goodbye 2016...........

Another year in ways I would prefer to forget then to remember..............yes there were some highs but also some crap...........some crap will linger onto to 2017............after 14.5 years I am moving onto a  new job...........only seems like yesterday I started this one........and not even one word of thanks for all those years service..........disgusting really..........so 2017 will be a fresh start work wise........... 

this week I got to enjoy some beautiful sour dough bread made by a lovely friend..........our daughters are friends and when she arrived for a few days holidays with Fairy Girl a couple of loaves arrived with her................

2016 has been one of change too........there is now less of me which is great............fitter and healthier then I have been for years..........had to buy lots of new clothes which was nice.....threw piles out........never want to wear them again........I had some of the foods that I don't eat anymore in the last few weeks and truly was disappointed when I ate them again.........

&&&&

2016 has seen the major ups and downs weather wise...............to dry and feeding then to wet.......had some of the worst trips to town in the whole time I have lived here this winter/spring.............and it is very dry again now..........we have dry feed but nothing much of use in it feed wise for the stock............

the last few weeks I was going to spend lots of time in the Chookshed but we have been busy with farm stuff, visitors, etc..........then when it seemed to quieten down it has been too hot.............

&&&

December sure is finishing on a high which is probably why I feel tired and drained as the Avg daily temp has been 35.8deg...........so it has been a very hot month......and Jan is usually hotter.........yesterday was 42 and today it is 37 and it is only lunch time so will get worse too.........

Crafting wise I have enjoyed some great workshops with friends but I would like to fit some more time into the Chookshed next year.........Its been a little neglected of late.........

&&&

And finally I would like to thank you my readers and commenters who visit and make  my time here in blogland what it is.........blogging is a special thing to do and I have made some great friends thru this www................no I won't be going to the darkside this one take enough of my time.........

Hope to see you all around in blogland in 2017.....

remember to 

"Keep the love of blogging alive"

Catch you later.......

Chookyblue.........

SSCS Receved........

finally i've got a chance, the stars were aligned so to speak............time, photos, charged laptop, 

Now onto my gorgeous Secret Santa Christmas Swap (SSCS) parcel...........

I shared the lovely ornament Marika @ My Little Quilt and Stitchery Life from Germany sent me in my last post............

This gorgeous little quilt will be hung on the wall in the Chookshed.............I want to have a mini quilt wall and I have a few plans in the making but nothing really to put up yet so this will be the first one.............i'm so excited.............

Here you can see the stitching at the top......."A house without quilts is like a sky without stars"...........Marika even quilted some clouds into the sky............

Also she added this little pincushion/clip holder.......what a great idea to keep these little clips.............I love them and keep losing them in the bottom of the sewing containers so to be able to clip them onto the pincushion will be great.........she also added some lovely threads.............thanks so much Marika...........I love my parcel and now I will try and catch up on all your SSCS posts.............so many gorgeous gifts sent out............

&&&&

Just a meer 42 degrees today...............glad to have a swim in the pool and hide indoors in the air con to stay cool...........

Catch you later.......

Chookyblue.........

SSCS ornie.......

wow what was supposed to be a quiet week has been pretty busy.............

We put up some fairy lights..........I love fairy lights.............We had some neighbours over............otherwise no one would ever see them..........

When we first got marreid we put up lights for many years...........very few people ever saw them..........it's was more just because we loved to do it.........

this week has seen some early starts to get some sheep work done............well I am normally up way to early anyway but usually out in the garden putting hoses on and fiddling around in summer........it was pretty dusty..........I tried to stay out of the worst of the dust as the last few times I have ended up sick...........weaning (taking the lambs from the ewes), needling the lambs with vaccination - think childhood vaccine programs and also putting in the required visual ID ear tag..........you can't sell them without the tag  in their ear...........

But exciting news is that my SSCS arrived.......we only get 2 deliveries of mail a week if we are lucky and a bundle of mail came in earlier in the week when I was busy and I forgot to go back and then I found my SSCS parcel............

thanks Marika in Germany........hanging on the tree now how cute is this ornie..........the main present is safe under the tree.........

WISHING everyone a Merry Christmas...............please take it that if I comment on your blog during the year I have read your Christmas post if you have put one up or if you do tomorrow and I have thought of you as I read them but just too busy to comment on all of them........

Stay safe and have a wonderful Christmas........

