Day 35 ...
What I won't give to sleep in a bit, darn Harry the rooster, he's got the biggest crow you have ever heard, and it full moon so he's been crowing during the night as well. Some people think he could be very tasty for dinner, but he's safe he's needed for protecing the Matildas and a baby making machine. Two hens have gone broody, hell not now girls then the lot start getting broody again and we got no eggs again. Breakfast compliments of the Mathildas and a bowl of oats each. The boys brought home more milk last night, and I took most of the cream of the top and added it to the cream I had already saved. We need some butter again. I want to bake a few gingerbread biscuits tomorrow. Only 3 more days till Christmas. The time has come for us to slaughter the first chooks,they still a bit small for my liking, so we'll do 3 chooks for roasting.
The girls have never plucked chooks before, it's going to be something alright lol. We get the big pot with water and set it on the coals to boil. Then drag a stump of wood closer and get hold of the chook by the legs. George does the honours and chops it head off, the girls just want to run a mile, George holds it till it stops kicking and finally bleeds out. Then it our turn to start the dunking in hot water and plucking it clean. Cut it open and pull out the intestines, cut the fat glands. It's not as fatty as I thought it might be but save the bits anyway. Hmm there 2 more to go .... Afterwards they go into the fridge to settle/relax overnight and tomorrow into the freezer. Remember the old days when you chopped the head and the headless chook would be running around the yard till it finally stops dead. lol Collect the fatty bits and freeze it.
Funny how it does not worry me heaps that we were robbed last night, I don't think he would be coming back again, he just needed a few supplies and he's gone again. He does not want to be found. He can look after himself quite well otherwise they would have caught him by now. (5 yrs on the run) Constable J mentioned that he broke into Lesley's place too and took salt and few bits of food.
Our little trip to the river was very successful, 18 yabbies and 3 bass, we head on home and start dinner. It's always a big feast. We picked a bowl of cherry tomatoes and the hens laid 8 eggs today.
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Having a few blond moments sorry. I fixed the link and sidebar one too.Maybe I need a few more cups of coffee lol
Day 36 ...
I was so tired last night, rather than write in the journal, I went off to bed. After my second cup of coffee and making the breakfast, finally a little spare time. The girls are doing the washing and getting it hung up and doing the dishes. While the little boys are feeding the meat chooks and letting the big chooks out to freerange, they done it enough times with me to know what to do by now. Actually they really enjoying this lifestyle esp Cobi. Luke still misses his XBox and games. What I did not tell them is we had actually bought an Xbox for them to use at our place with some games during the holidays, and just had not got round to giving it to them yet. Maybe it will be a good surprise on Boxing day. They can play when the small generator is running to charge up the battery packs.
We have been so busy with the building work and getting everyone sorted for accommodation, that we haven't really spend enough time with the kids. There's a few more bits and pieces we bought them for the toy box and some more poster paints and canvasses. I glad for all the school stuff I stockpiled.Michael had sorted out the bikes and they started cycling again every afternoon Luke is still a little small for Cobis old bike but gives it a go anyway.
We baked our ginger bread biscuits and decorated them, the kids just loved that. And old fashioned sweet sugar biscuits, rolled out and cut into shapes, got a big tin worth. We just going to have a big pasta, tuna and cherry tomato salad for dinner. Open a tin of baked beans and beetroot.
The roof went up first thing this morning! The outdoor kitchen has a wood stove now and the kitchen cupboard framework is in, sink has water connected and an outlet. The lattice walls with the shade cloth to keep the flies out is just about up . Only got the doors to go for the cupboards and and screw on the safety/fly screen door. then it's just the fiddly stuff. And bring in the meat safe and the chopping block from Rose cottage. They have really done a nice job of this kitchen.
You would not believe how the container has got freed up from all the stuff we had stored in there, now finally George can spend some time getting it sorted and turned into a storeroom/workshop/garage for the ride on. Even the extra feed for the animals can go in there now. and locked up safely. Still only 8 eggs Had to kick those two hens off their nests and put them in a small box for a few days to get over their broodiness.
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Day 37 & 38 ...
Yesterday was George"s Mum's 83rd birthday but this year we can't even call her, here's hoping she had a good day in South Africa. Let's hope they not having it too tough over there. We had a nice day down by the river, first catching a lot of yabbies and then the kids and a few adults went swimming. Just hearing their laughter is good for the soul. George stayed at the cottage.
