Chickens, a lovely beginning, a sad ending.

Here goes another lesson in life!

Our favourite pet of late is our chickens. So much that the dogs are jealous the chooks get all the attention now. Rusty is jealous of the chooks getting most of the food scraps, he has even been eating their feed (the dog droppings around the yard are now speckeldy!).
Our chickens are doing great, getting along with the dogs and having fun just roaming the yard. Master 5 has become our chook wrangler, and confidently catches one when he is home, to cuddle up to for an half hour or so!

This morning Miss 3 was in the chook pen patting her chicken (a sadly, skinny looking one, DH and I had decided wont live long), the only one she was ever able to catch by herself. I walked by and she asked me "is this one dead?"
Bugger, DH is on night shift so had not long gone to bed for the day, so clean up duties fell on me (how unusual). So, to get the 'unfit for here' chicken out of the pen, I first had to make sure the rascally dog did not discover it, nor catch me burying it. Half an hour later I had a hole deep enough I hope the dog does not sniff it out. Making sure both children knew what had happened, we discussed the chicken going to heaven, not a new concept for Master 5 but something unusual for Miss 3. She kept asking why god wanted our chicken, her favourite chicken.
To take their mind off the deceased chook, I offered up some craft for the morning. As they were doing their collages, Master 5 declared he was going to bury his masterpiece so the chook could have it in heaven, how thoughtful!
And then there were 5, lets hope they start laying us some eggs soon!

Always busy!

A week away, a first week of school, new family additions, it has all been happening around here!
Well, to start we had a nice little 'holiday' catching up with much missed family and friends. We did miss some but that is how it goes. It was wonderful just to 'hang' out at the farm! Shame that is all we could do due to the endless stream of drizzly rain. 
Getting some bad news during the week put a bit of a dismal spin on our time away for me (RIP Pop Melein), but alas time moves on and that is what we have to deal with sometimes. It meant I missed out on seeing my sister but in her place came her partner and their kids which was a wonderful treat - even if for only a quick lunch break!
It was also fantastic to catch up with my old mothers group from Brisbane, we met when our first borns were a few weeks new and we have all managed to move on but keep in touch ever since, gotta love modern technology :-) I loved that we were able to have a little celebration for the kiddies 5th birthdays.
On our way home, we made a slight detour to collect our new family members - 6 black australorp chickens, of around 5months old. Hopefully they start producing eggs in the next few months. Our chook house needs a few adjustments to fit properly on the garden beds as planned, but it works for now. The dogs are slowly getting used to having them around and have only tried to play/eat (we are still deciding their intentions) with the chickens a few times. We let the chooks in the yard of the afternoon so the dogs get used to them being here.

The big news is our Master 5 has now started school! First day was a bit of a flop in dropping off (I had to  get a teacher to hold him so he did not run after me), but he has been fine ever since. I think having Daddy there to drop him off helps. Plus, he confessed his fear on the first day was being scared because he did not know anyone. I think he has become familiar now with his new classmates and I am hoping fridays drop off is much more settled! I loved the cuddle I got when I picked him up this afternoon, a very - I missed you - type cuddle followed by lots of kisses and more cuddles and more kisses (I felt very priveleged and am aware this will not happen all too often in the future!).  He made me feel like the luckiest Mummy, a moment I will treasure forever.
On that happy note, I hope all my friends have had a great first week with their first timers at school, and good luck to those yet to experience these fun times! I am looking forward to a quieter week next week so I can begin enjoying my much missed 'nanna naps'!

Ugh - heat!

Wow, never knew I had that much sweat in me! The heat lately here has been unbearable. We have resorted to turning the bedroom air conditioners on, leaving the internal doors open and closing everything else (we don't yet have an air con in the living area). A situation we will need to rectify soon if I don't want to have a heart attack when the next electricity bill comes in! Needless to say we don't get up to too much at the moment.
We did, however begin to paint the chook pen. I had a day out with my big, soon to be at school (sob) boy, the other day and we got the paint - he chose the colour (initially wanted pink he said, with a cheeky grin on his face), but we opted for Mint Melody green.

It has now had a few coats of paint and is currently drying in the garage, partly assembled and taking up way tooooooo much room! More pics of this when we have it up on the garden beds.

Just before it got soooooo hot, we had a few opportunities to play in the parks in town. Every trip to town Master 5 asks to go to 'his' train, so this particular day in town was the perfect opportunity as it was early and the sun had not heated it up too much - yet!







