Sunnyside Farm Fun

Homeschooling 2012 ~ & our new schedule!

2012-02-07T15:27:00.000+11:00

I know I mentioned to you all that we began our school year last week...

2012 is a year which marks a few changes in the Sunnyside School room. When we began homeschooling in 2009 I truly didn't know if we would last this long & if it would suit us, but we have been pleasantly surprised how well it works for our family ~ sure it is a whole lot of work for me at times, but I've always said that I'd rather be busy than bored & I thoroughly enjoy the teaching side of it! I love spending time with my children. Even on the difficult days ( & there certainly are those) I wouldn't change it ~ each child is unique & a blessing from God! This year I have 4 'official' students with Eli & Jud beginning what is their 'official' education!

These are their " First day of schooling" photos for the year:

ZAI ~ In 2012 Zai is completing year 4. Zai is a good student & really needs very little more than general guidance. We are working towards more independent learning for him this year. He has been working through a free typing tutor online over the holidays & although he still has to complete it I have been pleasantly surprised with how well he is going with touch typing. This year he will continue to study Maths, English, History, Science, PDHPE & Art ( including drama & music) as per the requirements.

ELLIE ~ Ellie is in year 3 this year & we will continue to focus on improving her literacy skills. Ellie's work requirements often mirror Zai's with them both now being in stage 2 ( NSW). In fact it is wonderful that they can now do their intergrated (all subjects other than Maths & English) subjects together which makes it easier for me to facilitate.

Eli

ELI & JUD ~ I hate to bundle these two together all the time, but in this situation I'd be writing the same thing. The boys begin kindergarten this year & I've decided to embark into using the Spalding method for their literacy component (which lets face it makes up most of their schooling). I'm a little hesitant as I don't know if I have a complete grasp on the method, so I'm studying up. It really is an excellent, well tested method that gives fantastic results. I am hoping to bring in elements of it with Zai & Ellie as well as I think it can only be beneficial to their literacy skills. The boys will also complete Maths, History, Science PDHPE & Art at a foundation level. These are such fun lessons & a lot of what we are doing for first term is a revision of what they did last year in our preschool times ( let me recommend doing a good preschool program with your children the year before they begin their official education ~ I made ours up myself, but it has been so beneficial to my boys (& was so much fun for me :) ).

Jud

As with every new year I like to do a new MOTH schedule & since I just L..O..V..E... reading other people's schedules (I am wondering if I'm normal) I thought I'd share ours with you just in case you are like me :) (Remember a schedule is only a guide of how your 'perfect' day would go ~ none have ever gone perfectly yet!)

HERE is the link to an actual copy of our schedule

(Sorry I don't know how to put a word document directly on here).

You may be amazed at how much time I've set for school work. Our course I will admit is rather work heavy, but I also like to leave plenty of time for schooling in case a concept takes time to be understood or some distraction happens ( which is rather often for one of my students.... I'll let you guess which one). Also we only school 4 days a week leaving the 5th day for get-togethers such as our homeschool group (monthly), a dance class with other home schooling families or some farm work which requires a day off the books. If we end up with an extra day (which is rarely), I always find some kind of project for the children to complete. This gives me flexibility & still I am able to make sure they cover all the required work.

I've found if I'm dilligent in getting up on time & keeping myself in schedule during the day it helps everyone be on track as well.

Today I'm joining up with other Aussie homeschooling Mums:

I hope you all have a wonderful year full of learning & fun!

Blessings

Sunday Psalms

2012-02-05T07:00:00.000+11:00

But you, O Lord, are a

compassionate & gracious God,

Slow to anger,

abounding in love and faithfulness.

Psalm 86:15

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes & a recipe!

2012-02-03T14:48:00.000+11:00

Well it does feel a little like we're drowning in tomatoes here, but truthfully you never really can have too many ... can you? Since I'm picking at least half a kg a day we've been enjoying fresh tomato a lot lately!! I've never really had this problem before (because the last time I grew tomatoes the fruit fly got them ~ I'm thankful to not have that problem this year), but I'm enjoying finding new things to make which feature this produce.

Such a blessing ~ fresh tomatoes!

Dave asked me to make tomato & chilli chutney (link to recipe I used) & the other day I did ~ it was so easy & is just delicious & it really could be used in place of a sweet chilli sauce in most dishes. I used it in a stir fry as the main sauce & it was just wonderful!

Yum!!

Another thing I made was a fruit & tomato chutney ~ I changed the original recipe a whole lot (as always) & so was a little hesitant at how it would taste, but it really is just delicious!

I thought I'd share it with you in case you ever have excessive tomatoes too (or if you just want to make something that is delicious). This is much tastier than having tomato sauce on your meal ( & being homemade I know what's gone into it!) :

Fruit & onions standing for chutney ~ it looks like a nice fruit salad doesn't it ?

RENATA'S FRUIT AND TOMATO CHUTNEY:

Ing: 10x average sized tomatoes; 2 x granny smith apples; 2 x red delicious apples; 3x peaches ( peeled); 1 x large onion; 1 1/2 cups raw sugar; 2 tbs salt; 1 1/2 cups white vinegar; 1/3 cup pickling spice*

Method:
1. Finely dice fruit & onions & allow to stand for a couple of hours to remove liquid. Discard liquid before use.
2. Add other ingredients ( put pickling spices in a muslin bag). Allow to simmer for about 1 hour ~ stirring occasionally.
3. Remove spice bag & ladle into cleaned jars.
4. Water bath for 10 minutes ( or what is recommended for tomato chutneys in your country) or freeze in 2 week batches in sealed bags once cooled.

* Pickling spice:
2 tbs mustard seeds
2 tbs ground allspice
2 tsp coriander leaves
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground chilli
1 bay leaf ( crushed)
1 cinnamon stick

We have quite a supply, but I'm wondering if I should make some more as it's going quickly!

I hope you are enjoying this wonderful time of lovely garden produce or dreaming about when you will have that garden this year & then you can post about it & inspire me in the middle of our winter :)

Have a wonderful day,

Joining in with:

Also the lovely ladies at:

Summer holiday's last yahoo!!!

2012-01-31T12:49:00.000+11:00

It was really a moment of madness, either that or ingenious, not sure which one when I told the children I would take them for a camping trip to end the holidays. It actually was my parents fault ~ you see they had given Dave a book of camping spots in NSW & it whetted my appetite for a bit of camp site lazing!

On a walk we enjoyed!

So with more planning than I was hoping & less planning than I should have done we set off last Tuesday for our very first Mummy ~ kiddo camping adventure armed only with this little camping guide, a GPS that wanted to take me in the opposite direction to what I was expecting ( although in hind-site I should really have listened to it ) & a car full of stuff that we hoped would come in useful!

I'd picked out a reserve at Wee Jasper ~ only a few hours away from home ( should the need arise to pack up & head home in the middle of the night). As we drove around very windy roads along cliff edges with no guard rails to stop any cars plummeting ( I hate heights ~ I was getting sick & I was driving) I did wonder if maybe it had been a foolish idea after all.

Finally we arrived at this tiny place that is too small to be called a town ~ more of a map on the side of the road & I managed to find the solitary shop/pub/restaurant open that sold ice ( at rather an exorbitant rate, but I wasn't going back over that road just for a few dollars) & gave directions

When we arrived at the reserve we were pleasantly surprised at how beautiful it was ~ & how very quiet. We got the pick of the spots on the far point overlooking the river bank & decided to set up camp straight away.

See the tent is straight & tables upright ~ LOL

With much wrangling the kids & I managed to put the tent up ~ we were so thankful we'd only taken the 6 man & not the 10 man we also have. Zai also decided to put up his two man ( all by himself ) so that he & Ellie could sleep in that ( although they ended up in with us the first night). For people with very little camping experience we did a great job ~ the tent was straight & the tables didn't fall over ;)

A dog the twins fell in love with & wanted to take home ~ so did I :)

Such a beautiful place ~ the river was crystal clear (albeit freezing cold), but if you gritted your teeth your legs quickly got numb enough to make you forget the temperature :)

We had a wonderful time ~ even though every single one of the air mattresses went down each night. We had so much fun playing in the river & floating down it on air mattresses & blow up boards ~ it was great floating over submerged logs & going down the tiny 'rapids' made by the numerous river stones! Wonderful memories were made! Dave even managed to join us for Australia day!

Just beautiful ~ this picture doesn't do justice!

Next year when we go on our annual Mummy ~ kiddo camping trip (optimistic, aren't I), I need to remember one thing ~ to pack more snacks! All that camping was making us very hungry & I am a minimalist when it comes to packing & only packed what I thought we would use!

Crazy kiddos ~ take after their father ;)

I am so glad I went out of my comfort zone to do this with our precious children ~ having relaxed fun enjoying God's creation was a great way to spend the last week before school work begins for 2012!

What a wonderful way to wind-up the holidays

Have a great day

Sunday Psalms

2012-01-29T07:00:00.000+11:00

The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me;

Your love, O Lord, endures forever

- do not abandon the works of your hands.

Psalm 138:8

Happy Australia Day

2012-01-26T07:00:00.000+11:00

Today is the day that our nation stops & celebrates this wonderful country that we live in: Australia! To celebrate I thought I'd share ( in no particular order) 10 things I love about Australia!

1. The wide open spaces. We Aussies love our space & are blessed to live in a country where the population is small enough to warrant large portions of just beautiful unblemished landscape!

2. The beaches. Without a doubt they are a gem to our country ~ bordering Australia on all sides. What Aussie doesn't like a trip to the beach & such beautiful ones we have here ~ vast lengths of soft ( albeit hot at times) sand with clear sparkling blue water.

3. Freedom. We are so blessed to have freedom here. The freedom to vote for the government we wish ( not that they always get in ), the freedom to raise our children how we want & most importantly the freedom to openly worship the Lord!

4. The variation. Australia is a vast country with such changeable scenery & variable climates from the far northern tropics to the dry hot deserts of the center to the fertile plains to the beautiful mountainous country to the bitterly cold south & every variation in between! What a great country it is!

5. Family. I am blessed to have all my relatives living in this country ~ from far up north in Cairns to way down south in Tasmania & here & there in between! The people I love & who love me the most!

6. The sky. I love the sky & ever more so out here where it extends from horizon to horizon. I always think the sky is God's love letter to us ~ it's never the same, always changing, but always beautiful!

7. The people. A quiet, reserved, happy bunch of folk reside on this large island.

8. Our history. Every Aussie has a link to the rich history of this country. Most of us can trace our ancestry back to the beginnings of this nation. I come from settlers & convicts & there are even a few stories about stowaways in the family archives!

9. Our food. With so many immigrants over the years our food has such wonderful variation, but what Aussie won't eat a meat pie at some time this year ~ how about a snag on the barbie?

10. Our nation built on Christianity. I don't think we often realise how blessed we are to live in a country that was built on Christian values & standards. It is what has made Australia into the wonderful place it is today!

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!!!!!!!!!!

Blessings

Some summer preserving.... and my jam recipe!

2012-01-23T15:57:00.000+11:00

I love this time of year. The warm summer days beckon you to the outdoors at least until the heat chases you in again. The sun-kissed washing dries in mere minutes on the line ~ almost before you finish hanging it out. The evenings are so long & beautiful you can't help but be enticed to enjoy every second & as for the the food, who doesn't love summer food?

One of our aims here at Sunnyside is to know where our food is coming from. Sure that's not always possible, but where it is we choose to use it. We are blessed enough to live within an hour of a huge stone fruit producing area and since it's the peak of stone fruit season right now, we purchased a couple of boxes & did some preserving. Peaches, nectarines, pie filling ( this was frozen before any photos were taken) & peach jam were all preserved for our consumption throughout the year. I don't own a pressure canner, but do water bath my preserves ( this does sadly limit what I can do). It was hot work, but always enjoyable & seeing the results lining the pantry definitely makes it worth it.

The nectarines & peaches ready for the year ahead.

One of my favourite things to make is homemade jam. Besides the peach jam, I've made apricot jam this year. I also try & make plum jam & cherry jam to get us through the year ( I have plans on making these in the coming days). One day my strawberries will produce enough to make strawberry jam ~ in the meantime we enjoy some that Corinne has made who has an amazing strawberry patch.

Yummy peach jam!

I thought I'd share with you today how I make my jam to encourage you just how easy it really is:

HOMEMADE JAM:

Apricot, cherry & peach jam from my pantry!

The first thing I do is clean out my jars (Just old jars I've saved ~ check carefully for cracks & nicks before using them). I then place them upside down on a tray & put in the oven at 180 degrees celcius (356 F) for about 20 minutes ( this kills the nasties in them). I also boil the lids while they are in the oven.

To make the jam I use equal quantities of fruit (without stones) & raw sugar. Begin by boiling up the chopped fruit with a little water ( whatever you think it needs to stew nicely ~ I use about half a cup for a large saucepan full of fruit). Stir to prevent sticking. Once the fruit is soft add the sugar, a packet of jamsetta (this contains the pectin needed for setting it) & a tbs of butter ( this helps reduce the foaming on top as it boils). Bring to boil while stirring & boil for 10 minutes ~ keep stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

To check for a set put a saucer in the freezer & when you think it may be set get it out & place a tsp of jam on it, allow to cool for 30 seconds & then push your finger through it ~ if it wrinkles it is ready to bottle, if not let boil for a few more minutes & test again.

One thing I love about jam is that it doesn't need to be water bathed. Just bottle ( careful ~ it is hot) & allow to cool on the bench top. The lids will pop when they are sealed ~ if you cannot get a seal then put it in the fridge & use it straight away.

Once you've made your own jam, you won't want to use the storebrought ones ever again. Why don't you give it a go?

My peach jam

Have a bright & happy day

Blessings

Joining up with:

Homestead Barnhop

& Farmgirl Friday

Sunday Psalms

2012-01-22T08:51:00.002+11:00

The Lord will keep you from all harm-

He will watch over your life;

the Lord will watch over your coming

and going

both now & forevermore.

Psalm 121:7-8

Aussie bloggers meet up!

2012-01-19T15:31:00.000+11:00

It really came about because when Christy & her family dropped in here at Sunnyside on their way to Qld the week before Christmas she mentioned how much fun it would be to take the chance to meet with some Queensland bloggers since we were both holidaying up there. I agreed & Christy being the amazing organiser that she is set out to make it work.

The Aussie bloggers!

It was a perfect summers morning ~ the second of January when we had set to meet. We'd decided the beach & I must admit to some nerves. I had previous (in real life) relationships with all the girls except Saminda, but still I hadn't seen them in a long time ( except Christy) & I know I look a whole lot older since then. I did what all big sisters do ~ I talked my sister in coming with me. So with my little sis holding my hand for moral support ( plus we needed someone to take photographs ~ thanks Sel!!) we set off. What a beautiful day to meet at the beach.

