Conscious slowing

I'm often driven by a frantic feeling of rush and tear.  This is partly due to the fact that I'm so determined to live a low carbon life that I try to do it all NOW.  Grow our veggies, cook all our food, raise animals for milk and meat.  Mend, sew, build....  The feeling is compounded by the responsibility of teaching my children at home.

Lately I've been reflecting on our busy lives because I've been panicking somewhat about my children's education. Trying to squeeze in lessons and still get organised in the veggie garden and on the farm.  Life was feeling crazily out of control with me sitting at the pivotal centre point. Pressure!

My scrap paper with shorter lists - what I get done is good enough

However, thinking about my alternatives (school) quickly snapped me out of it. I don't want my children in school.  And I certainly don't want them there just because I'm bad at time management!  That would not be the right reason to make such a major life change for them and for me.

Tossing up all my options had me thinking about the upsides to the way we do things and one of the biggest advantages is that we are not tied to other people's schedules.  We are masters of our own time.  With this in mind, I decided to shrug off that feeling of being constantly on the run.  We can only do, in a day, what is possible.  Besides, all the panicking in the world doesn't help me achieve more. 

We live a beautiful life full of gentle chores like caring for the animals, gardening, preparing food etc.  We go about our days on a hill with views that I love, surrounded by bush, birds, kangaroos and the occasional echidna.  I need to maintain a wider view rather than shrinking it down to all the things I haven't accomplished right here in the house and yard.

With this in mind, instead of trying to do more to achieve the organised, perfect life I feel I should be living (you know, the one with no kid's toys dumped where they played, a tidy lounge and clean stove top) I have decided to enjoy our process.  Each day I have taken the time to make a family breakfast and eat together at the table in a leisurely fashion.  This starts us all off in the right frame of mind.  Life is good!  It's meant to be enjoyed.  

Before the children wake, I put the pot of porridge on the fire and set the table with bowls, glasses, water, honey, yoghurt, some fresh fruit or maybe leftover honey baked quinces...  whatever I can think of to make it an enjoyable meal.  No more letting them get their own puffed rice or simply plonking some porridge in front of them.  They're loving the new routine.  Within a week of 'proper' breakfasts, I've heard them discussing at night what they hope might be on the table the next morning.  How lovely that they go to bed anticipating the next day with pleasure!  The small sacrifice of a little time has completely changed the mood of the mornings.  My children feel cosy and nurtured.

And, as if aware of my internal angst, all three children have convinced me that they are learning well.  Pumpkin (8 yrs) has been ravenously devouring books from the library faster than I can borrow them,  Belle (12 yrs) pulls out the lap top in the evening, after milking, and continues research for her project on Peru with enthusiasm while Buddy (9 yrs) has mastered a new skill.  In the last week he has grasped the concept of addition while he works with an online program augmented with cuisenaire blocks.  He uses the blocks to represent the dots that flash up on the screen and then disappear.  He has to remember the dots, group the correct amount of blocks, then counts them up and uses terms like "two and three altogether is..." and "two and five makes...".  The use of the different phrases shows me he truly understands the concept now rather than just learning by rote.  He then enters his answer on the computer to see if he gets a tick.  He was even heard this week exclaiming, "I'm a genius!" as he received a tick.  Yes my boy, you truly are!  Thank you kids for proving, in such a timely manner, that you are indeed learning.

I look around the room at a bench that needs to be tidied, clothes that need to be folded, a floor that needs to be swept.  I know that I will bake today if we are to have snacks.  I will be going to town to the stock feed store.  All these tasks I will complete as I am able, after feeding the chooks, checking water and letting out the goats.  And if I don't get them done today I will do them tomorrow.  I am treating my chores as I would the children.  I'm putting my foot down and telling them not to scream at me.  "Chores, just speak to me quietly, say 'excuse me' and then wait nicely.  I will get to you when I can."

Now if you need me you'll find me outside doing my work whilst stopping to smell the roses.  Have a great weekend!

Lazy housekeeping

Well I never!!  Hubby arrived home from work one night last week as I was busily bustling in the kitchen preparing a meal.  He walked in the door and the first words out of his mouth were, "Gee, you've worked hard today!'

I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to stare at him.  What??!  I normally feel completely at ease with our arrangement of Hubby working each day while I stay home and teach the children, organise the house, clothes, food etc.  I know that I put in a good day's work that can easily rival Hubby's efforts.

