ozcountryquiltingmum

So not a factory farm....

Late Sunday night and I think I should be sleeping while the sleeping is good, but I shall take a risk and fit in a post instead.

DS seems to have the flu, very high temps meant he ended up in bed with us last night, I gave up and went into his bed and found out this morning that DH spent most of the night up with him watching DVD's!!!

That was a great way to start my husband's Father's day, but quite fitting really as he is a very hands on Dad and always used to divide the night with me when they were younger and more prone to night-time illness. I really appreciated that, if Tazzie is reading this, it is a bit like the book she mentioned, with a title I wont write for fear of who will google me, but basically relating to what really makes a woman fall for a man, and it isn't actually what a man thinks it would be. More housework than big muscles!

I have to share the Father's Day card my girl made him....because it's my blog....and she is only 9....

Dear Dad,

You don't like the sand,

but you like the Lee Kernaghan band.

You never get mad,

for that I am very glad.

When you play hide and seek,

I think it's neat.

While Mum is feeding the chooks,

what you are doing is harder than it looks.

Thanks for bringing home lambs,

and pushing me in prams.

Thank you for your love,

you came from above.

You have a truck,

and you love when the bulls at the rodeo buck.

You married Mum,

you cuddled me when I had a sore tum.

Needless to say I had to steal the card from beside his bed.....

Catered afternoon tea for a wedding yesterday and thought the bridesmaids flowers may interest you. They were made from a whole heap of satiny fabric circles, and just pinned to a styrofoam ball, then with a short piece of dowel stuck into them to hold onto. They actually looked good, especially from a distance, even if I am a sucker for real flowers.

In answer to a million questions from my last post.

The emails have been running hot regarding my battery hens. I have stopped trying to sensibly explain them and will do so as clearly as possible here.

Battery hens are the general term for chooks/chickens that are factory farmed. That is, as many as possible of them are kept in order to maximise return on investment and space. As the world continues to grow we have to accept that this is increasingly how our food needs to be grown....but we don't necessarily have to like it. The chooks that I bought have been specifically bred to lay, the desire to go clucky has been bred out of them. At the end of the first year they will probably moult, which involves them losing their old feathers and stopping laying for a short period. In their second year of laying their production falls off. Fot this reason I could purchase them cheaply in the bargain bin. Even if they drop to 4-5 eggs a week, they will still be supplying me with more eggs than some of my old darlings who have produced eggs for 5-6 years, given me enjoyment and are allowed to live in a happy, semi-retired state until time catches up with them. If I cross these new layers with my lovely bush roosters I will get the variety of colours I like, with improved egg laying ability in the new generation. But I will have to get some of my old faithfuls to do the sitting as they battery hens will not.

Factory farming is not the way we choose to farm here.

Factory farmers would not have cute poultry like these, admiring my chenille quilt that I finally added flanelette backing to, running loose. They would artificially inseminate, so have no need for the cute rooster who is presently standing on my quilt!

Factory farmers wouldn't have pet lambs either. Especially ones like Spring who enjoy

escaping from the paddock, playing withthe kids, eating the chook food and shaking hands.

And they definitely wouldn't have rude little lambs, that after unsuccessfully attempting to follow their foster mother in the back door,

... quickly run around the front and bang on the door until one of the kids opens to see who is there.....

....so we put a quilt on her back and called her a Jim Shore figurine! (Isn't she getting big, will be shorn in a month!!!)

Finally, seeing I missed Blog day, a great blog to call at is Carol's. Carol does fabulous digi scrapping layouts and her "things that never really happened" shots are a hoot!