the best news............

The view outside my window all day yesterday.....yep that is rain drops on the window..........and I heard it raining during the night...............but what a surprise I got this morning when we had 46mms on the rain guage...............with 2 mms yesterday morning and 10mms on Monday morning what a week..............Tuesday we missed out..............storms went either side of us............some got big falls but we didn't get even a spit...............

the biggest fall of rain for over 2 years............can't tell you when we had a week like this last..........but it makes you feel so good........especially when the falls start to add together.............

Oh happy days..............

the best news is we have had a decent fall at one of the properties that has been missing out.............

we have stopped feeding the ewes as we were running out of feed.............we swapped them paddocks to give them a fresh paddock to pick in..........still feeding the lambs but hanging out trying to work out what to do what we were going to get for feed.....were we going to get a decent fall...........we had some green but you would call a green drought.............looks good but nothing really there.............and it had started to go blue again dying.........

The cows here hadn't been fed hay for about 10 days either............

&&&

The clouds are still hanging around this morning so maybe a chance of a little more.............we have some water running into some dams but a quick inch or 2 would run some water around now and put some water into some of the dams that are still empty...........

Update on the poddy calves............

I went away for a few days late last week and came home to a new baby.............

the one at the top of the photo..........he is a big calf.....very new but big.........long legs too......much bigger then Mini who we have had for about 6 weeks.............so I weaned a couple of others to lower the numbers and I had thought maybe a week or so to go and I would have been on the tail end of feeding poddies but now I will be on the job for another 6-8 weeks atleast..............yippee.............

Then on Tuesday they brought this one home........a few weeks older then the new one.........he has pink eye on both eyes so can't see.......he was struggling in the paddock......so home he as come...........the boys had caught him here to put medication in his eyes and we gave him a bottle of milk and he scoffed it down............so hopefully tomorrow we will try and get him onto the calf  feeder like the others...........

with dome deaths etc I think we have 18 at the moment now..........

Hope you got some rain at your place if you needed it.............I know this rain event has been pretty wide spread.........but some were still missing out........hopefully your turn will come very soon.....

I still have to do the posts from GDITC but a lot has been happening here and I just have not had a chance to get to it..............but it will happen..........and I will get around to everyone's blogs too.............

Catch you later

Chookyblue

Friday evening............

I posted the pic below earlier..........usually Friday drinks is on the lawn.........but for the first time it was raining so we had to go down to the caravan park BBQ area............it's a great area with plenty of space for us.........we just take over the whole venue..........a few more to arrive when this pic was taken............

lots of fun and chatter..........

Kate trying on her new "hat"

All the swap gifts waiting to be swapped............

"Fake it, make it or bake it"......everyone joined in........thanks for helping out Ann and Sam.......

more happy girls..........

I think Shez was christening "Dory" here

Oh man I am exhausted.........it was a big weekend........

Catch you later

Chookyblue

GDITC bloggers meet...............

Blog meets are just the best fun...............girls Day in the Country at Nundle is also just the best fun..........

So bloggers meeting at GDITC is out of this world..............

I love we are all sorts of ages, interests, lifestyles, city/town/country girls and we when we meet only because we have met online thru blogging it is just the best fun............no one judges you........you are just who you are and we like you for that.............thousands and thousands of kilometres have been traveled just for our group to gather together for 3 days in Nundle..........like i said all roads lead to Nundle...............

Here is everyone with the naughty girls who went missing included in the top left corner..........some people just don't listen..............lol............

Thanks Peg, Dale, Jenny, Lynda, Cheryll Dory, Maree, Susan, Me, Kerri, Kerry, Cheryl, Kate, Dzintra, Lea, Alison, Lynette, Fiona, Janice, Sonia, Ann, Shez, Sam and Dawnie

Actually just realise Suzie was missing too..........

we also had a few bloggers friends not in the pick - Miss Jules, Gail, Jenny and Maureen

gosh I hope I haven't missed anyone..............

But you made it the best weekend.........THANKYOU

&&&

And saying "HI" to those lurkers out there who I met on the weekend - you know who you are..........lovely to see you or met you for the first time............

I know a few of you mentioned maybe blogging but it's too hard.............trust me is isn't and you can make the best of friends like I have..........

and GDITC has created a few bloggers...........Lea, Sandy, Cardygirl to mention a few..............

