Goodbye 2013. Hello 2014.

Chickens.

Remember how I said I had a chook sitting on eggs and five weeks later there were still no chickens?    I left the shed door where I had her open and she came out and never went back in so I cleaned out the shed ready for next time.   That chook just went back in with the rest and wasn't wanting to sit any more.  As you would, after 5 weeks!   Anyway, in the meantime I had a grey chook sitting on some eggs and Baby, my raised from an egg Aracauna seemed to be wanting to get in that nest all the time too.  And the little black Aracauna was also sitting on a couple of eggs in another box... I wasn't sure about them though and kept taking them off, collecting eggs, forgetting for a bit and finally just left them to it thinking that I'd better move them out so that the other chooks wouldn't lay in those nest boxes...but I didn't, not for a long time anyway.  Finally last week I noticed that Baby was the only one in that box and she was very pecky when I went near her so in the dark of night I lifted her box and put her in the cleaned out shed and in my head wrote down a date a couple of weeks ahead.   The next day there were 2 chooks on the other clutch of eggs so I moved those 2 chooks and their 7 eggs into a nest outside of the main hen house.   Within a couple of days Baby had a chicken.  A couple if days later there were 2 more.  She left the other 4 eggs in the box and as they were cold and there was no sound coming from them I removed them.  Sowithin days of me moving her she had babies.  Seemed my dates were a tad off!  Then I notice 1 lone chick with the 2 black chooks.  It seemed to be with the Black Aracauna while the other chook stayed in the nest on 5 eggs.   This afternoon I was out there feeding them and there is another chicken.  One chook was still sitting on eggs and this new chicken was out with the first chicken.  There is a noticeable size difference, as there would be seeing as there is 3 days between them.  I'm hoping that over the next week a few more will hatch and survive but this is not a good way of doing things.  I need to keep a better eye on them and move the clucky chooks and their eggs out so that the eggs are the same age and not being added too over the weeks that I leave them.  That is not good.  Some of these eggs could be a week or more older than the ones that have hatched and it is possible that the chook will leave the eggs and the chickens may be left to die unhatched...I hope not but I haven't managed things very well at all.

But, as of tonight I have 5 chickens, 3 with Baby in the shed and 2 with the other Aracauna.  And some unhatched eggs in the same enclosure in the same nest ...but with a different chook sitting on them...Fingers crossed it will turn out alright for them all.

Mowing and Marron.

We have had a productive day with mowing and whippersnippering getting done.  We are having another get-together here next Sunday and even though we had one at the beginning of December and I managed to get it all done then it was still a big job today.  Husband used the ride-on and did the dam area while I used the self propelled mower to do around the house and whippersnipped the edges.  This mower mucks my hands and arms up big time and I am real sore tonight but daughter and her fella were out here earlier and it gave her something to make fun of so it's not all bad.  

They, everyone but me, spent the evening catching marron and putting them in the purging tank so that they will be all clean for eating next week. We then had tea, supplied by T and a big thanks to her for that and then a few hands of cards before they left.  A good day.    Husband has just come in after a last pull of the nets and says that there are heaps of different sized marron out there so that's good.  He says that there are heaps of frogs around the dam too so it shows that the place is good and safe for wildlife and that is a main reason  I don't want to use poisons...I love having all the frogs in different areas even if they do make me squeal when they jump in front of me...Another reason for keeping the grass mowed short, when snakes come in for a feed of frog I want to be able to see them...

We're away for a few days soon so I am a bit worried about the seedlings I have planted...I will water and mulch before we go and keep my fingers crossed they survive a couple of days without a drink...With a bit of shadecloth over them they may be alright.  Fingers crossed anyway.  I'm hoping the new chickens will be OK too but will have to remember to set up extra water for them before we leave.  They should be right for food as they all have outside areas to scratch in and I will put out food for them but water is the important thing for them.    Might have to call on T to come out and check on things...If she reads this I might not have to call...

Today I Will Plant...

I am supposed to be outside getting the gardens ready to plant the seedlings I bought last week.  I'm not though.  I have been and will be but right now?  No.  Not there.  I am in here eating pavlova for breakfast.  I will make a veg smoothie soon so that I feel better about it. 

