Alas poor Racey.....

Sad, sad news ..... our lovely rooster Racey died on Sunday. He developed fowl pox, which is relatively common in chooks, and usually not fatal, but he went downhill very quickly and died after having it only a few days.

A young Racey before he grew in his beautiful long feathers

One of our hens, Lady, had it first, and had been sick for around 3 weeks. I actually thought she wouldn't survive the move from our old house up to their current residence at my friend's place, but she slowly improved and looks like she will be fine. I think she had a bad time of it as she was moulting at the same time, so she is looking a little rough and has lost a lot of weight.

Poor Racey though, we all loved him, he was such a beautiful wyandotte rooster, stunning to look at and very tame and friendly. I had hoped to breed him to the wyandotte girls and have some lovely chicks next season, but that was not meant to be. He was so ill that his eyes were swollen shut, so he wasn't moving around much or doing any normal behaviour. We tried to open his eyes but couldn't, to help him find food and water. He was managing to eat, but perhaps he wasn't drinking enough, or perhaps he was going to die anyway, we will never know.

A few days after hatching- check out the hairdo!

He looked after his girls well, finding them food when they were free-ranging and always keeping an eye on me when I picked the girls up! They were obviously loyal to him too, they were huddled around him when he died.


A sad end to an otherwise lovely Mothers Day. I was showered with cards and presents from my two littlies, including hand made photo frames they made at kindergarten, small gifts from the school fundraiser and even a collection of 'special rocks' from our garden LOL!! I am amazed they managed to keep it all secret! They were so lovely I was smiling all morning. Porridge and milo in bed, (in my new pj's and dressing gown!) bacon and eggs later, and some lovely treats from the local market. Yum!


We have all settled in to our new abode, it feels great to be living here. Moving was relatively painless, although we realised we have way too much 'stuff'. A big clear out ahead I think. We are all enjoying walking to school (most days when we are not in a mad rush!) while the weather is still above freezing.....!

Movin' on up ....

Time for some changes ..... we have been so busy here lately I keep thinking of stuff I want to blog about but never have a chance :-(
I have been trying to keep our house in tip top condition, all spic and span for the inspections we have been having (not so easy during the school holidays with 2 mini-hurricanes charging around!) Luckily it has always looked tidy and clean, and we have had quite a few people through, but no buyers yet.

The good news however is that we have got ourselves a rental house to move into, I looked at a few and the only one that was suitable was in high demand! I had no idea it was so competitive, there are so many people out there going for each property. Of course that pushes the prices up as well as making it harder to get what you want. We weren't even that fussy really, just wanted a 2/3 bed house with heating (I can't believe some places don't have heating in the upper mountains ...brrrrrr!)

Anyway, we did get the one we applied for and I am so happy! I will be able to walk the kids to school instead of driving 96 km every day -hooray!

The main problem was having somewhere that has a fenced yard and will take a dog. The chooks would have been a much bigger problem, except that a lovely friend has offered to house them at her place for us while we rent. She has had chooks in the past and really enjoys them, although never had a rooster, so we are both hoping that won't be an issue with her neighbours. We still have to discuss who will be responsible for what, but they will be close by so I can visit and hopefully our shared-care arrangement will work out!

Hopefully we will be able to get a removalist to help us move in next weekend, (we have done it ourselves way too many times, its not worth the chiropractic bills, not to mention the damaged furniture!)

I will report back form our new surroundings when we get settled, no doubt there will be a few tales in between :-)

Chestnuts for breakfast...lunch....dinner....

What a fabulous day out we had yesterday! A trip to Kookootonga Chestnut Farm in Mt Irvine organised by the blue mountains fruit and nut tree network made for a great family outing. The drive there is beautiful in itself, through the upper mountains villages, across the Darling Causeway, through Bell and Mt Wilson, which I think always looks gorgeous in Autumn.

One of the first trees

There were chestnuts aplenty, less trees than I imagined but far more nuts than I ever imagined could come from each tree! The owner took our small group up over the hill to his 'best' tree which was enough to keep us happily picking for an hour or so, each filling our buckets and still leaving some behind! It was so enjoyable gathering the nuts under the cool shade of the huge tree as it was unusually warm yesterday.

Tough gloves essential (oops and sensible footwear too!)

A trio of treasure inside the prickly casing

The farm also has a good supply of walnut trees, and although these aren't quite due for harvest yet, our children managed to find a 'secret' tree (much to their delight!) where they were the sole collectors of a good kilo of walnuts already fallen to the ground. Apart from the occasional running-off episodes, they really enjoyed the day too.

