Babies on the Farm

Berkshire piglets born just over two weeks ago, this was taken when they were less than one day old. Below they are feeding off their mum who is a first timer and so very placid.

A Wessex Saddleback sow that we bought just before Christmas who was in pig to a large white boar. She had her 13 babies a couple of days ago. This was taken today.

The electric wires that separate the pigs doesn't keep the piglets apart, earlier today we found all the white ones snuggled up with a few black ones!

The pigs are in the paddock but have separate access to the shed for feeding, water and shelter. Here is the daddy boar on the left and mummy is feeding some of the Berkshire piglets. Mr Busy is enjoying being with them. Mummy pig is so placid the kids can pick up mega squealing piglets and she isn't bothered, she grew up with us since she was a baby and I think this counts towards her easy going nature with us.

Daddy pig is up close for a look! Miss 8 yr old took this photo, great one!

Another daddy, this time Jerry the goat. He is lots of fun, doesn't hop onto cars but don't leave the door open because he does like to hop inside them! He is very nosey and Mr Busy has to continually chase him away when he is working in or near the workshop because Jerry being nosey usually involves his mouth!

All of the children ride him, no equipment necessary except a long branch with leaves if you want to direct him about. LOL Mr 11 yr old often 'hitches' a ride to the pig/chook yards or back to the house!

Jerry is a Melan breed of milking goat and he has a twin brother the other side of town called Tom.

Here is 'mini me jerry', born early Dec; this little fulla has such a beautiful nature.

Here is his twin sister who looks just like their mum, who is a British Alpine milking goat. A real shame is that this little one has a very flighty nature.

Also not in the photos are baby ducks, some born Christmas day and some born in the last few days. 

Mr 11 yr old had baby rabbits born just before Christmas, he has four still here out of nine (sold the others).

You can usually find baby calves, lambs and chickens here most days as well.

As you can see from the photos it has dried off a lot here in the past few weeks, prior to that we were having unusually mild days with some lovely rain (not heaps but rain that we don't normally get this time of year). So the feed in the paddock is drying off but it varies from being waist to shoulder height on me. LOL makes it not so easy to find things such as piglets and calves when you are doing a head count!

I will show you my DitG blocks in the next few days.

Golly Gosh!

I can't believe it has been more than two months since I last posted! Guess I have a lot to update you on!

Last month I spent four days with Aunty in QLD, it was busy busy as our time was cut short due to dh having to take his mother to a solider reunion for the company that his dad was in, and also due to a change of exam date for my studies (got a distinction for the exam). The kids loved the beach and had a fantastic time. They bought prawns straight off the boat, walked a waterfall hike and visited an aquaponics place. The girls went wedding dress shopping with me for aunty, no she hasn't decided which dress yet but she did say that we helped.

We weren't home long from QLD (our first trip away in twelve months from the farm, aside from day trips) when had a trip through Sydney to dh's mothers surprise 80th. Coming home we had car trouble which ended up being costly and time consuming to fix, and the car drives better now than it has done in years.

I have spent a lot of time in bed the past three months but with some changes (from the naturopath) I am up and about. We have a baby due in April that we are all very excited about! Due to being so sick I wanted to have my scan and make sure everything was alright before letting too many people know; everything is fine. After Christmas I will start shopping the op shops for baby things as most of my stuff has either worn out or been passed on/lent out.  

With the new baby coming I ummed and ahhed over the quilting baby books, didn't need them but I ended up purchasing Anna Maria Horner's 'New Beginings'. I LOVE this book! It has so much more in it than I expected. Maternity and breastfeeding clothes for mum; clothes, toys and quilts for baby; toys and bags for dads and siblings etc.

I got my new camera last week, after not having one for a number of months. It's not up and running yet but will be soon. I have lots to show.

Just before going to QLD the older two children went to leather work and MrZ made leather thongs and JessieGirl made leather sandals. They are fantastic and the kids are so proud of their achievement. Miss Busy went to leather work last weekend by herself to make a belt and she ended up making her own sandals too! Her sandals are more suited to her tastes, one sandal has red straps and the other has blue!

During the winter we bought a second hand industrial sewing machine from the leather work teacher; dh has used it to repair his bee gloves and I have visions of HIM (not me) making some good canvas tarps for the farm with it! A very handy addition to have!

