BLESSED SPEEDY

Doesnt time fly when you are having fun? Here I am once again a few days late posting last weeks update but at least Im here! On the farm, calves continue to be born, seed is still going in the ground (and watering of the seed too!) as well as the usual feeding out of hay and other maintenance things - the list never ends. And to top that off we have our biannual dairy audit coming up next week, so theres been a lot of me checking paperwork and doing extra cleaning in the dairy. Fingers crossed it all goes well, as this audit is needed for us to have our dairy licence and without that our milk company is not able to pick up our milk - so its important Im still chipping away at the Owl and Hare Hollow block of the month quilt and Im now half way and Im enjoying the variety of all the blocks - I think its going to be quite big when finished though! Heres a sneak peak of my progress so far - the blocks Ive done arent laid out in order as you dont complete them in order, but there are mac

The days are starting to get a bit cooler and day light savings has now ended. The last two sundays Gary and I have gone out into Gunbower Forest where there is a wood coop for collecting firewood. Its hard work but the scenery is beautiful and both days the weather has been perfect! Unfortunately this Sunday when we went Gary managed to get a sliver of wood in his eye while taking his safety glasses off for a few minutes and then forgetting to put them back on while cutting - that meant a trip to emergency at Echuca Hospital on Sunday night to get it checked (thankfully nothing there but a nasty scratch to his eye - apparently Im a good eye nurse as they thought I flushed it out really well) He now has eye drops for several days and hopefully no permanent damage was done. I think hes grateful for all the eye drop training I had with mum as Im quite good at putting drops in eyes! I havent managed to finish anything on the crafting front but Im still working away on the blocks for

Now that Ive finally caught up - back to my regular programming! Ive been back home for nearly two weeks now and settling back into life on the farm (although I do miss my Queensland family and the warmer weather!) Calving is going along well and we hit a pretty exciting milestone for the farm - calf number 3000. When I married Gary and came to the farm to live we just hit calf number 2000 so for me this is exciting. It would be even more exciting if it was a red friesian but you cant have everything LOL The weather is also getting cooler which Im not enjoying - Gary keeps joking that I have turned into a Queenslander. One good habit I got into while up there at Sarahs was going for a half hour (at least) walk every morning. Ive kept on doing that since Ive got back home however wearing a lot more layers! Heres me in Queensland wiht my "friend" the turtle statue Versus me at home with Ruby the horse! On the crafting front I have finished two things - firstly this note

Right o Ive done what I made in March - heres what I read Buckle up its a lot! Firstly the physical books - Good Girl, Bad Blood (Good Girls Guide to Murder Part 2) by Holly Jackson This takes up where the first book (Good Girls Guide to Murder) finished Pip has sworn she will never investigate another murder or disappearance but when her friends brother goes missing and the police arent keen to help she cant help herself but step in. This book is equally as good as the first which plenty of twists that you really dont see coming Of course its a 5 star read! I quickly followed this with Kill Joy by Holly Jackson (good girls guide to murder 0.5) Its a small book and the prequel to the first book. It tells of the friends all playing a murder game and how they solve it. It was an ok read but not as good as the other two books Its a 3 star read for me Next was Playing with Fire by Tessa Gerritsen. Not the usual sort of book I would read I think it was given to me by a friend howeve

What a crazy month March has been! Half spent in Airlie Beach half spent home on the farm! Ollie arrived in all his cuteness (see seperate blog post) and amazingly while up in Queensland I did get quite a lot of craft stuff done! So sit back and relax and watch it all unfold! Firstly the biggest finish - Around the Corner Quilt designed by Wendy WIlliams - this one was huge and a big learning curve for me - it has wool embroidery, curved piecing and lots of other tricky things - and did I mention its huge! I bought the kit for it as a BOM (block of the month) several years ago so its good to get this one done Next finish was these socks - pattern is Twizzler Socks and the yarn is from Freckled Whimsy - colourway is October is my favorite colour so obviously Ill keep these ones for me! This pattern is a great one for self striping yarn for those sock knitters reading along Next is the licorice allsorts cowl - oddly I had tried to sell the kit yarn for this but had no takers so Ive m

The 4th of March 2024 is now a very special day for our family - it was the day Ollie (Oliver) Michael Sterling arrived! There was a lot of waiting for his arrival and Sarah was 11 days overdue I had been in Airlie Beach awaiting his happy arrival for 2 weeks - Gary and Aimee came for a week but unfortunately missed out on his arrived by a couple of days. Oh he is such a cute little dude! Kris, Sarah, Evie and Jessie are totally besotted with him as are we all! So enjoy the cute pics below and excuse me my lack of blog posting!

