New poddy lamb in the house, she is a tiny lamb born in another bout of bad weather. As she is the lamb of one of our ETs we thought she should be given a chance.
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I have loved the local library ever since I could read. Growing up in an isolated country area reading was the main entertainment and the local librarian was always happy to indulge a bush kid with a big stack of books. Thanks to her I always had plenty of companions. We have just joined the Braidwood library and it is busy whenever we visit. Horrible, to think libraries are under threat in these cost cutting times.
Today,Martin showed me how to make "Skinsal", this is an old family formula invented by his Grandfather in the 1890's. It was sold in the family pharmacy until 1980 (by three generations of Pyes), when Martin became a farmer and grazier. He made a batch two years ago at the request of his niece, and since then jars have been given to many of our friends for use as a lip balm. After numerous requests for more, he agreed to show me how to make another batch.
The formula contains simple ingredients that were commonly available then, hence no modern chemicals. He has sworn me to secrecy. (Though I am not sure how serious he is!) Martin has entered the world of the meat rabbit. After meeting someone in the local village of Braidwood who was growing them, he thought he would try raising some. Not content with a few local meat rabbits,he has sourced some bred by the CSIRO for their excellent feed conversion and productivity, and had them flown in. We are now waiting for the first litter of baby bunnies (the real first lot died of cold while I was looking after them when Martin was in Mount Isa). We have set up a heat lamp and have the pens organised to ensure the best survival outcome. If we are successful we will be able to supply ourselves and our friends with rabbit for the table. I am also thinking it would be good to tan the hides and make a quilt as they have the most beautiful fur colours.
We got home from Burrawang West Station about 9:30pm, after a long day with the Senior Dorper Course exam. We had a range of tests to complete - in the morning we did the written exam, which we all passed. Then the pointing of 10 rams and 10 ewes, followed by the placing of 5 rams and 5 ewes in order of their quality,( much as you would at a show, we don't know if we passed that part). Then finally we were all individually tested with placing 5 ewes and 5 rams and justifying their placings to the Teacher (we all passed that part). There was a lot of tension and pacing about prior to the individual testing. The course is so worthwhile for the sheep farmer (regardless of breed), we learnt so much that can be applied at home, both from Wicus Cronje the teacher, and from the other participants. The opportunity to have a drink together and to sit down to a meal together, adds much to the fun and learning experience at Burrawang. Highly recommended.
Off to Burrawang again for a Dorper Sheep School. We had so much fun last year and learnt so much that we are doing the Senior School again. It is a great opportunity to spend time with other breeders and share experiences. Can't wait, after two weeks of minding the farm while Martin was away visiting family in Mount Isa I'm keen for a change of pace.
Finally got around to turning lard or tallow into soap. As I had so much rendered beef tallow, making an all tallow soap seemed like a good idea. Soap is fairly easy to make, it is a simple chemical reaction between the fat or oils, the lye and water. You just need to be careful of the lye (caustic soda) as it can burn the skin and gives off some unpleasant vapor during its reaction with the water. Soap made this way is about as natural as you can get . The caustic soda may seem like a harsh additive, but it is neutralized by the chemical reaction and during the curing of the soap. In the past caustic soda was made by dripping water through wood ash. I haven't gone that far in taking the process back to basics but, in theory you could source all the ingredients for soap without buying anything. If you are interested in having a go at making soap there are a lot of tutorials on the net, Lia at Claremont White Dorpers has written a useful one.
We have a small tree in the yard that produced fruit each year but we had no idea what it was. Last year it was finally revealed that it is a medlar. Related to the pear and quince, it is cold and frost tolerant ( I guess that is why it has survived here). The fruit is picked in early winter, after a frost, and left to ripen. Ripening involves waiting until the fruit begins to rot - this is know as bletting one's medlars. Once the medlar has reached this stage it is ready to cook into beautiful medlar jelly. The flavour is described as very dry grated apple, with finely chopped dates added, and a dry red wine to add an astringent tinge. Medlar Jelly Recipe
To see our lives through others eyes.
"Beautiful days, light frost. Found the cow up behind boundary fence, might even be the neighbours paddock? He brought round 2 big bags of bread which are in feed shed. Cow has huge udder - had a calf (no sign of it) or maybe going to calve? Couldn't see her well enough to tell. One of the young rams is limping, don't know if it was limping before you left or not. And I thought there were 7 rams but there are only 6 so perhaps there were only 6 to begin with. There are 10 lambs in the lamb paddock, saw a fox in there yesterday morning so made BANG BANG noises and it ran away. Goats good, been for walks round paddock and up hill, have taken to Rose, ( sitter's daughter), pretty things they are. Sheep in pine tree paddock went nuts over lupins, and battled it out from heap to heap, until not one lupin left! Pearl (sitters highland terrier) meanwhile stuck her head through electric fence and got lobotomized! That was a bit of a shock for her, poor little fluffpot, but she soon recovered. Maggie (sitters border collie), brushed against electric fence up the hill, ran a short distance, sat down and held up her right front paw saying ouch, ouch, that bloody hurt, but she also soon recovered. The neighbour has separated the calves from their mums so there's a bit of separation anxiety bellowing going on. Didn't let the chooks out today, they seem content though and well, guinea fowl as screechy as ever. Have been giving the dam (so full!) ducks some of the bread yum yum they say". |