29 March 2008

All the time in the world

Sometimes I feel like I have all the time in the world to do whatever it is I have to do, often I slow down too much and have to make up for it later. Like now. The past two days have been quiet and relaxed, I went out yesterday to our local recycle station, then to the Centre to take in everything they donated to us. They gave a slow cooker, a toaster, coffee cups, cutlery, vases, tea pots and a kettle and milk jug. The baby chicks have been taking up a bit of time as they need to be taken to a sunny spot each day, fed and watered frequently, I've been reading, sewing and organising a few odds and ends.

And now it's Saturday! Yowzers.

Today I have a mountain of work. There is washing to be done and hung out to dry, folded and put away, baking - a cake and bread and sewing - finishing off my tote bag (hi Chas!). I have to start preparing for our visitors, two sisters and a son, which means I will move some things from the spare room back to where they were before we started painting all those months ago.

And gardening.

We have reached the time when we put structure in the garden. We have a few things planted so now the time has come to put in climbing frames and tee pees for beans, peas and cucumbers. We're adding the vertical to the horizontal, which always adds interest to the look and feel of the garden. There is still one garden to be weeded and planted but that will happen soon. The seedlings have put on new growth, seeds have germinated in the soil and it's all going according to plan.

Hanno is still working on enlarging the chook house but it's taking more time than we first thought. We're trying to use all recycled materials so it takes a while to find what we need either here or further afield. We had a big downpour of rain yesterday afternoon, 60 mms (2.4 inches) in about an hour, and all the chickens ran to the newly covered area and remained quite dry and warm out of the rain. There are nine chooks in there now, and four babies will join them soon, so it was good to see the new space will accommodate them nicely when they're all in there together. The back walls will go on today, new perches will be made and we have to move the nesting boxes. Hanno will make three new nests too but that can wait till after the coop is finished. When everything is in place, I'll take some photos for you. I know Patrick and Renee want to see what we've done.

Thanks to everyone who added a blog link yesterday. I'll go through them soon. I hope you all have a lovely weekend and have time to relax and enjoy life. Welcome to all the new people who still keep coming. I am amazed that there are so many readers here. If you have time, please leave a comment, especially if you've not done so in the past. Take care, everyone.

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16 comments

  1. Morning Rhonda,
    I totally understand your concern with how quickly the weeks fly by. I am a stay-at-home-mom with two young children, so it takes an incredible amount of time to achieve even the smallest tasks as it has to involve the help of two small people :-)
    I am always making list of tasks to be done in the coming week and often only get half way down the list.
    Hope you manage to achieve what you want to do today.
    Many thanks for yet another interesting and inspiring blog entry.
    Luv Steph x

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  2. Your blog is a hard act to follow. I am an avid reader and apologise for not leaving a comment before now. Always doing too many things at once. I live on the Island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands and gain much pleasure from your blog. have a great Saturday.

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  3. Isn't that funny! My chooks just love to walk around in the rain! They never run for cover! It could be pouring buckets and they just meander around as if it is a glorious, sunny day! They don't like the snow however. They have been known to be in their coop for a week at a time because of the snow!

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  4. Rhonda,

    I just can't wait to see your new chicken coop inside and out:) We have had rain all week, but we are hoping for a few dry days to build our coop. We are going to try to use just some wood that we have laying around although I am sure we will have to buy something. My mom is also getting her coop ready so we are going to get ours together.(It might save us a little money)

    We haven't decided what kind of chickens we are going to get. I have been reading up on that. I had no idea that there were that many chickens to choose from.

    We are very excited about getting our chicken:)

    We also have our cold frame together. We have been hardening off our lettuce. It is also time to start planting potato's. We have our pea's put into the ground. I hope they come up with all the rain we have had.

    Thank you for all the effort you put into your blog:)

    Love,

    Renee

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  5. Hey Rhonda
    It is still Friday afternoon here in Alaska! First time commenting here. I bought soap supplies and am making some laundry soap for the first time this weekend thanks to your inspiration. Have a great weekend.

