Left, Left, Left, Right, Left

For the last few weeks when the house goes quiet my ears prick up (as any mum's do really) and I listen hard, what I've been hearing though isn't the sounds of mischief, it's the sound of my Muddy Organiser organising her Muddy Sisters into line ready to march. Then starts the call 'Left, Left, Left, Right, Left' as she instructs them to keep their hands at their sides, fists clenched before setting off around the house.

 

It's that time of year for the interschools sports trophy and one major part of this is the big march all the schools do down the main street of the town it's being held in. There is even a separate trophy awarded to the school with the best marching (not kidding).

 

The teachers and principal at school have had them practicing for weeks (yes weeks), they have the drum going and you hear the call of 'Left, Right, Left, Right', 'Lift those feet', 'Keep your arms straight' as they march around the streets that border the school. It's serious stuff this marching (who knew! Cynical me didn't). My Muddy Organiser was so very proud this week to put on her poorly ironed sports uniform, white sneakers and school socks and head off to the march. For her it was all about the march and not so much about the sports and games.

 

The best bit though was her enthusiasm, she arrived back with just as much as when she left, she tried her best, had a great day and is already practicing her marching for next year, as much as I'm informing her that she'll run out of march by next year if she keeps it up, she just keeps going. I have no doubt that by the time the rest of the Muddy Kids start school they'll have the marching down pat thanks to their big sister!

 

 

And just so you know, they won the Marching Trophy!

Wet Weather Morning Tea

Muddy Hubby, for as long as I've known him, has this thing about 'when it rains, you cook up morning tea', his preference is scones, mine is not to cook at all because I'm too busy doing the rest of the household chores. However occasionally I do like to indulge him and I get a hankering for some fun in the kitchen, and when it rained this week I was working, so the next day the Muddy Kids and I cooked up pikelets, an oldie, but a goodie.

 

The Muddy Kids had a blast watching them bubble up and then be flipped over before being put on the plate to be slathered in honey or jam and quickly devoured! None of them would sit down to eat them, they were quickly stuffing them in their mouths while trying to reach for their next one, to make sure they got their quota. Unfortunately for Muddy Hubby he wasn't home, so I made a nice batch of Rocky Road for him to enjoy in his tucker box this week.

 

What's your favourite morning tea when it rains? Do your kids love pikelets as much as mine?

 

Day by Day I'm Grateful

This week I have taken a step back to breathe, to focus each day on something I am Grateful for, to try and take on some advice and prioritise.

Sunday I was grateful for some family time, to tick off some of the jobs on the to do list, spend time together, play with our ducks and get them started with training on their new Duck Feeder and just be together as a family.

Monday I was Grateful for time to play with my Muddy kids, to stop and roll around on the grass and chase the ducklings and push them on the swing, to have fun with my kids and enjoy them and their little personalities.

Tuesday saw me be grateful for lots of things, a wonderful school who organise a Year 6 Buddy for my Muddy Organiser, who she absolutely adores and who has made the transition to school that little bit easier. I was grateful for my wonderful Muddy Sister-in-law who didn't hesitate to say Yes and look after Muddy Bubby so I could volunteer to help make Kinder - Year 6 Buddy lunch. I was grateful for a fantastic OT who listened and didn't hesitate to offer help where she could.

Wednesday I was grateful for healthy kids, for Muddy Kids who push my buttons, but are here and healthy and who I love with all my heart. I was also grateful for good friends, as always, who helped organise the next days expeditions.

Thursday I was grateful for the sales they have at the shops in town. As they don't have any storage space for last seasons stock they mark everything down really low to help it sell so they don't have to store it - it's a big win for us! I was also grateful for the enthusiasm my Muddy Organiser showed on going to the 4 schools carnival and being soooo excited about marching in the march.

Friday I am extremely excited and grateful that I am finally getting our NBN Satellite Internet installed today, I am hoping that this is as good as it's supposed to be, because if it is it will make my life a whole lot easier and I won't spend hours waiting for my downloads and uploads like I do at the moment.

 

Linking up with Maxabella at Village Voices for 52 Weeks of Grateful. Make sure you make the time to check it out.

 

 

Cup Fever

It's not often a little piece of Australian History, really an Australian Icon, passes so close by, so I had to go and check it out! Yesterday morning the Melbourne Cup was coming to a breakfast at the local pub. The local community served up bacon and egg rolls with a cuppa for breaky and you could see the real Melbourne Cup up close and personal, as well as hold it if you wanted to.

