Knitting, gardening and more new pets!

I haven't been a very good blogger recently!
I've been a bit flat emotionally, need to see the doc to discuss my meds. But then again it is also that time of the month so maybe thats all it is.

I have been busy again though and have lots to update on!

The wrom farm is coming along well. I havent set up the second one yet but will soon. I give the worms food every few days to once a week and they are getting it though most of it now. You can see a mouldy apple in there the kids add to it sometimes too!


I planted tomato plants and some basil and chilli and a mini capsicum in the front bed of the new beds. Yes they are bought seedlings, I am going to grow more by seed though too, we just eat loads of tomatoes in the summer season and I magaed to grab quite a few different varieties including some heirloom toms and some diggers toms as seedlings.
My parsely self seeds each year and i always have an abundance with our new animal friends enjying it I have made sure i am transplanting the constantly emerging seedlings as they grow so we have an even more plentiful supply.
The radished are coming up more each day!
The snow peas are coming along very very nicely.
This is the potato bed and I also planted parsnip seed at the far end.
Last weekend the girls and I went to the market shopping for new pencils and a visual diary for them to make into their 'nature diary'
Each of them decorated their books and are journelling some of the things we are gorwing, writing about our pets and writing about any projects we do.
This week are growing carrot tops!



and here is my beautiful bunny Stella again. She has settled so well into our lives. we love her dearly :) She is a indoor house bunny mostly though she has a run outside she goes int for some sunshine and grass munching.
nibbling parsely leaves, one of her fav snacks!
and yes I am a sucker! We have 2 more new additions ot the house!
Meet 'Puss'
and 'Boots'

our darling new guinea pigs. Puss is just 5 weeks old and Boots is 12 weeks old.
The kids adore them and they are much more kid friendly than the rabbit so Stella is happier too :)
Plus I have so much more animal manure and hay for the compost and garden beds now.
I found a good cheaper produce store yesterday too and I will be growing a lot of their food for them.

Oh and my sugar n spice yarn came in so am part way through knitting my first dishcloth!

Menu Planning and some rambling.

Firstly 1 week of no smoking! woohoo, feeling really good about it!

I was chatting with Joey today (the other half) saying how good i felt and how I feel I am getting more organised, healthier etc etc. I was talking about how after my mum died (august 1st 2004) how I got stuck right into the garden as a way of coping and for stress relief and how it really helped, how I started to go to the gym and walk often a few months after she passed away and I felt good, it again helped me cope, How I used to be more organised, I used to menu plan, cook new meals each week and just generally take better care of myself. Then on the week before her 1 yr anniversary of her death we lost Damian, a very special friend the world just crashed around me. Over the past 2 years I have gained a fair amount of weight (am currently 97-98 kilos was 80 kilos the day of his death and was at the gym 4 times a week as well other excercise) I became super disorganised and struggled with day to day tasks.
My partner and i also separated last year for 6 months which added to the stress that was mounting in my life. Physically after my mums death I was not in a good way either due to damaging my pelvis during the birth of my son.

That all sounds quite depressing, but sometimes I think we need to look at some of the things we have overcome and gotten through in life to better appreciate the things that make us happy, to better notice when we are taking good care of ourselves, when things are going good.

For me, things are good and I like being able to say that. Not perfect, but thats all the fun of it. I am now back into gardening, have goals, ideas, plans and am acting on them. I am a lot happier than I have been for a while and it feels good.

So after that ramble! Today we picked up and delivered a washing machine from freecycle to my brother in law who hasn't had a working one for a very long time, as we did it we smiled at our good deed done for the day! We then went to the shops and had some yummy sushi and sahimi as alate lunch and then did the food shopping. I was craving roast lamb so thats what is cooking now in the oven! One thing I thought of whilst shopping is how I really need to get back to menu planning, it saves money and means we eat variety and helps us to be more organised.

So after all that rambling here is my proposed next fortnights menu plan!

Sun: Roast lamb and vegies
Mon: Lentil shepherds pie
Tues: Pork noodle stir fry/sausages and veg for kids
Wed: Osso Bucco casserole
Thurs: Marinated chicken pieces and vegies
Fri:Fried rice and honey soy chicken
Sat: Take away/fend for yourself night.
Sun: Roast Pork (in camp oven)
Mon: Lasagna
Tues: Tofu noodle stir fry
Wed: Chicken curry/ sausages and veg for kids
Thurs: Quiche and salad
Fri: Chow mein
Sat: take away/fend for yourself night.