Lovin' this lovely weather we've been having.

I finally decided that we needed a hose to water our lower garden. Until now we've collected rain water in a large concrete tank that was built with our house 60yrs ago. We then ran an irrigation hose to a bathtub that is set up in the lower garden. The water level is controlled by a ballcock valve. I then needed to fill watering cans and then water the gardens and it took aggggges to do, was awkward, and I really wasn't deep-watering enough.

So we now have a hose that runs the 50 metres down to the garden and it certainly makes life easier.

Today I decided to make a calendula infused oil that I will then turn into a calendula balm. I've only made a small bottle, so will see how that works and then gather more flowers towards the end of the season for a larger batch.

I also rearranged my herbal supplies. I had some in my pantry, some in a draw with my craft supplies in my laundry, and some in a draw in the hallway. So, now I've got a dedicated shelf in my laundry cupboard for all my dried jars of herbs, bags of dried seeds and flowers, and all the bits and pieces I need.

Just some outside photos of chicken dust bathing in the kids sandpit...

 Kids wanted to make their own infused oils. So I gave them a tincture bottle each and they gathered lavender and rose petals...

 Nathan striking a pose with a bit of grass in his mouth lol...

 Playing with paper boats in the pond (which is in much need of more water). A lot of local birds visit this for a drink as well as the chickens if they are wandering past.

I found some shepherd's purse in my garden during the week, so have dried that and chopped and saved it (once again, still harvesting, but not sure how I will use all these things just yet).

I harvested my nettle seeds and laid them out in my laundry to wait for the seeds to pop out as they seemed to be ready, and the ground outside had some seeds on it already. Unfortunately, we also noticed about 8 caterpillars leaving their food source the next day and crawling across the washing machine top. So we popped them back out on the plants and hope they continue to eat. Nettle plants attract the Red or Yellow Admiral Butterfly.