A Joyful Keeper

Yesterday we took the Mama Chook and her chicks and adopted ducklings for a field trip down to the dam. The mode of transportation wasn’t appreciated - babies in a bucket and Mama under my arm. However, once they got there they had a ball. Mama Chook stayed close to the bank scratching with her three chicks while the ducklings enjoyed splashing in the water.

They look like they are having fun, don’t they?! You can see their biological mothers and father in the background. Someone wondered the other day what they would think of the ducklings. I told them I didn’t think they paid much attention to them. When the little ones joined them on the dam with their Mama Chook nearby, however, they seemed very interested. Opal, their biological dad, thought he’d pull one of their tails….

Meanwhile, the biological mothers were fishing….. Bottoms up ladies!

It wasn’t just a field trip for the ducklings, but also for us. It was fun (and ~gasp~ educational) to watch the differences between the chicks and the ducklings. The chicks went to the water to drink and then pecked around with their mum. The ducklings all stayed in the shallow water, chased a few mossies on the water, and made sure they stayed within running distance to their adoptive mother hen.

We ended the field trip by trying a different type of transport back home. We all used our two legs - some of us waddled (I think I might have too!).

Now, see? You don’t have to drive to go on a field trip! There are lots of things to discover in your own backyard. Charlotte Mason encouraged nature walks daily, whether you lived in the country or in the city.

This weekend the boys are going camping with dh and us girls are staying home to have a girly weekend. I am not going to touch the computer! I am going to give my daughter my full attention! Actually, we are planning to sew some clothes for her, do some quilting, and other such girly things. For us it is a long weekend since it is Melbourne Cup (horse races, public holiday) and then we are planning another little trip the following week, so now that I think about it, I won’t be back online for more than a week. Probably good for me to have a internet break!

Till next time, and don’t forget to go on a field trip in your own backyard or neighborhood - you never know what you will see!

Dare I admit that it is 10 am and I am still sitting in bed, with a lovely cup of tea, enjoying the cool breeze that is coming in through the bedroom window? Well, I am. After all, I have to be honest on this blog! Let you see the “real me”, etc, etc! The real me today is still oh so tired, so I am resting today. I rested most of yesterday, except then I decided the kitchen really did need cleaning, and dh’s lunch did need making, and the steak did need to go in the crockpot…. by the time I was in bed it was close to midnight and all my bones ached. So much for taking it easy. But I will, I will! This week I will!!!! (Really Mama Hen, I will!) (Talking about Mama Hen, she tagged me with a fun kitchen tag, so I will join in that later this week.)

So, thinking about the week ahead, if it is anything like the past weeks, it will go by way too quickly! I am still puzzling about where this entire year has gone. Even the children have been commenting that the year has flown by.  Time, flowing like a river, flowing to the sea... tra, la, la, la…

I’ve been wondering why it seems like time is going by so quickly. I know they say that when you get older you notice it going quickly, but, hey, I’m not that old yet! I wonder if it is because our lives are so fast paced. I wonder if we slow down more, then we might savor the moments more….. what do you think?

I regularly get frustrated that I don’t have enough time to do everything I want to do. In reality, I am trying to do too much in this season of life! I still think I can do it all! Of course, I can’t, and I need to remember to do the important things, and not the urgent. Mama Hen just wrote a good post on this, and shared the things that are most important to her. Check it out here.

What are the important things you want to see get done in your day? I have no regrets about the time I spent with the children when they were little. I hugged and kissed them so many times a day. I held them tight, because I knew they grew so quickly. I enjoyed their little chatter and their sweet kisses, the flowers they picked me, the pictures they drew. I read to them, sang with them, prayed with them. I let them be children, and didn’t try to make them grow up quicker than they needed. Time, flowing like a river, …. goes by so quickly.

My children are older now, heading into their teens, and at a different stage of life. They no longer let me kiss and cuddle them like they used to (especially the boys, lol!). They still bring me their drawings, and their Lego creations to explain in great detail how they are designed. I listen to them and admire them. They still need that from their mother, in fact they will probably always need encouragement and approval from their mother. I encourage them to learn new things, to learn to work hard on the homestead, to care for eachother. All too soon they will be heading off on their own. Time, flowing like a river, …..goes by so quickly.

Have you thought a lot about heaven? We’ll have lots of time there! Eternity - that’s a lot of time! We won’t just  have lots of time, but there will be no more tears, no more sorrow. No more dishes?! One can only hope! Our life here on earth is so short, but it is eternity that counts. It is eternity that counts for our children, our family, our friends. Time, flowing like a river… can you imagine the river of peace that will be flowing in heaven, flowing, forever flowing.

