A week of waiting....

This week has been all about waiting for the birth of our second grand child. I know it is much harder on the parents to be than the grand parents to be. Baby is just a few days overdue but as it is their first child everyone is anxious for the safe arrival of baby. Obviously like all babies it will come when it is ready and not before. Both Mum to be and bub are well, as is Dad to be and that is all that matters. So we will wait!
Each day I plan my day thinking we will be doing a four hour trip to the hospital to visit our new little family member and the new Mum and Dad. Needless to say I have been doing my own baby preparation over the past few weeks and months- sewing summer baby clothes, making baby quilts and some cooking to take to the new family. I have made both boy and girl outfits and quilts as we do not know what sex the baby will be. I am sure that all the outfits and quilts will not go to waste as hopefully there will be more little grand babies to follow in our family. We, like the new Mum, have our bags packed in readiness to go when we receive the call. It is as exciting as if it was our own.

A mix of boy and girl rompers to choose from.

Muesli Anzac Biscuits

Scones

Date Loaf

On the farm front we have happily measured 43 mls of rain over the past 3 days and now the sun is shining again. Silage and hay making has been put back to next week at this stage, but that is not a problem as the pasture is still fresh and growing well. It will simply mean more bails to make! Although after just listening to next weeks weather report the forecast is for more coastal showers for most days of next week so we will just have to wait and see.....I have a feeling that both baby and silage making are all going to happen at the same time. One thing I have learnt living on a farm is to simply roll with what is happening. Most well made plans have a habit of being overturned and changed with little notice. Adapt and get on with it! Though I do think the visit to the new baby will win!
DH Farmer visited the local beef sale today and was buoyed by the prices of restockers. Whilst we are not buying to restock at the moment the good prices are reflecting the much better prices being paid at the abattoirs and the saleyards. We will be selling off fat cattle and steers in the next week and months and have enough on farm to stock our own country rather than buy restockers at the high prices. It is a very positive outlook for the year ahead.
So hopefully next time I blog I will have baby news.

Until then....
Carol

Happy Australia Day!

Today's Australia Day holds a special significance in our family as DH Farmer's father would have turned 100 years old today. He did make it to 95 which was in itself a great age. Today our second sons first baby is due but as of yet has not made an appearance so we are patiently waiting! Our son is really hoping the bub arrives today as a special commemoration of his grand father with whom he spent a great deal of time on the family farm. It would be wonderful for another little Australian to be born today!
 Our two girls made a trip home for a traditional roast lamb dinner. We spent a lovely couple of hours together discussing ideas for youngest daughter's wedding which is to be held in December this year.
For the first time ever, four women have taken the top honours of the Australia Day Awards. I was very proud they named Rosie Batty as the Australian Of the Year. Her own personal tragedy of family violence is being used to save lives of fellow Australians suffering the same plight. A great choice Australia! Jackie French was named Senior Australian of the Year. She is a  renowned children's author and conservationist and has long been a favourite of mine from when I taught primary school. If you have never read Jackie French's work then do yourself a favour and read one. I will guarantee you will thoroughly enjoy it. Drisana Levitzke-Gray was named Young Australian of the Year for her campaigning for the rights of deaf people in our country and Juliette Wright was named Australia's Local Hero  for founding the GIVIT donations website. All the other finalists in the different catergories would all have been worthy winners in their own right. There are so many amazing people out there that make our country great and are never publicly recognised. Well done and thank you to you all.

Until next time...
Carol

Who does what on the farm....

Our dairy and beef farm is what is called a generational farm. That means that the same family has owned and worked the farm for consecutive generations and in our case it is now the 3rd generation. Ownership has been since the late 1800's. As with all generational farms the hope is that the next generation will take on the ownership and carry on the farming enterprise. Our farm has always been a dairy farm with beef cattle as an extra income. Over the years the dairy has grown in size of up to about 85 to 95 milkers although at times we milk down to 75 cows. In Australia this is now considered a small sized dairy. We have deliberately kept our milking herd down to this size so that we can run the farm ourselves without employing outside labour to do the milking and farm work, labour being one of the largest costs of running any enterprise.

Steers being finished off with bulk feed for  the local meat markets

So the majority of the farm work is carried out by DH Farmer and his brother, with whom we are in partnership. They milk, rear the calves, organise the heifers, check the dry cows and springers, fence, weed control, pasture manage, muster cattle for sale and movement to paddocks on the farm, immunise calves and so on. DH Farmer and his brother also break up this work. Both milk and rear the calves but one tends to check dairy springers and the other the beef springers. DH Farmer tends to do the tractor work, silage and haymaking work, sowing pastures, etc.

Producing milk - the main enterprise on the farm.