I have been busy sewing (in fits and starts) on my machine. I have completed five quilt tops ready to be quilted, my Friends in Stitching secret santa present, a few smaller things for Christmas gifts and a number of things for the children (dolls, bags etc). I am STILL stitching Butterfly Garden, only have 2 blocks left to stitch and then about five to machine applique. I started this quilt January 2008!

Our milking goat had twins last weekend, a girl who looks like mum and a boy who looks like dad! I will have photos of these soon, they are so gorgeous! We also have two Wessex Saddleback pigs, and Peking duck eggs in the incubator. Two weeks ago, in all the rain we had, one of the four milking cows calved and lost her calf to the weather before I got her in. It's nice to have fresh milk again but not so good to lose the calf. I am hoping to get a poddy to foster onto her soon.

Bec xxx

Menagerie

A little of our home/farm life.

A rabbit that appears in our household from time to time! This picture shows the rabbit at line dancing classes! A few weeks back the rabbit ran into Landmark (rural supplies store) and gave lunch to one of our friends working there, this was at 8am in the morning and the staff couldn't stop laughing, it really made their day to have the bunny visit!

My son, Mr Z, breeds rabbits for pets and to eat; but we won't be eating this one!

These are geese that potter about, usually making loud noises when they see me on the telephone! Theylay lovely BIG eggs around Oct-Nov, one egg fills the fry pan!

Our two ducks, Henry and Jemima. We also have some younger ones about 2 months old, they grow really quickly adn the younger ones are almost identical to the older ones now! These are Peking ducks and we are breeding these to produce eggs and meat - I love duck in plum sauce! We also have a number of chooks too.

 

 The pigs have names like Pork Chop, Nibbles, Roast, Bacon and Crackling.

We have kept two sows and a boar to breed from; can't wait till we have piglets again they are lots of fun!

Miss Busy is gluten and dairy intolerant, to the point that it has had a terrible effect on her health. She is 8 yrs old but is the size of 4-5 yr old. Over the years we have visited many Dr's and had many tests done, showing up nothing. Late last year we visited a nautropath who picked up a multitude of problems with Miss Busy. The first thing was to cut dairy and gluten from her diet and supplement her with priobiotics and enzymes to aid her digestion. Six weeks later ALL of her problems cleared up, everything was caused by her body trying to cope with the gluten and dairy. Miss Busy is growing at a fast rate now, isn't lethargic, sleeps less, has a more cheerful/happier disposition, is having less memory problems and generally looks allot healthier.

She was drinking rice milk but when I found out she could have goats milk we bought a pair of milking goats. We have milked house cows here for about 8 years so adding a goat wasn't that big a deal, it made sense. I never thought I would have goats or milk them but they are fantastic pets, rather like dogs in temperament. Milking them is quicker and easier than milking a cow, currently in their low milk production time we are getting approx 1.7L a day, in two milkings from one goat (the other one hasn't had a kid yet). They don't consume alot and if you make sure they have copper sulfate in their diet your trees should be safe from being ring barked.

Dolly is on the left and Katy is on the right.

Around the time we bought the milking goats we also bought two new house cows, Jersey's this time; we already have two Friesans. This is one of the calves, gorgeous!

This is Doris, one of the Jersey cows. While they had alot of milk we had to milk daily with the calves on them 24/7, but now that the calves are a few months old we have to separate the cows from the calves  overnight or during the day to be able to milk anything. Between the thre cows we are currently milking we are getting approx 20L a milking.

A few months back I did a cheesemaking course and loved it!

The Cheesemaking Workshop

At the course I learnt how to make; greek yoghurt, fetta, camembert, ricotta, marscapone, quarg (cream cheese), blue vein, havarti, haloumi and cheddar.

This is some of the yoghurt that I have made withJersey milk that wasn't separated, you can see the rich creamy layer on top, yum yum! We add honey to sweeten it a little and often add stewed berries. I also make yoghurt from the goats milk.

Our 10kwh grid connect solar system that is on our shed.

That isn't all of our menagerie, by a long shot, but a little glimpse of what keeps us company (and busy) here.

(don't ask about the garden)