Garlic, embroidery and the garden expo...

I ordered some garlic yesterday.  I have ordered sprouting seeds, so they already have the shoots started, which should guarantee 100% success, and because they are already sprouting, it shouldn't matter that I am planting a little later than usual. I have read that I can plant out garlic until the end of July, so hopefully all should be good. I also had a look a chest freezers yesterday, and now just have to decide between a 500 litre and a 360 litre..I want to get rid of the 2 door fridge freezer in the shed, as it is probably 20 years or so old, and probably uses a heap of power...the 500 litre will cost about $60 a year to run, and the 360 litre will be about $40 a year to run, so very cheap compared to what the other older 1 is probably costing me. I am going to pick up a power monitor today, and work out exactly how much the old fridge is costing me ro run so I will have a more accurate idea. I also got some small knitting needles for Kasey yesterday and started teaching her to knit, I think it will take a long time, and because she is left handed it is really difficult, so I can only show her the right handed way, and she finds that really hard...so I think I need to find a left handed knitter to show her. I also went to sewing class last night, and started embroidering out the flowers for the front of the bag. They are constructed using a wash away stabiliser, so will end up as lovely little individual flowers. I will finish sewing these today hopefully, and then post a couple of photos of the finished flowers, they are really pretty. I am currently making some passionfruit jam, I am just waiting for the skins to cool and I can scoop out the white pulp and add to the mix and start to cook it off. I want to make some lemon curd as well, not sure if I will quite get to that today. I am hoping to go to the Nambour garden show this weekend, they have a giant kitchen garden setup that works on the organic and permaculture principles, so I am really interested in having a look and sitting through a couple of the demonstrations.  I will have to make sure Kasey brings her Nintendo, I may have half a chance of her sitting through a couple of demonstrations that way, as she doesn't have the patience to sit through those. Ok, off to make jam and get through my list of projects for today...

A long night.....and a busy day ahead....

I have snuck in a few sleep ins the last few days, and I paid for it last night/this morning....no sleep, not even a few minutes....by 4.30 this morning I figured there was no point in trying to sleep any longer, so just got up. It is very peaceful this time of the day, even though the eyes are quite red....I have a bit planned for today, I have been trying to get a daily routine schedule drawn up over the last few days, I am really over having no direction each day and just flailing along day by day. I much prefer to work to lists and a routine, and my routine has been sadly lacking for a long, long time. I don't think I am alone in not knowing where to start each day, and this has gone on for such a long time now, but so many people say the same thing, and that is that they just don't know how to get the routine back in their life...I am definitely in this category at the moment. I tried the flylady thing about a year ago, but it just wasn't really my thing, there was a lot of good points to it, but I just felt like I never stopped and that I was spending all of my time cleaning!  I think a modified version would work for me. The problem I am having is that I just can't prioritise what I should do first, so I end up not doing much of what I actually want to do. And I have so many things I want to do, that I don't get to any of them. I also find that even when I make up a list at the beginning of a week detailing what I need to achieve that week, while it helps immensley, I still need to be more structured with how long something takes me to do, and how long I should actually spend on it. So I have so far done up a day by day plan for Mon-Fri of each week. This will be the core things I will do each week. I have slotted in some free time on the Friday's that I am not doing weddings, and after dinner each night to do craft and sewing etc. I have done it up on an hour by hour basis, so that I know what I should be doing at what particular time of the day....if I find this too hard, then I will perhaps do it up a bit less structured, with a simple am and pm format...but I will try the more structured format first. Yesterday I stripped my bed and washed the sheets, doona and cover, pillowcases and pillow protectors, and I vacuumed the pillows and woollen underlay. It was lovely getting into a lovely fresh bed...not that I did any sleeping...I also made a batch of soap last night, it turned out really well...probably the best batch I have had in some time, I made the oils and the lye a little cooler this time, and it seemed to make a big difference...I need to go out and get a couple of things today, I also want to go to Spotlight and get a few craft things for Kasey, I am looking at getting her a pair of small knitting needles and some wool, and she can start to learn to knit. I may also get her one of those french knitting looms, and she can try that as well, and if they have any cross stitch suitable for her age, I may look at that as well. I want to try and make some lemon butter and some passionfruit butter today or tomorrow as well. I have a sewing class tonight, we are starting on a beautiful elegant evening bag, it is absolutely stunning...so I hope mine turns out that way!  I have heaps written in my diary today, I was thinking last night that maybe there was too much written there, but as I am getting a nice early start it should hopefully be achievable....

