The animals are in control

It seems that right now the animals are in charge here. The ewes are checked periodically during the night to make sure there is no trouble because trouble does often happen at night for some reason. Thankfully though there has been no sign of trouble. During the day there are the usual chores plus Grace and Hope are on lamb playing duty. It is not surprising that they can not bear to eat our home produced lamb meat when they become attached to them when they are tiny.

Sometimes the sheep just want to have a chat over lunch.

Even Puss has taken over the kitchen. She isn't allowed in the sink but she doesn't care.

Tracy

Tomato

Our first tomato for this season. I am behind with tomatoes this year after the hail storm last month destroying 29 tomato seedlings. I thought it was 30 but one lone Brandywine survived. I have planted out some more tomatoes so I am optimistic for some more home grown goodness soon. Until then, I will support the local organic growers who were spared in the storms.

The first tomato from the garden actually came from Hope's little garden bed. It weighed in at a huge 16 grams which didn't go very far with Tim and I sharing. It might have been tiny but it was delicious.

The weather is still playing tricks here. It has been unseasonally cool and very wet. Gardening and farming are both endeavours which are at the mercy of the weather and a positive attitude is your best friend.

Tonight I am hoping I have enough energy left over after a day in town to do some Christmas crafting. I love this time of year and the flurry to make some special little things for those I hold most dear.

Tracy

Party time again

This time we celebrated Hope's birthday with her school friends. Her actual birthday is on December 25 so not a good day for a party with friends but as school finished up on Thursday we had a small party in town. A couple of hours playing and then a pizza picnic in the park with ice cream cake for dessert. Hope had a great time with her friends and Tim and I had a quiet afternoon tea together while they played.

After the guests went home I took the opportunity to snap a picture of Tom, Grace and Hope in front of the agapanthus at the park. It is such a lovely park which is really underutilised and never busy.

No more new lambs as yet but the little ones that are already here are starting to find their feet and will soon be too quick to catch. The little one in the picture above has one thing on her mind and while mum was resting decided to make the most of the opportunity...

for an easy drink.

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

SSCS

A big thank you to Rose Marie for the SSCS swap parcel which arrived to today. My ornament is lovely hand painted moose and is now hanging proudly on my silver table tree. Rose Marie has a great blog, Applique and Patches with some great sewing inspiration.

Chookyblue has to be thanked too. I can only imagine the effort involved in organising such a large swap.

The main gift is wrapped securely but is tempting me every time I look at it. I think I will have to get Tim to hide it from me just to be sure I don't peek before the 25th.

Still no lambs. But is a cool, wet night so just the weather it seems from past experience for ewes to 'choose' to give birth.

Watching and waiting

Right now we are playing a game of patience. Watching and waiting for the ewes to start lambing. Our usual lambing time is in the spring but it was necessary this year to delay joining. Some people say that this can cause a problem with fertility and lambing rates but all the ewes appear to be almost ready to give birth. The lambing rates remain to be seen though but I am hopeful for at least a few multiple births.
If heavily pregnant waddling is anything to go by, the ewes are more eager than us to have these lambs on the ground.

Here is father turkey. Not visible are the nine eggs he is incubating.

I think his broodiness has something to do with the fact that the last lot of turkey babies are only a couple of months old and mother is still busy mothering them and not ready or available to sit again. It shouldn't be too long for this next batch of eggs to hatch and so far I can say that our father turkey has made a fantastic incubator but I'm not sure how he will go when the hatching starts.

Tracy

Catching my breath

Home again after a trip of almost 1800km in a couple of days. We arrived home Saturday afternoon and I have now caught up on things around the farm including moving ewes ready for lambing and now it is time to catch my breath. Though I still haven't had much of a chance to get out into the yard and garden to do too much. Although the trip was long and tiring, it was good to see some other parts of the state. We left behind wet, windy weather and our very green valley and headed south west. Our region doesn't grow the same broad acre crops so it was interesting to see the gorgeous colour of the crops almost ready to be headed.

Tim did the bulk of the driving and I got to be navigator and crocheter for the trip. I worked on some gifts for Grace and Hope because they stayed behind and it is all very top secret.

We must look like the most unlikely characters when travelling. No cafes or fast foods stops, just the old air pot which works like a charm and my favourite retro picnic basket. There are so many pretty road side rest areas around.

The boys also like to do a bit of exploring and treasure hunting during our breaks.

The late lambing ewes are fit to burst right now and there should be a few babies to blog about soon. Our male turkey has even decided to get in on the act and is sitting on eggs. I thought he was feeling unwell but he seems fine just doing his bit for gender equality.

Tracy