However, on this particular day I had been very lazy.  Not sure what came over me really but I just couldn't be bothered.  The rush and tear seemed unimportant.  So the kids and I just did as we pleased.  Apart from caring for the animals, we did nothing.  No painting the house like I have been, no collecting or shoveling manure, no planting or fertilising in the garden, not even any washing of clothes.

I looked around the lounge room.  Yep!  Sure enough, the place looked great.  About half an hour before he'd walked in the door, I did my usual call of, "Put away everything you've used today."  A quick scurry around and it was all done.

Oh dear, oh dear!  How ironic.  My usual busy days create mess.  Whereas on my lazy, feeling guilty, should-have-done-more day, the house looked great.  No clothes hanging on clothes horses ( they weren't washed), no piles of unaddressed stuff on the table because I hadn't got anything out.  No kid's messes because I'd been inside to do the pack-up call.  No aching muscles, no bone tired weariness.  Just a tidy home.

So I stood there - shocked!  I didn't know whether to feel demoralised that my real work doesn't show or plan to spend more time sitting on my butt!!

Are you a mess maker too?

A time for work

The talks by Joel Salatin that I recently attended worked like a shot in the arm; an injection of energy.  There's nothing like inspiration to awaken/rekindle motivation and get the blood flowing.

I wake each morning full of energy and with many ideas of things I would like to achieve in the day.  Sometimes I even find myself outside in my nightie and slippers before I know what's happened!  The timing of the talks was serendipitous too.  Why?  This is the time of year for work.  The weather conditions for plants, the comfort levels of working and the amount of time available are all better at this time.

The summer heat has gone, it's even raining regularly at the moment.  Cool days and a gentle soaking means everything planted stands a chance of becoming established before next summer arrives.

The temperature is perfect for work too.  The days are chilly so I don a jacket, hat and scarf when I head out but I can manage some serious physical work on these cool days.  It doesn't take long before shoveling out a trailer of manure has me stripping down to a t-shirt.  In summer, I would only last five minutes before giving up.

Autumn is also more generous with allowing me time.  Spring in the garden means soil preparation, planting, fertilising; summer is for watering and heat management and extra attention for the animals.  Late summer is a crazy time of year because so many fruits and veggies are ready and need to be dealt with.  As I learn more about preserving, each summer I am busier in the kitchen.  Now, with my shelves as ready as they will be and only the promise of a day of picking a friend's olives ahead of me, I'm out working.

I've been leaving my trailer at a near-by stable and picking it up a couple a days later, laden with stinky goodness for my paddocks and garden.  I've been shoveling it straight onto the top of the paddocks.  Because we are on a hill, I layer it thickly at the top end and hope that gravity will work in my favour over the next couple of months.  I imagine the rain and chooks will help it spread further down the paddocks without much actual intervention from me.  Occasionally, living on a hill has its benefits.

Daily we drop in to the post office in the hopes that our electric netting fence, that we ordered online, will be there.  When it arrives, we can put our chooks out in the paddock to do their best work.  They can scratch and peck at the moist dirt, spreading the aforementioned manure as they go.  With a bit of luck and a little management, the dirt may transition to become a layer of actual soil in the next season or so!  Last year, I laid branches across one of the paddocks on the contours and I can already see they are beginning to hold the soil and create flatter, more grassy spots.  The addition of some fertility should make a good improvement.

Sometimes I layer the manure with straw or hay from the goat pens to create a nice, hot compost.  It makes a beautiful addition to the garden beds!

Our does have been to visit a local buck.  He's a bit of a stud actually so I wait with baited breath now, hoping that they don't cycle again.  We're hopeful for some lovely baby goats in about five months time....

I have planted tagasaste for forage and put in some apricot seeds.  These were saved from apricots we ate.  I put the seeds in the fridge to plant out later in the year.  They were starting to sprout in the fridge however, so I've sown them and made little plastic covers in the hopes of seeing them through winter.  So far, so good.  They have shot up out of the ground and look great.  I will use these as forage for the goats as well.

I've planted elder-flowers, jerusalem artichokes, and a wormwood grown from a cutting.  The wormwood is next to the chook shed as an insect repellent.  I'm hoping all my new systems are more established by next summer and that life will be easier and more comfortable for us and the animals alike.  I'm deliberately planting chook plants near the chooks and goat plants near the goats to make our work flow.