One of the songs we sang when I was growing up, says it all:

In His Time

In His time, in His time,

He makes all things beautiful, in His time.

Lord, please show me everyday -

As You’re teaching me Your way,

That You do just as You say

In Your time.

In Your time, in Your time,

You make all things beautiful,

In Your time.

Lord, my life to You I bring,

May each song I have to sing,

be to You a lovely thing,

In Your time.

Yes, all the everyday things He will make beautiful. That is my prayer for this week. May I think on the things eternal and let go of the unnecessary in my life,… and may I teach  my children the important things.

The other day we had a visit from one of my older women, Stella. It is lovely when she and her husband Angelo come to visit. They have such a wealth of knowledge between the two of them, especially on homesteading and cooking.

We met Stella and Angelo five years ago when they were our neighbours. We both had two acres of land, and the amount of food they grew on their two acres was incredible! As soon as I saw their huge greenhouse, I knew I could learn a lot from them!!! This turned out to be so true. Not only were they avid homesteaders, but I found out that Stella was a chef! She taught me how to preserve a lot of our yearly harvest, and gave me many cooking tips.

When they came last week they brought lots of bits and pieces to share with us. They brought some seedlings for my garden - spinach, tomatoes, and green peppers. They also gave me some lettuce seeds  to sprinkle around . Stella had a little bag with dried bay leaves which she had taken from a friend’s tree. We had to laugh, because as she was giving me the bay leaves, Angelo yelled over to us,
“You don’t need to give her any bay leaves, Stella! She has a tree of her own!”
I was astonished! I didn’t know I had a bay tree! Sure enough, it is a big one - a couple of meters tall! Amazing!

We walked around the homestead while they inspected everything. They admired the chickens and ducks, told me the garden needed more water (which it sure does), oooohed and aaaahed over the asparagus, and just enjoyed the great outdoors with us.

Over a few cups of tea and coffee we chatted about all sorts of things. This time Stella had brought some of her favorite recipes with her to share with me. She had them written on slips of paper and I told her I’d photocopy them. She laughed and told me I needed to learn Greek first! So I grabbed a pen and paper and started writing while she translated.

I love learning new recipes that I know are tried and true. Stella has used these recipes over and over again, experimenting with them until they were just the way she wanted them to be.  Here are a few of them:

Greek Shortbread

250g unsalted butter

1/2 cup caster sugar

2 egg yolks

2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup self raising flour

1/2 cup slivered almonds, optional

icing sugar for dusting

Beat butter and sugar together, add egg yolks. Mix in the two flours. Roll out the dough and use cookie cutters or shape them whichever way you like. Bake in moderate oven till very lightly browned. When they are cold (or just before serving) dust with icing sugar.

Pizza Dough

15g dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 1/4 cup warm water

4 cups strong flour

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp salt

Mix yeast, sugar and warm water together. Let it stand in a bowl for a few minutes until it gets frothy. In another bowl, mix flour and salt. Add the oil and yeast mixture and mix till it forms a ball. Knead it for a while, let it rise, then roll out into a round pizza shape.

Muffins

3 cups plain flour

5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup caster sugar

1 1/2 cups milk

50g soft butter

3 eggs

Mix all ingredients together with a wooden spoon. Don’t overmix. If you want to add extra ingredients like chocolate chips, then use a little less flour. Bake in moderate oven until golden.

There were more recipes, and as I try them I will share them. I haven’t tried any of the above recipes yet, but would like to soon. I’ll let you know how they go.

We really had a lovely day with these friends. When they went home I made sure they had a big bunch of asparagus and two dozen free range eggs to take with them. They no longer have their two acre block but they still grow all their own veggies in their suburban backyard. We are going to be visiting them in the next month, so I will take photos of how they are making the most of their space. They are great examples of how you can homestead wherever you live.

It is such a special thing for me to sit with an older woman and learn from her. I am thankful that God has brought me various women to teach me to be a better cook and homemaker. Always be on the lookout for women to learn from! And then don’t forget to pass it on to someone else.

Honestly, I feel like I have just been behind with everything these past weeks after the operation. I am not ready for Spring and Summer! I need a bit more Winter rest! Unfortunately the seasons don’t wait for us and I am finding myself madly trying to balance the outside chores of Spring planting and Spring hatchings with the indoor chores of homeschooling and housekeeping. Mad is the word for it, and just taking a look around me confirms that I am indeed behind…… ~ sigh ~.

I can’t see any quick way out of my dilemna, however. I just need to plod and “do the next thing” as Elizabeth Elliot says.

