gardening and woodwork

My garden is going realy well. I am noticing more and more worms, there are seriously HEAPS! When we moved to the house there were none to be found but mum let me take lots of healthy soil from my old veggie patch at her house, along with the worms in it. I guess they've been happily multiplying as ive been adding goodies to the soil for them to eat.

 Benny scored me the two new wooden garden beds from work (they used to go around pallets or something) Ones already been filled with compost, chook poo, cow manure etc and planted, the other is my compost spot. I dont actually do 'propper' compost, its never worked for me (or perhaps im just too impatient, probably!) Instead i just dig food scraps onto the dirt as they are. My plants dont seem to mind that I 'dont do it right' In fact they seem quite pleased with my way and reward me with yummy food treats anyway.

The new little chickies have got their feathers already and happily wonder the garden and sleep outside. They each have their own little personality and were becoming good friends. I can tell them apart if I look closely. Isabella is lighter in colour, Lavendar has a little brown line by her eye and Gracie is the one left after identifying those two!

Im going to be growing a sunflower and bean tee-pee with the day care kids. Ive put up the structure, tomorrow ill prepare the soil and ill plant it with them at the end of the week.

Ive also been making some more toys, the children and some animals from 'Children Of The Forest' book. I think the owl is my favourite. Benny bought me a wood burner which is realy fun, I loved wood burning my projects in tech class at school, its bringing back great memories. Last time I painted with acrilyc paints but I'd rather use more natural colouring, does anyone know what i could use?

And one last pic of chooks and veggies and sunshine. Its beginning to feel like spring!

Happy

Monique at A glass half full invited me to join her and others in making a 'happy' list a little while ago, here's whats making me happy lately

*1- The rain watering my garden for me (it can feel free to do that all year long)

*2- Benny. He always makes me happy. Hes been working extra, afternoon shifts for the past month or so, as weal as regular Saturdays because two electricians at his work left at the same time. I miss having him home every arvo (we usually both finish work at 3) but i appreciate the time we do have together more than ever. 

*3-Three happy little churpers. The chicks seem to be doubling in size daily, wont be long and they'll be big enough to live outside. They love cuddling up on my lap, snuggling into each other.

*4- Reading books by candle light.

*5-My veggie patch is going pretty nuts at the moment. Lots of lettuce, spinach, Chinese cabbage, beetroots wont be much longer.

*6-Meditating regularly is making me feel calm and joyus

*7- Little bits and pieces of making, drawing. Nothing finished recently but lots of works in progress

*8-Porrige is my latest obsession, at least once a day, usually for desert. Oats and chia seeds cooked in milk, drizzled with honey, yum. I often have food fazes, always have. I guess my body all of a sudden feels lacking in whatever nutrients.

*9-Visiting a new shop with mum full of crystals, rainbow things, and wind chimes.

  

*10- A clean house. I don't necessarily like the cleaning part, but i love my house when its nice and clean and we haven't yet had a chance to mess it up. But we also like living in this house of ours... (a "lived in" house is nice too.

I made this wet felted ball the other day, needle felted stars and blue on it and then wet felted the pattern today. It was a lot of fun. The kids i look after were fascinated, watching me wet felt it but had no interest in getting soap suds on their hands. Funny how kids are full of surprises (they always love playing with bubbles and water outside!)

Ever since finding out about the $350 grant money I'm getting for my day care I've been thinking hard about how i will best use it.

My heart wants to focus on replacing plastic toys I have with natural toys and craft materials as weal as some new books (Waldorf story books)

My head says- well you've already got lots of inside toys that do the job, why not buy a big and impressive looking piece of plastic (cubby house or whatever) for outside? The kids would love it and it would look good for new families that come and are deciding if they want to put their kids in day care.

Hmmm.... I'm glad that I didn't get the money straight away as its given me time to think about it rather than spend it impulsively on the the first thing i saw. 

I feel a bit weird about the change of my daycare "going green", even though its something I've dreamt of doing since i started doing daycare ( most of the toys i have are bought second hand or given to me so choice was limited)

I feel nervous as i know the family's that use my daycare are used to seeing plastic toys and i guess i feel worried that natural toys wont look as appealing to them.

