On Week Ends (and a blue monday)

Our weekend was far from angelic as pictured in these few moments from the days gone by. 

Friday saw us calling all the dentists in our town for an appointment for Danika. Not one could fit her in that day. It was such a worry and I could see that she was beginning to get utterly miserable. Finally Rob found one in Hilton who slotted her in on Saturday morning. We managed through the evening by taking her mind off of it all at Garren's soccer practice and allowing her to feed from me on demand. 

Saturday morning we headed off to the Dentist and of course, as predicted, she refused to oblige in any means or form. It was rather traumatic. But what was able to be seen amidst all the attempts is that it best to medicate and revisit on Wednesday for a final decision. I do fear there might be dental surgery to remove these two teeth. I am not sure that I am handling this news very well. I haven't had any of my older ones in surgery or hospital at this age. 

Much of the rest of Saturday she napped and Rob stood the sidelines of the Soccer field cheering on Garren. In the evening we had a braai and let the kids run until late in the evening. Danika's meds had started to work so she was feeling a little better. It is strange to watch a child never medicated react on it. I messaged Tristan, who is back in China, to wish him for his 22nd birthday. They were in the middle of being filmed. He had not had a good morning with his small students and was hoping that the next classes that were being filmed would go better. His friends were going to be taking him out for supper and movie later. It feels very strange not to be baking a cake for his day. I felt a little out of place not seeing him on his birthday too. They say it does get easier.

Sunday the weather was lovely, as it had been the whole weekend. Rob and Garren were at soccer again in the afternoon. Sadly Garren's team lost both matches this weekend so he was feeling down in the dumps - his only consolation was that they have made it into the semi finals for the season. I am not a very competitive person and try on all accounts to teach the children that it is not about winning or loosing but more about that they have participated and have had fun. This always seems to fall on deaf ears with this boy child.

We checked in on our growings and again let the small ones play until late in the evening. 

Monday did not fare well in my attempt to get online. Danika fussed a bit and was a little demanding of attention which I always love to give but then nothing much else gets done.

I am just thankful that it's Tuesday and that it feels like we are in some form of routine again, well for now - who knows what Wednesday's Dentist appointment will bring.

How was your weekend? I hope it was relaxing and spent with all the ones you love.

Love as always, Angela ♥

Planting Seeds + Wheelbarrow Rides

Hello there and brightest of blessings for the new week ahead my friends.

I do hope your weekend was relaxing and enjoyed by you and yours? What did you get up to?

Saturday was pretty glum and miserable with much needed rain. Soccer was cancelled due to this so we didn't need to venture out at all and since all the shopping (miraculously) was done on Friday I didn't have to worry about going out at all, the whole weekend or for the rest of this coming week either in fact. I have weeks were I just cant get all the shopping done for the week ahead in one day, so then I catch up with the rest on the Saturday. (or send Rob with a list to do it for me 😉 ).

Sunday, although still pretty icy, cleared and by mid morning we were able to venture outside again. In fact it even warmed for the rest of it. So much so that we got so involved with outside it almost felt that it was time for a new season of gardening. I found Rob and the younger two outside clearing what was left in the vegetable beds and prepping them for just that. I love when we get to this time of the year. It can still get pretty cold and we're usually hit with a freakish cold front that brings on in snow as close as dammit to our mountain ranges before we can even consider being in the clear for real Spring weather. But, in saying this, there are other ways we can start getting prepared. Like clearing and prepping the beds. AND then dreaming about what will be planted in them.

We have also added gardening to our homeschooling curriculum. Rob and I feel it is so very important that the kids take part in the growing of our food and of course in doing so learn to appreciate what ends up on our plates at the end of it all.

A few months back our grocery store was adding a couple of these sweet little pots with every purchase made at their store. The incentive was (of course) that depending on the amount spent that would determine how many little pots you were given. Clever 😉 right? But, for us, as gardeners it was completely the wrong time of the year for them to be planted. So we kept them to one side for just the right time. We planted all the veggies pot this weekend and have left the edible flowers for another time. Each little pot comes with instructions and it will be up to Garren to keep them going.

He really is so excited about his project. He knows that once the plants are established he will be given his own space in one of the beds to nurture them until harvest time.

Finally we ended off our day in the garden with the inevitable wheelbarrow rides.

This was Danika's first time and in true Danika style she summoned her brothers to be there alongside her through it all.

There is so much to plan for our garden for the months ahead.

i certainly cant wait.

How are your gardens coming along?

Love Angela ❤

Another Raise Bed For The Kitchen Garden.

