New Arrival

My first egg. It is beautifully oval in shape with almost smooth 

surface.  It weighs in at  a tiny 30 gms  

The egg on the left is mine  note the darker shell

not as dark as some Barnevelders but ok for a first egg.

The other brown egg is from a local egg supplier.  

It is a little like your birthday, you know you have presents coming, you do not know what they may contain.  I have to wait until my DH is up to share the cracking of our first egg.  To check how thick the shell is, how firm the white and how golden the yolk...
drum roll  ....

There is a blood spot and a little white ring area on top right

Does anyone have any ideas what the white ring may be?

                      Look at this lovely fresh egg, sitting upright almost on its white.  Only problem is the shell is quite thin.  Is this normal for newly laying chickens?  Any help greatly appreciated.

My Kale comes with extras

 Last night I was sitting out on the deck watching three dragon flies swooping and flying after insects.  So pretty especially when the last vestiges of sunlight hit their wings. I did try to get a photo but no luck just blurs.
It was a lovely sultry evening, and today is amazing and much warmer than forecast.  

 This photo on the left shows my scarlet runner peas,

my rocket and mesculan lettuces flowering and below are my tomatoes.

I watered the vegie garden, and was delighted to see this lovely little frog nestled in my one and only kale plant.  He was equally surprised to see me I feel. 

I am hoping that he may be making a meal of any caterpillars, snails or slugs devouring my kale.      

 

This is my youngest chook.  She just seems to be so much behind the other girls in her growth.  I am not sure what is happening with her.  Hmmm I think I may be repeating myself.

I have to share with you that a well meaning colleague told me how she was using shredded paper in her laying boxes.  So in my wisdom I thought why not give it a try!  Hmmmm  I swear these two are saying we did not do it....

Why is it always the youngest gets the blame...

I speak from personal experience here..lol mind you in my case it was so often true.  It was I that done it..lol

So I now have a chicken run covered in shredded paper, and I will not be using it again.  Luckily the girls have succeeded in not only spreading the paper, they have also taken it upon themselves to reorganise the lovely pile of straw, manure and bits removed from their coop. I had put in the corner of their run to let it break down and form compost.  Well know it is going to rot all over their run...sigh.  Just hope it does not rain before I can rake it all up and fence it off.

Last but not least just a little oddity..

On the way into town today we were met with this lovely traffic light.  Which made me laugh, as we are 8km from nearest village, and well there are just so many cars at this very dangerous intersection. 

Ahhh but it was a glorious day and yes my windscreen is tinted. 

A little bit of everything.

Mince pies as I mentioned in the previous post, this is just to show that I do not actually make them as pies, no more pasties style for me..lol much easier when making so many.  

Now onto the vegetable garden.  I have finally put all my seed chest seedlings into the vegetable garden.  There were some that did not make it.  The melons all seemed not to have survived my being away and I have not had the chance to resow them.  May just put some seeds in and see, has anyone ever succeeded with this? 

The tomatoes are my self seeded ones I think that theymay be Tommy Toes, which would be terrific.  I

This is the bed that I have been putting zucchini's and cucumbers.I am letting the beetroot and carrot that are in it go to seed.  There is a bean that has grown must have dropped a seed. You can see just see the terracotta pots that I have sunk into the ground for watering, like a water well.  Covered with mulch. 




This is my last attempt at basil.  I sowed seeds, I put in seedlings into the vegetable garden, and none.  So on the deck in a polystyrene box.  Fingers crossed.  I planted some sage, my sage from last year has died? Thyme and a lemon thyme have gone in.  Pumpkins Turkish Turban, and a butternut pumpkin, chili, cucumber.  One tomato unknown variety in the box with the basil. 

The beans are doing well flowering with lovely scarlet flowers.  This is my first bed I planted with tomatoes, and they have romped ahead.  I have flowers and the aubergine is flowering as well.  Things are going well.
The girls are out free ranging amongst the hazel nuts.  They are growing so well and seem to be happy.  Toby is not going in as much as we have resorted to putting him on a long lead so he can move around but not go into the chook run.

Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat...

Summer Garden the fox gloves are finishing, Calfornian Poppies are looking great with the white daisies.  The holly hock is flowering again, but everything will need a drink tonight when it cools off.  I have mulched most beds and that has been a huge help with moisture retaining, I succombed and used sugar cane mulch.

 There is something wonderful about getting my camera back.  I feel a greater sense of being able to truly share what is happening in my world.

Garlic is harvested and some is plaited, others still require drying. Some was at risk of going mouldy so has been separated into cloves and will be put into olive oil and also I think I will try my hand at pickled garlic.  It would be such a waste to loose any.

I have harvested 173 bulbs of garlic whole, and 10 or more that I have had to separate into cloves to be used now and to go into oil and or pickled garlic. This is 100% return on the single cloves I planted way back in March. Perhaps a bit too early.  The mounding of them helped immensely, especially with all the winter rain and more recent rain we have had.  I am thrilled with the success of my garlic!

I made strawberry jam yesterday.  Sadly not from my own strawberries.  I was fortunate to buy 2kg for $5 so purchased 4kg.  So strawberry jam that can be made into chili and strawberry, strawberry sauce. I love it!

When you look at the amazing colour of the strawberry jam,(which I had to take a photo in the sunlight to show its beautiful colour). I am a strange kind of a woman, as I prefer these to Rubies..I told you it was strange..lol
 


The following are photos of my vegie patch where I have put my terracotta pots with lids as watering devices.  They seem to be working really well.  The lettuces have thrived near one.  Tomatoes are doing well.  It is quite strange I grew some of them from seeds and succumbed to buying a couple of seedlings from Diggers heritage Seed company at the local hardware shop nursery.  They were more established than my seedlings.  Interestingly enough one of my seeds has caught up.  The others are doing okay.  The pot in the foreground is meant to have some dill in it but looks like the birds or slugs have devoured them.  Oh and can anyone tell me how you can have a potato grow in a space where you have not had potatoes for three/four years, and suddenly you have some?  That is the large plant in the background.

