Countdown to Christmas

Not only are the kids eagerly awaiting the 'chocolate calendar' that they so fondly remember from last year, James and I are counting down in our own way. 30 hams down, 70 to go. After our 6 months of production we have stockpiled 101 hams for the festive season. They went off yesterday to be cured and smoked and will return back next week. Assuming we will have one here for the big day we are left with 100 to sell. Both of us are outwardly confident but inwardly hoping we don't end up with a lot left over. Orders have been coming in on a daily basis so the ham count goes down each day. We have also sent off 6 sides of bacon to make sure that nobody misses out on that either. The Christmas market run starts next week with Sydney then continues for 3 weekends until we finish on the 20th with Mudgee and Dubbo markets. I guess I then have 2 days to do my Christmas shopping and generally do everything last minute. All attempts to find a rare/heritage breed turkey pair to breed up here have not given me much hope. I will hopefully find something next spring so our rare breed turkeys may be a while coming.

I have declared war on kikuyu grass which I am unfortunately losing. It is very grateful for the irrigation in the vegetable patch and is cunningly trying to strangle everything that is growing in there by putting its roots deep underground and outmanouvering me every time I think I have a solution. I have gone back to digging, pulling and feeding to the pigs in fear that if I put it in the compost it will show up in vegetable patch no. 2 (my contingency plan) which has been built up in an area with no grass around it whatsoever. It is currently being battered by the chickens but at least has no slugs and slaters in it.

Last Monday poor Beccie died unexpectedly of an infection that happened very quickly. Being the hardened farmer that I am I admit I obviously cried my eyes out - she was such a lovely gentle pig (and had bloody big litters with piglets that grew like the clappers) so it was all very disappointing. It brought up the inevitable problem that we had been avoiding of how on earth we were going to dispose of 250 kg of dead pig. Luckily the local earthmover who buries many a horse around here very kindly came up first thing and buried her...and yes, I am going to plant a flower on the grave.

Rain, mud and new arrivals

In my last post I had a picture of the kids jumping about in the rain....it kept going and going...and going. Over 3 days we had about 3 inches. In case this figure means nothing to you (as it wouldn't to me a year ago) I can tell you that it is a lot for us. Our driveway is starting to cave in for god's sake. It has been hanging in there for a while now but I think the 30 rotarians coming up the driveway and the torrential downpour were the last straw and it has given in to the temptation to have a little river in the middle of it. The plants look terribly happy about it all and we are having a planting flurry to take full advantage of it. In the middle of all this rain we took a long and wet trip 7 hours north to Inverell to add some more pigs to the herd. With the possibility of a farm shop we have decided that keeping the breeding herd on the smaller side (around 35ish) is a good aim and so rare/old breeds are on my list along with the white crosses to keep Maguire busy too. I had long had my eye on a saddleback and as luck would have it there was one up at the farm, along with a large black that is staying with us for a while before going off to another local winery with one of our berkies as breeders. From left to right we have Olive (James' new favourite), un-named large black and Winifred...already called "Winnie" (my new favourite). They have settled in well and are in their quarantine pen for a week before heading out to run about with the big herd. With no market this weekend James is busily building a brick pig run as initial attempts to vaccinate the sows by running them through the yards originally built for sheep (and perfectly good for weaners) ended with them picking up the panels and throwing them aside as though they were as light as a feather...and not bolted to the ground (which they were). "You win" we said as they looked at their handy work with obvious pleasure. James always gets the last laugh however..a concrete slab has been laid and a run will be built capable of holding a small elephant - I just hope they can't climb very well.

The Novelty of Rain?!

It is pretty dry here most of the time... well I can't complain as we have had a lovely spring. Lots of warm weather with showers in between. Today has been the first truly wet weather day that I can remember in a while. The kids had colouring books and dvd's and all the things I thought they would need to keep them out of my hair whilst I sorted out Christmas orders and got busy in the office. After a while I wondered why they were so quiet... and where the dogs were... On going outside the rain was obviously too much fun to be ignored. After sneaking a few photos I called out to ask what was going on and was told they were "refreshing themselves". I am not sure what the 30 rotarians who are coming around for a farm tour this afternoon would make of the above spectacle on arrival so I had better leave my computer and pay them more attention.