Elisa made a double batch of bread dough, and divided it into two, one was baked as bread and the other into round balls which were cooked in oil, it's called "vetkoek". You would take a handful of bread dough and sort of pull it flat a bit, then drop it into hot oil, and cook it until it golden brown, drain it on some paper towel. You can have it hot with a savoury mince, or Vegemite. Elisa was surprised as the italians make something similar only it got sun dried tomato, olives or anchovies stuffed in the middle then cooked in oil.
Tanya ,and the girls wrapped a few presents for the boys, while I popped the yabbies into boiling water and then cleaned them. Michael went looking for a few lemons and brought enough back to make a little syrup/cordial again and for the yabbies entree.
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Day 38 ...
It's Christmas morning, Cobi and Luke and Adele's kids can't wait to open their presents, but there is not many pressies, just a little something for each. The XBox and games makes it appearance and they just over the moon about them, until they realise there is no power, what a let down. Grandpa promises to run the generator of a few hours late this afternoon and evening a bit so they may play on it and we can have a little light too. Then it's all excitement again.
The 3 chooks are roasting with some potatoes, rice and gravy. We manage to make a little salad with some cherry tomatoes, onion and a little lettuce from the patch and the cold yabbies. A little jellie, custard and peach slices will have to stand in for the traditional trifle. Everyones happy and very relaxed after a late lunch. A cricket bat and ball appear (from the secret stash) and it game on. Everyone has fun playing or just watching. What would Christmas be without a cricket game, no cucumber sandwiches only cold lemon iced tea.
It has been a most enjoyable day ....
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We in between trips to the farm, so I thought I just catch up a bit,we're off again Saturday with another load of wood for chook housing, roof sheeting and washing machine, old pine welsh dresser.
Day39 ...
Boxing day turned out to be another peaceful day, after the morning milking, the boys brought some fresh milk home. I left it to settle to scoop the cream off the top, for making butter. The kids did the morning chores feeding the chooks and then wanted to go for a bicycle ride with Michael,down to the river and have a swim. After he'd seen to the fire for cooking and hot water.
The girls did a bit of washing and got that hung up to dry, while I took the time out in the veggie patch weeding. All the seedlings are coming on nicely, and some needed to be stacked like the tomatoes. The beans have plenty white flowers on and are a buzz with bees pollinating them. Another few weeks and we'll be eating beans. Here's hoping for a glut of veggies so I can bottle a few too. The zucchini's are looking like they will flower soon, then I can make Lebanese zucchini stuffed with rice, pine nuts cooked in a tomato based sauce. The golden nugget pumpkins are flowering too.
Today we going to have left overs with gravy adding a small corn kernels, fried onions with 3 dice potatoes cooking, and a puff pastry (from the freezer)rolled out and cut into pies rounds. Left over filling added and more pastry on top. Our own version of a pie. A pot of chicken noodle soup is also cooking, with the carcasses from the Christmas chooks' just needing to add a grated carrot, diced onion and a bit of herbs. I make a damper just to make sure there's enough for everyone.
George has a cat nap after lunch till the boys want to play cricket. Life is just about normal for us.
Day 40 ...
Awoke to grey skies this morning, so we get the chores done before breakfast. And just as we start brekky, the skies open up. Everything is covered that needs to be and we can just enjoy the rest of the day. Elisa has baked some fresh bread and made some Vegemite scrolls. And we take out the kangaroo burgers for dinner. The other have to clean her dishes only fair.
The girls decide to build puzzles with the kids, and entertain them with a stories and a little crafting. Their knitted squares are nearly big enough for a single bed. (Well I thought they would have given up by now)
Today I had this bright idea and was paging through the cheese making book I bought but mislaid it with the move. It was still a skill I needed to learn and never got round to. With all this fresh milk maybe now is the time to think about it again. Buttermilk would be lovely for making rusks, only now instead of scooping the cream off, I need to pour the milk into the butter churn and turn until the butter separates leaving me the butter milk. Maybe a simple cheese is possible too. Going to attempt it
It's still raining and the water tanks are filling up nicely.
This kind of rain can go on for days here and being in the mountains, the water comes up real fast and covers the bridge, leaving the dairy farmer and anyone else stranded on the other side. Maybe I wait with the cheese making experimenting, but will give the buttermilk a go first. At least we will have butter and be able to bake rusks then.
Hope you not to bored yet
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Survival Game part 6 ...
Day 41 ...
