This is the life.

With Christmas is only 3 sleeps away things are rather relaxed around here. I finished making some skirts that are presents for others. Oh and I got some housework done. I do need to wrap some presents now though.

We had two extras today as my friend was out on a wedding shoot. It was great as the older of the two is a year older than MrT and they get along so well. They spent much of their day outside or playing Lego. It was lovely to see.

We said good-bye and thank you to Mr Muscovy Duck and will be preparing him for Christmas lunch. Once again YouTube was a great help. A week earlier and he wouldn’t have had any big tough feathers. Still, we both found the job easier than with a chicken. Looking forward to seeing how it cooks up. Now to find a recipe…mmm… a cherry sauce or Duck a L'orange?

Tomorrow I will be making a Christmas cake. The last one I made was in Year 10 so we’ll see how it goes. I had wanted to make a pudding but reading the recipe was doing my head in, so I’ll try the cake. I’ll make some custard to pour over the top so no matter what it’ll be ok.

Both sets of parents have said in their Christmas letters that we are living the dream/our dream here in Tassie. Today has been one of those (sigh) wonderful dreamy days.

Our two English Game miniature chicks with their mum.

Hello, remember me?

Hello, remember me? I know, long time no blogging hey.

Tell me, how do you go about life not worring about the things that life throws up at you?

I am one who over thinks things and that is frustrating. Poor Aj cops random statements or questions of things that I have been thinking about for a while. I think I need to let go off the small picture sometimes and look at the big picture. It is finding the balance though. The small things still get taken care off but I don’t spend so much time dwelling on them.

I think to I need to stop being a stress-head, let things slide, and decide to think about them at a later date.

Through all of this though Christmas is not stressful. We are blessed to be spending it with our neighbours and I am excitied about it. I need to get the girls tv cabinet/kitchen finished but taking the ‘all in good time’ option.   

I having been enjoying my creative time of late. Sewing dresses, shorts (MrW’s shorts ended up being too long but were prefect pants), softies and Christmas crafts.

We have had a brilliant weekend. Stanley Show on Saturday, and house/yard work yesterday. Lawns mown, front fence finished, chicken coops cleaned. We ended the weekend with friends over for dinner.

I trust that I have encouraged you with my honesty and please I’d love to hear your words of wisdom too J

What a day.

It’s been a while since I have spoken with you all via a blog.

A huge day today. Said goodbye to our visitors this morning. MrT off to school. MrGu (little boy I babysit) and seafood collected. 450kg of seafood delivered to Burnie. 2 gates, 1 mini kids tramp and a towel rail collected and all done with 4 kids in toe. Yep, ready for bed now...but feel like sewing :)

So as I am tired and no, the sewing won’t be happening (Although the material is on the table) I thought I would share some photos with you.

The final pictures are of the Guinea Fowl. They are now outside. Funny things. Man, they can fly! The planter is about 5.5foot off the ground! 

Enjoy your Thrusday, Friday. 

Nite all xox

The loss of a pet

We lost our pet rabbit Maddie yesterday.

We were given him by friends when they moved to Victoria. He was a true Tassie rabbit. Would sit out in the rain, wind and cold, only going in at night to sleep and eat. He was always ‘Jake’s rabbit’ to the kids but they loved him heaps.

Here he is posing with a doll I made

Death is a natural part of life and we have not sheltered our kids from seeing it. Chooks die, they get sick, hit by a car…and roosters go in the freezer. The steers will die too one day. We wanted the kids to see a difference between the ‘oh well that's life’ or food, and a pet. They really weren’t too fussed; in fact Mr T was thinking about dinner and asked so too. I was a little upset. I guess it was because he was getting used to us and was allowing me to pat him and wasn’t running away when we came over. We buried him in the garden and said a prayer thanking God for the joy that he brought us.

I'm babysitting tomorrow and should be having a half dozen Aracana chicks arriving. They lay pretty green coloured eggs, well they will at about 20wks old. I am excitied!!!

I trust you are having a good week and staying positive :) 

Sexing Chickens

This blog is dedicated to one of Aj's fellow teachers (also a chook owner).

