Enough

Yesterday was my grandson 3rd birthday. I bought him a book and I made him some felt food, fried eggs and pancakes to play with when he's pretending to cook. I managed to pick up a little apron from a LETS trading day and found some utensils from our camping things that we didn't want anymore. He loved his felt food and made us pancakes and eggs again and again. (Sorry there are no photos as I couldn't find the camera).

A little later his dad came home from work and I stayed to watch Evan get his present from his family. It came in a lovely red parcel, which he opened very carefully, with a look of awe and wonder. Inside he found a little Dr's kit. A stethoscope, tweezers, scissors etc, very similar to the one I gave his mother when she was a little girl. After checking everyone with the stethoscope, he packed up his doctors bag and went off down the hall to ''work''.

This morning I got a text message from daughter which read....

                                                     Evan: "I don't want poppy to give me any presents because I've                                                                  already got one and two and that's lots of them and that's
                                                                 enough"

Out of the mouth of babes!!!!

As a child, Mark remembers that his father would give this answer when asked if he would like a second helping at meal times. "I've had an eloquent sufficiency and anything more would be superfluous"'

Now I know that this isn't quite the quote as it was first spoken, but it is how Mark remembers hearing it as a very small child.

Do we even know when we have had enough? My three year old grandchild does. It would be lovely to live in a culture of ''Sufficiency'' , do you agree?

Our weekend has been quite busy. It started with a birthday for one of our grandsons. At just one year of age it was a big day and he struggled to stay awake. By the time his cake was being cut he'd fallen asleep...

On Sunday we were invited to a local church for a blessing of the pets. It was a beautiful Mass celebrating the life and teachings of St. Francis of Assissi. We are not typically church goers but found this service particularly enjoyable. We took Aggie, our dog, a guinea pig and a hen. There were lots of dogs, but a cockatoo, a parrot and a goat were just some of the more unusual pets. We have become involved with this particular church due to the aspirations of the priest. Mother Moira is a enthusiastic woman who has devoted herself to feeding the poor. She is determined to grow food in the grounds of the church, and this is where we come in. We are endeavouring to facilitate the start of a community garden specifically aimed at feeding the poor with fresh organic produce. Along with this will be education in composting, propagation, preserving and food preparation. We are excited to be involved.

Monday, for us, was a public holiday. We took advantage of the day off to work on some of the things that will make life a little easier for our farm sitters. We are becoming more and more anxious about our trip away and the fact that we are asking so much of those people who have agreed to take care of everything here while we are away. A big ask and we are so very grateful. Our intern has been here now for just a little over a 3weeks. He has been on a very sharp learning curve but has stepped up to the mark and we feel confident that he will manage beautifully. We also have friends who will come and give support by taking on most of the care of the animals, a huge task in itself.

Today I mistakenly put on a Mums and Bubs Tour. Due to the public holiday Monday's CSA box was put back until Tuesday which meant I had to be in two places at once. Thanks to Luke, our intern, I was able to leave the boxes to him and get on with the tour. It was a great day with beautiful littlies and their mums, dads and even grandparents. We have such a lovely time with the animals and I just love to see the little ones interacting with them. The tours have become so popular that I've had to put on more each month to accommodate them. Next year there will be two a month.To see a young child cuddle a guinea pig or pat a horse or pig, while their mum looks on in amazement, while telling me that their child is too scared to do such a thing, fills me with joy.

This is why I do it. I want to give children the opportunity to interact with animals, to see how they live and what makes each of the animals happy. That pigs love to roll in the mud and dig the ground with their nose...

 That chickens love to scratch, eat grass, take a dust bath. That the pony loves to be brushed and patted. That the ducks and geese love to take a swim in the pond. These are the things children need to see if they are to become adults who refuse to see as normal the industrialisation of our animal. They need to see food growing in the ground. They need to see that eggs come from the hens. They see this when they come to our farm and we are really happy to see the happiness the farm brings to these families.

Twice Around The Sun

Just over a week ago my Grandson Evan turned two...

 

His mum and dad want to keep these early birthdays small and simple so that he is not overwhelmed by something that he really can't understand. So there was a simple home made cake decorated with some of his farm animals.

 A visit by granny and pop, aunts and uncles, grandma, and his newest baby cousin..

Evan is really in love with this little babe and his arrival at his birthday was a highlight.

I gave him some winter clothes that I'd made, and a home made hobby horse that I'd bought at our Steiner School when he was just 6 months old. I've been waiting ever since for the right time to give it to him, and as two year olds are keen to explore the world and those he finds in it, now seemed just right. As usual for children this age, the gift bags were of more interest at the beginning, becoming a great place to put all of his things. I was a little concerned that the horse may be a little difficult for him but he took to it with ease.

Evan is such a happy boy. He is equally happy playing with his dolls as he is with his trucks, or blocks, or farm animals. He loves to climb and run, gallop and jump. His mum and dad got him a swing and slippery dip for his birthday and he can amuse himself for ages going up and down. 