My beans in the garden are hanging on so far with the really bizzare temperature extremes we have been experiencing.  Last Wednesday it was 36C than Thursday was 11C, with a forecast of snow on the highlands for Friday..  Ahhh Tasmania. 

The chooks are growing and looking so beautiful, three of them are developing their combs, one is obviously younger she still is just getting her  comb.

Two of the girls have wattles starting and going red.  In these photos you can see how beautiful their markings are becoming.


Toby is a bit too much for the girls, he works them, trying to round them up.  Some of them ignore him eventually but one and I think it is the younger one is harassed and flies and flurries about.  So Toby chases her.

  My DH believes we will not get any eggs.   sigh.  He is being kept out of the hens run as much as we can.  He does worry about the girls if he does not see them. 
The others do not seem to be perturbed most of the time, just scratch and lie in the sunshine.  How I love seeing them with their wings up getting sun under them.  I am falling for my chooky girls.  They are delightful to watch and listen too.


I have been perusing many of my northern blogs friends blogs.  My breath has been taken away with the lovely snow scapes that they have. (not so keen on the driving conditions) and who knows we in the south of Tasmania may still have some snow for Christmas.  Not normal though, so I always feel kind of strange singing Christmas Carols about snow and cold etc.  I am including here the words of a wonderful Australian Christmas Carol that I love to hear and sing.

Six White Boomers   (a boomer is a Kangaroo)

By Rolf Harris & John D. Brown 

(Introduction)
Early on one Christmas Day, a Joey Kanga-roo,
Was far from home and lost in a great big zoo.
Mummy, where's my mummy, they've taken her a-way,
We'll help you find your mummy son, hop on the sleigh.

Chorus:
Six white boomers, snow white boomers,
Racing Santa Claus through the blazing sun.
Six white boomers, snow white boomers,
.. On his Aus-tra-lian run.

Verse: Up beside the bag of toys, little Joey hopped ,
But they had'nt gone far when Santa stopped.
Un-harnessed all the reindeer and Joey wondered why,
Then he heard a far off booming in the sky.

Chorus: Six white boomers ...

Pretty soon old Santa began to feel the heat,
Took his fur-lined boots off to cool his feet.
Into one popped Joey, feeling quite OK,
While those old man kangaroos kept pulling on the sleigh.

Chorus: Six white boomers ...

Joey said to Santa, Santa, what about the toys,
Aren't you giving some to these girls and boys.
They've all got their presents son, we were here last night,
This trip is an extra trip, Joey's special flight.

Chorus: Six white boomers ...

Soon the sleigh was flashing past, right over Marble Bar,
Slow down there, cried Santa, it can't be far.
Come up on my lap son, and have a look around,
There she is, that's mummy, bounding up and down.

Chorus: Six white boomers ...

Well that's the bestest Christmas treat that Joey ever had,
Curled up in mother's pouch all snug and glad.
The last they saw was Santa headed northward from the sun,
The only year the boomers worked a double run.

Chorus: Six white boomers ...

A Joey is a baby Kangaroo
Marble Bar is one of the hottest and most isolated towns in Australia

Our neighbours had a road Christmas BBQ yesterday, and what a wonderful afternoon evening it was.  We ate chatted, drank, the weather was warm and skies blue, a cardigan or sloppy jo was necessary as the sun set, but we adjourned inside and watched the native animals come and eat the grass, bettongs, wallabies, bandicoots, and paddymelons.  Just outside where we were sitting with the doors open.  Our neighbour hood which is about 8homes all up over 1.5km distance is a lovely caring and sharing community.  It is one of the great joys of living in a rural setting for me.  So warm and helpful.  I ask someone do they know someone who is electrician or plumber, and usually someone comes up trumps for me.

Taj mahal is now occupied..YIPEE!

Please note Chook means Hen in Australian..lol
Four lovely Barnevelder chickens have made the Chooky Taj Mahal their home for two weeks now and how welcome they are. 

They are 9-11 weeks old nowand are settling in well, I believe
It will be a few more months before we will get eggs.  My idea is that they get used to being handled and Toby as he is a part of life at our place.

They are delightful and many hours have been lost by both Toby and I watching their antics.   
They are a Dutch breed who are a quiet and delightful temperment.  They are not mean to be as flighty as some breeds.  I have been getting them used to Toby and attempting to get him used to them.  He has helped us gather one escapee up, (the fencing was not quite finished) and this chook had jumped out of the Taj whilst I was sorting out water and food.  Off chook and dog, me and DH went.  Toby found her and indicated by standing at one side of a large tussock of grass on the dam wall where she was.  She was well hidden..he remained on his side enabling me to get her and settle her.  On return to the Taj and her sisters she ran to them clucking and sharing her great escape. (attempt anyway)LOL Fences are all up now thanks to my DH hard work. They are lovely girls, and I have built a small safe out door run for them and how they love to be out scratching and eating the grass.

I have a worm farm so they have had a meal or two of worms and other insects I have gathered from the garden.  I love it when one finds a worm and have a real chuckle as I watch their antics, as they chase and try to steal from the one with the worm.  Little do they seem to realise that I have actually put quite a few worms in their.  lol.
Those of you who have chooks I would love to know what you feed them if you do not use a store bought product.