 

and more additions to the kitchen garden…

when I received a whatsapp message from Rob on a friday afternoon that ended along the lines of… “im going to be a little late,love – i will fetch Josh and we’re heading off to Bits n Pieces farm… ” I knew deep down and right to the tipy top of my Witch’s pointy hat that when he arrived home, at the Cottage, I would be the happiest Witch alive. It really doesn’t take much to make me happy – really… I am happiest when there is surplus amounts of poop from Bits n Pieces farm all about my garden.

And arrive with poop he did. More than ever before. The back of his pick-up + a trailer load to be exact. H A P P I N E S S

From posts before you may have noticed our move of our Kitchen Garden from behind the Lapa to now aside the Cottage were we can keep a closer eye on our wildlings – away from the pesky fingers of the Vervet troupe that terrorise our lands. It has been wonderful and we have already harvested so much more than we ever thought we would in this slow but magickal process. I now get to add more wildlings to our new raised bed for more magick and abundant harvests to come. With surplus more poop for another bed to fit perfectly alongside the new one, in the next few weeks to come. We haven’t yet, erected any form of boundary except for the extra mesh fencing we are currently using. We will have to once the last bed is in place as our dear Zeus tends to think these raise beds are a place we have all made just for his afternoon naps. We do have a good amount of deconstructed pallets that may just be perfect for this project.

The men folk found an abandoned container pot alongside the babbling brook and carefully emptied and moved it up to the Kitchen Garden. This will be for growing potatoes. In container gardening news – our tomatoes have flowered and have the most precious green tomatoes growin… And the Heartsease… well I have added them to my salad lunches all week with a few to the flower-press (a little sideline project I haven’t done since I was a young girl). I will let you know how they all come along.

How are all your kitchen gardens faring?

Hibiscus Woes.

Rob moved my Hibiscus.

And the day it was moved we had one whopper of a storm. Although we saw the nicer side of said storm, it did take it's toll on my fragile wilding. Please keep my Hibiscus in your thoughts as we try our utmost to keep it living. My heart would just break into a million pieces if by chance it did not make it. Just the thought of no bright red petals gracing the branches of this wildlings is so overwhelmingly sad.

I am collecting Rose Hips as the Seasons change. This is the first year we have had a harvest. They're wonderful when brewed but one needs at least 6-8 hips for one cup of fresh Rose Hip tea. I will just keep collecting and keep them to dry out as I go along, these cups will be few and far between and probably only had on special occasions. We are planning to add a few more Rose bushes once the set up of our Kitchen Garden is complete. Just the thought of homemade Rose Water and extra Rose Hips for tea is exhilarating to say the very least. Standard sized, well established Rose bushes are a fortune.. I will have to work towards saving a little every month. Our green kitchen garden bed has been so giving too. We have harvested non stop with the extra going to our girls in the coop. Rob added two small Chilli tress to our new bed too. I love a thinly sliced up Chilli in my salsa and or salad. While pregnant with Danika I added them to everything!

We have been watching the movement of our Sun's rays and with just one small branch adjustment we have add a whole lot more sunlight to our kitchen garden. Those little seeds are going to sprout for all the world to see.

Protecting the Sprouts.

Rob and I had no idea that our little wildlings in the new veggie bed would sprout just as they have. We threw blessed seeds in with intense hopes and dreams and those blessed hopes have turned into little greenlings doing their thing against all the odds of the winter coldness that has finally arrived here to our space.

So, ever so thankful for the sprouts, we got the boys to help gather fallen pine needles to help keep them safe against the frost that will arrive and the winds that will make themselves known as the sweep from the Drakensburg snow-capped mountains.

https://youtu.be/-ltRtQqVSm

 

first plantings of the season

We have started with Spring time planting around here. With beautiful temperatures in the late 20 degrees celcius these days (and a whooper of 32 degrees for today!) we cant help but get into the Spring of things.

We have always been blessed with plants. Although we do head on over to our favourite nursery every now and then, most of the time we are gifted with beautiful growings from all the lovely people Rob meets on his travels through his busy day.

This time a lovely customer was thining out her overgrown Agapantha patch. And it just so happened that these lovelies will be the white variety - just what we were looking for to flower along the curb of our property. It is very dry there and the soil is mainly rocky, so we need something that grows with very little care. These are just so perfect! I really am very excited to see them flower come the happier warmer months.

We also were blessed with a few succulants for the other side of the fence line where our cars park. It really is a great big ol mess of twines and rocky moulds that the boys had to take a pick to the soil to loosen it so that we could plant them. But once they take (if they can grow in a desert - then dang they will grow here!) they will produce the most beautiful orange bell like flowers.

I love this time of the year... When all the new fresh buds start appearing and life comes into being after what felt like the longest hibernation of Winter.

Love
Angie xxx

joining amanda