Our Chickens: Feeling the community love

Our girls abscond on a daily basis.

They take a run-up, flap their clipped wings at a furious speed, and sail over the fence to the creek; they sneak through a gap in the retaining wall to our neighbour’s lush garden (with plenty of gorgeous green grass),  squeeze through loose palings and onto the road (where they’ve been found sitting, contentedly, in the warm sun), and have been found perch all-in-a-row on low branches in random trees.

With all the rain about lately, I’ve seen them huddled together in Ella’s doghouse (thankfully, without Ella in it), and standing, soaking, in the middle of the garden, staring wistfully at the sky. And it goes without saying - they take every opportunity to steal into the house, whenever the kids unwittingly leave the back door open, which results in a comical commotion of chasing and almost-catching and clucking and giggling.

There’s a layer, an almost layer, and two youngun’s who constantly jostle for a better hierarchal position in the coop, still growing their combs.

And, if you couldn’t already tell, I’m totally and absolutely in love with them.

 

The Coop, set in the back corner of our garden…

To love a chicken (or four chickens) is a strange thing, because before they arrived on Christmas eve, I was scared of them - and their flappy wings, sharp beaks and scratchy feet. I was absolutely convinced that they’d chase me, peck at me, and was horrified at the thought of having to actually pick them up to put them away at night. But they wormed their way into our family, with all their warbling and grazing and waddling. And in a surprisingly short time, I was in love – just like that.

What I didn’t expect though, was how accepted they’d be with neighbours and friends. Our next door neighbour talks to them when they manage to escape into her garden – I often hear her cooing to them as they strut and scratch in her lovely lush grass; another neighbour saves all her fruit and vegetable scraps, bringing them over in big plastic bags, or randomly throwing bits and pieces over the fence and into the run. Other neighbours have offered advice about compost and using chicken manure in our garden; friends have taken them onto their laps for a pat.

I admit it: I love this. Who would have known that they’d become such wonderful community pets?

Do you have chickens too?

Nat

Ps. No names yet; goodness, it’s hard finding chicken-appropriate names that everyone is happy with!

 

Point and Shoot: Our Weekend that Was

We’re joining in with lovely Lou’s meme tonight – Point and Shoot. It’s been a while since I’ve taken photos with a P&S purpose, but we’ve just had the loveliest, loveliest weekend – wanna see?

It all started with a lemon tart - my first lemon tart making experience - and it just happened to be so, so good that I made it twice in two days. The first was shared with dear friends after a seafood feast; the second was horded and eaten sparingly, in a savouring-the-refreshing-sweetness-of-it-all kind of way…

The kids were handed oversized gardening gloves on our sunny Sunday morning, and put to work tidying up the sorely neglected vegetable garden. And underneath all those prickly cobblers pegs and spiky, suffocating weeds, were these vibrant beauties…

We turned the soil, all rich and loamy after a few days of rain; we hunted through the strawberry leaves to see if any new berries were forming, rubbed fresh picked lavender between our hands to release its heady scent, and worked up a sweat in the gorgeously warm spring-time sunshine.

There was a long, lazy afternoon of sewing – piecing, pinning and pulling together the six cheerful citrus blocks from my beginners sampler quilt (I didn’t think it was possible, but it seems to be even brighter now that it’s edged with the chocolate brown sashings!)...

…and a big, hearty tart filled with slow roasted winter vegetables and melt-in-the-mouth Danish feta for Sunday dinner (I meant to take a photo of this too, but it was cut up and tucked into too quickly).

Some weekends are just meant for family and pottering, aren’t they? 

Nat

Ps. Got some wonderful photos from your weekend that was too? Join in! Visit Sunny + Scout here to link up with Lou’s P&S post. And check out her beautiful, candid photography while you’re there – it’s heartwarming, honest and utterly delightful x

Grateful #18 – What are you thankful for today?

I would, you know; I'm just that kinda girl. Image from here.

Anyone that knows us, knows that Kim and I are food lovin’ gals. We talk about food a lot, bake weekly, try out and share new recipes, dream about banoffie pies, mellow pear filled tarts, and heart-starting curries. Our beautiful extended family are foodies too, thank goodness! – and they share our love of delicious things, and talk, bake and swap recipes just as enthusiastically.