We also contract our eldest son to milk for us when we have a holiday or time off farm. This son also owns his own rural contracting business and most weeks he spends at least a day on farm helping with general farm work such as fencing, cutting timber and posts for fencing, mustering, silage and haymaking. He also carries out the  AI ing (artificial insemination)  of our dairy cows.
My role these days is to deal with all the paperwork and accountancy work the farm generates. Things have changed greatly from previous farm generations in that all dairies must be audited  for food safety, in our case by NSW Food Safe. This requires a lot more record keeping of which I apparently do the best. Personally I think the men just simply hate doing it! Like all businesses we also have to keep accurate financial records for income tax purposes and pay GST through our BAS system. Good record keeping also helps us to make informative business management decisions relating to the farm enterprises. I also tend to be the farm "gopher". Trips to town to pick up supplies and repair parts is common place for me. I also like to help with the springers and taking the cows to their night paddocks - a great chance for me to get some exercise done and get outside!

Putting the dairy herd into the night paddock.

A family farm is more than a business - it is a way of life. One I feel fortunate to live!

Until next time..
Carol

What a difference rain makes!

Over the past 5 to 6 weeks we have been  fortunate in the amount of rain that has fallen in our local area. You sometimes hear people make the comment "Oh no! Not rain again!" Living on a farm we never ever say "Oh no! Not rain again!" Even if it has been raining non stop for weeks on end and the dairy is as muddy and boggy as anything. We never forget how bad it is when we don't have enough rain. Being on a dry farm ( meaning no irrigation) we totally rely on rain to grow our pastures for all our cattle and also provide fresh water for our cattle to drink.

One of our largest dams almost dry in December 2014.

As you can see from the photos above last year was a year with little rain. We only had 818 mls (approximately 32 inches) in 2014 of which 263 mls fell in the month of December. Our yearly average is around 40 inches or 1000 mls. We had dams which were completely dry or so boggy with mud that we had to do a dam check every day to make sure our cattle were not getting bogged in the mud. Last July we had a lot of our dams excavated whilst they were so low in the hope that they would soon be full.  The amount of silt and mud removed was huge. With recent rain and storms some but not all of our dams are now full. It is a sigh of relief ! The cattle now have fresh water and plenty of grass to feed on. They are looking much  stronger and more contented! And so is DH Farmer!

The same dam as above only 6 weeks later!

Natural pastures everywhere now.

The next big job on farm will be making all that lovely natural pasture into silage. We just have to have a window of no rain for a few days to do this! Did I just say we don't want any rain??? Oh the life on the land....
Until next time
Carol

A day off farm......

Today was one of those special summer Sundays you will always remember. With beautiful summer weather we spent a day off farm at the beach with our two daughters and DH Farmer's sister, husband and daughter. A day off on a dairy still means you milk in the morning and you start the afternoon milking a little later BUT it is still time away from the farm doing something relaxing and enjoyable! As a a born and bred Newcastle girl I grew up with the beaches to the east and beautiful Lake Macquarie to the west. Summers were always about swimming - pools, beaches and water skiing on the lake. Once I married a farmer and moved to the country water was something I learnt to conserve and value in a different way. But I must say a visit to the beach brings back wonderful childhood memories and memories of the occasional beach side holidays  with our children. The smell of  sea air clears my  head! Of course a day at the beach isn't complete without a lunch of fish and chips (and in paper too!).  

Hawks Nest Beach

I think this rest day is going to be needed in readiness for the next couple of weeks.We are eagerly waiting for the arrival of a new grand child! Oh that makes me smile!!! We will have to travel over four hours to visit this new family member when it does arrive. But I am getting ahead of myself. This will have to wait for another time.

Until then take care....

Carol

Farming and food......the next generation!

Yesterday was all about being with our 3 year old grand daughter, Claire. The amazing amount of energy children have at this age is unbelievable. We spent the morning playing in a wading pool then inside for morning tea - how much food can a 3 year old eat!! Then it was time for jigsaws, reading and being "Mister Maker". Craft is one of Claire's favourite past times and she can spend ages making and creating.
It wasn't long after lunch that DH Farmer mentioned it was time to milk the cows. Well that was it! Claire was up and out the back door telling Grandad to "hurry up"! Apparently we were spending the afternoon at the dairy milking cows.

Claire learning to milk.

Please realise that Claire is completely safe milking the cow above. The cow is very quiet, use to children and noise, and Grandad has his arms as a safety barrier just in case. Rubber boots are a must for the dairy as well! A gentle pat on the cow's rump is a must after putting the cups on!

