a gardeny stroll

 this tiny peacharine tree is the first fruit tree to get its leaves

 its but a twig in the ground

 the apricot tree is next

 just a few leaves so far

 the big(er) apple has some big buds. I'm crossing my fingers for apples this year

 buds are on the mulberry and self seeded flowers below

 peas peas and more peas, I cant believe ho fast they grow.
On Wednesday I was sick with a cold. Not a completely unpleasant one, but one that completely zapped me of energy.
I sat out in the garden.
I love sitting in my veggie patch and just being. Day dreaming, watching birds, noticing the growth and progress and growth of each plant, planning for next season. Figuring out where i'm going to fit in my 48 tomato plants (kidding, iv'e already found a good home for the spares)
Anyhow, I was so lethargic and worn out but out in the garden it didn't matter. I had the sun on my back and beauty to watch and it just felt like a perfectly perfect way to spend a day.
 I sat by my peas which had been picked empty the night before and was amused for the longest time finding the hiding ones that we had missed. The way they blend in with the vine can mean they can be hidden in plain sight.  The ones that get missed for a few days are the best ones as there the biggest and juciest

a busy week

 Yesterday I babysat my sweet little godson Jayden

I got a lovely surprise when I went to change his nappy. When Kylie was pregnant with him we painted a bunch of thrifted singlets and suits, id forgotten all about them. His dad put it on him just for me:)

all our walking and opp shopping wore him out

 but he had sweet dreams


Its been a busy week. Benny's mum is in hospital, she had a bad accident at work and is having surgeries to fix her hand.

I've been working on a hat that she requested a few weeks ago and I'm also going to bake her some nice biscuits ready for when she gets to come home.
I'm also knitting a snug with home spun. Ive not spun undyed wool with such colour variation before and im trying to love it but still not quite sure

I made a new cover for my rocking chair. I id been meaning to since I first got it. I cant believe I put it off for so long, it ended up taking less than half an hour. I didn't have enough of any suitable fabric so I used blue ticking fabric for the front and calico for the back. I can also have the calico facing for change which is an added bonus. (excuse the nappy hanging over the chair back, a common sight its been wet wet wet here!

I've also got a new apple blossom child, a 13month old girl. she will be with us 4 days a week and i'm relieved to finally have one that isn't close to starting school or kindy. Her first day went well. She was mostly  happy, loved being outside, ate well, slept well. I was a bit worried about nap time as our new little Cameron still needs me to sit on his bed with him and read story until he falls asleep so I wondered how I would comfort them both but I amazingly managed to have all 3 children asleep before the end of the first story!
I must say that I do quite like it when I have one that needs me to read until they fall asleep. It can otherwise be tempting to read the quickest story and then race off to get things done. I read the story slower and slower as it helps (bore them:) to sleep. I take deep breaths  and yawn as I ive found over time they imitate this and it deepens there breathing too. All of these things are just as good at helping relax me, like a daily afternoon meditation.
We had such a nice day today. I borrowed new library books yesterday and also managed to find a heap of wooden train tracks at an opp shop so the apple blossom kids were pretty happy. We had a train track going from the sleep room all the way into the bathroom! It can be incredibly noisy having all these little boys inside when its raining outside but I generally love the happy chaos of it all

birdies build your nests

(yes I still have that song in my head)

on Sunday I needle felted this little bird using this tutorial . 

 I made the nest from the brown fleece I washed a while back and the bird and eggs from another fleece from Moseley park farm. I sewed the head on rather than just felting it on so that it would be a bit more solid

 Once the bird was complete into the dye pot she went with some greener shades dye

 Once dry I added a sweet little face.
I showed it to the boys this morning and they loved her!
As soon as I saw how much they  liked the her I remembered that last week they had been carrying around a metal bowl with bark chips as eggs and a ball as a mama bird. How funny that I coincidentally happened to make just what they had imagined!