Belle and I asked Hubby to show us how to use the power drill and we're ridiculously proud of ourselves!  We made a goat shelter from pallets.  I've since collected heaps more pallets ready to scatter shelters all over our property.  Armed with my newly found power tool skills, I've also created a clothes rack for the winter months so that we don't spend all our time negotiating clothes hanging on clothes horses set up in the lounge room.  I'll hang it upstairs to catch the rising heat and the ceilings are higher there so I can raise the clothes out of my way.

Daisy overseeing the construction

I'm also dreaming of completing the bulk of our hard physical work before winter really sets in.  I'm picturing gentle days inside near the fire, crafting, spinning and cooking up winter delights to serve at the end of a short and chilly day.  I like the idea of winter being a time of rest and recuperation before the busyness of Spring and the yearly cycle begin again.

Do you find that each year follows a pattern (or rythym.....  I love the peaceful sound of that term) and are you working harder than usual now?

A Steiner special school and Organising a break from the farm

Recently, the kids and I attended a camp.  I knew I was going to like it but didn't realise what a huge impact it was going to have on me.

The camp was organised by the Melbourne Waldorf Farm School.  They are a group of Steiner connected people who are in the process of organising a Steiner special school.  It would be the first of its kind in Australia.

The vision is for the school to operate as a working farm and incorporate residential housing for elderly folk as well as people with disabilities.  I love the concept.  They are creating a place that is useful and where everyone would be involved in a very real way regardless of ability.  The way I believe the world should be.

The experience of the camp left me wishing I could be involved when the school is operational.  The days the children and I spent there were incredible.  We were immediately immersed in the most connected and nurturing environment I have ever found myself in.  We were a community of people who cared about each other by the time we left. 

There were opportunities for Buddy to experience new activities as well as felting and music and singing for all of us.  Buddy's sisters had the opportunity to part from him and each other while playing, and to meet many other children with disabilities.  Pumpkin announced on the way home that she would like to work with people with disabilities when she grows up (because they are so nice). 

The parents were nurtured and, through various activities and in-depth discussion, felt very deep connections with each other by the time we went home.  The school will be in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne; too far for us although I toyed with the idea of moving for a while.  I would encourage anyone with an interest, to get involved.  You would be welcomed.  Tell your friends and spread the word.  The families who end up at this school will be very fortunate.  The school is in it's initial stages and those who get involved will be instrumental in helping this concept become a reality.

Hubby was left at home, as usual, to care for the animals.  It's the only way the children and I have been able to go anywhere over the last couple of years.  He gets up early for work to put animals in paddocks and stays up late milking, feeding, watering, and locking up.  I was beginning to feel as though we could never go away as a family again.

A friend, who was aware of our situation, organised a three day beach trip for us and pushed me encouraged me to stop procrastinating and find a way to leave our farm.  I put the word out on Facebook and a few friends offered their services.  I chose this medium because I felt I wasn't putting anyone on the spot.  It seemed such a big ask!  This way, those who wanted to come forward, did.

With two people able to help on the selected dates, we began our organising.  I was determined to make it as easy as possible for our generous volunteer friends. 

We organised self feeders for the chooks (I usually feed mash) so that feed and water only needed to be checked and filled if low.  We made up the daily feeds for the goats in ziplock bags - yes, I know shouldn't use plastic but I was desperate to make it easy!  The goats' feeds are individualised so we labelled each bag and labelled the pens.  We even wrote a brief descriptor above each pen in case the naughty girls took advantage of inexperienced carers and swapped pens.  We labelled food containers and the receptacle (an old dishwasher put to new use) where we keep first aid equipment and minerals.

Our evening helper came over to learn to milk and be shown the ropes.  Goats' hay feeders filled, chooks locked up, goats up from paddock, buckets and washing water organised, goats milked and fed, milk strained and buckets washed ready for the next day.  She was very enthusiastic and made me feel comfortable about asking her to take the task on.

Our morning volunteer was a neighbour who has helped in a couple of emergencies and already knew the ropes.  The chooks to be let out, hay in paddocks, goats out.  Her farm is a similar setup to ours, with many of the same livestock.  She is a kind and generous neighbour who happily helped us out!  This same neighbour has come and helped when one of the goats was sick and has lent me her caged trailer when my girl goats were wanting to travel to a buck because they were looking for love.

