Written as the day goes by

7am: The phone rings. Kasey answers has a quick chat for all of 10 seconds as she walks towards me. She tosses the phone to me, it's Daddy, and then bolts out the door before I could get the phone to my ear. "I think Mary is dead.......".

Kasey had beat me to the pen. The eggs she had under her would be dead because she isn't really sitting on them - more like squatting over them. I get the wire cutters because I had done a seriously good job at locking the gate to keep the dogs out. She's not dead, just very sore and sorry for herself. Phew!!!!!! But the psychologist in me kicks in - knowing full well those eggs will be dead I leave them there - she needs a purpose to survive, if I take them off her she will have nothing.

I've had a cuppa on my deck this morning, it was so lovely!! There isn't a cloud in the sky today, the breeze is blowing ever so gently, the grass and weeds are looking ever so green and lush......poop....I can hear the bin truck....!! There goes that train of thought.

I've been in the kitchen for a fair few hours, on and off anyway, while I cook gingerbread men with Bridie. Every now and then I hear a chirping noise. Na, cann't be the eggs yet. Oh **** its the 21st!!! The eggs are due any day.....I look in our very full incubator and what do I see?? A chicken egg that has started to open up. Hooray!! For once we have life occurring, not death! That makes for a happy Mummy :) We have 20 chicken eggs, 9 turkey eggs and 15 guinea fowl eggs in the incubator. 

.....its now 5.18pm. In the last 2 hours I have chased the flaming pony (Brody) around Goombungee. I had 3 people walking try to round him up for me and a guy on a motorbike too. He had to wear himself out before I could get to him. He is now safe and sound in the house yard having a rest. Then I found Mary - our injured turkey - dead! FAR OUT! Oh boy did I crack the shits over that!! Bridie, Jonty and Amy were there when I buried her in the paddock....its not bin day for another week - wasn't going to put her in there and rot for a week!! Eeeeeeew!! But then, as nature has it and God intended life to be, a chick hatched in my hand!! Just because death happens doesn't mean good things stop occurring :)

What a day. I'm pooped :) 

If I didnt love my dogs.....!

The dogs have gone on a hunting spree / killing spree over the last 3 weeks, killing 2  of our 7 week old chicks, injuring another 2, 2 silky chooks and today they attacked our female turkey. I've kind of got this hospital thing going on at the moment, the 2 injured chicks are in the shed with the turkey poults who are 3 weeks old. The other chooks have been buried or tossed into the bin. The buried ones have been dug up again though!

Mary - our female turkey - had been sitting on her eggs in the cactus for the past week.  She knew the dogs couldn't get her or her eggs there because its past 'The Fence' (one of those hidden fence things that signals the collar to give the dog a zap if it gets too close). But the dogs have waited til she was super hungry to get her. She has a bit of a ripped chest thing happening under her right wing and feathers missing from her head and neck, but physically she is ok. I doused her in betadine so that maggots don’t form and to clean the wound.

The chicks are a different story in how they were injured / killed. They have been kept together in the same pen with the silky hen and rooster that Neil brought down for us, locked up and were only allowed out in their little yard just less than a week before they were killed off. The dogs were jumping the fence into their yard and then knocking the poles we use to jam the doors shut down to get into them. They have done this plenty of times to get to the eggs too. Now the chickens have learnt - lay in the garden shed behind the saddles and lucine or in the wood box.

So not only do I have a hospital happening, but everyone must think we have a sign out the front "Don’t like your current owner? Then come live here! Animals of all shapes and sizes welcome. Including cats".

Someone has tried to palm off a staffy to us, our cat rocked up one night and never left, Neil from up the road gave us his beloved silky hen and rooster (the ones that got killed – that’s another story!!), then he brought down his guinea fowl. THEN, last Friday night when Nathan got home from work he was greeted by all the animals as usual, except there were 4 adult chicken hens and not 5. So he called out to her....but instead of just 1 hen coming, 2 came!! WT-!! Since when did we have 6 chooks again?? He was so convinced that I had gone and bought another hen and still now, 4 days later I don't think he believes me.

Remember 'Old Girl'? The one we got with 'Silky' from that empty rental place? ..... Well, this chook is like her.....seriously!! Its a spitting image of her, just not as fat!!! She is laying in the garden shed, walks around with the others, knows where to get water during the day, comes when called......everything the others do. We, ok I, have no idea where she has come from. All our original chooks are either still here (2 of them), dead and buried or eaten by the dogs. It is soooooo weird!!!!!!!

