This Week's Happenings

I am really enjoying the steady supply of eggs we've been getting I have to say. We've been getting 2 duck eggs and 3-4 chicken eggs every day which is more than we need for our use. When I get a dozen duck eggs I'm going to take them to our neighbour who is often sharing produce from their garden with us.



The girls and I did go ahead and plant some lettuce last week. We have a couple of shoots now which they are excited about. I'm also planning to get some soil, milk crates and landscape fabric and start a strawberry tower, and plant a mini herb garden in some styrofoam boxes my mom picked up for me on the weekend. There's no excuse for me not to do more to be homesteading right here and now, even if we do hope to not be here much longer.



I'm working on adjusting my attitude regarding housework - to do it more diligently and joyfully, and also to encourage Bower Bird and Chickadee to do more as well. Children are excellent imitators and at this age have such a willingness and even desire to help out and have a purpose and I really should cultivate that so they don't become as lazy as their mother learn valuable life skills and get used to the expectation that everyone be doing something to help. The way to accomplish all that I believe is to majorly decrease and declutter our possessions. A facebook friend shared this article today which served as an excellent reminder to me that children are so capable, but its on me to keep them from being overwhelmed by too much stuff.
We have begun with them putting their own clothes away in their drawers and making their beds in the morning. Their completely empty drawers since I took every article of clothing out to wash and sort, only a few articles of which are being returned to them.



Tech-Daddy's birthday is coming up on Sunday and yesterday I made beef jerky as his birthday present.

I'm very pleased with how it turned out too. I don't know why I was so intimidated by the dehydrator for so long, but now that I've had two successes with it I expect I will be using it quite a bit so stay tuned for more food preserving endeavours. And also for pie making since he prefers lemon pie to birthday cake.


Our flock is now down to ten - we sold our little drake and he was picked up on Thursday. It was a bit sad to see him go as he was very pretty and he had a good temperament, plus he was one of our own hatched ducklings. But we just don't have the space to support two drakes, and Banner is far too loved by the girls (and as friendly as any dog) for him to be the one replaced.


And lastly, unfortunately there have been no further leads on a property to rent. I'm really having a hard time regretting having turned down the other place. There was just so much to have loved about it. The house itself really was quite small though so I know turning it down was for the best as we would likely have very soon been feeling very crowded.

Garlic, Feathered Pigs,Egg Eaters and a Housing Update

Today I made garlic powder, which I'm strangely excited about haha. On Sunday I watched a tutorial on makinfg garlic powder and then on Monday low and behold at the shops there were 6 1kg bags of peeled garlic cloves heavily marked down ($4.99 from $16.99) in the back so I had to buy one. I have a dehydrator which has never been used only been used for drying Peep's umbilical cord and an emergency incubator for hatching a chick in about two years since we bought it. After finally putting it to work though and seeing how easy it is though I think I will have to start dehydrating lots of things.

Unfortunately our only outdoor outlet doesn't work so I was unable to heed the warning to do it outside. A well ventilated laundry room closed to the rest of the house mus have helped, but even after having all the windows open today and simmering cloves and cinnamon on the stove for several hours it still smells like an Italian Nonna's kitchen in here. But at least we won't have to worry about vampires. ;)

My chickens are such pigs! I don't think my ducks are getting enough to eat because the chickens are always crowding them out of the way, and our yard has much better foraging for the chickens than the ducks as well. By midafternoon the ducks are all gathered on the back porch looking quite hungry so I will take pity on them and feed them, but then my feathered piggies all come running and chase them away and I can't chase them off without chasing the ducks off too. I had been trying to let the ducks out first in the morning to have a feed before letting the chooks out, but then they just stand there waiting for the chickens to go first I guess. So tonight I put food in the duck coop at lock up time and that seemed to work so we'll see how that goes for a while.

After getting 4 eggs one day we're back to getting only 2-3 eggs a day and I'm not sure if its because they're not into peak production yet or if its because I caught Bolt in the coop eating an egg on Sunday. I don't know if she's become an egg eater or if maybe he egg had simply broken and she took advantage of the situation but I do need to get some ceramic eggs to try to put a stop to it. I hope it doesn't become an issue. I can't have an egg eater around but since she was from our first hatch and the girls love her to bits it would be so hard to get rid of her...

Speaking of eating eggs, tonight I made quiche for dinner - the first time using entirely our own eggs (and seasoned with my homemade garlic powder too) How amazing did that feel? And taste. I can't wait until more and more of our meals are made with our own food

And lastly, on the weekend we went to visit a house that I had high hopes of becoming our homestead. The land was amazing - so much more than I would have dared hope for -it even had a static chicken coop and run and what could have been perfect as a goat shelter and yard that just needed the fence repaired, a veggie garden and several fruit trees. But unfortunately the house was a lot smaller than expected, it was right ad Tech-Daddy's max distance range, and the driveway was in terrible shape and we could barely get our van up to the carport and doubted the car would fit at all. Those three cons made DH decide against it. He liked it a lot but doesn't want to live somewhere he has to talk himself into, especially since we're talking living somewhere for the next 3+ years.So we're back to the drawing board.

I am praying for patience to wait for just the right property to come up. Ideally it will have fruit trees and a chicken coop and either be 10 minutes closer to town than the last place, or have a third bedroom and a verandah. And I'd really like to be able to move within 6 weeks so I can make a good start on the garden before the end of September.