Miss 4 filling bucket no.1

Bucket no.2

I found discovering the chestnuts in the dewy grass and peeling them from their prickly covers really addictive (!) and therefore when it came to weighing and paying, we ended up buying far more than we needed, but it was well worth it for the experience.

This cheeky fellow joined us too

To wrap it up, the group had organised a roasting in the grounds near the farmhouse, and we all got to taste hot chestnuts roasted on the BBQ, which was a first for us.

Our nutty bounty at home!

Since returning yesterday we have tried them microwaved and oven baked, and I also picked up a range of recipe cards at the farm with lots of yummy ideas. Just as well - we have a LOT to use!

:-)

Suddenly...lots of news!

Where is this year going? I keep thinking of blog posts, but somehow get swept up by events going on in my 'real' life and never get round to writing.... but so much is happening here in the world of mountain wildlife!

Firstly, our twins started school in February, a huge milestone for all of us! They are in kindergarten and settling in well, we are very proud of them. The only downside is that I have to drive 30 mins, 4 times a day to take them there/home and back/home. We decided to start them in school in the town we will be moving to, rather than where we are now, as this will be far less disruptive for them when we do move, having already settled into school and established some new friends. We were being optimistic that we WILL build this year and it WILL go according to plan!

Which leads nicely to our second big event-of-the-moment --- the builder we returned to late last year (after a year of owner-building-nothing-getting-done dramas) seems to be handling things well and getting things moving far faster that we did. Of course I still have moments of impatience when I would like things done TODAY (!) but at least things are progressing. The council application should be ready to submit in the next couple of weeks- waiting as I write- on a bushfire assessment. Our block is surrounded by, and covered in, natural bushland so this is a very important report which will determine what modifications we will have to incorporate into the house. We already have a good understanding and have budgeted for such things so hopefully there won't be any surprises.

However, because of my afore-mentioned impatience (LOL!) we have decided to sell up our home now, (news no. 3!) and rent further up the mountains while the building progresses. Hubby will be travelling further as he works down the mountains, but that would happen eventually anyway, and besides ---news no. 4!! -- we have bought a second car so he can do that! Its an older station wagon, cheap but hopefully reliable, and has heaps more room than our other car. The train he usually catches doesn't run from our new place, so this was going to happen sooner or later. But, the school run will be so much easier, we can be more part of our new community, and our children will be closer to their new friends. Me too, as I have met some lovely people through the school and made some new friends already! 

So, our house is up for sale and the agent is confident it will go quickly. Hmmm.... now, where are we going to live??!!!

I have been searching for a rental in the upper mountains (news no.5!!) - they are quite rare - and the ones that do come up that look suitable/affordable are so far not allowing pets. Not good, as we have our lovely dog with us.
Oh, and did I mention the 5 fat hens and the rooster who does hilarious attempts now at crowing? Well, I didn't mention it to the agents that's for sure! I think the chooks might be taking up residence on our land with daily visits from me, it's hard enough finding a rental that will allow an outdoor dog!

News no.6 - we are selling our investment property at the moment as well, hopefully that should all go through next week, so its all contracts and paperwork here!

Between building, selling x 2 and house hunting, as well as driving 100km/day, you may have figured out why I have been missing lately.......

So much going on, fingers crosssed everything will soon fall into place and I will be able to exhale again!

:-)

No-knead bread tutorial - Rustic, crusty, tasty, yum!

3 posts today- I think that's a record for me!

Inspired by Jacqui's post last week, I just had to give this a try. (Thanks Jacqui!)

Check out this youtube link to watch a how-to-make No Knead Bread.

Basically it is a simple flour/yeast/salt/water recipe, mixed up and left overnight (or at least 12 hours) and baked hotter than usual. The link will tell you more, but I also wanted to add a few hints and my own result.

It produces a fabulous ciabatta style loaf, and I am very proud of my first effort!

Yes, it is supposed to be cracked and rough!

I have baked bread before, both hand baking and using my bread machine (picked up on freecycle) but lately my machine-bread has been collapsing in the top (no reason) and my hand baking has always been a bit hit-and-miss. Edible, but not worth shouting about. Or blogging about. And while I find the whole process enjoyable, I rarely have the time to bake from scratch.

But THIS .... THIS I like. It has that real rustic home-baked look, a super-crusty crust and soft, holey middle. Perfect for drizzling olive oil on, or for jam to fall into those holes!

