A Tailing We Will Go.....

I got a lovely email from Corinne about the fact that her kids have never asked her 'to go lamb tailing', chances are they never will, and sometimes I wonder why my kids love it so much, the baaaing the dust, the battle to save the poddy lambs and more baaaing. BUT love it they do.

I captured this week's lamb tailing efforts in pictures for our non-farming friends to be able to experience it through us. The only thing missing is the smell and the noise!

 

 

 

Killing them with kindness

So 12 months after the big Fox escapade which wiped out our poultry we are starting to branch out again into other breeds. We have had a couple of plain brown chooks for a while, they were rejects from the neighbour, a testing bunch, just in case the chook yard wasn't truly fox proof. After almost 6 months of survival we've used the Muddy Puzzler's birthday as an excuse to get some Silkies. I did think we were getting chooks ready to go straight into the yard. Unfortunately I was mistaken! We now have 4 baby chickens, we put them out in a cage on the grass in the day and bring them in to a brooder box next to the hot water system to keep them warm at night.

 

The Muddy Kids are loving it, soaking up all the squishy cuddles, overfeeding them, effectively killing them with kindness, as I think they are so well fed they'll soon have trouble walking. It is lots of fun though, and has been bringing smiles to the kids faces and lots of conversation about names (Dora, Pink cupcake icing, Thomas and Barbie Fashion Show are the current names they've been given). 

 

Sounds of Laughter

I have had the rare delight of 5 straight days at home with my Muddy Kids, just getting jobs done, and spending time together. It has been so lovely. I am still running round like a mad person trying to get through my to do lists, but every so often I stop and just enjoy being at home, soaking it up before I go back to work.

 

The best bit about it - the sounds of laughter as we play, that wicked giggle when they are being cheeky and know it, the hysterical, uncontrollable laughter as they have so much fun with each other. There is nothing in the world like that sound of laughter.

 

When the sun shines in winter

We have been very lucky this last week or so, we have been getting a lovely combination of rain as well as sun shine. This long weekend just past saw a particularly sunny Saturday and with visitors in residence we decided to drag out the yabby traps and see if the sunshine had tempted any to the surface.

We weren't actually expecting to catch any, but we thought it would be a fun thing to do with all the kids. Lo and behold we ended up with a massive haul, more than enough to feed us all (and then some). We marinated them in garlic and butter before whacking them on the BBQ to cook. They were delicious. The kids didn't go much on them to eat but loved the fun of throwing the traps in and then pulling them in later to see what we had caught. We were pleased to see lots of babies that we were able to throw back in to keep them breeding and the kids are getting more confident at pulling the traps in and getting the yabbies to hold.

When Friends Come to Stay

This June long weekend has been the first one that we have been home for in a few years, normally we have been heading to Sydney. This year however was different, we had friends come and stay with us, with their precious 2 year old twins, they packed up their car and headed west to us. It was pure bliss, they were such easy house guests and the Muddy Kids just loved showing the twins all of their toys and all around the farm. We took them up the paddock and checked the sheep, we got them on the bikes and the tractors and even the back of the ute.

We shared good food, good drinks and good stories. This friend and I used to live together many years ago and it was just like slipping into old times, being in the kitchen together, just chatting and reminiscing, but with the added element of husbands and children, it was delightful. Simply delightful.

I am so grateful this week for when old friends visit with their new families, it is so special to be sharing our families and hopefully our kids will be firm friends like we are for a long time to come.

Linking up at Village Voices for 52 Weeks of Grateful.

When it rains.....

On Sunday night I posted some  photos as part of 52 - A Portrait a Week. They were of my Muddy Kids frolicking in the puddles. For those that live in places where it rains a lot, or it rains regularly it must sometimes seem mundane to wake up to rain, another day to play in the mud and try and get to and from home, work and school without getting wet. But for us on Sunday morning when we woke up and measured 23 precious millimetres the whole house's mood lifted.

We are in one of those areas 'on the cusp of drought' as the media like to put it. We have been feeding sheep - and still are despite the rain, as grass takes a little while to grow after the rain and the sheep gnaw it off faster than it can grow. We are going into our sowing later than usual. Muddy Hubby always likes to be sowing Canola about Anzac Day, this year we haven't sown canola at all.

But when it started really raining on Saturday night and kept raining it bought a little bit of hope back into the farm. Now we just wait for the paddocks to dry out a little bit, then we spray the weeds before we start to get the tractors fired up and sowing. In the meantime though the Muddy Kids and I are enjoying the remaining puddles, weeding the garden beds while they're still moist and just literally sitting and watching the grass grow for a change.

Pottering around

I'd love to say I'm a gardener and have a green thumb, but unfortunately I don't. That doesn't stop me trying though. The kids and I have spent lots of time outside lately when I'm not working, just pottering around the garden. Weeding the garlic garden bed (the only thing I have tried planting in my veggie patches this year), pruning my roses, planting spring bulbs and just hanging out in the garden, having tea parties and just enjoying the fresh air, soaking up the beautiful light and the smell of autumn setting in. As it has started getting colder in the mornings we simply put on more layers and change what we're doing so we're not sitting on the wet dewy grass.

 

I have chosen to focus on just one veggie for a few months and shower them with tender love and care, rather than try and plant lots and lose track of them all. I chose garlic - and I'm a little bit excited as they're all thriving and seem to be loving the weather, I know they're a long developing little plant, but I think it will be worth it!

 

Grateful for Sleepovers and Besties

Since I've added an extra day into my work days I have struggled to find time to catch up with my friends and subsequently my Muddy Kids have also missed out with only a small amount of spare time to fit in a long list of things. These school holidays thought I've tried to make a conscious effort to let my Muddy Kids get some quality friend time in. We've had sleepovers and play dates and netball clinics. All things that would normally have to slip by the wayside.