It is an old steam train and every time we drive to town it is requested we go play on it. Given it's high metal content and sunny disposition, it is not prime play equipment around here!

Master 5 not long had his latest birthday. He chose for his cake the number 5 decorated with trains, but changed his mind to have superheros (the theme of his party) garnish the cake. Not an easy task given my limited shopping opportunities and lack of suppliers around here but we managed to get something together he was proud of. I attempted for the first time to use fondant, and silly me decided since I could not buy any I would make my own, duh! After finding recipes and having no ingredients for regular fondant, I stumbled upon marshmallow fondant, and it seemed easy enough. I only started 'caking' at 8pm, the fondant making began around 9pm and it didn't finish until 1am! When my wonderful DH came home from work at midnight, I think he actually laughed at me! I had mess from the dining room to the other side of the kitchen, and I am still cleaning 'green stuff' off the walls wherever it appears. I ended up giving in to the 'failed' attempt at the fondant and put it in the fridge until the morning. Amazingly my goopy sludge had solidified and I was able to roll it like a fondant to decorate the cake in the morning. I have since read fondant does not work well in the heat, oh well, live and learn! The cake was a hit with none left over at the end of the party!



So, lesson learnt and will try again - one day!

Our gardens are growing well, tomatoes are nearly ready to pick, strawberries have runners going everywhere, ginger and tumeric looking healthy, have managed to revive my bok choy, chilli plants, chives and schallotts are all going well and the dirt is almost hidden under the grass. Can't wait to make it a more productive garden. Beetroot and other salad goods are struggling but so am I in this heat!

Off to get the bread out of the oven, and make the kids lunch (they have only been begging all morning for more and more and more food, starving little things they are!). Cheers!



Yay!

After years of saying we need one, we should get one, there has always been something else come up and no money left over for it. So when I read on one of my local facebook buy swap and sell sites someone was getting rid of one, I thought twice. Then the man said it was for free and whom was I to argue! I went to town promptly to pick it up. Not expecting too much, kids in tow, by myself I managed to get it into the back of the car. I was a bit busy when I got home so in the back of the car it stayed until a little while ago. Again by myself (I am pretty resourceful!) I got it out the back of the car and proceeded to pull it apart to clean it up. Steel brush in hand, hose at the ready and off I went scrubbing and hosing in the sun (hence the hose :-) I think I may have gotten a tad sunburnt given the time of day but it was well worth it! The pic below is of my 'bargain'. All I had to buy was a gas bottle and I am all set for a BBQ dinner with my wonderful family!

My (our) garden is coming along wonderfully with our first watermelon picked the other day. It could have baked for a little longer but still tasted good to our watermelon loving daughter! And our sunflowers bloomed just in time for christmas day. They are beautiful if I do say so myself so we have planted a few more seeds so we can grow them in quick succession (if the dog stops digging them out).

Christmas was a quiet affair in our house, it was a bit surreal that DH was actually home as he was rostered on shift but did not have to turn up for it! So we enjoyed watching the kids open their pressies, had prawns for lunch, a few beers and roast chicken for dinner.

Santa spoilt us with a chicken pen which was finally delivered yesterday, so this afternoon if DH wakes up early enough we will begin to put it together (pictures next time). Unfortunately DH is on night shift at the moment so I will just have to enjoy that glass of wine by myself whilst we (or he!!!) negotiates the construction instructions hehehe!.



I do apologise to family who like to read my updates, they are not as regular as I would like to do them, but even now whilst I have put this blog together I have had to ward off the mob who so desperately desire my attention (aka my children). So for now you will have to put up with my sporadic updates. School starts in 23 days (not that I am counting), and I should see some free time then to do regular updates.
On a brighter note, my girls puppy is growing huge and he is just as mischevious as she is. He loves our thongs which often end up in 100 pieces and is slowly learning who is the boss, whilst increasingly tolerating DD affection. Cheers for now, and Happy New Years.

In a Bucket!