Maybe one reason I am so behind is because of the Spring hatchings. All our hens in waiting have hatched their little ones, and they are soooooooooo cute! Just when I thought little chicks were the cutest thing on earth (other than real babies!), the ducklings hatched and Elizabeth and I are smitten!

Four out of the five duck eggs hatched. Here is Mama Chook with her ducklings:

She also has three chicks. The one below is an Isa Brown, having a drink with its sibling the duck:

It is just so amazing to see this perfect little miniture ducks. God did such a good job! Yes, they have a chicken as a “mother”, but they know to jump into the water bowl and splash around. One of the chicks is being psychologically damaged, however, by having ducklings as siblings. It copies them and runs madly towards the water bowl and jumps in! This afternoon I got a bigger bowl of water out so the ducklings could have a swim, and they just loved it. The minute I turned my back to water some plants, I heard a distressed cheeping noise. It was the chick with an indentity problem trying very hard not to drown. Needless to say, like little children they need constant supervision while near deep water.

This was the first time I have hatched ducks and it turned out really well. One day I might let a duck sit, but they are not known for their perseverance. I wonder how long it will be till the ducklings try to follow the ducks instead of the chickens…. it is very interesting and a great learning experience for all of us. Lifestyle learning!

I have still been very tired and trying to pace myself. I had a few days when I was feeling better so I tried to conquer the world! I paid for it for the next few days! It is difficult to ignore things that need to be done, but I can’t do it all at the moment. One thing that has been a blessing to me is watching my children help out around the place. They never complain when I ask them to do some of my chores. They have been a huge help and I think they have also grown during this time when their Mum has needed them.

I’ll leave you with this poem:

Do The Next Thing

At an old English parsonage down by the sea,

there came in the twilight a message to me.

Its quaint Saxon legend deeply engraven

that, as it seems to me, teaching from heaven.

And all through the hours the quiet words ring,

like a low inspiration, ‘Do the next thing.’

Many a questioning, many a fear,

many a doubt hath its quieting here.

Moment by moment, let down from heaven,

time, opportunity, guidance are given.

Fear not tomorrow, child of the King,

trust that with Jesus, do the next thing.

Do it immediately, do it with prayer,

do it reliantly, casting all care.

Do it with reverence, tracing His hand,

who placed it before thee with earnest command.

Stayed on omnipotence, safe ‘neath His wing,

leave all resultings, do the next thing.

Looking to Jesus, ever serener,

working or suffering be thy demeanor,

in His dear presence, the rest of His calm,

the light of His countenance, be thy psalm.

Strong in His faithfulness, praise and sing

Then, as he beckons, do the next thing.

- Robert Louis Stevenson

Make up your mind to be happy.  Learn to find pleasure in simple things.

Make the best of circumstances.  No one has everything and everyone has something of sorrow.

Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Don’t let criticism worry you.  You can’t please everybody.

Don’t let your neighbors set your standards; be yourself.

Do things you enjoy doing but stay out of debt.

Don’t borrow trouble.  Imaginary things are harder to bear than actual ones.

Since hate poisons the soul, do not cherish enmities and grudges.  Avoid people who make you unhappy.

Have many interests.  If you can’t travel, read about places.

Don’t hold post-mortems or spend time brooding over sorrows and mistakes.

Do what you can for those less fortunate than yourself.

Keep busy at something.  A very busy person never has time to be unhappy.

Three “homes”…… As I have been “home” a lot these past weeks while I am recuperating from my operation, I have been thinking about my “jobs”. The months before the operation were hectic, with a lot of to-ing and fro-ing into town to see doctors and have tests. I felt like I was never home. When I was home, I was tired, and always behind, playing catch-up. Just these past days as I have begun to regain my strength, I have slowly started to get on top of things around the home again. It is such a good feeling to see things fall into place.

Doing these three “homes” is a very big task. A lot of people say to me that they don’t know how I do it. I certainly don’t do it perfectly! If I only had to concentrate on one of the above, I’d say I would be closer to “perfection” in that one area, if that was the goal. I have been called to do all three, however, and to achieve these things as best I can, there is one vital ingredient….. the clue is in each of the words! “HOME!” I can best achieve the three “homes”  by actually being home!

In Paul’s letter to Timothy (ch 5) he speaks of widows. He encourages the younger widows to remarry so that they do not become idle and gossips, going from one house to the other. How easily we can do that too, even if we are not widows. It is not just visiting other people’s houses, but shopping or surfing the net. Not that these things are bad in themselves, but in excess they take us away from our home - our first priority.

I have to constantly remind myself of this. I have had friends suggest that we get together in a group and let the children do school together… “one of us can teach English, the other Math, etc.” It sounds so tempting, so much easier. But I reply by saying that we HOMEschool. The premise behind homeschooling is that you mainly are doing it at home. Yes, we encourage our children to mix with others, but we also choose the situations in which this happens.