Of course, not one to miss out on an opportunity I put the Muddy Organiser on the bus and carted the other 3 kids to the pub for breakfast to see something they probably won't get to see up close again. It weighs just over 4 kgs, is made up of 44 pieces hand welded together, it is made of 24 carat gold with a wood base. Each year they make a new cup so the winner gets to keep the year they one, they have almost finished making the one for the 2013 winner. This year I can proudly say I held the cup that will get presented to the winner at about 3:20pm on the 6th of November 2012.

The cup travels with an entourage, including a security guard who instructs you specifically on how to hold it. You are allowed to hold the stem, but only with the gloved hand, and your other hand must sit under the base to support the weight. The security guard got very nervous as Muddy Bubby kept reaching for the cup and trying to put his sticky hands on it. Very sternly he said 'the kids make me nervous, please do not let them touch it'.

They have a couple of PR people and we were lucky enough to have a jockey who has ridden in the cup 10 times and won 3 Melbourne Cups, he gave a lovely talk about his history and the races he rode in. We were also given a talk on the history of the cup, now I missed most of the talk thanks to the Muddy Kids, but one on one the entourage were lovely to chat to and were more than happy to share their stories and knowledge of the cup.

Definitely not my normal Monday morning, and not something I'll forget any time soon.

 

 

This Little Lamby Went To Market

People talk about farming not being a job but being a 'way of life' and it really is. There is very little down time, weekends while we try to spend time together as a family, it is often spent doing farm jobs together. Don't get me wrong we definitely do lots of other stuff too, and get out and about off the farm, but 'there is always something'. At the moment we are in the process of sending all our Wether Lambs to the Sale Yards for selling. Before we send them we have to draft off the fattest lambs which will gain us the most money (in theory).

As the sales are on a Monday often on a Sunday afternoon you can find us in the sheep yards weighing lambs. We draft off an amount of them to weigh, then we run those ones through the race into the scales where they are individually weighed and the heavy ones are kept separate to send to market and the lighter ones are sent back to the paddock for further fattening.

The Muddy Kids all love weighing lambs, they get their spot and either sit and watch or get up close in the action if they can. Muddy Bubby has just started to be allowed out of the pram for weighing and didn't hesitate to get in amongst it all. Really it's not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon together.

Gratefuls from my thinking time

Source

This week has been an absolute whirlwind, I have spent so much time in the car travelling here there and everywhere that today I am so Grateful to be home - ALL DAY!

As I have travelled in the car I have had lots of thinking time and so I have lots of little things to be grateful for this week:

I am grateful for my car, it's comfort it's easy riding on the road, it's multiple cup holders and bluetooth in the radio.

I am grateful for my wonderful family for stepping in for Muddy Hubby and I while we were away.

I am so grateful for having fabulous friends and them stepping in to lend a hand when needed or simply being there to listen.

I have been grateful this week for my resilient Muddy Kids who have coped and been relatively well behaved while I have been missing in action.

Grateful also for the wonderful Preschool Director who listened to my concerns about my Muddy Pixie and didn't hesitate to say 'I'll keep and eye on and it let you know what I think by the end of next week'.

We had my Muddy Organiser's school concert on Wednesday and I have never been so grateful for the choice we made in schools, for the wonderful job the teachers are doing and continue to do and for watching my little girl up on stage speaking into the microphone and dancing, two things I didn't think she would have the confidence to do, it just warmed my heart.

Today though I am most grateful for being at home, for the mundane, the washing, the vacuuming, the ducks, the sunshine and the normality.

Linking up with Maxabella at Village Voices for 52 Weeks of Grateful. Make sure you head over and check it out!

Hay Work

It’s that time of year again, time for new life, with lambing starting. As it hasn’t rained and feed is becoming a little thin on the ground we have been feeding out hay and grain to our Ewes that are currently lambing or are feeding baby lambs. This helps to keep them strong and in good condition for looking after their baby lambs and providing them with enough milk.

We load up the truck with big round bales and cart them out to the mobs of Ewes that are lambing. The Muddy Girls love getting up on the truck and trying to help push them off. Then they help unwrap the netting from around them, round and round in circles they go til it’s unwrapped and the sheep are able to get at the hay. The hay we’re feeding out at the moment is Sorghum hay, which was made out of a summer crop. We can also feed them Oaten Hay that we produce from early winter Oat crops.

We also have a feeder bin that we put on the back of one of the utes and this feeds out a strip of grain to the Ewes for them to eat, which will also help keep them in good condition. Muddy Bubby loves watching the Ewes come up and chase the ute as we start to feed them.

The Muddy Girls have also discovered a new trick with the Big Round Bales while we’ve been busy feeding the Ewes – They make a great stage!