It's still raining and looks like it's not going to give up soon. We're happy for the water the tanks are filling nicely, all the troughs have been scrubbed for algea and new water put in, the tanks connected to the little shed roof, arent very big so fills up real fast, we got to make use of it for cleaning stuff. The bath tub get filled to the brim, the caravan was needing a good scrub from standing under the trees so long,and the rain will do the rinsing for us. Alls clean and sparkling by the time this rain is over.Late afternoon there's a break in this weather.
Tomorrow is George's Birthday and New Years eve, there is still a few cake mix packets left, so we'll bake a large cake, and cover it with caramel and sprinkle some hundreds and thousands on top.
The boy's go fishing and yabbing for dinner, and the rest stay home doing craft or just keeping themselves busy cleaning. I finally picked the quince and make a little quince jelly, amazing how the colour changes when you cook it, fill 3 small jars full. They caught 4 Bass and a catfish which they released and a few yabbies. Hens layed 10 eggs today.
I made a little milo today for myself cause I got the chocolate munchies, will have to do with milo.
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Day 42 ...
The sky was still a little grey this morning but cleared up about midday, and we had a humid afternoon. George had a little cake with his morning tea break, the rest got polish by the kids but not before they did the morning chores feeding and watering the chooks.
Today is also New Years Eve, this year has held a lot of surprises for us, strangely this is one of the better ones for me. You could ask why ... well I tell ya even if you don't want to know.
This scenario, living in the country, with my animals, my grandkids learning what is important in life, having my kids realise their mother is not crazy when she warned them things can not carry on like they have before. Even if there are other scenarios like this one all have the same result, No job, no place to stay prices go up or worse still no food... homelessness and hunger! My husband having to take a break from his stressful job, and retirement is not the end, but the beginning to another phase in our lives.
My retirement plan is workable!
Anyway enough of those thoughts It's nearly evening and the dishes have been washed. This year we will miss the fireworks and the masses of people down by the Harbour ... Not!!! We could even go to bed early only some bright spark would probably fire a few shoots in the air at midnight, Scaring the living crap out of the animals causing heaps to run away like usual every year.
By the time we wake in the morning it will be 2011 ...
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I'M GOING TO CARRY ON WITH MY 60 DAYS IF NO ONE MINDS .... SO WON'T START ON COLONY 2 .... HARD TO IMPROVE ON THE FIRST STORY ANYWAYS.
Day 43 ...
We having so much rain it's hard to do anything around the place for all the mud. Trying protect the animals as best we can, with left over corrogate sheeting, so they can have a dry spot to sleep in. Lucky it's not cold just wet. The rain gauge shows 28mm the day before and 64mm (4inches i think)yesterday and no sign of it clearing soon. Lucky the boys still went milking last night and brought home fresh milk, lot's of milk. The river was rising steadily and was just 1/2mtr under the bridge. So this morning it surely would have covered it. I always wondered about the markings there's even a 9 mtr (27ft +)marking as if it would get there. With all this rain there's sure to be flooding down at Kempsey and low-lying areas as the river winds it way down to the sea. It's the mosquitos we going to have to watch, Ross river fever and other deseases. The bull frogs & smaller tree frogs must be loving this weather, Maggie the magpie (big black & white bird with one very pointy beak must have been handraised, cause she's rather tame) also takes cover under the veranda. She's hanging around for a feed.
We cope as best we can with a makeshift washing line on the veranda, dodging wet clothes is no fun. A big pot of soup is on the boil in the outdoor kitchen and a loaf of bread is baking in the woodstove, a packet of cake mix is ready to go in afterwards. Breakfast was a pot of oats.
The girls do a little craft working on the squares they nearly ready to start sewing another one together. The boys decide to play board games with the kids, that gets them out of our hair for a few hours. George catches up on a little lost sleep.Eliza and Neal look a little worried, but won't talk about it.
We're all a little worried how long this scenerio is going to last and what we going to do in the long run. There's no news from the outside world anymore, everones just staying where they are. Looking forward to the swap market on saturday, we are starting to running short on flour and yeast. Maybe my friend Jenny would have a spare 5 pound packet for me, she would be needing a few things herself by now. Their kids from Grafton are living with them atm.
Please remember there is copyright on this blog and if you want to link to it your'e most welcome
Rina
It's still raining and looks like it's not going to give up soon. We're happy for the water the tanks are filling nicely, all the troughs have been scrubbed for algea and new water put in, the tanks connected to the little shed roof, arent very big so fills up real fast, we got to make use of it for cleaning stuff. The bath tub get filled to the brim, the caravan was needing a good scrub from standing under the trees so long,and the rain will do the rinsing for us. Alls clean and sparkling by the time this rain is over.Late afternoon there's a break in this weather.
