Whatever the weather

 Well, well. We are back to spring again after a brief bit of winter last week. Today would have to hvae been just about perfect wetherwise. The sun was shining but it wasn't too hot and I spent most of the day outdoors. There was a bit of damage to a few potato leaves from last weeks frosts but not so bad that they won't recover. Thankfully.The sunny weather doesn't make for the best photography though, the colours area little washed out.

Immi, Karmen and Liz.

I love my little black lambs. They don't stay black for long so I enjoy it while it lasts. Soon enough they will have white bodies and only black faces and legs. Still cute and very much the quintessential storybook sheep. Most of our lambs have names and the three above are named for three of Tom's friends from university (at their request). They may stay on the farm for breeding or sold to another Suffolk sheep breeder. Prices start around the $300 mark so they aren't cheap  but Suffolks are a great breed to keep and care for and they are from registered pure bred sheep. Then again, some rams can fetch prices in the thousands.

I moved my wrought iron garden setting into the vegie garden today. There was a perfect spot for it by the lavender and I'm hoping to have a few tea breaks and a lunch/ dinner or two down there this spring/ summer. Besides that it will give me a nice place to have a rest while I work outside. With todays warm weather I planted kidney and borlotti beans, turmeric, squash and a couple of watermelon (moon and stars). Also a couple of bromeliad plants from my Mum and a couple of lilac plants from my Nan's garden. I also took some of the lilac blooms from her tree (they are on the table above). I had a great day, I hope yours was good too.
tracy

Blustery weather

 We have had a sudden turn around in our weather.It seems to be fairly widesdpread with snow close by, a frost here this morning and wet, windy and cold weather for the past two days. Not really unusual for this time of year but my outdoor thermometer is telling me that there has been a difference in over twenty degrees C in the maximum and minimum temperatures in the past couple of days. I think that's what has the most effect. You get used to be warm and then all of a sudden it is cold again. Thankfully I hesitated in planting out some tomato seedlings (though I did plant out a couple of rosells) on Wednesday because it was too hot. I'm sure they would be fine in the cold and wet but perhaps not the frost that we had this morning.

And in what seems to be the way of things, a ewe had to be assisted with delivering twin lambs yesterday in the rain. They are big lambs and both had their left front feet facing backwards. Just a little bit of a helping hand and they were both on the ground and up and about in no time. Sometimes it is very hands-on and not for the faint hearted.

Puss gets to live the life though. We have had the fire on all day and she has hardly moved. Being a cat, I'm sure she thinks it is just for her benefit.

Tonight I am going to get a bit of sewing done. It is just the weather for it.
Tracy

Half Way

 We are half way through lambing. That is, half of the ewes have had their lambs. The ewes were with the rams for about 6 weeks so theoretically, there could be a six week lag between first and last lamb. It isn't usually how it works for us and I hope it isn't the case this year either because it really is better to have them all at a similar stage at the same time. It just makes stock movement and care more simple and less stressful. The rest of the ewes look close to lambing so fingers are crossed.

I couldn't resist a lavender and bee picture. They are just working so perfectly together right now.

I have noticed I haven't been posting much in the way of cooking lately. That is most likely because dinners have been quite simple affairs because of the busyness. Something that can be made in the crockpot or prepared earlier in the day and just assembled easily at dinner time. Baking (apart from the high tea) has been just old faithful recipes which never fail. No time for testing and tweaking this week.

The last few nights I have really been so tired at bedtime. I like the feeling of being tired from working doing things I love to do. The income is terrible but the rewards are amazing.

Tracy

Whilst offline

Karmen

 There has been plenty to do while the computer has been out of action. Lambs are being born including a set of triplets. So that is enough to keep me busy even if it is just time spent watching their antics.

Bee on sage flowers

 The bees are in a flurry of both nectar and pollen gathering. Nectar from the sage is just becoming popular as the lemon-scented geraniums flowers start to wain.

Tim weeding

 The vegetable garden is the place to be. The summertime weed onslaught isn't here yet so the work is pleasant, the weather is good and there are plenty of good things to snack on along the way.



High Tea for Habitat

 

Last week I also had my High Tea for Habitat.Plenty of goodies were made and shared in the name of a good cause. Besides that I love any opportunity to use my old china that I have collected and to try new recipes. I would have liked to have our tea party outdoors but the wind was too gusty. So it was tea iside then ooutside for a garden and farm tour.

Charlotte picking snowpeas

 

So therer in a nutshell is what I have been up to. Of course there was the usual mundane things of every day life. These are just the highlights here.

 

Tracy

On My Mind... Lambs

Rhonda who hosts On My Mind each Friday has some sad news on her mind today. The sudden and unexpected loss of a hen sitting on eggs and a tiny chick too. I'm often hesitant to write here on my blog about eggs which are being incubated until they are hatched and all is well. A farm, whether it is rural or backyard is fraught with opportunites to see new life and sadly see life slip away first hand. It is happier news here on my mind. We have lambs. Only three so far but there have been no complications or difficult deliveries. A set of female twins and one ram lamb.

Black lambs are just one of the reasons why Suffolks are my breed of choice.

Tracy

I will re-introduce myself

Welcome,my name is Tracy and I live in rural New South Wales, Australia. I am about 50km from the nearest large town and have a small farm where we breed suffolk sheep. We also have Indian runner ducks, turkeys, Pekin bantams, sebrights and some laying hens as well.

Lambing season has just finished for us but the antics of the young lambs just enjoying life are still fun to watch.

This year was the first since we have breeding sheep that we had a lamb taken by a fox. We house our young lambs overnight in a shed but on their first night out, one was taken. Needless to say, they were back in the shed for a while lonhger after that.

Hopefully readers of my blog that was deleted will find their way here and there will be some new friends made too.

I will show you some more residents of Sunny Corner Farm next time.

Tracy