Vegie Garden - All Mulched

Looking pretty good if I do say so myself, lol....now I just have to keep it all alive.

We have eaten 3 cherry tomatoes so far and there are a few more ripening up now. And we used some of the basil in home made pizzas, yummo.

I am (DH is) going to screw the trellis to the fence (with a block behind it so there is a gap) behind the tomatoes so I can tie them off or poke them through if I need to.



Its great fun and I am attempting to grow some shallots and carrots in the little seedling trays to put in the dirt patches you can see.

Wish me luck, lol :)

Ari has his first train ride

I took Ari down to Sydney last week which involved his first train ride :) He was a dream, happy and excited and we had a lovely day meeting some members of Baby Carriers Downunder.



Total travel time for the day was about 5 hours so we were knackered when we got home...left at 7:30am and got home at 6:30pm.

I wouldn't do it with all the kids but it was a nice day for just the 2 of us.

How Our Garden Grows

Well I have managed to keep things alive so far, although my large tomato plant in the pot is getting a little dead in places, lol. I have since read that tomatoes grow better in the ground.

I decided to dedicate a part of the back yard to the growth of food and that involved removing turf, which I had trouble doing so DH helped, and also framing up some hardwood from our old garage to act as the garden sides.

So here is a picture of what the back corner looked like before....sorry I didn't actually think to take a before shot so this is as good as it gets, lol...



This is what it looked like with the frame empty....please excuse the dodgy night shot...



Today I got a delivery of some organic soil mix......I shoveled it into buckets and filled the frame. My arms are so sore from it but it was nice to get out and do some physical work....I still have a little more to shovel tomorrow that will go on the other cleared area right in the corner. I want to plant some dwarf lavender and some chamomile.

In the veggie garden I planted some tomatoes and basil from my Nana and also a tomato plant I had here in a pot (from my sister), it looks like its a Roma Tomato plant....



I used 2 bessa blocks from the old deck as stepping stones so I can get to the back plants without stepping on things.

The marigolds are in metal pots we used at our wedding 5 years ago...I knew they would come in handy, lol. The flowers are so pretty.



I have plans to sew some seeds....dutch carrots and shallots....in the next few days, I will put some in pots and then transplant if they germinate. I also have to buy some sugarcane mulch.

Here are a couple more photos of the plants...




And Ari...hmm whats this mum??.....(Lemon Basil).....I don't think he liked it, lol.

Chicks

My sister has chickens and the other day she came over with 4 little chicks that she had been given as replacements (or really as a sorry gift) because she was sold the wrong breed last time.

Nate is quiet a curious little man and he was quiet happy to hold a chick. He has seen and patted Amber's cooks at her place and is always so excited when he sees Amber and talks about her chickens :).



At 2y9m he was not quiet able to hold the wings down (or grasp why he needed too) so Amber helped him....was so lovely and you can almost feel him learning and growing as he does these things.

It is so hard to believe that he will be 3 in March (and Ari will be 1!!).

School Presentation Night

Liam got a 2 awards at his school presentation night last night......he didn't want to go up on stage so missed out on getting his special library award but I convinced him to go up for his Merit Certificate.

~~~~~

Certificate of Merit

Liam Robbo

for

Outstanding effort and application in all areas

~~~~~

So proud...his first year of school has been great for him and along with completing the Premiers reading challenge, he was a member of the Student Representative Council and has done really well with his studies.

We just need to work on his attitude at home and his shyness.....why are all my kids (except Nate) so shy *shrugs*.

I am looking forward to having him home for the holidays :)

Breastfeeding - 9mths

Very proud to say I have been demand feeding Ari for 9 months...which makes my total breastfeeding time to date 4 years and 3 mths.



It is hard at the moment as he just feeds all the time at night, wants boob in his mouth or no sleep. I want to change things but he just cries if I don't feed him and I really hate to hear him cry. I have started to try and feed him more often during the day in a hope that he will get his fill....he doesn't really like food so maybe once he starts to eat he will cut back on boob at night.

Despite all this I am so happy to be feeding - so sad for all the people out there that don't breastfeed their babies (or only do so for a short time). It is the best cuddle time ever, and so empowering to know that I am growing my baby and giving him the BEST start ever.

XOXO

Gardening - We Can Do It!!

Well...I hope we can....

We have started with Parsley



Lemon Basil



and Tomatoes

Ari has already tried to rip out the basil and Nate keeps digging them "a bit"...sigh....hopefully we manage to at least keep one or two alive. Our plan is to start small and slowly grow as we become more adept.