Tomorrow is George's Birthday and New Years eve, there is still a few cake mix packets left, so we'll bake a large cake, and cover it with caramel and sprinkle some hundreds and thousands on top.
The boy's go fishing and yabbing for dinner, and the rest stay home doing craft or just keeping themselves busy cleaning. I finally picked the quince and make a little quince jelly, amazing how the colour changes when you cook it, fill 3 small jars full. They caught 4 Bass and a catfish which they released and a few yabbies. Hens layed 10 eggs today.
I made a little milo today for myself cause I got the chocolate munchies, will have to do with milo.
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Day 42 ...
The sky was still a little grey this morning but cleared up about midday, and we had a humid afternoon. George had a little cake with his morning tea break, the rest got polish by the kids but not before they did the morning chores feeding and watering the chooks.
Today is also New Years Eve, this year has held a lot of surprises for us, strangely this is one of the better ones for me. You could ask why ... well I tell ya even if you don't want to know.
This scenario, living in the country, with my animals, my grandkids learning what is important in life, having my kids realise their mother is not crazy when she warned them things can not carry on like they have before. Even if there are other scenarios like this one all have the same result, No job, no place to stay prices go up or worse still no food... homelessness and hunger! My husband having to take a break from his stressful job, and retirement is not the end, but the beginning to another phase in our lives.
My retirement plan is workable!
Anyway enough of those thoughts It's nearly evening and the dishes have been washed. This year we will miss the fireworks and the masses of people down by the Harbour ... Not!!! We could even go to bed early only some bright spark would probably fire a few shoots in the air at midnight, Scaring the living crap out of the animals causing heaps to run away like usual every year.
By the time we wake in the morning it will be 2011 ...
*********************************
I'M GOING TO CARRY ON WITH MY 60 DAYS IF NO ONE MINDS .... SO WON'T START ON COLONY 2 .... HARD TO IMPROVE ON THE FIRST STORY ANYWAYS.
Day 43 ...
We having so much rain it's hard to do anything around the place for all the mud. Trying protect the animals as best we can, with left over corrogate sheeting, so they can have a dry spot to sleep in. Lucky it's not cold just wet. The rain gauge shows 28mm the day before and 64mm (4inches i think)yesterday and no sign of it clearing soon. Lucky the boys still went milking last night and brought home fresh milk, lot's of milk. The river was rising steadily and was just 1/2mtr under the bridge. So this morning it surely would have covered it. I always wondered about the markings there's even a 9 mtr (27ft +)marking as if it would get there. With all this rain there's sure to be flooding down at Kempsey and low-lying areas as the river winds it way down to the sea. It's the mosquitos we going to have to watch, Ross river fever and other deseases. The bull frogs & smaller tree frogs must be loving this weather, Maggie the magpie (big black & white bird with one very pointy beak must have been handraised, cause she's rather tame) also takes cover under the veranda. She's hanging around for a feed.
We cope as best we can with a makeshift washing line on the veranda, dodging wet clothes is no fun. A big pot of soup is on the boil in the outdoor kitchen and a loaf of bread is baking in the woodstove, a packet of cake mix is ready to go in afterwards. Breakfast was a pot of oats.
The girls do a little craft working on the squares they nearly ready to start sewing another one together. The boys decide to play board games with the kids, that gets them out of our hair for a few hours. George catches up on a little lost sleep.Eliza and Neal look a little worried, but won't talk about it.
We're all a little worried how long this scenerio is going to last and what we going to do in the long run. There's no news from the outside world anymore, everones just staying where they are. Looking forward to the swap market on saturday, we are starting to running short on flour and yeast. Maybe my friend Jenny would have a spare 5 pound packet for me, she would be needing a few things herself by now. Their kids from Grafton are living with them atm.
Please remember there is copyright on this blog and if you want to link to it your'e most welcome
Rina
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
survival game part 7 ...
Day 45 ...
Somehow I forgot day 44, oh well .......
The rain is never ending, it just keeps on raining steadily, the river has pushed up over the bridge this morning there was no way anyone could get across. By midday it had crept up and covered all the rocks, and covered the concrete sides of the bridge. The closed road sign went up. Debris and logs came rushing down the river. The trees all got flattened with the force of dirty brown water.
