A Joyful Keeper

My parents live on a classic, old fashioned, Aussie, ¼ acre block. Their house was built in the 70’s, and over time Dad has renovated it , extended it and made lots of changes. He has done a fantastic job. One of the first things he did when we moved there was put a veggie garden in. Over the years he has built up the soil and it is just so lush and fertile. It is amazing how much he manages to grow in that small plot every year.

Here in the cooler parts of Victoria, there is a bit of a tradition that we plant on or around Melbourne Cup Day (Horse races), which was a couple of weeks ago. On that weekend, and since then, Dad has put lots of seedlings and seeds in. Here are some photos:

Behind this arch and garden bench (all of which Dad built himself) is the veggie garden.

After fighting with weeds inbetween the garden beds, one year he decided to put concrete in, and that has made things a lot easier to maintain. Here are some of the beds, just planted with lettuce and tomatoes:

To water the garden, Dad has watertanks. This one is next to the stakes that are waiting for the bean seeds to pop up out of the ground:

This is the view of the garden from the back fence:

There is still plenty of garden left for lawn and flowers beyond the veggie garden:

Oh, and this is where Dad is growing his spuds (potatoes) this year:

You don’t need acreage to have a thriving vegetable garden. By the end of the growing season Mum is so sick of all the produce, LOL! Which just goes to show how good Dad’s garden is!

Last year Dad didn’t have a lot of time to get the garden ready, so he used these styrofoam boxes instead. He got them from the green grocers (they throw them out) and they are still growing so well:

Even if you just have a balcony or teeny garden, you can still grow something yourself. Put in some lettuce, cherry tomatoes and a climbing cucumber and you’ll have fresh salad for summer. It doesn’t take a lot of maintenance, or water, but every little bit that we can grow is a help. It also doesn’t have to cost a lot. You don’t need to buy expensive pots, just try the boxes. Seeds are cheaper in the long run, but not if you only grow a bit. Instead, buy a punnet. If that is still too much for your small garden, share with a friend. Last year I found that one zucchini plant was enough for our family, for example.

The main point of this post is to encourage everyone, regardless of block size, to grow a little bit this summer. It is so rewarding to be able to go out to your garden and pick some fresh veggies for dinner. And as a bonus, it tastes great!

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.

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!

My computer is up and running again, at least, somewhat. For a while there, it was running on Linux…. and I played a lot of Mahjong… I chalked that down to learning about China during the Olympics. Linux and I didn’t really get along. Most of my favorite programs wouldn’t work, so my dear hubby put Windows back on for me. No more Mahjong, which is good, because every time I closed my eyes I saw dozens of tiles……

Now I can check my mail and go on the web, but am still missing a few programs. Hopefully dh will have time to install them this weekend. He has been pretty busy at work.

So, what’s been happening the past weeks? We spent a lot of time watching the Olympics and working on our Olympic lapbooks. We just have a few more things to glue in and then they are done! I’m really pleased at how they turned out. I can’t take photos, I’m afraid, because my camera program is not installed yet… One day!

Last week we lost Little Red Rooster, and Feathers, one of our white hens. Indeed there were feathers everywhere…. A Bull Mastiff cross decided to pay us a visit. It was a sad state of affairs, and the dog himself was quite friendly when he wasn’t chewing on chickens. He wasn’t the least bit phased when I tried to chase him off our property with a bird house (well, it was the only thing handy…). So I caught him and tied him up  instead. He managed to break the chain just two minutes before the Ranger arrived, but didn’t have the sense to go home. He headed straight back to the orchard to have another go at Little Red. We were very thankful that he didn’t get any of the chicks. Elizabeth would have been devastated if she’d lost them. They are now so tame that they come up to the front door whenever we go out to see if we have a snack for them.

Before the dog attack, we spent some hours outside working in the garden. The boys took the wheelbarrow out into the paddock and collected two loads of pony poo for me. Elizabeth and I hoed the garden and planted some lettuce and silverbeet seedlings. We also put in some seeds - carrots and chives. My asparagus is popping up! It is so exciting! I spent quite some time weeding that bed. With Spring here now, the weeds are coming up quickly.

After a long wait, our first order of Paces came this week. We sat down together and looked at what processes we needed to follow with setting goals and scoring. Today the kids had their first real day of ACE work, and they seemed to be quite happy. We’ll see how we go next week!

My dh brought an extra table into the kitchen for me so that I can keep my sewing machine up all the time. I want to start on some summer clothes for the children, and I still have some household projects that I want to do. I am hoping that if I don’t have to constantly put the machine and sewing stuff away, I can slowly get some things done.

Our chooks and ducks have been laying really well! We are getting between 4 and 6 eggs a day. They are so yummy and fresh! What a blessing!

And that is a little peek at what’s been happening around our homestead….. It’s good to be back!

I muddled around the house today while dh took the kids to see the footy (Go Roos!!!). It was a lovely day! I had a relax at home and got some things done, and the rest of the family got to watch their team win. I thought I’d share a bit of it with you…

I cleaned the kitchen first up and put one load of washing on. Then I took out my sewing machine and started hemming a table cloth. She was sounding pretty clunky, so I gave her a bit of a clean and some oil. She was much happier after that!