It was so much fun! We talked like long-lost friends. Because we knew so much about each other's lives it was easy to pick up conversations. Were there ever a lull it wasn't uncomfortable ~ possibly all of us catching our breath at the same time :) It was so nice to finally meet Saminda in person after reading her blog for years & emailing at different times.

Martine, Renata, Saminda, Christy & Smilie Girl

* I used to work with the beautiful Smilie Girl back in my radiographer days. She blogs at "The Adventures of Box boy & Lego Lad".

* I was friends with Christy's younger sister when I was 10 & then we went to church together after I married Dave. She blogs at "My family Vine".

* Martine is one of my younger sisters closest friends. I have felt for so long that we are real friends as I've heard about her for many years & it was great to meet her a couple of years ago. She blogs at "Happy Sparrow"

* Saminda was just as beautiful in real life as she appears on her blog. She blogs at "Ferns by the fireside".

So much fun for us all!!

Sorry if you lived nearby & wasn't invited. As I mentioned it was very last minute & contact was all done over phone as we didn't have our internet with us. We'll have to organise another meet-up in the future ~ this time with more planning ahead, so we can invite everyone nearby.

How I would love to meet all the ladies I've "met" through this bloggy world. But since that's just not possible, it was so nice to meet even just a few!!

Have a wonderful day

Blessings

Bessy gets "married"!!!

2012-01-16T16:14:00.000+11:00

"Today's the day that Bessy's getting married!"

Ellie but squealed with glee first thing in the morning 10 days before Christmas. Finally, the long awaited day had arrived. After much consideration, numerous phone calls made ( often without being returned) & multiple plans changed, Bessy was finally going out to a bull to well shall we just say " get married". Our good friends Corrine & Damo were coming with a horse float that afternoon so we could take her the few kilometres down the highway to the farm where the 'groom' resides!!

After a long day of anticipation the sound of a car on our driveway brought us all outside. We were a little worried about how we would get Miss Bessy into the float. She'd never been in anything like it before. We'd managed to put her into a small paddock earlier that day with very little coaxing, but being locked in there must have made her suspicious! When the float was backed up to the gate she eyed it closely & very quickly decided not to cooperate with our coaxing her. Damo & Dave thought they'd better do something a bit more drastic & quickly before she tried to hoity toit it over the fence & we were chasing her around a paddock 20 times as large. Thankfully jersey's are relatively small cows & 2 grown men are easily able to wrestle her, but she certainly didn't like having her fancy dancy ( decidedly too small for her) bright red halter put on ( she never was a halter girl, preferring the more freedom of a naked face.). It was when Damo attached the rope to the halter that did it though. She decided that she just wasn't going & in true teenage girl form threw herself onto her side. Now this wasn't the slow & lazy lowering of the body onto bent legs & then rolling as you would expect of a cow, rather one second she was standing & the next she was lying on her side. She wasn't going to budge anywhere!

I promise she is alive here ~ I just managed to capture her blinking!

After they let her lie there for a few minutes pondering what we were to do were she not to co-operate (after all she still is a cow & weighs a lot & it's not like a sheep that you can just pick up & move). They decided she'd carried on enough & to make her stand up using the lead rope. Thankfully she co-operated. It still wasn't easy getting her into the float. If ever there was a reluctant bride, Miss Bess must take the cake. She certainly didn't want to leave her beloved home here at Sunnyside. A couple more less dramatic showing of will occured, but finally we won & she was loaded. Off to meet her "groom"!!!

We let her out of the float near the water ~ it was away from the other cows & as we weren't sure how she would embalk, we'd rather do it without further distractions. She was a good girl though. Guess she really didn't like her trip because she came out of the float as quick as she could. She decided that she didn't like us though & wouldn't return the halter. Since we really didn't want her wearing it as beautiful as her "bridal headgear" was Dave had to chase her to finally get it!

We drove her up the paddock to meet the other cows. She slowly made her way in such a laborous fashion that you would consider she was heading to her slaughter & not the joyful union we had been anticipating since purchasing her 20 months before. Eventually she noticed the other cows. She stopped & eyed them carefully.

Being the self-professed expert in reading cows thoughts, let me give you a step by step of what was going through her head at this point:

"What on earth are these animals?"

"Nothing like them at home."

"They are so big & bulky, rather ugly I think."

"Thankfully I'm the prettiest here" ( who knew cows were really vain????)

"Why are they all looking at me?"

"I know they're not sheep because they aren't wooly.... maybe big, big pigs. Imagine the pork you can get off one of those!."

"Oh no, now they're getting too close, I'd better run."

"What are these people thinking leaving me here with these things. After all I'm really a person, not a cow ( all bottle fed animals think they are human & should be allowed right in the house) no matter that they put me into a paddock ~ they're lucky that DOCS hasn't found out yet. Now they're going to desert me."

"OH NO HERE COMES THAT BIG BLACK MALE THING. HELP!!!"

"Come BACK my humans!!! COME BACK NOW!!! "

As we left the sun was sinking into the horizon & our cow, the beautiful jersey, well she was still running, being chased by the whole herd. I'm assuming she's stopped now, either that or we'll have one very fit cow come March when we bring her home!!!

Hopefully sometime in spring we will begin our dairying adventures right here at Sunnyside! (So should you decide to visit then, please be prepared to do some milking & if you know how to, please come & show us !!)

The adventures continue...

Blessings

Joining in with the ladies for:

Sunday Psalms

2012-01-15T14:10:00.002+11:00

A little late getting this up I know.... think I'm still in holiday mode :)

I will praise God's name in song

and glorify Him with thanksgiving.

Let Heaven and earth praise Him,

the seas and all that move in them,

Psalm 69: 30 & 34

Happy, Happy 2012 ~ a letter from our farm!

2012-01-10T12:43:00.003+11:00

Dear friends,

After a rather rushed end of 2011 & a busy start to 2012 up in Queensland, it is wonderful to arrive back here at Sunnyside & have the time to finally write you. I trust you had a wonderful Christmas time & a Happy New Year. I love the New Year & the new beginnings it symbolises. Sure we have new beginnings all the time (for which I'm very thankful), but for some reason a new calendar always feels like a special new beginning for me. I am always amazed that God has decided to give us another year. I wonder what His purposes are for us in 2012?

Our farm is still alive & well cared for (thanks to our farm-sitter who managed to take care of everything even though he was still busy finishing off harvest). We are very thankful for the large amounts of rain we received after Christmas as my watering system decided to stop working at some point in the week. Our yard now resembles a jungle. The mower will be working triple time to try & tame all the grass & the paddocks are in desperate need of slashing & spraying for weeds. It's true that the jobs never end, but we'd rather be busy than bored, so continue to count our work as a blessing ~ even if we feel it is going to be a full time job to maintain this piece of land.

My garden has about quadrupled in size since we left. The many tomato plants (remember my slight addiction to tomato seedlings last year) are loaded down with fruit & we are already enjoying their produce! Home grown tomatoes are the most delicious you'll ever get & I always look forward to this time of year when I can bypass the hard, tasteless shop ones & instead go out into the garden & pick my own. Last year fruit fly got all our tomatoes, so I'm thankful to not have found any sign of them yet.

Unfortunately with the garden growing so well, the weeds have also decided to set in, but the twins & I have been out weeding the worst of the beds this morning & we will continue throughout the week to tackle these intruders!

Our chickens have reduced their laying while we were away, but I'm not sure if that's due to being restricted to their hen house with only grains for food when they are used to a full, open-range diet, or if the erratic weather patterns is confusing them as to what season it truly is ( it was so cold this morning that we were all in jumpers ~ in the middle of summer).

Our pigs were missing when we arrived & we were slightly concerned as they have begun to wander wider afield. We are also aware that they are at the perfect size for eating and we are bordered on three sides by roads should they push under the fences. So yesterday Eli & I decided to embark in a search mission. Eli was wonderful, he'll make the perfect little tracker ~ following manure & hoof prints, we were able to find them down near 'treasure forest' & bring them home again. They seem to have doubled in size as well ~ especially Boris ~ he's going to be a big boy. We are currently in the process of purchasing a solar electric fence so we can restrict their movements a little more!

Sadly our farm-sitter decided that my sour-dough starter in the fridge needed to be thrown away. I'm not sure why as there was other food that probably needed it more, but it was disappointing to arrive home to a dead "Nana". I will begin another starter later today.

Oh & the other animals ~ the ducks are fine, the sheep are at a friends farm & the cat, well he's missing, but that's not unusual. He often goes 'visiting' for a couple of weeks at a time! As for Bessy.... well that's another post ;)

So we are home. I will post about our holiday, but just wanted to wish you a very Happy New Year from all the family here at Sunnyside!

I will endeavour to fix up this layout ~ New Year welcomed in a loss of background image ~ did anyone else have this problem?

(All photos in this post were taken today)

May God bless you throughout 2012!

A very Happy Christmas to you all from the Sunnyside Family!

2011-12-22T08:54:00.000+11:00

I'm going to take this quick chance to slip on here & wish you all a very blessed Christmas for 2011.

~This year I'm taking the time to celebrate our Savior's birth with our precious families & to ponder about why we take part in different traditions ~ how is Jesus' gift represented in each one & if not, why are we doing it?

~ I'm taking the time to reflect on why He came as that most precious babe & how very closely Christmas is linked to Easter (these must never be thought of as separate events).

~Most of all I'm taking some time to be thankful for the ultimate blessing that Christmas brought ~ the chance for my salvation. What is life if we live it without the assurance of eternal life?

I'm going to take the next couple of weeks as a 'blogation' & return happy & rested mid January 2012 ( can you believe how quickly this year has flown ~ almost 2012 already)!

And from all the family & menagerie here at Sunnyside Farm we want to wish you a very safe & Happy Christmas & a blessed year in 2012!

Love

Sunday Psalms

2011-12-18T07:58:00.002+11:00

Great are the works of the Lord;

They are pondered by all who delight in them.

Glorious and majestic are His deeds,

And His righteousness endures forever!

Psalm 111:2-3

Merry Christmas from the Sunnyside Farmyard ~ LOL

2011-12-16T12:37:00.000+11:00

I'm not sure where this came from. Maybe an animal came knocking at our door or maybe we had a hideaway in the house but somehow this unique composition came about!!??!!

YOU WILL NEED TO SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE TO TURN OFF MY MUSIC ~ SORRY ABOUT THAT :)

~ Why knew our animals were so talented??!!?? ~

Enjoy

Making them smile at :

The best Christmas fruit cake recipe ~ ever!

2011-12-13T17:41:00.000+11:00

A Christmas fruit cake is a tradition in most Australian households. I believe it comes from our European roots. This recipe has been handed down for generations in my family ~ of course I've tweaked it ~ as I'm sure each person making it does (especially in my family where we all enjoy cooking) , yet it still holds the rich, delicious taste of the cakes of long ago.

Last night I went to bed with the smell of freshly cook fruit cake wafting through the air ~ it truly is the smell of Christmas to me. So many memories that smell holds, of cooking with my mother, my sisters, my children ~ precious times. Each year my sister & I like to see who is soaking their fruit first, who has made their cake first (EJ I'm done ~ how about you?? :)) We each make it with our own personal touches ( she uses rum to soak her fruit). This year another memory full of giggles ~ a bowl overflowing with cake batter ( note to self: get a bigger bowl before you attempt another triple batch).

uuug... what a mess it was

There is nothing like serving a plate of delicious fruit cake to guests at Christmas time. A full cake~ the perfect gift to your friends & neighbors. Having a slice as dessert with some yummy custard poured over the top is one of Dave's favorite ways of eating it. Whenever we've traveled at Christmas I've always made sure we've had one to go with us ~ it is filling enough to push those little tummies to the next stop & keeps very well. My Mum even used this recipe for our wedding cake!!

I hope you enjoy our family's Christmas cake recipe ~ the best one ever ( OK I may be a teeny weeny bit biased ;))

THE SUNNYSIDE FAMILY TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS FRUIT CAKE!!

INGREDIENTS:

1kg sultanas;

1/2 cup sherry (remember the alcohol content will disappear when heated);

250g butter;

1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar;

1 tsp vanilla essence;

2 tbs homemade apricot jam

~ or use a store brought ;)

4 eggs;

2 3/4 cups plain flour;

1tsp mixed spice;

1/4 tsp cinnamon;

1/4 tsp nutmeg;

1 pkt macadamia nuts

METHOD:

1. Soak sultanas in sherry for as long as you want ~ give it a good shake every other day to mix through well. (I've done anytime from a couple of hours to a few months)

2. Cream butter, sugar & vanilla essence. Add jam. Add eggs & beat.

3. Fold in dry flour & spices alternatively with fruit mix.

4. Double line your tins with paper.

5. Bake in a slow oven (130 to 140 degrees Celcius) . Check after 3 hours. It usually needs about 4 hours.

NOTES:

~ When cooked cake should feel firm & a knife when inserted will come out clean.

~ To add to the taste as soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour a capful of sherry over the top.

~ Store in a cool place ~It keeps for at least a month.

ICING:

Should you wish to ice it ( it's always yummy to have that bit of sweetness on top, but definitely not essential, I use a mixture of pure icing sugar, butter & a little milk. If you allow it to air dry it will go quite hard which is perfect for fruitcake!

ENJOY!!!

Today I'm joining up with the wonderful ladies who organize the Barn Hop for a special event:

Also the beautiful Angelina has invited me to join up with her first ever linky:

May you have a wonderful week my friends as you prepare for celebrating our Saviours' birth!

Sunday Psalms

2011-12-11T07:00:00.000+11:00

PSALM 13

v 1-2a

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and everyday have sorrow in my heart?

v5-6

But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in Your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me.

*****

AMEN!

November's ~ Gifts from His heart

2011-12-05T13:48:00.000+11:00

Each time I count my blessings it makes me realise how much I don't deserve any of it. None of us do. We sit & think that the world owes us or God owes us, but in actual fact we are not owed a thing. We should come into a blank, loveless place of nothingness, but instead God has given us this beautiful world to live in, families & friends to love & He gave us the ultimate gift ~ His Son Jesus to sacrifice Himself so that we can have the gift of eternal life instead of the eternal death we deserve.

I'm so thankful for that ~ aren't you?

November's gifts:

1. Safety on back roads during late night travel.

2. Talking to a precious neice for her birthday ~ even briefly!

3. Meeting new friends & watching how my daughter so effortlessly makes friends while I flounder for words to talk about ( how I wish I had her gift).

