Beef and Rennovations

Well I picked up my beast yesterday from the butchers all 200kgs of him, thank goodness the butchers bagged and labeled the meat even though I had to put the meat into smaller portions. There was so much beef my three freezers are full, this meat will do our families for quiet a long time. It worked out with cartage, the kill, tax, levy, butchering the price per kilo was about $1.90 Aus, which is very good. Even the dogs are happy and their eyes lit up when I gave them a bone they could hardly carry. All five of them were gnawing on their bones while we were busily labeling and packing the freezer.
I was hoping to take more pictures but the memory card was full and didn't have time to unload pics. We must have had about 30kgs each of sausages and minced meat, and we bagged them into meal sizes.
The cattle were free ranged on our property where no chemicals have been used for about five years and the pastures have been lush and the meat such showed these qualities.

It was breath taking looking over all the cuts - topside, oyster blade, fillet, T-bone, round and chuck steak, corned silverside, pot roast, rolled roast, rump.


Halfway through our packing we had to stop and have this juicy T-Bone with chips and my oh my did we savor every mouthful, then back to the packing
When I came home with all this beef I came inside and found out that Dave and Jess have been demolishing the back section of the house where a huge cupboard was. Our plans were to pulls this cupboard down, move the toilet into the corner an make a door into the wall to access the bathroom. This will be a temporary plan because the bathroom will be moved to the other side of the house. We are still working on the kitchen and these modifications have to be done to accomplish this. The back half of the house will eventually be my laundry with a toilet and the back door which will open out onto a deck.


I must say they cleaned up their mess very well, until I went into the spare room and found a whole lot of stuff that I have to go through and pass on.


This is the laundry at the moment with the toilet on the left, all this will be pulled out and gyprocked , the toilet will be removed to the other corner, the new back door will be where the toilet is and there will be a timber bench and overhead cupboards


This is the remains of the huge cupboard that will be going to the tip

Thoughtful Information!

Don't ask me how but I surf around from information to information on the web and sometimes I find some interesting articles or web sites. I think I started out looking for information on rendering beef fat to get Lard, because we had a beast killed last week and there will be all this tallow and I was going to make soap with it. Some how I ended up on this web site called Granpappy
Anyway I was reading information about:-

• Surviving Hard Times
  
• Gardening Tips'
• Recipes For Hard Times
• Worldwide Food Shortage
• Job opportunities during Hard Times
• Emergency Evacuation List

And so much more. He had interesting information on the Great Depression and his thoughts about the recession we are all in now, I suppose some of the things could be to the extreme but things to think about.

I should be picking up our beef tomorrow so I will post pictures on how I go in labeling and freezing it, now back to my soap making information :)

Domestic Violence!

Domestic violence occurs when a family member, partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate or harm the other. Domestic violence can be exhibited in many forms, including physical violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, intimidation, economic deprivation or threats of violence. Most of these incidents go unreported, well not today!

I was working today in my shop and I heard a commotion outside, a bit of yelling and swearing so I went out to see what was going on and saw a young lady about22 running and yelling and a man also yelling and swearing. The man kept walking and the young lady came running back past my shop she was frightened and crying, she ran across the road and ran back still agitated and shaking. I ask if she was all right and if I could help. She said she was afraid of this man she new who threated to run her over and was going to harm her again. Another lady with two children who were with her also seemed upset and were fearful that the fellow would return and harm her and them so I brought them into my shop and bolted the doors and rang the local police. I couldn't believe how calm I was and how accurate my details were of the situation and of the man ( learnt from experience to get as much information you can) anyway the police arrived, the young lady was still upset but had calmed down a little. This poor young lady was fearful of giving information about this man in case he becomes more violent against her and her fear was justifiable because he has harmed her before and I'm sure it will try again This man had her wallet with her bank cards and identity cards and she new he would take all her money. The police took her statement advise her about getting a AVO against this man and helped her with other problems in regards to ID and money. My heart went out to this young lady and the situation she was in, I could feel her fear, I said to her , which I know is easy said than done, to go
with the police and get all her belongings from the house she was living in with this man and get away from him and stay with one of her girlfriends until she can get the help she needs.