Home made Woolwash

I have made this wool wash, rather than buying it, and it works brilliantly. It leaves the woollens really soft and smelling lovely, and I also use it when I am wanting to freshen up sheets and doonas etc, and for sterilising these items while they wash. It's also great for towels. I have had this 1st batch for at least 6 months, and I freshened it up a week or so ago by adding some hot water to it, as it had hardened up and was becoming hard to scoop out. It is now really good again, and should last many more uses before I need to make any more. This is the recipe:

Home Made Wool Wash
200ml methylated spirits
300g lux pure soap flakes or grated laundry soap
100ml eucalyptus oil

Mix all ingredients and store in a wide necked jar.

Use 1- 2 tablespoons per wash.  Mix with hot water and then add to a warm wash.

Typical...

Here is Penny

Here is Sam not real happy with Penny...

Here is Penny...crowing!!! Oh dear...... :( Just typical, 50/50 chance of getting a boy....they swore he was a girl.....I'll have to learn how the tell the sexes of chickens.....

Kasey came running in yesterday afternoon telling me that Penny was crowing, and I said"Nah....Penny's a girl, she would have just been clucking" Kasey said, "No Mum, she was crowing" So I went outside and sure enough....2 roosters crowing!!!....What a pity, he is such a spunky rooster....but I can only have one, so one will have to go.....they are just starting to fight, so will have to do it soon.....anyone want a rooster???  Don't know which chook the tiny, yolkless egg came from...but it obviously wasn't Penny....er...George.....I've had my suspicions for a few weeks, just by the look of him with the way his feathers have been growing so long and rooster looking, but the tiny egg really threw me off, as all of the other girls have been laying for ages.... I am really disappointed, he reminds me of the country roosters you see in all of the artworks and on mugs etc.....and he would have made gorgeous chickens

How things have changed.....

I was sent this as an email today...I have seen it before...so true....thank goodness a couple of things have changed (asbestos, seatbelts, Mum's smoking and the lead paint, etc) but pity about most of the other things...certainly brought back lots of memories.....(not until the 70's though, just clearing that up!!! :)    )

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL MY FRIENDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE 1930's 1940's, 50's, 60's and early 70's ! First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.

Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright coloured lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds , KFC, Subway or Nandos.

Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death!

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy  Toffees, Gobstoppers, Bubble Gum and some bangers to blow up frogs with.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of old prams and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and dens and played in river beds with matchbox cars.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wii , X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY ,

no video/dvd  films, 

no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no
Lawsuits from these accidents.

Only girls had pierced ears!

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time...

We were given air guns and catapults for our 10th birthdays,

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!

RUGBY and CRICKET had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!! Getting into the team was based on MERIT

Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes and bullies always ruled the playground at school.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.

They actually sided with the law!

Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL !
And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

Today's Wedding...

Today's wedding flowers for Amber, gorgeous oriental lillies, the perfume was gorgeous...

Op shop bargain and Seed order

While Kasey was at gymnastics this morning, I went to the local shopping centre just around the corner to see if I could find some storage boxes for my cotton reels. I really didn't want to get plastic ones, but haven't been able to find anything else. Anyway, I couldn't find anything, and on my way back called into the op shop next to the gymnastics centre, and I found this:

It does this

I have got to finish filling it up, but I love it....it was only $10 too.

I also got this:

Just because it is very cute....

My seed order also arrived from Eden seeds, they were out of stock of the gourds :(.... They were so quick, I only ordered them online very late Wednesday night, and they arrived today..very impressed with the service.