4. Emails ~ they are so quick & easy.

5. A beautiful ballerina ready to dance at her rehearsal.

6. My boys ~ they are just so fun to spend time with.

7. That Dave could take Ellie with him on his trip to Melbourne & spend a special time with just her.

8. New (to us) flooring ~ provisions for our continual renovations.

9. My Bible study (KYB) group

10. Swimming ~ it's so much fun to be counting down to summer!

11. Completed school projects

12. Tomato sauce art ~ it makes everyone smile.

13. Meeting a soon-to-be homeschooling mother & encouraging her on her new journey.

14. New internet friends ~ welcome ladies!

15. The fun of early morning filming ~ live TV ~ my children on channel 9 weather!

16. God's provisions

17. The awesomeness of God's creation ~ I am forever amazed!

18. My ballerina does her best performance yet!

19. A safe, fun, busy day of flying ~ my prayers for all involved answered!

20. Cooler days after the heat.

21. Double chocolate muffins ~ need I say more??

22. Children's birthday parties ~ where all the family is invited!

23. Good friends & their sweet babies I get to hold & love on for a while.

24. My two preschoolers ~ definitely ready for real schoolwork!

25. Finally ~ all the drop boxes are up to date ~ Thank you God!!!

26. A fun family trip to look for renovation materials.

27. A bubble bath, candlelight & a new book ~ I desperately needed it today!

28. School subjects slowly finished for the year!!

29. My lovely MIL & the work they are putting into their new guest room so it will be ready for our visit!

30. A piece of fruit reminds us of the Love that has given us all these blessings!

I hope you have a wonderful, blessed week my friends.

Joining Ann & the other ladies in:

Sunday Psalms

2011-12-04T07:00:00.000+11:00

I will sing of the Lord's great love forever;

with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.

I will declare that your love stands firm forever,

that you established your faithfulness in Heaven itself.

Psalm 89:1-2

All in an evenings work...

2011-12-01T15:43:00.000+11:00

It was a warm evening last week when we all piled onto the ute to check the fast growing lambs down the back paddock. Thoughts of long summer evenings were large in our minds with plans for renovating & the bigger farm jobs that tend to fill those gloriously lengthening hours of sunlight. As we slowly motored around the boundary of the 40 acre paddock where they resided, we were happy to observe the sheep were keeping well ~ plenty of feed & water in the paddock as well . It was time to return home for family devotions & put the children to bed.

Really it was only a co-incidence that we happened to look in that direction again ~ over by the dam. As we looked a little harder a blob became a sheep ~ & she was off by herselff. Now if you keep sheep you know that this isn't good ~ they much prefer to stay with the herd. We didn't have to get too close to identify the telltale signs of flystrike. The poor ewe was in a bad way & we knew if we left her it would only be a matter of a couple of days & she'd be gone ~ in one of the most painful, horrible deaths imaginable. (Flystrike is when the maggots from flies literally eat the flesh from the sheep as it is alive ~ it is very prevalent in Australia as we have warm conditions perfect for flies. It was one of the first conditions we were taught to recognise.)

Dave quickly deposited the load from the back of the ute ( us) & raced off to grab all the equipment he needed to treat this condition from the shearing shed up the hill ~ shears, medicines & other treatments. It wasn't hard sitting there on the bank of the dam waiting ~ such a perfect evening for photos & for once I'd even remembered my camera .

Soon he returned ...

It didn't take long for him to wear out the ewe (she was in no condition to run far). He's perfected the dive out of the still-rolling ute onto the sheep's back (it really is comical to watch). As he hefted her to the back of the ute I made my way down to where he was after giving orders to the kids about where to throw rocks ( into the dam) and where not to ( at your brothers head).

A little closer & I could smell her. If you think sheep smell bad ( & let's face it it's not the most charming perfume they carry) well let me tell you a sheep with flystrike smell a million times worse. As I felt my stomach turn I decided to stay at the head end ~ I'd let Dave attend to the business end. Our first job was to cut all the wool away from the effected area. We recently purchased a pair of hand shears ~ our thoughts being that we have so few sheep we really couldn't justify some electric ones for the ute. As I held the ewe down ( top half :) Dave took to it like an old~fashioned shearer.

....well, sort of.....

OK if the shearer only wanted to shear 3 sheep in one day :).

For an hour we worked over that sheep removing the wool with the shears that can only be described as painful, blunt & downright annoying. Even I faced my fears down the bottom end & took a turn when his arm needed a break. I think I worked all of 3 minutes with very little success ( other than almost ridding myself of my dinner about 10 times). Finally we were done with that long & laborious process. After administering an antibiotic, some fly spray & the treatment we let her go.

On our way home we made the decision to purchase electric shears for the ute.

The ewe has recovered & is going well now ~ sure she has a rather unusual haircut, but thankfully we didn't have to face another loss.

An evening here at Sunnyside...

Have a wonderful day friend

Joining in Farmgirl Friday!

and here as well:

Our orange harvest

2011-11-28T17:37:00.000+11:00

This was our first year to harvest oranges here at Sunnyside.

When we purchased Sunnyside, we were so excited that it had established orange trees. We were quite disappointed in the fact that they weren't producing fruit though. Finally, after a good pruning & a thorough spraying with white oil last year & perfectly timed watering by God over summer we were blessed with a wonderful bounty this year!

Little hands reaching, feet standing on tip-toe trying to grasp each golden nugget of goodness. Laughter at finding the hidden fruit , the fun of standing on shoulders to reach the highest spheres ~ all this accompanied the final picking for 2011.

Baskets slowly filled, blessings received, thanks given!

Our reward...

A glass of freshly squeezed orange juice ~ delicious & sweet. Just brimming with so many vitamins you can taste them ~ such a wonderful treat!

Then God said "I give you every seed-bearing plant

on the face of the whole earth and every tree

that has fruit with seed in it.

They will be yours for food"

Genesis 1:29

Blessings my friends,

Joining again :

Sunday Psalms

2011-11-27T06:00:00.000+11:00

Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord who minister by night in the house of the Lord.

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.

May the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and earth,

bless you from Zion.

Psalm 134

The power of a tutu

2011-11-25T11:02:00.001+11:00

Put a little girl ~ any little girl ~ into a tutu

and

she will instantly become a ballerina. No longer will she walk, instead she will dance. Feet never flat, but balancing on her tippy~toes. The world (wherever she is) her audience, adored by all, accolades expected!! This is common to all little girls, everywhere!

My little girl wore a tutu this week ~ she no longer has to play, but is a ballerina. A little makeup transformed her into a doll, slowly coming alive "Coppelia". As I saw her on stage ~ taking her cues from the music, performing her much-practiced steps, enjoying herself, I couldn't help but thank God that she has this opportunity ~ one I only dreamed of so long ago as a little girl in my twirliest skirt dancing around the lounge room with my sisters!

She may have been a ballerina for a night or two, but forever she is my precious princess!

Dance concert 2011!

What are your favourite dancing memories??

Growing herbs at Sunnyside ~ Rosemary

2011-11-22T08:03:00.000+11:00

I began a post about tips on growing herbs a while ago, but it got so long that I thought I'd make it into a series of posts. I'm a little nervous about posting this, but it's been sitting ready to go for a while now. Lest you think I'm an amazing gardener ~ I'm not. Everything I've learnt has been by trial & error ~ mainly error ~ loads of them! However I have been growing herbs for most of my adult life and have always enjoyed grabbing a few to add to different meals I make. I want to share with you how easy it is & encourage you to begin your own herbs ~ whether it is a few pots of herbs or an entire garden ( or like me have them scattered throughout the gardens). I intend to share with you the tips & what not to do's that I've learnt along the way (with some types there's a lot)!. It is so satisfying using your own produce & herbs are so very easy to grow & will add flavour & nutrients to the meals you make! I hope you enjoy:

ROSEMARY

If you're just beginning your herb garden or want a pretty addition to your perennial garden, one of the easiest & loveliest herbs to grow is rosemary. It lives well on pure neglect & will thrive with only a little care. My rosemary is the one plant I put in that survived our first year here at Sunnyside ~ before we put in the watering system from one of the dams that actually contained water back then. It managed with the little water I would pour on it now & again ( remember this was a drought year, so we needed most of our water just to live & keep clean) & once we were able to water it regularly, it flourished & the growth rate increased remarkably.

You only need a small plant to begin . What begins as a 10cm plantling quickly turns into a thriving, wild bush ~ it is often used as a beautiful & aromatic hedging. Rosemary is best grown from a cutting rather than seed ~ simply take a small cutting of new growth from an established plant & place one end into some seed raising mixture. Keep moist & soon it will have grown sufficient roots to plant out into your garden.

~Yes, my rosemary is in dire need of pruning ~

As with any plant, rosemary loves good soil, but will grow even in poor soil types. Our house is located on an ironbark ridge & although this enables us fantastic views of the valley below, it does mean that the soil is poor & quite rocky. Most plants I grow are in raised beds, but I have been able to grow my rosemary straight into the ground ~ I love hardy plants like that :)

Rosemary is such a delight to have in the garden ~ who can resist running their hand through it & smelling the delicious aroma that is emitted. It is such a pretty herb that it can be easily added to a flower garden (it makes a fabulous backdrop to other flowers). Rosemary produces flowers in flushes at various times throughout the year ~ it will surprise you when! I have one rosemary bush that produces a pretty, soft pink flower (above), but my absolute favourite is my 'tuscan blue' rosemary ~ the flowers are a startling blue/purple that always bring a smile to my face (at top & bottom of page)!

Rosemary a wonderful addition to a variety of meals. It is very good for you containing up to 20 antioxidants & some say it aids in improving the memory. One of my favourite ways of using rosemary is when I cook a roast lamb or beef ~ just poke a number of sprigs into the roast at varying intervals along with some garlic cloves & then cook. I also add rosemary to my spaghetti bolognaise, chicken stuffing & of course my bouquet garni always contains this herb!

I hope you find delight in growing this beautiful, tasty, aromatic, hardy herb for yourself!

I'd love it if you shared any tips of your own :)

Blessings

Joining up with :

Also At Wildcrafting Wednesday
HERE

Also:

Sunday Psalms

2011-11-20T07:00:00.000+11:00

My soul finds rest in God alone;

my salvation comes from Him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation;

He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Psalm 62:1-2

My favourite mocha frappe recipe!

2011-11-17T14:44:00.000+11:00

Oh I just couldn't resist sharing this one with you...

This is our Sunday afternoon treat ~ well I will admit it gets made on other days, but we do enjoy this indulgance only occasionally (& of course it's adults only since it contains caffeine). I first started with a recipe I got HERE, but I've played with it & changed it (of course). I hope you enjoy:

MY FAVOURITE MOCHA FRAPPE RECIPE!

1. Begin by brewing about a half a cup of coffee ~ make it strong!

Allow it to cool a bit (if you have the patience)!

2. Place coffee, 1 tbs raw sugar, 1/2 cup milk, 2 small trays of ice cubes & 4 tbs of my homemade chocolate syrup ( or you can use store brought) into a blender.

3. Process for a few minutes until the iced is crushed.

4. Grab a good book, a comfy chair & send the kids outside.... pour into a fun glass & ENJOY!!!

(Don't forget to pour one for your hubby ~ it makes enough for two)

It really is that simple to have a yummy treat that will cool you right down on those hot summer days coming up!

Blessings

Really ducky...

2011-11-14T15:10:00.000+11:00

I wasn't meant to get ducks....

We had only gone to the markets to get pigs...we'd thought about pigs...we'd dreamed about pigs...we'd even planned for pigs, but ducks... they weren't even in the equation!

He'd mentioned them once only... he'd said they were dirty animals that were a pest...he'd never said anything else. They just weren't ever thought of again. !

And now here I was coming home with a small box filled with 2 ducklings.

What would he think?

It's not really my fault, as I walked past their cage they seemed to call to me. They must have known that I had a thing for babies ~ all kinds of babies... their little eyes beckoned me, their little bodies ~ already beginning to grow white feathers from their newborn yellow fuzz somehow seemed to appear like they needed a good home... in a place called....well something like Sunnyside (I'm sure it was something like that they were quacking) :) I ignored it ...after all it was only that morning that he'd spoken in the the less than complimentary manner about their kind, so I walked straight on past.

But my children.... I think they have a little bit of their mother in them ( OK maybe I should say a whole lot ~ after all we have quite the petting zoo here). They stopped, they felt it ~ they turned as a group & it only took one look & a "Oh Mum, look at how cute they are". I found myself handing over the money ~ it's not like he said I wasn't allowed to get them...

I began to think ~ how can I convince him? Hmmm.... duck eggs ~ we'll buy them on the precept of wanting to have farm fresh duck eggs ( after all doesn't every farm want those??). I chose a drake & hen ( that way we may get more ducklings & there really isn't anything cuter.... except baby chicks.,.. oh & calves, lambs, piglets & of course human babies). Excitement radiated from the children ~ 2 acquisitions in one day. More animals to join the Sunnyside family :)

We told him we had a gift for him ~ a surprise ~ he took it in his stride (after almost 12 years of marriage he knows me well). As for the ducks ~ they've made themselves right at home. The hens have adjusted to these newest invaders of their henhouse, they seem to not mind that they swim in the water & take up one of the nesting boxes at night. After all they really are cute!!

So come a few more months we will have our very own Sunnyside fresh duck eggs ~ after all that's what we got them for ~ isnt' it ?

Source

Joining in with the ladies for:

Enjoy your day!

P.S. The ducks really aren't dirty ~ they are very easy pets to care for!

Sunday Psalms

2011-11-13T13:23:00.001+11:00

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,

Your faithfulness to the skies.

Psalm 36:5

Late night visits

2011-11-10T14:10:00.000+11:00

He calls & faintly my mind registers that I'm needed...

Another call ... it was late getting in last night.... a friend in need called & I went & didn't arrive home from the city until the wee hours....much too late for this sleep-needy mother....maybe the sound it was all just a dream...

Once again I hear "Mummy, I've wet the bed"... I slowly roll over & raise myself out of the warmth and begin the stumble through the dark to their room to their bedside...

Again...I'm too slow...it's one of my matching set that needs me, but the fuzz of my brains makes the voice indistinguishable from the other. I push the switch & as light fills out the dark spaces of the hallway all goes quiet. They know I'm coming.... we've done this before... many times. They will wait, happy in the knowledge that I will come..they will not be left in that uncomfortable state forever.

As I enter their bedroom a head appears above the bed's end... bright eyes smile when they see me... I was missed last night ~ no last kisses or hugs ~ no reminders to "please be quiet" sprang from this mother's lips. Instead prayers were said with a friend over her sick newborn babe... tears were shed & a shoulder offered... strength for one who has offered that for me when my own tears have overwhelmed. Love reciprocated.... isn't that what friendship is all about?

A second head appears on the level above the first... excitement fills his identical eyes... "Mum guess what we saw a kangaroo on our driveway & it was so big & it jumped right over the fence into Churchill forest" the words are all run into each other as his 5 year old brain relives the fun of the moment ~ the wonder of God's creation ~ the might of the creature just a breathe compared to the might of it's Creator. And I smile as I remember just a few hours earlier... just as the clock was stroking midnight & I was by myself on a lonely country road in a bumpy old farm ute... how out of the corner of my sleepy eye a kangaroo emerged & I managed to jam on the brakes & that crazy kangaroo jumped straight across the road right in my path & had it stopped in the glare of my headlights I would have hit it, but God was good & allowed it to keep right on going. Must be the night for them.