We are having such a good time up here that the kids decided to get sick and ruin our run of good health since being away from the child care! The past 3 days Master5 has had his head in and out of a bucket with a tummy ache and temps with a heat rash (I think), and this morning Little Miss 3 has decided she needs a bucket also! Let's just hope she finds the bucket in time if she actually needs it, this house is fully carpeted and I have run out of my floor spotting spray. And, to add to the turmoil, my DH threw up on the way to work the other night!??! They all seem to be nauseaus, and I am praying my tummy is strong enough to avoid it (goodness knows how the household would cope then!).
Our gardens are coming along nicely, my second garden has been filled (I got in trouble for working out in the sun just before lunch, but with the kids I do what I can when I can).  I probably could have watered the garden with the sweat I produced that day! I now have some nice tomato plants growing, a beetroot, some shallotts, a few bok choy seedlings, some chilli plants, strawberries, ginger and tumerick. We had some lettuce but the dog knocked them down, and he has also dug DH's pot plants to find the pecan nuts DH had planted (I think the puppy likes the pecan nuts!). 
The kids planted sunflower seeds a little while ago, so we have now also made a flower garden, recycling the rocks out of the old gardens which were here when we moved in. And we have grass! Our dirt patches are disappearing and the grass is nice and green (for now).

 Since I brought the boat home, we have spent a few days at a local weir. Catching crayfish in pots and catfish on the line. Nothing else of note from the weir at the moment, except the kids love swimming there and we have enjoyed taking the dogs on the boat for the first time also!

Pictures at last!

I found my camera in no other place but the car where I left it, so here are the pictures I promised!

The Clan.



Boys being boys. "All my boy wants for christmas is a water gun!"

 My girls party dress! And the shirt she got from the Grands' which she put on herself.






Our girl with her puppy dog, he wont be that small for too long.

Chattter chatter chatter chatter...............

Have been meaning to write another post but am trying to find my camera so I can share some piccies with you all. I might just have to do a picture post when I find it! I find it hard to write a post at the moment cause all I hear is chattter chatter chatter chatter from the kids, then a scream and a cry and a tease and a lot of Mummy listen to mmmeeeeeeee. We recently did a trip down to our old haunt to collect our boat stored at my Mums place near the beach, a 7hour trip down in the car with the kids by myself - needless to say I am greatful I took the portable DVD player because it meant the kids had something to occupy themselves with instead of chewing off my ear for 7hours! Though, we will be in for a new DVD player soon cause I broke the cover off this one on the way home trying to open it, still useable, but not very travel friendly anymore. Mabey that is one for Santa!
Well, we got to catch up with my inlaws on the farm which was great, I have always enjoyed going out there with none of the usual social/town distractions we encounter most days (I am tossing up going for a walk to buy the newspaper today, which you can't do out there). The kids loved collecting the chook eggs and visiting the goats. Their Aunty was a wonderful help in guiding them around the farm, it is wonderful they are getting to know her and are happy to play with her most of the time. It is a different life on the farm, one which I could quiet easily slip into and after seeing my kids out there I think they could too!
We spent the majority of the week at my Mums place near the beach, close to where we used to live. It was nice being back there, but I don't miss it. We had some wonderful times with some fantastic friends, an impromptu dip in the ocean :-) and all the busyness of getting the puppy, sorting out the boat for the trip back, checking up on our property, and spending time with my Mum. I don't call it a holiday, but I did enjoy catching up with our friends.
We also had a day at my Sister in Laws for my Niece and Nephews birthday party. A massive blow up water slide was the main attraction of the party which the kids utilised extremely well (until it got a little cold), and lots of sweet treats! Even our new puppy had a ball eating the cake and anything else he could get his mouth on, only to cry half the evening due to a sore tummy from over-eating. He was all good after he threw up, three times!
Another stop in at the farm on the way home (as busy as the farm is, it is always nice and peaceful), to collect some seeds and cuttings for our garden at home, then the trip back. It was just as long as the trip down, but it was good to get home.
While away, my wonderful husband finished off the edges to my garden beds and laid some grass seed on our bare patch of earth we have dug up (ie. most of our yard!). I am tasked now to fill the beds (a layer of composting leaves from the previous gardens, a layer of horsie pooh, and a layer of topsoil and we are ready for planting). Not an easy task as my garden beds are approx. 2m long by 1m wide, so that is a lot of compost/manure/soil I have been carting. It took me 2hours the other day to mostly fill 1garden bed.
Back to reality and Christmas is looming, I keep seeing facebook updates only 6 weeks to go (or some nonsense), and I have not even started. I have thought about what we are doing, but that is as far as I have gotten! I will weave my magic soon and have a day in Rocky by myself to get organised, and that will have to do. It is afterall about the company you keep, not the material posessions we recieve, so I am just glad my little family will be together on the day, after DH gets home from work :-)
Keep smiling, pictures to come soon!