Then Im constantly playing security guard for 'Silky' (the one we got with Old Girl) - our big old silky rooster. He is always being attacked by Dodgy Rodgy (aka Roger) our other rooster (for our layers). Poor Silky spends the day out the front on the driveway so Roger doesn't get him. He has a fair few feathers missing from his head but no actual wounds yet. We need to get rid of him, he has no purpose here and so we are feeding him for the fun of it. Why cann't the dogs have gone for him this morning instead of Mary???

I wonder what dead or injured chook I will find tomorrow??

 One of our first chicks to hatch.

Meanderings in the garden

Life here in Goombungee is so relaxing, unless you have a dog that wants to have an education! Our horse-dog, Ammo, loves the kids so much he wants to follow them everywhere. Monday to Friday he jumps the fences, snaps the lead/chain/rope (whatever we have that we think will hold him back) and follows them to school, which has caused some drama because of his size. Well, that was fixed last week with a hidden fence which means he gets zapped by the radio collar he has on if he gets too close. Sadistic is one word for it, but gee its funny to see him going leaps and bounds for the fence and then all of a sudden do a U-turn and come back home in an instant!! Or when he manages to get past it but then realises he shouldn't have but is stuck between the zapper and the fence and he doesn't know what to do!! And now that he is under control he has voiced his opinion by torturing 'Old Girl' .... but Nath made sure she didnt suffer any more (for all you greenies....and for all you farmers  - a quick blow to the head with a stick did the trick!)

Ammo and the some of the chooks. Old Girl is 2nd on the right. They really are friends....honestly!!

I also had to go round Whiskey up too this morning. She thought it would be her turn to start following the kids to school!! But it doesn't suprise me, well it shouldn't, as she chases Jonty up and down the road when he is riding his bike. Its quite funny to watch!!

A while ago I found a brown snake's skin under a yukka near the water tanks. So I went on a mission to hunt it out and get rid of the big bastard! I ended up clearing out one garden (in the photo) and then all the mess under the flag pole. I never found him....I even set the crap under the flag pole alight.  I had tied ropes around some of the bushes that I couldn't stomp on and in typical Laura fashion ripped the ground up with the ute and pulled them all out! What a mission, but geez it was fun!! the only thing I really didnt want to do was turn that great big massive log over - "there's snakes in there" I though....I was close - there was snake food...which became chicken food. 20 odd frogs got smashedto smitherines from the chickens who kept getting in my way!

 The start of the snake hunt. Gonna find that snake!

The end result of the clean out.

1/4 of the way through cleaning out the flag pole

Well, its almost 1am so I'm off to bed. Next time I will do all my seedings, my laundry detergent, dishwashing detergent and other bits that I've been doing that make life a little more simple

Until then.....live simply!



Home Made

Well, Ive been a busy chicky!!

This is the state of my kitchen one morning back in July after Bridie helped me do my first (double) batch of home made pasta.  I will never ever ever ever ever eat store bought pasta again, unless I have no time, no other option or if Im dead! I cannt remember what recipe I used, but all I remember is that I used gluten free flour - not sure if it was SR or plain....I think it was plain. And if I used eggs it would have been our own eggs. If it had milk in it, it would have been soy...I honestly cannt remember what I put in it!!

My 'fat' spagetti hanging up

Before I thought of coat hangers, I was finding all sorts of places to hang the pasta!

    

                                                                 

More skinny (left) and fat (right) pasta

My 'chopping board' (aka the board that has seen many organs) came in handy. Yes I cleaned it first!!



I also found this. Haven't tried it yet but cannt wait to try it!!

Glamping and Gleaning. Its not just a girl thing !

We all know what glamping is right?? (Camping with glamour!) Then guess what gleaning is?? And its not cleaning with glamour! (Can you ever clean with glamour other than wearing your little black dress, stilletoes full make-up and hair done??). And its not a new word either! Europe, inparticular, is into this, or should I say NOT into gleaning. It (basically) means taking more than what you really need, like harvesting and then reharvesting to make sure you didnt miss any bits - Gleaning is something you should NOT do, so maybe we should call it 'Non-Gleaning'. Its a term used in the Old Testament of the Bible, which way back then there was no centrelink/social security/pension for people who were poor and couldn't/didnt work. The people were told not to glean so that the poor were able to go collect/harvest the left overs and have it. It was their way of being able to eat.