Finally I lay my head back down. Two clean, cuddly boys lay in between us & I manage to teeter on the edge of our much-too-small- for-visitors-during-the-night bed. I think about the blessings of safety, the blessings of friends, the blessings of children & the blessings of warm places to lay our heads at night. As I drift off to sleep I remind myself to keep on looking.... look for those blessings in the everyday, in the unimportant. For I don't deserve any of it ~ this life, this family~ it is all a gift!

Keep on looking...

October...Gifts from His heart!

2011-11-07T12:00:00.000+11:00

I love, love, love my daily listing of the gifts God has blessed me with. In truth we deserve nothing, not one thing, yet God has given us so very much!!!

My list for October:

1. A warm cabin as the rain comes down (& the wisdom to cancel our camping plans).

2. Fun lunch with much missed friends.

3. Long weekends, the chance to spend more time with Daddy & Nanny & Grandpa as an added bonus!

4. The internet!!!! Finally, finally it's working again!

5. Tomato seedlings freshly planted ~ I have so very many ~ I think I'm addicted ( can you be addicted to tomato plants?)

6. Muddy paddocks, beautiful rain, soggy skirts

7. Sleeping in ~ holidays from the schooling schedule.

8. The blending of older, mature voices in praise & their delight over our children attending their concert ~ the only ones under 30 in attendance ( & yes, they loved every minute of it!!)!

9. A wonderful husband ~ such a gifted preacher ~ a soft heart.

10. Back to school ~ into the comforts of our routine again!

11. A shorter day of schoolwork ~ diligent children working quickly.

12. Spring !!!

13. The joy of giving thanks

14. The beautiful, big, brown eyes of an affectionate jersey cow

15. Computer programs that make doing farm book work so easy

16. Joy ~ because it's a choice every single day!

17. Health~ may I never take it for granted.

18. Food ~ such a blessing to have more than enough.

19. A son who at nine still wants to hug his Mum each & every day.

20. This past year ~ so very much that I've learnt & grown.

21. Fun, tiring art projects with precious children.

22. Sweet, fresh strawberries ~ the sweetest I've ever tasted.

23. Warm days, bringing on thoughts of summer fun!

24. Exhaustion ~ the sign that I've overdone it ....again & the knowledge of what to do about it!

25. Sweet, practical advice for schooling from an older, more experienced Mother ~ so thankful.

26. Friends

27. Strength past the tiredness

28. The end of 8 long years of hard work !!!!!!!! Praise God !!!!!!!!!!!!

29. Our family ~ a trip to the city together ~ lunch out ~ fun.

30. Strong, sound Bible teaching

31. Direction ~ maybe not what we want, but what we need!

Thank you God for the many, many blessings you have given each of us every single day. May we not take them for granted, but see these gifts you have given us with new awareness! Amen

Have a wonderful week dear friends

Blessings

Joining with Ann & the many others counting their blessings:

Sunday Psalms

2011-11-06T14:47:00.000+11:00

As for God, His way is perfect;

the Word of the Lord is flawless.

He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him.

Psalm 18:30

Finally... Curly-tailed additions to our farmyard!

2011-10-31T14:46:00.000+11:00

Over the last couple of years we've been entertaining notions of getting our own supply of bacon. We've heard that true free-range bacon is beyond any doubt the tastiest of all the pork products available and so we were eager to keep our own pigs to guarantee a good, healthy diet to produce a nicer product (that is truly free-range)! A little notice came in the local paper that someone was selling piglets at some nearby markets, so we rose early that Sunday morning ~ eager to get our order in before church. We need not have worried ~ the man sold few piglets all day, however the early rising enabled us the guarantee of both a sow & a boar ~ instead of buying "Christmas dinner" ( as they were advertised) we purchased a plethora of future "Christmas dinners"!!

Zai & Ellie have been the driving force behind the purchase of our furrowing friends ~ they have been so eager to get their own little business going, so we have handed the pig care completely over to them ~ the cleaning, the feeding, the loving.... you get it!! They then intend to sell any offspring the pigs produce. I am hoping over the years this will increase into lessons of genetics & breeding. They are doing well considering they only have two piglets so far ~ they already have their first sale lined up!! Of course one of the requirements is that we have as much meat as we need for free!

So Boris & Delores have quickly become much loved pets here in the fortnight they've lived at beautiful Sunnyside. They are eternally happy & constantly appear to be smiling ~ makes you smile right along with them! They were easily tamed with eggs (did you know that whole eggs are like lollies for pigs ~ they go crazy for them). They now sniff you for eggs every time you enter their paddock or pen! (No wonder they are happy ~ we are currently blessed with an excess of eggs!)

Why Boris & Delores???

Source

They are named after the pigs in Footrot Flats of course!!!~ classical literature ( well um maybe not, but definitely very funny ~ and it has held even more giggles since we've moved onto the farm & had our own "footrot moments" !)

Pork, Bacon, Ham..... mmmm the years ahead hold so much tastiness!!

Joining in:

Hope you are having a wonderful week ~ what's been the highlight for you?

Sunday Psalms

2011-10-30T17:30:00.000+11:00

Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love,

for I have put my trust in You.

Show me the way I should go,

for to You I lift up my soul.

Psalm 143:8

Parenting ~ it's a cycle!

2011-10-25T14:50:00.001+11:00

My friend's mother is a wise woman.
No, I've never met her, never even spoken to her, but she shared this with her daughter who told me & well... it just makes good sense!!

Enjoy........your babies

Discipline......your toddlers

Teach......your children

Listen to..... your teenagers

and

Enjoy......your adult children
(& they of course sometimes come with the added bonus of thoroughly enjoying grandchildren :)!)

If each step is done at the correct time in their development then a beautiful relationship should be enjoyed between parent & child!

It is definitely worth thinking about ~ what stage/s are you in??

Blessings

Linking up to Raising Homemakers

Yabbying ~ family fun right here at Sunnyside!

2011-10-20T07:00:00.001+11:00

While our visitors were here we embalked in our inaugural yabbying trip right here on Sunnyside!!
In late 2009 we stocked the larger dams with multitudes of yabbies collected from the overflow of one of our neighbours dams. It was muddy work collecting all these crays, but we had so much fun as well (you know what boys are like with mud)!!

You may be wondering what a yabby is ~ well it's a crustacean that is found in the dams around here. They are often caught by the farmers & cooked ~ some even think of them as a treat.

Source

Me, well, I've only had them once & although I do love seafood, well I just don't love dam food ~ they tasted muddy to me ~ but shhhh..... don't tell the farmers around here (must be the city girl in me) ~ I obviously don't have a refined palate ;)

We had been wondering whether our yabbies had multiplied enough for us to go yabbying. We have been observing for some time the vast array of yabby holes in the shallows of the dams & when a recent dipping of feet into the cold water resulted in nibbled toes, we decided that they had certainly added to their numbers and it would be safe for us to venture forth & remove a few!

We waited for a beautiful warm spring day & with fishing line & meat in hand embarked to black dam ~ ready to conquer the yabbies!!!

After improvising with homemade yabby lures using the line & some sticks collected on the way we sat & waited

& waited

.....

After about an hour of trying to lure them out of different holes we decided a change of location was in order to try & catch these elusive creatures!

Off to the big dam we went ~ all in a row as we skirted past Bessy's paddock & dodged poddy lambs who were eager to come with us. After only one wooly escapee requiring recapture we were there ready to ensnare the yabbies in these hopefully friendlier waterhole.

Again we spent a while ~ let me tell you it really is relaxing sitting by the side of a dam on a warm spring evening ~ even if you don't catch anything.

As daylight began to wane we decided to give up.....

...For now....

But let me warn all those yabbies out there ~ we'll be back ~ & we've had lots of hints about what is the best thing to lure you with!!!!

Hope you enjoy your family today!

Blessings

September's ~ Gifts from His heart!

2011-10-17T12:00:00.001+11:00

Many of you know that I've been recording one thing I am thankful for each day for a few months now ~ such a highlight & I thoroughly recommend it !!!

Here is my list for September:

1. The gentle swelling of a close friend's abdomen ~ reminding us of the new life being formed.

2. A sweet daughter who even while sick tries to keep a happy smile.

3. Dirty floors ~ because if they were always clean it would mean no one was here to make them sticky!

4. New friends ~ the promise of all it may hold

5. Preschoolers ~ their excitement at something as simple as playdough

6. Ticks on my list ~ the work is being completed!

7. The anticipation of a month of visitors !!!

8. Health

9. Caring friends

10. The chance to get away with a group of sweet friends & listen to good teaching for women.

11. Safety

12. Parents / Grandparents

13. Homeschooling & children who work hard.

14. The first blossoms of jasmine ~ welcoming spring with their delightful scent.

15. A wise father.

16. Fun trips with visitors to quaint little towns.

17. Sweet youngest sister ~ who loves us so much

18. A wonderful, fun sunday school class ~ who are eager to learn & discuss ( don't you love 8 to 12 year olds??)

19. Delicious meals cooked by Mum ~ the fun of having a live-in cook even if it's just for a little while!

20. A son who works hard to complete his term's work.

21. All school work completed for term three ~ YAY!!!!!

22. Heart to heart talks with sisters

23. Beautiful flowers, old books & a new visitor!

24. A beautiful ballerina dancing at the local show!

25. Lovely rich,fertile soil delivered especially for my gardens

26. Phone calls with a sweet SIL

27. Shopping with my lovely sister!

28. Birthday fun over ~ but not forgotten

29. Sadness of goodbyes, but happiness of a week full of memories

30. A comfortable car, a long drive & precious hugs from in-laws!

Joining in with:

Are you counting your blessings today?

What are you thankful for?

Have a beautiful day friends!

Blessings

Sweet potato and chocolate chunk muffins with cream cheese icing!

2011-10-13T12:14:00.000+11:00

Mmmm..

Just saying this name makes my mouth water!

I've never been a muffin person ~ not because I don't like them, but because I just don't have enough muffin tins to cook them efficiently (let's face it 6 at a time is s.l.o.w. going ~ and you know how patient I am with things ;o ). This year I have braved a few different recipes (OK I used my friand tin, which although it doesn't make a perfect muffin does still hold them adequately to cook them ). So when I stumbled across this recipe here I was right in the mood for a bit of playing in the kitchen. With a little bit of tweaking & of course some "renataizing" the final product may well be the most delicious muffins I've ever tasted!! Yes, the sweet potato was my idea ( much to the disgust of my children who were sure I was going to wreck them before I even started), OK the chocolate chunks eventuated because I had no chocolate chips in the cupboard and as for the the icing ~well it just seemed to work in my head (& on the palate) ~ but after tasting these I do believe I've stumbled on a winner & my whole family agree ( even the more skeptical of the bunch).

I hope you enjoy these:

Sweet potato & chocolate chunk muffins with cream cheese icing!

Ingredients:

4 eggs

2.5 cups raw sugar

2 cups of mashed sweet potato

3.5 cups of plain flour ( I used half white & half wholemeal)

2 tsp baking powder

1tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ground ginger

1 cup olive oil

3/4 cup water

approx 100g dark chocolate cut into chunks

Icing:

1 pkt philly cream cheese

icing sugar

1. Mix eggs, sugar and sweet potato until well combined.

2. In a seperate bowl combine dry ingrediants

3. Add dry ingredients alternatively with oil & water to egg mixture.

4. Mix well & add to greased or lined muffin tins.

5. Cook approx 15 mins in medium oven until brown on top & knife comes out clean.

6. Allow to cool

Icing:

Beat cream cheese with electric beaters until soft ~ you can use a wooden spoon, but it will hurt :)

Add icing sugar & beat ~ continue adding until you have a sweet, stiff mixture ~ approx 1 1/2 cups ( sorry I didn't get exact). When at desired texture ice the cooled muffins or pipe it on top!

Enjoy!!!!

Next time I head into town, I'm going to buy a whole bunch of proper muffin tins so that these can be a more regular treat (& maybe try some different muffin recipes ~ got any recommendations?).

Have a wonderful day

Mud, mud, mud ~ & we couldn't be happier...

2011-10-10T07:00:00.009+11:00

Spring has brought with it the much needed rains that winter deprived us of. Slowly, as day after day passes our solid ground becomes more liquid, our grasses appear greener & the gardens & crops sit straighter drinking in the nourishing goodness so they can transfer it straight to nutrients ~ to eventually feed us ~ as is the cycle so perfectly made by our Creator!

And we join with our friends & neighbours in thanking God for this long awaited rains that has transformed the year from that of dread to anticipation of another successful crop. Sure there are many factors & the crops are not in the bag just yet, but we can smile that maybe, maybe there may be enough to cover their costs & possibly even give them a bit of an income to begin to pay for the terrible ten years of drought that recently wracked this area. The soaking of pastures, now able to produce good feed for each animal that relies so heavily on it for life!

Every drop, every ml, every inch ~ a gift from a Life Giving God ! The Creator who knew exactly what we needed & although we thought He waited too late ~ gave just as the crops began to stress.

The garden is soggy, the grass is all wet & my skirt sticks to my ankles as I go about my daily tasks, yet I couldn't help but smile (& maybe, maybe even dance a little ~ but don't tell ~ my only audience is a single lamb & a few unimpressed hens who go about their own business unaffected) because the smell, the feel, the joy of a rain soaked land is enchanting, enthralling!!

Joining Amy once again in:

Rejoicing today!

32 random things you never knew about Renata :)

2011-10-05T17:06:00.000+11:00

In celebration of my recent birthday (can you guess how old I was??) I decided to once again share in list form about myself. I hope you enjoy getting to know me a little more :)

1. I'm an optimist ~ there's not much that will knock me flat & I don't stay there for very long if it does!

2. I love pretty things ~ especially in creation (you can probably guess this from my blog)!

3. When I was a girl I couldn't wait to grow taller than my mother so she couldn't tell me what to do ~ I'm still shorter than she is!

4. Our boys names all come from the Bible ( surprised ? ~ no, I don't use their real names on here), however our daughters' name comes from a cookbook ~ she's a tad disappointed about that.

5. I've always been a Christian since I can remember, but I'm always amazed at how I've grown through various times & different trials & I know that I still have so much to learn! I love that God takes the time to care enough about this insignificant woman to want to mold my character to be more like Jesus.

6. We recently purchased a Wiii (ebay - of course) ~ I've been having so much fun on the Wiii Fit & have to do it each day to get my stamp:) I'm not going to tell you my Wiii fit age, but let's just say it was older than I am, but younger than I was expecting!

7. We lovingly refer to our home as the "ebay house" ~ our 'new' kitchen & a lot of the furniture were all purchased through ebay!

8. I've never been brave enough to sell on ebay ~ I have a shelf full of things that need to be sold, but I always chicken out. I think I need to send the things to the op shop soon!

