We got 2 new ducks and got our first duck egg of this year

The clouds were hanging low on the mountains during the week

Walking up the forest with Barry White the cat

Aunty Rebecca the golfer showing the boys her new golf clubs

Lego Rocks!!

Smiling faces

Living A Simple Life

A lovely blue sky this morning
The polytunnel needs loads of work to get it ready for growing, its a real mess

Our onions and garlic

Lately i have got some great green links from my sister Margaret in the US on sustainable living. Living a sustainable life is something myself and Steffen are committed to, its just finding the time with working and raising three kids..but we can still make a real change to how we live by recycling, repairing, reducing waste and eatting local seasonal produce. (Rhonda of blog down to earth has some great advice to living simply).
We have had a vegetable patch for over 10 years, some years have been good and some have not been so good, mainly due to having a new baby to nurse or renovation works on the house. This year we hope to start again as everyone does in the Spring. We planted alot of trees before Christmas, 4 birch tress, 4 damsons trees, 15 cobnut trees, 4 holly trees and 40 metres of hedging (20 of it was permaculture hedging an edible hedge). We have two new beds to the front of the house and have onions and garlic in since last Oct. 2011. Reading some of these green bloggers blogs really gets you motivated, they have such inspiring stories....to be more green, more frugal, and to try and live a more sustainable lifestyle. As suggested in 1greengeneration, i think i will take the growing challenge of blogging from time to time about our growing projects. Even one extra plant is a real step closer to being more self reliant. What could be more important and relevant then preserving the planet for our children.

Working outside and inside

Varnishing a bench (a work collegue gave us)
The new roof on the duck house, the hens checking it out.
Dressed up to clean out the hen house.

Elke eatting her own yoghurt

Painting on a rainy Saturday at home

Potato stencils

Last Day in January

Walking around the block with granddad

Walking in the Park

Little Elke

Knights helmets made at the weekend

Drinking tea with the grandparents

I got some interesting links from my sister Marg about making savings in our groceries shop mainly in not wasting food and eatting fresher food. Lots of good ideas...
In 2012 i would really like to get a handle on our money, i have started a spreadsheet for all our bills as a start.

Photos of many good days spent with the folks above.

The Last Days of January

Walking at the weekend up the forest always requires a power ranger suit and a hat by Granny

Our Home
The duck house in need of a new roof

Hen house with new door Steffen made

Our three indian runners as yet no eggs..

Snow on the hills
The two boys adventuring in the forest
Elke Standing


Saturday museum gang (Jonas, Granny, Thorben, Steffen and Elke)

A castle building kit bought in the second hand shop for 2 euros (hours of fun)

some random things from my week....

Our beautiful home built and documented by 'Rooms to Improve' is giving us stress, the builder has gone bust leaving some large enough snags. We have no warranties to date on some of the work done. At least the heat pump fault has been fixed (800 euros later), the leaking flat roof is another issue!It would be great to get all the snags fixed by one contractor. We are trying to be optimistic.

Funny things the boys said....Jonas wants to marry a girl from playschool and Thorben wants to marry a cat.

I had some ICA mums over for tea and biscuits. Hoping to get out to the first ICA meeting in Hollywood of the year.

We are just back from Collins Barracks in town. We mostly looked at the war museum section...swords, guns, uniforms, life size tanks and aeroplanes which the boys liked. It is a lovely museum and has a nice coffee shop. We paid for parking and realised afterwards we could have parked for free inside....next week we will be in the know. We plan to go back to see the decorative art section.

Grandad had a birthday yesterday and we called in to wish him happy birthday after having lunch with some friends in Bornabreena. 3 mums and 9 kids....makes a lot of noise!!!

We have to renovate the hen house for our ducks, Shelley is going to give us more ducks so we need space for them.

Working three days a week and fitting in meeting up with friends is proving exhausting. It might be better to stay at home for one of my days with the kids instead of leaving home. I need the time for housework and doing things with the boys. I havent seen some of my dear neighbours in weeks literally.

My sister Margaret in the US is married to Andy for two weeks today. Yeh!!!!

We had the first snow of 2012....

Walking in Avondale January 2012

Steffen with Elke on the picnic in Avondale

Two brothers laughing on a picnic in January 2012

Randon pictures, beach day, finished house photo, german relatives, house renovations of last year, and family