There's not much we can do but keep ourselves busy. A little cheering up might help, so we decide now is as good a time to slaughter a few chooks for the freezer and get busy with that. Today we'll do 8 chooks, that's going to be full on, each one has their own chook to pluck, while George did the honours with the ax. A new experience for the girls too ... I chose 2 hens and a rooster to keep for future breeding. The man from the hatchery told me you should slaughter them all but maybe he just wanted me to buy more birds from him. When all's done, they go into the fridge to rest overnight, ready for the freezer tomorrow. All except one that is for dinner.
The 1000 ltr tanks fill up real fast and we have to pump the water over to the big tank, must look at finishing the work on the tanks. Lot's of bath water, and the kids pond also get cleaned and filled with clean water. The laundry gets a soaking too, then human feet treatment, rinsed and wrung ready to go up to dry.
Dinner is a chicken pasta bake, and small green salad with cherry tomatoes from the garden. After dinner Neal gets me one side and tells me Eliza is a little worried cause she late this month. Well that's bound to happen when you run out of prevention tablets. That's something I never considered when I stockpiled, prevention/condoms ... does that offend you, I sure hope not, for that is life. Time will tell I'm sure ...
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Day 46 ...
The full force of the brown water has crept up to 2 mtr above the bridge, boy it's a sight we hope not to see soon again. We meet a few villagers all come to have a sticky beak, dressed in their "dry as a bone" rain coats and some men look a little wild with their bushy beards and old akubra's on their heads. All that's missing is the brumby's (Horses), it's like the movie scene's from "Man from Snowy River"...
The rain is clearing a little later this morning, and the odd ray of sun shine shines through.
A pot of chicken noodle soup is cooking with a few carcasses of the chooks from yesterday. Cutting up the chooks in portions sure saved space in the freezer. A few sweet potatoes and normal potatoes, onions get baked together for dinner.
Tomorrow is swap market day, so we'll take a 6 baby chooks and a dozen eggs with us. We could do with a veggies, few pumpkins and carrots, a little flour and yeast. The veggie garden is going nicely and gives fresh greens, Chinese broccoli is ready to be picked. Maybe take a little bunch of that too. No fishing for a while until the river is settled again.
It's time to get the little boys out there riding in the dirt with the bikes, something Michael is good at, there's not a clean spot on their faces by the time they come in for a wash. But first the bikes need a clean too. They look tired and will sleep well tonight. Neal looks after the fires for the hot water.
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Day 47 ...
It's swap market day, so we head off after doing the morning chores, George stays behind to keep an eye on things here. It's nice to meet up and have a yarn (chat)Pete our Constable's wife is a bee keeper and sells yummy honey, hmmm would love a little. I get a small jar for 2 baby chooks and the small bunch of Chinese broccoli. Jenny only has a half bag of flour to spare, while she needs eggs and 2 baby chooks. Her hens aren't laying so well atm. A large pumpkin swapped for the last two chooks from the farmer up the road, he drove down with a heap of pumpkins on the back of his truck and is looking to swap them for anything he can get.
I going to get the boys to enlarge the run for them to free range a little with the few bigger chooks. Have to slaughter the rest of the big meat chooks tomorrow. So it will be only the rooster and 2 hens with the little ones. They 5 weeks old already!
It's all going to help with reducing the food bill for the little meat chooks (still got 20 or so) as the crumble is running short.
Piglets are growing up nicely, and nearly a good size to slaughter, maybe in another few weeks. Can't wait to try out the new gas smoker sitting in the container. I miss my bacon. We spend the rest of the afternoon doing weeding and planting a few more seeds.
Dinner is Chicken a la king with rice, Chinese broccoli steamed and green salad.
Somehow I forgot day 44, oh well .......
The rain is never ending, it just keeps on raining steadily, the river has pushed up over the bridge this morning there was no way anyone could get across. By midday it had crept up and covered all the rocks, and covered the concrete sides of the bridge. The closed road sign went up. Debris and logs came rushing down the river. The trees all got flattened with the force of dirty brown water.
There's not much we can do but keep ourselves busy. A little cheering up might help, so we decide now is as good a time to slaughter a few chooks for the freezer and get busy with that. Today we'll do 8 chooks, that's going to be full on, each one has their own chook to pluck, while George did the honours with the ax. A new experience for the girls too ... I chose 2 hens and a rooster to keep for future breeding. The man from the hatchery told me you should slaughter them all but maybe he just wanted me to buy more birds from him. When all's done, they go into the fridge to rest overnight, ready for the freezer tomorrow. All except one that is for dinner.