Hunting, Horseplay and Hatching

It was a big weekend for little Jessie who at almost 12 months old went on her first rabbit hunt. As I am not one for banging rabbits on the head with a big stick there are no action style photos. I haven't actually been ferreting and I suppose I envisaged a sort of stampede of rabbits thundering out of the nets and being set upon by men with sticks. Yuk. In fact Jessie and Coco made a good team, with the help of the boys admittedly and they got 4. James insists this is because we don't have that many rabbits on the place but as I get up at 5.30 most mornings to go running on my crazy fitness phase I see all the cute babies happily bouncing about like those little chocolate Lindt bunnies at Easter time. I think they are smarter than we think. Anyway, Jessie came when whistled, didn't bite anyone and was so tired in the end she refused to go down any more holes and just lay in her box. She slept for 24 hours and seems to be recovering well. Now she looks at me like Coco waiting for a walk when I walk past on the way to the veg garden. James is very proud.

Every Wednesday Emily and I have been taking Ruth out so she can have a riding lesson and Ruth can get some exercise. Mickey thinks this is terrific and delights in attempting to play with me as he would another horse. This involved galloping around towards me, rearing up, jumping about and generally being a pain in the bum....even his Mum gives a sigh and looks at me as if to say 'boys..what can I do about him'. We decided it was time he learnt some manners...or at least got used to a head collar so he is a bit more controllable. James held him whilst I put the headcollar on and gave him a good rub down. On coming back about 10 minutes later he was throwing the head collar about with gay abandon. Similar results were achieved by letting him lick a sugar cube instead of being restrained...he stood quite still to have it buckled up but I am sure it will be off again tomorrow morning.

Wendy the silky has done me proud this time hatching 9 out of the 10 duck eggs that were under her. On cleaning out the nest of old egg shells and 2 unhatched eggs we discovered one of them was cheeping. It had a chicken ceasarean (okay duckling) and we left him beside Mum to bond. On coming back about 1/2 an hour later the poor little thing was covered in ants who were eating him alive. He was dunked in water and looked as though he had one eye..thereby being christened 'Winky'. Maternal urges poured forth from me as usual and the kids took it in turns to warm him up and cuddle him. What is another pet duck to add to the flock I reasoned with James. He regained the use of his eye after 24 hours and became quite demanding...and quite strong. I kept finding him running about in the house cheeping for someone to feed him. James decided enough was enough and put him back with his brothers and sisters. We waiting anxiously but apparently imprinting is reversible dammit - he is happily living back with the whole lot and doesn't even recognise me when I go and visit him. The other two duckens, despite all our best intentions of eating them have gone off to a new home as I got too used to seeing them wandering about outside and resolve weakened. They are currently nestling up to the rooster and not showing any recognition of the other ducks that are at the farm presently. They may end up on someone's table afterall but we are all hoping that instinct kicks in soon.

Ormiston Swimming Ponds

Once upon a time, actually in what seems another life by now, James and I first saw each other without clothes (but with swimmers on thank you very much) at the Hampstead mixed swimming ponds. How strange that how ever many years later we have never tried out our own ponds until this weekend...and by we I mean James as I was too chicken. I am not a fan of water in which I can't see the approaching shark/crocodile/yabbie (delete as appropriate). This is made all the worse when I have seen the geese coming out of the water with leeches on their legs. Three brave young men in the form of my cousins were the intrepid first swimmers because we were all dying of heat and nobody could be bothered driving into town. Felix found it hilarious, Emily was slightly worried..the goats were bemused and the ducks weren't really sure what was going on. It must have been okay as it was used extensively over the weekend and James even decided to brave it all by Sunday. Coco will mistily remember it as her best weekend ever as she swum happily around with everyone, usually with the ball in her mouth. Woody, who has never gone in over his toes had a few enforced swimming lessons and seems to think that the water isn't the invention of the devil afterall. James can be seen coaxing him in above.

