Monday 30 September 2013

miserable............

Hayfever is killing me this year..........I sound like a croaky frog too......the last week has just got worse and worser.............


ok pass the tissues............those nice aloe soft ones.........please.....
.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

Friday 27 September 2013

Chilling......

the other evening I went for a late walk..........it was a glorious temp, perfectly still..........I could hear for miles..............lambs beating for mothers way over a few more paddocks........an occasional cow bellowing..............magic............
one of my gums in flower............
I wished I could share my peace with you.......
I know most of you live in the hustle and bustle..........
Catch you later
Chookyblue

Wednesday 25 September 2013

cute and not so cute..............

"the cute"...........3 willy wagtail babies..........right at my back door............a favourite nesting spot for the willy's............they hatched several lots each year and they sure are getting in early this spring.........they will be out of the nest in a day or so and then flying around the garden............
"the not so cute"...........I have included this as it is a bit of history.......life on the lands constantly includes pest animal and plant control.........with the wet summers a few years back feral pig numbers have got out of control...........there have been numerous controlled eradication programs.........everyone is complaining about pig numbers.........i've been here for 20 years and we have never had a pig here in that time.....or sign of one.......a few months ago a neighbour saw one on the road near the house and we couldn't find it................we found signs of "rooting around" (pig diggings) but we could not find any pigs...............that is until yesterday when "boy wonder" was out in the paddocks............and he caught it.............well done......an older boar lets hope he is on his own...........but I sure will be looking out for more.............
today I pulled out the good camera........been using my phone too much lately
as I roamed around the garden I snapped some flowers.......surprising how much is flowering considering how dry it is..............I have lost some plants........the gaps will just have to stay there until it rains properly....
And I have been sewing...........working on numerous projects with no clear direction or progress..............I stayed out in the chookshed until it got toooooo HOT.....it was becoming a sweat shop............not fun...........33.5degC when I came in.......go away summer.........this months temps are well above average.................
Recently I got to enjoy lunch with Sonia from Me and My Thoughts...........you definitely have to stay for longer then a quick lunch............why does work have to interfere with socialising........next time a sleep over or two.......
look at the gorgeous sign she made for me.........i've got it sitting on the windowsill.....still waiting for Mr Chooky to put up some hooks etc so I can hang things.............
Catch you later
Chookyblue

Tuesday 24 September 2013

motivation - where are you..............

I've been back to the 2nd camp with the girls...........I talked about it here.........
this is a pic of the fire sculptures at the end of the main concert.............
the echidna...........
remember I spoke about the massive artwork for the back drop...........
here are the primary kids in front of the backdrop...........
representing the theme fire and water........the river intertwined in our lives..........
the music also reflected the theme..............
I've also meet a lady who I since discovered is a blogger............
check out Indigo and Quince........she's a keen knitter......
And struggling to get motivated into some sewing but I got this binding attached for a friend...........another girlfriend will stitch the binding down for her...........then she will have to buy the bottle of champagne for the 3 of us to share together once it is done................lol............
Ok better go............loving the school holidays........also off work before I start 5 weeks fulltime.........I have not worked a town job 5 days a week for 5 weeks for 19 years..............OMG what did I sign up for..........
32deg yesterday and the same forecast for today but tomorrow they have forecast 34deg C - "summer" please let me enjoy spring for a bit longer..............

Tuesday 17 September 2013

SSCS links...........

Hope you girls are having fun stalking (in a good way) your partner........
The full list of swappers is on a page tab at the top of my blog just under my blog header.....
Just thought I would share a couple of links.........
Lots of girls have been in the swap for years......
Shari (5th swap), Sonia (6th swap) and Julie (5th swap) have all done posts with all/most of the previous swap presents they have sent and received........check them out............
&&&
15mls of rain nothing like what other areas have had.......need lots more.........but atleast it can rain..........our second biggest fall in 6months........
.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

Sunday 15 September 2013

Cardy where are you????

So Cardy where are you when we need you..........
....let the binding begin......Sorry about the pic..............

Catch you later
Chookyblue

Sewing yippee................

Just before dark these kangaroos came in for a drink.........very dry and unusual that they come into the house so close before dark.........not the clearest pic but it was thru the window...................
And the sewing machines are humming................
working on a special project..........actually all my projects are special projects.............
just about to sandwich and then quilt.........wish me luck.........
Catch you later
Chookyblue

Friday 13 September 2013

Calf marking...........

So this weeks cattle work saw some calf marking happening.........
all I seem to be doing lately is cattle work but I do like it more then sheep.......
We are certainly closer to the end of it now which is great.......
We also sent some more into sale............de-stocking trying to manage the dry...........
I caught a couple of feral pigs while mustering the cattle in the morning.......
Thankfully the day was a little cooler.......I't been such a warm September.........
These calves all got ear tagged and marked etc
my work bench........
and this thing was mixed in ours............its a feral wild thing........
I wouldn't get in the yard with it...........it put Mr Chooky up the fence......tried to jump over the fences........... 
Just as we put the cows back into their paddock the sun was setting.............glorious clear sky.........
Finally the sewing machine will get some work this weekend after about 6 weeks of silence.......
3 full days at home......Anita will be here for the weekend with Mr Riley's Rambles.....i'm sure Mr Chooky will find some farm work to do with him......
Another of my friends will be over too..........lots of sewing hopefully.......well that's the plan...........can't wait..........
Have a great weekend everyone.......
Catch you later
Chookyblue


Monday 9 September 2013

blog meet???????????



