Veges, eggs and crochet

 

Mornings are slowly starting to get darker here and nights are getting a bit nippy. I was asked by a friend if I could make a crochet knee blanket for one of her friends, so after her posting the pattern and wool to me I discovered that they had only bought one colour of each ball of wool which wasn't anywhere near enough because as the blanket gets bigger, the more wool you need. So I ended up having to buy more and thankfully my friend has reimbursed me - this is the finished product which I will end up posting back to her this week.

Normally each day we get at between 3 and 4 eggs from our chickens. The one on the right is one I found last week, it's at least twice the size of the average one on the left and was a double yoker after I cracked it.

 

I've got pumpkin, cauliflower and broccoflower growing in the vege garden and the Chicken poop has been great for putting in the soil.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world, Wordless Wednesday.

Eggsactly...

 

 

So December came and went, now we are onto January. It was a very quiet new year's even for us, B and I worked until 9pm and after we came home it was time for a cup of tea then bedtime. We discovered a new Apple Crumble Pie that was in the freezer section at work so we enjoyed that with some custard and summer wouldn't be the same without chips dipped into the traditional kiwi dip consisting of reduced cream mixed with onion soup and an added squeeze of lemon juice. Once refrigerated for a good hour or so it's very refreshing on a hot day.

And I took this quick snap of our 1/4 acre backyard section looking at the side of the house and our neighbour across the road. The boys have been busy using our new ride on lawn mower  to keep it trim on the average 24 degree celsius days. I'm even contemplating getting chickens to give us fresh free range eggs now that cage eggs have been banned here, apparently companies were given notice back in 2012 that they were going to be fazed out and now supermarkets across the country are all running short. I'm not sure about the Chickens though, my cousin has some but I'm wondering about the upkeep.

Linking up with Through my lens, Ruby Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

It's just for the birds

A few months ago my daughter purchased a bird feeder from Bunnings and until earlier this week it was sitting on top of a wheelbarrow by our back door.

The other half found it, filled it with bird seed and hung it up by our back fence. 10 minutes later we had this lot lining up watching us intently.

An hour later and in fact since then we've had a daily succession of both Sparrows and Green Finches. News spreads fast around the bird community it seems.

The Sparrows seem quite aggressive. They fly around the Finches and swoop on them until they lose their balance then they take their place. It's been very successful to the point where now we mix in nuts and bits of dried coconut in with the seeds - they seem quite pleased with it.

Welcome home

I don't know if I've ever mentioned if but I was born and raised in Auckland but I consider this place, Mangawhai to be home. We first moved up in 1996 when my oldest son was 1 and over the years we've moved out and back in again.

We're pretty much settled in again and a few days ago 2 of my children and I got out once the rain cleared to enjoy a walk along our surf beach. Winter is the quietest time of the year here, it really is a holiday destination but once Summer comes it gets very busy and congested with visitors.

People are pretty good with their dogs over Winter and most use a doggy bag to pick up the poos but once in a while you get those who unfortunately just don't care and it's not nice stepping into something yucky. At the moment being August here it's feeling like there's a hint of Spring in the air.

I'm looking forward to showing my other half all of the special spots the kids and I have discovered over the years as it's his first time here, but he's enjoying it so far...

Have a good weekend :-)

Better eating and winter rainbows

You know what it's like when you get to the point where you need to go food shopping and there's not alot in the cupboards? Well after searching for a recipe so I could do some baking for the teens lunches I found this recipe for Chocolate Muffins (recipe here).  They turned out well risen and yummy.

Other updates are my daughter has been asked to her senior school ball by her new boyfriend, who is lovely and just like her so we have been looking for a ball dress. because I"m on a tight budget I've got to be careful financially but we've found one which is almost kind of Victorian Steampunk-ish and SO her. We have it on our watchlist at the moment so here's hoping it's going to be ours.

Annnnd I just love winter! Perfect time to keep warm and cosy inside while storms and bad weather are going on outside. Last week the youngest had a doctor's appointment and we drove home in the pelting rain. Here's a shot I took once the rain had stopped:

I just love rainbows - the colours are so vibrant! Have a great week everyone.

One of my favourite things - scented candles - at home...