Egg news

120 eggs for the month of july..
Yes Im skiting, yes Im not humble. Its winter and we have 120 eggs in total. I know. I kept records. 30 to 29 eggs every seven days.

Just thought id let you all know!!

Yours in eggcitement

Cherry

Chooks, wroms and backyard happenings

Poor Christmas..you cant tell to good from these pics but parts of  her neck resemble a chicken corpse before you make it into soup. Thankfully she seems to be recovering (ie Bossing all the others around, eating furiously and laying brown eggs) I know the photos are poor, but you try balancing a chook, holding the fethers apart and taking the photo all while she didnt really want to olige.After all that effort I was going to use the photos!!

Yesterday we went to the farmers market and there was a chook show..I found and refound in love with a few lavender Araunacunas. I love the blue eggs and the grey chooks are gorgeous. If only for some more land..although watch this space if i can wing it(bad pun) in the next while to fit a couple in I will!!!

I went out to do a controlled dig in the orchard for the girls to take my mind off going into pak nSave and buying yet more Cookie dough and chocolate chip ice cream (which is like crack to me) Not that Ive ever taken even a smidge of a recreational drug, but I can only imagine the passionate cravings and overwhelming desire is the same!! The chooks ploughed into the fat worms until that were sated and suddenly fat worms were ignored as the chooks in one sauntered off with a bloated kind of look. I feel sorry for the worms ut i do so love the chooks enjoying their day out into the orchard and the rear end fertiliser as it flies around the soil gives me immense pleasure. Then there was a light rain as if to help with the whole fertilising process..magic. Did i mention  i love having chooks??

My new strawberry pots...GHIU hit the roof when he saw they were on his new lawn around the vege plot. We cant quite agree on my no lawn wants at the present time. I can only work on him, ut i rely on his practical engineering and planting skills so cant just do what i want to do!!!!

The sixth chook  overseeing it all. whereever the chooks are you will find the Ginge..

And finally the winter plot. Filled with bok choi, caulis, brocolli, brussells, silverbeet, asian salad greens and underneath it all loads and loads of garlic (which I accidentently dug up a corm the ither day while planting some greens and it had loads of roots ..heres hoping for a monster crop!!)

I plan to do a lot more fossiking around the "farm" this week . Lots to do to ensure a great spring yet.
Lots of love
Happy gardening
Cherry

preserving pickles and the perils of the poultry et al

Crafting:
Still humming along with this quilt. I am finding it fiddly but that is only because I thought I could make it less complicated than the pattern strip peicing instructions. I now see I was wrong...
Homesteading in the kitchen: As you can see I have done a spot of preserving red onions. They did not come out of the garden, nor did the spiced venegar emerge from within this house, BUT the dried chiilies sprinkled about the mix were grown here about two years ago aged and dried and now (finally) have a purpose.

About the poultry:
I came home at lunch but couldnt stay as I had to coach netball at Twyford School then run some errands for my Mum who is in the rest home. Between lunch and when i finally came in the door at three, Christmas had (again) flown the fence and been nearly gobled up by Sam the less than friendly to the feathered, labrodor. She had marks in the back of her neck and feathers missing etc. I could strangle that dog. Honestly. Anyone want a maniac purebred lab!?? I can only hope that Christmas remains infection free. She certainly has been tough in the past. This of course puts the gulf between man and dog even further. have I mentioned the GHIU has a tenuous relationship with the dog?? It is now set to crash to an all time low. The dog has been punished in all ways and forms and still does this to the chook . I need some help please!

Five eggs a day keeps the grumpies away

I am hopeless at keeping in touch...So much have I been up to that Im going to subtitle whats been happening. First up the...

CHOOKS

Well, really I love these girls. presently we are getting five eggs per day!!! So much for the people who thought my "old" chook wouldnt lay at all/much. She is still called Sad chook although Im guessing she is pretty happy. She lays the biggest lovliest multicoloured eggs youve seen! I can spend hours out the back just watching the chooks and digging up worms etc for them. I noticed last night as they had their supper of mash that their crops were ENORMOUS. Like goiters out the side of their chests. I dont know what they eat in the garden ut its obviously good for them. they also enjoy all the scraps plus the morning cereal milk that the kids leave behind in their plates.  Say what yoiu will but its working!!

HOMESTEADING
 I had a marvellous moment the othe day as I embraced the feeling of living here happily withour ackyard urban farm until land comes along. No longer was I worried about leaving it to late to enjoy etc. I really thought Im happy to have land when the time is right and make this an awesome backyard semi self suffiency project as we go along. I think Ive been inspired by the folks at uran homestead here    Plus ive just found ou they are Kiwis !! Yah!
So on that route, we have tried two bottles of our cider a month apart. Im sure that they did not improve within a month of each other. well try another next month. If yoiu are a fan of the seventies show the Good Life, think of the Pea Pod wine they made. by the looks on their faces that is similar to ours when we drink our cider. Ive sought out the advice of workld award winning winemakers in the district (Hawkes ay is the winw capital of NZ and has some of the best wines in the world and some of those very same winemakers children go to Twyfor School with my girls so...) but I fear this business with cider making may be a long term project to reach perfection. Next we are making ginger beer. One of the winemakers told us that a gorgeous yummy brewery who also do the most devine ginger beer use ginger powder NOT root to make it. A hint from the wise.
Next on the homestead is the winter vege gardens. My Pok Choi is blooming, lasting through sveral devastating frosts lately. (Brrr it has been soooo cold in the mornings). The cauliflowers, brussel sprouts and I think brocolli (it was a mixed pack) are slowly moving upwards. No sight yet of the garlic, both organically grown in Hawkes bay and non oprganically grown somewhere in Nz are peeking thru yet. Im so keen to see them as Ive NEVER had luck with garklic and threw away all aspirations and attempts years ago but Im going to have to be patient. Apparently they like lots of muck. i throw the chook poo daily on the garden and we will get some more gorgeously dried horse poo hopefully this weekend.
I have started the garden one tangerine tree in, one manderion tree to go. One bay tree to be replanted. The pot from the tangerine tree I have used to plant some new Temptation strawberries you can see them ehind the Choi. The other pot I will be using to plant some more new strawberriesd The picture is up the top!!! I cannot work this new system on blogger!!!!)

CRAFTING

Covered notebooks some partially finished..Christmas presents

Isnt this cool this is a christmas pressies. Using cardstock, envelopes and creativity (Not mine!!) I made this mini booklet. The remaining photos go in the envelopes that are the front and back cover. I lOVED making these!!!

And scrapping..Ive done quite a bit these are just some of them. Notice I have found out how to distress with an inkpad. I have gone distree mad!!! Love this technique and all I had to do was ask the lady in the scrapping shop!!!

And finally.....

I have finally got around to this wallhanging. I need to get a finish on this one. Its fiddly and a pain but i do love the finished project.

My finaly note for the day. Some boffin wrote that nzs are too inward thinking about other countries due to the prolem of isolation. personally i dont see isolation as a problem, infact Id like to be more isolated. Scondly we havebt got the problems of the iother places in the world..if that is a result of inward thinking and isolation them hurray for those two factors i say. YEAS!!!I was really offended.

Love for now from :need to build a bridge Cherry