My fruit tree row

 I've had the hardest time committing to where I should plant trees. Really, it's not a huge deal because I can easily move them while they're still small.

But I've settled on this little hill in front of the house being my fruit tree garden. It's great because I can see it from the kitchen window, it's close enough to the tap and most importantly will give us some much needed privacy!

What I didn't plan on was needing a fence around it, so I now need some defined borders so I can add a fence (that looks and stands up better than my quick fix).

Originally the fence was to stop the hares...

But now the birds have found my garden! The currawongs and magpies have been stealing tomatoes and strawberries, they're not too bad, but the cockatoos are so destructive and will destroy plants and trees.

So instead of getting trees in the ground, now I'm painstakingly measuring, marking and planning the perfect garden bed in order to install a proper fence. And according to my new plans, the sublime tree is in the wrong spot, just when it's starting to look happy and start flowering!

Between the wildlife, pets and a three year old I'm lucky if I get to eat anything grown in our garden!

Guinea fowl's first night in the trees

 Our guinea fowl are about 6 months old now and have recently started venturing out of the chicken yard. They also decided that it was time to roost in a tree for the whole night!

We screwed that branch into the tree when we were building the big coop (still unfinished in the background) thinking they might like hanging out up high. But they never showed much interest, then they refused to come down on Friday night. And on Saturday with the crazy wind the branch has somehow been snapped in half so they're back in their coop at night.

I was wondering if they'd ever start patrolling around the house after I was told that you really need a group of twelve plus. But they are getting brave and curious - they even went next door. And after landing in Archie's yard twice they've luckily survived with no injuries and seem to have learnt that it's a no go zone. So here's hoping they continue being brave and that they happily accept new guineas in spring!

Toddler trackpants

 What feels like forever ago, but was in reality only last year, Mum dropped off some polar fleece remnants from my Grandma. They are about 30cm wide so I decided to sew them together so I could make Lily some more trackpants since she never has any clean ones - apparently her clothes are too dirty multiple times a day!

Now this was supposed to be a quick, no fuss project... But of course I decided to practice matching seams. Which went well sewing the two pieces of fabric together. Then I messed up and didn't mirror the pattern pieces. So I had to sew together two more pieces of fabric, pattern matching went fine, but I sewed the wrong sides together. Decided that just matter since they're just for around the house and promptly cut out a third of the same piece... 

I got there in the end, one leg is fuzzy on the outside and the other is fuzzy on the inside. Somehow I've managed to get the back pattern matched (you can just see the orange on the elastic casing) and the fuzzy leg is matched quite nicely, but the rest is all over the place! Lessons have been learnt - I don't have the patience (or the mental capacity) for pattern matching.

Once I got past the hurdles of cutting out the pieces it was a quick no fuss project. Even better this is a free sweatpants pattern from Life Sew Savory. Now I've got two more pairs to make since I've aready cut out two right legs!

Tawny Frogmouths

 I have been trying to get a good photo of these tawny frogmouths to share with you, and finally I have one that is alright, only because you can easily see they are birds and not branches!

Most days I can find them both in this tree, occasionally there might be just the one or neither of them. There were four for awhile last year, so I assume they are a breeding pair. I'm hoping they'll build a nest (which they're not great at) in this tree so we can watch the babies grow. They're in a good spot with a view of the chicken yard so I'm sure they're helping with the inevitable mouse population.

Ditch planting started

 There is probably a better name for it but I call it the ditch which runs between our property and the road. It's a big slop that has a lot of grass and weeds, along with bare patches where the soil is getting washed away in heavy rain.

A couple of months ago I started with this little section and it has held up well so far, to be fair we haven't had any heavy rain (or light rain really) so the true test will come in summer. I don't water it often because I don't want to cart watering cans out here or waste our precious water in a spot that just runs straight into the ditch. Survival of the fittest for this "garden". Ultimately we want the grass gone as it is not easy for Ray to whipper snip along here.

I'm also trying to not spend too much money out here so random rocks and sticks are creating little terraced sections to hold and soil and plants so they don't slide down the hill.

