Steamfest 2012

Yesterday we all went along to the Hunter Valley Steamfest, a celebration of all things steam powered that has been going for 27 years, but it was the first time we have been there.

There was a race between a two Tiger Moth planes and two steam trains, the planes winning by a long margin.

Plenty of old steam cars, tractors, machines etc

We had only been there for an hour when this rolled in...

..so we went home a little earlier than planned, very wet. Still, a fun time was had by all.

Cheers

Hot cross buns and a day on the lake

Well the school holidays are in full swing. We have made hot cross buns, not bad for a first attempt.

We have been out on our beautiful lake for what is, no doubt, our last day out there for a while as the cold weather is starting to move in.

And generally hung around the house not doing much. We are off the the Royal Easter Show tomorrow, Sydney's annual show, and the kids are very excited about it.

Cheers

In the garden

The autumn crops are getting planted and the pumpkin is getting out of hand! But I have harvested a few Butternuts and Queensland Blues already, they are sitting in the garage hardening up to help them store a little longer.

cheers

The new chicken coop

One thing I didn't know when I got my chickens, was how much chickens ruin the ground in their run. Being a novice chicken owner I had no idea how much they would scratch and how badly their coop would be impacted. Obviously I knew they scratched but not to the extent they do. I would've done things very differently if I had known. So we are tweaking the backyard, the mess that it is. The backyard is one area we haven't done as much work in as I would've liked. (Who am I kidding, I can say that about the entire house!)

So Mr Homespun is building me a new chicken coop. That is, the chickens will be living in it, not me! It looks like it will be a palace, especially compared to their current living quarters. Once this is finished we will be building two runs for them, so they can be in one whilst the other is recovering from all the scratching and such. It will also give us a large chunk of our backyard back, the current run taking up a large amount of room in the middle of the yard. We will also be getting more chickens soon, since Prudence died, Harriet has stopped laying and Pearl is laying miniature eggs so we aren't getting many eggs. I am researching the availability of ex-battery hens in our area to adopt vs heirloom breeds vs more of the breed of the lovely girls we already have.

It is wrapped in plastic at the moment because Mr Homespun is working away during the week and it isn't quite weatherproof yet. I know it looks crazy tall but I wanted a house where I could get in and clean it out without any difficulty. Over the coming weeks we will get it clad and painted, can't wait! I have been thinking of giving it a name, and loving all things french I'm thinking something along the lines of Chez Poulet. I am also thinking although it may be appropriate, Le Palais des Poulet is probably a bit much ;)

Cheers

PS For anyone reading who is French, I hope I haven't destroyed your beautiful language too badly!