Finshed writing this and had no pics so here is one which is my desktop background at the moment. I regularly change them. This one was taken by a relative, either Roger or Sharon D when they visited from NSW last year. The alpacas were recently shorn and how was this, getting these ones all lined up. From left to right is our white stud male Iceman,)more affectionately known as Icey) Gustavo, a pet wether (Gussie), Titan , a guardian wether and Heraldo, grey stud male. Please note: if wishing to use pictures please ask for permssion first.

As I write this, I am yawning. I ask myself, why am I awake when I am on holidays and am not really a morning person? I actually enjoy it if I am up early and doing things with my animals when the weather is good , but I do find it hard to get up. Oh yes, I know why I am awake, because my other half has been SNORING HIS HEAD OFF! I have been awake listening to it, or more to the point, trying not to listen to it and after a couple hours, thought I may as well get up. Thankfully, it is not a regular occurrence.
Hopefully, I wont be feeling too tired as my friend Maree is coming round later and we are going to Richmond for a stroll and lunch. Ann, friend and work colleague will also be popping round later in the day for coffee. Let's do a quick run down of the week starting with eggs!
From Monday Sept 7 through to last Sunday Sept 13 the egg total was
28 eggs: from my 5 Isa brown girls and 2 white leghorns.
(Used to have more but they have gone on to chooky heaven and the same can be said for my silkies as well)
2 eggs: from 3 silkie girls (they haven't been laying much for awhile)
9 DUCK eggs: from my 2 Elizabeth ducks, Lizzie and Lucy!
The duck eggs has been exciting as this was the first week for eggs from them. They are a happy little recently acquired trio. On Tuesday Sept 8 I got the first duck egg, with another egg each for the following 2 days. Since then it has been 2 eggs each day. What good girls! I had never even tried duck eggs before! I made some biscuits with them. Jasmine, my grand daughter loved the biscuits and she has gotten to try duck eggs at a much younger age than I!
Friend Rose phoned and we shared our exciting news, my duck eggs and her spring buds on trees at her place! Simple things, you say but sometimes life is about appreciating the little things. Ha, my husband likes to joke about loving the simple things in life if I wear a red skirt similar to the one in the Special K ad on Television!!!
RIP for Patrick Swayze: Actor best know for Dirty Damcing and Ghost (Love both movies) who has passed awsy aged 57 from pancreatic cancer. he and his wife Lisa have been married for over 34 years which is impressive for celebrities.
Something unexpected happened this week. A long lost cousin of mine Elizabeth (formerly known as Deidree)contacted me on facebook. I only recently decided to include my maiden name for this exact purpose. Re the change of name, I have another cusin who did the same thing. Let's face it, we have our christian name all our lives, Someone gave it to us, but we own it. If we do not like something given to us, we may change or adjust it. Hence, changing to her middle name. I have another cousin whose given name was Mary. She changed it to her middle name of Christine.
Anyway, we got along just fine as kids and havent seen each other, losing contact when living in Sydney over 20 odd years ago. Elizabeth and her husband still live in Sydney. So we will pick up, where we left off :)
Had lunch on Monday with eldest daughter at The Metz in Sandy Bay. Easier when daughter works in town to pick her up and go somewhere not too far away. I had fish as per usual and she had a Thai beef salad. I don't eat meat , but 2 out of my 3 children do. I asked Laura from
World in a pan for duck egg recipes. Thanks, if you are reading this Laura, though I only eat duck eggs, not ducks. I feel bad enough that I eat fish, but I do and I really enjoy it but have the guilt trip about eating a species. Sounds crazy I guess to people who don't understand it. As this was a Bon Voyage (she is off shortly overseas for 2 weeks) we both had afrogato for dessert, which normally we would not have. For those who do not know this is espresso coffee, ice cream and if you wish a shot of liqueur. I always have frangelico and she had kalua. Some places serve it together which I believe is the incorrect way. The Metz does it, as I like it, with each ingredient in an individual utensil. Then one can mix it or have it as you wish.
I have done some babysitting. Poor Lily had a cold but she still slept through the night and is such an easy baby. She recently turned one. We watched a kids movie on Saturday night with Jasmine and when she went to bed I read a book to her. The book had been given to my youngest girl on her 5th birthday. On grand final day this year, Sept 26th Krystal will be 25! Don't the years fly by! In the flea market ( $100 and under free ads in Monday's Mercury newspaper) this week I found a playpen and baby high chair quite cheaply. The playpen is in excellent condition whereas the high chair is basic but will do for our needs. We already have a folding cot so are prepared grandparents. Gosh, I have to say no one did that for us. My family lived in NSW, so miles away and his parents (Mother is still alive and father passed away around 15 years ago or so now) were not the babysitting kind. "We have raised ours already, why would we want to" was the comment I recall.I can understand it, if it is all the time. I often see grandparents being constantly used, forgetting that if they, the parents are tired, well how do the grandparents feel? In many cases the grandparents are much older than me. Each to their own, though it was hard for us with no support. Maybe, that is why things worked as we only had each other to rely on. When the kids were little we were in a babysitting club which worked well. Hours would be in credit or debit accoridng to how much sitting one had done or used. We had to use it if we both wanted to go to parent teach interviews together. In those days we certainly couldn't afford to go out much.
Anyway, we do not have the grandchildren that much and we are not used.


Decided to add in these pics, hey having Jas around means she and I can both play in the cubby house! In fact my daughter is very considerate and hates to ask. I have said , ask away. If I can, I will and if not , I will say so. Mind you since we moved to 'the farm' I am not as social as I used to be..too busy with work , alpacas and chickens!!! Then, we have our own babies, the dogs! Angus suffers separation anxiety. He and Kali were thrilled to go out for a car ride yesterday and help run some errands. We sold our car, an io pajero as we had bought a larger four wheel drive in order to tow. I will miss the little io as it was great to zip round town and had nothing wrong with it. banked the money, cancelled insurance, blah blah!
Speaking of insurance we are waiting for the hot house. We got a quote from a local chap for insurance rather than the mainland one the company had told us about. Try and support small local business when we can. The imsurance company are going to speak to them and see about ordering it for us. I do hope the next gale force winds don't blow this one down. It has also put me behind on my seedling raising. Lost most of what I had planted.
Must go..this is a bit dull with no pictures!!!
Ciao