Feather your Nest Friday, 31 July, 2020

Where do I even start?  So much can happen in a week.   The gist of it is this was my second week of quarantine and Dad was very sick and hospitalised.  So it was all bad enough and I couldn't go to see him.  On top of that he had never seen Sidney and I thought maybe now he never would.

So now we start layering the "on top of that's"...

On top of that things in our neighbouring state got much much worse and lockdowns and restrictions increased again.  My daughters family are border community. They literally live right on the border.  We cannot go to see them but they can get to their town for school, doctor and so on.   Dad ended up in the hospital in this bigger town but Lucy was not allowed to go to the hospital either.  

On top of that Dad signed himself out of hospital when he was no better and he was determined to go home.  :(

There were good things...  Mum got to see Lucy and the girls (on our side of the border) and, for the first time,  hold Sidney.

And Lucy was determined.... so when Mum went to pick up Dad Lucy drove her car to the hospital car park and parked near Mum's car.  When Dad came out he was greeted by Lucy, the girls and Sidney. He was just delighted and this was very special.  I am so grateful for these moments.  I got to see photos so I could see what a success it was.

I could keep saying "on top of that" but I think you get the idea.  Some mornings bad news came so thick and fast I felt like I was going to panic.   At this moment Dad is doing ok but Lucy and family are fairly well cut off.

I know our situation is nothing compared to what some families are going through.  I have seen finance figures come in, here and overseas, and the commentary is very grim, mostly comparing the numbers to the Great Depression and in some instances worse.

Most days I tried to keep things as normal as possible.   And to keep busy.   I would go nuts if I didn't.
I added lots to my raised garden beds.  They are getting close to full now but as the hay etc breaks down I will need to keep adding.

I made an impossible pie to use up some eggs and garden herbs.

Also a double batch of Miracle Cleaner.    I save spray pumps from commercial products and match them to glass bottles.   Then I make up my dilution for surface cleaning. 

If you make your own cleaners you eliminate a lot of things you have to buy.  You also never need to buy scented sprays etc (most of which are very unhealthy) as your home truly smells so clean and fresh.   

Our local Facebook Buy Swap and Sell is really quite good.  I found three very old and very shabby white wooden chairs.  To me they are beautiful.   $5 each!   I couldn't pick them up but the lady was lovely and she delivered them for me to somewhere I can pick them up next week.  So pleased!  I was needing two but three is better!

I tried to continue to sew each day.  Even a short time each day produces more than you think!  I finished up 12 bandana style bibs. 

I enjoyed these so much!   They have a velcro fastening. Very easy.

Now I have moved on to a bigger style feeding bib.  

I made a chocolate cake.  It was mostly sliced and frozen and gave us a nice afternoon tea.

I was given some nice big juicy lemons.

We are needing rain now but the paddocks have been looking green and everyone has grown! 

Some time ago I put in an order for two miniature goats.   This week I had the chance to pick two from photos.   This is the little girl...

We get them in about a month.   I am so excited!   Name suggestions are welcome! 

Each day I did some weeding and gardening.   One thing I did was moved things that clearly were not doing well where they were.   A couple of things I rescued and potted up instead.  I hope this works.   I took cuttings and pruned and repotted two huge Fiddle Leaf Figs that out grew the house but they are not happy at all outside.   Over the week this amounted to a lot! 

Then I pressure cleaned the whole deck and patio areas as they were a mess.  And did the windows.  

I slept well those nights which is a good thing!    

For my pantry...  this week I cleared out more cupboards that can be part of my pantry.  I have two days of quarantine left so then I can get out and do some stocking. 

So that was my week.   I hope things are ok in your area and your family are doing well.   Most of us have had to adapt in some way.  In light of this Vicky and I have a special post this weekend. 

How did you manage to build up your home and get ahead with your pantry or garden?   I hope you had opportunities come your way.   I am glad I had routine and loads to do.   I planned to use my lockdown to get ahead at home and I have done that.  So the two weeks have gone really fast!   I am really thankful for a garden, animals and wide open spaces we have here.    I am hoping to have a bit of a restful weekend and work on my crochet blanket.  I hope you have a good weekend too.xxx