We only had one hiccough while we were away.  I wasn't clear enough with the days I needed help and there was a morning when the animals weren't let out.  A lesson to me for next time - specify exact days!

All in all, I think we organised the care of our farm fairly well.  If you are in a similar situation, don't be scared to ask.  There are probably people out there that would be happy to help you.  Make it as easy as you can by taking notice as you go about your chores.  You'll think of ways to simplify your system for inexperienced helpers.  Make sure you prepare anything that you can in advance and make sure that you leave a contact number.

I'm sure, one day, we will be asked to provide reciprocal care and my friends will be comfortable to ask me seeing as they have already cared for our animals.  It's lovely to be able to walk away from the daily grind every now and again and well worth the effort of organising the carers.

 Happy holidays!!!

Sun day

How I love a Sunday!

The day lies open before me.  No expectations.

I postpone my planned soak in the tub.  Later.  I may get grubby yet...

Time beckons, not threatens.  The sun shines with warmth.  A pretty dress kind of day.

Will I plant new seeds for winter growth? Will I empty beds of spent summer growth?  Reacquaint myself with the spinning wheel?  Endless options.

Rag rugs to continue, ponds to dig.

Or books.  Books read to children; or a novel in the hammock with no-one but me....

And then my bath.  Once my passions are sated.

On Sunday time is my friend.

Self care

There's been quite a silence from me recently.  You may have noticed I regularly have spurts of blogging and spurts of nothingness.  If I've not been writing, one of three things have likely happened.....

1. I've been so busy with projects and fun stuff that I haven't had time to write.
2. I've decided I'm finally going to get life 'right' and I'm putting all my time and energy into organising the house and kids.  Always a nuisance when I get into this mode because I waste precious time sweeping and wiping surfaces!!
3. I'm overwhelmed, exhausted and feeling like a failure.

This time around it was number three.  One of the down sides with trying to live thoughtfully and with respect for the planet with which we are blessed is that often we are time poor.  Since I began teaching the children at home I have really struggled with time issues.

I still want to find time to cook most of our food from scratch to avoid shortcuts that mean creating waste.  I want to garden to avoid feeding my children food with residual pesticides.  I want to make cleaners, again to avoid packaging waste.  I'd like to sew rather than buy products that have wasted resources in the transport process.  The list goes on and on........

Not only do I want to do all of this; I want to do it all perfectly!!  Of course.  For the last few months I have been feeling very tired.  Near on exhausted.  But I couldn't see a solution.  Especially because, even in this state, I keep jumping at opportunities to learn new skills.  A new recipe here, how to dispatch a goose there, how to pickle.....  So I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and trying not to think about it.

Now, this is not a once off exhaustion.  This is a pattern I follow.  I think it's probably something many of you who are greening your lives can identify with.  A lifestyle danger if you will.  On other occasions I have reached crisis point by exploding with the kids or by falling into a sobbing heap.  Last time, I decided to really take notice of the warning signs and be proactive in fending off an inevitable collapse.  But how............?

I thought long and hard about what I felt I needed.  I decided I just. needed. to. STOP!!!! I didn't want to feed another chook, milk another goat, teach another child, book another appointment, clean another mess - all the things that make up our day.  I didn't even feel like talking to Hubby once the kids went to bed because I was so worn out from doing and thinking.

So there it was identified, I needed a break.

I am very lucky.  I rang and asked my mother, feeling very guilty, if she could take the children and she didn't hesitate.  She and Dad looked after the kids for two days even overseeing their lessons for me.  Hubby took on a load as he worked all day and then cared for the animals and milked.  Belle and I did heaps of preparation to cut down the work and I think it helped him.

I booked a room near Rosie so I could squeeze in a visit with her and my lovely granddaughter.  I spent two days listening to relaxation cds, crafting, planning a new daily routine for when I went home and generally just sitting quietly (just being) !