Sat 9th November............Bathurst

plenty of notice I know but as most of us travel many hours to get there you have time to make plans
Interested?????

leave a comment and I will keep you posted on the details ( which still need to be worked out).........

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

Saturday 7 September 2013

Clarification needed....

After Bev from Kainga Happening's comment yesterday I thought I should clarify that it is not me having the pregnancy test.............
It's the cows........lol........
I snapped Curly Pops in the crush.......
And the business end......it's a messy job.......and the good news she's having another baby.......
Anything dry (not in calf) is going to sale in the next week or so.........
Have a great weekend............it's going to be a warm one here.........
29deg C today and 30 tomorrow..........
finish up some cattle work here, organised some bookwork and then attack the house......
Anita's coming to visit very soon.....I can't wait......it'll give me a few days off.....
&&&
SSCS Swap girls i'll get the swap list organised and Googy Girl and I will start emailing out your partners..................
Catch you later
Chookyblue

Friday 6 September 2013

cuties..........

Snapped these while feeding yesterday.............
the baby calves were checking out the bike.........they are SOOOOO cute.......
Off pregnancy testing..........
Catch you later
Chookyblue

Thursday 5 September 2013

sheep, cattle and presents...............

It's been a big week....I've been writing this post for several weeks in my head so I decided to jam it all into one post instead of 3.......Last Sunday (week ago) we tagged all the lambs......
I hate this thing below............my hands need to be a bit bigger and it would be better......it's a bit fiddly putting the tags in the lambs ears.....some go easy others harder........it identifies our sheep to our neighbours if they get mixed up but also is a requirement by law to sell sheep............
see it in the ear here............. 
the sun thru the dust............the yards were terribly dusty
we push them into a long race to do the work on them............ 
 hey Cardygirl I have my work boots on..............
 
A couple of days at town work then into the cattle yards...............
Mustering first.............I get distracted by beautiful flowering trees............even when it is this dry......amazing........
some parts are nice and open and others are timbered and "wild" let alone keeping an eye on the cattle you're supposed to be mustering
trying to find a track thru can be interesting..............
some logs you can ride the bike over but not this one......
one day turned into 3.5 days and we got lots done...........these big boys (steers) were going to a feedlot..........trying to clear out numbers as cattle feed is running out fast............
We pregnancy tested all the cull heifers (girls) too and I tried to grab a pic but the vet was too fast and my camera was having issues..........
Thursday was an awful day in the yards it was SOOOOOOO windy I didn't need sunscreen I was covered in so much dust..........the shower that night was heavenly..........
some crops look like this (below - not our crop)...........with the big frost the previous week before last what little green there was got burnt with the frost and the last week we are 25-28degC so now the heat is affecting it............so pleased we didn't put much in...........some people will be having huge losses.............feed is running out rapidly.........we are just managing on 2 properties but it is a massive worry coming into summer with no feed and limited water..............WE NEED RAIN...........soaking rain but also a few quick inches to run some into dams and fill them for summer.............we have not been this low going into summer for many years........quite a worry............and all the optimisim around town is going negative very fast............
the other day while taking some cattle back to a paddock Fairy Girl was on the bike with me and spotted something on a bush......we called past it on the way back and quickly took a detour as it is a bee swam...........we got in the car and drove back over to it as it was close to the road and snapped some pics up close...........amazing to watch them (safe in the car)..............it was pretty much flat on the other side..........I tried to take a pic but you can't really see it.........
these girls were the last go be returned to their paddock and these will be kept to breed from...........this is where looks do matter...........all the blacks were culled and the herefords who didn't have the "right look" or were too small went into a cull mob and they should go in the next week hopefully............these girls will be meeting some new bulls this week...........
Fairy Girl taking the girls back to the paddock.........
it was nice and cloudy keeping it cool..........
in the blur that was called August I had a birthday..........The secret sewing sisters sent me this bunch of goodness............French Generals and reproductions..........thanks heaps girls.........I have a plan for the FG fabrics and the others will be added to the civil war repro box and included in the quilts I am working on there............it certainly brightened my day............
Little Chicken and family found this for me for my birthday...........he'll live in the chookshed............
and last but certainly not least Friends in Stitching online group have a birthday swap and Teresa sent to me..............how lucky am I........(pics by Teresa) I just love the gifts........
"Friends make each day a new beginning filled with wonder an joy"
Teresa made the chook and card too.........isn't she talented.......
Now to get Mr Chooky to put some hooks up so i can hang some of my wall hangings........thanks for the gifts............
ok better go........
Hope you had a great weekend.............I did managed to get one and a bit days at home..........wash, cook, do some cleaning try and regroup............Mr Chooky mowed for me so that makes things look better..........when the lawns are done I do feel good.....mind you if it doesn't rain soon they may be dying off with lack of water............if it doesn't rain I won't be able to use the dam water on the lawn............it will be to just keep the plants alive.......and water stock...........

Catch you later..........
Chookyblue............

PS once again it's taken days to get this finished to post and I have also got to see the elusive Miss Kate from Show and Tell  she'e been busy cooking for a big market this weekend.............goodluck Kate...........here she is below with her new range of goodies....."Pickled on Peisley"
every jar is a different variety...........
we got to have lunch together............it was delicious too..........

PSS the swap is about to close so be fast...............