goodness its march already! and in theory the start of autumn - however we are finally having the hot days we usually have in summer On the farm we are starting to get paddocks ready for sowing seed that wil grow into feed for our cattle over winter and spring snd only a few weeks off starting to calve again As always busy times on the crafting front ive finished a cute little baby singlet Ive also still been working on the block of the month blocks but nothing really to show this week and yet another pair of socks! On the reading front ive finished one physical book ~ the book that wouldnt burn by mark lawrence I found it a bit wordy and hard going Its the story of two children who live in a library of sorts thats is attacked by what they think are their enemies To be honest i mostly skim read it and didnt enjoynit that much - even though this is the type of book I normally really love so its a 2 star out of 5 for me on the audio book front im still listening to the time travellers

whoops sorry this is a day late so ill make it quick! no finishes on the crafting front - but i have been working on my 2023 block of the month owl and hollow that i am starting in february 2024 - we dont follow a timetable here! hoping to get the first months instalment done by the start of march and inhave the uncompleted block pictured to complete plus two embroidered ones to get done as well and on the reading front ive finished one physical book ~ the things we leave unfinished by rebecca yarros (yes the author of fourth wing but this book isnt fantasy) its the story of georgia and noah - her grandmother was a famous author who left one book unfinished and noah is charged with finishing it and tells of both their story and also her grand mothers by going bsck and forth between the two I definately didnt see the twist coming and inreally enjoyed this book yet another 5 out of 5 stars read and shows that this author can write in several types of stories hope you enjoyed this qu

Its been a hot and dusty week on the farm and I didnt think Id be saying it but we wouldnt mind a nice heavy rainfall! Crafting wise I finished a project that Mum started. You may or may not know that before Mum lost her eyesight she really enjoyed doing quilting and embroidery and other handwork and we had been going through her projects she hadnt finished and I had been finishing them off for her. She really enjoyed doing that and I took a lot of pleasure showing her the finished items. This crazy patchwork cushion was one we had been working on and Ive now finished it. It was bitter sweet as I enjoyed working on something that Mum had but it made me sad she wouldnt see it - well she probably is while looking down from heaven! Ive also been working on the Wendy Williams Around the Corner Block of the month quilt and heres my latest progress - there are still a few more borders to go but I am liking its brightness and sense of fun On the reading front Ive finished another two b

Hey and welcome to this weeks update - and Im pleased to report Ive got a few things finished! And for those who ask how do I get all this done - I dont sleep very well, so I usually have an hour or two during the night that I am up and I am quite productive! FIrstly Id like to share that I got back from the framers the embroidery that I was doing while I sat with Mum before she went to heaven and its come up a treat. Ive hung it on the wall beside our bed where I can easily look at it. Thanks Aimee for choosing the perfect colour for the border! Secondly I started and finished my yarn advent socks - I had originally planned to knit one or two stripes a day leading up to Christmas but of course that all went pear shaped but they are finished now! The yarn is from Freckled WHimsy and the pattern is Morning Coffee Socks. I think its a really good match of yarn and pattern Ive also been working on the Wendy WIlliams quilt and got one side of the next border done and I might share

And just like that January is finished! We have finally had a couple of hot days but really this summer has been quite mild - although those that dont like warmer weather would probably not agree with me! On the farm we are drying off the last of the cows that are pregnant and due to calve from late March onwards so bonus is there are less cows to milk so a much quicker milking time. We will be getting the rest of the herd preg tested in the coming week and fingers crossed for a lot of cows in calf! Ive been busy this week too on the craft and reading fronts! Ive been working away at the Wendy WIlliams quilt I shared with you last week and have got the first border done - its a lot of work! And just starting the next one - there is a lot more work in it than I first thought but Im determined to get it done!. Im also determined to get all the socks I have on the needles which are either one sock only started or one sock is completed and I need to do the second one. On that note Ive f

ANd just like that its almost the end of January! Still trying to work out what my new "normal" is and Im yet to find my rythmn but I will get there. I know it cant be rushed thats for sure. I have made a little progress on my leg back and siactica pain by doing a lot of stretch and some walking - still hurts a lot but most of the time is bearable. We've had a new member come and join our crazy farm family - Buster - hes an 11 month old Kelpie and comes from a very loving family in Quambatook. They rescued him and loved him but knew he was not the right dog for them - he needed wide open spaces and work and hopefully we can provide that for him. Hes bonded quite quickly with Gary and just wants to be with him which is good. And he and Molly have become fast friends which is lovely although hes a lot of boistorous for sedate Molly. On the crafting front I finished two projects - one a quick one and one a more complex one - firstly I embroidered this wooden heart