A Bit of Everything

There's been a fair bit going on around here lately.

The lucerne with its cover crop of barley is busily pushing its way through, reaching skyward.

Busy, busy little legumes.
I'm working two days a week at school this term, filling in for one of our beloved teacher aides who is embarking on a round-Europe tour. Poor her.
 

We've just recovered from last Friday evening's CQ Carcase Comp (the very one at which we were victorious last year), of which we are organisers.

After a P & C meeting today, we are now full steam ahead planning for a bush dance/markets/Xmas in August (?)/ in a couple of short weeks.

The kids at school seem to think that now I'm there as teacher-aide it's open slather on sleep-overs at our house.  I sent last evening's little visitor to school this morning with a nasty gash under her eye.  I doubt she'll be back.

We head to town this weekend with heifers for a stud sale Monday. 

Thankfully the live export has re-opened and some confidence is returning to our industry.

We have two pigs and a heifer hanging in our cold room, and I'm about to start making snags.

A power outage today caused increased blood pressure.

Two dead pigs and a dead heifer hanging in a confined area require cold air, and thus electricity.

The power's on now.

All is well.

Vege Garden Update

It's been a case of slim pickings lately, with the garden more focused on growing rather than full blown production at the moment.

The potatoes are doing well, though my mulching method seems to be thwarted at every turn with either escaping piglets or chooks doing their best to spread my well-hilled piles to every corner of the garden.

The celery seems to be more leaf than stalk, but even though the stalks are relatively slim, they do have a beautiful flavour, so much nicer than that almost white stringy stuff bought from Woolies.

These broccoli are some that escaped the cabbage moth attack earlier in the season.  I've learnt that members of the cabbage family must be planted later so as to avoid such disaster.

These Chinese Cabbage or Womboks have only been in a couple of weeks and are growing like weeds!

The parsley's in abundance.

Who says parsley's so seventies?

The shallots are old, but still good.  I sneak one into my lunchtime salad most days.

The white flowers are seeding rocket, intentionally left as part of my plan for the garden to self-seed, thus leaving me more time for other productive measures, like photographing butterflies.

The silver beet is also from much earlier in the year and is still going strong.  It's part of the great cycle of life.

I pick it, cook it, put it on the kids' plates, then scrape it into the scrap bucket and it comes back to the chooks, where in a few short months I'll plant some more.  Recycling at its best.

These mango trees are springing up all over the place.

Having thrown old mangoes in to the chooks last year, there now must be at least ten that have grown.
I will pot them one day.

I planted this row of nasturtiums along the border of the vege garden area.  They supposedly act as a deterrent to many insects.  I just enjoy the childhood memories they evoke, picking nasturtium flowers at my grandmother's house, and sucking the sweet honey nectar from them.

The garlic was planted at the same time as the potatoes, I understand it will be quite some time until harvest.

We're going through a little phase whereby we make Diane Sauce everytime we eat steak.  Home grown garlic should go down a treat.

And these are just a couple of the girls who make it all happen.

They spend their days scratching at hay and scraps, turning ground into gardens and producing golden-yolked eggs.

Back to work Bertha.  You haven't clocked off yet.

What's Been Happening?

School Holidays... as I'm sure I've mentioned before, are my favourite time of the year.  And sadly coming to an end, with only today remaining to ready ourselves for another term.

Making us all feel a little melancholy.

So what have we been up to?

Along with

a little pig weaning and some

bovine weaning, there's been a trip to town for more school shoes (thankfully we've made it through half a year without the need for more lunch boxes, socks or backpacks), annual hair-trims,

another ear-piercing (one that didn't work last time), sleep-overs with Nanny;

Injun attacks,

and cowboy stand-offs

or run-offs;

slides;

pig butchering observation;

involving up, close and personal assistance;

more cowboy posing;

mustering;

both horse-back;

and bike-back;

quality sister-bonding time;

dog-training;

drafting (with everybody vying for top spot in the crows-nest);

big sister winning the day,

spying in the distance a brother...

who'd discovered a helmet in the back of the shed.

And is now planning a great go-kart construction. 

Shame the holidays have come to an end.