Category: Chickens

Hello!!
Quite a slow unproductive start to the day. I had heaps of blood extracted (all sorts of updated tests) I had to fast, so no brekkie. Jeff popped back into the dentist but couldn’t get in until 11am – not worth going home. We looked for a few soap making bits and bobs in op shops then dropped in to see Ruby and Margie and drop off some hay – and I also put the newly collected coffee grounds into her compost.
Ruby was having a very tired day – she was dressed up to go to the bank but didn’t have a lot of energy 🙁 Still… she always perks up to chat to us and catch up which is lovely.
I finally got home at midday for my breakfast! Was getting a bit titchy by then haha.

My original plan was to finish weeding the garden patch and bung in the tulip bulbs. (Then do more fence weaving)
But.
I’ve been watching that gardening show and it wasn’t enough.

First things first… the frost didn’t do much for this tomato plant… instead of bringing in the green tomatoes to ripen inside, I just pulled the whole plant up and hung it in the hothouse. I have done this before and often I get ripe tomatoes off them later.

All my iris need to be dug up and replanted. They’ve been swamped by everything else in the gardens so I made an unscheduled start on them to help fill the space. I also thought since I had so much success selling my garlic via a local facebook page, maybe I should try with the iris as I will have way too many.
It was a challenge getting them up as they are tangled in themselves and everything else… and under everything else which meant me crawling in under bushes and trees to dig them out!

I had Pip out for a while. He enjoyed himself… and ate a lot of grass so I assume I will be presented with cat-vomit somewhere inconvenient soon.

Little Moo also kept me company… although its his fault I had to have a second shower today… he reached over the fence when I wasn’t paying attention and slobbered all over my hair!! Niiiiice!!
Sigh. (Country living at its finest)

Anyway, thought I would plant the iris in clumps according to their colours.
I think I knew where the different colours were.
I have a rusty brown with yellow throat… that beautiful mauve/purple with the yellow throat and white with a yellow throat. All quite stunning.

Going against my usual ‘chuck ’em in’ nature I have placed them all out first. (Gardening show haha)
I have three clumps of the rusty brown, two of the white and the purple down the middle. Then arranged the tulips into circles.

Fingers crossed it looks good in spring. Now have to think what to grow around it all… Alysium? A mix of stuff?? I am not really good at knowing much about flowers. I think I need other stuff to fill the gaps once the flowers are done.

I did want to go and add to the Huggle-Monster fence, but by the time I finished mucking about with the iris and everything, it was four o’clock and getting chilly. I had a few other things to do and Jeff wanted a soup for dinner because of his tooth. (Damn, I was all about leftovers tonight not cooking!)

I made the chooks a warm mash/muesli mix… they were pretty happy about that.

Eventually I got to sit down for a nice hot chocolate – interrupted briefly by noticing that the sky was doing pretty things!
Hope you had a great day too (without the blood tests or dentists)
Cheers!

Hi There!
Stampeding up to another weekend!
Was a bit overcast today but the threatening rain never happened. It wasn’t too cold though, so it was quite nice being outside.
I made a couple of mixes of my mushroom compost with the potting mix to get all the seeds planted.

I dragged one of my market stall tables into the hothouse, covered it in some plastic and started filling it up!
I now have three more types of tomatoes planted – Yellow, Beefsteak and a rainbow cherry mix. (The child in me thought that would be fun.)
Also: Cucumber, zucchini, eggplant, butternut pumpkin (new lot), regular pumpkin, melon and watermelon (because I am optimistic), basil, marjoram, cumin, land cress, capsicum (different variety to what I planted before)
I think thats all I can remember.
I also potted up the broccoli that Ruby dug up for me as well as a lot of strawberries!

Hoping these will be sold on the stall when I get it up and going again.
By then I needed a little stroll, so I jumped the back fence and took a few feed bags into the paddock to collect some kindling and pine cones.

oooo – check this out!

Potato!!! Yay!

Munching on fresh asparagus!!

This naughty chook!! She has worked out how to avoid Ugly Fort Knox and flies over the fence to strut around the yard. Three times I went back and opened the gate for her to go back where she was meant to be! (Love the way she knows she is up to no good and cluck clucks her way back in as pert as you please!!)
The final time I saw her, I grabbed the scissors, caught her and gave her a wing clipping!!
One down, 10 to go!!
Cheers!

Friday! Another week gone and the last full day my parents are here. They had a lovely sunny day and went to visit friends a bit further west and took a gorgeous drive through the Tarkine Forest… something Jeff and I need to do!
One of my ‘gunna’ tasks (you know… all those things you’re gunna do) was to chook-proof the veggie garden.
There is a little gang of them that just march on in, up and over the fallen timber to wreck havoc in there!
They’ve kicked the seaweed out about 4 foot onto the lawn!! (And eaten all the parsley)
Thats pretty industrious!!

I snipped all the wire off the fallen steel dropper that is pinned under the timber and reattached that length of fence to a new dropper, as well as just randomly adding wire up and over wherever I thought the marauders could squeeze their way in!

I had to clear a lot of stuff out, saw bits off, but I think it might work for now. I need to be able to get the potatoes in and really start working on this garden!

My cabbage is looking a bit confetti – like!
I just took the easy way out and sprinkled some snail bait around!
The cabbages are looking pretty good tho! Time for another stir fry!

I also moved one of my rhubarbs. I was going to move both, but because I didn’t know what I was doing, I just did the one and hope I didn’t do the completely wrong thing.

I dug up the smaller one and my goodness!!! What a root system! I am afraid I was a bit brutal.
I also cut it into three bits and planted them in the duck yard garden behind the gate

I filled the holes with my new compost to give them a nice boost… I suppose time will tell (or someone will tell me in the comments that I have muffed it haha)

Still… there is one in the main patch thats a monster… I’d like to move it but perhaps I should google a ‘how to’ first before disturbing it.
Hope your weekend is wonderful!
Cheers

Hello there!
I am still fussing about doing this and that in preparation for the girls arriving.
We managed to get the room finished with the extra bed made up (I think I mentioned before that we got an extra student because one of the host families fell through)

I think there is still plenty of room for them to spread out with their stuff even though we put an extra bed in!

I cleared out some of the shelves so they can put things there if they need to.
Our Japanese boys ignored this completely and had an impressive spread of stuff all over the room!!! 😀

I have spare blankets, hot water bottles and a collection of extra scarves and beanies for them to use as necessary.

Back out to the fallen tree!
Jeff got out the chainsaw and made a fabulous dint in the cleanup process

I’ll eventually work my way through the smaller pieces to clean up and put aside as kindling – which will last us for the next millennia!

My garden is slowly being unearthed!

Apparently the macrocarpa burns long and hot! It will take about 6 months in the drying process, but it will be great to have.

One of our new young hens lays a perfect little brown egg daily! I used a couple tonight and the yolks are lovely, big and yellow!

Well… thats midweek done and dusted!!
Raining a LOT at the moment!
Time to snuggle into bed with a book!
Cheers