Wormies and my vege patch

So, last week i shot off to bunnings to buy one of these;

A can of fun for a grown up woman kids, yeah well try telling that to mine. Isla wanted to go play with the girl two doors down, i called after her rather mournfully "what about the worms", she just shrugged and said "i'm not really interested mum".


Sadness.

Now 1000 worms may seem like a lot, but in actual fact, it's like the box says, a starter amount.

I'm giving these 1000 a month to settle in, and then i'm buying a booster pack (500).  By then they should have made worm babies, and my farm should start eating more.  I really need a compost bin as well.  The amount of food scraps we have here is crazy stuff.  Never mind, that should soon be solved when we get some hens too!  Can't wait!

Here they are in action, it's hard to get a photo of them, as they dive for cover when you lift the worm mat (aka wet newspapers)

And here is their worm wee

This stuff is apparently potent stuff and needs to be diluted down until it looks like weak tea.

It will take a bit of time before they produce enough castings (nice way of saying worm crap), maybe 3 mths.

Here's my wee little garden;

I'm just doing stuff in pots until i get around to sorting out some raised garden beds.

beetroot

chilli & capsicums

and below, we have basil and lettuce in the tires, strawberries in the pots behind, and coriander in the bucket.

I also have carrot seedlings and beetroot seedlings on the go, and a few other bits and pieces.

You have to start somewhere, right?

I will never ever eat a cheese sandwich ever!

Something happened today at school that made me feel both mortified and proud.

I sent my 6 year old daughter off to school with a cheese sandwich (and a banana and yoghurt) for her lunch.
When i picked her up, i didn't get a lovely greeting.  What i got was a 6 year old with a face like thunder, declaring that she does NOT like cheese sandwiches.

Then her teacher comes out and the plot thickens.  Apparently, Isla approached her teacher and expressed her dismay upon finding the cheese sarnie in her lunchbox.  He advised her just to eat the bread and leave the cheese.  She moaned and mumped, and went on her way.

After lunch the phone rings in his classroom.  It's the lady in the office with a funny little tale to tell.

My daughter, rather unimpressed with her teachers response to her sandwich situation, took it on herself to go to the school office and tell the office lady a tale of woe, about how sad she was to find a yucky cheese sandwich in her lunch box, and that her teacher had not "done anything about it" and could she please kindly ring her mum so that she can bring the princess another sandwich.   Needless to say, i did not get a phone call and Isla was sent out on her merry way. 

The teacher was informed of the office visit (the office lady is his wife) and had a little chuckle to himself, especially when she later ate the sandwich.  Her tummy obviously got the better of her.

I so wouldn't have had the guts to do that at her age.  She will go far!

Finished hoodie, crafting with rice, and dreaming of chooks...

Here's a hoodie i finished recently for Mr H.  It's for next year.
The pattern is from Debbie Bliss 'essential knits for kids'.  I used luxury 'stone' from bendigo woollen mills (10 ply), it's lovely and soft.  This was my first time doing cables.

I've now started one for big brother in luxury 'blue denim'. 

I also need to buy some yarn to do Isla a 'bloom' http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/bloom-9, i might do these projects at the same time to keep me interested (i get bored easy).  I would love to do the bloom in a lovely green (to go with her lovely auburn hair), but missy wants...sigh... pink.

I have got a bee in my bonnet about having chooks.  We went to a garden and outdoor show today and saw a beautiful chicken coop that also came with a beautiful price tag.

Bless my darling husband, he came home and started thinking about how he could turn this hideous gazebo into a rockin' coop.  Here he is deep in thought...

Poor man.  I have the 'ideas' and he is the one that puts it into action.

I'm going to screen off this area, just off the gazebo for the chooks to peck around in and have dirt baths or whatever it is chooks do...  They will have a huuuuge area. 

Today i coloured some rice with the big kids (stole the idea off a blog i randomly hit on)

pretty!

really, really should have worn gloves...

mixing

Mr C lost interest by now...

ta da!

That kept my girly busy for a while, although the rice everywhere made me twitch a little, i got over it.

My computer is broken...

hence the lack of blogging.
The cd wotzit thingy isn't working and i can't reload my camera software.
Tis a pain in the neck! I have finished objects to show!

Currently i'm working on a hoodie for H(16mths) for next winter. Knitted on flats! ew! It's got all sorts to keep it interesting, cables, pockets, etc...

I'm on a mission to read childrens classics to I6. So far we've read;

The magic faraway tree
Charlotte's Web

We are currently reading 'The enchanted wood', then after that it will be 'The folk of the faraway tree'.

I've just ordered off ebay;

Heidi
The secret garden
The peppermint pig (apparently this is a modern classic)

After that i'm not sure, maybe the little house on the prairie books?

C4 is now a big kindy boy and is going 4 afternoons a week. He gets an hours worth of help with his speech from the SSO and i believe will see a Dept of education speechie once a term. He also needs some help with his fine motor skills and has low muscle tone.

H is going along nicely. He is certainly a bit more full on than the other two were at the same age. I think the boy has 3rd child syndrome. He thinks he's a big kid too.

Slowly getting there...

Still going steady on Hamish's 'duck soup'. Taking a wee break from it to whip up a rainbow dress for Mairi. Then it will be back to the duck soup, and then on to some pants for Joshua.
These fingers... they don't stop! I wish i had a cleaner so i didn't have to stop for stoopid housework! ;-)


'Duck soup' - 12ply bendigo woollen mills in 'java'. Wish i'd done the 18mth size.



Mairi's rainbow dress. Really pleased with how the varigations are turning out.

It seems i'm ...

not very good at this blogging thing.

Let me see what i've completed since i last visited here.

(awwwww isn't he so cute! Has a fascination with dropping things into the toilet at the mo, little rat! Nobody in this house, 'cept me, can remember to CLOSE THE BLARDY TOILET DOOR!!!)

More 'pimp my longies' for the H-man. This time i did the large size instead of extra large, but i used 4.5mm needles instead of 4mm. Perfect fit. For the next pair i may add another set of short rows. The little tike seems to be inbetween large and x-large, i just found the XL to be too wide in the leg for him.

The wool in this pic is bendigo classic 8ply. I just soaked the ball in vinegar then plopped it into blue food colouring and 'cooked' it abit. I love the speckley look.

Here is a pair in XL

(see? a bit big in the legs, but a good fit in the bum)

The brown yarn is 'deep earth' from woolganics, and the multi coloured is bendigo 'boutique' (dyed by me). These are yummy and soft!

And currently on the needles -

'Duck soup'

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/duck-soup

I'm knitting this in 'java' classic 12ply from Bendigo Woollen Mills.

Think i made a wee stuff up in the hood, but i solidered on and think it'll be alright in the end.

It's pretty much seamless (except for the top of the hood)

I have completed most of another hoodie, but it was on flats and i think will be too small so i've lost the love for it. Eek to all that seaming.

More dyeing

I'm really pleased with this. It's not perfect, but i think i have to organise myself with the right tools for the job, and also arrange Steve to take the kids out for a few hours (or the whole day!)






Love how it's knitting up. I used Rit dye (dark brown) from kmart and the other colours are royal blue/sky blue and teal (cake dyes). I love using the cake dyes to dye, it's fun and not stressful and also requires no special/separate equipment.