A local contractor had the unfortunate problem of his truck rolling away whilst he was in the sample hut waiting to for the results. It apparently started slow…then built up speed as it hit the slope and went through the fence, stopping just before the main road on the other side. Replacing three tyres and cutting down a small tree later, it was out.
The poor fella got a ticket for illegal parking, one for illegal forestery and another bloke had left him a big rock to use as a break! Harvest antics!
Here are our mothers with their 11 chicks! See if you can count them all. So cute and fluffy.
I took the remaining eggs away from them (so they would get out of their box and look after the ones they had) and put them inside on the oil heater.
Bugger me, bung on midnight I was woken up with this chirping echoing through the house. Sure enough, one had hatched!
I admired it for a second before shutting the door so I could get back to sleep. I am taking a couple in to my daughter’s school tomorrow for her news … hopefully they will survive the excitement! (That’s if I can get them away from one of the mums (the darker one.)
She’s real protective; funny considering she only hopped on the eggs a few days before they hatched. It was the white chook who did all the work from start to end.
This is our fruit tree enclosure and its full of life and budding fruit. Our grape vines are loaded (hopefully the chooks wont get them this year) and the peaches are growing madly as you can see below.
They are the first pick, followed by the nectarines usually.
Its exciting to watch as the trees flower and then each day being amazed as the fruit grows. I can’t wait to fill myself with ripe fruit fresh from the tree!
We have new babies! Its always exciting when the first chick cracks out of her egg. As you can see Blake is rapt with his first hold and cuddle.
Here is one of the mother with, I think, six chicks (that you can see) that have hatched and another whole heap of eggs she’s still sitting on.
Another chook is already off with one little chick in tow. So how many have we got? Haven’t got proper numbers on the official count as more are yet to come but so far I’d say 8 or 9. I found one just half hatched but he was DOA … maybe it was too crowded & he got squished.
Some also look a bit worse for wear but we gave them a drink and some tucker so hopefully they’ll perk up. Its so nice to walk in and hear all the little chirping.
I was lucky to be speaking at the Lipstick in the Limelight event for 2009 in Wagin [Otober 27]. All about empowering rural women, it was an initiative of the Wagin Woodanilling Landcare Zone and an amazing day.
I met some wonderful rural ladies (90 attended) and we had Maggie Dent speaking up first.
Maggie is an author, parenting and resilience specialist and inspirational presenter. She is currently running seminars nationally and internationally that increase awareness in the importance of building personal and professional resilience.
Her topic was Wonderful Juicy Wise Women! I was blown away by her talks which were spot on the money and very very funny. I feel blessed to have met her and after a minute of meeting her you couldn’t help hug her and feel loved.
Her words of wisdom were wonderful. Girls don’t aim for perfection … its not possible, and that we need to take time out for ourselves … real time out, not having a cuppa whilst doing the dishes, feeding the kids and mopping the floor.
Girlfriends are important too, and to eat that choc muffin, as you never know how long you’ll be around … enjoy life.
I took away a lot of valuable lessons and I can’t thank Maggie enough for her little book on Black Duck Wisdom.
Maggie had us all relaxed so I was ready when it came time for my speech on The Family Farm and my journey.
Among other speakers keep an eye out for Gary Warden and his exciting Days of Change program which aims to help West Aussies to take simple steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 2010.
It was a great day and I will be going back in 2011 when it’s next on! Well done girls.
This is my Monday job! That’s the little green forklift I get to hoon around in shifting chemicals and what not.
Every Monday I get our order in and have to put it away and enter them onto the system.
Monday’s are quite busy (yes … even for a little four-house town like Pingaring) and I have Blake as a helper as he’s only a kindy kid, so Mondays and Fridays he helps me … sort of.
This is Blake standing in front of some old machinery next to our house. Excuse his messy face, he just enjoyed a choc icecream.
The irises behind him, which are in flower, are amazing. Why … because years ago, people before us had actually collected them from our local tip where they were growing wild.
They were transplanted to our place (which was just a rental property at that time) and I eventually put some around the machinery to try and pretty them up.
They never get watered, they just take care of themselves and still manage to flower. I love plants that are easy to grow.
This is the beginning of the bonfire. We chopped up the fallen tree and it gave us a good excuse for a bonfire.
We set up a table and chairs by the fire and ate our tea. Wedges with sweet chilli and sour cream then topped it off with marshmallows … naturally!
It was a great night and Mac had her friend and neighbour, Shenae, for a sleepover.
While sitting around the fire we got to watch the full moon rise into the night sky. It looked amazing as it rose up between the blackness of the trees into the clear night.
This is our first ‘child’ Gidget, who’s now 13 years old. She’s a kelpie and has the most adorable floppy soft ears, which she’s had since she was a pup.
We got her free from the Newdegate Field Day and then later found out her mum was the neighbour’s dog. Anyway, she’s been a great dog and she’s allowed inside as the cold gets to her joints at night.
Here she is camped out by the fire and is actually sleeping on my daughters leg who is asleep under the blanket also. Notice the middle-age spread she’s got going on. Spoilt and loved.
We had some strong wind a while back and it blew over this tree between our house and the shop where I work. (Update: Picture had to be removed, sorry!)
It has provided hours of entertainment for the kids who have turned it into a big cubby. Mac is playing in it with her friend Brad and it has rooms and a decking area! Amazing.
They will be very sad when we get round to chopping it up with the chainsaw, but there will be a big bonfire with the left over bits … which I’m sure they’ll love.