It worked!  I came home refreshed, implemented my new routine and threw myself back into our busy lives.  I kinda felt validated when the kids arrived home.  They were all talking to me at a million miles an hour and it was mayhem and busyness right from the word go.  No easing back into it.  The contrast of my peaceful time made me realise that my life really is very busy and tiring.  The difference is that I have got through my week with it's usual up's, down's and minor crisis's with a sense of humour rather than doom.   I have had energy as I've tackled my work and I've found enjoyment in my everyday tasks.  Cooking and creating a nice environment for my family has been a particular pleasure.  Taking care of myself was really successful in enabling me to care properly again for the others in my life.

Pre-rest photo.  I didn't even get around to icing the cake for poor Belle!

As I stated earlier, I am very lucky to have such caring parents.  I know not everybody has a backup but I hope you have a way to refresh yourself when you need to.  Or more importantly perhaps, the ability to know when you've had enough and it's time to care for YOU!  Maybe you have your own secret weapon to use against burn out.

My muddle

On my good, productive days, I feel gooey!  I'm living the life I've always wanted to live.  What could be better?

However if I'm honest there are lots of bad days too.  Trying to live as sustainably as possible does create extra tasks.  There are the days on which I wake feeling tired before I've begun.  There are days on which I wake to a terrible mess in the morning.

I'm not a night person and will fall into bed at the end of the day without a thought of the dishes waiting by the sink.  But then I wake up to...........

In our home, more often than not, I don't just pop that empty jar into the recycling.  Oh no, not me!  I leave it next to the sink to be washed up ready to use for some gastronomic delight I am yet to make. I can't waste a perfectly good jar!

There's the garden to water, seeds I should have sowed already, animals to care for, milking to be done, chaff to be bought, children to be taught, a house to clean, cooking to be done, clothes to be washed, appointments to be kept.....

I still need to make time for the children to enjoy the things children should.

 

I can't throw out that piece of ribbon!  I might use it one day to pretty up a gift.  So I pop it on the stairs to take up next time I walk past...... and the pile on the stairs grows.

The stale bread can't go in the chook bucket this time.  I'll crumble it and pop it in the freezer when I get a chance so that I have breadcrumbs on hand.  Ooops!  Forgot.  I've now found a green loaf in the pantry.  Similarly the plums need attention.  I've used most of the plums for preserving, jams and sauces.  But there's one bag remaining.  These plums are going soft so I'll turn them into more sauce.  Ooops!  Forgot.  They've created their own version of a sauce by turning into slop as they waited for my attention.

Last night I was pickling as Belle and Hubby bottled cider.  No time for dishes or a tidy up.

Life's not always like this.  Sometimes I turn my attention to the house, tidy it up and swear I'll never get behind again.  But then I notice the garden is suffering so I'll turn my attention to outside......

How I long for some consistency!  Or more hours in the day.

The packed lunch trip

You know when you tell someone you're going somewhere and they want to tease you about the distance?  Most often used when you've decided to move house.  You get that supportive (NOT) quip about, "Geez, We'll need a packed lunch to come and visit!"

Well, I use the term packed lunch a lot these days. I think I'm the queen of the packed lunch!  If I need to go anywhere by car, I want to make the most of the trip.  I save petrol by multitasking and I save on time.  Home educating my children becomes very hard when we flit here, there and everywhere.  When we have a few 'home' days in a row, we feel organised and relaxed.  I'd much prefer to get heaps of jobs out of the way on one day so we can be home more.

Hence my packed lunches.  If we are going to our near town (twenty minutes by car) I write a list of all the things we need to do.  For example,

• buy butter
• buy shoelaces
• go to bank
• library
• take clothes to op shop (and usually come home with heaps of other stuff from there)
• sewing shop

 More often than not, I can get these jobs done before or after lunch.  Sometimes we treat ourselves to a pie at the bakery.

However, if I need to travel further afield, due to our small town's lack of shopping variety, it becomes a packed lunch affair.

We're due to go to the dentist for a check-up for Buddy.  He usually goes to Melbourne to the Royal Children's Hospital and always goes under general anaesthetic if he needs any work done due to his behaviour in the dental chair.  Actually, we can't even get him into the dental chair.  He insists that he sits on the regular waiting chairs while the dentists check his teeth.  He obviously feels they are not threatening as they are placed there for the non-patients.  I have found a dentist at a rural city near us that is soooo good with children and have decided to take him for regular check-ups to combat his fear of dentists.  I don't want him to have to undergo a major anaesthetic every time he needs a small procedure.