If you've seen any of those English shows like Time Team, Grand Designs or something similar you may have seen that people can have alotments of land that they pay a little rent for so that they can grown their own veggies, flowers or (in some cases) dump their junk on. The alotments aren't huge, nor small (some can be 10m x 20m). It is their way of sharing what they dont need to those who do need it or could use it. And in many places there is a waiting list to get one!




So why aren't us Aussie's good at non-gleaning, but good at gleaning? Is it because our history comes from convicts - who took what they could because they didnt know when their next loaf of bread came from, or needed to blow their nose and didnt have a hankerchief (like my great, great, great, not so great grandmother who got done for stealing a hanki - true, although Im not sure on how many greats to go back!!). So instead of taking what we CAN, take what we need (ok, so the convicts got done for stealing probably because they needed bread or whatever, but thats a different argument lol).




We can avoid gleaning every day pretty much! When we go grocery shopping do we buy a whole celery because we can or because we need a whole one? Why not leave it there for someone who needs it and buy a half celery stick? And just because the apples are cheap does that mean we buy more than usual because we can or because we need to? And what about going to those 'get a box of groceries for $5 if you have a health care card/pension card'?? Do you go there and reap the benefits because you can or because you need to?

Can you see whats happening?? It is an attitude!! And it comes back to living simply. Buy what you need, dont buy because you can. And fighting the retail therapy urge is hard! All that advertising is there everywhere we turn!! The radio, magazine, facebook, tv, even my fridge magnets include advertising (and on my fridge purely because they serve a purpose!). And have you noticed that NONE of that advertising includes looking in your home for what the latest thing is that you should be wanting or needing to make your life better? So many times Ive gone on a spending spree with my Christmas money or birthday money, only to buy MORE clothes, MORE shoes, MORE handbags, and yes its nice to spend money on myself without wondering if I should be using it to pay bills (although plenty of times I have done this!!). Like the old saying goes 'you never hear an elderly person say they wish they bought more items, worked harder or shopped more, they always say they wish they laughed more, hugged more and spent more time with family and friends'. How true is that hey!! At the end of our lives, what are we going to regret? Im sure living simply isn't going to be one of them.




And university, tafe, school - its all there to teach us how to earn a living (which is essential, dont get me wrong!) but they dont tell us how to live. Living life well is not something you can buy, swap, graduate in, its something you make yourself - its home-made, something that can be passed down from one generation to the next (because children learn what they live!!). There is no one-size-fits-all with life. My mum and dad LOVE to travel, every year they go to some exotic place (this year is Cambodia, again!) because they love to, they love meeting the people there, living within that culture for a couple of weeks but its not something I would do (give me Australia any day!). I have friends who love to work as volunteers with Home Care, others who travel the world for work, traverse our amazing country so they can tell stories, pass on knowledge to others. The list of differences is extensive. Us humans are all different, we tick differently, what creates happiness for me is like torture to someone else. But one thing that we can all do is live simply. Finding happiness isn't the only thing to make our lives simple, its a stack of little things and non-gleaning is one of them.




Non-Gleaning - its one way that we can all contribute not only to our own lives, but also to others (because being selfless is part of living simply!) Who cares if the other person is going to appreciate it or not! You never know what they may think, they may actually appreciate that there is a whole celery stick there because they need it.




Im taking the reins, Im getting back into control and Im living simpler than ever before. And boy, does it feel good!




Where we live

It takes 30min of open road driving to get to the closest grocery shop, you are surrounded by open farm land, cattle, horses, the odd side road which is usually dirt, the old farm house which is surrounded by farm sheds that are three times bigger. Your neighbour is a couple of hundred meters away and you will hear his rooster, someone elses rooster and your own rooster before you hear anything else. You can wave to the cop who lives up and around the corner and he'll wave back. You know who the locals are cos they wave you the one or two finger salute as you drive past, and you do the same. Apart from electricity (until we go solar anyway), its the only thing we are actually reliant on. We have grey water, rain tanks, septic. And its all on us, up to us. Oh and a garbage collection service, but not recycling.

