Foal Fun

Just when you thought you were sick of photos of baby animals I add a new species. Driving up the driveway after running 7.5 km as part of my new bootcamp regime this morning I assumed I was seeing double, however Ruth in her usual capable and calm way delivered this little bundle at some point last night. The kids were very excited this morning for about 5 seconds but soon wandered off whilst I stood there and stared until they were late for school. I don't think I have mentioned Ruth before, however she has come up to stay for a couple of months to make completely sure that the kids really really do like riding before we make the decision to add pony club to the ridiculous array of sports that I seem to spend my life driving around to. So far Emily in particular shows no intention of losing her interest in it and Ruth is proving to be an incredibly sweet and gentle little pony.

Today at long last we made the decision to buy a ride on lawn mower.... the thought of pushing the hand mower around on a weekly basis to keep up with the grass in the garden, orchard and now down the driveway was just all too much. We gave in. James then drove it around like a dodgem car mowing the lawns at a speed that I am not sure it is really meant to cut grass at. I may never have to do the job again.

We are gearing up for a big weekend with 2 markets, sausage selling at Day on the Green with 4,000 people expected and a farm walk open to the public on Sunday. With around 60 piglets born over the last 2 weeks we have plenty of cute factor to cater to the masses.

Sydney Markets and Farm Mobility..

We now feel like real Aussie farmers... the quad bike and soon to be arriving silo complete the picture. After moving the sows and weaners up to their new paddocks the walk with the wheelbarrow seems like about 2 km each way. After the wheelbarrow even blew its tyre and James started to look a little peaky and eat us out of house and home after each feeding time we thought enough was enough. Enter the new quad bike. As of today life has become much easier...it takes 2 minutes to pop down and see the sheep and feeding the pigs with the trailer on the back is a 15 minute job instead of an hour. Watch this space to see if James starts to grow a beer belly. I on the other hand have signed up for Boot Camp and 3 mornings a week I stumble out of bed at 5.30 (which is way before sunrise now the clocks have gone forward) and join many others to sprint up hills, run around the pines and do boxing... unfortunately any good that I am doing is matched by the calories that I am consuming like a labrador when I get home so that I have the energy to get through the rest of the day.

The duckens (or as James prefers to call them the dicks) are thriving with their chicken mum. I am slightly concerned as they may never learn to swim, however apparently I only need be concerned when the mother is a duck and she takes surrogate chicks for their first outing which turns into a mass drowning. They are very visible waddling after Mum while she scratches up morsels for them to eat. We have about 60 piglets here at the moment, Bev, Rosie and Deb have all had piglets, and Harriet once again decided she would farrow ferals in the big pig field. They are thriving of course but are wild little things that bark and flee at the sight of us. Bev felt that the straw filled hut was too hot for her and made a lovely nest outside where she has had 9 little Berkshires. It is hard to believe that she is on her 3rd litter with us one year in.

Great excitement this week with our first bacon and ham coming back from the charcutier... the bacon is excellent and has been organically cured so 'nitrite free'.. it has its first outing tomorrow at Orange Market. We finally got to Pyrmont Growers market last weekend... whilst we got drenched with a downpour only Sydney is capable of we set up our stall on the pier with about 300 other regional producers. The buyers started coming at 7am and by 10.00pm we sold even the trotters of the 6 pigs we took down there. It was exactly the type of market we had been looking for in Sydney and everything you could imagine was there...quails eggs, free range everything, veggies, jersey milk, venison, partridge and lots more. Unfortunately we had our heads down selling and didn't get too much of a chance to go for a wander but next time I will be prepared.

The kids have been home for 2 weeks on school holidays and it will be to mutual relief when pre-school resumes next week. Suddenly they have learned to say 'I'm bored'??