9. I married an aircraft engineer who was infatuated from birth with aeroplanes. I have three sons who are well, let's just say "plane crazy" however I hate flying because I get terribly air sick.

10. I have found the best way to make sure I organize my praying for those I want to ~ which includes you guys~ I'll share it soon!

11. I often wish I could change my blog alias to something a little more unusual ~ the singing farmgirl ~ Aussie farmgirl ~ something like that, but I just couldn't be bothered going through & changing it all!

12. I love to garden ( can you guess??) but I kill at least half of the things I plant ~ seems I don't have as much of a green thumb as I wish ~ of course to overcome this I plant many, many plants in the hopes that some of them will live :)

13. I've planted 26 tomato plants so far this spring & I have more that I'm growing from seeds ~ hopefully it means lots of tomatoes over summer.

14. My husband thinks I have a seed fetish ~ I tell him that at least it's cheaper than a shoe fetish :) I promise I am planting them all!

15. I have a list of 16 topics I intend to blog about ~ I wonder if I will get through before the end of the year?

16. I got the dirtiest present this year for my birthday ~ that's right 4 cubic metres of dirt for the new garden beds (also bird netting & sprinkler systems ~ isn't my husband romantic ??? Actually I asked for help with the garden as my gift).

17. I love home schooling, but I must admit I am currently thoroughly enjoying the spring holidays! It's been so busy, but finally this week I have the chance to sit around & write here ( & the internet is finally reconnected after a storm took the power, phone line & cooked the modem last week!)

18. Dave has now officially been around (as "special friend" or husband) for over half my life!

19. I hate sitting still for very long ( wonder where the kids get that from?) One of the reasons radiography suited me as a profession was that I didn't have to sit around all day ~ motherhood suits that as well :)

20. I have to read to get to sleep each night ( & not the computer ~ it just makes me more awake). I am currently reading a book on organisation by Sandra Fulton ~ I highly recommend her books.

21. I'm not sure upon reading it if I'm a messie or not~ my house is never perfectly tidy, but I absolutely hate clutter & piles everywhere, so there isn't much of that around ~ & I don't tend to hang onto things too long (unless I'm going to sell them on ebay). Hmmm...

22. I never, ever in my life imagined I'd give birth to twins ~ I always thought Ellie would because it's in Dave's line, but not myself ~ I still hope she does :)

23. My sister gave me a book by "The Amish cook" ~ I'm thoroughly enjoying it & hope to try some recipes before long.

24. I have read the google previews of the other three Amish cook books on Book Depository!

25. I love the Amish ~ even though truthfully what little I know about them has come from novels or blogs ~ there aren't any over here in Australia ~ I wonder if I'd be disappointed if I ever went to see their true lifestyle?

26. I am so glad that God decided to give me a daughter. I love everything girlie & sharing it with her! I love doing her hair & dressing her up pretty!

27. We visited Floriade at Canberra again this year ( it really is beautiful), however we rushed through as the Lifeline Book Sale was on that day as well!

28. I have had my parents & 2 sisters visiting at different times over the last three weeks ~ it's been wonderfully fun & I thoroughly enjoyed their holidays.

29. I've found it so important to pray about upcoming visits ~ some are great & others not so great ~ I now pray that they will each be times of bonding & relationship building!

30. Once upon a time when asked I would say I preferred cows, now after real life experience I'm totally a sheep girl (although don't tell Bessy ~ I still love her ~ even if she is naughty)

31. I froze the bird. Yep it's true I'm guilty ~ it was in our first year here & I didn't realize how cold it got outside at nighttime.

32. In the latest Gardening Australia is a picture taken by yours truly ~ I took it on my neighbors' behalf!

Have a wonderful day dear friends

Blessings,

Why do you blog?

2011-09-15T10:55:00.000+10:00

I love blogging!!!

It's true ~ I love sitting down & composing my thoughts. I love removing the ugly & writing about the beautiful in this precious life the Lord has blessed me with. I love being real with you all & sharing about an issue that has been troubling me. However now & again I feel it is important to reevaluate whatever we are doing. Asking ourselves if this is what we want to continue doing & why are we doing it?

I regularly do this from time to time with various aspects of my life. Sure there are the constants ~ my faith, my family, my friendships, but then there are those other things. It's been over 3 years now of writing here ~ journaling a little of my life here at beautiful Sunnyside. I remember tentatively sitting down & writing my very first post a couple of months after moving here ~ I look back & smile now! But it has been a wonderful place of preserving various parts of our life & our adjustments to life in the country & the many things we have learned along the way.

So why am I writing all of this? Well when I came across THIS post it made me think ~ why do I blog? What are my intentions with this little bit of cyberspace? ~ this one page among millions~. It's not like I'll ever have a big or popular blog, nor do I have aspirations of making money from it. In fact I write for fun and so am pleasantly surprised when the follower count shows that someone else is interested in this little part of my life.

I'll admit I often get frustrated & regularly suffer from writers block. I'm not a big talker & although I find it much easier to talk with my fingers, I still suffer from the blank brain syndrome just when I'm putting pressure on myself that I have to come up with a blog post that will WOW you all !!

It's not like I have a particular blog niche. Sure I write about farming, but I also write about our family, homeschooling, gardening, faith & even give you recipes every so often. I've often wondered where I fit ~ is there a catagory for "hodgepodge blogs"?

Many times I've considered stopping & sometimes I have taken extended breaks ~ not because I want to, but because to me it's more important to make sure my family, real life & friendships come before it and sometimes, well life just happens. Some weeks I can barely get two minutes to sit down at the computer to write (& as for reading ~ I still love you all & will get around to your blogs eventually :) ~ it will be holidays soon!!). But I often realize that it is this season in life & I wouldn't have it any other way. I think it's so important to not allow it to come before your priorities. If you're struggling (trust me I have many times) pray about it & take a break if need be.

From a recent trip to Canberra ~ sitting by Lake Burley Griffin

As I mentioned, I love blogging ~ I love the outlet it gives me. I find it an easy hobby & I love the fact that it brings other parts of the world right into my farmhouse. I love the fact that blogging reduces the isolation of living here somewhere in the middle of Australia where the nearest neighbours is a few kilometres away. I love the fact that some of my old friendships have been able to be salvaged because of the blog world. I just love meeting other ladies from all over the world who have similar interests, desires & priorities.

But as much as I love all that, as much as I thoroughly enjoy every comment that my posts receive, the true reasons I blog is still the original reasons.

* To glorify the Lord ~ if just one person is encouraged by a post, then it's worth it. If my humble writings makes one person think about their relationship with the Lord then sitting down here sharing my heart is worth it.

* To keep our family & friends up to date on our goings on. We still miss them.....a lot. Living this far away is never easy ~ it gets easier with time, but there is always that ache of missing them~ you just get used to it. I love it when my sisters comment, I love it when my Mum knows exactly what I'm talking about because she's seen pictures, I love it when an Aunty talks about something she's read on my blog & I love it when a cousin I haven't spoken to in years says she reads here (HI:) )! Hearing someone talk about what I've written always makes me smile :)

So welcome to my little bit of the world. I may not be the most regular blogger, but I hope that what I write brings a smile to your face & you feel like you've visited with a friend!

So how about you ~ why do you blog?

I'd love to hear...

Blessings

Spring in my farmhouse garden

2011-09-06T13:30:00.002+10:00

Come for a walk with me in my garden....

Spring has arrived & with the warmer temperatures have come such a bounty of beauty all around. The trees are in blossom & the bulbs are springing to life ~ surprising us with their delightful appearances in rather random patterns all over the place!

Today the sky is looking particularly grumpy & the wind has increased, so put on your jacket & join me as we search the mess of plants from yesteryear & beyond and find some beauties amongst the tangle...

*****

First my newly planted strawberry patch ( I show everyone this ~ I've always wanted a strawberry patch)...

I had such a wonderful surprise the other day to discover a flower on one of my strawberry plants. When I purchased these 'Cambridge Rival' crowns I was informed that they wouldn't fruit in our region until November or December. I am looking forward to some tasty fruit from these heirloom plants that were planted in the dead of winter~ with dreams of a lush summer harvest!

Around the side now...

Thyme

My herbs are still growing prolifically ~ well except the cone-flower (echinacea) which dies off over winter ~but already we are appreciating the lovely new spring growth there & looking forward to many flowers on it come summer. I enjoyed these so much last year that I planted more in August & now have many seedlings growing ~ I'm looking forward to planting them out ~ I have a special area all ready planned for them around the front.

Parsley & Sage

I love my herb garden & have plans to extend it this year. I have a prolific bounty of parsley, rosemary, thyme, mint, coriander, sage & especially dill. These have continued all winter long & so we have enjoyed our fresh herbs the whole time! I do intend to learn how to dry them though ~ it looks like so much fun :) I have planted some seeds of oregano, chives & chilli to add to my collection this summer.

Rosemary

My garlic plants are also coming along nicely. I planted before Anzac Day (as we should over here in Australia) & look forward to seeing how successful they are. Last year I had no success, but I planted much too late. This year I planted one bulb of cloves in the shade house & the other in the garden. I will be interested in seeing which place grows the best ~ so far the shade house appears to be the winner .

Dill

As for the best part....

My wonderful hubby (have I told you how much I appreciate him? ) sacrificed a couple of hours of his fathers' day evening this past Sunday to help me put together some new garden beds. No, we haven't finished yet ~ so far it is little more than weed matting & sleepers (they are 2.5 m square), but I am so excited that these are finally taking shape. I planted many seeds this past month ( & have many to plant further in September) so I needed somewhere to put the seedlings once they have grown out! I guess that truly is incentive to get these done! You may be wondering why we have kept the garden so close to the house~ after all with 240 acres we have plenty of space ~ well at the moment we have no water supply to other parts of the farm & since summer is hot & dry, dry, dry here, I need to be able to give my plants a drink every second day (which is too much to bucket ~ especially with the size garden I dream of :) . One day we plan on a big acre garden down near the big dam, but until we get a pump for it this is our best option! (Don't they say farmers & gardeners always need to be thinking about next year/s?)

***

Don't you just love new spring growth?

All my little fruit trees are covered in tiny growth ~ the blueberry even has flowers on, the raspberry has small leaves covering it & the mulberry, kiwis & apricot trees are showing signs of a wonderful season of growing ahead! All these are baby trees at the moment, but as I cultivate & water them regularly I envision them large & productive, producing much fruit for our family! I pray that it might be so!

Next winter we plan on planting apples & possibly pears. My hope is that by that time we will have water to the big "garden" area & we can plant an orchard down there also!

Spring is my favorite time of year, the warming of the weather, the new growth, the flowers.....

The flowers....

Did I say how much I love flowers of every kind :)
~Isn't God's Creation just Amazing!!!~

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
Genesis1:31a

***

Oh no, the clouds have darkened & the heavenly tears are coming to nourish the earth (my garden sure could use it)

... Come inside for a cuppa before you head off ...

Make sure you visit again soon...this dancing, skirt - twirling weather of spring is so appreciated after the cold, dark days of winter!

I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you may be

Thanks for visiting our little farm!

Blessings

Home schooling - how we do it!

2011-08-25T16:21:00.001+10:00

When people learn we home school we certainly get a mixture of reactions - there are those who look at you blankly & disinterested, those who look at your children with sympathy & glare heinously at you for depriving your children so badly & then there are those who are genuinely interested & one of their first questions is inevitably

"How do you do it ?"

Well today I will let you in on the secret - I'll tell you just how (& trust me it ain't rocket science ;) - well except on Wednesday when it very well may be! ).

Generally our school day begins at 9am. Well the schedule says we need to begin our day at 9 - let's pretend that for today we're keeping completely to schedule!!

9am- Devotions

Devotions is my very favorite part of the day! This happens around the dining room table. I love teaching my children about God's word & sowing those little seeds in their heart. I also like to mix it up a bit to keep the children interested. Usually we read a Bible passage and discuss it - sometimes this is planned & other times it is random - often it is something that I read in my devotions & want to share. Sometimes I'll go over what we did in Sunday school that week ( I have the added bonus of being a SS teacher as well), sometimes we read a section from either Hymns for a Kid's Heart or Passion Hymns for a Kid's Heart ( both by Bobbie Wolgemuth and Joni Eareckson Tada - I highly recommend these for every family). Other times we read a Proverb - I love sharing the Proverb for the day & there is so many gems in Proverbs that you can always find so much to discuss. I love discussions & when my 5 year old asked "How do I know that Jesus is real?" the other day you can be sure I grabbed that opportunity.

We then do our Memory Verse - I always learnt memory verses as a child & I have valued that hidden Word in my heart. I have found my children love to do actions to the words- it helps them remember the passage & makes it fun (this idea I got from the Duggar's book "A love that multiplies" - a gem full of great parenting & home schooling tips!). I am constantly amazed at children's abilities to memorize - over the last fortnight we have learnt Psalm 1 (yes, the whole chapter). Even the twins join in!

Sometimes we sing a hymn that we've learnt about while I accompany them. Most days we also revise our character trait for the week (we use the chart found here) - I try & do something new every day of the week with this - from reading the bible verse & definition to asking the children for real life examples. They love it when I come up with outrageous scenarios with them in & they have to choose how to act!

9:20am - Table time

I then give the children each their journal & they write me a letter (or draw me a picture in the case of the twins). These are just so precious & I will treasure them. I always write back so that it's easy to keep the conversation open - yes this takes extra time, but the memories & relationship we're building make it worth it!

Zai & Ellie then revise their times tables or learn a new set if it's Monday. We revise the odd number sets if the date is odd & even on even dates.

9:30am - English

We always complete English when they are bright & alert. We move into the schoolroom at this point & they work at their individual desks. At this early stage in their education English is the most important subject, so I make sure we spend the bulk of our school time in it. They have a range of activities depending on the day. I spend a couple of hours each Friday afternoon planning the coming week & of course with CEMonline a lot of the work is done for me!! The twins do extended table time during this time (generally colouring a picture, tracing their names or an activity such a play dough - anything they can sit at the table & do independently) followed by preschool time with Mummy which they just love!

10:30am - Morning tea.

We always have something yummy & some fruit & it's usually a wonderful chance to get outside & refresh ourselves. I use this opportunity to hang out my first load of washing for the day since I have my household jobs to do too!

11am - back to work:)

After morning tea we continue on in English. One thing I love about home schooling is that we're not bound by the clock which means that the children work until they finish the work I have set them for the day. Should they really struggle & it take an unreasonable amount of time I am flexible, but generally they get the work completed in good time. Once completed they do their maths. We use a variety of curriculum - none of which I love, although I do recommend the maths mentals Zai uses "Signpost mentals" - it has certainly stretched him & it makes it easy to pick up on areas he has troubles with. I also highly recommend mathletics as an addition to any maths curriculum.

