'The Chop'

Winter is a time when a lot of things get 'the chop'. Here are a few that have been happening in Nanne's garden.

First of all Pa has been busy chopping wood for our fireplace. A friendly farmer from church told Pa he could have free firewood if he wanted to pick it up. Pa was straight off with his chainsaw and trailer. Here he is getting the job done at home,

and here is the result. A lovely big pile for keeping us warm on wintery nights.








There was also a big pile of sawdust when he had finished,















so the chooks got a lovely new 'carpet' in their chookhouse for all their hard work laying eggs for the family.













The fruit trees got 'the chop' this week, a haircut to help them grow better in spring. You can already see the buds forming on the branches. Later they will be flowers, then fruit (nectarines...yum!)












The roses got 'the chop' so they make more flowers in summer. You can see the new shoots here too.












Even Mez got a haircut this week, and a tail cut, so she looks smart for Riding Club. She really liked being fussed over.





























And lastly, I have had 2 naughty chooks jumping out of their yard, a lot, so finally I said "RIGHT!  time to give your wing tips 'the chop' ". Problem fixed. No more jumping out, as they can't fly as well with clipped wings.

What's Pretty in Winter

If you look carefully there are lots of pretty things in winter, especially in my garden. I love early mornings best, so here are some things I saw today.

Magpies preening in the early morning sun with mist in the background. They were warbling too, which I just love.












Chooks having porridge for breakfast.















Mezzie dozing (even pretty with a droopy bottom lip!).















Bright red-hot-pokers on the front fence.

Lukedendrons out the back and pansies at the cubby window.




















Pretty white daisies and a well-used blue watering can.













Baby calves in Ruth's paddock.

















The first bulbs... jonquils,


Gorgeous! Thanks God for showing me  
all these pretty things. They made my day.

Kids and school holidays

School holidays means kids at Nanne and Pa's place, and don't we love it.



Kids in cubbies and in the chicken coop













kids on bikes and billycarts
















kids in the kitchen (Sammy the lemon cordial king)














kids in the garden
kids in gumboots















kids knitting

















kids messing up the place and all too soon back at school.















The lads!


















Some may see it as just baby-siting. We see it as investing, way more important than the bank account or super fund. This is true treasure... grandchildren, where we touch the future

From the Farmer to my Pantry

The best food to eat is what you grow yourself. It's free and healthy and tasty.
BUT, sometimes you have a bad year, like I did this last summer when it was so hot and dry. We hardly got any apples or pumpkins.
However, the next best thing is to buy from the local farmers, either from Farmers' Markets or roadside stalls. It is usually very cheap and you can help the farmer by buying his crops too.

I bought 3 big bags of apples from a farm that we passed on our way to Yarra Junction for a bike ride,














peeled them and cut them up for pies, cakes, apple crumble and apple dumplings,












cooked them with some water, lemon juice and sugar,































got some old spaghetti sauce bottles and cleaned them with boiling water,













then put the cooked apples into them. Now I will have plenty of apples in my cupboard (and some in the freezer) for all those lovely cakes and desserts later on in the year.












I also bought a huge pumpkin, cauliflower and a peach tree from a road side stall. Guess where the pumpkin will go? (Soup)












Here is Ella helping make a lovely big pot of cauliflower soup.
(delicious!)





 

Winter Veges and Walnut Slice

It has been a beautiful week here in Nanne's Garden and I have enjoyed working outside making things beautiful and putting in some new veges.

First job is to dig over the soil. I
had 4 little helpers who went crazy over their first 'dig'.
OOOhhh! the bugs and worms, better than
Maccers.



















YUUUMMM!  "Is my beak dirty?"























                                         Peas






















 Cauliflower and also some brown onions and brocolli










 I've also done some cooking with the walnuts that the girls picked up for me last holidays (remember when Ariana climbed to the top of the tree?) They are delicious

What to do on Rainy Days

A nice warm fire and some knitting needles

make warm woolly socks for around the house. Just the shot for after school on a cold winters day.                                          Who would like some? Pick your colours.

 

And look what those clever chooks have laid already. I'll soon be filling up all those cartons

They're Here

Hi Kids
The new chickens arrived today. The lovely old man who brought them last time came again. He said "they should be laying eggs any day now". You can see that they are only young by the little 'combs' on top of their heads.

They need new names. Would Sammy, Ariana, Hamish and Braden like to think up some names this time?

They like their new home and are already happily scratching around the coop.