Hope the man in the big red suit finds you.......

Catch you later......

Chookyblue.....

Keeping the love of blogging alive

quilting.........

I've been dreaming about getting this book..........

Have you ever been to Judi's blog Green Fairy Quilts

Her quilting is jaw dropping amazing........

I've followed Judi for a few years now but just thought you may not have heard of her or found her blog..........

SOOOOOOOO do yourself a favour and check out her blog...........

your jaw will be dropping also.........

9 sleeps until Santa comes.......

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

Edelweiss????

How funny...........when I posted the flannel flowers both Vreni @ Oops-Lah and Anne Heidi @ Piece by Piece said it looked like Edelweiss.........

I had no idea what they were talking about so off for a google search........

(Edelweiss)

I never knew what it was other then the name of the song from the Sound of Music......lyrics can be found here....I know your all shaking your heads in disgust but was I the only person who didn't know this............

I love the song and now I love it  even more now knowing what this beautiful little flower looks like and yes it is very similiar to the Flannel Flowers.........

And taken from Mr Wiki

"according to folk tradition, giving this flower to a loved one is a promise of dedication"

10 sleeps unil Christmas..............

take care til next time..... Chookyblue......... Keeping the love of blogging alive

High tea and beautiful skies.....

Never been to high tea.......a small groups fund-raiser but lovely and fancy just the same 



Catch you later......

Chookyblue......

Keeping the love of blogging alive

Flannel flowers......

I rarely get to see them but I do love flannel flowers.......

Catch you later.....

Chookyblue....

Keeping the love of blogging alive

Shut the gate?

If people listened to their mother then their mother would not be crying wild and furious at them for leaving a gate open that let the poddy calves, goaty and lamby in which ate all the corn and most of the beans and trampled-destroyed other plants in the veggie garden...... And made a huge mess.

Lucky they were found pretty quickly. No need to comment I'm too busy cleaning (now that I have fixed as best I can the garden and replanted seeds) out pouring my furious state on the dusty house......

Catch you later.....
Chookyblue......

Keeping the love of blogging alive

Dust storm

Hooley Dooley.........what an evening.........

since I popped in here last we have had a massive and I mean MASSIVE dust storm hit.........it was windy all afternoon......but about 7pm it hit.

Maybe 5 mins before these pics I had looked out the front and thought yeh we might get a storm later.........you know the ones that carry rain...........I went out to turn some hoses off and as I came around the back side of the house I looked up and saw brown.........yelled at the family to get the washing off the verendah and make sure the house is shut.......ran to turn the hoses off........

dashed inside to grab the phone and I went up the back fence and took this photo to the right...........you could see about 2kms away at this point...........

to the left you could see the front of the dust storm and it was coming in very fast.........

only a minute or 2 later I was at the side of the Chookshed and at times you could not see the dam bank which is no more the 100m or the things lined up on the fence about 30m away......

It was wild the gulahs and other birds were going crazy screeching and debris was swirling around everywhere..........

Wished i had a wind measure as it would have done a huge reading I am sure.............

the power had gone off and we sat outside in the dust storm as prior to it hitting it was stinking hot and it brought a dusty but cool change thru with it.........

we were covered in dust but grabbed a nice relaxing drink and sat it out.............this was the view after the worst had gone thru.......

we showered grabbed some easy food by candle light and hopped into bed.........I woke about 4.30am when the power came back on.......turned a few lights off............went into the lounge room and the tv and air con were running.......you forget what things were running when the power went off..........

I've been busy and will be again today and possibly tomorrow so maybe Monday I will clean up..........it is feral........everywhere you walk it is dirt......

great vegies producing............and some eggs..........

&&&&

I've also been to a special school presentation night..........7 of my nieces and nephews were in the concert.........also 3 kids of my cousins..........

thats getting close to 1/3 of the school........

&&& 

Also need to drag out the christmas tree and decorate............maybe after we do some cleaning on Monday......latest ever to set it up.........

Have a great weekend...........

Catch you later....

Chookyblue.....

Keeping the love of blogging alive

Road train???

The boys never cease to amazes me...... Saving numerous trips way down the back to bring equipment home...... The ute towing the fire cart towing the header comb towing the air compressor......

Don't worry they only travelled on farm roads.....

Catch you later.....

Chookyblue......