The Pioneer Arms Hotel



Yep, living out in rural Queensland is something everyone needs to try. Goombungee is a tiny little town 40km N/W of Toowoomba, home of the rural ironman competition held on Australia Day, and is the oldest town in the Rosalie Shire. Many of the original buildings still stand, including The Pioneer Arms Hotel, the local pub that has been open for business since 1897. This used to be one of six pubs, but many have since been lost to fire. There was even a hospital here once. In 2003, the town was connected to a mains water supply but it tastes like **** and pretty much everyone has tanks, so rain water it is!!

The driveway coming around the tanks. They both hold 22,500lt



Christine at the post office knew who I was before I could finish "Hi we've just moved into.....". She had been waiting for me. There is no mail delivery, but a few weeks after being here, we had a PO Box, which just means we can check our mail whenever we want, not just when she is open. Her little post office is to die for! She has some of the most spectacular and amazing gifts, goodies and homely items in there, (I cannt wait for christmas and birthday money!!). Then there is the general store where you can get the essentials. They are lovely there! There is now a pharmacy and a Doctor open 5 days a week.

The school is tiny, just over 100 students. They start school at 8.30 and finish at 2.30. Its your typical old school with the old school house next door for the principal, the old original school room and massive open paddock/oval for sport. It even has its own swimming pool!!

There is day care out here, if you can call it that. They are open 2 days a week within school hours and are so popular that there is a waiting list for next year. Bridie goes to one 30min away, 27km to be exact.

The kids have swimming 30min away too. Shopping is 30min away, getting food for the lizards is 1hr away!

So my simply rural living is going to kick in gradually. Its things that will make me travel less and stop home more, and go back to basics!



Out the back.



Its going to teach kids the importance of independence, not convenience.

I want to sweep more, vacuum less, figure out how NOT to burn food in my oven (I have a very appropriate name for my oven which is INappropriate here!), Nathan is making his first batch of homebrew - all encased in an electric blanket!, Im going to start my own laundry soap - one that is suitable for grey water for veggie patches and fruit trees. And the kids and I are going to enbark on making our own soap.

And a routine for the day - morning and afternoon, for the week - day by day, so that jobs get done, I do what I have to do and dont miss anything, so that I only go to town when I HAVE to, because I hate town!! (Give me my paddocks any day!!)

Im taking back the reins of a busy life. Im going to make life simple.

Im off to figure out where my veggie patch is going to go, which means brown-snake-whispering!

The view from the back fence of our property down towards the house.

The challenge

Mum sent me a book written by an Aussie lady who has received blog of the year awards and has composed her blog into a book. Blowed if I can remember her name but her book is on living simply. Pretty simple stuff. Basically, cut out all the crap in your life and go back to the way life was years ago when you mended socks instead of throwing them out, sewing a button back on a shirt instead of throwing it out. Driving around and around looking for something in particular when you could modify something you already have at home. Baking from scratch. Turning lights off if they aren't needed. Not using the dishwasher unless its full.

Its all stuff we have heard of, done before, never done before, cannt be stuffed doing or whatever. But there is something about taking the reins of life back into your control and not the crazy world taking us for the ride.

There is something about having things that are made with love, made from you or a peron you know, giving gifts that are handmade instead of being bought....and buying things for the sake of buying things! I love nothing better than a good impulse buy. You know how it works. Your at the shops and you see that really gorgeous handbag, purse, boots, jeans, earings, teapot, painting, or for those with more money to burn, a new bed spread, new towels, a new computer, those super expensive clothes in that super expensive shop that is now in season. 'Awesome' you say, 'just what I need'.

But do you really need them?? Or is it 'just what I want'? This is where Im at. Buying things because I want to or because I need to. We accumulate so much crap in our lives that if you add up what you spend on things you want compared to what you need, imagine how much money you would have spent. So now, think, imagine what a little looking after what we already have could save us. Instead of buying a new shirt, buy a button that matches. Learn to knit so you can have a nice warm scarf for winter. Or a new blanket (or if your really keen, a new jumper!

Im gradually going to get my list of things I can do a little bigger, a little more technical, a little bit more fun. My challenge to myself is to do 1 simple thing a day. Not buy McDonalds for lunch cos Im out and about but wait the 30min drive home and have something already there, dont buy that coffee in town but wait til you get home. Dont go driving all over the countryside looking for that facewasher the kids teacher wants with the tag in the middle so it can be hung up, but buy a new washer and sew a tag on it. Simple Stuff.