With all my children's subjects I will mark the completed pages & then I get the children to correct their errors. - I find this so beneficial to them learning & understanding the techniques they have difficulties with.

The twins will spend half an hour doing quiet mat time & half an hour doing a computer preschool program such as reader rabbit or starfall. These are done individually & they swap between them, however once a week they enjoy using tumble books library together!

1pm - Lunch.

By this time we're starving, but I know that I'll get more work out of the children in the morning than the afternoon so I extend out the morning.

2pm - Back to the desk.

If any maths needs completing they do that. We then complete one integrated subject each day. Because we use CEMonline the children currently do different activities for these. Next year when Zai & Ellie are both in stage two they will do the same, but then of course I''ll have two stage one students, so will still be teaching different things. Ideally I would love to do these together around the table, but we enjoy the benefits we get with ACC as well so chose to do it this way for now.

Day one - HSIE

Day two - PDHPE

Day three - Science & Technology

Day four - Creative & practical art.

Finish ~ around 3:30pm.

I guess you're surprised that it takes as long as normal school (after all isn't that why you home school, so it doesn't take as long???)!!!!

Well the truth is:

We only do school 4 days a week.

Shocked??

Since we live so far from anywhere (well anywhere home school related) we generally have either a dance class, home school group or another activity) that takes up the extra day. I also love the flexibility that having a spare day gives us (for example if we have farm work that needs doing).

So this is how we do school at the moment. It's not the only way to do school, it's not the best way of doing school, but it works for our family.

I'm joining up to the bloghop:

I know we aren't going back to school (actually we're almost on the count down to our summer holidays) but I thought it would be fun to share our school day!

Thank you for joining us here at Sunnyside Schoolroom today!

Have a beautiful day

Shearing time again...

2011-08-22T11:29:00.001+10:00

I'm sure it doesn't seem that long ago to you all that I posted about our shearing experiences last year, but it's come around once again ( & would you believe we've even done some in the middle that I didn't post about). Shearing sure is an exciting time to this city family transplanted here to beautiful Sunnyside. The day is much anticipated & this year due to the forecast of showers we decided to shed our sheep a couple of days beforehand (usually you put them in the day before). We are blessed to have a fine-wool shed attached to our shearing shed (which makes it double the length of a normal shearing shed). This is designed for a special variety of sheep that are housed all year round ~ they are well known for their fine wool (although we haven't braved that path yet as they are expensive & it would mean a whole lot more work each day). It is the perfect place for shedding a flock of sheep for a few days or even keeping a sick ewe in from time to time.

This year we decided to drench the sheep (our first cross ewes that arrived at Sunnyside last December and sure have grown since then) the evening before since they were already up at the shed. This was our first time drenching & it was a simple, straight forward experience which even two inexperienced people-playing-farmer can manage without providing the neighbours too much entertainment (thankfully the neighbours are all many km's away so they couldn't see anyway!!!). Drenching is when you give them medicine so they are in tip-top condition for either sale or breeding (not sure which yet).

The shearing day begins early ~ the farmer is expected to be at the shed ready before the shearers arrive at 7am. Our shearing crew is arranged by our neighbor (who is one of the shearers on the 3 man crew) & since he lives so close he is always on time. Thankfully I was excluded from the early morning curfew due to the fact that I have all the usual am farm & household jobs to take care of as well as trying to coral 4 excited children into rushing breakfast & getting dressed before we packed up the baking, kettle, tea & milo expected for morning tea & loaded into the ute for the short drive down to the shearing shed. I only realised the evening before that there was no coffee in the house ( I don't drink it, so I didn't think to check until the night before), so after I delivered my load to the busy shed I made a mad dash into the tiny village 10 minutes away & thankfully the cafe had a very large jar left (now I'll have enough for the next 10 years ;) ). I arrived back 10 minutes before they were ready for their morning tea break (phew) ~ ensuring a very happily caffeinated shearing crew!

The shearing shed is a noisy place with the buzz of the shears, the lighthearted banter & the baaing of the sheep in the back pens. The whole place smells of lanolin & sheep & after 20 minutes in there even you begin to smell of it! Everyone is given a job from the children catching & packing the bellies, to the farmer learning how to throw a fleece (& he's doing really well ~ me, well I stick to brooming the left over wool pieces out from the shearing stands). Our shed is a two stand shed & that's definitely big enough for a small farm like ours, however our neighbour who has many thousands of sheep generally runs 4 stands when he shears (& his shearing takes days). Our shed is slowly getting set up - I remember the first year our shearing consisted of our neighbour shearing our dozen sheep & a couple of bags of wool to sell (& trust me it was just as exciting back then)~ now we have a shearing team, an electric wool press, wool table & bales of wool to sell! God is so good the way He is guiding us with this farming ~ we are just amazed at how much we have learnt over the past 3 1/2 years (& I'm sure we have much more to learn over the coming years)!

As I was standing there ~~leaning on my broom handle~~ working hard I couldn't help thinking of that passage in Isaiah 53:7:

He was oppressed and afflicted,

yet He did not open his mouth;

He was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

so He did not open his mouth.

Do you know that sheep generally are silent while being shorn?

A fun day of working together as a family, a great time had by all & a load more memories made!

Joining up with Amy and Megan again

Hope you have a wonderful day as well

A musical interlude...

2011-08-16T21:23:00.005+10:00

I sit here listening to the 2009 winners of the Australian country music awards CD...so enjoyable & so much talent (I love, love, love country music ~ my favorite is blue grass, but I enjoy most any kind really ~ as long as it's clean & has good morals ~ I'm a words person when it comes to the songs I like)! I borrowed it from the library today & enjoyed this song so much I just wanted to share because I hope it will bring a smile to your face (plus then I'll be able to remember it when I have to return the CD next month!). Zai today said "imagine if the world didn't have libraries" - well I know our family would be lost even though we have enough books we have our own library - we love our weekly trips!
(You are going to have to go down to the bottom of the page & pause my blog music ~ sorry about that)

Enjoy...

I've been singing it in my head all evening... after putting 4 little freshly washed children to bed then braving the dark to feed our lambies by the light of the camping lamp that has been seconded for farm work on those evenings where we've been in town too late to catch the end of the daylight. Then wading through a little pack of wooly bodies and making my way down to the chook shed admiring the enormously full moon hovering over the far side of our valley while I scattered our Sunnyside grown barley to the hungry flock. Is there anything nicer than a moonlight walk in the paddocks on a night warm enough to make you remember spring is almost here, while serenading the world followed by a pack of sweet young admirers that for a short time each year make you understand what the movie stars have to put up with?

I'm so glad we chose to have kids... toys, bikes, noise, paintings on the fridge, dirty faces & all!

How about you?

Have a happy day

Mr. Nine

2011-08-12T13:04:00.000+10:00

Can it really have been 9 years ago since I began this sweet journey of motherhood?

Such a blessing our big boy has always been.

I remember finding out I was pregnant with him - we were both so excited. Little more than kids ourselves, yet we felt so blessed to have the privilege of this precious little one. Tentatively we told a few our good news ~ not really knowing what to expect on our new path. Sure I'd held enough babies, I'd even helped care for babies - I had sisters much younger than me. Maybe I was better experienced than other expectant mothers, but there was still so very much I didn't know. I remember my Mum's friends telling me all about their birthing experiences ~ strangers would stop you in the street & tell you their stories - both good & otherwise and I would smile & try & glean a little wisdom from what they said & forget the rest.

I remember fainting in the middle of a restaurant at a work dinner ~ all my work colleagues there & I very inelegantly lost all consciousness & fell head long to the floor crashing down chairs in my wake (no romantic fainting backwards, I go stiff as a board & plummet forwards into whomever or whatever gets in my way). I remember waking up & wondering why the restaurant was on an angle & then the embarrassment of realizing what had happened & maybe it was the first time that I realized my life would never be the same with this little person I cradled within! I remember the ambulance ride to the hospital & leaving my chicken enchilada dinner all over the ambulance officer on the way ~ who himself had eaten enchiladas that night ~ he mentioning that he wondered if he would join me in loosing his dinner! And in the almost 10 years since I've never been able to really enjoy chicken enchiladas!!

Shearing ~ just yesterday

I remember that evening at 18 weeks when I first felt the butterfly flutters within & the wonder of it all ~ that I was being used as a vessel of HIS creation left me in such awe as I cradled my thickening waist & tried to make him dance some more.

I remember being so bull-headed I wouldn't even read the cesarean section of the maternity books ~ there was no way I was going to have one, so why read about it! I was going to have a natural, natural, natural birth ~ no drugs, no stitches - just like my Mum did 5 times over!

I remember just under 3 weeks before my due date deciding we HAD to go to the other side of the city to buy a certain book - & while on the journey we HAD to buy a first aid kit - and when we got home with the book & a CD of lullaby's I couldn't even stop to read, but instead cleaned the house from top to bottom while listening to the CD that lulled Dave into an afternoon rest. Later I remember laying restlessly in bed - my brain going a million miles a minute & me not knowing if I should get up & keep on cleaning the already spotless house & then after I finally fell asleep being woken with a rush of waters ~ no memories of getting out of bed, but rather finding myself running that well worn path to the bathroom!

I remember the excitement of that young woman ~ all of 22 ~ knowing that soon I would be holding our precious little son in our arms, yet knowing that between then & now lay a difficult path ahead. I remember being restless the 3 hours they told me to wait before coming to the hospital ( oh how I would do it so differently now) and then the long hours of nothing happening until finally in the wee hours of the morning the doctor put the needle in my arm & ordered the chemical mix that would make me curl up in pain & confusion because this is not how I planned it to be at all & finally after turning the drip up & up & up & very little happening to my body ~ 17 hours after the rush of waters ~ delivering a son through an emergency slash in the abdomen ~ butchering a doctor friend always called it~. By that time forgetting why I was there, having ridden the pain for so many hours & then the shock of having to change my plans completely. I remember asking "why is a baby crying?" in this operating theatre that I had worked in just 3 weeks earlier, and then realising that that wasn't just any baby, but it was our baby & he was born & he was perfect & he was such a gift. And the pride in his Daddy's eyes as he held him close & whispered to him what a blessing he is!

And that first year of just the three of us - me playing Mummy with my own real live doll - taking a roll of film a week in memories!

And now 9 years later it's hard to believe how quickly the time has passed, yet I look into the eyes of this young man ~ eyes I first looked into that precious day in 2002 ~ and I still see them searching & seeking me & I still feel the burden of responsibility, yet the overwhelming love for this precious one (who is not so little anymore, but is counting down the few centimetres he has left to go til he overtakes me in height). I still feel the unspoken knowledge that here is my mission field - that the most important thing I can do as a parent is direct him to God - and I still strive to do it each day, peppered with lots of prayers for this precious boy!

Happy Birthday my precious Zai

My big boy, my responsible leader, my reliable one, my firstborn

~ the first one who will forever be a part of me & hold a part of my heart~

~I love you~

~Thank you God for this wonderful blessing~

Thanks for allowing me the chance to remember again!

Have a lovely weekend dear friends,

Quiverfull~ Empty Arms

2011-08-06T11:29:00.000+10:00

I cried again this month...

Month after month after month it's been the same....

Hopes rise, prayers said and in the end ...

I cry & he prays & we both come to a point where we know we have to trust, where we know it's in HIS hands.

Oh sure there have been the times of asking "Why?" The days of angry tears & even times of screaming aloud

~ even those dark days when you wonder if it's all worth it~

but not any longer.

I refuse to give into my sinful self...

(& I hate living with the distance I put between myself & the Lord)

After all who am I ~ the created~ to question the plans of HIM ~the Creator~?

So I sit & trust & although I can't stop my eyes from leaking, I ask for shelter in HIS arms.
(Psalm 27:5)

I go outside to my favorite place

~ It is my happy place, sitting there in the sun protected from the wind that brings with it the chills of winter. It's my place where I sit & count my blessings, where I relax for a few minutes each morning tea & watch my precious children play.~

And yet today it's a little ant that draws my attention ~ such a tiny creature, but it's carrying a burden much too big for it~ pushing & pulling. And today I feel like my burden is unbearably heavy, yet I know that HE is always there to help me bear it (Matt 11:28). That HIS yoke is light (Matt 11:30) & that HIS love for me far surpasses anything I can even ponder (Ephesian 3:16-20). That HE knows HIS plans for me (Jer 29:11-13). That HE is sewing the tapestry & I can only see the tangle of threads from the bottom ~ I need to trust that the picture from HIS side is that of perfect beauty!

When God laid on our hearts to trust HIM completely in this area I had no idea this would be the result

~I thought the news would be joyful & happy long before now~

I had all the plans in the world...

Yet God has used this time to stretch me, to grow me & to challenge me in areas I didn't even know I needed to work on.

Even though it hurts, to know that God is working in me makes it all worth it ~ the sadness, the heartache~ because I know He LOVES me enough to say "No" or "Wait" to those prayers. To draw me closer & guide me into trusting HIM even more each day. To challenge me to count my blessings ~ of which I have immeasurable amounts!

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

Sometimes sitting in the middle of HIS WILL isn't the easiest place to be, sometimes it isn't the nicest place to be & sometimes it's not what we ever planned ourselves. Yet being in the centre of HIS WILL is exactly where we want to be.

Thank you for letting me share a little of my heart today,

Blessings

***I just want to add that we are aware of how blessed we already are with our precious 4 - that we don't deserve them or any of our blessings at all! ***

Home schooling ~ 2 years on!

2011-07-25T08:26:00.000+10:00

Last April marked the milestone of 2 years of officially being a home schooling family here at Sunnyside (oh yeah - this may be a tad overdue). As we look back at the difficult decision we made those couple of years ago, we can only be so thankful that God has lead us down this path. We still maintain that home schooling has been one of our best parenting decisions & it's now that we are seeing some of the fruit of this path. We enjoy such close relationships with our children - & we love teaching them about the Lord each & every day.

Devotions is still my favorite time of our school day - I love the chance to share God's word with our children - I love discussing God's views with them & I even love sharing with them when it's hard - being vulnerable before them so they can see what it's like to be human, but a Christian. I don't think anyone should pretend to be perfect (although I struggle with this) - after all let's face it the children know the truth - they see you at your best & at your worst. They know more than you can imagine & they are so perceptive. I think being completely honest with them through struggles is important.

We tend to keep our home schooling day pretty scheduled & I know I haven't shown you my MOTH schedule this year, but it is wonderful & has been working well. I've been much more structured with the twins as well ~ slowly preparing them for next year when they must officially begin their education (sob, sob - where has the time gone?) . The twins enjoy table time, preschool, quiet play, computer time & story time each day. They took a while to adapt to this, but they enjoy the routine now. I am slowly bringing more & more kindergarten work into their day with the hope that it will be a much easier year next year than I'm expecting.