I looked on the internet and their are many sites that give information about Domestic Violence and give advice on preventing and protecting yourself and places you can go for help or advice which is excellent.

So this was the start to my Monday I hope the week gets better :)
We had so much rain and the weather was so windy and cold, a good day to stay home snuggled in bed with a book, not to happen. Yesterday Dave and I had dinner with friends to discuss the plans and construction of our new Baptist Church, I'll have to share this with you later :)

Tagged !

I have to write another post because I was just over at Children in the Corn
and I was reading her post called 6 Random things about herself and she listed 6 others to be Tagged for 6 Random things then I seen my Blog listed and well I just fell off my chair and thank goodness no one was in my shop at the time (confession I read blogs in business hours) So now I have to dig up 6 random things about myself :)D

1. My husband and I lived in the same small town and went to the same small school and didn't know each other. We met each other years later through talking on the CB Radio and arranged to meet each other face to face, in radio terms it was called having an eyeball.
2. I hate to have cold feet
3. I asked for a horse every Christmas and every Christmas I would run outside and look for my horse :( I was 33 before I got my horse :)
4. I love CAKE :)
5. I do my best creative cooking when I don't have much to work with.
6. I am an Optimist, my glass is always half full never half empty

NOW :) I'm going to Tag :

Boulderneigh
Sunny Corner Farm
Joyfull Home Maker
The Empty Nester
Laughing Orca Ranch
Our Simple Green House

Rules:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write six random things about yourself.
Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

My Cup Runneth Over !

We have had 90mm of rain in the last 3 days, the rain was that hard last night we had water come in over the kitchen area where we are renovating, the gutters could not handle the amount of water that was coming down. We pulled out buckets and towel trying to stem the flow and catch as much as we can. The lightening was flashing and the thunder was cracking it was all happening. We could hear the creek behind us roaring with the fast flowing water.


We live about 50km out of town and we are on tank water so that amount of rain was a blessings because it filled up all of our tanks and the over flow was diverted to this plastic tank above which I use for the washing machine and for flushing the toilet. When we renovate this side of the house it will look a bit more tidier.
This is Sarabie curled up in her bean bag, it was a bit too much for her with all the thunder and lightning and the scurrying around with buckets and towels. The other dogs were curled up as well even our cat Kitty was curled up with one of the dogs.


We try to save as much water as we can, this is the bottom half of a water tank that was of not much use to someone so it was given to us and we have put it near the front verandah and it catches the water from the verandah roof.
This is my darling daughter weathering the rain to fill up our 25 litre drums that we usually fill up in town at one of the water mains to fill up the 1000 litre drum out the back for the washing machine/toilet water.
I was helping but having the cold rain run down my back and neck was too much for this little soldier to bear so I retrieved to the verandah.
After the rain had filled up the tanks and the plastic drum we filled up the two 40 gallon drums that are in my veggie garden, what a blessing :)
And to top all of this off we had a black out and had no power but never fail we dragged out our generator which has been so handy. We were able to make our porridge, boil the kettle, have a shower (we connected the generator to the water pump), blow waved my hair and watched a little TV.


This is the monster that has saved us a few times from starvation and boredom (hehehehe). The black out lasted for14 hours, Dave was unable to do any work in the shed but Jess and I went to work in town in the shop and fortunately there was power there.

Ezekiel 34v26 I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill.
I will send down showers in season; there will be
showers of blessing

Beach & Cake

We went down to Sydney to see my eldest daughter who was diagnosed with Epilepsy last week. She looks good and is coping well but will have to go to see neurologist in a months time.

We went to Cronulla beach for lunch at one of the many cafes, these are my girls and the boys are in the background in red shirts. We had a lovely lunch together and walked along the beach.
There was repair work going on the Seawall which had collapsed last year from a severe storm.

Cronulla beach is a very popular tourist destination there is so much you can do there like swim, snorkel and scuba dive, fishing, whale watching and even playing in the rock pools is fun. While we were there we seen people wind surfing and kite surfing.


There was even a junior surf carnival going on and there were kids running everywhere enjoying themselves.
It was nice to have a change in scenery and to see and hear the waves come crashing in on the beach and even just the smell of the sea was wonderful.

