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Activities at Home

Garlic

January 9, 2019 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Two friends have asked me in the last few weeks how I braid garlic and onions. I happened to have a pile of garlic that I decided to braid this morning, and after I got started thought it would be a good chance to show how I do it, for those who were curious.

Start by fastening three heads together. I usually use string, but rubberbands were handier this morning, so that’s what I used this time.

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Braid a few times, then start adding in another head with each braid.

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Continue till it’s long enough, and then stop adding more. Braid a little farther without adding any, and then tie it off.

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Here are my finished braids of this year’s skimpy crop (I think it was a combination of poor soil and not enough sunshine where we put it), and I’ll have the boys hang them in the food storage room later.

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The softneck garlic I used to grow in Michigan was easier to braid, but I’ve learned that it’s possible with this hardneck garlic as well. When we want to use some, we’ll just cut or twist off a head.

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Garden, Homemaking

Flax

January 1, 2019 by NZ Filbruns 4 Comments

We have a very large New Zealand flax plant outside our window. We have been enjoying watching the birds and bees pollinating it since it started blooming.

First, the flower stalks grew buds.

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Then, the flowers opened.

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Sometimes, this tui comes to call.

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There are always bees around.

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We also see a lot of starlings getting a drink of nectar. They end up with an orange cap on their head! I haven’t gotten a good picture of that, so here’s the best we could do.

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Here’s another starling.

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A bellbird has been coming, too, but it’s shy enough that if it sees the camera it is gone. This is the best I could get of it.

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We are really enjoying the birds as they enjoy the flax flowers!

Filed Under: Activities at Home Tagged With: Birds, New Zealand Flax, Plants

Welcome!

December 26, 2018 by NZ Filbruns 5 Comments

This is the first post on this site, but it is by no means the first post I have written. If you are interested in our lives since 2011, there are over 600 posts on lotsofhelpers.wordpress.com. I ran out of space to store photos on that platform, so have switched over to this one. Now, I have the adventure of learning a new website! Many thanks go to Esther, my tech support and right-hand helper.

Filed Under: Activities at Home

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