Grow Your Blog

Hi everyone! If you have come here via the Grow Your Blog link up, grab a comfy chair and a


cuppa......... I'm Sharmayne, but my friends call me Sharm, and I started Country Fragrance  back in 2010. 

With my daughter, Stacey

 We had  moved from country Vic up to Townsville for a life style change, but work was not guaranteed for hubbie, and the climate was more than we could bare, as was the cost of living up there, so we decided to move back to the NE Victorian countryside.  
We live in a little township of just 300 people ( although less most of the time as it is more of a holiday type spot).  
Bundalong is right on the junction of the Murray River, and Ovens River,  ( popular for fishing, & water skiing) .... Yarrawonga is our closest town that offers shopping, banking, etc......           

So this blog charted that progress of the move back........ Leaving one son, DIL & grandchildren in Townsville, but with our other son, daughter & her partner all moving back with us.

Doing all the necessary things to the little cottage here, which is set on around 1/4 - 1/3 acre block ..... Which was all completely  covered in a thick layer of prickles and nothing else, on our arrival!  .......initially getting water tank for drinking water ( town water has since come), getting a veggie garden, fruit trees in, etc , etc.     

I am in my very early 50s, and love to be at home doing various crafts and homesteading type activities, when I'm not busy with part time work as a nurse and care coordinator.  So my blog here also shares my love of various crafts........ Crochet, sewing, soap making, cooking,  and various other things.   Last year my blog posts dwindled as life became super hectic, and I  realised how much I missed blog land......... It seems to have a nicer feel and pace than other social media like Facebook .

 

 

Sometimes I host a swap,  and sometimes I take part in other swaps........  And sometimes, I just enjoy having you stop by for a cuppa  while we just sit and chat about nothing in particular!
Thanks for stopping by, and I do hope to see you pop in again,
 Hugs, Sharm

Arrivals at the Homestead

We've had a few arrivals here at the homestead over the past week - Last Friday Pete & I arrived home to find the driveway full .................. 
No parking any cars behind the gates until we fathomed how we were going to be able to manage to turn the 5000 gallon water tank around so we could roll it onto the front lawn........... so much for the truck driver delivering it right onto our tank pad - around the OTHER side of the house!!

  By Saturday afternoon, after much huffing & puffing we managed to finally get it close to the designated resting place - only now we had to work out how to stand it up................. and so, after going to plead the services of a fellow up the road who owned a tractor with fork lift attachments  - Ta Da - one tank upright - hmmm we did think we may have lost the roof as it went upwards - but praise God, it JUST by millimetres fits in under the eaves!!!!  Then we discovered no overflow pipe - so the fitting out is still waiting to take place. Hopefully this will all take place soon as we currently only have a VERY small tank for our drinking & cooking supply!

Thankfully the other arrivals came in wonderful little parcels...............Some cotton wool for making more dishcloths arrived from Janet................

And the PIF from Terry.......Isn't it just wonderful!

So today I've been working on the PIF gifts that I need to be sending out before too long :)  It's made it a very relaxing day of hand sewing mixed with a bit of reading & such - the first time in ages I feel we have actually had a  real "rest day" .  Pray everyone else has had a wonderful day as well.

Hugs Sharm

PS:  A big thankyou from Stacey who is feeling improved & even drove into town today to catch up with some friends (medication carefully stashed in her bag to have at the appointed times  LOL)

It's Winter Here

Here in Bundalong its winter, and although we don't get the snow they get a couple hours away on the mountains, we do get the foggy mornings & the odd frost.  This morning its cold & foggy - this is looking out from the front verandah...................

but inside it's nice and warm

Not that the flash shows the lovely flames very well.  Anyhow, I've been utilizing the wood ash to help in the vegie garden......................making pathways!  It seems to work so well - easy to walk on, the grass doesn't seem to be growing through it as quickly as the soil itself, & I can always "move" the pathways later by simply digging the wood ash into the soil!

Yesterday was just a beautiful day, so we got busy in the yard - first of getting the sand set out ready for the water tank to be delivered sometime over the next couple of weeks - sure hope its soon, cause the dogs are loving the feel of sand between their paws  LOL

The bulbs I planted when we first arrived are shooting - & some are even beginning to bloom.

But getting back to today - which I happen to have off work ..YAH!!, I've been busy - got the little baby quilt finished ready for little "Nemo" (the nickname of our soon to be new grandbaby boy)

And just finished getting the jam drops out of the oven - they should make a nice little snack while I write a few snail mails & perhaps begin getting some more crochet done on the lap blanket for Stacey.
Pray you are all having a great day wherever & whatever it may find you doing.

Hugs, Sharm

On Our Little Homestead

Before I begin - Many thanks to all who sent me birthday wishes, cards or little gifts.  You helped to make my day shine!  Including the wonderful phone call from my 2 grandchildren, Jarryn & Jacey!

