a Queen sized bed.  We are picking that up from Chloe this afternoon as she has a surplus bed.  I have all the linen for this bed also ready to make it up.  I can't wait to do this as then another room will look complete.

We got the mattresses  for the single beds while in Adelaide.  Andy had bought a trailer.  This was another thing on our "farm" list.  To take rubbish to the dump,  the mower to be serviced and many other things we need a trailer. 

So this was another goal achieved this week and the first load on the trailer was the mattresses.

Andy is pretty darn pleased with his new trailer.   For Christmas I got him a large lock up toolbox for the back of the ute and he got this too!  This also adds to our preparedness as now the ute will be equiped with tools, water, first aid and so on.

Early in the week I made three large impossible quiches.  I had ham, cream and eggs to use up.  They provided dinner, lunches and Chloe and Luke got one.

Basically all you do is make a quiche with anything at all in it and instead of pastry add half a cup of flour.  I just use Gluten Free flour (no one notices) then cook it in a pie dish lined with non stick paper.    Kind of like zucchini slice...  so easy... so good with relish!   You can use up so many things this way!

Also I made two trays of Chocolate Fudge.  This is so nice and so easy.   It can be sliced up and wrapped nicely for presents.   I gave some to Dad and some to Luke.  

The recipe is:  3 cups milk chic chips, 1 can condensed milk, 1/4 cup margarine or butter.  Melt in bursts of 30 seconds in the microwave and stir. When melted throw in your cherries, nuts or whatever you want.  Set in a tin lined with non stick baking paper (in fridge) and then slice up into logs or squares and package nicely.  It is fast, easy and yum!

I added glazed cherries... you can add nuts, sultanas, whatever you like.   You could top with hundreds and thousands for kids.  

In a paddock I saw these pom pom type grasses growing.  I don't know what they are but I picked some to see if they dry well or fall apart.  Not sure yet...

If they dry they will be interesting in an arrangement.  My Nan always picked anything interesting and worked things into arrangements.  She would have done the same!

I made cupcakes to take the girls.

When Scarlett sees me she just says "Cake" lol

Out on the deck we have some shade so I potted up a hydrangea and I just used an old farm cast iron pot (which was full of holes) as my pot.  It looks really nice.

The nest I found last week was turned into Christmas decor.  The egg was found by Chloe in her mail box!  

Andy worked on the shed.  He had a lot to do.  The before situation was like if there was a TV show called "hoarders move house"  or something like that.   This is now!

Around the house I have put baskets of pinecones and pine branches.  

Our Christmas tree is only going up today!! It is pine branches we cut from a pine out the back.  I am about to decorate that... talk about better late than never!!

So that was my week!  How did you feather your nest and build up your home? How is christmas shaping up for you?

I have some really big plans for the New Year.  But before we start thinking of me beginnings lets think over the whole year.  It can be a whirlwind.  When I stop and think about everything this year held is was just huge!  We have come a long way.

I want to thank you all for your friendship all year.  We all have highs and lows, good days and bad days.  Having friends to share it with and work along side with makes a world of difference.  We may all be scattered far and wide but we are so similar in many ways.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Have a wonderful Christmas! xxx