Still Alive and Kicking

Boy, life just goes on and on, doesn’t it? What have we been up to? I think I will start from now and go back to where I left off as best as I can remember.

Last weekend, we took a trip to Melbourne for the Australian Quilt Market – a trade only show. Tracey and I had a booth for A1 Quilting Machines and Intelliquilter. We drove down on a Thursday as far as Albury, stayed overnight and drove the rest of the way to the city to set up. On the way we stopped at Milwala in Victoria to visit Brown Brothers winery and a berry farm. It was a nice little side trip for the day. The show went well for us and on Sunday night, we drove back to Albury (about 3 hours) and on Monday morning we got up early and drove another 7 hours to home. Whew. I must say that all four of the kids travelled very well on this trip. There was no whining or carrying on. Potty breaks were minimal and mostly instigated by me. We had our more than fair share of takeaway, but it really cannot be avoided sometimes. DH did cook dinner in our apartment room on Friday night.

On the Saturday, there was the Myer Christmas Parade. To the best of my knowledge, this only occurs in Melbourne and not in Sydney. I guess it is like the Macys parade in NYC. DH took the kids to see it whilst I was working at the trade show. All but Mr12 year old liked it. They also got to go up the tallest building in Melbourne and I caught the tram to Albert Park after the show to meet them in the wave pool at the aquatic centre.

On Sunday they went Scienceworks and the planetarium which was enjoyed by everyone. On the way home on Monday, my daughter desperately wanted to see the ‘Dog on the Tuckerbox’ near Gundagai NSW. So we stopped there. I think you can see that she was happy and the boys were not. The 7 yo said, “all it was was a stupid dog on a stupid box”. I don’t know what he was expecting from visiting this Aussie Icon, but I think it was more than he got, LOL.

So the trip to Melbourne was a highlight. The weeks before that were taken up by work work work. I also had a virus which gave me headaches for a few weeks. That sucked. I hate feeling unwell.

I have planted out my first vegetable garden ever! It is going great! I have corn, tomatoes, bok choy, tatsoi, cucumbers, spinach, carrots, strawberries, melons and capsicums growing. I know it will be a bit hit and miss, but I will live and learn and keep going with it. I am already able to pick tatsoi on a daily basis for salad greens. Yum.

During the last school holidays, 6 weeks ago, we also bought a chicken coop and got our first chickens ever. Ruby, Rosie, Betty and Pearl. We have two Australorps and two Rhode Island Reds. Two of them started laying this week. We had one egg on Monday, and 2 every day since Wednesday. Last night’s dinner was bacon and teeny tiny eggs. It is very exciting to go outside and get the eggs from the chickens. It is like a little surprise each time. I know I am easily pleased, but it is very satisfying and wonderful for the children to experience. I am impressed with the care my 7yo is taking with the chickens. He makes sure they have feed and water every single day. He is really attached to them. I am proud of him.

This is Rosie when we first got the chooks.

These are the girls now. They sure have grown!

That is all the news on the farming front, LOL.

Hmmm, what else have I been doing? We have been buying our fruit and veg direct from the Sydney F&V markets at Flemington. The box of fruit is fresh fresh fresh and it lasts the 2 weeks until the next box arrives. It is way cheaper than he supermarket and you order online and can pick and choose from seasonal produce exactly what you want. It does cost $70 at a time including delivery, but just look at what you get…

I am under no illusion that my garden will be enough for my family to eat, but I can choose not to get tomatoes etc when mine are fruiting. Best of all, I don’t have to go to the grocery store so often and I am actually saving money. The downside is, you have to plan meals around what you get, but there is plenty of fruit for the kids to eat and should we be eating produce on a seasonal basis anyway? Nothing has gone to waste so far.

Mystery photo of the day! It seems that my boys love taking my camera when i am not looking and go exploring with it. This mystery will be solved next post. I hope you are not too squeamish for the answer to this one.