It's been another ' Make, Bake, Sew and Grow ' sort of week at the Gower Abundant Cottage. My days are fairly full of things to do and I'm really enjoying my time at home. After many weeks of sewing like crazy to fill all the face mask orders, I did take it a little easier this week. I've enjoyed watching lots of Youtube videos on gardening and soap making . I must admit, I quite enjoy having a smart tv which makes access to Youtube so much easier. The fact I can sit in my recliner chair with a cuppa and biscuit is quite relaxing too.
Here's what we've been up to this week -
* I planted out our Spring / Summer veggie seeds. I used a mini green house tray for some seeds and a plastic cover / carry case from a pillow I bought a couple of months ago.as another green house. I've planted zucchini, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce mix, bush beans, climbing beans, capsicum and tomatoes. A little later I'll plant carrots and radishes where I want them to grow.
* Darren planted out seed potatoes as well as ones he saved from our pantry. Some are growing in potato bags and the rest in the veggie beds.
* Made a batch of olive oil and coconut oil soap. My skin doesn't like using shower gel or bought soap for too long and we were down to our last bar of homemade soap. Now that I have more free time I'll be trying new techniques with colors and fragrances to give as presents and to sell to a few friends.
* Made chicken stock in the slow cooker then turned it into another big pot of chunky chicken and veg soup ( not soap ). Just about all of it went into the freezer for lunches and some will be saved to give to Jessica for her freezer when the lockdown ends.
* Made a few more masks and cards for orders.
* Saved the shower warm up water and poured it into the washing machine.
* Cleaned the inside of our kettle with citric acid.
* Picked Bok choy, and silverbeet from our garden and collected an egg almost every day.
* Ate leftover meals from our freezer for a couple of dinners.
* Turned the heater off for a few hours on a couple of days when the Sun was shining.
* Megan gave us a couple of containers of homemade potato and leek soup.
* Made sure all the appliances were turned off at the wall when not in use.
* Darren fed the compost bin almost every day with kitchen scraps.
* Fed dried bread and weeds to the chickens to give them something different from the usual chicken feed.
* Jessica organised a surprise delivery of donuts from her work as an early 25th wedding anniversary present. The donuts were enjoyed for a few afternoon teas. It was a lovely way to cheer us up. Due to the pandemic and lockdown, we were unable to go on our long awaited, much saved for fancy holiday to New Zealand and the Cook Islands which was meant to be this week.
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| Donuts from Jessica |
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| Handmade bath bombs |
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| Mini green houses helping the seeds along |
Hi Wendy what a busy, happy week you’ve had at home. Jessica’s surprise gift would have cheered you both up no end. What a thoughtful daughter. Your holiday sounds wonderful, so sad it must be postponed.
ReplyDeleteLovely for you to have time to stop and smell the roses, or pretty rose soap!
This difficult time for you and Darren will end but you have each other and home to see you through.
I am new to gardening this year and tried to raise seeds- a dismal failure. Could you please tell me how you do it?
Do you water them each day in the covers, do you open them to let air in? I really want to learn as I don’t have easy access to bought seedlings and think it’s vital that I can raise my own in these uncertain times. I have many packets of seeds now just need to grow them!
We recently sold our home of 31 years. What a stressful time sorting and moving. My husband Jeff, is extending our new garden area on the farm. Still had frosts this week so hoping to get some Spring planting done next week. I’ve found a new passion- my veggie garden. 5 strawberry plants I’ve nursed along since my daughter thinned her plants in March are fruiting! Very exciting. I’ve called their little area of the garden Casey’s Patch!
I’ve grown and eaten delicious broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, silver beet, spring onions and now my first snow peas! I’ve caught the Gardening bug, it’s so satisfying and I need to learn these skills to feed us for whatever lies ahead.
Love your blog Wendy. You are so down to earth and we share similar values of family and life.
Have a happy, fruitful week, 🍓
Lorraine W
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI am impressed with your ingenuity - I have one of those pillow bags and would never thought to use it as a 'humidicrib' for seeds, love it!
I am in awe of your resourceful and industrious ways. This last week has been far from easy for me. But it is over. I have saved money buy making one pot of beef and barley stew. That stew fed mum and me for five days. Not bad for 500 g of marked down meat. The car was filled with fuel that was at the lowest price point and that saved about 40 cents a litre. The new car is so much more fuel efficient too. I bought 3 kilos of strawberries for $10 and even though I said I should not be making jam this year but it seems I am.
ReplyDeleteAs Kathy has written the little green house is a brilliant idea. Keep safe and stay well.
How lovely to get the donuts from your daughter. This year is a milestone anniversary for us, and we've adjusted our plans many times. It looks like we will take the day off & spend it together, but not go anywhere. It will be fine, but is certainly not the trip to Italy we were envisioning.
ReplyDeleteWe've been eating from the garden, selling & listing items on eBay, menu planning, & generally just trying to get things done around the house!
I love the pillow bag green house! I had used the clear part for sewing projects that needed clear vinyl previously but this is genius and easier than the shower hat bowl covers that are never the right size that I use now. Thank you Wendy.
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy. How lovely to receive those very special donuts! They look delicious and I'm sure you both enjoyed them. Your rose-shaped bath bombs look lovely too. At our place this week:
ReplyDelete* topped up fuel before price rocketed up from $1.07 to $1.45 per L.
* combined errands to minimise driving
* baked a pear cake, banana muffins and choc chip muesli bar slice and froze for adding to lunchboxes during week
* made spaghetti bolognese, meatballs, zucchini slice, chicken stirfry and froze extra portions
* picked silverbeet, parsley, spring onion and a handful of mulberries from garden
* got half dozen free range eggs when I spent more than $25 at greengrocer
* filled and took waterbottles wherever we went
* received a big bunch of homegrown flowers and a punnet of strawberries. Xx
* started knitting washcloths with pretty cotton yarn I was gifted. (I have enough to make six washcloths for my present box.)
* wrapped birthday gift in simple brown paper and tied with recipient's favourite coloured ribbon that I had in my stash
* hung all washing out on line and on racks on our verandah to dry
* watched documentary and an episode of a comedy I like on ABC iview
Have the best week you can while you are at home, Wendy. You seem to be making the most you can of the situation. Stay well! MegXx