 

It has been so delightful for my two big Muddy Girls to go on a sleepover together and see how much fun they had, my wonderful friend made snow globes with them and let them watch a movie and have a spa. We had the Muddy Pixie's bestie over for a play and they had so much fun playing in the wool shed, jumping on the wool bales and playing hide and seek in the sheds. We even braved the world of having a friend for a sleepover and it was lots of fun. Not only has it kept the kids entertained and they are falling into bed exhausted each night but the smiles on their faces and the joy it brings me lets me know it's worth the effort.



 

So this week I am grateful for my Muddy Kids friends for being so special and bringing such lovely friendships into their lives.

 

Linking up over at Village Voices for 52 Weeks of Grateful, hosted by the lovely Bron.

The Safety Blanket

My Muddy Organiser has a safety blanket, not a literal safety blanket but a little friend who has always been by her side. Her Best Friend is the one she can always rely on, the one who has always been there to do things together with first, from preschool to school to ballet and birthday parties. Everything is always OK because she knows no matter what her safety blanket won't be far away.

Over the last few weeks I've realised that my gorgeous, soft-spoken Muddy Pixie has lost her safety blanket, she had one, just like my Muddy Organiser did, a buddy who has been there since she was a baby, and she still is there, but she has shot ahead in leaps and bounds and with her extrovert personality has made countless new friends and my Muddy Pixie has found this a bit too overwhelming.

So, I've made it my mission to take a bit more time to help foster new friendships for her, to have some play dates with some other little friends to see if there is anyone she takes a shine to, another little girl that might be feeling lost like my Muddy Pixie is. Someone who can maybe be that safety blanket for her. It may not work, she may not like her, she may not like them, who knows what goes through their heads when they make a decision on something, but I figure it's worth a try. It breaks my heart when I see her looking so lost and I would dearly love to put some light back into her life and give her that safety blanket I think she needs.

Do your kids have a safety blanket, a friend they can rely on? Are they new friendships or old? Any ideas for good play dates?

Jumping Pillow Fun

With a beach a 100m from our cabin door, a pool, a playground, rainforests and waterfalls to explore, the Muddy kids are of course always requesting the jumping pillow! Luckily at the moment the holiday park is quiet, so they have had a good run at it whenever their heart desires.

 

Each time they request the jumping pillow though my calves say 'Thank You' while my pelvic floors say 'squeeze tight', I really must remember to keep up with those exercises!

 

Puppy Central

A few weeks before Christmas our working Kelpie had puppies. They are squirmy balls of delight that are keeping us entertained for hours each day. They are now drinking from a bowl and eating dog biscuits, as well as occasionally getting a feed from Mum.

 

We will keep one and will try to find homes for the others. Then begins the process of trying to train one into being a super sheepdog! Muddy Hubby has the book on how to do it, he just has to put it into practice, slowly building the dog's confidence and skill. A properly trained sheepdog will do an excellent job and save lots of yelling and running around the paddock after errant sheep.

 

I'm not sure how the Muddy Kids will fill in their days once we find homes for the rest of the puppies and they'll be a bit sad to say goodbye.

 

Grateful for Generosity

Start as you plan to continue......I'm going to give it a go anyway with my first Grateful post for 2013. Things fell off the wagon for me linking in with Gratefuls, somehow, as often happens, life gets in the way. Sometimes something has to give and for me it was regular posts and regular grateful posts.

For a new year that is incredibly hot so far, I am very, very grateful for the kind and generous gifts my beautiful Muddy Kids received for Christmas, they have made the time we have to spend in airconditioning that much easier to bear. With the novelty factor of new gifts and the perfect choice of some gifts they are that much happier to be confined indoors for a few hours each day.

From Barbie and her million accessories, hairstyles and outfit changes to the Fluro Pink Zhu Zhu Pet we have been awash in imaginative play scenarios from weddings, to babies to coffee dates, they've done it all. One of my all time favourites - Mobilo!! This has literally kept the kids entertained for hours, as they build so many different things, and the best bit is the Muddy Girls build things for my Muddy Baby Boy to play with so everyone is happy!

The biggest hit though, thanks to my wonderful sister and brother-in-laws and nieces and nephews are the swags, the Muddy Kids just think they are the bees knees and they make camping in the airconditoned lounge room at night so exciting and that little bit more comfortable.

So this week for the start of the year I am so incredibly grateful for the generosity of family and friends keeping my Muddy Kids entertained, inspired and happy inside.

 

Linking up with Maxabella at Village Voices for 52 Weeks of Grateful! Come on over and check out some fabulous posts and link in if you can.

 

 

Everything Old is New Again

One of the things I love about my Muddy Organiser going to school is reliving my childhood, or parts of it anyway! There's been stories they're reading at school or that she brings home from the library, sports I'd forgotten about like tunnel ball. I love watching her learn new songs and dances for the school social and singing along with her.

I was extra excited though last week when she bought home some string. Not just any string, but a loop of string to do Cat's Cradle with. I can remember spending hours and hours trying new tricks with the string, I was hopeless but it didn't stop me trying! My Muddy Organiser though has proved to be quite a whizz with the string, she can already do the Harbour Bridge and is teaching her friends how to do it. My Mum (god bless the teacher in her) has dug through her bookshelf and found a book on Cat's Cradle and other string things which the Muddy Organiser is learning from to add to her string repertoire. She has already well surpassed my string abilities.

The thing I love most about the string is it's portable, she takes it everywhere, it's not electronic, it's just good old fashioned fun at it's best, just like my childhood. A teacher friend tells me elastics are the next thing coming back in!