And have you noticed? There’s a joy that comes with cooking and sharing food with people you love – it wraps the whole experience up in warmth and togetherness.

So because food plays such an important part of our lives, this week I’m very grateful for:

A full fridge. Pretty simple, I know; but how lucky are we to always have a full fridge, stuffed with lots of fresh food? It’s something I take for granted a lot – being able to buy what I need, to feed my children, to cook whatever I like for my family – but it’s given me a reason to pause this week and appreciate the fact that we have everything we need. So very grateful.

Family recipes. We have a small collection of recipes, handwritten by my Grandma, who was the most amazing cook. I can still remember the curry-spice smell of her small kitchen, the way that she would hum made-up songs while cooking, and the instinctive way that she added ingredients to her cooking. She cooked with love and with a generous heart.

Kim and I decoded* her recipes a couple of years ago and incorporated them into a family recipe book, along with nearly one hundred of the best-loved and most delicious recipes from all the girls (and some of the cooking lads) in our family. It’s a lovely treasury – filled with deliciously good and patiently tried and tested recipes, some passed down over generations, others picked up along the way and turned into family favourites. Because I cook from this recipe book a lot, it reminds me often of what a legacy cooking can sometimes be; flavours and tastes transcending time and country, recipes followed to the letter decades before, now passed down to a new generation of family cooks, eager to taste the life that their great aunts and grandparents lived before. Our recipe book is an eclectic mix of traditional Indian and modern day everything; and this week I’m trying out my Aunty Jean’s lamb garam masala, because I’m craving a wee bit of spice in my life.

The loveliness of eating good food with loved friends. I made an Italian beef ragu and invited some of our dear friends around during the week to try it out. Admittedly, it wasn’t the best dish I’d ever made, and could have done with another couple of hours in the slow cooker, but the company was lovely, wine glasses and bottles littered the table (on a school night!), the beef tender, and saucy plates were mopped up with good garlicky bread. The kids stayed up until they were delirious with sleeplessness, and we laughed, chatted and ate in front of a roaring fire. I love the way that food draws people together, don’t you?

What are you thankful for this week?

Nat

Ps. Grateful’s are being hosted this week by the lovely Beth at BabyMac – you should join in too! Link your list to her Grateful post here, or write your Grateful list in the comments section below.

* If you’ve got recipes that have been passed down to you, you may know what I mean. Spidery handwriting, abbreviations, measurements like, ‘a dash,’ or ‘a vis’ and sometimes no measurements at all, trusting that the reader will know by heart how much to add in.

Grateful #16 – What are you thankful for today?

I’m a bit late with my grateful post this week – we’ve been out and about enjoying the wonderful weather and the company of much-loved family and friends. I do love a busy, fun weekend; but I’m so looking forward to a quiet afternoon at home with the wee ones. I’ve got a date with the couch, the Sunday papers, and a hot cup of tea…

This week I’m grateful for:

Confidence. I admit it: I still find it tricky getting out of the house on time. And there are also many, many days where simplest tasks take so long to do, days where nothing seems to work, weeks where tantrums rule, and rare days which see me as a super-mama, with absolutely everything under control.

I’ve thought a lot about parenting this week; perhaps it’s a nostalgic thing with my eldest turning three soon, but I’ve been remembering me as a brand new mama, so unsure of what I was doing, wandering through this amazing new experience with my heart in my mouth, hoping and praying that I was doing a good job.

I look at where I am now - such a short space of time! and I’m so, so grateful for all the confidence I’ve gathered up along the way; how I’ve somehow managed to become so much better at multi-tasking and making everything work together harmoniously, and how much fun we’ve had just giving things a go – whether they be fraught with temper tantrums or not. Thank goodness for confidence.

The loveliness of the winter sun. Yesterday, the kids and I spent the morning at the beach with our cousins and my lovely sister, Kim. The wind had an icy chill that whipped at our hair and smarted our noses and cheeks, but when warmer semi-sheltered spot was found, bliss! We sipped at steaming takeaway cups of coffee, and laughed at the determination of the kids, who ignored the bitey cold and played like it was the middle of summer. I couldn’t help but be grateful for small moments spent with people we love so much, and the spontaneity of an early morning winter play in the sun.