It reminds me of when my own children were little and the way they spent their afternoons. Nothing teaches the next generation of farmers better than including them always from a very young age in your day to day life and routine on the farm. Whilst many young people in rural areas are moving off farm and looking for occupations that "pay better" and make for a so called "easier life" we are proud that both our sons are working on farms and beef properties. After completing Year 12 they both attended Tocal Agricultural College and have never been without rural work. In time, the hope is that they will return to the home farm and run it as their own and continue to hand on to the next generation. They will be the 4th generation to do this and who knows - maybe Claire will be the 5th! She is off to a great start!
As farmers, we take great pride in growing and producing safe and high quality food for people to eat! Whether it be milk or beef we know that what we produce on our farm meets these safe, high quality standards that people in our country have come to expect and like to consume. Without our next generation of farmers these foods will not be "Grown in Australia".  Putting it simply that is why we have to encourage young farmers in this country and that is exactly what we are trying to do and feel like we are succeeding to do on our farm!
Take care.....
Carol

Quilting days.........

The past few days I have been busily working on a couple of quilts which I started in 2014. The first is "Rotherfield Greys" and I am pleased with the progress I have made on this the last week or two. The borders require many hours of cutting and then piecing together. I am currently up to Border 7 with only two borders remaining. I am loving reproduction medallion quilts at the moment. I can easily lose several hours of the day simply playing with fabric. It is very therapeutic!

WIP - Rotherfield Greys

The other quilt is called Route 66 also designed by Di Ford Hall. It is made using hexagons.

Medallions in progress.

I love the portability of this project as every Thursday I visit a friend who also loves quilting and we spend the day sewing, talking and of course eating. We have been meeting every Thursday for about 18 years. It is my only regular day I spend off farm each week and love the opportunity to chat about things happening in our lives.
Yesterday I managed to make the tomato relish I talked about in the last post as well as stewing some more of our peaches. The recipe I use for the tomato relish is from "The Common Sense Cookery Book 1" which I have owned since my high school days. It is great to replenish the pantry with preserves and I also have on hand a home made gift if I ever need one.

Tomato Relish ready for the pantry.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to having my 3 year old grand daughter for the day. Housework and sewing will be put on the back burner. Perhaps we will do some baking as she loves making cakes and biscuits with me or take a trip into town to visit our local library to borrow some new books to read.
Until next time.....
Carol

A typical day in summer..................

Nothing makes a farmer happier than the sound of steady rain on your roof just when you were thinking that rain was needed again! That is exactly what has happened here over the past day or two with more than 35 mls of rain falling. The paddocks are brilliant green and lush with natural pastures. Some of the paddocks have been shut up with the aim to make silage in the next week or two. Last year we used all of our silage we had stockpiled over the last two years. It would have cost us a huge amount of money if we had had to buy in the feed we used during the very dry winter and spring last year. Silage and hay making is a very busy time on farm, especially with the day to day jobs which still have to happen everyday. The cows still need to be milked twice a day, the springers checked, the beef cattle checked and managed.
Over the past two days I have been able to get some sewing and quilting done. I am working on a Di Ford Hall designed reproduction quilt called "Rotherfield's Greys". I am up to border 7  and pleased with my progress. I normally look after my grand daughter, Claire today but she was unwell and having the day at home with her Dad, so I took the opportunity to sew again today.
Tomorrow's aim is to make some tomato relish as my Dad visited yesterday and brought me a large quantity of beautiful home grown tomatoes. I shared some with family but still have too many left to eat. Our own tomato plants are just starting to ripen and supply us with our own produce as well. I love seeing and eating all the fresh produce we grow at this time of year.

Tomorrow's work!

Preserving day.....

Today is all about preserving some of our beautiful home grown yellow peaches. There is no way we can possibly eat all our fresh peaches and so I stew and bottle as many as I can for eating throughout the year. The bottled stewed peaches make the best peach crumbles and other desserts for the winter months when fresh peaches are just a memory.
I have also been making some bread and butter cucumbers but these don't last very long in our pantry. They are delicious with cold meats, cheese, wine and biscuits.
The chickens have been fed and watered, washing done. DH Farmer has completed the morning's milking, the tanker has picked the milk up, a semi load of grain has been delivered and unloaded in the silo, breakfast has been eaten and it is only 9 am.
DH Farmer is off to work on the farm.
A rural life is busy......

Yesterdays preserving and today's work waiting.

Peach trees netted to keep the birds and flying foxes away!

Welcome to my blog!

Life on the land can be one of the most rewarding, frustrating, amazing,devastating, interesting but never boring ways to live. It offers challenges which you think will be impossible to survive let alone at times thrive on. Living and working on a commercial beef and dairy farm for more than 30 years has been all of this plus more. As a city raised girl I have learnt, often the hard way, what it is to live a rural life.  Hopefully you can experience this life with me and the ways I fill my days on the farm.

Growing, eating and cooking as much of our own food as possible is extremely important to our way of life. I also love to quilt, sew and knit. It goes without saying that central to all of this is family and the animals, which are after all, what living a rural life is all about. Welcome to Living a Rural Life!