As another week begins here for us on our small homestead, which by the way sits on just over the quarter acre, my mind focuses on the subject of Preparedness.  This is a subject that has been close to my heart for many, many years.  How prepared one might be depends on not just the person, but the character of the person & their mindset. Since we've now been here 7 weeks & the initial busyness of unpacking & such has diminished (though we still have plenty of boxes needing to be unpacked - once the kids are able to move their gear into their own place), This morning was the time to get onto making up a rough weekly time management plan.  Of course once I'm working part time at the hospital that will have to be incorporated into the plan as well - hence making an "adjustable plan" tends to work best.  My work days are never set in concrete, & the homestead and having us prepared is a big priority.  Who out there does not get prepared in some small way?  It might just be buying the bread to make the lunches the next day, or it may be having your lunches already sorted & menu planned for the next month.  The more you learn to extend the way you prepare for yourself & your family, the easier things will become - with time management & in times of need (loosing a job; a sick child or spouse; an economy downturn, flood, sudden increase in cost of food or fuel ....... the list goes on)   -( Deanna, over at Ourplainandsimplelife recently discussed this subject under the heading of "Gods forgotten people those who can't prep?' in response to people who mentioned they were unable to undertake preparations due to their circumstances. )
So being one who just can't seem to sit still, I decided the best way of attacking my new weekly time management plan was to undertake some other prep while contemplating what to do when - so out came the hexi template  to cut up ready for  One Flower Wednesday  and now I have a sheet of hexies already cut out + my time management plan for the week - which includes things like cleaning; spring cleaning of each of the rooms throughout the week; snail mail; groceries; craftwork; Ironing, gardening & such.  It's a rough plan with what needs to be fitted in each day & flexible enough that if I'm at work at the hospital for an 8 hr shift the days can be interchanged if its a "big day", or the majority fitted in.  For example: Mondays are a general clean up after the weekend & since I've decided that Tuesdays are my best day for heading to town for groceries & errands , then Monday is the perfect day to clean out the kitchen (yes, fridge & pantry check) so that anything old is removed & stock taken of what is there.  Monday is also the best day to work out the menu plan for the coming week (eventually that will be done on a monthly basis - which it used to be when our children were young & saves lots of money - if you can stay away from the supermarkets you'll save money!) A menu also includes morning teas & lunches so you know what baking you'll be doing & check you have all the ingredients on hand.  Since Tuesday will be my errand day, then last minute snail mail should also be attended to on Mondays, making a nice way to spend time in the afternoon with a cuppa after getting the kitchen spring cleaned & sorted during the morning :)   And if Monday is to be focused on the kitchen - then crafts to do with the kitchen can be worked on in the evening. 
Tues - Groceries, errands, bills, paperwork , deep clean of dining & lounge (where I do the paperwork) & the ironing - including iroining my fabrics to be used the next day for Flower making.
Wed - One Flower Wednesday ; Garden work, Deep clean of wet areas (bathroom, toilet, laundry)
Thurs - Is a Homesteading day working on th verandahs, craft room & tending to the needs of the homestead which might include making a batch of soap, jam, garden work etc etc
Fri - Good houseclean (which will not be too hard given the deep cleans going on during the week :) ); Deep clean to main b/r & other b/r;  craftwork is based on gift giving or bedroom needs
Sat - Washing/ gardening/ Dogs washed
Sunday - Sabbath/ Family & Friend orientated
Of course normal things getting done everyday includes the extra load of washing; my floors get done daily due to having inside dogs; general tidy up etc etc.    Still this may help some of you who have been asking for a bit of help in getting a routine initiated , which in turn will lead you into preparedness on many levels.

19 Days on the new Homestead

Well it seems some of you are desperately wondering just what we have been up to in the past couple of weeks since moving in, so please accept my apologies for being a little slack. Part of that was due to limited internet time, as it seems I'll be using my little USB stick for a while, funnily enough, this seems to be working out ok for now. Anyhow, back to our 1st couple of weeks here.....................

The furniture has found various homes, although some of those places are subject to change once the 2 spare bedrooms have been emptied out (1 contains all our boxes that are still packed & the other bedroom currently houses Stace & Johns boxes & various furniture items). There's still plenty to unpack, but I've found the days have also been filled up making various phone calls to alter things like addresses, insurances, getting the necessary police check in order to be able to work at the hospital again etc etc. Still, I am having some fun with it all. Even beginning to check out various sections of the garden, thinking, planning, planning some more................ followed by some purchases of plants........... Some of these will be going around the soon to be completed chook pen (hopefully soon to be completed that is LOL). Pete has quite a list of things needing to be done. He started with spraying all the yard which is full of a type of prickle/bur/bindi. Next he cleaned out the gutters which definately had not been cleaned out for the past 12months at least! Saturday & Sunday he decided to head out to a local farm where the farmer (whom he knows) had told him he could collect some firewood for us. 2 trailer loads were brought home which we put through the log splitter (purchased the 1st week here on a special trip to Melbourne). So that lot of wood has now been split & stacked & some used of an evening to keep the house nice & warm now that its cooling down. Apparently there was snow falling on the mountains over the weekend.............. no wonder it felt a little chilly here!

So in between all of this I decided to have a go at crocheting some dishcloths for myself. I had no idea they worked so well till a friend sent me a couple for our new house. I have to say I just love using them & am now hooked on making some for our new home.

Next was getting the electrician in to fix up broken lights/ fans that didn't seem to working too well. I made a trip into one of the townships to purchase lights for the dining, lounge & main bedroom plus a fan for use in the living area............ here is the new style of lights (clips are gold, even though they look kind of silver in the photo), & the fan which I was lucky to match up with the ceiling colour.

We also have a rangehood that needs replacing quite badly so the electrician will be back to do that tomorrow!