Simple steps~ Chooks

I have been wanting to get some chooks for quite some time now, and finally this month we were able to install a hen-house in a corner of our yard and set up home for 4 chickens.

I am very pleased with them and happy about how they came into our possession.

We got them by old-fashioned bartering!

My hubby will be repairing the timber frame on a friend's sofa in exchange for these chickens and their coop.

Over the years he has been able to use his skills in this way to provide us with a number of things for our home.

It's the way we like best - no money - just sharing!

Our new hens give us at least 3 eggs per day which is ample for the two of us, and leaves some to give away to friends and neighbours.

Besides that, they provide us with much entertainment and company - they really are funny creatures with sweet personalities!



I think they're bound to live out a long life here; none of us has the heart or will to turn them into a chicken dinner any time soon lol!



We are much more into pet-cuddling than culling :-)



Speaking of cuddling - my son's girlfriend and I are cuddling up to my 94yr old mother in this photo.

She has just left today to go back home after spending the past week holidaying with us.

I am so blessed to have such a healthy and spritely mother still with me at her advanced age!

She had a ton of fun watching the chooks and all their antics - they brought back many memories for her.

Mum's parents were country folk and always had hens running around the house.
She and dad also kept chickens while my siblings and I were growing up.

I was raised with the iconic backyard chookpen and vegie patch, and I have hankered for my own for ages!

Now I have both at last :-)

I am spending lots of contented moments throughout my days watching and tending to them and thanking the Lord for His provision.

Slowly but surely, my hubby and I are taking more and more small steps towards a simple life - and that makes me grateful and very happy indeed!



Weekend Gardening

The weekend arrived, cool but with sunny blue skies, and we puttered around our backyard and started to transform it into what we hope will be a more practical and healthy space for growing food.

The Woodman decided to literally "hoe into" the vegie garden after making a wooden frame from timber we already had stored away.

One good thing about being married to a man who loves wood, is that you usually have stacks of it piled up in various places around the house :-)

We mixed humus through the soil and planted some seedlings of garlic, dutch carrots, lettuce, silverbeet, rhubarb and broad beans. It will be interesting to see how they fare as we head into Winter.

I was a little dubious about the height of the timber framework and it's ability to hold the soil in properly..but hubby assures me he will raise it up later on if necessary :-)

This morning we put some bamboo poles around the lemon tree to drape a protective cover over it, as we are having very frosty mornings this week.

The Lisbon lemon is supposed to be frost-tolerant so hopefully it will not get damaged.

Perhaps the 'guardian statue' will be enough to scare the frost away, anyhow lol!

It was a perfect weekend to be relaxing in the fresh (and I do mean fresh!) Autumn air, while watching the silver-eye finches and blue wrens darting about in the Buddleia bushes.. and dreaming of how we hope the garden will turn out.

At the moment it isn't too pretty I suppose..but there's a nice feeling that comes with knowing we're using materials that we had on hand and not paying a fortune just to get a "look".

Trying to live simply and more frugally means making adjustments in our way of approaching things.

Being content with using humble materials is just a small one.

The biggest transformation that I see happening here so far, is actually in my Woodman!

He's always loved having flowers about, but never was one to weed or spend much time bent over a rake or shovel lol!

But since we embarked upon a path to simplicity, the garden has suddenly become an exciting place for him to work in.
 It's so nice to see him now..happily plotting and implementing new ideas to bring us closer to the earth and less reliant on outside sources of food and energy.

At the end of the day, I have to agree with King Solomon -

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:" Eccles 3:1

From Little Things..Big Things Grow

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin..Zechariah 4:10

Making changes towards a simpler way of life is very much on the agenda at our little cottage these days!

Over the past couple of weeks the Woodman and I started to work on this corner of our backyard.
We are removing the grass and weeds and setting out beds for a vegie patch to keep the Lisbon lemon tree company.

There is a stray pumpkin growing close to the fence here as well, but it seems a wee bit too shady for it to be very successful to me. But I guess we shall soon see..

A passionfruit vine is scrambling along the wire frame and flowering at the moment.

I love the dramatic blooms and we are really looking forward to the delicious fruit to enjoy later on!

This area is where the Woodman has chopped our wood for the past 7 years, but recently he moved the block and tools to another unused spot so we can put in a 2nd vegie patch here. I'm glad, because this gets a good amount of sun throughout the day and hopefully will be a great place for some more herbs and vegetables.

Our beginnings are somewhat small and humble..but it's still a joy to be putting our little bit of earth to better use at last. We've grown the odd herb or vegetable here and there over the years and we do have some fruit trees, but we've never had a really serious vegetable garden. It feels so good to be planning for a more efficient and of course healthier way of enjoying our yard. It's all quite exciting to this simple soul :-)

blessings.. Trish