BLESSED SPEEDY

Ok Im going to try and post weekly again as it keeps me on track so much better! When you run a farm (which is a business) the new financial year feels like new years day sometimes. Thoughts of which milk company to send your milk to - we supply ACM (Australian Consolidated Milk) do I need to change the ways I record things? What did I not do quite right last year and how can I improve etc etc with that in mind I was excited to find that my past self had purchased a set of monthly dividers for the folder I store my paper invoices in so that was a win so that folder is now set up and going. We are continuing to AI (artificial inseminate) our cows with 134 of the 160 eligible done - fingers crossed they dont "return" which means that the insemination didnt take so we will do again or Mr Bull might get lucky also. Craft wise I have finished a beautiful wall quilt - pattern by McKenna Ryan and I machine applique and threadworked it - something I havent done before and I love how ...

Its almost the second week of July, but heres my June wrap up! Last month of the end of the financial year - and can I say as a farm owner/manager Im proud to say I got all the superannuation, wages etc squared away by june 30 as well as zero (yep zero) emails in my inbox - sadly it doesnt look like that atm but it was for a short time! Farm wise the mornings have been often below zero, and drizzly rain - just enough to keep things muddy Im glad I dont milk very often anymore and virtually never in the mornings - just the cup of tea deliverer to Gary in the shed, but I do get up at 5am to do the bull selections for cows as we are currently AIing (not articificial intelligence - artificial insemination) This is a bit of a passion of mine, I dont want to breed show cows but nice looking cows that do all the right things - good temprement, milk well etc and if its a red and white holstein Im in heaven But enough of the farm stuff - Im sure you would like to know what I finished! Fistly a ...

Well winter has well and truly arrived with some very cold mornings and plenty of fog too! We have, thankfully, had some rain which is needed - we are not as desperate as some for it but really welcome what we have got. Here's a pic of the cows and outside the dairy the other morning - it was super foggy, a real pea souper and the fog only lifted for about an hour in the afternoon and then it was back again. Tomorrow our heifer AI program starts (one of the most exciting things for me ) and fingers crossed they all get in calf. I spend quite some time choosing bulls for them with the aim of breeding great cows - Id love to have a whole herd of red and white holsteins but I doubt we will get any red ones this season as I havent chosen any red factor bulls - mainly because the black and white ones are just that bit better, so compromise! Ive also finished a table runner from left over quilt blocks and I think its turned out pretty good - this will probably go in my gift cupboard. Th...

OK so Ive been a bit MIA on my blog but you know what - thats totally ok! This year I have been promising myself I wont be a slave to expectations, and as a people pleaser that is really hard but I can do hard things and do this sometimes - well hopefully more often than not. And just because I havent done updates on here doesnt mean I havent been busy! On the farm the calves are almost weaned so not as many to feed and given I only do the calf feeding every second weekend its awesome to see their progress - note Buster the supervisor in this pic! And AI (artificial insemination) time is almost upon us - this season we have a fancy auto draft now that will (apparently) draft out the cows that are on heat and needing to be AI'd Fingers crossed it works as well as its reported to however Im sure they will be teething issues. And yes its now winter so very cold (a couple of mornings have been minus degress so not fun) but we did manage to sneak up to Queensland for a few days to visi...

Its been a while so Im going to do a what Ive been reading post and then a seperate what Ive been making post Heres the reading/listening list and commentary The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty This is the story of Sophie who inherits a house on Scribbly Gum Island, the site of a mystery, when her ex-boyfriend's aunt passes away. She moves there and is soon swept along in the drama of everyone who lives on the island. There promises to be intrigue everywhere, as it seems each person has something to hide. There are twists and turns and it was an enjoyable easy read - probably not this authors best book, but still quite ok and 3 and 1/3 stars The Ballad of Smallhope and Pennyroyal by Jodi Taylor I listened to this via audible and who doesnt love a St Marys novel? This is a side story on the two characers Smallhope and Pennyroyal who are bounty hunters whoops I should say recovery agents. To be honest I didnt like these characters when they appeared in other books but now I do ...

Well Easter is over and it was a lovely relaxing time for me - Im currently chairing two organisations as well as the farm work that is needed so it was lovely to have four whole days of no one ringing for advice or having to attend a meeting (not that I dont enjoy that - it was just nice to have a break) While looking on instagram (as you do) I found the inspiring barefootcrafter was hosting an eastercraftalong and of course I had to join in I made a list (which I thought was ambitious) but you know what I got it all done! Firstly I listed a few jobs around the place I wanted to get done as follows - - wash my car (Aimee and Matt came for a visit and did this for me and did a fabulous job) - clean out the ute - wash the lounge room louvre doors - mow the lawns - weed the veggie patch - sort some things to take to the op shop Yep all of those got done (on top of my usual tasks) Then there was the crafting list! And again all done! Finished zippered pouch For some reason Im a bit scar...

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the australian quilt convention in melbourne. Due to farm busyness I was only able to attend for one day so Megan and I headed down on the train and stayed at a lovley Air BnB in Spring Street which was a very short walk to the Royal Exhibition Buildings where the event was held. I was lucky enough to attend a class run by Wendy Williams called Boro Embroidery. Her work is something Ive long admired and she was such a gracious and giving teacher and Im hooked on yet another type of fabric and embroidery endeavour Heres my work so far - I have LOTS more to do but its a start! And heres some of Wendys super inspiring work! This will be a great way to use up leftover fabrics and also work my way through the many embroidery threads I have that are either mine or were mums - theres a lot! This is the beautiful historical royal exhibition buildings in Melbourne situated in the Carlton Gardens - isnt it grand! And also some images from the exhib...