Catch you later

Chookyblue

Too big a day.....

Need I say more......hope she gets a second wind........ 

Chookyblue 

Fun and laughs........

Lots of laughs........it was raining so we had to go to the Caravan park Bbq area for drinks and nibbles instead of the lawn.......

Lucky for everyone else at the park they weren't there 

Chookyblue

All roads lead to Girls Day in the Country.............

Heading off to GDITC in a few hours..............

travel safe everyone see you soon.........

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

Help willing trade....

So a good friend sent me this mag 

Problem is Kerri wants one now too and I am not giving her mine so does any one have a copy they don't want.

Kerri is willing to trade an aussie mag for it.

American Patchwork and Quilting. Feb 2014 issue 126

Let me know if you can help 

Chookyblue

THANKS TO CHRIS TART WHO HELPED OUT................

ouch..........

I seem to have a scratch or bruise on me all the time lately...............the other day it was a rusty piece of wire on the gate and it was a little deeper on my shin.............bleed everywhere..............I was mustering cattle so had to keep dabbing it with a tissue until it stopped bleeding and I got home to clean it up..............

But it did make me think when did I get my last tetanus needle?????

At the Dr's yesterday and he said I should have a tetanus booster needle...............checking my records the last one was 2003...........holy dooley..........I thought it was awhile ago but I didn't think that long ago.....way past needing a booster.......

So while the Dr decided I needed to have the booster needle I also asked about the flu needle................

Off to the nurses room and 2 jabs later one in each arm................didn't hurt getting the needles but ouch during the night they started hurting..............so I am up bright and early...........couple of mild pain tablets to take the edge off the sore shoulders.........they'll be fine in a day or so.....least of my worries compared to the fact that tetanus can kill you...........

When did you have a tetanus booster last??? 

If you can't remember go to your Dr's and get them to check your records......

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

OMG...........

So I decided I needed to duck into to town for a few things and should go this afternoon incase Kerri gets here earlier tomorrow.................it's ok I can finish the cleaning in the morning...................

I head off to town..............I check where she is at...........she's travelling really well................ok............maybe she'll come all the way thru................thats exciting...............finish my jobs in town...........get home............PANIC.............I forgot about the cleaning............working on that now............think it is acceptable..............OMG she will be here in a few minutes..............

YIPPEE.......we'll have 2 full days together here...............might even make it into the chooksed...........

then off to Girls Day In the Country for 2014 with Lynette Anderson...............look out Nundle here we come................

OMG she just drove over the ramp...............woohoo.......gotta run..............

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

feeling odd............

not sure where my emotions are heading................they were heading up.......I'm usually a glass 1/2 full person but as the week progressed it's tettering on the edge.........walking the tight rope....

one thing you get a lot of in a drought is death.........it's something you face all the time when drought is bad........and once an animal dies it stays there is sight for a long time.........a constant reminder and smell........you ride past it to feed the stock or it's one that got stuck in the dam so it's right near the dam when you check it etc...........you get the picture...........and you sort of become a bit immune so to speak........

I had been feeling much better about everything............we had finally been drought declared - government had finally acknowledged that we had been in drought........(I am sure they are idiots and are ignorant but lets not go there) and we have had a few falls of rain on 2 properties but no change at the inlaws still DIRT............now we are in a green drought............looks ok but nothing much for the stock to get hold of............we are still feeding and they are still looking for the feed.............fresh green grass is like you taking laxatives everyday........the feed goes straight thru the stock..........

&&&

A few angels toughed my life............

rain, care and hope can make you feel so much better it is amazing...............and seeing the country come to life with green shoots is something you will never really appreciate or understand unless you have lived thru a drought...........we have some Belgian visitors at the moment and they have a whole new appreciation for rain............the life it breathes not only in the land but in the humans as well............it is something unique and amazing........unable to be measured...........priceless.....

