Meet Max, Billy & Shady.

Sorry for the lack of blog on Sunday night. We had a crazy weekend getting ready for the calves and doing things about the yard which meant my blogging time was spent getting the clothes washed and pegged out and lunches made for the week.

We got three calves yesterday!!! I am so excited! I’m sure the novelty will wear off but I hope it doesn’t. Well it hasn’t yet with the chooks J

When picking them out the kids were asked what their names were… ‘We don’t name animals we’re going to eat’. Funny boy. I did allow them to be named though as they’ll be with us for 18 months.

Meet Max, Billy & Shady. 

I was blessed to be able to get them from a local dairy farmer. I wanted beef calves but didn’t want to have to sell one of the kids to buy them so we’ll give these guys a shot and see how they taste. I guess though anything home grown has to taste better than supermarket meat.

We are feeding the calves milk morning and night and they are eating ‘calf starter museli’. Can you believe it, I was up at 6.30am to feed them!

The chooks are going well. We have another nine in quarantine taking our total to 56. They are getting more comfortable around us and some are allowing us to pick them up.

My job list for today:

Feed calves – get up at 6.30am TICK

Get Mr on the school bus TICK (but only just hehe)

Put bulk flours, sugar etc in big white buckets

Take non Broody Brooke back to Paul's TICK

Set up and make beds in the spare room for weekend visitors TICK

Fold and put away clothes

Wipe down bathroom

Make a list of Thursday-Sunday night dinners: Tacos, Pizza, Roast, Help yourself – I’ve been slack this week and not done my usual week list. And feeling out of whack because of it. TICK

Go shopping for Thursday-Sunday night dinners HALF TICK

Books I'm reading

Improving my knowledge for home and marriage.

The Urban Homestead

Uncovered: revealing the secrets to a sexy marriage - Susie Davis

and The Backyard Homestead

In fact I so highly recommend Susie Davis' book that I will buy a copy for anyone who wants one. Leave a comment to let me know.

Enjoy your week all. We have family staying over YAY :) xox

Broody Brooke

I have been trying to be in bed by 9pm each night this week. I am just so very tired but then I don’t think the weather at the moment helps, grey and dreary. 9pm really doesn’t give much time between putting the kids to bed at 7-7.30 and getting into bed J But I do feel better in the morning.

Broody Brooke

We have borrowed a broody chook to try and hatch some eggs for the kids to watch them grow up. Problem is though that she now isn’t broody, funny chook.

I got this cage and Aj put a tin end on it and cage wire swing door at the front. It can be seen from the dining room window. She may go broody again and I was told to put her in with my others but she is left the big chook house and came and sat in the back on the cage. I’m thinking I’ll let her be for a bit and see what happens. She joins the other chooks of a day but doesn’t seem to want to stay with them at night.

 

I am starting to think about breeding some chooks. I would like to be able to give some to family etc for presents, and to up our own crew or more eggs.

I need four separate areas to get the best out of my chicks and to prevent sickness from adult chooks.

Incubator

Under heat lamp

Without heat lamp

Pullets – pre layers area outside away from other adult chooks

I may use the broody chook cage for putting the rooster and hen(s) in for collecting fertile eggs.

Thinking of using part of the shed for the 1-3 and if all goes to plan and I get some chook houses in the steers paddocks then the current chook house/yard will be for the pullets. All of this may be a while off yet though. Don’t stress out just yet Aj ;)

I made a quiche or egg pie tonight. Check out the yellow colour, that is fresh organic eggs for you.

Mrs Fields Cookies

I thought I'd share another favourite recipe with you.

MRS FIELDS COOKIES

125g butter

1/2cup castor sugar

1/3cup & 2tsp brown sugar

1/2tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

2/3cup SR flour

1cup plain flour

200g choc chips

Preheat oven to 180C

Beat butter, sugars and vanilla together until pale and creamy

Add egg and combine well.

Stir flours together in a small bowl.

Mix flour and choc chips into the butter mixture.

Form heaped teaspoons of dough into balls and place the balls on a tray.

Bake for approx 13-15minutes or until cookies are lightly golden

Cool and enjoy!

Today I also added cranberries and a seed mix...yummo!

How much cooking/baking do you do? I try and have the cookie jar filled and I like to have muffins in the freezer for school lunches.