Sooo..... We'll travel for about an hour and visit as many places as we can.  There are orchards nearby so I might see what they're selling.  I'm hoping to source some tomatoes (for preserving) but I'm not really sure which orchards sell them in bulk.  I'll allow time to ask around.  I'll go to look for more school supplies.  I'll go to a camping supply store to see if I can replace the broken lids for a couple of our stainless steel drink bottles.  I'd hate to throw them out.  I'll try and get a new cord for my external hard drive and so on and so on.  Ooooh!  And I think I'll pop in at Spotlight!  Love a massive range of craft stuff.

The children will have food and drink in case we spend a lot of time driving from place to place.  I'll take our devices so they can study in the car, some readers for Buddy in case we have waiting time at the dentist.  Belle will take some craft.  It will be a big and hopefully productive trip with lots of planning and preparation.  Heck, I might even get fancy and iron a shirt for Buddy for the big occasion.  Lol!

Do you go crazy trying to achieve everything on one trip?

Monthly nine -- January 2105

Hi there!  January is done and dusted and I'm late with the link-up again!  I have good reason.  Not only is the end of January back to studying time for the kids; it's also the time of year that everything fruity needs to be preserved for the cooler months! 

I'm setting aside some time right now to sit and recap January.  This is a great idea dreamed up by Christine at Slow Living Essentials.  We all get together and list our achievements for the previous month under nine different categories.  Please write your own recount of January and link up or just join in by visiting the other fabulous blogs taking part.

NOURISH: This month has seen us enjoying tomatoes.  I love the daily task of collecting them!  I made my first tomato soup for the season last week.  Delicious!  And oh so easy.

Tomato soup

Melt a generous dob of butter with a dash of olive oil.  Slice an onion or two and saute.  Add heaps of chopped up tomatoes fresh from the garden and simmer until very soft.  Add chicken stock in the right amount to give a nice, soupy but thickly tomatoey consistency together with a teaspoon of sugar, some salt, pepper and a couple of teaspoons of dried basil (or a couple of tablespoons of fresh chopped basil).  Squeeze in a little lemon juice and simmer for five minutes.  This soup is lovely with fresh sour dough bread.

PREPARE: Christmas before last Hubby gave me a preserving kit and I nervously began preserving a few jars. Never did I imagine back then that I would throw myself in preserving in the way I have done this year!  I have made trips to orchards, had preserving days with friends, made jam and taken up a kind offer of plums from a generous local lady.  She purchased a property this year that had HEAPS of different types of plums.  More than she could possibly use.  She put out an offer for people to come pick what they liked.  It was plum heaven!  I have preserved plums, made plum jam and dried some prunes.  In fact, I really should be in there cutting up more right now but there's only so much plum-ing one can do before they need a break.

It's a busy time of year because the fruit won't wait.  I've been juggling the preserving with my determination to start the year teaching my children with some sort of regularity.  Not an easy task but so far I'm feeling on top of things.

REDUCE: I recently had to put a call out for PET bottles for making ginger beer because we don't use purchased soft drink.  I now have heaps put aside for the task.  Sadly I didn't get around to making it in time so I'll need to make up a new plant soon.  Too many damn hats that I'm wearing.

 

I re-used some material to make chair bags for the kids.  I made one of them from a torn sheet and the other from op shopped material.  Only one child had a chair bag last year.  They are invaluable for keeping books close without creating a mess.  Last year we used plastic tubs and they were too bulky for our small home.

GREEN: I tried coconut oil in my hair this month.  I was whinging on a Face Book group about how dry and brittle my hair has become.  I don't wash my hair often and when I do, I use soap that I have made.  I often use cider vinegar as a rinse but it doesn't seem to help much.  Someone recommended trying coconut oil.  I've never used coconut oil before.  It has to travel from Queensland which is an awful long way so I usually find a substitute if a recipe has called for it.  Anyway, I decided to give it a try.  The result wasn't great.  I washed my hair, applied what I thought was a tiny amount and brushed my hair.  It was soooo oily!  I'll persist and see if I can apply even less this time.

GROW: My tomatoes have been great this year.  I prepared the soil really well and have (at great expense) managed to keep the water up to them.  We've been enjoying strawberries but only as a rare treat.  I never have enough at any given time to create desserts or anything else special.  Zucchini was a spectacular fail!  The plants were magnificent.  Best I've ever grown.  That was, sadly, no consolation for me as I eagerly awaited the appearance of zucchinis....  I think we picked about six for the whole month!

