Back To School...

In February I enrolled in the late round, for Bachelor of Education, Primary - and four days later I received this reply:



I had not expected to get in and the course started in 10 days time so I was a bit shocked and flustered, but very happy (if not a little scared!).

Luckily, organising care for the three boys fell into place easier than I had imagined it would, and before I knew it I was a Uni Student!!


Semester 1 has flown by and I have really enjoyed uni so far, learnt a lot and met a lot of great people. I completed two units (part time) comfortably and have chosen to study three units in semester 2.

Here are my results from semester one, which I'm extremely happy about!



In Semester 2, which begins in one week, I am studying Maths, PDHPE and Human Society & Its Environment.

Sportacus Costume

I didn't think I'd finish in time but here is the Sportacus costume for my 3 year old nephew, as modelled by my (slightly bigger) 3 year old.



A little different to the original Sportacus, but with my limited sewing ability, this was the best I could manage.

Now I just have to make one for my own 3 and 5 year olds... they might end up being 'New Years' presents at this rate though...

Sewing Xmas Gifts

Well I've just realised there's only a week until Christmas so I better get a move on with making the Christmas Gifts. Not an easy task with three boys, one of them a clingy 6mth old bub!

Anyway, here is one of the Apron & Oven Mit sets - this one is on it's way to my Grandma, in Adelaide.


I still have two more oven mitts to make at this stage!



And three Sportacus outfits - here are the first finished pants. These ones are for my 3yr old nephew. Slightly different from the original Sportacus costume, but my own 3 & 5yr olds knew instantly what they were meant to be, so that's a win in my books. I am yet to get onto making their costumes!

So, it seems I will be busy with sewing over this weekend!

Meanwhile, in chicken land, I have had 5 more lovely chickies come to live with me. They are all Australorp x New Hampshire and I'm thoroughly impressed with them and their lovely nature!

The Chickens Have Arrived!

I've been wanting to get chickens for quite a while now.

Over the weekend my brother-in-law and hubby generously built me (and my family!) a gorgeous big chicken house!

Here is a photo of them finishing up:

and inside:

So yesterday we went into town and got these four chickens. I'm pretty sure the two brown are Isa Brown's and the two black are the Australorp Hybrid x's.



My 5 yr old son owns the two brown and my 3yr old son owns the two black. The brown ones have been named 'Crusty' and 'Chocolate' (!?!) and Master 5 swears he can tell them apart...

The black one's have not any names just yet. Who know's what they will end up being called!

All going well I will pick up two black frizzle bantam pullets on Thursday which will be my little chickens. They are not great layers like the other four (which are bred for laying!) but they are quite motherly I have read. So when I would like to increase the gang a little and they are broody, I can slip some fertilised eggs under one or both of them and they will take care of them. Well, that's the idea. We'll see how it all goes!

Movember

Well, the month of 'Movember' is nearing an end!

Four weeks ago, when my husband came to me and told me he was taking part, I was filled with dread. Tim... with a Mo!? Oh dear.

However, maybe because it grows so slowly, or maybe because he decided to grow a mean bikie looking mo (as opposed to a french waiter style mo!?!), it wasn't so bad.

The scary thing now is, he is starting to look very comfortable in his mo, don't you think:

Mumma Bird

A follow up to the Baby Bird entry!

My neighbour brought the baby bird back over, in a little hanging basket, to try and secure in the tree. When we got to the tree we realised the branch that held the nest had a big crack at the trunk and was about to snap off. So we pulled the whole branch gently down and in the nest was another bird and an egg. The mumma bird was there too of course.

My neighbour put the baby bird back in the nest and then put the whole nest in the hanging basket, it fitted snuggly there. We looked at the tree to find another branch to put the nest, but realised a huge crack that looked like the whole tree could come down if the wind kept up. So she put the nest in a nearby tree, and secured it tightly there. She did a great job, because we got a lot of wind and the nest stayed secure and upright, the baby birds safely tucked in there.

We watched from a distance to see if the Mumma Bird would find her relocated nest. As we watched, a huge gust came through and with a loud snap, down came the whole tree - Mumma Bird and all.

It was an anxious wait for about an hour or more, as the Mumma Bird seemed to go to every tree except the one where the nest now was!

But she finally found it! I am glad to report that the two babies were fine and reunited with their very devoted mum this afternoon. The wind has also since died down a bit!

Here is the mum, swooping the fallen tree, looking for her nest.

Baby Bird

Today is extremely windy!

Tim and I were up on the hill at the front of the property, weeding, when we found it. A tiny baby bird. No feathers, eyes closed, peeping softly. It was sitting in the blazing sun, just under one of trees that was getting bustled about in the wind.

I ran and grabbed a flat cloth nappy and scooped it up gently. We brought it back to the house and rang WIRES. While we were on hold, we gave it a little water through an eye dropper and it seemed to love it.

We got through to WIRES and after ringing the local number we were given, they said they would pass on the details to a WIRES member that lived in our suburb.

We put the bird in a box in a dark, quiet room.

Next thing I know, our neighbour is hopping the fence with a big grin on her face! I thought she was with WIRES but not being sure, had rung the number on the website.

The best thing to do, we were told, was to put the bird back into the nest. We found the nest but it was quite high and hard to get to. Also the wind was bustling the tree all about.

After trying to figure it out for a while, my neighbour decided the best thing to do would be to take it back to her place and care for it, at least until the wind died down and until the storm that is supposedly coming tonight, passes.

Not sure if baby bird will survive or not, but I feel comforted knowing it is in capable hands.

Here is a photo, sorry about the quality, I didn't want to use the flash.