Its amazing how much you can easily make instead of buying for school lunch. And I have found that freezing makes things so easy of a morning. 

Oh and....we planted the 3 miniture apple trees today.
Here is my man with the one outside our bedroom window. 

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Intrepid Duckherd

Well well well. IT’S FRIDAY!!! It has been a huge week for me, both physically and mentally, and I am so glad to be sitting on the couch knowing that tomorrow is Saturday.

We shall start with the exciting news. Remember a while back I said that the Indian Runner Ducks wandered off…well a month and a half later we found them.

The landowners behind us, who own a few hundred acres, had men out checking fences before the cows come back on the land in a few weeks. (Here in Tassie they rest the cows for a time and don’t milk them year-round). This man, Roger, had been told about the missing ducks when they first went missing and had just seen them on a pond about 150m away. A pond that Aj had looked at when they first went missing.

Aj was the one to go down the lane and bring them home. I spied on him with binoculars. I asked him to describe his adventure in one sentence. ‘Prodigal poultry returned after 40 days in the wilderness thanks to intrepid duckherd willing to endure electric fences, vast ditches and rogue blackberry bushes.’



It was so good to have them back. They were SO hungry for grain. And were quieter than they were a month and a half ago. Paul took them home today. I was concerned that if I let them out of the house they’d go wandering again.

Another matter. I have been wondering why we haven’t been getting many eggs…One word…ESSIE! Essie has been egg-stealing. There have been a few days where we have only got one or no eggs. I wondered if it was her so baited her with an egg and she took it. I was able to follow and get it back before she broke it. Monkey of a dog. She takes and eats the whole thing.

All of the fake eggs I put into the nesting boxes have teeth marks in them and her farts have been SHOCKING!!! And then today I found a poo…with eggshell right thru it. I have a pic but didn’t think you’d all want to see it :)

I collected 7 eggs today, as Essie was on close watch and I was guiding my girls.

We’re off to help feed some calves in the morning so I’m off to bed.
What are you all up to?
Have a great weekend.

xox

Gardening day!

Releasing the new growth 

It was a beautiful Winter's day today. The sun was out and warm. I put the twins to bed and got myself outside. I am slowly, very slowly, transforming the front yard into a cottage garden. Today's job was clearing the path from overgrown plants and cutting the plants right back, ready for fresh Spring growth. I don't think they had been done for a few years. The best thing is being able to create new plants from the old and replanting in another section of the garden.

My sister gave us 3 miniature apple trees. I am thinking of using one of them as the centrepiece in a triangle section just outside our bedroom window. It is currently lawn and bordered with footpath. My idea is to have the apple tree as the centre and a scattering of bulbs and smaller plants around it. But not sure if it'll be too far from the other two for pollination.

What would you recommend/what do you think?

Three 'oversized' wheelbarrow loads

The chooks loved being able to scratch around 

Today was also a baking day. Muffins, biscuits and bread. What recipe do you use for your homemade bread? I use 350ml water , 500g bread flour, 1.5teaspoon yeast. The bread is edible, well, more than just edible, but I can't get it to rise nicely. I am currently doing a double rise bread. Might try a loaf with a single rise and see how it goes.
I made a white loaf for Mr Fussy today, while yesterday I made a loaf with a 3-seed mix in it and one with currants and cinnamon/nutmeg in it :)

Bed time for me, 
I am trying hard to follow the 10 daily habits :)

Chat soon.

I'm not messy; I'm organisationally challenged

I'm sure Garfield said this for me!!!

I am once again trying to reduce my craft supplies. Even if I don’t reduce in stock, reduce in the space taken up. I find it really hard. I want to just to throw it all out…I know that’s irrational but it seems so much easier than than sorting and finding homes for those things that have no group or home and end up in the ‘odds & ends’ box.

How do you sort your creative side?

There are so many ideas and pictures out there for organising work spaces. Some look brilliant but I know they are only set up for the photos as you seriously couldn't work there. 

