As some of you might know our neighbours were approached by the federal government to redevelop their property for the affordable housing scheme. After months of waiting……
The unit development by the Federal Government is not going through, they ran out of funds. However now a private developer has approached our neighbours and us. Due to restrictions our property can not be used however our neighbours are still waiting to hear if they have approval. Oh yes the waiting game….. Due to our new circumstances we won’t be staying here for a much longer than 12mths (unless I go mad at the serious lack of space first 
). In this time we are hoping to get some more money saved.
So either way we are not to worried about what happens.
My two girls think they too are going to have babies.
’Greenie’ (called as she is slightly greener than the other hen) isn’t to interested in sitting for long, but Goldie (above) is sitting and not moving. She shrieks an awful noise when I take Greenies egg from under her. Better yet she has no tummy feathers left as they are all lining her nest and she has lost some weight but is still eating with Gusto when I force her off the nest.
I’ve read that the Golden Lace Wyandottes can be clucky more than other breeds, but they have only been laying a few months. So this has totally caught me by surprise. She has been sitting for abit over a week now, will she move when she has had enough of sitting with no results or should I intervene?
Gosh it has been two weeks or so since I was here. Honestly I think I have slept for most of it. By 1pm I am buggered and out of it on the couch. And back in bed at 8pm. 16weeks and counting.
But I have been doing garden things in between naps and this sudden need to eat pineapples. Heres quick run through the garden beds.
Bed 1 This season is the cucurbitaceae bed. So far cucumbers and zuchini’s have been sown. The zuchini’s have germinated but the cucumbers are being slow.
Bed 2 Was the old broccoli bed which was wiped out by the heat wave in August. So now I have peanuts and shallots in it. The shallots were rotting in the cupboard (when exactly did I buy them?) so I decided at least if they are in the ground they might grow. My baby brain can’t remember what season they should have been planted.
Bed 3 Is the root crops. I have a bumper crop of onions, garlic and beetroot. Best yet I think. I have cheated a bit this season and brought, oh gee, a tub of fertilizer. Glup. I am so fed up with the garden starving so I decided for now to use a commercial product. I think I plant to thickly so the plants need much more food than what is available. So fingers crossed this will help.
Bed 4 contains the legumes. The peas and snow peas are still growing, we eat them steamed for dinner each night – Yum. The big monster pea bush died in the August heat wave. Despite being given buckets of water. Eventually I let it go and dozens of pods dry out and I harvested 2 cups of dried peas. Dwarf bean seeds were planted yesterday. I think they were Gourmet Delights by Yates.
Bed 5 is still waiting for the tomatoes. They are in the propagator as I type. So they should be ready in a few weeks. Meanwhile I will buy one tomato seedling so I hopefully will get a harvest sooner.
Now I just need some rain. The 3mm yesterday was lovely, but can I be greedy and ask for more? Please?
Having met my brillant man 13 years ago at the tender age of 16 – I never thought that the petrol loving, beer drinking, anything but a ‘greenie’ man would ever be telling me how to dig over a green manure bed.
But yes after 13 years he is still suprising me! Due to the no heavy lifting orders due to ‘the bub’ and my darn back I had to sweetly ask for the tomato bed to be dug over. So off went Hubby to get the diggingfork – shovel???? I subtly suggest that the digging fork might be easier (You know not to scare the man off the job, subtly is the key) But no I am told that Pete cuts the green manure with the shovel first and then digs it in. Oh.
I am put in my place. I guess he has been listening to Gardening Australia for all these years.
Three of Toowoomba’s Greenest Homes are opening their doors on Sunday the 13th September from 10 to 4pm. They will be showing working examples such as recycling, solar power and water harvesting. The homes will be open to the public and entry is free!
To check out what is on show in your state, just click on the link below to take you to the Sustainable House Day Website.
Image taken from http://www.sustainablehouseday.com/sponsorship.php
Ok the ‘big news’ I have been hinting about is ready to be shared - globally.
Yes, We are having another baby, due in early March 2010. Oh yes we were rather surprised about this too. But we have had sometime for the news to ’sink in’ and now its rather exciting. Though Liam (6) thinks we should sell the baby! Names are also regularly being debated (somehow booger or bum just doesn’t seem right?) and both the boys do not want a yucky girl.
But back to my blog - I am sorry poor blog with my recent slackness – With sickness plaguing me for the last 12 weeks and energy levels zippo, you can understand why I haven’t been around.