A few things I did that I think the youtube video may not explain -

I covered my mixture loosely with cling film and a tea-towel when it sat overnight (room temp)
I very lightly 'punched down' when shaping and flouring it
I let it sit for another half hour, didn't rise much then, but did HEAPS in the oven.
Then baked at 250c in a preheated pyrex casserole dish (lid on)

and don't be surprise if it doesn't look like usual bread dough when you first make it - it is really, really gooey!

My dough after overnight rise - looks like glue! Even after turning out, it was sticky and gloopy. Hmmm, I was worried....!

Looking better -shaped into a rough round and a generous dusting with wholemeal flour

Still hot in the dish -baked seam side up to get that cracked crust!

If you haven't baked bread before, give it a go - this is SO EASY ! Honestly, young kids can do the mixing (if you don't mind some serious mess!) First part takes less than 5 minutes, next day takes maybe another 5 mins, then into the oven. I am going to try to make one every weekend, evening prep for lunch the next day.

Beats supermarket bread anyday. You'll even have the local baker worried!  

Wyandotte update!

Feeling a bit chooky ..... feel the need to post some new pics ...... :-)

Wyandottes taking shelter from the rain last weekend on our back deck.

Check out Silvie the fluffball at the front! Not even laying yet but I'm sure she looks like she'd make a fine broody hen, all puffed up like that, I can just imagine her guarding her clutch of eggs...... !

Here she is again, just to prove she can walk upright, and is not infact, just a ball of feathers. And she does have a neck.

Perfect lacing, such a beauty. Looks very straight backed for a wyandotte on this photo, but she is actually curvier.

Wyandottes are "The Bird of Curves' according to poultry standards, and should be basically 'soccer ball' shaped, with their tails, legs and head outside the circle. Maybe she was practising in the first photo!

B.G. - the original gold chick, who then turned completely black, who then decided to grow some gold again. Reminds me of someone dyeing their hair, trying different colours to see what suits!

 

Mostly her lacing is quite 'peppery' in breeders terms, but her chest is lacing up lovely, and she is still molting and deciding just how much gold she would like.

 

And the natural blonde, like a true blonde is getting a little darker as she ages and also a sprinkle of grey LOL!

Lastly, here is Mr Handsome himself .... growing some beautiful gold hackle and saddle feathers, and his 'blue' in his blue-laced-gold is so truly blue. Legs so yellow you'd think I'd painted them (another Wyandotte standard) Hopefully the girls won't be able to resist his charms.....! And still not crowing - I can't believe my luck, though probably jinxed it now.

They are 17 weeks now, the girls looking much redder than they did even last week, in their combs and little wattles. Getting ready for laying.... a few weeks away maybe, but definitely getting ready.....!

Recent rains

It is a little late, but I thought I'd post a few photos of our recent downpours .....

This is what happened to our backyard (and has again several times since this photo was taken) The photo doesn't show very well, but we had gushing surface water spilling down our backyard.

Although we do have a lot more grass than we did last year when the chooks made a moon-scape, we still had a huge amount of run-off and it all pooled when it reached the brick wall of our house .....

There is only so much water the earth can hold before it is totally saturated, then of course the rest gets washed down the slope as run-off.

Mother nature does not like patches of bare earth, and the recent rains have shown how much more destructive they can be without anything to slow the speeding water. Although we have a lot of tree canopy cover, we also have areas with nothing beneath the soil to drink up the water.

So now, where our grass was successfully growing back, it currently looks like this .... little tufts hanging on for life among the sandy, gravelly soil.

We were also affected, like many other mountain residents recently, by the landslides due to the rains, and the resulting road closures and train derailment. Fortunately no major problems from these, just inconvenience.

Still, on the upside, our local park, which usually has a trickling waterfall at the top, is now in full-flow and looks fabulous.

Australia Day - Mountain Wildlife style

Since moving here 12 years ago, we have celebrated Australia Day every year with all the enthusiasm of new immigrants proud of their new home! Since we arrived in early January, 1998, yesterday was actually our 13th Australia Day.

We decided to stay local and have a pretty low-key day .... however, that doesn't mean quiet! We managed to see some live music, go to a lookout, drive up a mountain track, followed up with a cafe visit for scones and milkshakes all round, and finally time for a play in a park.

The Blue Mountains - with distant views of the famous 3 Sisters

And in true Mountain Wildlife style - we started and finished with some true-blue aussie wildlife.........

While we were getting into our car to start out, Miss 4 screamed out "Aarrgghhh!! Look - a big giant spider on the car!!!" And boy was she right - a huge huntsman spider had taken residence on the rim of the hatchback. (For those non-locals - a huntsman is a horrible hairy beast, complete with monster eyes and big boots. OK, maybe that last bit is my imagination) I don't normally advocate the destruction of any animals, but anything that comes into my car and threatens my family is fair game in my book. So hubby did a quick-flick-with-a-big-stick, and that was the last we saw of Hunty.

