Mama Fern & Papa Sam

Monday, 28 October 2013

Starting afresh...

Wow, it's been forever since I posted anything on here, and so much has happened.

We moved house, finally. Everyone has a space to call their own, and we're slowly turning this building from a house to our family home. Winter was really cold, and the fireplace didn't quite compensate, so in the next couple of weeks, we're getting the place sorted for next winter, with a new fireplace baffle, underfloor and ceiling insulation, and a ventilation system. Here's hoping it'll mean we're much, much warmer next year!

Making space :

We knocked out a wardrobe and tidied up the walls, to turn a small bedroom into a decent single bedroom.

Papa Sam enjoyed demolition WAY too much!

Now the plan is to replace his bedroom furniture and possibly put in a wall unit and wardrobe, to extend the storage options.

Wind, wind and more wind:

One of our fences fell down in a recent storm. It turns out that the previous owners had pretty much just glued it to the neighbour's carport. So there's a repair job for later.

Chickens a-roaming:

The girls have all re-homed well, but we've had a few issues getting them fenced in. For the moment, they're pretty well free roaming, and enjoying the sandpit we have.

Garage sort:

And our Labour Day was spent building a shadow board for Sam's tools in the shed, as well as sorting out the general debris in multiple boxes and plastic containers. We're just about done.

Birthdays:

We've had a couple of birthdays in the new house, so here's the cakey goodness:

Our youngest girl's 11th birthday cake

Our first teenager helped make her own cake

That's most of it! Sorry for taking so long to update!

Love to all,
Mama Fern

Saturday, 11 May 2013

Changes are afoot!

The heart is a garden where thought flowers grow;

The thoughts that we think are the seeds that we sow.

Every kind, loving thought bears a kind, loving deed;

While a thought that is selfish is just like a weed.

We must watch what we think, each minute, all day;

And pull out the weed thoughts and throw them away;

And plant loving seed thoughts so thick in a row

That there will not be room for weed thoughts to grow.

By Katherine Merrill

Hi All,

Well, we've done a really bad job of updating the blog lately, but, to be honest, we were all pretty ready for taking the new big step in our lives. So, we've bought ourselves our very first house, and move in about 28 days. Desperately looking forward to the extra space in the house itself and to everyone having their own bedrooms.

It's going to be a bittersweet experience... Having built up so much history here, in only three and a half years, to suddenly have to start with a clean slate. But we move on with all of the experience we've built up while living here.

From two lonely souls, each with their own fold of scared and insecure children, we've turned into a strong family, with a good support network and a whole menagerie of pets that we all adore.

We've baked, preserved, dug, planted, harvested... It's been an amazing learning experience.

So here's to old friends, and to our old home within whom we loved, shared and grew together. And here's to new adventures and experiences ahead!

Love to all,
Mama Fern

Thursday, 14 February 2013

Papa Sam & baby bear's birthdays

Hi All,

Mama Fern here, just posting a couple of quick pics of the cakes made for our youngest, and for Papa Sam this year (neither made by me, either. Our youngest got a German Panzer tank, courtesy of Papa Sam's amazing cake making skills, while our little Druichi made Papa Sam a bookworm cake.