Pickle What?
Picklebums is like the oddment box at your local fabric shop.
An eclectic jumble of this and that. You never know quite what you are going to get.
Perhaps a couple of activities for kids? Maybe a recipe or three? A bit of rambling about gardening and living sustainably? How about some pondering on parenting? There’s always photos, some crafty stuff, a couple of pickles and a few bums thrown in for good measure.
So dig in.
Rummage around a bit.
You’re sure to pull out a few gems for a bargain price.
Stitch them all together and you get the crazy mixed up story that is our life on the Pickle Farm.
So where are all the pickles?
‘The Pickle Farm’ is ten acres of weeds in almost rural Victoria, Australia. We moved here on a whim in 2005 and it was the best crazy idea we’ve ever had.
We grow chickens, veggies, overly amorous ducks, fruit, thistles as high as a horse, and children, but no actual pickles.
‘Picklebum’ is a term of endearment that was coined to describe our gorgeously funny children. When I began blogging in 2005 it seemed like the prefect name and since then the pickle references have grown along with our family.
Who are the Picklebums?
I’m Kate, the head pickle.
Before I had kids I was an early childhood teacher, now my main aim in life is to make a dinner that everyone will eat!
I’ve been writing this blog for way too long (ie 10+ years) and I also dabble in a bit of freelance writing and web design.
I like cheap Turkish delight. I hate snakes. I sing along to daggy music and I dance when no one is looking.
I’m married to a shift working, science and maths nerd who can clear the house with just one fart, but we love him anyway.
We have four kids – yes, we have a TV, yes we know what causes it, and yes we are insane.
Zoe and Izzy are twins, and while they were born 11 weeks early and were such tiny fragile babies, now they are tall lanky tweens who’s eyes will probably roll right out of their heads one day!
Morgan is our ‘middle child’. It took us six weeks to name him and in that period of nameless limbo the nickname ‘Muski’ (bestowed by his then three year old sisters) stuck fast, though these days most people just call him ‘Morgs’.
Noah is our last baby, and he takes advantage of that fact every day! He lives in his own little world, and he needs to be reminded to wear two shoes to school most mornings!
Have a click around.
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Elizabeth says
Found your blog by accident while using Google images. Took a quick peek at one of your stories and was enchanted by the words you use for stuff. I’m a Texas girl and we Texans are known for mangling English, so your words like “oddment box”. Is that a junk drawer?
Anyway, I enjoyed it and invite you to check mine out. You’ll get lots of redneck stories.
Rosemary Grubb says
You have lovely kids. I have a 28 year old and 17 year old boy and girl twins. So much fun. Someone said twins always go together, not mine one goes one way one the other, makes for a very interesting life.
And I love them all, It’s great to be a mum.
I enjoyed looking around your blog. Thank you
Sarah Moore says
Hi Kate,
Found your blog by accident and am already addicted! I’m a mum of two and in my previous Life was a primary teacher. I’m also a fellow victorian…. I have to tell you the description of your youngest and the cleavage is why I’m writing…. It’s nice to know others have glamourous moments of motherhood too.
take care and I look forward to reading more.
Sarah :)
Diane says
Trying to re-locate some old AB friends – here you are :) Right where you’ve always been :)
Congratulations on Noah. I’ll be looking around :)
chantal says
Hi Kate, you are so inspiring. Have you ever considered home-schooling your kids? You would be able to use all of your beautiful creativity ALL the time! You wouldn’t have to wait for holidays to spend lots of time doing crafts. I started home-schooling my boy (6) this year (with the 3 yr. old doing some pre-school stuff and 1 yr. old to follow) and I LOVE it. Anyways, keep doing what you’re doing, and thank you for sharing all your awesome ideas!
Linda @ M&As World says
You probably son’t know how much I love your blog and how I try to store away as many ideas as I can that you suggest!! Here is a little something to say thanks!!
http://lrbritton.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/blog-awards/
Christine Ploog says
I stumbled here by accident and I am so very glad that I did. Keep up the good work!
Kate says
Kate! :) It is so nice to meet you! (from KBN) I didn’t know that you had 4 kids!! (beautiful!) As former teachers, we have so much in common- plus the weeds, the 4 kids, the chaos, ha! I’m excited to follow your blog and I would love to learn more about life in almost-rural Australia:).
Chelsea @ Moments A Day says
Really enjoyed reading your page and finding out more about your family :-)
Chris says
Hi Kate –
Love your blog! I’m starting to experiment with Pinterest, which is how I found you. I was told I should start using Pinterest to promote books and other things on my website, but it’s easy to get sidetracked once I start looking around.
Love the nicknames you gave your kids.
Australia is one place I’ve always wanted to visit. My husband almost moved there before we met and got married over 30 years ago!
Will try to visit your site often, now that I’ve found it!
Chris
Lucy says
Love your blog – and your way with words! Keep it up!
Hamada says
Thank you for sharing many good article Ms. Kate, very nice and informatif, so I hope Picklebums always share a good storys everyday, Yup Keep it UP
Andrea says
Found you when searching SLP activities and materials on pinterest and TPT. I live in NYC AND upstate NY (a recent transition) and work with kids part time as speech pathologist. I web surf for ideas for speech tx & diy home projects. One of the unexpected fun results has been crossing (virtual ) paths with people who have such different worlds, and maybe use diy out of sheer necessity. I love to blog hop and yours was a treat so thanks !
Andrea says
Just came across some great looking crafts on your blog. I had to comment because I have an Izzy too!!! She is “Isabella” but since day one, she has been Izzy. She is 5 now :) Thanks for sharing, I’ll be trying out some of these projects soon!
Gillian says
Kia ora Kate. I just discovered Picklebums today when searching Pinterest for ideas for the toddlers I work with. I live in Aotearoa/New Zealand; am a young older woman with grown-up children and an amazing 10 month-old grandson. I work in an early childhood centre with under 2 year olds and love, love, love toddlers!!! Hope the weather in your part of Oz is not too extreme or violent; and I look forward to catching up on and sharing your creative adventures.
Tracy says
Found your blog looking for meal planning ideas. Instantly fell in love. You’re so easy to be with (I’m sure!) All my life I’ve dreamed of visiting Australia…i’m still alive so maybe someday… Thanks for all the great ideas! And I love the different descriptions too. It’s like a riddle figuring it out! (I’m from Alberta)
Betty Watkins says
Hi Kate, I went to save the shark bookmarks and it said I need a password can you help
katepickle says
Are you opening the printable in adobe acrobat?
My printables can not be opened in graphics editing software, such as photoshop, you need to use pdf reading (not editing) software, such as adobe acrobat. Hope that helps