Another really popular thing down here is having Christmas on the beach. The beaches are usually packed with people from all cultures enjoying the surf, sand and Christmas lunch.




This is my girls hubby and their new addition, a little chihuahua cross poodle called Freddy who is so cute and cuddly but gets up to all sorts of mischief. While my girl was in hospital little Freddy, who is only 12 weeks old was digging up her potted plants and dragging them around their house.

I took a few special things down to my daughter because that is what mums do to cheer their kids up any way I thought I'd make a nice chocolate cake the night before, well I didn't have enough eggs so I thought I'd run outside with a torch through a electrical storm to the chook house and harass my hens for a couple of eggs. Well I made it to the hen house but mother chook was not to happy about me pinching the eggs under her so she was going berserk pecking and carrying on until I left. This is the recipe for my really quick delicious chocolate cake, it is dark and moist and is really easy to make. I have a lot of recipes that are really quick and simple and taste fantastic. The only thing is I don't have a picture of it yet so I will post it later.

Chocolate Cake
2 Eggs
4 oz Butter
10 oz Sugar
6 oz Plain Flour
7 oz water
1 Teaspoon Soda Bi-Carbonate
dash of Vanilla
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt

Mix all these ingredients in a food processor for a few minutes just until smooth, be careful not to over mix
Pour into a greased and floured tin
Bake in moderate oven for 1 hour ( check it after 45minutes)
Dust with icing sugar or ice with chocolate icing

I am Blushing.....Award

I'm blushing at the moment because I have been given " I've Fallen For Your Blog"award by one of my favorite bloggers Laughing Orca Ranch
I have found many wonderful blogs that are so interesting and inspiring, such as Laughing Orca Ranch, and I would like to pass this Award onto all of the blogs that I like to read but I'd be here all day so here are a few that tickle my fancy :)

For the "I've Fallen For Your Blog" award I choose
Joyful Home Maker
The Tin House
Boulderneigh
Children in the Corn
My Little Bit Of Heaven
Our Red House



I haven't been blogging for very long and I didn't realize how big the blogging world was until I started blogging. I have come across people from all over the world reading their blogs and they have shared many wonderful and tragic things that have happened in their lives and I take my hat off to them because they have inspired, encouraged, educated and made me laugh and I am glad to be part of this blogging world (sniffle...blow nose..) apart from that it is so much fun!!!

Hand Crafted items

I've been thinking about our furniture business and the economy and world and the financial situation and practically everything.........Anyway! what I was thinking was I might start making hand crafted items for the shop, maybe vintage items like cushions, tea towels, hand towels, mother and daughter aprons, bed throws, carry bags. I would like to find a nice pattern to make rag dolls, something that will be special and treasured. We could even make doll beds and cradles that would be suitable for the dolls. At the moment I'm drawing up a rough design of a dolls house for my granddaughter for Christmas, I was thinking something about 1200(4") high about 500wide (20") and 350 (14") deep with two doors with hearts on for windows, it will have a roof with an attic and windows on the side and possibly three levels. Similar to the the dolls house below but taller and wider, I was thinking bigger furniture....I hope you can buy larger dolls furniture I'll have to check that out.



I was hearing somewhere with the way the world financial situation is going people will be cutting back on gift giving this Christmas and start making their own presents. Which is a good idea, maybe families might share quality time together and the real meaning of Christmas instead of running around buying lavish gifts they cannot afford. We all still need to keep living and spend money so that the economy can recover and keep growing . For quiet a few years now due to our financial situation we have made our Christmas gifts which works out cheaper,the gifts are more personal and there is more joy in giving.

Epilepsy !

picture from art.com

My daughter is now out of hospital and is relaxing at home. They have diagnosed her with Epilepsy, the doctor said she was probably born with it but she has had only two incidents of seizures that we know of in her 25 years. She will not be able to drive for 6 months which she will find annoying but will cope with I'm sure. There is no urgency at the moment for medication but she will have to see the doctor in 4 weeks time. There are people out there with severe cases of Epilepsy and some that don't even know they have it, It seems my daughters case is mild and manageable. I have been reading up on it over the web so as to be enlightened and prepared, I think in this day and age no one can be free from some sort of illness or disorder.
Thank you to all of you who have had my daughter in your thoughts and prayers.

