More piglets and a successful farmers market

Why is it that I never have a camera when I really need it?? Clearly I would have made a lousy journalist - that said, you will just have to read our latest update and be content with pictures of more cute little piglets. Despite our dates our ladies decided to farrow in the opposite order - Lucy won with 16 piglets, one dead and another very small one (which I should have taken and bottle fed, didn't make it either). The remaining 14 are adorable and are under a week old and tottering around the paddock already. Lucy is often found resting away from the hut after tucking them into bed at night having a glass of wine and some 'me' time - I know just how she feels. Shortly after Lucy, Rosie had 9 little ones and Bev followed with 7 (not the 2 I was predicting). A little disappointing for second litters but lovely little pigs so we will just have to be content with that. That boosts our numbers up and probably makes Felix rest a little easier. Still struggling with the concept of eating our pigs I got a little closer to the reason this week when I asked him what exactly was worrying him about it all (expecting a heart wrenching reply) - he said "I like pigs and if we keep eating them we will run out" - after I showed him that we had 30 more with the latest litters he seemed perfectly happy with the whole concept.

Speaking of eating pigs our first Farmers Market was a huge success. Once again we both had minimal sleep trying to figure out what we would do with 3 pigs and the resulting meat (LOTS) if the local demand for free range pork wasn't as we had hoped. Our butchers had very kindly lent us their refridgerated ute and as James loaded up the meat I struggled gamely with the tent that we had bought to cover our operations at markets such as this one. Everyone else seemed to set up like a well oiled machine whilst I stood around and aimlessly attempted to stretch the legs out on this supposedly easy to assemble piece of equipment. Once again Mudgee's friendly locals saved the day and helped out with the million things we had forgotten - tent pegs, hammers, scissors and some muscle in putting things up and carrying various boxes. By the time people started wandering through I think we looked almost professional. I say almost because on our first sale I had just taken the money and felt quietly excited about selling a packet of sausages and chops and managing to add it all up in my head when I went to open the till and realised that I had left the key at home....worse than that Emily had been playing with the keys the night before so I was pretty sure I would never see them again. Slight panic descended as more people came to buy the meat and I flapped around trying to figure out how I was going to operate with no change whatsoever, however emptying both our wallets and begging for the right money soon put us on the right track. Vanessa and Fiona responded to a call at about 9 which sounded a little like "HELP, please come down here" and even were so organised as to bring change with them. By 10.30 we had sold out of everything and for the next 2 hours had to hand out order forms and apologise to a lot of disappointed people. Champagne was drunk that evening and since then we have had 4 orders directly and apparently a lot of interest through our butcher, Hodges. It is all very exciting.

My goats are back and our chickens and laying like the clappers - 6 eggs today. We are all a bit desperate for rain and despite the fact that the clouds are ominous and the weather is cold I think we had about 4 millimetres today...the winter vegies are not happy and I have had to start buying fruit and veg from the shop for the first time in a couple of months. This weekend we are preparing for Wings Wine and Wheels - an airshow with wine and cars I guess. We will be selling hot pork rolls and sausages as usual and next weekend we will try our luck at one of the big farmers markets in Dubbo. Despite James' refusal to ever go back there are EI vaccinating it seems that the lure of thousands of customers is changing his mind.

Countdown to Farmers Market

After smugly commenting on the fact that we have all been free of 'bugs' since leaving the crowded streets of London, we have all developed unpleasant hacking coughs over the last week or so and so life has been a bit miserable, especially for the kids. James' ear has healed up nicely, although I was hoping for a permanent hole so that he could sport an ear tag as well.

Last weeks cyclists were very keen on the hot pork rolls, which sold out within a couple of hours. Next we had to make around 300 canapes and the day began with me forgetting that the local electricity supplier would be cutting off our power from 10.00am to 3.00pm. Thank god a friend's kitchen had been lined up as it was closer to the event and we could keep the kids occupied a little better. I spent a day sweating over a pork belly recipe which I had not attempted before and that luckily decided to cooperate. This was combined with some sausage rolls and taken up to a rotarian conference for about 300 people. Again the tables were empty in about an hour and a half and we had lots of great feedback on the meat. It is now time to put our money where our mouth is so to speak and we will start selling the free range pork at the next farmers market. We are getting labels and brochures printed, having our sign put on the side of the ute and looking around at portable coolrooms. I have a long 'to do' list at the moment that I am trying to work through.

James' parents, Julie and Peter, arrived on the weekend and have not so far suffered too much from jetlag. James and Peter quickly kicked off by finishing the kid's treehouse (above), much to the delight off Emi and Felix who would probably like to take their beds up there if they could.

The goats have gone off to the billy and I am told have both have cooperated with much enthusiasm. I am embarrassed to write this however I am actually really missing having them around - as is Gracey who spends her days bleating pathetically at the gate for someone to come and play with her. I will leave them for another week to make sure that they don't come into season again and then they can load up and come home and get back to eating our blackberries.

Woody is off to dog school this weekend - he spends most of his days ambushing Coco and launching himself at her ears with a tenancity that would make a staffy proud. She is suffering a bit and has taken to jumping out of the back yard and heading up to her good friend James dog for a cup of tea and some rest and relaxation. I am hoping that getting a good start on his training might help, but am slightly worried that we may never have enough work to keep him busy. The pigs seem so clever that they pretty much walk themselves out now and go through the scales without too much of a problem. Staying on the pig news we are due to have about 3 litters in the next week. Lucy is so heavy that her teats are almost dragging on the ground and she looks distinctly uncomfortable. Little Rosie (who is still my favourite and loves a scratch and a cuddle) is probably coming up second and Bev, who really should be first, either has a solitary piglet and therefore not much to show, or is like one of those supermodels who manages to sail through pregnancy without looking as though there is much more than a beachball till the last minute.

Last but not least my chicken saga continues... Brad has been joined by a new Angelina - she is a pretty little grey thing but so flightly that I couldn't get a photo of her. I know that she is there because every morning when I let them out she almost flies into my head and runs squawking off around the yard. I have long been looking for some silkies and found out that there was a sale up at the agriculture plot at the high school with one rooster and 2 hens going. Clearance and garage sales around here seem to be pretty competitive with people showing up hours before they begin so I wasn't going to miss out this time. I went there ready to push to the front of the queue and jump on the chickens at first sight, however luck was with me and they hadn't sold. We therefore now have Buzz, Isabella and Wendy (named by Felix) who you can see above. They provide me with a lot of pleasure as they are like owning something out of the Muppet show... not highly intelligent (even for a chicken) they seem to strut around and bump into things a lot and unlike the others don't roost so I have to be meticulous about locking them up as they would be an easy meal for a fox. They are already laying and the plan is that they are so clucky that I can use them to hatch out my duck eggs.