update

On the chickens and the garden.
 The chickens are getting bigger and today was there first day out side, they are 3 weeks old.

We spotted the first saffron bulb to flower, I planted these last yr but they were so tiny last yr that they didn't produce any flowers.

Taking advantage of space around the kumquat by planting it out with garlic, These ones are a bit too close together but i can blame that on my helpers lol.

This yr Ive put netting over my cabbages and broccoli to help keep the white moths of them so far its working great. As you can see along the edge of the garden we also put in onions all around the cabbages.

First of the peas, though  yesterday they were that height the whole way along the mesh, the extreme trimming is thanks to ninny goat who scoffed in and had her self a great feed.

This wild looking garden is Lincolns and is full of sweet potatoes and potatoes and also baby broccoli plants

these peanuts came from Lincolns garden he was very excited to pull them up and ate one straight away even though I told him you have to wait.

 The capsicums have gone a bit wild I have been using them in every meal to use them all up

Crazy kids

My Miss Alyra who refuse to smile for the camera and is more interested in trying to take the camera of me.

 And what can I say about this crazy one who's new favourite thing is headbutting the cushions.

Olive picking

I forgot to take the camera with me so not pictures of the trees, but the olives were pick at my dads place. We didn't get heaps, around 9kg not much considering he has at least 20 trees,  most were still green but this is what I brought home with me. Preserving  olives is a really simple process, I mixed salt in water, how much salt you are suppose to use I'm not sure but I do it the way my Nona taught me which is place an egg or a potato in the water when it floats you have used the right amount of salt, then prick the olives this helps to release the bitterness from them then, leave in the brie, cover so they are all under water and change brie weekly until you think they are ready... I normally go  four weeks but just wash and try one( I know one time my dad forgot he had some in brine and left them for three months!!! but we ate them they tasted fine). Then you can use however you want you can just rinse them and put in jars full of clean water, but i prefer to put in olive oil with roasted garlic and sun dried tomatoes, also baking then with herbs then storing in oil is really yummy as well.

More TV entertainment fun

It funny they are loving this little spot, its a great height for them to play at and as Lincoln decided a great spot to have a nap.

Busy working

Rob is one of these people who because they get up early through the week they cannot sleep in on the weekend no matter how hard they try, so Alyra an I slept in to 8am an woke to Rob and Lincoln busy at work. Don't ya love Alyra clothing, beanie on side ways clothes over pj's but hey she got her own style

                                         Alyra was like whats going on you started without me

 I'm loving growing  gourds  these two are my favorite they look like a little family

                                                       Almost finished

 This is a to be continued post because we ran out of cement and were about 1 1/2 mtr from the end.

Maybe a Little Bit Extreme

Have you ever had a moment where afterwards or even instantly you think oh my god did i really just do that....
Well Yep i had one of thous moments this week where I was trying to make dinner and the kids were fighting about what they wanted to watch on TV. So I sent them out side to play and grabbed/ yanked the TV form the entertainment unit with the aim of putting it in the spare room for a week or two, so that the could have some TV free time and maybe learn to play together a bit nicer, anyway of cause it didn't go to plan i dropped the TV not from very high 30 cm and it cracked the screen on the inside so the outer glass was fine but the stuff inside was cracked so now we have no TV at all. That night Rob and I discussed it and we have decided its happened for a reason and no we are not going to buy another TV, last year when our clothes dryer broke down we made the same decision and we have survived fine and  when we feel the kids have been good we can always let them watch a DVD on the laptop as a treat. So far I'm amazed that they have quickly gotten over it and they are playing better, and not just them most afternoons while i cooked dinner Rob and the kids would watch TV, since the incident they have been playing out side each afternoon all three on the trampoline or kicking the soccer ball around. I'm actually feeling a bit guilty as we are all interacting as a family so much more now, but the funny thing is before this all happened I felt both Rob and I spent heaps of time interacting with the kids, I think the difference is now its more quality time.
The Entertainment unit now makes a great play area. 

A Little Bit Pretty

Alyra is not a real girly girl and most of her stuff is hand me downs from her brother or stuff that's been given to her so its nice to be able to get something just for her. I got some super cute hair clips for her from Meika-Moo on madeit they were a custom order and were just what we wanted. It was hard to get a good photo as Alyra was more interested in playing but you get the idea.