The dead tree is supporting a dragonfruit I planted a year ago, it could really do with more consistent watering, it's surviving - definitely not thriving! Otherwise I've randomly planted things quite close together so they can outcompete the grass, and spread lots of roots to hold the soil in place.

So far I've got coreopsis, a ponytail palm, dogbane, geranium, gazania, petunias, cineraria, some aloe from the neighbours and some plants mum gave me. All in all they're still alive, not doing a whole lot, but that's the same for the grass and most of my plants. 

Winter will be over soon, the rain will start and everything will grow faster than I can keep up. Hopefully it looks amazing soon so I can share an update - you'll be able to tell the difference between the mulch and the grass once it's all green!

And these little pardalotes are making a nest in the culvert right next to this garden, they're insect eaters so I'm sure they will appreciate the new garden.

A little orange tree

 I've been making progress with my garden planning, as well as changing my mind and moving a couple of trees! But so far my method of planting them in this horrible ground is doing well, I suppose the true test will be after a full year with all the seasons.

My process is as follows:

• Dig a big hole (width is 4 times the size of the pot and the depth is the same as the pot)
• Add a whole lot of mushroom compost and mix in and break up the clay soil
• Plant the tree about 20cm above ground level, mounding with mushroom compost/soil mix
• Create a ring around the edge of the hole (I mainly use the clay soil for this part) 
• Cover with mulch

The little ditch around the tree is necessary as it is so dry here that the water never gets a chance to soak in. I tried a mini swale with the elderberry I put in the chicken yard but it couldn't compete with the possum traffic and the gum tree. Next was a panama berry using a little ditch all the way around and it's doing great, although to be fair it was a small healthy plant that I grew from a cutting. I then planted a sublime tree that was on clearance and desperately needed to be planted which seems to have settled in so hopefully this little orange will do well, if not I'll blame this horrible cold wind we keep getting.

Next project is to figure out a fence for this section, the hares have found this garden and even chewed the top of a mango and avocado seedlings! Currently a very floppy and hastily set up chicken wire fence is keeping everything safe, although the magpies have been eating the strawberries so maybe I need to consider bird netting as well...

Lily's new crochet blanket

 As Lily grows I'm finding all her crochet blankets are too small for her when she's in bed so I started a continuous granny square blanket for her.

This is mainly the yarn from Kmart in mint, lilac and grey marle. The blue one was just a random one from a cheap shop but I preferred the Kmart yarn. For now this blanket is a good size, but ultimately I plant to keep working on it until it is king size and hopefully she'll still use it as an adult.

I'm also working on a continuous one for our bed which is going to be lots of different blues so each time I finish a colour I can just go buy the next colour. For both blankets, I was planning to make each colour with the same amount of rows, but that got harder to work out as the blanket got bigger. Now I get one or two extra balls than I used in the last round and hope it looks good in the end! 

Drying statice

 I haven't really had the motivation to look after that garden lately, thanks to a certain dog deciding that he now likes to use my flower garden as a toilet and sandpit! Because of that I plan to do a really simple fence around it, the wobblier the better since he is afraid of that type of fence. 

Regardless, I have flowers to collect and dry for the flower girls at my sister in laws wedding and the statice are doing great (and thankfully not bushy enough to be Archie's choice of toilet). Ordinarily I hang them to dry from from the kitchen blinds using these hooks and curtain rings. It works great for small things like paper daisies, but I picked way too many so these sock hangers now have a new job! 

Statice seem to grow well here, plus they are a lovely perennial plant so I think I'll be planting lots more, and looking into some different varieties.

Mermaid skirt

 Our daughter has decided she wants a mermaid party next year and that she really likes mermaids. I've been asking her daily and it's been something we've just talked about or seen, but for the last week she's been saying she wants a mermaid party. Let's see if she sticks with it, she's not turning four until next year!

I did tell her that I have some mermaid fabric - one little fat quarter. 

Luckily she loved the skirt idea, and I had a lace curtain from the op shop to add underneath for some extra length. For some reason I refused to just look up a tutorial on how to make a simple elastic waist skirt. Needless to say this tiny skirt took forever as I plodded along overthinking every step! But I did it in the end without googling anything, so I guess I just proved to myself that this sewing stuff is finally starting to sink in.