I have to start putting things away in the correct spot the first time. No more 'I'll put it there and put it away later...' as the later never comes until an evening like now and I am left frustrated. One of my down falls is a craft table or dumping ground so that is gone and I am left with these shelves for storage and working from the table (which then gets cleared for dinner).

found on pintrest.com
too much room for me to get it messy

found on pintrest.com
simple, neat, clear, i like it

Tonight's effort...finish off tomorrow 

I need to be organised. I have a husband, 4 kids, 5 acres and countless animals to keep up with. I am trying (really I am mum ;D) I have a few bad habits like 'I'll do it later' and going to bed late. I did a search on the net and found this great blog. For the full the article please go to blog page. I have just highlighted the main points here but I encourage you to read further at The Stressed Mom. Bernice has 10 daily habits which I think I'll be printing out and sticking to the fridge :) I especially like 8 & 10.

10 daily habits for mums

1. Wake up early.

2. Waking up early starts with going to bed earlier.

3. Evening preparations. 

4. Institute meal-planning.

5. Do one complete load of laundry a day. 

6. Do your best to get your dishes done in the evening before going to bed.

7. Take 5 minutes and buzz through the bathrooms with a damp cloth.

8. A place for everything and everything in its place.

9. Have a bedtime routine.

10. Do not say YES immediately to new requests. 

Well, it's 10.55pm and no2 says early to bed... sleep well all. I trust I have inspired you in some way tonight. Chat soon xox

Being self sufficient

Do you make your own food? It can be as simple as making lunch rather than buying it, right though to making sauces, preserved fruit/vegies and drying or freezing.

I have been thinking of all of this for a while but it helps when you get to know others who think the same. I follow a few blogs but I will share two of them. 1) Down to Earth and 2)  Old Green Pastures (which is run by the lovely Sam). I met Sam through a pot holder swap run via the Down to Earth forum. Amongst many things, we share a faith in God and a desire to be self-sufficient. How good is this book! It's one Sam bought from the net. I love the idea of being able to stop using the supermarket. Ok, so I won't be able to stop altogether but it is interesting to know what you can do without.

I want our property to be as self-suffient as possible in the long run. Maybe when the kids are all at school :) We have started by having steers and chickens that will provide meat and eggs. Then there is the vegie patch. There are some really clever ideas out there for both large properties and units with limited space. We need to create a green house of sorts as we have free range chooks who EAT ALL MY VEGIES!!! Solution: Put them in boxes up on tyres. It lasted maybe a week. The chooks have eaten about 1/4 of the poly box and the vegies are just stumps now.

The milk bottles have strawberries in them. They are safely(?) up higher. The lattice is there for 

the raspberry canes. I will have to cover the raspberries as they flower. 

I make my own bread, buy in bulk* and use the green grocer where I can. I am trying to buy things outside of the large chain supermarket but on a budget it is hard. Laundry liquid is easy to make and much cheaper. The recipe can be found on the Down to Earth blog. I use cloth nappies (as well as disposable) and have been sewing up my own dish/face cloths from flannel nappies. I used them for both newborn nappies and spew rags. They have been cleaned well and I thought, why not? They are much better than the cloths from the supermarket. It is also teaching me to make my dinner bases from what I have and not using a packet mix base.

*I have started to buy from PFD Food Services. They have cash sales on Friday mornings and they have a huge range of products. The prices are cheaper and as the bags of flour are 12.5kg - I shouldn't run out for a while.

I hope that I have inspired you do what you can. I think it's a case of doing what you can with what you have but not putting pressure on yourself to do so.

xox Enjoy your week.
It's a big one for us :) How's it looking for you? What is one thing you can do or change to be self sufficient?

Why I live where I live

Just a simple blog for you tonight.
For years we lived on your average suburban block and are now LOVING the space that surrounds us. We are also surrounded by large farming properties making it feel bigger than it actually is.

We have a great community around us. If we need anything people are willing to help out. Best of all, people don't offer unless they mean it. We are slowly meeting more people and creating some great life-long friendships with like minded people.
Best of all, we have the lifestyle I (we) have been longing for. I'm sure people think we are nuts, jumping in with so many chooks, the steers and lambs to come but this is what we want life to be.
I miss family and close friends back in Victoria, terribly some days but I wouldn't live anywhere else!

Some pics for you.

 

Now I didn't get a response for the kids' teabags, so I will open it up. Just comment here, on FB, or Google+ and I will send them out to the first two people to respond.

Enjoy your week :)