Both Zai & Ellie have really blossomed with their achievements. It is wonderful to see them striving to fulfil the requirements (& even exceed them in some areas). It is great to see them working so hard & the amount of work they are completing. I will admit that the program we use has been a little work heavy (actually a whole lot work heavy - I thought I was drowning in work by the end of last term), but we still love it & I love the fact that we can give our feedback & they try to rectify the issue. This is a new program, so it is in the experimental stages - although from what we hear, the NSW education board is very, very happy with it - as are we!

We still attend our home school group each month & it's such a breath of fresh air to sit around & chat to other like-minded mothers. We've been able to make some wonderful friends there! It has also been great to meet some more local home schooling mothers which makes you feel a whole lot less alone on this path (can you believe I met one lady who uses the same program we do who lives only 10 minutes away!!)!

All in all although home schooling isn't the easiest option for us, it is definitely the best - in fact I count it as one of the joys of my life that I have the privilege of staying home with these beautiful blessings from the Lord each day & teaching them & learning alongside them as well!

Thank you God!

We've been a tad busy lately - this picture was taken a few weeks ago - we have even more now, but we are loving taking care of these precious little lambs - I will get back to normal blogging soon, but in the meantime I'm enjoying loving, wooly cuddles, the adoration that only a flock that thinks your their mother can give you & late night feedings :)

Hope today finds you counting your blessings too

Granny's quilts

2011-07-05T17:05:00.000+10:00

My sister has recently spent a fun-filled week here at Sunnyside. We had so much fun catching up on each others lives. We had our traditional girls shopping trip (that inevitably ended up at the chocolate & licorice factory nearby) &we found the most amazing rocking chair that absolutely, completely belongs to me - even though she will tell you otherwise!!!! We enjoyed talking until we were too tired to put a sentence together properly - not to mention perusing her copy of "Romantic Prairie Style" multiple times (if you get the chance to have a look - do!).

When she arrived we were surprised at the enormous amount of luggage she had bought with her - now had it been any of the other 3 sisters this indulgence of baggage wouldn't have raised a question, but this sister tends to pack lightly. That evening she beckoned me into our guest room to show me why. Laying there on the bed was the most amazing site - 4 homemade quilts - one each for the children's beds.

All carefully made by my Granny - as a surprise for them & myself. I was so overwhelmed with emotion as I studied each square - especially chosen & put together with love by a woman who we all love so much.

What a beautiful blessing these are to our family - I see love in each stitch, read love in each square & even though she says it helps to stay busy so she's not bored, I know that it's her way of telling us how much she cares for each of us!

Don't you love Bessy in this picture - she is giving the death stare to the lambs who were having a lot of fun running around with us - I think she still has issues about being locked up in that paddock!!

She asked for a photo of them on the clothesline - we thought we'd go a step further & do a photo shoot (very amateurish, but fun) - starring her quilts with their very excited recipients.

What wonderful gifts - we will cherish them always just as we cherish their maker!

I hope to be back a little sooner than last time....

Have a wonderful week

Blessings

lambing season...

2011-06-20T12:46:00.000+10:00

We are right smack, dab in the middle of our first lambing season here at Sunnyside!

The maternity ward a week ago - there are a whole lot more babies now!

It seems the weeks are getting away from me as more & more "babies" are added to our nursery here at Sunnyside. Thankfully we haven't had too many troubles and so far we only have four poddy lambs here up at the house! The older ewes are wonderful mothers & we have been blessed with an abundance of twin births - we even had triplets & yes, they all survived. It is lovely having "babies" around to cuddle & love upon - even if they are of the four legged variety. We have only had one middle of the night feeding required which I am thankful for!

Meet "Princess" (can you guess which of my children named her??) She was a triplet. Since a ewe cannot provide enough for triplets, we had to remove the weakest lamb - we are so happy to say that not only is she thriving on her bottle feeds, but she is getting fat! She has been with us over a week now & thinks she is one of the kids - if I let her she would come into the house & follow them everywhere.

Our next poddy was "Shaun" - yes he will become "Shaun the sheep" - very popular in our family! Shaun was one of twins who's mother was down when we came across her in our daily checks (you must check lambing ewes at least once a day - although twice is best). We bought her up to the yards & remembered an 'old farmers tale' which said that when the ewe is down after lambing, turn her onto her other side. Well we tried this & since I really thought she wasn't going to survive, I grabbed her lambs & made them drink & drink & drink off her (poddy lambs have a much higher survival rate if

they have had colostrum after birth). Well you can imagine my surprise when I went down to try & get her up (our friend had advised me to try & walk - even just to pull her up myself & try & get her to stand for as long as possible), I turned her onto her tummy to get her up & all of a sudden up she jumped! I was so pleased as ewes are rather heavy & I didn't know how I would be able to lift her (but you can be sure I was going to try)! Well after she ran around the yard a few times getting some feeling back into her legs, she was right to feed her lambs. For some reason she really didn't seem to bond with the male lamb & a couple of days later we found him wondering around by himself very hungry, so we bought him up to the house & he is going well & has been wonderful company for our lonely Princess!

The next two are "Floppsy & Moppsy" - twins. Dave found them very sick & very cold down in the paddock & truthfully I would have left them there (hardhearted aren't I). I have never seen a lamb that cold or that weak survive. Well we gave them some antibiotics & some food & put them in front of a very warm heater & you can imagine our amazement when instead of finding two very dead lambs ( I really thought it would be a matter of hours) they recovered & by evening were running around with the other lambs and drinking a full feed!

Yesterday morning we were all too sick to go to church ( we have had a terrible winter for sickness - we have all had the flu again & didn't want to infect our lovely church family) however we still had the farm jobs to take care of. Thankfully we were home because one of the mother ewes had a nasty case of mastitis (doesn't the picture just make you cringe). We were able to bring her & her very hungry baby back to the yards where we had to restrain her & milk her! This poor mama looked so very sore & her teats were so big her lamb couldn't attach, so after we had milked enough we fed the lamb some of the milk in a bottle. By the time we had finished milking her we had reduced the teat size so the lamb could attach properly. We were pleased that by evening when we went back to milk again, the whole udder was a whole lot less red & by this morning it had reduced right back to normal size & we were able to release her & baby back to the flock!

This is our first mass lambing (having previously had a few pets here & there drop lambs, but never a whole flock). As with any new farming endeavour, we are finding it a busy, learning experience, but we are loving it as well! We are so blessed to be able to have this type of lifestyle & we thank God for it!

Joining Amy for:

I hope you have a wonderful week - mine will be full of milk, bottles, baaing & babies (not to mention a whole lot of school work as we head to our half way mark for the year & a much anticipated visit from a sister (who will be taught the art of bottle feeding lambies very quickly!)

Blessings

May's gifts from His heart...

2011-06-06T12:16:00.001+10:00

You may remember a while ago when I posted about the book I'd read "One thousand gifts" by Ann Voskamp. What a beautiful book & one I look forward to rereading in the near future. It will always have a place on my bookshelf & I hope over the years the pages will get tattered as it is thumbed through again & again for that flicker of encouragement, that quote, that example....

When I read the book I determined to begin my own list of one thousand gifts & beyond. You may remember that I shared with you the beginning of my list. Well my list has continued here & there & even though I did buy a exercise book to keep it in, somehow it never got filled out regularly as I had hoped. Then Ann began a monthly printable on her blog to list a gift daily. Not only were these printables pretty, but I found it much easier to fill out one thing I am thankful for before I began schooling the children each morning.

To add to my list of thanksgiving....

MAY

Today's gifts from His heart....

1st- A wonderful family to enjoy quiet holidays with

2nd- The taste of a simple, healthy, filling lunch

3rd- A printer that continues going -through years, jams & pages & pages of work

4th- Snuggly bugglys next to me

5th- Warm beds on cold nights

6th- Bright flowers to greet me each morn...

7th- Carefree laughter of children

8th- Happy Birds chirping loudly

9th- Audio CD's for long drives

10th- The joy of the Lord through grumpy mornings

11th- Growing boys- their voices intermingling with exciting plans

12th The steady hum of the computer

13th- The crisp crunch underfoot of a first frost

14th- Beautiful mothers day lilies opening wide in honor of their Creator

15th- Sweet daughter reading more & more

16th- The scratching of a lead pencil writing desperately an exposition (NAPLAN )

17th- Mouse traps & the satisfying snap they make as they rid our home of unwanted guests

18th- Garlic shoots growing tall

19th- A wonderful husband who loves our family as much as I do

20th- Little boys who yearn to be "just like Daddy"

21st- A son with a heart for a friends salvation

22nd- A capable husband

23rd- Fresh country air

24th- Autumn leaves - such beautiful colours

25th- The promise of warm, snug winters nights

26th- Children who complete their schoolwork

27th- Patient children who play happily for hours as our church family meets

28th- A paddock with fences repaired that now holds our renegade jersey cow

29th- Fresh farm eggs - even into the end of autumn

30th- Patience - today I need a lot

31st- Our new pastor - we are just praising the Lord!

Each day is filled with blessings, some we notice, most we expect. Let me encourage you that looking at both the large, but mainly the small gifts the Lord has blessed you with will enrich your life...

I'd love if you share with me in the comments the first 3 blessings you can think of today!

With Joy

Still hanging around???

2011-06-03T10:41:00.002+10:00

Thank you!!!

We have somehow ended up contracting some horrible germs that are slowly passing from person to person through the whole family causing fevers, nausea & tiredness ( read irritability - of course not me - I'm perfect ;) - if only everyone would stop being SO annoying.... LOL ). As usual it began with Dave (he brings all those germs home from work - I keep asking him to keep those nasty town germs in town - lol) & slowly, slowly it's working it's way through the rest of the family....we're over half way now so we're on the homeward stretch although it certainly is hanging on for a good few days - I haven't had a proper dinner for days & cooking is oh so difficult - ask the poor twins who have endured sandwiches for the last however many meals.

Sigh 5/6 has just dropped - I'm typing this around poor little Eli on my lap now.

As for these pictures - no they aren't the lasted disciplinary methods....

or the latest gravity defying experimentation (obviously since it didn't work ).

They aren't children's clothing tests - although I'm sure our family would be perfect test subjects - if they survive us they are worth buying!!

They aren't the latest way of wrecking some good shorts (although definitely an effective way of doing that)....

And they aren't the latest way of adding to the child-holding capacity of the ute (although what a great idea - we could hang children - so many ways to use that one - imagine how many you could fit on the walls if you just hung them up each night instead of having beds).

I promise I did have my camera in hand .... I have the blurry photos to prove it!

Poor old Eli just got caught climbing down from the ute tray & ended up in this unusual predicament.

*******

Hopefully next week we will be back to a more normal, inspiring, well thought out blog post

(err.... actually if you were after that you'd best try one of the lovely blogs on my blog roll ).... thanks for your patience dear friends!

Hope you all stay safe & healthy & have a wonderful weekend

(mine will be rather quiet I suspect!)

A true blue homesteadin' family afternoon - butchering the roosters!

2011-05-24T14:15:00.000+10:00

The clocks been ticking for a while for our young roosters - really as soon as we could identify that the larger proportion of our first batch of chicks from last December were the male gender it began tick, tock, tick, tock..... Slowly, ever so slowly they put on weight - we saw them mature & grow (thankfully they grew well :) ) We fed them up on our homegrown barley & let them free range around the farmyard (well truthfully they always came up to the house yard - why we often wonder do all the chickens always end up here even though they have the other 239 acres to range on too??) They were such placid roosters - just like their father "Handsome" & like all the sweet, gentle hens that dwell in our little "chook nook" nearby - their mothers (& aunties & surrogate mothers & other ones who couldn't care less about them). As the calender continued to show the passing of time, we knew their time on Sunnyside was coming to an end - finally we heard the sound that propelled us into action - an immature roosters first attempt at crow. Thus began one of our most anticipated, yet dreaded experiences of our farming career.

Photo by Zai

Butchering young roosters is much easier than it sounds. I'll admit we were balking at first thinking of what a huge job it would be (as with many things they always seem much more difficult than they are). Well let me encourage you if you are waiting to try this - it is really very easy & there is loads of information on the internet about it (we used this video as our guide)- don't let them scare you with thoughts of needing fancy dancy plucking machines or lung scrapers or even weird contraptions to kill the bird - our grandmothers all used to butcher chickens regularly without these items. The few things you do need are an incredibly sharp knife, a bucket or sink filled with hot water for scalding & lots of willing helpers.

All ready for the final chop - hanging roosters upside down calms them (even though it looks terribly mean).

We had 5 roosters to butcher & we were a little unsure how we were going to catch them (this is often the hardest & definitely the most entertaining part in keeping chickens). Thankfully our chicken shed has a lockable chicken run (although it is rather large as it was originally built for ostriches). We were able to usher the roosters & their sisters (who always stayed together) in there & it was an easy matter of running up & down & pouncing on them - in fact it took under 5 minutes to have the lot caught & carried upside down (because this keeps them calm) up to our house yard where operation "rooster cull" was set to commence.

Scalding

The worst part by far was the killing & that was easily accomplished by cutting one of the jugular veins in their neck with a sharp knife - quick & painless for them & for us. Doing this with the children around really bought home to them what is involved in eating meat - it's just too easy to get your meat from the shop & forget about it. But as we reminded the children God gave us these for meat - in fact whenever we thought of the many roosters growing down there we would thank God for providing us with meat.

Once that was done we had such a fun time with the rest of the process. Plucking them was an easy chore with our boys & girls "teams" racing to see who could do them first. Of course we decided to let the boys "win" that one & have the honour of doing the extra rooster ;)

The part that I loved, loved, loved was the cleaning out & then cutting up of the birds. I always was one to enjoy dissection in science lessons & of course I enjoyed doing theatre work in my BK (before kids) life as a radiographer, so it's probably natural that I took front foot in this part of the process. OK maybe I didn't quite wield the knife like a well practiced surgeon, but no one in our family is complaining - we got lovely clean meat & had fun in the bargain. The most difficult part was not cutting into the bowels, but this was even accomplished by us amateurs (I did 3 carcasses, Dave did 2). We even took the time to give/have a fantastic anatomy lesson - with our children enjoying every stop of the process with us (most of the photos were from Ellie - in fact I think she documented every little cut I made)! We were blessed to have enough meat for 5 meals at the end plus a big pot of stock - made with our own homegrown herbs (it smelt soooo.... nice simmering away)!

We enjoyed our first taste of our 'Sunnyside chicken' meat last week. I'm going to admit to you I let Dave taste it first (I've heard too many dreadful stories of home grown chickens being dry & stringy etc.) - not that he knows that ;) !! Well we were pleasantly surprised that it tasted just like chicken - fancy that!!! It was perfect & tasted no different from store brought ones!

So lessons we've learnt for next time:

* Keep your scalding water at a good 60-65 degrees Celsius (140-150 Fahrenheit). We allowed ours to cool & it made the plucking so much more difficult. Once we replaced it with hot water again it was much easier.