Keeping the love of blogging alive

Busted.....

So you know how I told you I found the Guinea fowl nest the other day.... well I collected eggs for a few days but disturbed them to much so they left....... but I have busted the next nest...... it is in a better spot so I have not stolen the eggs........ underneath a big old Murraya bush..... they lay communal all in the one nest till someone sits on it...... not sure how that is decided....... who draws the short straw to sit on the nest...... 

As I go to hop into bed there is the most amazing but beatiful cool breeze blowing thru the house..... heaven......  nighty night......

Catch you later.......

Chookyblue.......

Keeping the love of blogging alive

Doubles.....

If you know me you will know I am into the weather...........always amuses me variations in temps...........seriously today we are double the temps for Melbourne....and my last few minimum night temps have been warmer then their max day time temps.............

up at daylight watering things.....the pool has been great..........one cheery plant at the moment is this Santolina............nice grey foliage with bright pops of yellow flowers............the heat does not bother it all at..........

cool change tomorrow.......max 36..........

Catch you later.....

Chookyblue.....

Keeping the love of blogging alive

Bugs, SSCS, surprises......

I am so over the bugs the other night I took a pic and this is what they were like on the gauze.............

and that is to a yellow light that doesn't attract so many bugs........they were inside everywhere not quiet as thick as this but millions all the same.............

the people you run into...........we both took pics and text to another friend our random meet............a very quick hello but we will have to have a day together very soon............

the guinea fowl started a nest in the front garden again..........in the agapanthus bed..........I have been raiding the nest and they have moved on thankfully as I have a party in a few weeks right here and don't want to upset a nesting guinea fowl...........they would have made an another nest I just have not found it yet..........I do find random eggs drops on the ground in random spots............

SSCS parcel is on the sleigh..............where will Santa drop it we will have to wait and see..............

ok gotta go..........it's already 34 and it's not 9am yet right now the hottest spot in Australia.......i'd prefer not to keep that record all day.......someone else can have it...............

heading for 42+ today.........OMG.....nearly got all my outside jobs done.........

it's too hot to even go into the Chookshed with the air con on today......

stay cool everyone...........or warm what ever the case.......

Catch you later.....

Chookyblue.....

Keeping the love of blogging alive

rollercoaster of life..............

I'm not really a girl into thrill seeking rides BUT I feel like I am on a roller coaster at the moment.............the highs and lows of life........... i tried to get off the ride but no luck so far.............

driving recently I saw the brumbies...........I have tried for pics before and they run in behind the trees...........this time they just hung around and waited for me to take a photo...........lovely foal in tow also............

dinner with these gorgeous girls................

so pleased you are able to meet up Kris and Fiona my blog buddies..........it's never long enough but it is quality I say...................

OMG speaking of dinner............this was HUGE let me repeat HUGE.............don't worry there was no way I could eat it all............

some pics from harvest..........gears been moved to another property now for some barley and lupins.............

Summer is starting with a bang here..........forecast into the weekend today 38, Fri 39 Sat 42 Sun 40.................OMG.......my garden will be frizzled..........

Catch you later.......

Chookyblue.........

Keeping the love of blogging alive

Jacarandas......

So busy here..........confused with what I have and have not posted so hoping your not bored with more garden shots...........

Some of the big jacaranda trees in the garden.....

yes I did say I have 23 in the garden but I brought 2 more and got them in..........thinking of a couple more spots too but think I will leave any more planting until autumn (unless some rain is forecast) as this week is going to be another scorcher........

Catch you later......

Chookyblue.....

Keeping the love of blogging alive

Garden......

The garden had been getting a big pull into line lately....... It's starting to show.....thankgoodness,.....mind you it is a constant work in progress but if you can stay one step ahead it is much better..........when my lawn is mowed life can feel so much better.......... Still got some work to go but I love going out moving hoses early or late and pulling a few weeds, raking a path or tidying up a bush etc.........to garden out here is a labour of love but it is so worth it........

the moon was still up when I went out this morning.......

the Jacarandas are putting on a gorgeous display......What I went to do was take a pic of the one next to my "Snow in Summer"......

And for once 'snow in summer' is flowering with it..... One is usually finished before the other starts.......I do have an obsession with Jacarandas as I have about 20 to 25 in the garden actually went out and counted 23.......see told you I have an obsession..........Some are a bit younger but they are all flowering now......

snow in summer closer up..........so pretty..........

