I'm Very Distracted .....photo may be distressing!

Life likes to give you a kick in the teeth now and then but when it's one of your kids it's harder to handle.
After 10 days my son has had a bandage and splint taken off his hand after an accident at work. He's an apprentice glazier and 22 years old. Surgery didn't help as the bones were also crushed so the wounds were cleaned and tidied up and after a couple of days at the Royal North Shore Hospital he could go home.
He posted this photo on his facebook wall tonight and all the shock and sadness enveloped me again. 

I'm not posting this for sympathy because as my son said "S**t happens" but at the moment blogging regularly is something I'll do when I can deal with this as well as he is dealing with it.


Cheers,
Robyn

1,2,3....PULL!

Difficult to believe this little bull is only 4 hours old considering his size. He was born yesterday morning at about 9am and we had to tie a rope around those big feet and pull him out as his mother just didn't have much energy left after about 3 hours trying to push something almost half her height out. DH had to clean the muck out of his mouth as it was stopping him breathing and we both breathed a sigh of relief when he blinked as there wasn't much action in his breathing department at the time.

His father is off to market shortly as he is one of those bulls that the older he becomes the bigger the calves he sires and I don't want to pull any more calves from my little "Carob", above, as she's faithfully given me 7 calves in 10 years and been the #1 house dairy cow more than the others we own. You have to keep a watch on her too as, if you don't record the exact dates at the time of service for future reference, she'll quite happily milk up to 2 weeks before calving then not have enough time to replenish her energy and boost up her milk supply before calving.

Welcome!

I noticed I had a few more blog followers in the last couple of weeks and I'd like to welcome them to my little patch of the internet :).

Hoping you enjoy your cyber visits to the farm and feel free to comment. Constructive criticism is welcome too as sometimes it's something I haven't thought of or haven't discovered yet.

I like posts with photos and it's been a bit like this of late though it won't be long before Spring and warmer weather is here! These shots are from my stock photos.

 

early morning

 late evening (light enhanced)

Cheers,

Robyn

Growing my Own....part two

Six weeks after the start of the cleanup began:

Top left : Bed 1 – peas and radishes growing strongly

Bottom left : Bed 1 – other end! I’m delighted with how the asparagus is multiplying. Another replant for them in a couple of months into another bed until they become 2 yr old crowns, by which time I hope to have a 3m x 3m permanent bed ready. Lol, I’ll have more  than enough of these when they are in full production. I think a bit more research before acquiring them would have been helpful but they’re here to stay now J.

Top right : Bed 2 root veges are sprouting nicely and a row of 2 leaf pak choi seedlings on the left of photo are enjoying having more space.

Bottom right : The microclimate and the fact they are planted in old compost has confused my strawberry plants as mid-winter is not when they are supposed to flower and fruit!

Top left : Soil testing throughout the bed making process showed a consistent level of 6.0-6.5 pH. Perfect for healthy veges J!

Middle left : A mass of worms with every forkful of soil turned was another common finding. I’m soooo pleased I don’t have to build up the fertility of the soil. 

Top right : Pak choi seedlings on the left of the climbing vines frame and snow pea seeds sown on the right. Pak choi will be mature about a third of the way into the snow pea’s growth cycle.

Middle right : Bed 3 with the first row of mixed loose leaf lettuce seedlings planted. Climbing vine frame in background.

Bottom : A mystery seedling amongst the kohl rabi! My guess is a melon of some description but it may be a jap pumpkin. It is now transplanted to its own pot to await developments.

Of course being an insignificant human I did require supervision during the later days of gardening to ensure I was doing things correctly....

Top left : Rascal - Lord of the farm cats – perched in the Mulberry tree

Bottom left : Ginger on the roof of the old duck enclosure

Top right : Maddy behaving

Bottom right : Maddy misbehaving

Hope you've enjoyed gardening with me!

Cheers,

Robyn

Growing my Own....part one

ROFLOL, bet that title grabbed your attention!

It's all legal and above board though as I'm growing my own vegetables again not anything else J.  

Top left : Southern side of the garden after trimming the River Oak and the old Mulberry tree.

Top right : Northern side before the weed clearing.

Bottom left : Southern side after cleanup - levelling the first bed

Bottom right : Northern side after preliminary cleanup - digging out bed 2 pre filling and levelling.

Top left : First two beds completed and all the trimmings from trees burnt. Bed 1 with asparagus crowns, fortnight old bush peas and globe radish seeds planted. Bed 2 seeded with chatenay carrot, kohl rabi, globe radish and some spring onion seedlings. Cardboard covers are over bed as a big storm was in sight and I didn't want the freshly planted seeds disturbed from a downpour. The 'box' at left is my seedling tent.

Top right : The strawberry box at rear. Chive seedlings, at front, from the seeds I'd planted at the same time as I began clearing.

Bottom left : Inside my seedling tent - pak choi and lettuce seedlings - with broccoli and spinach seeds in the punnets at rear.

Bottom right : The skins the possum leaves after helping itself to an orange (or a few) nearly every night. You can't see it properly but there's a little possum "message" at the corner of the bricks - yuk!

Now something for the possum lovers. My orange thief!

Cheers, 

Robyn