Maybe now is the time to make myself a dress...

A Sunny hat for my niece

 I made my niece a Sunny hat using the free pattern from Twig and Tale.

It is super cute, especially in the rainbow ink blot fabric from Frankie Bear. I quite enjoyed making this hat - I didn't do too well on the lining up on the outer layer, but the lining is perfect of course! It's a good thing it was a nice sew as I've got two nephews and a niece that will need hats for their birthdays too. Lily very cutely got so excited when I showed her the finished hat for her cousin, and promptly asked which cousin I'm making a hat for next...

Jam

 I bought a tiny little cumquat tree from Bunnings last year, and it kept insisting on setting fruit so I finally gave up pulling them off. And it gave me enough for 4 small jars of jam! 

The rosella is finally fruiting, and doesn't seem to be stopping! The guineas have really been enjoying rosella leaves so I've started cutting off the lower branches for them. 

The cumquat jam was no problem to make, and is the perfect texture, I'm not really sure I like it though so I might not make it again. This is the recipe I used.

The rosella jam however, I burnt the first two batches. First thing I noted for next time was to let it settle longer before putting it in the jar as it turns out it was very frothy and needed to be skimmed. Second is to add the extra water to the seeds next time as it has ended up very thick. Last time I made it I did not have this much trouble, I'm blaming the stove in this house! If you'd like to make some, I used this recipe - that site is also a great place to buy seeds.

Duck romper to dress

 Last year I made Lily a rubber ducky romper that still wasn't long enough with the extra inch added. Since she loves it so much, I chopped off the legs and added a ruffle at the bottom to turn into a dress. Added bonus was turning the legs into boot covers!

It turned out pretty cute, now to see if I get anymore rompers converted before she outgrows them width wise!

Tidy pump area

 Once of the first things we changed about our house was getting the downpipes for our house tank converted to the underground sort - we were very sick of hitting our heads. I also asked for another tap (there was only one outside tap on this house?!) which meant another pump and outdoor powerpoint.

It has been great saving our heads, but it was a mess from all the earthworks - and bare clay is the worst especially near a tap. So I finally fixed it...

Added bonus that I used random free bricks and the rocks I'm trying to clear from the weed garden around the other tank (which are covering old carpet... worst idea ever!)

Eventually I'll add a hose reel, and decide on a better solution for the power box. Long term I'm hoping to get dichondra covering the whole area rather than sugar cane mulch. It has started creeping through some of my first mulched areas and is already throughout the whole property. 

And right where I'm standing to take this photo are two offcuts from a small rainwater tank that our neighbour gave me! I'm really happy with how my garden is starting to look - I should really take some photos of the whole area to share with you.

Rock tumbler

 We have a lot of petrified wood on our property (and with a toddler I'm sure you can imagine our rock collection was getting rather large) so Ray got me a rock tumbler for Christmas.

It has been fun, we started with the rocks that came in the kit, but more exciting was seeing how the petrified wood turned out, especially the pieces that have quartz through them.

You'll have to excuse the terrible before photos, I wasn't planning to post them on here, but it interests many people more than I realised so I thought I would share here as well.

It is definitely a hobby that requires patience, there are five steps and it takes around one month to complete. A separate garage is also a positive so you don't have to listen to rocks tumbling constantly!

Lily's dance bag

 We've started Lily in dance lessons where she needs jazz and tap shoes, plus a jumper since it's cold in the mornings now. So I spent the past few days trying to sew a bag with Miss Bossy Boots asking me if I've finished yet!

I followed a video tutorial from Echidna sewing to make this mini duffle bag, which is a great size bag for a 3 year old. I used webbing for the handles, added extra pockets inside and put d-rings on the ends in case Lily wants a long strap.

The corners of the side pieces look wrong but I didn't have the brainpower to work out how to fix it, especially not with a deadline of the next dance class. It was an easy sew other than the bulky seam I made by adding the d-ring, so that part go sewn by hand - I must remember not to put on moisturiser right before hand sewing again! 