Spaghetti faces and cheesy grins. Is there anything better?

What are you grateful for this week?

Nat

Ps. Want to play? Link your grateful post back to the lovely Maxabella, or write your grateful list in the comments section below.

Grateful #8 - What are you thankful for today?

This week has been really been all about love; and as a result, my grateful list is very sentimental. But isn’t it nice to have weeks like that sometimes? Where the whole world seems to be in a cocoon of care and kindness? 

(This prologue also serves as a kind of warning…)

  

This week I’m very grateful for:

Fireplaces. It’s getting really chilly here at night; so socks and flannel pyjamas to bed, lots of comfy quilts, and hearty winter warming food are a staple in our house. And this week, we added to the winter list by lighting the fire for the first time. The first night we lit it, I’d gone out for a walk with a friend - our whole street was hazy with the smoke from neighbour’s fireplaces. But it was lovely to walk into a warm room after the cold and wind of the night, to a blazing fire, the dog stretched out snoring in front of it, and a hot cup of tea. I just love my fireplace.

Dear friends. It’s been a week of new beginnings – wonderful friends of ours had their first baby, a beautiful, precious, little girl; another couple we love to distraction have just found out that they have to move away – but it’ll be a real family adventure. Kim and Mum, my dearest and most beloved friends of all, have allowed me to explore a secret dream by buying me the most wonderful gift, a tool to help see it come to fruition. Their generosity has set my feet on a new path, a brand shiny-new beginning.

This week has made me sit back and marvel at how blessed we are to have the friendships we do; we’re surrounded by the most wonderful, lovingly kind-hearted people, and we’re so fortunate to be a part of their lives – to be able to share these new beginnings with them. So, very grateful for dear friends.

Print available from Lola's Room on Etsy

Love letters. Because I’ve had such a loved-up week, I started writing little notes and leaving them around the house. Have you ever done that? It’s such a lovely thing to see the people you care about the most know that they’re much-loved and so appreciated. And it’s made me smile to think of little things that I’m so grateful for daily, right under my very own roof.

What are you grateful for this week?

Nat

Ps. Want to play too? Link your list back to the delightful Maxabella Loves, or you can leave your grateful list in the comment section below x



Point and Shoot: We begin and end with family...

This weekend we were fortunate enough to spend time with the people we love most in the world – family and friends. But our favourite? A drive to the country to look for cows (Judah's new obsession), which we found on the narrow laneways leading out to the Mt Mee state forest…

Just us, all four, exploring...

Finding new favourites, little feet on well worn paths, faces turned up to the forest canopy – can you still see the sky?

And the discovery of a waterfall and a cascading nest of rock pools framed by twisted roots, the water and banks stained with tannin...

What did you do this weekend?

Nat

Want to play too? Point and Shoot is now being hosted by the lovely Lou from Sunny+Scout – for more information on how to join in, go here.

Point and Shoot: A Wonderfully Warm Weekend

I’ve just had one of those weekends where all things were lovely – you know the ones?

It started with a new stash of the most gorgeous fabric from our delicious local quilting shop, and the sweetest project for a dear friend expecting her first baby…

...A Saturday morning beach play with the kids; finding beautiful curled shells, smooth and sleek, carved away by the power of the sea. Keeping all the odd shaped ones our toddlers pulled from the waves, and promising to make a treasures chest to keep them all in; feeling the strength of the wind in our hair, watching locals fly their kites, and happy, sleepy poppets all the way home.

And, joy of joys! The discovery of random rouge pumpkins - two growing/hanging in a tree, another sneakily hidden in the long grass, and two only just beginning…

Sunday morning papers, coffee and sunshine through the trees; the kids exploring and getting dirty in the backyard, riding bikes and playing newly made-up games...

Don’t you just love weekends? What did you get up to?

Nat

Ps. To find out more about Point and Shoot and its lovely creator, go here.