but then there is the other side.............. Late this week we lost another calf and came home to 2 more sick - all different problems........my one eyed sheep I had brought home to the garden (the LAST one) he was my "pet project" - went down hill and I realised what was wrong.......fly strike in an odd spot but it was too late to save him.......... &&& yesterday we got all the cattle in here and vaccinated them........riding around you can see the blue patches happening in the paddock where the grasses are stressing as we didn't strike any storms this week......with a warmer week coming up it will start dying........heading back to square one........ &&& Friday I sold a few more of my heifers..........and a couple of smaller steers...........trying to lighten my numbers............I only have so much hay so if it means I can keep the others for a bit longer off they go......Mr Chooky had them sorted out with the agent on Thursday afternoon............hoping for an inch in a storm Thursday night and I would have kept them but it didn't come..........onto a truck they went............. &&& finally today we mustered and trucked off the heifers we sold last week.........I spoke to the man who brought them on the phone twice today............he sounds lovely and I think they have gone to a good home...............and they will get to have there calves and keep breeding.................... &&& so it's a balancing act here............trying to stay on the tight rope............. I don't want to fall off again..............it was a bit hard to get back on...... &&& I want to thank everyone for there support............blogging has been a distraction and support for me.............. I will continue to try and allow people to understand why I do what I do..............I don't want to swap my life..........I have a good one..........I love doing what we do...........I love the freedom of living and working as we wish........It's a massive challenge in so many ways when in drought.........somehow we will survive and get thru..........I am not looking for sympathy writing this..............it's just how I feel at the moment..........everyone goes thru ups and downs............this down is just taking a bit more work to get thru......as there is more going on then the drought but that's life isn't it........I will get there.........eventually....... .........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

6 sleeps..........

OMG I am so excited........in 6 sleeps Kerri will be here.......stitchy sleep overs are the best fun....... ..

AND THEN in 8 sleeps we're off to Girls Day in the Country..............it's the annual bloggers pilgrimage to Nundle hosted by Kerry of Cottage on the Hill...........it's a big weekend.............hundred of stitchers attend...........

Lynette Anderson is our tutor.........can't wait to see what our projects are.......

The chatter on our private group blog is on fire..............lots of fun and cheeky comments going back and forwards......counting down meeting up at GDITC......

Better get the bubbles supply in order.........

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

Drought story........

What a great drought story from Alex Cullen on "Sunday Night"

It takes a country boy to tell the story..........
Congrats Alex you did a fantastic job........

The Last Straw (if your overseas you can watch it on the link).........just disgusted we had to watch the rubbish before it so I emailed Sunday Night and told them so.......shame on them.....actually I turned off to another channel so I didn't have to watch the rubbish and nearly missed the start..............

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

something quilt related..............

If anyone wants a day out in the Blue Mountains................

the Salvos do a great job...........

Check out all the quilts that have been donated before they go to their new homes........

You can find the Bush Fire Quilt appeal blog here.............check it out now................

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

quiet life.....

It's really quiet when the phone is dead

It got sick on Tuesday and died on Thursday morning

It is diverted to my mobile but that is not much use when you don't have good mobile service in the bush.........

Was supposed to be fixed by Thursday 7 pm but a nice lady who even spoke english and was in NSW Australia rang to say maybe Friday arvo but probably Monday... She even gave me her return number....OMG....

But by the time I was heading home from work Friday Mr Chooky rang (from his mobile) to say we had no power the line was down locally..... Thankfully the power people work faster then Telstra......it was back on before dark.......

.........take care til next time.....Chookyblue.........

a good result............

Well the girls went to auction.........

while I am still sad about having to sell them.......there is some good news........

We had a price on them as reserve which equaled about $1.20/kg

the girls sold for $1.59/kg.........

now this doesn't sound like to much but it amounts to $140/head more

So that will greatly help the partnership cash flow and to know we didn't "give" them away feels better.........

The rain coming thru sure helped the sale...........we have only had 12mls so far here............others around the district have had some good falls up to 50mls I have heard..........

not sure about NL but K had less then us again.................at least it can rain..............I could see the grass had grown while I was at work yesterday..............it rained all day for only a couple of mls............so perfect to encourage grass to grow...........but would love some bigger falls..........

Thank god summer is over........it's been one of the hardest I have had to endure with the drought.......
record setting heat of 47.6 (118F) on the 3rd of Jan a day I would prefer to forget.......
Dec avg 34.9 deg C (2 above avg)
Jan avg 35.9 (1 above avg)
Feb avg 34.4 (.9 above avg)
pretty sure we have seen the end of the high 30's early 40's til next summer...........
Actually every month since July has been warmer then avg...............but then when you have no rain you don't have cloudy days to bring the temp down...............
bring on autumn I say..............

Catch you later

Chookyblue