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.