As you may know, about a month ago we had a hen disappear. We found her about 10 days later sitting on 13 eggs out in the paddock. On Tuesday we had 8 chicks to put under a heat lamp (we wanted them to sell and so didn't leave them with her).

There are a few ways to tell the different sexes of chickens. But today we have tested our 3-day-old chicks with the wing feather and hold test. Aj YouTubed a few videos after chatting with a mate. This one was a great help although it doesn't show both male and female for comparisons. This picture will help.

Pullets' feathers have 2 distinct lengths, cockerels' are all the same length.

Working hard on our fluffballs.

Hold test: females point their feet

Hold test: males tuck feet up

Our hold test

We will find out soon enough if we are correct. We were going to sell them as chicks but we'll keep them and sell them as POL (at Point Of Lay).

Being the person you want to see in others

Take some chocolate, 

yep another heavy one J

I have been thinking a lot about how we are as individuals and how we are as a community of people. It started with me offering and paying for a lady’s punnet of strawberries at the supermarket the other day. She was shocked that I would do something like that for someone I didn’t know. “Are you an angel or something?” was her response. When was the last time you went above and beyond for someone? Paid for someone’s coffee order at a café, their petrol, their strawberries?

With the likes of social media like FB we are now able to stay in the comforts of our own homes, socialise from a distance and be safe. But the only person suffering there is the person behind the computer. God made us to interact with people. We all like being blessed and having nice words spoken about us but find it OK to sit at home behind a computer, complain about how hard life is and bag out others. I see so many FB status updates that allude to people upset at being treated unfairly. Go to the person, email them if you have to, but don’t drag them down publicly. Be the person you want others to be to you. Uplift, bless, think before acting.

I have been getting upset of late at the lack of communication there seems to be within my local community both on the big and small scale. I don’t know if I can change this but I can make a difference to those around me by being the person I want others to be.

It is so easy to be down, curl up in a heap and sing Shannon Noll’s What about me? I know, because I do it. I, we, need to step out our own little pity parties and step out of our boxes and think about others more. And I am not talking about the stuff that people see and will recognise you for, I’m talking about the behind-the-scenes stuff, the stuff you don’t get recognised for. It may seem much less comfortable and you may lose some of those people you thought were friends but you’ll be a better person, and friend for it.

We watched the movie Contagion the other day. Love the following line from the movie. I have to kind of agree as I do find my blogging is just scribbled notes for you all to read J

Our 3 new Indian Runner ducklings

Blogging is not writing. It is graffiti with punctuation. – Contagion

My challenge for you:

Go and bless someone this week.

Change the way you think and talk.

You can do it! I believe in you.

Have a great week all.

Organic foods

What is organic?

I think in this day and age the term organic is being used as a fashionable term rather than true representation of the product. Afteral all food is organic, it's a living thing. I am seeing it more and more that products are being labeled with the organic label. When it comes down to it organic is just eating naturally grown food.

The term organic farming was coined by Oxford University agriculturalist Lord Northbourne, in his book Look to the Land, and published in wartime England in 1940. It was a response to what he dubbed chemical farming, and from the outset he presented these as two mutually incompatible, and contesting, agricultural methodologies. (found here)

 *When you buy organic food, you support farming which is sustainable. Because no hazardous chemicals are used.

*Organic foods should be free of pesticide (or other synthetic chemical) residues. Naturally grown.

*There seem to be real differences in minor nutrients with organic fruit and vegetables being better. *Although this is obviously very important, hardly anyone has done any serious work on just how much more nutritious organic food might be.

*Organic produce does not contain genetically modified organisms.

*Many people claim that organic food tastes better. How many people do you hear say, ‘oh yum, home grown vegies!’

This cartoon may be funny, but it is so very true. 

The chickens we buy from the major supermarkets are only a few weeks old, still chicks. It takes about five months for a home grown, non-hormone fed chickens to be ready for eating.

How you ever wondered why there are so many food allergies now days...in this day of mass produced, quickly grown, green house foods. I wonder if kids that are say allergic to tomatoes are allergic to the fruit or the chemicals that help it grow and would they be allergic to home grown, sun ripened products too? 

You might be one (like I was) that sees organic food products as much more expensive. It can at times be like that (fashion equals more expensive) but it doesn't have to be. Shop around, buy in bulk, buy with friends and share.