While dh & the kids were watching the Kangaroos play against the Bulldogs, I took a break to say hello to our own kangaroos out my back door. Mr Roo is there in front, and you can barely see her, but Mrs Roo is hiding in the bush behind him.

I kept sewing and then had a break for lunch. For a treat I made myself some cheese and crackers with tomato on top. The tomatoes in the winter aren’t anywhere as nice as our homegrown ones in summer, but I still enjoyed it.

I went and let the chickens and ducks out to free range and found some eggs…

Oh, have a look at where one of them laid the other day:

In the kindling bucket on the front porch! Silly chook!

The load of washing was dry and since the fire was roaring hot, I started to hang it up in front of the heater:

In the meantime, Mr Roo had decided to have a little rest from mowing the lawn and bask in the sun:

Robyn came around and we had tea for two. I hemmed this little cloth just before she came:

I had a little nap, and worked some more on a quilt until the family came home. I enjoyed the day so much!

Even though it is winter and things are supposed to be quiet on the homestead, in reality it has been quite busy! I haven’t had a chance to sit by the fire and quilt, although I have knitted two shawls and done a few little sewing projects. You’d think it was spring around here instead of winter, because I’ve had three chickens go broody and we have a little lamb we are bottle feeding!

With regards to the chooks, to cut a long story short, one has three chicks and the others have not been allowed to sit. Here is Mama Chook Silky with her three babies:

I love to sit and watch them scratch around. The other day one of the chicks had found something yummy and its sibling was trying to “share” it. They played a game of catch for at least five minutes, until the chick gave up and left the other one alone to eat! It was so funny!

Lacy the lamb has joined our homestead. Elizabeth got her from her grandpa. Grandpa is a retired farmer with a few sheep (um,.. like,…. 200!). One of his ewe’s had twins and he brought one of them over for Elizabeth. She was so excited! She has been very good with making up Lacy’s milk and feeding her 4 times a day…. and Lacy is growing like a weed!!!

We’ve also added some ducks to our menagerie. We got three females and a drake. Unfortunately the other day we lost one - she didn’t come in at night. In fact, they all stayed out and only three were there in the morning. We are guessing a fox got her. I love sitting by the dam (pond) and watch them in the water. We bring them crusts and they are getting used to us as time passes.

There is more to tell you, but I’ll save that for tomorrow!!!

I woke up this morning at 6.30 to a very cold house. The fire had gone out, and it was freezing! Outside, it was literally freezing. I pulled on my clothes and headed crunched out over the frosty grass to the woodshed, to cut some kindling and get some small bits of wood to get the heater going again. That warmed me up a bit!

I went back in and lit the heater, made myself a cup of tea, and hubby a “coffee to go” in his thermos mug thingo. Poor dh was in shock to see me up and about. I told him not to get used to it, it may never happen again! He chuckled.

Next to the heater and with cuppa in hand, I got my electronic water bottle (ie laptop computer) and started doing some visiting in blogland. It was so nice and quiet.

When the kids got up, Elizabeth headed out with the camera and took the above photo. She also had some fun doing her own “trick photography”. She excitedly showed me a mountain of snow in our front yard…..

…. which in reality was the frost on top of the car. Got to give her points for creativity.

A little later my children’s tummies were in need of warmth, so I cooked up a pot of porridge.

Now the sun is shining and the frost is starting to melt. It is going to be a lovely day.

This is the day which the LORD hath made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

I need a better camera. That is, if I wake up early and want to get a close up of the kangaroos in my back yard. And I can just imagine what the neighbors thought if they saw me out the back stalking kangaroos - in my nightie, with a shawl and big clumpy boots! Not a pretty sight! I took 10 photos, but only one turned out. If you click on the photo twice it will get bigger and you should be able to see the two ‘roos, on of them looking at me in wonder:

That is the road behind them, which they soon hopped over to get away from the paparazzi.

Ah the country life!

As I mentioned in Part 1 of this topic, I really didn’t grow much this summer because of limited water supplies. What I did grow, however, was a great help in keeping the grocery bills down a little. Having some extra to put away has also been a bonus.

I only grew one zucchini plant, because I know what happens when I plant too many - lol! I found that this was just enough for our family, with some to freeze for winter as well. To freeze it, I just grate the zucchini, skin and all, and then put it in freezer bags. I put about 1 1/2 cups of zucchini in each bag since that is what my winter recipes call for. Here are my bags in the bottom drawer of my upright freezer:

On the right you can see bags of frozen tomato puree. Since I only had two tomato plants which were mainly intended for salads, I bought two boxes of tomatoes to preserve. Mum helped me cook and puree them, and instead of bottling them this year, froze them. I have enough space in the freezer. I’ve already used some for making a Bolognaise sauce, and it is soooooo yummy!

Here is a picture of my four pumpkins:

They will probably end up being soup, oh, and served with roasts….. mmmm!

Now my garden is looking a bit weary as the frosts have come and most plants have died off. Autumn is really here with the leaves starting to change color and fall:

Yesterday I went out and picked the last of the harvest:

Now I am looking forward to pottering around in the greenhouse, seeing whether I can coax anything to grow in there during the winter months. And of course, sitting inside by the fire, quilting…..