I keep thinking that the gardens are next to useless at the moment but I don't get out there and get them fixed.  Bad gardener!   But!  Today is the day.  Today I will get them sorted and the seedlings planted.    I need to if I plan on having my smoothies each day and if I don't want to take pills then I will need the potions. 

Looking around out there we can still get a decent feed from my unloved gardens.  We could have potato, sweet potato, onion, tomatoes, capsicum, chillies, cabbage.  Mix it all with eggs and we'd be feeding ourselves, no problems.  The problem starts when husband wants a salad or I decide that I want healthy smoothies and there isn't any spinach growing.  Nor silverbeet.  No kale either.  No zucchini, no cucumber, no salad stuff at all.  And it's Summer!  Where is all my salad food?   Luckily a friend gave us a box of veg as he was going to be away for a few days, husband brought some leftover veg home from his work and darling daughter left half a watermelon here.   We have a few apples that are ripe, a few ripe oranges still on the tree plus heaps in the freezer...the boysenberries are being picked every day as are the strawberries.  And some of the grapes are ready to pick too.  We have plenty of food and there is no need to go to the shops at all but there is a great need for me to get out and plant if we want to be eating from here next year.  So, in saying that...

What do you have growing?   Is there anything that you grow enough of and have no need to buy?   Tell me about your garden please.

Busy Time Of Year...

I've not had a computer all week...don't ya hate that!  I thought that I would too but actually it was OK, boring at night with just the TV but I had lots of time during the day, when I was home, and managed to get quite a bit done.

One job I am happy to say is finished, or near enough, is the sorting of my shoes.  The basket has finally been sorted, only took me a few months.   Blimey, what a lot of shoes I had crammed in there.  No wonder it was an effort to get it in and out from under the bed where it is kept...much easier now.  I still have an outside cupboard with too many pairs in it and will work on that over the next few weeks.  Or months...Whatever.

I have been through a few cupboards and taken another pile of stuff down to Vinnies with another lot ready to go to the FreeMarkets on Saturday.  Still more to go of course and the decluttering will be an ongoing thing for quite a bit longer.   I can't really tell where the stuff has gone from which is a bit sad but I supose in time I will start to see the difference.

I've not done enough out in the gardens and feeling cranky with myself because of that, again still! but have promised myself that I wll get stuck into it again next year.    I've not done any of the sewing that needs doing and there is still too much cleaning to do but I am hopeful that some of it will be done before our next get together lunch here.  That gives me a couple of weeks...

The coffee and cake with some women from the Meetup group I joined last week went well.  I met some really interesting women and hope to get together with them again next month.  

The lunch we had here on the 8th went well.  Everyone seemed to have a good time and a few want to know when the next one will be...

Vinnies had their Hamper Day today so I have spend most of the day in town with a dozen others helping give Christmas Hampers out.  It was my first year doing this and seeing as I didn't get too cranky with it all I think I will help again next year.  After getting back from that I  drove down to Harvey to pick up the computer...Sadly, it looks like I am going to be on here too much again...

It's school holidays here and that means the childcare work is back on so that will keep me busy for a couple of weeks...seems like I am going to have quite a bit on for the next few weeks so for someone that says they never go anywhere or do anything...I wont be able to say that for the next month or so...

I want to do some write-ups on different places that we have been lately so hopefully I don't forget to do that.  It will be a record of where we go and if  we think it's worth going again.  I already have a list with a few places on it so need to get started on that soon.

And of course there is mowing, chook yards, weeding to do.  I broke *my* mower so that will make the mowing less enjoyable...I will need to use the ride-on and the self propelled one but I don't like them as much.  Still, it's what I have so will need to suck it up and just do it. 

I'm at Vinnies tomorrow, FreeMarkets on Saturday, out Monday, working all day Tuesday...Might be able to get stuck into it all sometime towards next week...