I know what the answer is. When talking to my dad about the dilemma he had great advice as i knew he would. He said something along the lines of "do what makes your heart sing". I know that a piece of plastic would be another "thing" clogging up my life.

 Natural enviro friendly toys and books would make me feel more peaceful and true to myself.

Wondering Wednesday

Ive joint Garden Mama and many others again for Wondering Wednesday. Because what can i say, i like to wonder.

 I'm a little bit of a cheater, I work on Wednesdays and don't wonder real far, so this was actually on a beach adventure yesterday.

Wondering, wondering across pointy rocks, to the perfect flat rock to sit and just be...

Here I sat, breathing in salty air and enjoying having the whole beach to my self.

Feeling thankful for my solo journeys that I'm able to take on days off work, when most of the world is at work or at school or doing what they 'should' be doing, practical tasks.

This is when my spirit truly feels free, I can go wherever i like, feel the wind in my hair, adventure, explore.  

I truly treasure these days

well...

Look whos come to live in my garden!

 I'd been getting an idea of what kind of chickens i wanted to get, and got some advice from a lovely fellow chicken lover. The advice was that isa browns are friendly girls, nice and cuddly just like i was looking for. So I put them on my list of good breeds to look for, to see if i could find some on the internet to buy.

This morning while visiting Mum and Dad we visited their local pet shop and guess who was peeping away by the door?

 These three and about 80 sisters of theirs! I think they said they're isa reds, but they sound like a similar temprament. 

A girl i was talking with in the shop said that she has a few and they love being picked up and cuddled.

 Mum also said she'd talked to a man that had bought the same ones and apparently one sits on his shoulder while he eats brekkie and he passes bits of cerial to her to nibble on!

 It sounds like their fabulous egg layers too.

So... There not my old girls who i miss very much, but its nice to have them peeping about and to know that once their a bit bigger they will be keeping me company in my garden. Thanks for those that wrote me lovely comments last post, they made me feel much better:) 

Any name ideas? So far our ideas are Lavendar, Buttercup, Gracie, and a few others

Sad and chickenless:(

Last night I left my pretty little chickens to roost on top of their cage so that i could come out and give them their mite spray once it was dark enough that they would be docile. I do this regularly, in fact I've on occasions forgotten to lock them up altogether and they have always been fine.

When I went out I couldnt find them anywhere. I found lots of feathers this morning, of each colour of my three girls.

So i have an empty cage.

No 'chook chooks' for the kids to lovingly save crusts from their loaves of bread at home and bring along.

This is a ridiculously over dramatic post about three chickens but I realy do feel quite sad to go out to my back yard without them.

This is a photo of Marley (orange) Talula (white) and Henrietta at the back (black) with a few chickens that I've given away to Levin and Mum.

giveaway winner and bits and pieces of my last week

So i hope no one was on the edge of their seat waiting to see who'd won my giveaway yesterday lol, I forgot about it!

The lucky winner is Garden Mama

 Garden Mama is a great blog which i hadn't yet discovered until she left a lovely comment during the week. Ive fallen in love with her Wondering Wednesday so my picture for this week is down the bottom of this post

Ive got a few bits and pieces of random photos of my week

Here's a few pics handsome man-model Mishka. Posing next to my broad beans (there are little beans growing, I'm really looking forward to eating them with a delicious cheese sauce, mmmm!)

Here hes getting ready to pounce on the 'black box that seems to be stalking him'.

My singer 'inspiration' (what a perfect model name for a sewing machine!) has been buzzing away happily

Sewing me a patchwork skirt

Made of only the happiest and brightest of colours

This morning i had a rather wonderful time splashing in puddles and dancing in the rain

This afternoon I went wondering across the road to an empty block full of tall grass and yellow flowers to take a few photos.

 I got thoroughly wet and muddy, breathed in lots of rain scented fresh air, cleaned my feet in the overflowed water from our rainwater tank, and then headed inside to get warm and dry underneath cozy quilts.