 They had fun pretending the eggs were hatching and then pretending the eggs were baby birds. The baby birds would sit on mama birds back to fly around the room. They then found blankets and became the baby birds hatching from the eggs in their very own cozy nest

Excitement in the garden, I discovered the first self seeded tomato plant already! this inspired me to plant some seeds in trays. After planting a large tray of tomatoes I wondered how many I had. Um... 48! Just slight overkill for my little garden, can you tell i'm excited for tomatoes and for spring planting? Im sure ill be able to find willing recipients for some spare tomato plants. I also started some chamomile, chives, capsicum, basil and I cant remember what. I put some clear containers over them to hold in some heat

inside, outside

 : : inside

A spot cleared for my craft bits and pieces in the play room. Formerly it had become a spot for everything that didn't have a place (ie a big mess) now it is a breath of fresh air

buntinting I made last week from some peter rabbit fabric scraps, flowers brought in. The tiny posie off daffodills has filled the room with its sweet scent

some of my home spun wool being knitted into a little something. I love the feel of the lanolin

: : outside

our peas got damaged by fierce weather yesterday, they were reaching to the very top of the poles and now they are all blown down(you can see the poles are wonky too!). A bit sad but their still healthy and full of peas so thats what matters the most of course

 bennys parents dropped off about 10 bales (!!!) of pea straw as they were sick of bits blowwing into their pool. The garden and apple blossom kids are appreciative!

 my very favourite place to sit (my $2 garage sale chair)

A dinner I looked forward to all day, leftover babi kecap my by my Opa, the best cook ever (my slightly biased opinion of course)

harvesting

 Yesterdays harvest, broccoli, parsley, carrot, eggs, rainbow chard, spinach and the peas that we eat straight off the vine

Today- spring onions and celery for tonight's chicken soup, Chinese cabbage for coleslaw. And again with the peas. Oh yes we love peas!
As much as I like planting, growing and harvesting, I'm not a big fan of washing the freshly picked veg. A few weeks ago it occurred to me to let the Apple Blossom kids take over the veg cleaning. Because whats more fun than bowls of water, scrubbing brushes and a whizzing salad spinner. It takes a ridiculously long while for the veggies to get clean but I have some very willing helpers.
After these pictures I filled the big tub too and they added their own 'sharks' (big Cameron had a little shark toy from home, our new friend little Cameron improvised using our veggie scrubber as his own shark, Mitch had wondered off to play in the kitchen some more ) The sharks so happily hid and swum through the celery swamp that I felt sad having to take them inside for nap. Some days flow so nicely

kitcheny fun

I got the little cupboard on Sunday and have started turning it into a play kitchen. I cut a sink hole, put a metal bowl in as a sink, added wooden draw nobs for the stove and tap nobs. 

Benny is making us a stainless steel tap and stove elements at work. I love that he loves to help me with my making projects. He always thinks of good ways to make things that I never would have thought of. 

I was planning on cutting off the top shelf as I thought the shape would be cuter but instead I think I will keep it. Its always nice to have an extra shelf that the children cant reach!

You can see on the left side I have curved the cupboard side. The right side is still as it was. I will get to that perhaps next weekend. I still need to borrow my Dads edge trimmer to curl all the edges and corners too. 

 For the moment we have paper stove elements and the children use the imaginary tap.

 I also added cup hooks and hooks on the side for oven mitts and aprons.

 I was going to needle felt some eggs but didn't get around to it. Now I see there is no need (they made their own with play dough. Yes I am reminded, less is more

 Muffins bake in my oven and theirs. The play silk is the 'hot'

 bulbs are beginning to bloom in the garden and we brought this pot inside. We cant help sing on our favorite songs. Indeed Spring is coming! Not for a while, but we can feel it in the air and smell it in the breeze

making and planning

 Last night I was listening to an audio book and cleaning my glass doors that are in the playroom. The old window stars were looking a bit sad and well loved so I made this picture by tearing kite paper (idea from pintrest, my new favorite site)
I also made some soap but its still too soft to take out of the silicone molds. I tried removing one and it broke. Any one know if it will dry out yet or if it hasn't yet would it be no good?

edited to add**

all good, I left them a few extra days and they turned out fine, phew!

 The one at the back is the first one I removed, can you tell why I was worried?:)

They are chamomile calendular, colored naturally with carrot juice. They don't look very bright so i'm not sure I added enough carrot juice. Might add the pulp too next time as I've seen others do. To think I was worried about them coming out bright orange!

 I've been drawing up plans for the soon to be play kitchen in my art journal. Not that I needed to as the alterations will be so simple and straight forward, but mostly just for fun. I found these paints that Mum gave back to me recently and had fun making the plans extra pretty

 I'm still deciding what design to cut into the door, what do you think? Which one is your favorite?

 I made some little oven mitts and plan on making some aprons too

Today I found some things for it at a local second hand shop and got wooden knobs for the taps and stove. I also gathered together some things I've slowly collected for our 'one day wooden play kitchen' at opp shops. These are my favorite pieces so far. The lidded pot this morning was my most exciting play kitchen find yet I think. You know, aside from the actual kitchen the other day. I'm feeling pretty lucky at the moment