Meetup.com

I recently read on SS about a site called Meetup that is all about, wait for it... people meeting up.   Strangers meeting up with other strangers.  For coffee, dinner, a movie, walking, fun weekends, art and crafts, just about anything.  Some of the Meetup groups have hundreds of members, some only a few.  And I daresay, some of those strangers would become friends.  That can't be bad.

http://www.meetup.com is world wide but there are no groups in my town nor the 2 towns closest to me.  A few over in Mandurah though and I liked the sound of one of them so I joined up.  They are having coffee and cake in Barragup one morning soon and I am hoping that I get up enough guts to actually go.  I'm always whinging about having no friends and never going anywhere so if I don't take advantage of this group I'll have no-one to blame but myself.  The place where they are going, Decadent C's, is not on my list of places that I want to go to, I have actually read about it and heard from someone that has been and decided that it wasn't for me but this will give me a chance to give them a chance. 

Has anyone here heard of this site?  Is anyone a member?   Have a look at it and let me know what you think.

What's Up? Not a lot...

I figure it's about time that I came on here and wrote something but my life is boring, my gardens are empty...what to write, what to say...
It's December already.  How did that happen so quick.   

I'm a bit cranky with myself, again.    I have been reading blogs, about people doing things, going places, growing stuff, living in tidy and clean houses, making lots of cool stuff to make their clean and tidy homes nicer...I read, want to do the same, don't.   So my house is not clean or tidy, I don't have enough food growing to feed us, I haven't been on any adventures...

So, what is happening here, what have I done......Not a lot. 
Happenings...
Apricots are falling from the tree and it is a constant job picking them up.  For the first time we have fruitfly in them and it's a bleedin' shame that more than half of the 2 trees we have will end up as chookfood.  The other half are being scraped of maggots fruit fly larvae, soaked in a bowl of water to get the hidden ones out and nuked in the microwave for me to eat.  Want some?  Seems that some people think that I am manky for doing this but I wouldn't get any if I didn't do this and that wouldn't be good.  The ones that are too maggoty are cooked up for the chooks.  

We're not eating much from the gardens, I didn't plant enough and what I did plant didn't grow as well as usual...Too many slaters, not enough looking after, the gardener was/is too slack...Next year she better be better or I might have to sack her and it's always sad when you have to sack yourself...

I have a clucky chook sitting on 7 or 8 eggs and I thought that they were supposed to hatch last weekend but she is still sitting so I now hope that I had the dates wrong.   And there are 2 other chooks that are clucky too so I will need to get them sorted and separated sometime this week.

The yards are looking pretty good, husband did a big clean-up last week and now I just need to keep on top of the mowing and to clean up after myself and they should look good all the time...Yeah. Hmmm, lets see how I go with that!  One idea that I have to make myself keep on top of it is to ask people around for lunch now and again.  I have plans for that so hope I stick with them.

Doings...
During seniors week our local community put on a "High Tea and Fashion Show"  The fashion show using  clothing from local op-shops.   I wanted to go so bought some tickets and asked some people to come with me.  It seems I have no friends and I was hard put to find some people to give the spare tickets to.  In the end I thought of a couple and am glad that I did this.  Usually I would just want to go, not have anyone to go with so not go...

My eldest daughter got married again in November and we were lucky enough to be invited.  She was a lovely bride and they looked very happy.  

We were given some tickets for a show over in Mandurah from a friend that couldn't use them.  To see "Anh Do - The Happiest Refugee Alive"  That was on the 23 Nov and we went over early and had a meal at Cicerellos before hand.   The meal was nice, the show was great...pity the same couldn't be said about the coffee and cake afterwards.  That was a big disapointment but I let them know and they are going to send us a voucher to try again so I will wait until we do before I make up my mind about them.

During December there are are few things on that I would like to go to too so I hope I don't pull the "SookyLaLa" thing and chicken out.   One thing I can't chicken out of is a lunch here.  I have invited some people that we know...OK, we do have a few friends!  and I have invited them for lunch, this Sunday.  I have heaps to do to get the place ready for it so will get out there and do some more mowing soon. 

I have Vinnies thank-you dinner coming up on the 13th so that will be a night out with the other volunteers.  It will be at the Waroona Hotel so hoping it will be nice.  

And!  I am considering going for coffee and cake at a place in Barragup...with people that I have never met and know nothing about.   This is where I'm hoping the SookyLaLaness doesn't creep in. That is on the 14th and I will let you know how it goes..if I go...

Coffee, then tidy-up before more mowing...