Feather your Nest Friday, 15th November, 2019.

I hope you had a good week.  It felt like a whirlwind here.

Some of the ways I feathered my nest this week included:

I cooked up two big pots of spaghetti meat sauce.  I let these simmer a couple of hours.   Then I used some for meals and portioned out the rest to freeze.   I love to have lots of meals ready in the freezer!

This week I planted different varieties of tomatoes in a new patch of garden I have now claimed for the herb and veggie garden.  I made support frames from bamboo sticks.  They look kind of nice.   I have been building up the soil there and the tomatoes seem to have taken right off!

The general veggie garden has grown.  We had rain then cool days with mist and everything seems to have come along.

I just planted lots of basil in the spaces around my tomatoes.

Also I am excited as I have Hollyhocks about to flower and Foxgloves just coming out.  I will have a better photo next week I think...

Every day I cut spinach and pull weeds to feed the chickens.  Then I return with 14 eggs and a bucket of chicken manure to add to the garden.   Doing everything to build up the soil is starting to kick in I think.  I have added a lot of sheep manure.   If I have tea leaves, coffee grounds, ash, banana peels etc it all goes into the garden.  

Mum and I went to visit the girls.   I took a container of my spaghetti sauce and a banana cake the girls love.  I added a few snowflakes and we were good to go.  Thank goodness kids are easily impressed but they are!

Lucy had roses flowering all along her shed.   These are old roses that she pruned in winter.  

These ones are a peachy colour.  I cut some for her and put them in a vase inside.

In front of the shed there are three huge pink roses.   Last year I cut some of these and they were the most beautiful roses I have ever had as they scented the whole house.  Just heavenly.   Next week I hope I can pick some of those...  they were just coming and maybe a week behind these ones.

Lucy's house is an old homestead with very high ceilings.   It had not been lived in for many years.   The old curtains were still hanging when renovations began and these were piled up in the old shed.   They had been very beautiful and good curtains in their day.   One set looked in good shape to me and covered in roses and blue ribbons.  I have brought them home to see how they wash up.   If they wash ok I will post some photos next week as they are a beautiful chintz and it is a huge amount of fabric!  

I was able to get some seedlings and potting soil for free from the nursery as they have a points and rewards system.  Mum had bought Christmas presents there and I earned the points on my card!   So I have lots of seedlings to add to the garden this afternoon.

Andy has been working on clearing up the trees we had taken down out the back.  The tons of wood is a fire hazard and needs to be cleared.  I piled up a trailer load of sticks and branches.  There is just so much of it!  

With the plans to do up the cottage I thought a fire pit out the front would be very nice for winter visitors.   So some of the wood has gone towards this and a heap of wood to be ready for the fires.   Plus I love the look of a wood pile!   Andy used an old dog kennel frame to make a stackable wood supply.  I think it looks fantastic.

Most of these logs are about a meter (or yard) long.  The rest of the wood is going to dry out in the shed for future winter fires.  So much wood!   The big bits we cannot even move are being cut up by a man who wants to make furniture with it.  He brings in a huge machine to slice it into slabs.   I hope to get a slab and make a coffee table for the cottage and maybe some thing like cutting boards. 

So many Australian's faced fires this week.  I hope everyone is ok.  What a stressful week.   The images have terrified me as we have a fire risk here.   We do all we can to be ready and I try to put my energy into preparations more than worry.   If you live in a fire risk area do everything you can to clear around your home and reduce fuel etc.   It is a lot of work.  We have worked at this for over a year and there is still more to do.

I hope you had a good week.   How did you save, get ahead, stock up your pantry or freezer?   Also how are you going with Christmas preparations and gifts? I am trying to get ahead with these things and have quite a bit wrapped.  I need to start working on cards too!

Have a lovely weekend!  xxx