CREATE: Apart from the chair bags I have created nothing.  Unless all the things I've been working on in my mind count as the process of creation. ;-)

DISCOVER: I've been enjoying using The River Cottage Preserves Handbook to create new yumminess from all the fruits I've managed to get hold of.  I've made a variation of sloe gin with some damsons I picked.  It will take quite a while before I can report on the results.  It will take about ten week to bottling and the recipe suggests I store it for eighteen months before drinking!

We also learnt about a little bird that came to visit.  We've been calling Belle our butterfly whisperer but I may need to extend it to wild birds as well!  For two days it played around our dairy and Belle was determined to tame it.  We looked it up and Belle tells me it's a juvenile grey fantail. "That's why it's brown."

 

ENHANCE: Together with friends we've bought fruit, shared preserving gear, enjoyed company, initiated WWOOFers into the art of preserving and been the recipients of the generosity of a woman with plums, plums and more plums.  Thank you Jane!!

ENJOY: More than anything I enjoyed friendship in January.  That and the local swimming pool.  The kids and I have just about lived at the pool.  Most Januarys see us take a short break, do some sitting around and I also usually contemplate the coming year.  For some reason it wasn't like that this year and I'm trying to ignore the niggling feeling that I'm beginning the year feeling burnt out before I've begun. It has been all my interactions with friends that has saved me from falling in a heap.  A bit of laughter here, some connecting there, a huge dose of 'yes, I relate to what you're saying', a good measure of working alongside other women and plenty of feeling cared about!  Where would we be without friends?!!

Please join in for our January linking with other friendly bloggers.  Just link below.

Evenings

Living on property and having animals makes for busy evenings.  Each day around here is different.  Sometimes our days are filled with appointments, sometimes we go to the pool for summer holiday fun, sometimes it's housework and shopping.  Today we're picking up a new milking goat and I'm tossing up a trip to buy fruit for preserving.  However, no matter what happens during the day, through necessity, the evenings are all pretty much the same.

I love going through the routine at days end.  Wandering to the orchard with a bucket and spoon, making up a mash for the poultry.   It's the back chooks that are fed first, followed by the dorkings, then the geese.  Lastly I feed the front chooks and leave a little in the bottom of the bucket for our lone duck.  (Must address that and find myself an appleyard drake)  The bucket is left with the duck ready to pick up the next day as I go through the process again.

Meanwhile, Belle makes up the food for the goats and fills their overnight hayfeeders.  We are both very popular with all our livestock at this time of day.  Chooks, duck and geese run after us eager for something yummy.  The kid goat maaa's away to tell us he's hungry too.

A hopeful goose!

I find a few leaves to place on the hay racks.  At this time of day we just use forage to entice the goats up to their night pens.  In the mornings, I cut more substantial forage to keep them happy in their paddock.

At this time of year, I need to attend to the garden next.  It's a rare day that I don't need to water!  Pots, a couple of the winter beds and my main summer bed, the round garden, all need to be watered.  This is a time I use to inspect the garden as well.  I've learnt a lot about gardening this year so we have some good results showing.  It's nice to check for ripening tomatoes and to wonder how I will know when the eggplant is ready.  I have one reasonably large one on the bush and I've been waiting for it to become an eggplant-y shape but wonder if it's just not going to be an elongated one.  Do you know how to tell when they're ready?

There was one special evening this week on which we were treated to a special concert complete with tickets, seating and a raffle!

It's not all roses though because I need to make the difficult decision of which plants get watered properly and which just receive the minimum they need to keep them alive through the summer.  Water is so scarce here.  Whenever it rains, the water soaks into the parched soil rather than running off into the dam.  We need flooding rains to fill it again.  Sadly, this week Victoria received flooding rains but we somehow missed out.  We had plenty of beautiful rain on the garden but not enough to fill our dams.  My rhubarb is a sorry sight as it is one of the plants I've held the water back from so that I can grow the annual veggies well.

Once the watering is complete it's back into the house and back to reality.  The mundane tasks of dishes to be dealt with, picking up some of the days mess, tallying up all the jobs I didn't get done and wondering where the day went!