Winter is almost over

I have the pigs out in the paddock free ranging today. We currently have a visiting boar here (Romeo), to keep Juliet company. She took about a week to get used to him but now they a star crossed lovers. They are out digging up the paddock which is going to be ploughed up for potatoes soon.

Our house cow Daisy is in the backyard eating the grass which is so long now. I cant mow it because it has been too wet.

There are a few small signs of Spring emerging though. Some daffodils are popping up. There are baby lambs in paddocks, although ours will not be born for another couple of months.

Soon I need to start working on the gardens. The fruit trees all need pruning and the vegi garden needs getting read for planting. Soon I am going to be very busy.

We currently have a steer in a big freezer outside waiting for the butcher to come on Friday. That will be a years worth of organic and humanely farmed beef for us. The animal was killed last week on our farm while it was eating some hay. It died in the paddocks it was born and raised on. I am happy to have meat from an animal which I know suffered in no way.

Since I have been on a vegetarian diet I have found it a lot easier than I expected. Although I wont give up meat in the long term. There is too much great food I would hate to give up. I am going to be very fussy about what meat I eat from now on though. I am no longer going to eat any meat which hasn't been farmed locally, which means I will no longer buy any meat products from supermarkets and I will ask questions about meat in restaurants. Take away meat products and processed meat products I will no longer indulge in.

My goal is to produce all our meat products here on our farm, a goal I am not too far away from.

 I am a little more than half way through my vegetarian diet experiment. I cant say I feel any better or any worse from giving up meat. I haven't lost any weight or put on any weight. I probably have eaten more since giving up meat. I feel fine but really no different. I haven't had any cravings except for anchovies but I have been a little disappointed I have been missing out on all the fresh fish Scott and Dustin have been catching in our new boat. Really though, I cant say I miss it very much and it has been easy for me. I suppose I didn't eat that much meat anyway.

Dustin is back eating meat again. He decided when I tried to feed him tofu that being a vegetarian wasn't for him :)

So far so good

Day one of my month of being a vegetarian was easy. Nothing to tempt me except fresh fish that Scott and Dustin brought home from yesterdays fishing. I didn't mind because I had three lovely ripe avocados so I made an avocado bruchsetta while everyone else had fresh fish and chips.

Tonight I think I will make a vegetarian gnocchi for everyone. I think I will have to give up butter as well. This morning we had toasted crumpets with butter and honey, so good but the butter has to go, at least from my diet anyway.


There are a few signs of Spring popping up lately. This morning I spied the first daffodils out along the driveway and the flowers are coming up in the old cream pots.


In a few weeks all these lovely green paddocks will be ploughed up for potatoes and we will see the whole process of ploughing, planting, fertilizing, harvesting and resowing all over again.


One of Dustin's chores is to collect the mail. Sometimes Ruby goes with him. It has only been recently that I would let them go up to the mail box by themselves. The dogs go with them. It isn't very far but we get logging trucks on the road up there so they have to stay away from the road. The road is windy so at least the vehicles are going slow and the kids a pretty sensible.


I received some new fabric in the mail. I LOVE it. I am making place mats out of this for our dining room table and I have decided to buy more and recover the dining room chars and make some cushions for the couches out of it. I love it!!


I love the idea of covering my chairs with little chairs :)



Tomorrow I will post some photos of my place mats. I had a little trouble with them but I have sorted it out now. I blamed my poor sewing machine but alas, twas not the machine, twas me!

I love Mondays

Mondays we rest a little. Our weekends are usually pretty busy, either working around the farm or on the house or out adventuring around Tasmania.  Even Scott gets to rest a little today as it is a public holiday. He has gone to work but should be home around lunch time... which is soon!

Usually I encourage laziness on Mondays. I let the kids watch TV and lay around. Their weeks are busy but Monday is quiet time. I don't give them chores. I don't cook a lot. I try and take some time to just read a book or listen to some music. Mondays are for staying in your pyjamas until late and laying on the couch... Hey Bridge!

I finished the owl tea towel over the weekend. I like how it turned out as an embroidery pattern. There are a few mistakes and bits that need changing but as a tea towel it turned out OK.

Dustin liked the owl embroidery and asked for one to hang on his wall so I have already finished his and it looks good.

I haven't got an actual finished photo of it yet but it should be hanging on Dustin's newly painted wall in a day or two if I get my act together and finish his clouds.

My cows

Sunday on the farm

We stayed home yesterday and did some work around the farm.


That is Juliet's new house. It is all finished so we didn't have to do anything to that. I might paint it with wood stain one day but for now it is done.


I moved the sheep into the chook yard to eat the grass. No one lives in there at the moment as we only have Sylvester until Spring when I am going to hatch a new flock of chooks.


Sylvester is a pure bred Sylkie rooster. I am going to get him some hens in Spring. For now he is an only chook so he is going to be living in the orchard next to the house so the kids can feed him through the fence. He's a bit aggressive and chases Ruby so I am hoping if she spends enough time out there feeding him he'll start to like her and not be so mean.


Problem was he jumped up onto his house, then onto the fence and then went home to the chook house as it was getting dark. I expected he would do that but he isn't very bright so I was hoping he'd just go to bed in the little house. Today I'll have to clip his wing so he cant jump up onto his house (it doesn't hurt).


Having your testicles removed does though and unfortunately two little bulls had to have the 'operation' yesterday.


Jimmy has a new coat! Isn't he handsome?


Scott worked on our new entrance.



We had a happy day :)

A new house for Juliet

Last weekend Juliet finally got her new house built! it is great. Jesse came over to help build it with Scott and Dustin.


About halfway through the construction Scott came inside to have a look at the plans I drew up and scratched his head and confessed he stuffed up and built it facing the wrong direction.


Still, I love it. It looks great!


I think they enjoyed buliding it too. Lisa and all her boys came around as well and hung out with me and helped with lunch and stocking up wood for the fire. Mostly we just hung out and played with all the kids.


So far I haven't taken a photo of the house all finished. I'll do that today but here is Max!