The rains are 'ere

This is what our farm looks like today. (Our blog background fits in really well I think)

                                                  An irrigation pond nearly full.

We are rejoicing in the beautiful rain we are receiving at the moment. It is the first worthwhile rain we have seen in 6months. But too wet to garden,so... a little project that Mark has been saving for just such a day.

We garden with the help of chickens. They live in domes just like this...

They do what chickens do best- scratch, poo, and eats insects. Once they've done their thing we add mulch and 2 weeks later move them on to the next bed.With a little compost added with each seedling we plant straight into the newly chicken cultivated bed.

But after 5 years the domes are looking a little worse for wear. They get knocked around pretty badly in strong winds and have had to be repaired many times. So our plan is to use a different design- a geodesic dome. This should prove to be a much sturdier design.

This is the first of the panels that Mark finished today. He will show you the finished product and how he built it in the days to come so stay tuned!!!

In the meantime I have been enjoying being inside. I baked gem scones for morning tea. I've had the old  gem iron for a long time but only started using it 6 or so years ago, when we decided that we would cook all our food from scratch. First you put the iron in the oven to heat up while you get the mixture ready- butter, sugar, an egg, milk and SR flour (We use locally grown, freshly milled flour)

This is how they look straight from the oven , add a little homemade berry jam and a mug of freshly ground organic coffee and it makes a delicious morning tea

We hand grind our coffee everyday for morning tea and make it in a stove top expresso. It's the only cup of coffee I have each day and I like it to be a nice one.We decided that we really needed to slow down as our days were just so busy and agreed that if we didn't have time to grind our coffee beans we didn't have time for coffee. We always find time for our morning coffee.

Lunch was homemade damper and zucchini soup from the freezer, made in the summer from our home grown onions, garlic and zucchinis when they were all in abundance, awaiting just such a day when a hot warming soup is most appreciated.

Our days are always wonderfully busy ,so it's the evenings I look forward to, to do my knitting or sewing. Just lately I have finished two of these 3 pairs of leggings. The red pair are for a friends first grandchild- a girl, the yellow pair are for a friend's first baby- a girl and the pink pair are for our grand daughter due in July.

They are from this book Retro Babes and from the same book I have just started the little cardigan for that same grand daughter.

I look forward to knitting some more this evening once I get the dishes done.