Sue

Its Time !!!

I wanted to put a picture of one of our cows that will be going to market and eventually be filling our freezer but I couldn't. I know the cow has had a great life on the pasture and has been well looked after and it was planned from the start that he will be for the freezer and I am grateful that I will be supplied with enough beef for my family and will not be in need for a long time.
He is getting loaded today and be sent to the abattoirs and killed on Thursday then will be sent back to our butchers and left to hang for a week or two. I have to let the butcher know how I would like this meat to be cut and what cuts I prefer. When we came to our property we decided to try and live off the land and we have had sheep and a pig grown and killed for us by a neighbor. A few months ago I worked for a friend and she gave me a cool room which has now made us able to butcher and store our own animals when needed. We just have to buy a Band Saw and maybe some other equipment and we should be set up.

Seizure ????!!!!!#####

My gorgeous girl is in hospital at the moment she had a mild seizure yesterday morning and was taken to hospital for test and observation. Her blood pressure was low when the ambulance arrived but is now back to normal. She had blood test and an x-ray and all was clear, she will be having other test today. Her husband was there for her and his sister lives next door so she was able to take him to the hospital because he does not drive.
Even though your children are living their own lives they are still so attached to your heart strings and you feel every ache and twinge they feel. She is well, just a little bored laying in hospital, but hopefully we will have some answers as to why this has occurred.

Infant jumpers update

I've finished one jumper for the newborn Aids babies in Africa, it took me a little while to do due to the other things going on. I've just started another one and hopefully if time permits I can do another. These babies are taken home wrapped in newspaper, there are many things we are not aware of or don't realize but I think when they are brought to our attention we should make the best of that opportunity as if it was put there in front of our eyes for a reason and do what we can to help. I don't have enough multi colored wool to make another so I thought I would add this vibrant orange for the band and maybe somewhere around the neck line.


One of my little dogs, Abbey, fell into a fence hole we had dug a while ago for the veggie patch and it was filled with water, she went in head first and I don't know how but she turned around luckily but couldn't get out. This happened in the front yard where the dogs don't usually go, but we were mowing and cleaning the yard so we let them out to have a run around so I was there when she fell in. I pulled her out quickly and she coughed and splattered but was fine, she then ran off and rolled in the dirt and grass like she just had a disgusting bath :)

Spring Planting

Lincoln Rose

I've been out in the garden nearly everyday when I can find the time, just pottering and planting, weeding as much as I can and just general tidying and maintance of the garden. I noticed the slugs have been into the cauliflowers , and some of the beans have not grown so I assume something has eaten them. The rose above is a Lincoln Rose and it is absolutely beautiful when it flowers and smells gorgiousl. I took cuttings last year and they are coming along nicely and I have just planted them in the front garden.
My spinach as done really well and kept producing through winter very nicely but has just started to go to seed so I've just planted new seedlings. I've done quiet a few things with the spinach as well give some to family and friends. I love spinach fried gently with olive oil a little garlic and then throw in some sesame seeds, pine nuts or a mixture of seeds and nuts yummy!
I planted about eight of the these spinach plants so they will keep us in supply for a while.

These are my capsicum and Roma tomatoes seedlings I just need to add some mulch around to keep away weeds and to help with watering. I usually get a lot of self seeded tomatoes popping up around the beds, they are usually red and yellow cherry tomatoes so I plan to relocate these when they do.
These are my cucumbers I planted, I just have to put up the trellis for them to climb on I'm hoping to make my bread and butter pickles again this year, I've planted heaps this year because the last lot were eaten so quickly, by family and friends not the bugs!!


My Zucchinis were great last year, they just kept producing and producing. I did freeze some but were not a great hit with the family so I will just keep to making pickles, breads, muffins and cakes with them. I also planted a couple of yellow squash and some more lettuce.These are my pumpkins waiting patiently to be planted. I have the right area for them but just need the time to plant them out. I'm so slack I even have corn that need to be planted now and I plan to put in another bed of corn in six weeks time, a neighbor told me that the day after Christmas is the best time out here to plant corn for a bumper crop so heres hoping :)