I think I am going to put up a sign and James is considering building a jetty...

Farm Life can be Cruel

These pictures don't really show the true horror of what James has done to Coco.... she has been suffereing terribly with the little grassheads and burrs that she picks up on the property. We are as sick of combing them out as she is of carrying them around. We marvelled in fact that she is probably single handedly responsible for spreading the little seeds over most of the town (and extensively through the car). By yesterday they were clogged in her ears, through her tail and up her legs. Drastic measures were called for. "Shall I book her in to the dog groomer to have a summer shave" I asked James. "Don't be ridiculous..I can do a perfectly good job at work". We took her in and she lay very happily on the table as even James realised once he had started that maybe he should have let the nurses do it because "they would have been much neater". Not only does Coco now look like an English Pointer..or a Cocker Spaniel..we can't decide - she has great bald batches all over her and a tail with no feathers on it whatsoever. Woody can be seen sniffing her in the above photo to make sure it is 'really her' - although he does usually have his nose up her bum so maybe it is just the norm. Anyway - I admit she is much more comfortable but next year I am sticking by my guns and booking her into the doggy equivalent of Toni and Guy so she doesn't have to suffer this sort of indignity.

Emily turns 4...

I'm sitting here waiting for the cheese curds to need their next stirring after giving Ruth a messy bath with Emily and am suddenly overcome with guilt that this blog is getting so neglected. There being no time like the present it seemed an update was a good idea.

Firstly obviously is Emily's recent birthday. She is pictured here with her brother who seems to be in training as a supermodel if his pose is anything to go by. She had the obligatory party at the local indoor play area, as well as a separate family one and a cake at school today to top it all off. Whilst we were having a cuddle yesterday she became quite thoughtful and said to me with a sigh "Mummy, I really am very sad that I won't be 3 anymore".... how soon it starts. She is currently in serious practice at her local dance class for the Christmas concert. She gets to be a Christmas tree which thank god I don't have to sew - I just have to pay an arm and a leg for it. Felix has started his 'Mudgee Beginners' at the local school and decided he doesn't need to go to preschool anymore because he is too grown up for it.

I never thought I would actually be taking photos of a silo, but as you can see above this year has been a first for many things. Its just so shiny! As we, or should I say the pigs, are going through a tonne of food a week now we finally decided to save ourselves about $200 per tonne by buying in bulk - serious bulk however, at 14 tonnes per delivery. There was nothing else to do but take the next step and buy a silo. Second hand requests didn't amount to much because most farmers are holding on to silo's with grain being scarce at the moment. We had to bite the bullet and buy a new one. James laid a concrete slab and it was delivered on the weekend. Woody is very unsure about it - not sure what sort of image it is in dog-sight however it is large and reflective and he spent a long time barking at the large monster that is endangering his pigs. Woody has been doing his job recently as one of our sheep got flystrike unexpectedly so he was called upon to herd our growing flock up into the corner of the field so they could be drenched and checked over. We have no sheep handling facilities at all - so Woody would bring them up and James would launch himself at the nearest one whilst the rest ran off. Felix found it hilarious each time James ended up face down in the paddock, which was often to begin with.

We are of course gearing up for Christmas, we have had our first lot of bacon cured by an organic smokehouse in Sydney and been a bit overwhelmed by the demand for it at all markets. We are sticking with traditional hams this year but will move to have them organically cured next year. So our life continues along the same routines of markets, butchers, abattoirs and plans. We are trying to decide which way to go with our little business - whether we can afford to wholesale the meat which means competing with farms that can do it cheaper, or stay in control of it from paddock to plate. At this point we are throwing around the idea of a proper farm shop which is starting to look more like the way we need to go. We are encouraging farm visits and have people coming from far and wide to see the pigs and buy some pork - so maybe it will be in the spirit of Jimmys Farm afterall.

I'm off to try out my new running track which James has obligingly mowed again - am slightly tentative as a friend riding her bike down our drive a couple of weeks ago came across a large brown snake making its way along her path and was so surprised she fell off. I guess it can only make me run faster.