My daughter tells me that Evan wrapped up his ''baby" and put it in a trolley and he was taking her for a walk to dubdas- that's his word for grandma. He is teaching himself to go to the potty. He imitates all those around him, wanting to be a part of all we do. He will soon be a big brother and with his response to babies so far I'm sure it will be something that he will really enjoy.

Happy Birthday beautiful boy. xxx

Birthday Wishes

 27 years ago my youngest daughter was born.

These are pages from her scrapbook.

Sarah is in Melbourne so far, far away. I become a little nostalgic when I can't be with my girls for their birthdays and tend to peruse their photo albums.

Happy Birthday beautiful Sarah. Wish I could be with you to celebrate with you and Aaron. xxx

 My three girls altogether on one of Sarah's visits from Melbourne.

We miss you Sarah but will see you soon when Rhonnie's baby is born. Hugs and Kisses

 from us all.

Happy Birthday Rhonwyn

Yesterday was my middle daughter's 30th birthday.  She knows me well I think. Instead of asking me for stuff she mentioned that she'd really like to have Evan's room painted before the new baby's arrival in April. So while she was away with her family camping, we (my eldest daughter, Meg and a student staying on the farm and me) went into the empty house and painted.

I discovered once there that the ceilings were just too high for the little step ladder I'd brought along. I remembered Rhonnie talking about her neighbour Gary, who is always outside working on one project or another. Surely he'd have a step ladder. And sure enough he was outside and he did have a step ladder and yes he was happy to lend it to a total stranger. But on hearing why I needed it he said that really I should have two ladders and a plank. So over the back fence they came. Good on ya Gary.

 We got started on washing the walls, then cutting in and finally with me on the roller, the walls were quickly covered in Soft Apple Green...so very pretty. While it dried, Sophie whipped up some breschetta for our lunch. Mark had made bread yesterday and put it in the oven. It should have come out the oven just before the children arrived on the farm but, you guessed it, we forgot. So it was in the oven for over two hours. Burnt to a crisp on the outside, but as Mark started to cut it up for the pigs he realised that it was just fine inside!. So that was the basis for our bruschetta.  Then tomatoes, and red onion from our farm.  But I'd forgotten the basil so it's just as well Rhonnie has a nice little vegie garden and I was able to pick some of hers.

Then a little nap while the paint dried ( it was 38 deg. after all)

After our break we once again got back into the painting. What a team. We had it finished in no time flat. We then washed the windows, wiped down the timber blinds, rehung the curtains and replaced the furniture. I can't wait to see Rhonnie's reaction when she gets home this afternoon.

We were ever so pleased with ourselves. I love that I'm able to give of myself when it comes to gift giving. How about you? Have you received gifts like this for your self?

Taranaki Farm

 Thank you to all who left me Birthday wishes yesterday. I had a beautiful dinner last night with family and friends.

 * * * * * * * * *

While in Melbourne, we visited Taranaki Farm. We were not going to be around for Ben's Saturday tour, where he takes visitors on an extended tour, but were lucky enough to be able to join his Grasshopper tour. This tour is specifically designed for Mums with young children -  bub friendly and slow paced. Not exactly suited to us but allowed us to meet with Ben and discuss all things farming. Ben takes his two young daughters along with him on the tour, the youngest in a baby carryier strapped to his back and the other one often as not on his hip.

First stop was the polytunnel which is used to extend the growing season. It is built along the lines of Joel Salatin's polytunnel. The lower part of the structure has solid walls so that pigs can move in after harvesting to clean up the area.

We then all marched across his lush green pastures to see his free range chickens. These are housed in another of Joel's invention; the A frame, and surrounded by electronetting. This allows for secure containment of the chickens from dog and fox attack.

This tour is quite a lot shorter than his tour for adults, but we still managed to take in many of the features that makes Ben's farm Unique and it has given us a few ideas for our own farm, in particular, for me, the child friendly tour.

For lunch we headed off to Trentham to meet up with Justin Walsh who is working on the Trentham food Hub. We had a great lunch at Red Beard Bakery in Trentham and purchased a proving basket for the sourdough bread. An innovation much new to Mark and worth the investment.

 After kneading, the dough is left to rise in the basket



Then turned out onto a tray for baking

 This is how it comes from the oven. Beautiful, isn't it?

Another great day in Victoria.

Gifts From Nature

It's my birthday today and look what I got...

This duck had been sitting on her eggs for ages it seemed. I was just about to kick her off and dispose of the eggs when Quackers appeared with these 5 ducklings in toe. Something we discovered about duck eggs is that you can actually see the developed duckling through the egg shell. I've never seen that with chicken eggs!

And of course the rain. What a beautiful gift that is, just 19 mls overnight but it looks promising for more. Keep your fingers crossed!