Quilts and walnuts and calves...

Where do the weeks disappear to? We had a great weekend away in Adelaide a few weeks ago, (Holdens won.) The only trouble was coming back to the cars after the race and we were one short!! Luckily ours was back at the holiday park, but it meant we bought a few extra dejected passengers home. Sad when you work your whole life for something good and others see it as a reason to steal. They've had no news so insurance is stepping in.

I finished another quilt...amazingly! I did most of the top last year at quilt retreat, an old friend wanted a quilt recently and this fit the bill, I finished it off to suit her and added a free pieced version of her daughter's name to the back as a surprise. It was made from a batik scrapbag from hancocks, I love the colour effect.

I have just about worked out a walnut routine, has been a lot of trial and error, i have a great husking machine...want to see?

Efficient, green energy...and cute as well!

He just loves pounding those walnuts and we have fun doing it together...think the finished product looks fine, I am freezing them all for Claire's fig and walnut chutney. The figs are late, probably the tricky season, just starting to ripen this week..and no chutney from them, they've all been eaten by me.

We are still trying to get the linseed off, one paddock done yesterday, it would be VERY nice to get the harvest finsished. It should all be getting worked up for the new planting now!

The agronomists are all doom and gloom about all the greenery and weeds the rain have caused, it is going to cost a fortune to spray it,.. and then hopefully it will burn. The agronomists say if we can't burn we can't crop. That would get getting serious!

Dh hurt his back the day after we came home from Adelaide, it's finally coming good but I have had to help him mark the calves that are being born every day...that involves an identification tag in one ear (see here on the left) and a number in the other if it's a girl, as this one is. If it's a boy it gets a ring on it's nether regions...none of which hurts the calf. I wish I had photos of me running across the paddocks to get the active ones...and turning them over to mark. The funnist bit is me attempting to lok nonchalant in front of Dh and act like the little blighters aren't hard to hold!But they are very cute!

Taking my girl to her school deb ball tomorrow night, a lot of friend's kids are in it-and a lot of her school frinds will be there, have to dress up...lets just say she is much more enthusiastic about this than me....but at least I'm happier than I would have been 8 kgs ago!!

Better run, I have a market to prepare for in the morning, hope you are great and bloggers, hope to visit!

Burning, birthday... and bieber!

Trying to get my house organized enough to disappear for school adventure camp with my daughter for the next few days, then be back home only a night before heading off to Adelaide for my annual dose of fuel injection...the Clipsal V8 supercar races.
A note to card order people, markets had really lowered my stocks, the card business has been crazy, new stocks arriving this week and al cards will be delivered asap.
We have had a few warm days so all the cereal grains are harvested, only the linseed to come. We have started burning the stubbles. We try not to burn much anymore but given the wet seasonal conditions it is the only way to get rid of the rubbishy weeds, fungi and secondary growth in the paddocks.

Darling daughter is now a teenager, had a dozen girls over for a party, they had to make their own cupcakes, decorate cupcakes and gluten free pavlovas (I'm an equal opportunity party holder!) and her birthday cake...also pin the hair on a bald Justin Bieber!

The highlight was the chocolate fondue fountain, we only get it out a few times a year, always makes me feel like the Vicar of Dibley!! It really should be illegal.

I'll leave you with a rose from this week, the roses are loving this wet summer/autumn. Better run, have to clean out the car to get kids in....heaven help me!

One quilt done!

It's 11 pm here, I am waiting for 6 slabs of apple strudel to be cool enough to freeze and 3 egg and bacon pies to come out of the oven....and I draw the line at the "Embarrasing bodies" show the TV is offering, so i finally have a minute to blog.

Emma's 'Quilts for Leukeumia' quilt is all finished and mailed. I photographed it in my favourite March light, which probably makes it a touch on the orange side, but I don't think that matters. It was all foundation pieced on a thick wadding, so tying it was quite enough quilting. Has a fabulous red and white spot backing and I, of course, would have loved it here! But that's the fun of quilting. I know a little 4 year old in New Zealand needs it more than me, and of course my name is NOT Emma!.My darling Archie dog helped as always... you get a rare pic of me here...a la naturale! Well, not THAT natural, (you aren't being punished!) i mean, in farmwife mode. Arch is 8 and starting to have a few morning arthritis issues, I hate seeing that, it reminds me he can't keep me company and scare the foxes away from all my free ranging chooks for ever.Look at him begging for a scratch.

Had 2 warm days this week so managed to get a bit more crop off, now we only have a little barley and a lot of linseed to battle for. All good fun. Better run now, oven is going off...thanks to all my walnut helpers, have realy appreciated the continuing advice, struggling to get good ones, today was about my best result. i don't think I will be getting rich from walnut farming! Have a great day, Tracey