And at the other end of our day, we met another scary local (karma perhaps?) We were in a park in Medlow Bath, when Miss 4 tripped over a tree root and landed too close for comfort in front of a snake. Now apparently, these snakes are supposed to flee at noise and commotion, but this one was more than curious to see what was going on, and slithered on over. Luckily our daughter screamed "SNAKE!!" and hubby (hero again!) grabbed her up and moved away. Less than a minute later, we couldn't see the snake anywhere (not a good feeling) until hubby and Miss 4 came back to the car and snakey decided to make an appearance yet again, right in their path!

A quick detour and we were all out of harms way, but I couldn't resist getting a photo or two.... no, I'm not THAT stupid, I used the max zoom on the camera, I was actually a fair distance away!

It was obviously after some water, there was a tap and bubbler nearby and someone had left a dish of water underneath (for a dog maybe?)

Anyone wanting to ID this slithery creature for me is most welcome - I can only guess at a red-bellied black, even though it was more cream-bellied-grey! they can look like this too.

When we left it was sliding into the grass, happy with it's cool drink, and seemingly unaware of the effect it had on our heartbeats!

It was a good opportunity to have a talk with our kids again about safety and what to do when we see snakes.

Happy Australia Day everyone!

Bye Big Red, and other comings and goings.

Big Red before he left home today!

Today we said goodbye to Big Red, one of our two Wyandotte roosters. He is such a lovely rooster it was sad to see him go, but on the upside -he hasn't gone very far away and he has gone to a good home.

Xena has taken him to live with her existing chooks and her stunning new Silver Laced wyandotte pullet. Big Red is the result of a Blue Laced Gold (BLG) rooster and a Silver Laced (SL) hen, so he could happily make beautiful chickies with either Silvers or Golds.

"You looking at me?"

It was a very difficult choice between the two roosters we have (which is why Big Red left today at 13 weeks old, not as a young chickie!) In the end it came down to which one was better suited to our wyandotte hens, and which one we were more attached to. We kept Racey, who was initially quite flighty but has since calmed down a lot, and he is very happy to sit and have cuddles! He seems very close to Blondie too, so it would have been mean to break up their little romance! I think he is going to be stunning too.

Racey the Blue Laced Gold Wyandotte Rooster

As a little parting gift, The Boys decided to have a last lie in the sun together, how funny do they look? They lay in the exact same position looking exactly the same way! And stayed like that long enough for me to get a few photos. Thanks boys!

I am just thankful he will have a new home as a breeding rooster, and not as chicken soup! :-O

Luckily for me (and him!) he turned out handsome and healthy! I hope he looks after your girls well Xena.

In other comings and goings, we said goodbye to some lovely friends last week who have headed out west for a new career and new life. At least we had a lovely morning with coffees and cake, for grown-ups and kids to say our goodbyes. And there are promises for cafe mornings mid-way between mountains and the west when school starts again.....!

We also had a lovely time on the weekend seeing Jacqui and Mick again (more coffees and cake involved- do you think this is a problem?!!) It is so good making new friends with similar interests, who- if it were not for the wonder of blogging- I would probably never have met, even though we live nearby. You made quite an impression on our kids too!

And hello to K&L ! more locals who have been reading my blog, and who appear to have been drawn into the wonderful world of chook-keeping and the wonder of wyandottes..... beware .... you will never have enough!

Our son feeding Big Red this morning

I smell Autumn.....!

I know it is far too early, but I truly smell Autumn in the air today. Everything tells me it is already here today -the temperature has dropped, the wind is blustering and the sky is that super-intense blue with the sun blazing but the heat is just not quite reaching the earth. And mostly, I can smell the crispness in the air.

All of these are typical of our early Autumn weather here. Strange thing is, it is only mid January! Spring doesn't start officially here until March.

Yesterday we were slapping on the sunscreen and hats, today it was socks and hoodies just to play outside in the backyard! When I was younger, it could never be too hot for me, 40 was bliss. But now, by the end of summer I am pleased to see the back of the scorching heat and searing, bushfire-risk temperatures.

The highest temp this afternoon outside has been 21 degrees c, what a change from the high 30's of last week. Apparently they are on their way back later in the week, but hey, I've seen a glimpse and I'm telling you ...... Autumn will be here before we know it. I'm looking forward to it already!