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  6. You continually inspire and amaze me! We have such a small space, and our little garden is the size (it looks like) of one of your beds. We do have chickens, too, though and ours have had a recent improvement in their living quarters as well. It is spring here in Houston, TX, and my favorite time of year - hope is in the air.
    ~Elaine~

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  7. Hi Rhonda Jean :) I hope that you have a lovely, productive weekend! We are gearing up for one ourselves. Love, Q

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  8. Hope your weekend is as productive as you want it to be! My little people are away today so I am hoping to get a few things done today too.

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  9. we will be moving to the country soon Rhonda Jean we can't wait to get some chooks

    The days so fly by quickly don't they unfortunately most of the time we don't get to appreciate any of the small things,i aim today to do something small and appreciate it

    Sharron in the UK

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  10. Not really relevant to this post, but I thought it relevant to YOU:

    "I practise three principles which I hold close to my heart
    One is to be kind, Two is to be frugal, Three is to be modest.
    Being kind I have courage, Being frugal I can be generous,
    Being modest I can lead.
    These days people abandon kindness for mere bravado,
    Abandon frugality for extravagance,
    Abandon modesty for power & control,
    All these bring disasters."

    Tao Te Ching

    Quoted & illustrated by Kwong Kuen Shan in "The Philosopher Cat"

    Can I Hannonap your husband for coop making here? Ideally, duck & goose houses in the goat field & feather-leg houses in the copse, plus cockerel houses for when I can afford to fence the "haybarn field" (area around the haybarn, behind the fuel/feed/ex-cow sheds & garage) for the poultry which are still illegally all free range together. (I've planned it so I can keep the hens & cockerels apart when I want to, or separate 2 sets of chickens.) They all live in the cowshed & new house, so are not shelterless. The big house (tall) & 2 little houses (short) need some work doing to them for which I need help. I'd like 1 of the little houses in the cowshed for broodies to hide in to give them some privacy, big house & another in the copse & other little house either for the ducks, or in the shed.

    (Hope it posts ~ trying a new ISP)

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  11. I love your blog, Rhonda, and read it as often as I have time. There were so many blog links I wanted to leave links for on your last post...too many, so I left none. So many of the ones on my blog sidebar are explored whenever I have time, and all are so different. But yours continues to be one of my first stops. I'm learning so much, and I thank you :)

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  12. Just wanted to say thank you once again for the pics of your garden. Also thanks for the link to urbanhomestead.org just what I needed now that we've moved from the farm to a residential neighborhood in our quest for simplicity. Yes, we're doing it backwards compared to most folks!

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  13. Hi
    I'm Jo in England. I live in the suburbs of a big city but I have chickens in the garden and an allotment. I also love reading your blog because there are so many things that you do that we also do (or want to...).

    Thanks for a really good read.

    Jo

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  14. Hi Rhonda,

    I've left a comment before but I wanted to introduce myself. I'm probably one of your very few regular male readers. I love the idea of simplicity and your blog is very inspiring. My girlfriend and I are slowly moving towards simplicity (but I haven't told her that ;-))

    I'm living near a city in the UK and the g/f and I are hoping to get a place together soon. We'd like to raise chickens and grow our own veg too.

    Cheers,
    Yabusame.

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  15. Hi Rhonda
    This website is a lovely discovery. Congratulations on your garden and your marvellous lifestyle. What an inspiration for someone like myself who is in the process of downshifting from the rat race and away from the clutches of overt consumerism. Like you I intend to build a more extensive organic garden at home living simply with nature and appreciating those truly important connections.

    Could I ask about using besser blocks as edging for your vegetable beds? They look like a great idea and easier to set up than untreated sleepers. Do you cement them together or will they happily sit side by side? Thanks for any advice.

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  16. welcome gsysezz and widdawootie

    muddling through, good luck with your chickens and your garden.

    lol Yabusame. Good luck with your plans.

    Eve, thank you. The besser blocks ar free standing so we are able to move them around when the need arises. We bought them as 'seconds'.

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