* Don't pluck anywhere near the house - we did ours in the house yard which is fine, except we just threw the feathers on the ground expecting a strong wind to take them away. We should have collected the feathers instead of leaving them there as they often get carried on shoes into the house.

* A teaspoon makes a fantastic lung scraper - you don't need fancy, dancy contraptions a good old teaspoon does the trick!

* Keep the meat sitting in the fridge for 48 hours - this is so the muscles relax after rigor mortise had set in (talking about rigor mortise & food just sounds wrong doesn't it). This step is often missed & I think that's why home butchered chickens has the bad name it does - relax those muscles!! :)

* Keep one for a roast - I've been wanting roast chicken since!

* Enjoy the experience & get the whole family involved. It really was a fantastic family experience that everyone could get hands on with!

We have always dreamed of being self-sufficient. Somehow it makes perfect sense to grow your own food - to produce what you use. We now have our own lamb & chicken, but we look forward in the future to our own beef & pork as well!

Please forgive the 'no makeup I've been doing farm work all day' look!

5 roosters homegrown = 5 meals of fresh, delicious meat = such a blessing from the Lord!

Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.

Genesis 9:3 (NIV)

Joining in (late I know) with Amy

May you have a wonderful week!

Blessings

Silly, Silly Cow.....LOL

2011-05-16T21:05:00.000+10:00

I went out this morning to hang out the freshly washed clothes on our good old clothesline when I happened to glance into the neighbouring paddock where Miss Bessy (our almost ready to be put into calf jersey cow) lives. As I looked at her I thought she looked rather strange, but from the distance couldn't pick out why. As soon as she saw me heading her way she came straight over... well I just couldn't help it - I was laughing too hard to help her for many minutes...

Somehow the silly thing had managed to get an old plastic chair from the hay shed caught around her neck . The poor thing was trying her best to continue eating & drinking, but it was so difficult & the funny positions she would arch her neck into just to get that one tiny nibble of the fresh grass was rather hilarious.

Of course me being...well me...the first thing I did was grab my camera ( I promise you that in a true emergency I would skip this step - even if it would make a good blog post ;) ) I then began my quest to remove her unusual neck decoration.

Well I pushed & pulled that darn chair - I tried twisting it every which way & then I tried twisting poor ol' Bess every which way (well as much as a grown cow will allow you). She quickly got sick of this manhandling &decided to head off for green pastures complete with "necklace" attached.

I realised that my technique needed a little more refining & went to Dave's garage to try & find some kind of tool that would cut through that plastic (as if I have any idea about any tools). After finding a couple of what I thought may be possibilities I coaxed Miss Bess back to the fence. The first tool didn't work, but the saw (that little Eli had recommended - it is so useful having sons) did. Now I'm not very good at sawing - in fact it's a wonder I passed manual arts in grade 8 (when it was mandatory). My 5 year old sons are better at sawing than I am, but somehow I managed to make a cut into the plastic (probably because it was actually plastic & not wood). Unfortunately the sound was a little too much for Bessy & she decided she'd had enough for one day - I did manage to grab the saw out of the cut just as she rushed away (I was worried she would be hurt had I left it there as it was rather close to her ear - I really didn't wish to deal with an amputation as well - imagine the call to the vet then " ...well I have a cow with a chair lodged around it's neck & I've just managed to remove her ear as well..." ). Knowing this idea was going to work I decided I couldn't leave her in this quandary all day & had better go to her aid so I jumped the fence & grabbed hold of the chair as hard as I could. Well as Miss Bessy struggled somehow I managed to cut through the rest of the arm of that chair & finally she was free (complete with ear intact)!

Well let me tell you that badly mannered Bessy didn't even stop to say "thank you" (or "moo moo") she just looked at me with cold eyes as if I was the one who had got her into this position in the first place and walked away.

So just a warning if you happen to be creeping into our hay shed trying to steal a mouthful of the delicious triticale hay stored there - you may regret it!!!!

Joining up again with Amy:

I hope you have a wonderful day

Piles and piles of weeds...

2011-05-14T20:45:00.001+10:00

Hairy panic is a relatively new weed to the area - apparently 10 years ago it was no where to be found. Each year it's spread slowly further & further making more & more piles of the seed pods (aka tumble weed section) wherever it can find a spare corner. Well fast forward to this year with it's incredibly wet summer and it is everywhere. It seems you only just clean it all up & it's back again - tumbling this way & that with the wind. Not seeming to have a destination in mind, but rather wildly rolling & piling as if in a panic of it's own doing.

Over this last week the hairy panic epidemic has reached it's peak (well at least I hope it's peak) with the summer weeds coming to maturity. This is the pile of the stuff on the western side of the house.....

As you can see it's far above our heads (Ellie is jumping - thus the terrible quality of the photo-sorry ). It has covered half way up the windows & is quietly sitting here waiting for the wind to change direction so it can spread to another corner - slowly dropping it's many seed wherever it turns.

With it's effective seed distribution system I'm guessing it's going to be around for years to come - at least next year we plan on spraying it out while it is still immature (assuming they have a spray for it which won't effect our summer pastures - can you tell I leave that type of thing up to Dave :) ). However unless the whole of eastern Australia does the same thing I'm thinking we'll have troubles for a while yet. At least the chickens enjoy eating the seeds (although this really means they are dropping fertiliser with the seeds everywhere they go)! This is just another experience of our farming life - which we are so thankful to be living!

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Although sometimes the weed piles seem too large to move, to difficult to conquer - we need not be discouraged. One of my favourite passages is:
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Cor 12:9 (NIV)
Such powerful words to remember through those difficult times!

Blessings

****** I had posted this on Thursday, but it has disappeared & so I'm re posting it Sat - has anyone else had this problem with blogger lately?**************

Good old bonfire fun!

2011-05-02T06:00:00.000+10:00

With winter fast approaching & the large amounts of moisture in the air, we decided Monday night was the perfect time to have our first official bonfire of the season! One of the fun things about winter is the chance to get together with others around a sizzling, warm bonfire - it really has a double bonus because not only do you get to enjoy spending time with with friends, family or neighbours in a relaxed environment while the children happily cook you marshmallows, but you also get to clean up a whole pile of rubbish (wood rubbish - not household rubbish - save that for the incinerator as it's stinky) that's been sitting around the farm for a while. In fact during winter time there's rarely a social time around here without a bonfire.

Dave always spends time during the year making bonfires out of rubbish laying around the property - generally tree limbs that have come down. We do allow some friends to come & cut wood for their home fireplaces here, however since we ourselves haven't yet a functioning fireplace (we do have a wood-fired oven in pieces that we are slowly doing up - can't wait to show you all!) we find we have excessively large amounts of waste wood laying around. We also have about 20 acres of forest on the land, so you can imagine how much wood there is. These bonfires sit around & keep on drying out until after April through to September when we are allowed to freely light fires (the rest of the year is too dry so fires are not allowed without a permit).

A bonfire really is our winter excuse for a BBQ - we always cook meat over the coals (& just a hint if you're having one -make a separate much smaller fire as the cooking fire & get the coals from that - it's much too hot close to the fire to get them). We have an old weber BBQ that we use the coals in & the meat always has the most delicious smoky flavour about it -other friends have an old circular blade (about 1m wide) on legs that they made up just for bonfires - this works wonderfully too! You can make your bonfire as simple or elaborate as you want - sometimes it's just a sausage sizzle, while sometimes we cook potatoes or damper in the coals. Sometimes I make a salad & dessert, but always we try to keep it simple. Marshmallows however are an essential & all good farm wives keep a supply of them in the pantry over winter for those unplanned bonfires. I've even been told you can freeze them & will give that a try this year.

There is something magical about sitting around a fire - your eyes are drawn to it's depth & the myriad of shapes & sounds coming from within it are amazing. I love the popping & spluttering as the wood cooks - the glow of the logs from within as the coals keep the original shape of the wood for oh so long. We had such fun on Monday night as Dave's parents & grandmother were here to share it with us. Our fire was only about a hundred meters off the highway that borders our front boundary & we had so many people beeping as as they passed by! We were amazed to find out that in all of Dave's grandmothers 85 years this was her first real bonfire experience - she had so much fun!!

So should you come & visit Sunnyside over the next few months don't be surprised if we pile you onto the back of the ute & head down to one of the paddocks for a bonfire - great fun for the whole family & such an easy way to entertain!

Joining again...

Have a wonderful day,

Our wonderful twins 5th birthday... and cake hints

2011-04-28T15:47:00.002+10:00

And I had no idea how hard this would be on Mummy... 5 is a big number - no longer can I pretend they are in the toddler years (OK they really haven't been toddling for well quite a time now). Now they are full blown boys & 5 is the age where we get serious about school work. ( I'm not beginning them officially in Kindergarten until next year, however I have intensified their preschool program with phonics as well as number & letter formation activities). So although I dreaded my 'babies' turning 5, there was no stopping the clock & it finally came around.

Sporting the ears from Aunty EJ

Both boys were very serious as they pored over the birthday cake book the week before the big day. In fact I needed their final decisions for town day 5 days before the big event. This caused no problem for Jud who quickly decided on a tiger cake & didn't change his mind, but the ship that Eli chose was changed last minute to a house (I think it had more to do with the decorations on top as he kept referring to it as his "lolly cake"). Thankfully I had adequate decorations on hand to achieve the desired result.

Zai made this boat for the boys himself -Ellie helped to paint it

We were blessed to have the house full of visitors for their birthday. Dave's parents & Grandmother were so excited to be able to combine their visit with our double birthday celebrations. The day began rather early for us as Zai woke the boys us at the brink of dawn (we had told him he must wait until there was light in the sky). We made them wait until 7am before waking the grandparents, so they did well to contain their excitement until then (although there was rather boisterous wrestling going on from the four males of the family). The "official" part of the day began with our traditional birthday hunt - much to the amusement of Dave's grandmother who hadn't seen this done before. The boys were blessed with excessive amounts of presents- as our children always are. They have enjoyed playing with the new toys - while I've been so thankful for the new clothes they received.

Jud's tiger cake

In the afternoon we took dinner down to our friends house (as their children & grandchildren were visiting there & my boys love to play with their grandson). We enjoyed lasange (which was the boys combined request for tea). We then celebrated with birthday cake & ice cream. I always think that with a normal birthday you have too much cake, so it was wonderful having 18 people there to help consume the excessive amounts of cake due to the double birthday blessing.

Eli's house/lolly cake

I know some people give their twins the same cake and I can completely understand why, however I've always tried to celebrate them as individuals especially at special times like birthdays - while encouraging them with just how special it is that they get to share a birthday & how wonderful it is to have a best friend provided by God. Last year the boys wanted the same type of cake so I made two cars - just using different colours. This year they wanted very different cakes. I think as identical twins they are often grouped together - they look the same & have the same abilities,friends & general interests. I guess that's why I try to keep some things special for just themselves. I do however love dressing them similarly - although that is happening less & less the older they get.

HINTS: * I have found that with making two cakes I need to be more organised - two days before the birthday I make the cakes & then freeze them.

* I've found frozen cake is much easier to ice as there are less crumb problems.

* I always use the icing recipes found in the books although I use my own cake recipes - this is because I've had too many flops with making my own icing recipe up.

* It's always wonderful to have the cakes done the day before so you can enjoy the birthday that much more. * They keep well in the fridge! :)

A wonderful day, a happy double birthday

Happy Birthday our precious Eli & Jud

What Easter means to me this year.

2011-04-19T12:09:00.002+10:00

Easter is a time I find leaves me in quiet contemplation & reflection. Maybe it's because the autumn days are getting cooler & the longing to stay cuddled under the covers seems stronger that I spend more time in my morning devotions (I do it first thing sitting up in bed each morning still covered with our quilt). Maybe it is because the first term of the school year always seems the most difficult - getting into routine, seeing how the work has changed & knowing that to get through the rest of the year I'm going to need the strength that only the Lord can provide me to get through the sheer quantity of work ahead of us. But truthfully I think it's because Easter is the real essence of our faith - it is the reason we are Christians. Let's face it if He hadn't died & then risen we would have no reason to worship Him - He would have been no different to a troublemaker ( that He was accused of being by the religious leaders of that time). But He did indeed rise again & I am so thankful for that - He conquered death so that we who are sinners can have eternal life.

This Easter I've been thinking about Jesus' time in the garden of Gethsemane just before He was arrested - when He was praying - the wrestle between His Humanness and His Godliness. Although my struggle is nothing in comparison, it seems I've been wrestling with God a whole lot lately. I'm sad to admit that my sinfulness has raised it's ugly head once again (sigh) & I've been trying to tell Him how I want my life to run - what I want to happen, the timing that I want. I am mature enough in my faith to know that's not the way it should be - I have to let Him be God & I have to submit my will to Him. I have to give up my dreams to Him & instead ask Him to allow His will to occur. This is hard....very, very hard for me. It's something that I've struggled with for the last couple of months & it's almost a daily struggle for me to give up this selfishness & instead trust Him - even if His will is different from my dreams. It's not that my dreams are wrong or even sinful - it's not that what I want is against God's word, but it's more of a trust issue. Trusting that even though there's nothing wrong with what I want that God wants the absolute best for me & that He will guide me in that way - if I let Him. Sure I know that it may be what I've dreamed of, His will may be what my heart desires are, but it's more about trusting Him rather than what the dreams are - more about submitting to His will than planning ahead as if my will will happen (does that make sense - I may someday share what I'm struggling with, but not now - I'm not ready - I'm still struggling too much).

I even know from past experience that trusting Him is the best way & has the best outcomes. When we moved down here I really did not want to move so far from our old life. Although I was looking forward to farm life that was all that appealed to me down here - I hated leaving friends, family, our pretty cottage, my abundant gardens, our support, but we did. Although moving was one of the most difficult things I've ever done it's only now as I look back that I am so thankful that God guided us down here. You see one of the joys of my life is home schooling my children -in fact I love it & wouldn't consider anything else now, but had we stayed up there I would never have considered it. The children would have attended the lovely Christian school that I attended (& there's nothing wrong with that either - it's just that for us home schooling fits so well). Had we not moved we wouldn't have found the most wonderful church family in the world who have challenged us & helped us to grow in so many ways. Dave may not have a group of strong Christian men who study God's word with each other, challenging each other & praying together. So I know that we can trust in the Lord to guide us in the best. But that's just it - I know that, yet I struggle- then I get frustrated that I'm struggling with this - it seems to be a circle at times.

So this Easter as I think about Jesus' sacrifice I am more glad then ever - my sinfulness atoned for - my selfishness forgiven. I am so glad that Jesus didn't give into his humanness & instead chose the difficult way, but the only way to give us -those who believe on His name- the way to be called children of God - full forgiveness & the door to eternal life.

What lessons are the Lord teaching you this Easter?

Have a blessed Easter remembering Jesus' sacrifice & then His amazing resurrection all for you....

Blessings