The 1000 ltr tanks fill up real fast and we have to pump the water over to the big tank, must look at finishing the work on the tanks. Lot's of bath water, and the kids pond also get cleaned and filled with clean water. The laundry gets a soaking too, then human feet treatment, rinsed and wrung ready to go up to dry.
Dinner is a chicken pasta bake, and small green salad with cherry tomatoes from the garden. After dinner Neal gets me one side and tells me Eliza is a little worried cause she late this month. Well that's bound to happen when you run out of prevention tablets. That's something I never considered when I stockpiled, prevention/condoms ... does that offend you, I sure hope not, for that is life. Time will tell I'm sure ...
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Day 46 ...
The full force of the brown water has crept up to 2 mtr above the bridge, boy it's a sight we hope not to see soon again. We meet a few villagers all come to have a sticky beak, dressed in their "dry as a bone" rain coats and some men look a little wild with their bushy beards and old akubra's on their heads. All that's missing is the brumby's (Horses), it's like the movie scene's from "Man from Snowy River"...
The rain is clearing a little later this morning, and the odd ray of sun shine shines through.
A pot of chicken noodle soup is cooking with a few carcasses of the chooks from yesterday. Cutting up the chooks in portions sure saved space in the freezer. A few sweet potatoes and normal potatoes, onions get baked together for dinner.
Tomorrow is swap market day, so we'll take a 6 baby chooks and a dozen eggs with us. We could do with a veggies, few pumpkins and carrots, a little flour and yeast. The veggie garden is going nicely and gives fresh greens, Chinese broccoli is ready to be picked. Maybe take a little bunch of that too. No fishing for a while until the river is settled again.
It's time to get the little boys out there riding in the dirt with the bikes, something Michael is good at, there's not a clean spot on their faces by the time they come in for a wash. But first the bikes need a clean too. They look tired and will sleep well tonight. Neal looks after the fires for the hot water.
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Day 47 ...
It's swap market day, so we head off after doing the morning chores, George stays behind to keep an eye on things here. It's nice to meet up and have a yarn (chat)Pete our Constable's wife is a bee keeper and sells yummy honey, hmmm would love a little. I get a small jar for 2 baby chooks and the small bunch of Chinese broccoli. Jenny only has a half bag of flour to spare, while she needs eggs and 2 baby chooks. Her hens aren't laying so well atm. A large pumpkin swapped for the last two chooks from the farmer up the road, he drove down with a heap of pumpkins on the back of his truck and is looking to swap them for anything he can get.
I going to get the boys to enlarge the run for them to free range a little with the few bigger chooks. Have to slaughter the rest of the big meat chooks tomorrow. So it will be only the rooster and 2 hens with the little ones. They 5 weeks old already!
It's all going to help with reducing the food bill for the little meat chooks (still got 20 or so) as the crumble is running short.
Piglets are growing up nicely, and nearly a good size to slaughter, maybe in another few weeks. Can't wait to try out the new gas smoker sitting in the container. I miss my bacon. We spend the rest of the afternoon doing weeding and planting a few more seeds.
Dinner is Chicken a la king with rice, Chinese broccoli steamed and green salad.
Survival game part 8 ...
Day 48 ...
Harry the rooster, let the world know the suns up at 4.30 am, time to rise and shine. Thanks Harry, boy his got a beak on him, nothing wrong with his crow! We up early anyway, having a mug of milo and maybe just manage to catch another hour of sleep too. It's the normal morning routine, feed and water the chooks, talk to the sheep and give Miss Daisy a scratch behind the ears. Serve breakfast, do the dishes and then have a second cup of coffee. Asked the boys to work on a run for the young meat chooks, they started one using some school fencing, bird wire tied to it and over the top, (for protection from the lace monitors/goannas)and covered it with some shade cloth. I wonder if they have seen the claws of a lace monitor lately, he will just rip it apart if he wanted too. Lucky I haven't seen one for a while.
Today is nothing different to any other day. I find a little time to study the Home Cheesemaking book by Neil and Carole Willman some more, I can kick myself for not having done a cource in cheese making, haven't got half the stuff needed but have to improvise I think. Some fetta would have been nice. The butter and buttermilk still looks the easiest. We have to make butter soon anyway.
Fishing is still a waste of time, the river has gone down but it's running to fast. You won't even get a nibble and might only have caught a cold. lol Maybe this afternoon I spend a little time sorting out the pantry and taking stock. This morning I get George to chop the last of the bigger meat chooks heads off and get them plucked. Except the chosen few kept for breeding purposes, that might be a bad idea but worth a try anyway.
