Milking Goat.....

We have a new addition to the family.

Her name is Cherry and she is the sweetest goat ever. Over the years we 

have had a lot of goats, but Cherry is my favorite.

We choose to get a milking goat over a cow because they will eat any thing and we don't need as much room to keep a goat as you do a cow.

We don't buy any dairy now as we have milk and make our yogurt and cheese.

Cherve cheese is a goats milk cheese, it is a soft cheese and 

we flavor it to how we are feeling that day. This is the amount we get from 

2 litres.

 

I use the whey in my bread making, it gives a lovely cheesy taste.

We don't eat a lot of bread so I make cheese and bread twice a week. 

I wish I was better at making sour dough bread but I'm not so I have 

gone back to dry yeast.

 

The small loaves I use in the Airbnb for our guests, they 

love fresh bread.

below is the tray of breakfast goodies for our guests breakfast,

I also use the milk in my soap making..

I have been busy making dish cloths and washers as gifts as I was running low.

 Enjoy your week

Mandy

Winter time.....

Well it's that time of the year when the stove is lit and keeping us warm....

Something about Winter makes me all homely and content to stay indoors baking.

I have my sour dough up and going and baking bread every day is a job I love....

So do my hips!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heading out to visit my girls after work today and will be taking my sour dough with me...

Really can't trust the boys to feed it.

This photo is all about love.

Cousin love 

Friend love

and Grandma loves it..

 Every morning I enjoy a cuppa with the crazies on the farm....

These 2 aren't sure what the are.

Human

Dog

Cat

duck

but surely not chooks, so we won't tell them.

They roost at the top of the orange tree every night, chickens are rain forest animals.

So apparently trees are where they feel safe. I can not keep these two in the hen house so the yard is there domain.

I hope you are enjoying the slower rhythm of winter, and enjoying the

cold nights by the fire.

GETTING READY...........

Things have been a little crazy in the last 2 years getting my business up and going and the last 12months moving it closer to the house.

Because I love what I do it doesn't seem like work at all.

I have noticed though I am not as prepared as I used to be. Prepared for what you ask?

Life and all it throws at you.

In 2011 we had the most devastating floods where people were killed, here stranded at our house was 16 people and we had plenty of food and produce to feed them.

If that same thing happened now and only 3 of us living here we would run out of food in 24 hours.

Yes I got off track for a while but am back on the path of being more sustainable and self sufficient.

Around 3 months ago we invested in 9 geese and 10 ducks...

The reason being was I couldn't keep up with the mowing and the grass in the food forest was knee high. Well they had that grass down within 2 weeks and I have not had to mow since...

We have a acre yard and no mowing...

 They are the quietest geese and will feed from my hand I am totally in love with these beautiful animals. They have the run of the farm but if I'm not on the veranda by 8am they are waiting at the bottom of the steps for their breakfast all 19 of them hahaha.

We now have 7 sheep both Bridget and Brenda had twins this year. We still have a little meat left in the freezer from last year. We will put 3 in the freezer and 1 is going to Cassie.

The piggies are growing and are doing a great job of cleaning the land for us.

They are both bound for the freezer as well. They are electric fence savvy and this way we move them to land we want cleaned up.

The glass house has been great for keeping plants in over winter and I love this room...

Sometimes on cold days I will go out there just to get warm and potter about.

We have bananas all year round now with the 6 different varieties we have.

The fruit trees are also doing well and keeping as in fruit we really only have to buy apples.

I have been a bit slack in the vege garden. Not much going on but herbs, plenty of herbs.

This is mainly because our daughter and hubby have a farm and they keep us in all the veges we need. I am getting ready to plant summer crops. Over winter we had kale, tomatoes and lettuce self seeding every where so were never with the basics.

With all the cabbages we get I have been making sauerkraut lots of it as we love it.

 Also making lots of pickles and relishes with all the gifted produce.

Back into bread making as well, I have started a sour dough and am 

making the first sourdough loaf today. 

We have our wood stove in and Bruce just needs to hook it all up and I will be able to bake my bread in it.....

As you can see we are getting there. I also did a big grocery shop this week and the shelves are full.

My main hindrance is I hate going to the supermarket, so getting self sufficient again will cut down on the times I need to go.

Do you stockpile? What measures do you take for natural disasters or just the fact that you are house bound and can't get out...

Enjoy your week

Mandy

Bread and gardening.......

Hi All

I have been experimenting with bread. I have been making different types of sweet bread for the boys for afternoon tea. Below is some scrolls I made, on the inside I sprinkled cocoa and sugar. I have also put dried fruit in some and then iced them. Today I put Lemonade butter into the middle....can't wait for them to cook.

I made some lemonade butter this week, it is sweeter than lemon butter. Next batch 

I won't put as much sugar into it. I made it up in my thermomix, so easy I just put all the ingredients in and walked away while it did the cooking. Love my thermomix.

Yesterday I got some kale seedlings that I will plant out today. I love kale I put it

into every thing(do not tell William he thinks it's lettuce). I also make kale chips in the barby, which William will eat, go figure....

My stone fruit trees are losing all their leaves, I will need to get in and prune them soon.

I am hoping for a good crop from them this year..

The roses have just finished their last

flush of flowers and will also need pruning in the next month or so. I think the

garden is so confused as we had some cold weather a month ago

and since then it has been very mild.

All of my bulbs are out off the ground, so they will properly flower in the middle 

of winter.

All this warm weather is not helping my argument to have the wood

stove put back in the house, so I'm hoping for some cold weather soon.

Have a great day

I am going to make a cuppa and catch up in blog land.

Mandy

Long Week end.

 I have had a busy week end here, long week ends do that if your not going away.

 

 

Saturday in between Soccer and football I spent baking up a storm, cakes biscuits and sour dough bread.

 

 

Sunday I tried a new bread recipe and was really happy with it, simple but good.

Bread

6 cups P flour,

4 teaspoons yeast

pinch salt

Tablespoon of bread improver

teaspoon sugar

dash good olive oil

Mix all together and add tepid  water until a nice sticky dough has formed.

Need for 15 min.

I put mine in the mix master and used my dough hook.

 

 

 

From this recipe I got a loaf of bread and 12 bread rolls above is the loaf and two rolls.

We  had them with pumpkin and cauliflower soup yummmmmo

 

I also bottled my first batch of Ginger beer. I'll let you know in 10 ten days how it turned out, good I hope.

My Mother in law has been here all week end and has been busy knitting me some dish clothes, and face washers. She is like a knitting machine, my supply is done again for awhile.

 



 

Today I finally got around to making the bunting for Harrison's room. I will show photos of it up later as he was sleeping when I took it over.

 

 How did you spend your long, wet week end????

 

Blessings

Mandy