Along with the blog my poor poor garden has suffered and nothing has been done in it for the spring sowings. Especially since the doctor ordered me to ‘take is easy’, with no heavy lifting or stretching. Now I have to smile very sweetly at my dear hubby to dig over the hard gardens for me just to spread the compost around. *sigh* At least seeds and seedlings are easy going.
So there it is, our exciting and occasionally scary news - but can anyone help me figure out where to fit a 3rd child into a 2 bedroom home?
Painting. And more painting. On a rather silly whim I decided to repaint the hideous laundry. Now this would be a rather easy task IF the ceiling wasn’t 4m high. But is is 4m high and doorways needed stripping and re-painting. Oh and did I mention I hate climbing ladders. So here is hubby doing some ladder aerobatics while trying to remove some liquid nails off the wall. Yep it was me trying to stick up a decorative board – no it didn’t work and apparently if I ever use it again he will divorce me!
You can see the hideous state it was in. The darker green is the new colour, the pink and other green is what it used to look like. A bit later we are planning on either tiling or using laminate to replace the wall behind the tub and also replacing the taps with ones that turn off. Last up will be a new floor covering.
So for the last week and a half this is what I have been doing. Very very slowly. Doctors orders after I ended up in his office with a rather sore back (an old horse riding or rather falling injury). Apparently I have been overdoing it? Oh well it is looking fabulous and next up is to repaint and contact the lovely yellow bench and replace the window that hubby pulled out to be painted, and finish up the windows into the boys room. I should be done sometime by Christmas, but oh how I love the colour and it looks so much better already! 
Our last notable rainfall (I don’t count 0.2mm as rain – do you?) was on the 14th July we had 2.8mm; before that it was 11.2 mm on the 27th June.
No wonder the gardens are dry, the trees looked stressed and the grass, what grass? Today it is hot and blustery. I am forcing the boys to stay inside – currently they are only wearing their underwear. But hey aren’t we still in winter? Today we are on the highest fire warning there is. It is perfect weather for a fire and that knowledge makes it even scarier. The paddocks are so dry dust comes off the dead grass when you walk on it.
Is this a taste of what to expect for the next 6 months? No rain and hot hot temperatures? I am seriously debating how much to plant in this years spring/ summer garden. Our tank is half full.
It is hard to see the plants you so tenderly grew drying desptie the buckets of water they are recieving. The brassica bed is all but dead and my poor mammoth pea tower is not looking good either.
Gosh I hope it rains soon… How is your spring / summer shaping up to be?
The other night the news reported that Spring has sprung early in the south-east. Looking at our Oak tree buzzing with the sound of busy bees, I’d have to agree. Also the Leather heads have started making this years nest. Last year they had such a good season they had 2 nests!
Most exciting is the amount of fruit on the mulberry tree! My mouth is watering with the thought of them.
We are still here, gosh it has been a good week or so. The days are ticking by with many happening that have been keeping us very busy.
First up someone turned 6 on the 31st, I have been informed he is a big boy now. We had a party at a local park with cake, chocolate crackles and friends from school. As usual he received way to many toys made of way too much plastic. But he had a wonderful day and loves to remind me regularly that he is 6 now.
Everyday the weather is warming up just a little bit more, not enough to take off our jumpers yet, (nor sit on the ground with a bare bum – Jackie Frenchs favourite way to tell if the soil is warm enough yet!) but just enough for me to think spring thoughts of tomatoes, cucurbits and T shirts! So it must nearly be time to dig out the spring seeds and clean the propagating box. Also it must be time to dig the green manures into the gardens and throw some compost around too so it will be ready for planting in a few weeks, as there is still a few weeks of possible frosts yet.
Other projects I have been slowly working on are: more paving, painting and mulching many gardens ahead of the summer heat.
Meanwhile there is some exciting news in the works, but just to tease you all I won’t be announcing it for another few weeks I just want to be sure before announcing it. Sorry….
But something I can share is we have EGGS! One of our clever clever girls has laid us 3 eggs now. My how she likes to announce to the street what she has achieved. They also have developed a taste for pepinos and loquats, but are still unsure about the left over bits of cereal and vegetable scraps. Silly girls, they also have taken a fancy to chasing the neighbours cat. I hate to think what they will do to her if they catch her! Luckily the cat is fast and can jump high.
Meanwhile I am off for the afternoon to cook sausages for our P&C and then tomorrow the boys are off to watch a friend race his car at Morgan Park in Warwick. So have a fabulous weekend whatever you maybe doing!
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