Well there is one bright highlight for the day, it was only a false warning, Eliza is all smiles again. Darn a little girl would have been nice!
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Day 49 ...
The yesterdays stocktaking went rather well, all the shelves have had a wipe over and jars have been filled up with half packets and we still looking alright atm. A huge dent has been made but the veggie patch is starting to produce a little, green beans and Chinese broccoli, sweet potato, still getting some cherry tomatoes. I'll send for some lemons again to make a little syrup/cordial for drinks. Without the extra food everyone brought along we would have been in a sorry state by now ... Every bit helped.
Talking about the veggie patch, those potatoes I planted when we first got here have heaps of purple flowers on them, so not long to go before they die off and the stool dies back, then only can we start digging the potatoes up, a few stools at a time. Next swap meet I take some with. Later today We'll bake a cake for Luke's Birthday tomorrow, (it's mine as well, our wedding anniversary and George's dad died on the same day) so maybe now you'll understand why it never a good day for me. Can anything else happen on that day... not!
The boys need to collect wood again to keep the supplies up, cut and stack, that should keep them out of trouble for the day. Atleast the rain has stopped, but it's humid. We took a walk down to the river after breakfast and the water level is just under the bridge. So tonight the boys can head off to help with the milking, maybe bring extra milk home. I want to bake some buttermilk rusks and we'll be needing a little butter soon.
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Day 50 ...
Daylight comes and it another beautiful morning, a group of kookaburra sit laughing at us while we having breakfast. (Cheeky birds.)That's the one thing about living here, there's birds lots of birds. At night you can hear the Tawny Frogmouth with his deep voice calling. And if it dark enough you can look up and see the whole milky way, it's awesume. We all sing Happy Birthday to Luke, and share a slice of cake with him.
The morning chores are soon done, the Matildas present us with 9 eggs for the day.
The boys continue collecting wood, cut and stack, they must be thinking let's just get this over with so we can go fishing again. Truth be told I would love it if they could catch a few fish for dinner. Tonight we need a nice meal to go with the celebrations, so I marinade a few chicken breasts with masterfoods portugese marinade and cook a pot of spicy rice and make a green salad. Eliza makes a loaf of bread, 4cups of flour with sundried cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs through the mix. It smells so nice. Life is good with our family and good friends to share this day with us.
We even get to open two bottles of wine to go with dinner ...
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Day 51 ...
Today we'll bake some veggiemite scrolls for lunch, it only uses 4 cups of flour to make them, we'll have to watch our usage of flour from nou on. Use the homebrand cake mix packets for making muffins and just add required fruit to them. It works well enough and there is still 8 vanilla and 4 chocolate pkts left. Tanya used to buy heaps at a time cause she loves making cupcakes. While the ovens still warm from the scrolls, a tray of chocolate cupcakes are ready to be baked. I found a tin of caramel to spread over and chocolate chips to add to the mix.
Another task is washing that never seems to end, atleast that is done for the day and hanging on the line. Then there's the weeding,the cooking, washing up ... it never stops does it. Tanya decides it's time to mow the yard a little and it takes her an 1/2hr before she's done. The sheep have done a great job of the first paddock and they just about ready to be moved on to the next. We don't have a ram to service them this year or just have to make do with another breed's ram which I would rather not do. There's 1 weatherer ready to be slaughtered but that's not going to happen before easter cause there really is no space in the freezer with all the chooks. So it's going to be chooks and fish for a few weeks still.
We might start thinking about another kangaroo for more dog and cat food, still enough for another week. The ones we have around here are not very big, so it does't go to far. Only this time we'd just make burgers with some of the meat. Can't say I like the taste to much. Well that's another day survived ...
Harry the rooster, let the world know the suns up at 4.30 am, time to rise and shine. Thanks Harry, boy his got a beak on him, nothing wrong with his crow! We up early anyway, having a mug of milo and maybe just manage to catch another hour of sleep too. It's the normal morning routine, feed and water the chooks, talk to the sheep and give Miss Daisy a scratch behind the ears. Serve breakfast, do the dishes and then have a second cup of coffee. Asked the boys to work on a run for the young meat chooks, they started one using some school fencing, bird wire tied to it and over the top, (for protection from the lace monitors/goannas)and covered it with some shade cloth. I wonder if they have seen the claws of a lace monitor lately, he will just rip it apart if he wanted too. Lucky I haven't seen one for a while.
