Washing and other conflicting tasks

It's the little jobs that eat up your time

Since jumping on the farming train, one of the challenges we have found is balancing the needs of the house versus the demands of the farm. I believe this is a common issue and everyone handles it differently. I have been into some homes who just don't worry about the house, and it is clear by the grit and grime indoors, that the farm is the focus.

Wishing the washing would hang itself out

 I must admit I couldn't live like that, but I do understand how easy it is to get there.

Farming is so demanding and it seems the list just never ends. So how do we manage to rebuild a farm, work, raise a teenager, support an elderly parent and keep the house respectable?

• BE FLEXIBLE
• Keep looking at the BIG picture
• Take ONE day at a time
• Expect EVERYTHING to take at least twice as long as you expected
• Find JOY in the hard tasks
• Take time to CELEBRATE the smallest success
• SHARE the journey with others (whoever is keen to don the workboots or grab the mop)
• Don't be ashamed to ask for HELP
• Have a BREAK
• Try not to multi-task e.g. Cooking risotto while blogging = BURNT dinner! 
• LAUGH and when needed, cry
• Drink wine (or bourbon)
• SLEEP

We were wrecked by the time these drinks were opened, after fueling a large bonfire, which lasted 8 weeks!

Ticked Off

Well, I'll be damned!

I found a tick embedded on the hairline of our horse's mane.

Nasty little creature

The little bugger did not want to let go and we were lucky Daryl could remove it with a pair of pliers.The horse is so tall it was impossible for me to reach it once he flicked his head up (wasn't too impressed when I tried to tug it out).

I must admit I was quite shocked when I found it. Ticks are nasty and can cause terrible issues with stock and pets.Now we will need to treat the dogs, just in case.  We just treated all our cattle, so hopefully this is the one and only critter we will find. After some research it looks like this could be a bush tick, but I will now be more aware of them.

On other farming matters I am delighted with our zucchini plants - producing an abundance of flowers, then succulent zucchinis.

Nice haul

As always there is too much at once, but we are more than happy to share with our friends and family.

Last year, I grated the oversupply and froze it using it in casseroles and pasta sauce during the colder seasons. This worked well, so I imagine we will do this again along with making a number of zucchini slices and sharing them also. I make a gluten free version as well as one full of 'glutenous' goodness, both are delicious, hot or cold.

While on the subject of yumminess our blackberries (the few bushes we didn't hack to pieces or poison) are also producing an abundance of fruit.

Blackberry jam on its way

Let's see if we can beat the birds and miss the snakes while picking these juicy little berries.

Sadly the rest of our garden is leaving little to be pleased about - tomatoes are slow, so slow, we are just seeing a few green fruit but not nearly enough. Hoping this improves greatly in the coming weeks. Other disappointments include the loss of all my bok choy plants and now something is attacking the spring onion and remainder of our lettuces :(

On a positive note the weeds are thriving,  as are our gorgeous rose bushes.

If you could smell the aroma - ah so beautiful

I hope your gardens are full of colour, fragrance and bees!

'Til next time

Cheers

N

Jelly Bean Days

Delete, delete, delete the only keys I seem to press of late.

Maybe writer's block, maybe fuzzy brain syndrome, maybe fatigue  but in all reality, I have absolutely no idea!
Frustrated, I have been  forcing my fingers to tap out line after line, mainly dribble and waffle, in the hope of something appearing worth your time- I have failed, miserably.

I refer to these as my jellybean days .

So instead of writing a piece that will come out rigid and static I am, instead, going to share a pictorial journey.....later the words might flow.

The two 'B' girls so proud of their very first fence

 Cutest cleaning girl around

Overall twins

Zac and his new friends

Our welcome on moving day,blocking access into the house

Helping hands so we can get into the front door

Ooops, the dining table didn't fit through the door

Too many trees, not enough light

Apparently Daryl wanted more airflow

Chainsaws a'buzzing in beautiful bushland

Serenity

The clean up that never ends...yet

Cooling off

Crisp and very cool

The beginning of the end

Pecking for treasure

Even the four legged help needs a rest

Flexing muscle for a good cause

A little ear piercing cow style

The cleanup continues

In his element

 Keep your lolly jar full...

Cheers
N

Horsing around joy and heart break

Today has been a most difficult day, finally making the decision to sell Zeus, advertising him online.

Zeus is the horse we bought Bek for her 15th birthday, 16.3 hands of muscle and potential. The new best four-legged friend and the fulfilment of a promise I made to my daughter, after deciding to move to the farm. The joy I felt when she hugged me hard with happy tears in eyes on her birthday, is now replaced with my tears and heartbreak.

She was so excited, after having riding lessons and learning about the horse world with her riding trainer, Tegan Stephenson. Hours upon hours of learning, lunging, cleaning up horse poo, swatting flies, sunburn and sore legs has come to a sudden pause.

Today, Zeus was washed, trimmed and photographed in the hope of finding him a new home.