I often hear that we mothers need to have time on our own, away from the home and our children. It is our “right” as a woman. I don’t disagree that we sometimes need time on our own, but is it our “right”? For me, it is a privilige to be at home. I am blessed to have children, to be able to stay at home with them, not to have to go and work outside the home.  At times when it all gets too much for me, I think about the woman who cannot have children, but desperately wants them. She would be happy to swap places with me. I think about the woman who has children, but HAS (not chooses) to go to work everyday and put her children in childcare or school.  She would love to be in my position. Yes, sometimes I need a break! I take that break in the afternoons when we have “rest time“. I take that break when I go grocery shopping. I take that break when my husband is home sometimes and I just go off into town on my own and have a cuppa with a friend. As the children grow older, my breaks grow more frequent, and I am well aware that one day I won’t have children under my feet and I will have all the time in the world to take a break….

And the homesteading? What a blessing it is to have some land where I can grow veggies to supplement our family’s food needs. What a blessing to be able to have chickens and fresh eggs! It is a lot of work, but the rewards are so many. But I can’t homestead when I am away from the home. The plants need water, the animals need feeding. Oh, and the weeds need pulling!

I know that not everyone is able to stay home like I am. I do encourage those of you who are home, to make the most of your time at home, even if you aren’t doing all three “homes” like I am. To me it is a special, simple life, with less outside things pulling at me, demanding my attention.  God has given me this place to be my priority and I am so thankful.

Yesterday was another beautiful spring day. It was the kind of day that you want to get heaps of things out in the garden. But in our area it is too early, and when my dh came in last night at 11pm telling me there was ice on his windscreen, I was glad I didn’t put anything in the garden yet!

I did, however, spend some time pottering in my greenhouse. This is a photo of it last summer when the grass was pretty brown. Now it is just going crazy!

We are so blessed to have it here already on our property. It needs a bit of TLC and a door to keep the chooks out, but the main structure is there.

I wanted to tidy it up a little and pot a few seedlings. I started on this little corner:

Bianca and her chicks helped me tidy up:

And one little chick found a juicy worm!

A friend gave me a tomato plant last week, and I wanted to put it into a larger pot. I will eventually put it in the ground in the greenhouse, but there is no door yet and I don’t want it being eaten by chickens or lambs!

I also bought myself a Roma tomato which I want to grow in the greenhouse in a pot.

I put it in a larger pot, but it may still need to go in a bigger one. Since this is the first time I’ve had a greenhouse, I am experimenting with what works. Trial and error, but it is the only way to learn.

I took many breaks while I was pottering around, because I am still not feeling 100% after the operation. Bianca and the chicks did too.

And after all the pottering? Dinner was sausages on the BBQ and fresh asparagus from the garden. Yum!

Spring means lots of things happening around the homestead! Last Monday we gave Bianca, one of the clucky chooks, 10 day old chicks to adopt! We gave the rest of her eggs to another clucky chook - we have three more! It never rains, but pours!

Here is the happy mum:

I could just sit and watch the babies all day! I love the way they jump up on her, and the way they try to get under her… they sort of make a running dash and jump into her feathers. Then their little bottoms wiggle to try to get in even further. It is so cute when their head pops out amongst her feathers every now and then!

We have three more “Hens in Waiting”. Here are Freckles and Emily:

Freckles is sitting on 5 duck eggs. I have never hatched duck eggs under a hen before, so we will see how it goes.

Speckles is the other hen sitting on eggs. She is due next:

Thankfully we still have three chickens who aren’t broody and two ducks, so we are still getting between 3 and 5 eggs a day. Elizabeth is so excited to be getting lots of chicks - but I keep telling her I want eggs! Still, this is a good way to raise chickens. Having hens of different ages often means that when some stop laying, others will still be laying. This is the first time we have had ducks and I am very impressed with them. They lay an egg a day, very regularly. The duck eggs are great in baking - they makes cakes rise beautifully. So, I guess you could say both Elizabeth and I are happy - she is getting chicks, and I am getting eggs…. and, shhhhh, don’t tell her, but I love chicks too!!! (I think she probably knows that since I am out there just about as often as she is, looking at the babies!! LOL!)

Yesterday we had some other excitement. Look what we found down on our dam:

The three ducks at the front are ours, and the ones at the back are wild! I wished we could get closer, but of course mama duck kept her babies at a safe distance from us. It was so cute to watch them! I could watch them all day too! So, between chicks and ducklings…….well, I didn’t get much done yesterday! Good thing I am on doctor’s orders to rest!