Freedom!

We often let the hens out in the front yard, particularly on a weekend. They love it.

Weeding and fertilising

Watch dog so adventurous hens don't trespass in back yard where the veges are growing.

 Mumma hen also had a residential relocation.....and we supplied a bodyguard for her and her offspring. She keeps him a wingspan away at the moment but I think he'll be more than a bodyguard soon. After playing second in charge to Figjam since he was a "teenager" he's very pleased to be allowed to flap his wings and crow without receiving a physical chastisement! I'm considering which breed of hens to add to his flock as I'd like some meat producers without purchasing commercial meat hens.
He also needs renaming as "Junior" doesn't sound dignified enough now he has a missus and kids!

The perfect end to a lovely Winter's day.

Cheers,

Robyn Louise XO

Wet Worms

I checked the worm farm a few days ago and discovered that very cold nights make for morning condensation and strange things grew in my worm bed.

On the other side though the worms seemed fine and there was no offensive smell. 

The top tray and the middle tray were quite soggy, though the inhabitants weren't affected. 

I added oat straw troughs in the bedding to soak up moisture. Also, spreading the bedding more evenly through the 3 layers, as well, will assist in evening out the moisture.

After I emptied out the worm fluid, into a container, the bottom tray was layered with dry straw/grass and then the worm farm remained open in the sun for a couple of hours for the moisture to reduce.

 

As I won't require worm castings until Spring I'm trying to breed my little workers over Winter and I'm thinking that the longer, shallower bathtub (the one underneath) will make a nice new home for some of my worms in the near future.

Any advice on increasing worm populations and creating a worm habitat in a bathtub, from those who have done this before, would be most appreciated 😊.

Cheers,

Robyn Louise XO

Anonymous Posts

Over the past fortnight I have been receiving anonymous posts that either don't make sense re grammar or have dubious links attached. They are for posts that I made long ago as well.

I've marked them as spam  and deleted so apologies to anyone who has made an honest comment but has difficulty with the English language. I do have trouble with it myself at times and I've been using it as my main, and only, language for over 50 years! I've also changed the availability of access to my blog so I'm unsure if I have now made access to some of my regular followers a problem.

Please if  you would like to be a follower of this blog then don't be an anonymous commenter. I have been hacked before and it took me weeks to track down the fix for it and that involved rewriting some code. It was a big learning curve for me and a few posts vanished as they were infected. I have published the odd Anonymous comment, in the past, but it's not something I now do as it's just not worth the trouble that can follow :(.

Cheers,
RobynLouise XO

Personalised Muesli Slice

I've made this muesli bar slice since the day I found it about 2 years ago. During the last 3 weeks or so I've bought some different ingredients and formulated a fruit and sugar free (not sweetener free) recipe so that PC can have some energy snacks on hand that won't give him a hypo due to his DNA quirks.

Muesli Bar Slice                                

1 cup rolled oats

½ cup wholemeal SR flour  

½ cup desiccated coconut

½ cup chopped almonds

¼ cup pepitas

4 tbsp sesame seeds

2 tbsp linseed meal

4 tblsp sunflower seed

 ½ cup rice malt syrup

 125g coconut oil

 2 tbsp honey              

• Place oil, honey and rice malt syrup into a saucepan and melt until the ingredients can be mixed together reasonably well
• Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl
• Add oil mixture to dry ingredients and mix until sticky
  
• Press evenly into a greased slice tin. Use a potato masher to flatten out
  
• Bake @ 180c for 20 - 25 minutes until golden
• Cut into bars / squares when cold
• Keeps for 5 - 6 days in airtight container

As it is the sweet taste of sugar that triggers an unfavourable reaction with PC this recipe has been altered specifically to suit his individual needs. 😀 They are very filling and because of the content of dry ingredients they are a slow release energy.

Cheers,

RobynLouise XO

Treasures, Travelling and 'Toys'!

We were about to leave, a week ago, to collect some woodworking machinery when I checked the cranky nesting Silver Lace Wyandotte. There were peeps coming from the nesting box but I had to wait until the next day to take these.

3 out of 6 hatched, however, I suspect the eggs from some of the other hens either weren't fertile, or were jiggled around, as all 6 hens insist on using the same nesting container and there's a discrepancy with whose turn it is next. 3 is enough for a cold weather hatch though as no one will be left in the cold and it won't be too stressful for a first time hen :). Mrs Wyandotte was nameless but from now on she's called Mumma, as none of the other hens go broody.

Our trip that day was rainy and cold and we collected two machines from 350km away. PC is pleased with the price he paid and is always glad to have me travel with him, especially when the drive is boring because of rain, as it's easy to become weary just driving along a highway. I have neglected to take photos of the bandsaw and the lathe but there will be some in the future when they are used.

After a day at home we were off again, on Sunday, travelling the same route but the weather was lovely apart from some fog early in the day.

20 mins from home

2.5hrs from home

15 mins from destination and these tunnels give me the heebie jeebies!

The drive home was pleasant.....

My favourite roadside resting stop.

....except the old truck decided to have a fuel problem and we had to have quite a few stops, and nurse it to the closest town to home, and we overnighted there. Temperamental old thing was fine in the morning but PC will have to service the diesel fuel lines.

Another lovely day for the remainder of the trip home so I took a few pictures to pass the time.

The first two pics are taken 30 minutes from home.

 This one is 15 minutes from home...

and as you follow the turn in the tarmac road we are 5 mins away and on the edge of the village.

This is the reason for the trip and PC already has plans for some items he'd like to make for the workshop and the house. He couldn't wait to unload it, clean the old sawdust off it, and ensure it ran well!

Lol, boys and their toys! I'm sure I can suggest a few jobs for him to use them for, in the future, when he has completed his immediate plans :P.

Cheers,

RobynLouise XO