The Agapanthus seem to be early.... 

Although some are just putting up heads now in other beds.......
This bed needs hay down.........I have a bale at the end of the garden it just has not happened yet.........this bed also contains my zucchinis and button squash and a pumpkin.........

Actually just looking at this geranium but I think I need to move some of it into the aggies..........the colours would be great together........since they are flowering together............

this was a piece of geranium I got from The Vale on our sewing retreat..........with permission of course............it just keeps flowering and flowering........

one of my favourite roses..........ask if you want the name...........

its a "David Austin" Rose.......I lost a couple due to too much bore water on it so being careful in a new spot for this one and using the dam water too.......

Anyway I'm enjoying it so much out in the garden I'm having 'girls drinks' tomorrow night......It's a "neighbours thing"........

Mind you my neighbours stretch a hell of a lot further then yours would but we still call ourselves neighbours...... And that is very special......

Have a great weekend.....

hope it involved lots of secret sewing..........
catch you later...........
Chookyblue............

Keeping the love of blogging alive............

Oats......

I took these pics on Friday on my walk.............this is our oat crop...........lost of weeds as from once it started to germinate it was very very wet for months..................so wet one paddock was flooded 5-6 times and very little oats came up.............this one was in about a week earlier............and in a slight slope.....well for extremely flat country it was a slope...............

a tunnel of oats................

It's amazing how tall some of it is........Boy Wonder is 6'6 and some parts are taller them him...........I would get lost in there.........it's very tall........

see the patch in the front of the pic didn't come up..........

some oats i rubbed out of the husk...........

the problem is secondary growth and lots have the same problem...........

it is pretty much ready to strip except see those green stems............

see the green heads in this pic............causes problems stripping..........

You need it all to look more like this and the grain comes out of the shell much better and stores better...............the silos in town will knock you back with too many green heads.......and too much moisture...................

On Friday it was 34degs Sat 35 yesterday 29...........today it has struggled to make 18 degs,.,............I am working in the office and on the UHF radio I can hear some header drivers and one of them just said it is the first time he has had the heater on while harvesting......I'm surprised it was even going for them....sometimes crops just won't strip well when it is too cool...........

I've had jeans, long sleeve top and a vest on all day and socks.........just warm enough..........very bleak cloudy day for sure......

Won't last for long.........30 and up from Wednesday............35-36 on the weekend again............now that's more like harvest temps.........and that will bring on the green heads to ripen.........

have a great week everyone............

Catch you later......

Chookyblue.....

'Keeping the love of blogging alive'

Chookshed emergency averted.......

Enjoying a bubbles with my friend Kylie...........

Calm relaxed...............Kylie knitting and me hhmmm fiddling probably...........anyway we could hear a branch rubbing on the roof...............funny as I had not heard it the day before..........oh well must get Mr Chooky to cut that branch down it's a little annoying........

A few hours later we went out and discovered it was the whole tree leaning on the Chookshed.............

OMG DISASTER!!!!!!

Its a big tree.............

It shades over lots of the Chookshed roof..............

and it's a big heavy tree..............

At 3am I was panicking about the storm that came thru if the tree would actually fall on the the Chookshed.............i had moved machines inside just in case.........but as we found this on dark and Mr Chooky didn't get home til almost then it was to late and dark to do any climbing on the roof to chop down a tree...............

Amazing this morning it was about a 1-2cms off the gutter...........but Mr Chooky and Boy Wonder got up and cut it all down...........I wasn't taking a risk..........

A pile of it went to the other side of the shed into the ute to take away 2 loads.....but this is the huge pieces Mr Chooky kept cutting off in slices to keep them lighter...........

You know how some trees have heavy wood and others lighter well his one is a heavy sucker............look at the pile to cart away beside the shed..............broke the top wire off the fence but that shouldn't be too bad to fix up..............

we still have about 7ft tree trunk to the right of the pic to deal with but this is not such a worry now.........

Here's the tree before the chop down.............

Here it is after..........the poor Chookshed looks bare............

it does give lots of shade..........all gone now............

Thankgoodness we found this problem before it fell harder onto the Chookshed.........imagine the disaster then.............

More storms floating around this arvo.........

Catch you later............

Chookyblue............

'Keeping the love of blogging alive'