cow jewelry

and what are you up to today?
I've got a lot of pen fumes up my nose.
Time for some new jewelry for the cows to tidy up their numbers and names.
xx Amy

Chookie Goodness?

 

  

We set out on our adventure on Saturday to a good place.  There's a long time fella getting out of the egg business and is keen to share his knowledge with us and sell us his 2nd hand equipment.  There's a questionmark at the end of my title because there is A LOT to do in a very short amount of time before these little ladies come home to us. And they're ready to start laying pretty much now.

And 3 of those big fella's up top are set to come home with us too - 2 bitches and a Male.  They aren't so keen on Foxes and Eagles and they are the hen's gaurdian dogs.  Our Chook fella prides himself on his dogs and we felt comfortable around them. Before that I've been shit scared of them because they can be a bit aggressive. I've rejected on Male that I didn't feel right on and will get the other three.  Without them - we'll loose our hens.

This is what happens when you don't strap the little bugger in.  What else is a 10 month old meant to do if you plonk some music makers in front of him and his eggs aren't ready yet??

I made this Babushka doll shirt for the Moo before we went to the states.  The doll is linen - and I have a few more of these up my sleeves for some special little girlies in our lives. She has the shirt paired with her ultra favourite flippy skirt and rainbow leggings.  The beanie is far too small for her but she still insists on it. Red patent leather shoes top the look off.

"Not so sure, Dad!" I love this picture. He's so concentrated.

Do your kids love eggs as much as  mine?? I'm glad we will have a herd of them and will be consuming their Biodynamic goodness before we know it!

Have a happy day. xx

Good Morning.

It is the wee hours of the morning and I'm catching up with bloggy goodness.
There are some truly inspiring women out there. Do you want to know my top five?

Raglan Guld
Soule Mama
Mama Butterfly - she's got a giveaway coming up! Check her out..
Pottymouth Mama
(do you see a "mama" pattern happening here??)
Yardage Design
If you have a spare moment - hop on and check these chicks out. They'll inspire the pants off you! (Or in Raglan Guld's world - they might inspire the pants on you!!)

We are away today to check out some chooks.
We've been brewing the BioDynamic Free Range Egg idea for a while and now it is crunch time. We've got 200 little Organic ladies waiting for us to adopt them up North.  There's a few details to catch up on before you truck 200 chookies to your property!! Quite a few details indeed.
To Caravan or to buy houses on skids
Food Safety course
Retail outlets.. (there is a strong demand for these little gems - anybody have any links to people wanting to sell/use BioDynamic Free Range Eggs? Let me know!)
and the list goes on and on and on and on..

Will let you know how we are getting on in this department.
And.. I am helping to milk tomorrow morning - herd testing and my first milking. Hope the babes behave for Shona/Danae...

Have a happy day.
xx

at the capitol

These are the snaps from our day at the Capitol with Val.  Totally loved taking in the rich history of this area and the beautiful building.  Nic was trying to find Arnie - but had no success except for finding his office. 

Val flew across the country to see us and it meant SO much.  She is a kindred spirit of mine and Nic and I both love her to bits. She's got an enchanted future ahead of her and is destined for great things. My heart aches at the thought of not seeing her for a long time again. Hopefully she get's hitched before too long so that we can have another excuse to see her soon. 

The middle pictures are a few from our days in Chico visiting family and friends.. The middle picture is of my grandpa - nearly ninety and Monty - nine months.  How special! Grandma and Grandpa made such huge efforts to come and see us twice and helped us out with the trip tremendously.  We are so grateful for them!

We had a day in the park with a few of us from Uni meeting and letting our offspring run wild.  It was so funny to see the mini versions of my wild and wooly friends.

Still a bit jetlagged and sleep deprived from the Insomniac child and a pinching back.. Hope to be back to ourselves sooner rather than later!

xx Amy

back home.

We are home.
Completely and utterly exhausted from the 24 hours of travelling with 3 small children, but home.

We had such a wonderful visit to the states.
This photo is from a flag from 18 something at the State Capitol in California. Nic really wanted to schmooze with Arnie, but we didn't bump into him. I have more amazing snaps from our little tour with Monty in the backpack and my mate, Val at our side from the big white building..

For now, we are in a sleepy mode (except that I was wide eyed and bushy tailed at 3:45 this morning) and letting the crashes happen today when needed. Nic is at the farm milking.

Zoom had 3 feeds thru the night lastnight. And on the 3rd one I realized that I just need to go with the flow instead of freaking out about what sort of sleep schedule he will have now that we are home.  There is an amazing amount of power in acceptance. My heart feels lighter. Afterall - he won't be breastfed forever, will he??

We have brought back home with us...

cherished memories with family and friends
a stack of fabric that will make you squeal.
Copious amounts of clothes.
Copious amounts of snot from our "family cold"
My great grandfather's pocketwatch.
My great grandmother's teacup, thimble, and postcard collection.
300 odd photographs.
My great grandmother's flour sifter.
A lot of ideas.
A deeper connectivity with friends.
A stronger bond with family.
a MOUNTAIN of washing.

We have returned home to...

 a happy and healthy, well looked after herd and farm.
a bit of rain.
a clean house
a warm nourishing meal from Bev
our beds.

xx Amy

homeward bound

We are off on the big airplane tonight.

We have had a truly wonderful visit to the Grand ol' USA.

Looking forward to settling back into home life, but sad to have all this fun end.

Will be posting lots and lots of pictures soon.

Happy Trails.
xx

USA snaps 3

USA snaps 2

USA snaps

As you can see we've been having a bit of fun.
We're off today to see Mt Lassen - should be beautiful dressed in it's fresh snow from yesterday.
Tomorrow we are away to Chico to stay for a few nights.. Into some farm tours and visiting friends and family more.  It is so lovely to be spending time here.
Have a happy day. xx

family portrait

Here we are in all our glory on Mothers Day 2010..
I'm pretty sure that my mom was really happy on this day.

7 years ago...

Seven years ago I married my love.  He is now the father of my 3 children and my wonderful husband.  We have spent a quiet day together in the snow. Thats right - SNOW. It has been snowing today!
xx Amy

Here we go!

Righto - this is it! Packing, cleaning and ratbag wrangling today to get on the big ol' airplane tonight for the redeye flight to LA and then up to Reno the next day.

Monty slept thru the night lastnight (hurrah!!).  Not that any of that is going to mean anything when we're on the Northern Hemisphere, but at least he and I and the rest of the family had a decent night's sleep before our flight tonight.

Nic's passport arrived on Monday (big sigh!!) and the 3 kids have the most adorable photos in their passports - all taken around 9-12 months old. awww.

BioDynamic sprays going on the farm today, Books are returned to accountants as of 6 a.m. this morning, and breathe - we will get there.

Happy days ahead..
xx Amy

ratbag.

pretty stinkin' cute ratbag with insomnia issues.

how could something THIS cute be such a little rascal? I am about to board a plane for 15+ hours with THIS on my lap.

Wish me luck and may the force be with me.

ya right.

Fashionista Fairy Floss 3

what is the best look for brekky when it's cold outside?

princess dress with sunnies. for sure.

I love you little darling...xx

Preparation 500

We started this week by putting our Preparation 500 horns in the ground.  This is exciting to do on our farm - we put in about 1200 horns - filled with manure and covered with soil for the winter.  The last picture is how the preparation comes out at the end - a vigourous beautiful live morsel that will be carefully mixed with water and sprayed onto paddocks to improve soil health with micro-organisims and fine root growth.  Nic used a water driven sausage maker to fill the horns while the team placed them and covered them very carefully.  It will be exciting to unveil the 500 in the Spring!