It's Been a While

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted.  Sometimes though Life just gets busy and you need to prioritise.  Also having an internet connection that loads at the pace of snail does not help LOL.  I also notice that this is my 100th post!   

 Today the weather has cooled down after the past 2 weeks being rather warm.  The wind is chilly, and we hear there is a light snow fall up on the Mountains 3hrs from here..... so the fire is going and I've just finished a bit of baking! Nothing like a bit of baking to warm things up - mini apple pies and a large apple pie from some apples Pete collected from a roadside tree.... Yum    And Pumpkin scones - the pumpkin coming from a neighbour who swapped it for one of my soaps she was wanting LOL  For some reason we just didn't manage to grow any pumpkins here this year!

During the past month I finally managed to get my crocheted grandmothers flower garden afghan completed, made a little baby blanket for my nephew who was born last week over in New Zealand, been busy planting up an Autumn Vegie  garden, got some aprons and other bits sewn up.  I've also been working on getting that craft/study room a little more sorted out so I have a chance of being able to fit things into our house a little better!  Lots of decluttering has certainly been going on over the past 2 years that we've been here.  I'm looking forward to getting lots of things done during May as I've got  some time away from work to spend here at home, which will be sooooo fabulous.  I'm such a home body LOL.  

The Little Things In Life.............



Handfeeding the birds that fly into our garden

Are the things that bring a smile to your face,
And make the hassels of the day disappear......

Furry friends loving your handmades

Flowers picked fresh from your own garden, and sitting on a table runner hand made by a friend

Home made goodness

"A Heart at Peace gives Life to the Body"  (taken from Amish Proverbs)



2 Years Today.............

Two whole years today since we picked up the keys for our home here in Bundalong!  It's hard to believe, and when I look around the yard I see how much we've achieved in that short time!  Apart from the tall gum trees & a couple of other trees, there was nothing here on this block...... apart from prickles (yep, prickles everywhere - so bad the poor dogs could not walk on the yard!).  We have fenced, made sheds, dug gardens, planted fruit trees & vines, built up garden beds, compost bins, built a pond, made a chook pen & area,  fixed verandahs, installed solar hot water, fixed ALOT of things within the home.............  I'm still trying to sort out places for some things and declutter other bits. We've had some sad times (like having had 3 of our dogs die from old age during our time here) and we've had happy times (like seeing our son married and grandchildren born .... although we had to visit Townsville for those things)...... I've been busy sewing, crocheting, preserving our produce from the garden......... making this house into a home - in fact, more like into a little homestead - one in which we can become more self reliant rather than dependant on the world, or going into immediate melt down if the power goes out, or the roads are cut off from town supplies.  I want our home to be a place of refuge and comfort.....
A "Proverbs 31 " type of home.

Meet the Girls

Inside the Pen, just before they head out for the day.

This week I had 3 new girls come to join us, bringing our little flock to 7.  So come meet the girls before they head out the door..... from the front, the old girls - Rosie, Henrietta, Scarlett (white silkie), Mary (black pekin), and then the new girls- on top of the perch - bluebell on the left & chloe on the right and hiding in the back corner is Patty!    

Time to head out & start work

 I love having chooks - I enjoy watching their antics and interactions with one another, giving us the bonus of fresh eggs and manure to add to our gardens. 

Part of the Chook Yard - access inside the netted fruit trees is optional via ducking under the netting LOL

 Initially I had them roaming around the whole yard - but they seemed to prefer heading under the house (not the best place for eggs or manure!), and so I fenced off an area around their little pen. 
Funnily enough, as yet they have not jumped onto the old swing chair which we have yet to move out of there (it needs a recover job)!

"Chook Hilton"

This hexagonal "avairy" was only partially built when we bought the house here - Pete worked on it, even putting in "window shutters" on 3 sides to allow breezes or extra shading etc.  We had to add a tarp over the roof cause it had been made of logs and had a few leaks! 

Material Scraps........

Is there anything better than homemade I wonder?  Yesterday afternoon/evening I got into my sewing and used up some fabric scraps, turning them into pot holders.  I'm really pleased with how they've come out, since I tried a couple of different ways.  I have a few to post out to a few ladies whom I doing a "pot holder" swap with.  I also managed to get a few more aprons made up..... some for me,

 since I really need a couple of new ones, and a couple to go into  the gift box.  It always pays to have a few bits and pieces on hand for gifts :)  I use up pieces of material from my stash to make my aprons - a pattern I did for myself a number of years ago with a large pocket at the front.  These pockets will hold ALL sorts of items from eggs you might be collecting, baby chicks that need to be rescued, childrens toys, vegies from the vegie patch....... Yep, my aprons don't just get used when I'm baking - they get used whenver I think I need to protect my clothing (so I can be ready to head out the door, but with the apron on, I can achieve a variety of tasks first and not have to get changed again!)