Something that would have made the whole process easier was to use a black lining so I could stick with one thread colour. And I should have added elastic to the long side pockets to stop them gaping open so much. Maybe I'll stretch some elastic along the pocket and stitch it in place and see if that improves the pockets.

The fabric is from my stash and my mum's stash, and the rainbow zip was from Temu.

Added a pocket

 I posted those cute rainbow hearts dresses I made - with the terrible mistake of not adding pockets. So I've fixed that...

Although the response was "only got one pocket, not two pockets", she is a very happy little girl now.

This is the gathered pocket pattern in the Pocket Pack from Twig and Tale. I used the small size, but it was still rather big for the dress so I just increased the seam allowance to make it a bit smaller, then had Lily try on her dress and pretend her hand was in a pocket to mark placement. 

Rainbow hearts Chloe dresses

 Well I don't know what I've been doing, but I completely forgot to write a blog post last week. I mean can I blame that we have a "threenager" and we are exhausted... and so is she since she will not sleep!

I have been crocheting again, but that's all work in progress blankets which will probably never be finished. And when I asked Ray what on earth I've been doing he said a lot of gardening - which is thanks to the Autumn weather finally cooling this place down. There has also been a lot of chasing a toddler who recently decided she needs to run down the hill whenever you're not looking!

Over a month ago we had a first birthday to go to so I sewed a dress for the birthday girl, along with a matching one for Lily. Although she thinks I'm terrible because I didn't add pockets!

This is the free Chloe dress baby and Chloe dress from Vintage Little Lady. The fabric is Rainbow Hearts for the skirt, with a purple homespun for the top. I thought about doing all rainbow hearts but I really liked the solid top I did on the first Chloe dress I made.

So that's this week sorted, and I'd best get to work on something to share with you next week!

Chicken cake

 I nearly forgot to share Lily's birthday cake, which is odd, since I am ridiculously proud of it!

The plum pudding tin really comes in handy, I made her a giant cupcake for her first birthday using that as the base covered in way too much piped buttercream. This one has a standard cake at the bottom with a plum pudding cake upside down on top - then carved with a bread knife. I used coloured fondant for the eyes, etc. then covered with buttercream using different piping tips and shades of yellow.

Of course I also made cupcakes for the gluten and dairy free guests. I ended up rushing these, but did remember to 3D print some cute chick cupcake toppers, which I also turned into stamps for the party favours - one day I might remember to take a photo and share that with you too.

Chicks and keets

 We've got baby birds! With the chicken themed party for Lily, I decided it would be perfect to get her some chicks... and then I got some guinea fowl keets instead.

Originally I was looking at silkie or belgian d'uccle chicks, but we've had quite a few eastern brown snakes around the house, so we picked up the keets in the hopes they'll help deter snakes when they're older. 

Turns out Lily doesn't really like them as they are very flighty even though they were hatched in an incubator. So a week later we got some silkies, because they're supposed to make great pets for kids...

And they're almost as crazy as the guineas since they were raised by their mums for the first week. 

They're about 2 months old now (I should get updated photos) and altogether in a chicken tractor next to the house, although I think the silkies have had enough of the guineas who run and fly around all day. Luckily we're building their big coop so the guineas will move into that once it's finished, and get them used to the older girls who they'll be living with eventually.

The plan is to build garden beds for the tractor to sit on, that way the silkies can fill them up using the deep litter method, and clean up any garden beds that need a refresh in the future. These little fluff balls will have an important job as well as being pets. Now we just have to wait and find out the gender ratio to decide who we're keeping - it currently looks like I've got three boys and three girls with no favourites to tip the scale.

Birthday bunting

 I quite enjoyed making this Christmas bunting and mentioned that I would like to make birthday bunting and I finally did, with the help of my mum.

Originally my thought was that I could just cut some stencils and paint the letters on, but mum said she could do the letters on her fancy embroidery machine.

The fabric is all from Spotlight with the triangles being poplin with a white cotton drill for the backing, and the trim is another poplin. The font I chose for the embroidery letters is Jared.

It was quite the process in the end and would have been far easier to buy a printed panel like the Christmas one was, but this is special and one of a kind. And just like the tablecloth I shared last week, I hope that it will be used for many birthdays to come!