Sadly ours is a common story of  'they saw you coming sweetheart' - naive, keen and desperate for a horse for her birthday, I convinced Daryl this was a good idea, he was cautious, had a bad feeling about it all, but respected my determination to have Bek's horse. He also drove the eight hour round trip to pick him up, hiring a horse float and battling city traffic both ways. Patience is not my strong suit, but we had been searching for such a long time and he sounded perfect. The only problem was the seller failed to disclose all issues and concerns. We were regaled with assurances that Zeus was suitable for a confident beginner, told that he had no vices etc etc. We were not told about his hoof issues, his breathing issues, his dental issues or his sensitivities when it came to putting him under saddle.

We were duped and I was foolish, albeit with the best of intentions.

Today, Zeus looks beautiful, a bit lean, but handsome and glowing in the majestic way horses do. Tegan, helpful and supportive above and beyond all expectations, and with the help of her generous dad, brought Zeus home to eat the fresh grass and wait for a new someone to love him.

I  now have an unused saddle in my lounge room, bought for Bek for Christmas, the irony is not lost on anyone, especially me! And adding insult to injury  I have been hammered by 'uninformed, unhelpful, horse site trolls' who feel they should voice their opinions on our decision to sell Zeus. Some are just rude, others viscous, many are ignorant and most need to learn to use spell check!!

Right now my head is pounding  and I am wishing I could turn back time. But on the positive side of life, it has been an experience, a rather hard one, but valuable no less.

This is farming.

Cheers
N

Beetroot bounty

Beetroot, ripe for picking

It's summer and beetroot is booming in our humble garden. If you have only ever eaten shop-bought tin beetroot, I'm afraid you are missing out on the delicious flavour of real, homegrown delights.
This purple gem, grows like a weed and is easy to cook and versatile to use.
A friend visited the other night, and I offered her some beets to take home. She had never prepared them straight from the garden so I thought I would share my simple version of cooking beetroot.

• I pick the beets when they are about the size of a tennis ball, they are sweet and tender, if on the smaller side.

  

  Ready for picking

• I cut the leaves, leaving some stalk on the beets ( I feed  leaves to the chickens or you could compost) the new leaves are also sweet and taste great in a garden salad.
• I roughly wash the beets and place then in a pot of cold water (enough to cover them all) and add a generous splash or two of vinegar (amount depends on volume of water) .
• Bring to the boil and simmer until beets are soft (use a skewer to test)
• Once ready, cool with fresh cold water or simply leave in pot until they are cold.
• I use disposable gloves, but if I don't have any, I use a freezer bag or plastic bag as they will work just as well. These are used to protect your hands from turning purple! 
• Drain the water from the pot, grab a beet and wipe the skin away, including the stalk.
•  It will fall off and leave you with a silky smooth finish, rinse and eat!
• Keep them in an airtight container in the fridge.

  

  Fresh as it gets - yum!

  
  
  
  Try it, you cannot go wrong.
  
  Cheers
  N
  

  

  Ready to dice and add to my salad

Horny bulls in the morning

A quiet start to the day was clearly not in order for this morning. After gingerly getting up and wondering if my legs would work painlessly (post hip replacement complications- a story for another time) I planned to head to the couch and sort through photos, write a blog post and drink tea, while hubby slept after a busy night at work.

Instead, I found myself dragging my work boots on and trudging through the paddocks to help Daryl  bring our bull back home.The horny mass of Limousine muscle had again escaped into the neighbours paddock. Surrounded by the attentive females, the bull, affectionately known as Donny, had no desire to return to his own herd, of rather lonely cows. After a few terse phone calls between Daryl and I, no answer from neighbours, we determined Donny must come home.

By the time I limped up the paddock, swatted a few hundred flies away and climbed over a fence or two (one of the few fences standing on the property, I might add) Daryl had successfully brought Donny back to his rightful herd. Looking rather smug, Donny appeared no worse for wear after his adventures.

Given the fact the fences on this place are either in a state of falling down, have already fallen down or don't exist, we felt it was safer to push the herd back down the morass.

Contented cattle heading to the green fodder of the morass

Thankfully cows, like sheep, follow the lead and go wherever the herd goes, moving them is easy work, as you can see in the photo they are content to go bush. With 80 acres of morass the cattle enjoy the lush green grass growing plentifully this time of year, the abundant shade and coolness of the dense bushland.

We have only a tiny herd, 21 in total not counting Donny, who is only on  loan, 12 cows and nine calves of various ages and sexes. They are a mix of Limousine, Murray Grey and Charolais. We hope Donny has done his job and we get 12 new calves later this year.

With 80 acres to explore it is bovine paradise.

However, no matter how smooth things go, there always has to be a glitch, check out the video on Rivergum3851 Facebook page to see the one that got away!

 'Til next time,

Cheers

N

Farming, friendship and a dash of dementia

Welcome to my new blog Rivergum3851

On these pages, I aim to share with you a journey of the rural, rustic, feathery and furry kind. 

Our first herd

Rivergum3851 is the continuous story of a farm restoration, by a family who clearly has no idea what it means to take it easy! 

It is also the tale of tough decisions; the reality of caring for an elderly relative (with dementia); and the challenges of returning to your childhood home. 

The old house, ready for demolition.

 


It is a story of  determination, friendship and at times sheer 'dimwitted-ness' as we dig, drain, chop and churn our way forward to building a sustainable and organic lifestyle at Rivergum Farmstead.