Anyhow,  That was about the time my sewing machine decided it wanted to play up...... so I headed to my basket of wool, picked up the crochet hook and managed to get 54 crocheted hexies done to add to my crocheted grandmothers garden lap rug (which IS going to be finished in time for winter...... this year!!).

The Hit List........

So in doing a bit of blog visiting the other day, I decided I may as well join in with all the girls who have agreed that this is the time to get some of those crafty goodies working for us and turning our homes into something that gives us delight to look at........... as opposed to those "not so delightful areas" that it seems many of us currently have!  I'm so pleased to see I'm not alone and if you also want to join in, then jump up on the wagon and check it all out over at  Cherry Heart - by clicking on the link on my sidebar .  On the 26th of this month it will be 2 yrs since we collected the keys for our home here in Bundalong, having arrived down from our 7months of living in Townsville - a "lifestyle "change that did not work and has set us back quite a ways.  It's been very much like having start all over again from scratch, but in a smaller home (a very good size living area, but 3 very small bedrooms - 2 with no built ins; and 1 bathroom).  If you've been following my blog for a while, then you know that we have worked very hard on the outside areas - building sheds, chook pens, installing water tanks, gardens, pond, orchard area and vegie garden - all on just 1/4 acre block :)  So now it is time to start spending some time inside dealing with areas that are really prooving to be difficult, need sprucing up, or need to be changed in some way without draining any finances!
So as suggested by Sandra  here is my Top 10 Hit List for the Inside of my home as it stands today (which happens to be an extra messy kind of day, which is always the best time for seeing how things really work ).  So these are the BEFORE photos........

No 1:   The pantry

BEFORE

Now that I have that lovely new set of canisters, I might be able to clear this out & get it sorted a bit better!  Definately need a potato and an onion bin down the bottom!

AFTER: All nice & Neat now & cannisters all filled

BEFORE

AFTER

No 2:  Just HAVE to find a home for these pillows and cushions that get moved from one place to another........ oh, and look, a little TV also looking to find it's place now that dear daughter has purchased a newer one.

BEFORE- On a very bad day!

No 3:  Does anyone else have this problem???  I seem to have a dumping ground growing at the speed of lightning in my kitchen (almost as quickly as the weeds in the garden......hmmmmm :( 

This has now been addressed as well, but yet to take a photo.

No 4: This would have to be the basket of filing...... I need somthing a little prettier in which I can have all the incoming paperwork where it can be divided into stuff needing to be followed up, and filing needs to be done at that moment in time and then this little basket and it's friends can disappear :)

No 5:  My walls need some more loving attached to them - you know, some of those embroideries and wall quilts that are sitting waiting for just the right spot...... and this lovely little hanger needs to have the photos put in it that were meant to go in........ It should be showing the photos of our family of puppy dogs over the years (only Scruffy is left now)

No 6:  Would have to be a home for my bags, now that I've cleaned out our little cubby hole/wardrobe  they have been sitting very quietly in the corner of our bedroom, waiting very patiently........ 

No 7:  Well then I guess this would have to be a long standing home for the winter coats that won't fit into the wardrobe .  This could take some serious thought, so I'm open to lots of ideas for this!!  See them currently laying on the floor beside the desk!

No 8:  Needs to be "Return to the Sewing/Study Room" - It's still needing some help to fit everything in, and still be pleasant to be in for writing letters and sewing (and all my homemade soaps are here as well!)

No 9:  I guess this will have to improving the laundry and finding homes for all these things?? Maybe something up on the wall................ 

It may only be 9 items on the Hit List at this time, but these are the  Giants living in my home right now!  Now I'm going to go off and look for some crafty fun ways to deal with these giants and put them in their place, leaving us with some pleasing things to view instead :)

Swaps coming and going..........

Yesterday a notice came in the mail box letting me know that I had a parcel to collect from the post office in our closest town - Yarrawonga.  So off I headed.............. there is still flood waters across one section of the main road, but they are letting traffic through (after all it is a highway...... they just have traffic lights set up allowing traffic each side to take it in turns driving through that section, since you need to drive in the middle of the road where the water is at it's lowest level).  And I was extremeley happy to find the parcel was my OASS! It was sent from Carol of Blessed Mum and I just love all the wonderful goodies that were inside..........
The Jasmin scented wardrobe hanger is already hanging up in my side of the wardrobe, the little notepad is on my freezer to help with my meal planning............ and what was in the wrapped parcels???

The most georgous little pin cushion, and 2 great wall hangers.  I love the saying by Emily Bronte (as an old speech & drama student & teacher, it has an extra special appeal).  I can see just how much effort and love and thought went into everything that you made and sent my way, so thankyou very much, it is all just wonderful!

And while I was visiting the post office, I was finally able to post off my mini name game swap that Samilias Mum was hosting.  I really struggled with this one as my partner didn't have a blog that I could go and visit to get an idea of what they liked, and had also specified to only have their name and bright colours............ so it was with lots of trepidation that I have finally finished it and posted it out........ hoping and praying that it is well received.