Today is nothing different to any other day. I find a little time to study the Home Cheesemaking book by Neil and Carole Willman some more, I can kick myself for not having done a cource in cheese making, haven't got half the stuff needed but have to improvise I think. Some fetta would have been nice. The butter and buttermilk still looks the easiest. We have to make butter soon anyway.
Fishing is still a waste of time, the river has gone down but it's running to fast. You won't even get a nibble and might only have caught a cold. lol Maybe this afternoon I spend a little time sorting out the pantry and taking stock. This morning I get George to chop the last of the bigger meat chooks heads off and get them plucked. Except the chosen few kept for breeding purposes, that might be a bad idea but worth a try anyway.
Well there is one bright highlight for the day, it was only a false warning, Eliza is all smiles again. Darn a little girl would have been nice!
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Day 49 ...
The yesterdays stocktaking went rather well, all the shelves have had a wipe over and jars have been filled up with half packets and we still looking alright atm. A huge dent has been made but the veggie patch is starting to produce a little, green beans and Chinese broccoli, sweet potato, still getting some cherry tomatoes. I'll send for some lemons again to make a little syrup/cordial for drinks. Without the extra food everyone brought along we would have been in a sorry state by now ... Every bit helped.
Talking about the veggie patch, those potatoes I planted when we first got here have heaps of purple flowers on them, so not long to go before they die off and the stool dies back, then only can we start digging the potatoes up, a few stools at a time. Next swap meet I take some with. Later today We'll bake a cake for Luke's Birthday tomorrow, (it's mine as well, our wedding anniversary and George's dad died on the same day) so maybe now you'll understand why it never a good day for me. Can anything else happen on that day... not!
The boys need to collect wood again to keep the supplies up, cut and stack, that should keep them out of trouble for the day. Atleast the rain has stopped, but it's humid. We took a walk down to the river after breakfast and the water level is just under the bridge. So tonight the boys can head off to help with the milking, maybe bring extra milk home. I want to bake some buttermilk rusks and we'll be needing a little butter soon.
*************************************
Day 50 ...
Daylight comes and it another beautiful morning, a group of kookaburra sit laughing at us while we having breakfast. (Cheeky birds.)That's the one thing about living here, there's birds lots of birds. At night you can hear the Tawny Frogmouth with his deep voice calling. And if it dark enough you can look up and see the whole milky way, it's awesume. We all sing Happy Birthday to Luke, and share a slice of cake with him.
The morning chores are soon done, the Matildas present us with 9 eggs for the day.
The boys continue collecting wood, cut and stack, they must be thinking let's just get this over with so we can go fishing again. Truth be told I would love it if they could catch a few fish for dinner. Tonight we need a nice meal to go with the celebrations, so I marinade a few chicken breasts with masterfoods portugese marinade and cook a pot of spicy rice and make a green salad. Eliza makes a loaf of bread, 4cups of flour with sundried cherry tomatoes and fresh herbs through the mix. It smells so nice. Life is good with our family and good friends to share this day with us.
We even get to open two bottles of wine to go with dinner ...
********************************
Day 51 ...
Today we'll bake some veggiemite scrolls for lunch, it only uses 4 cups of flour to make them, we'll have to watch our usage of flour from nou on. Use the homebrand cake mix packets for making muffins and just add required fruit to them. It works well enough and there is still 8 vanilla and 4 chocolate pkts left. Tanya used to buy heaps at a time cause she loves making cupcakes. While the ovens still warm from the scrolls, a tray of chocolate cupcakes are ready to be baked. I found a tin of caramel to spread over and chocolate chips to add to the mix.
Another task is washing that never seems to end, atleast that is done for the day and hanging on the line. Then there's the weeding,the cooking, washing up ... it never stops does it. Tanya decides it's time to mow the yard a little and it takes her an 1/2hr before she's done. The sheep have done a great job of the first paddock and they just about ready to be moved on to the next. We don't have a ram to service them this year or just have to make do with another breed's ram which I would rather not do. There's 1 weatherer ready to be slaughtered but that's not going to happen before easter cause there really is no space in the freezer with all the chooks. So it's going to be chooks and fish for a few weeks still.
We might start thinking about another kangaroo for more dog and cat food, still enough for another week. The ones we have around here are not very big, so it does't go to far. Only this time we'd just make burgers with some of the meat. Can't say I like the taste to much. Well that's another day survived ...
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