Lambs Are Our Next Venture

It's been awhile since I blogged about the animals on the Ponderosa but I just had to share a story about our latest additions. 

Our beef are going well, in fact we don't have any issues with the beef and this years calving was a breeze.  We have downsized by 3 heifers which was the plan when I blogged FAREWELL TO OUR CALVES.  It was a little difficult to decide which ones would go, so we made it easier by seeing which ones calved by the end of October and which ones didn't.  We now have 1 bull, 5 heifers and 5 calves (all of which are heifers).

Our chickens are going great guns and producing 10-12 eggs a day for us.  This is far too many for my household alone so my parents and sisters are getting supplied regularly.  My husband is taking some to his work mates and the added bonus to those who visit us on the Ponderosa gets to take a tray home as well.  We still have 2 roosters (although one will be going in the stock pot over the xmas break) 14 hens and 3 chicks.  We are contemplating getting a few more hens as our brown shavers are getting a little old.

The chicken paddock is fenced off and contains fruit trees.  It's a big space that the chickens can't really manage the grass.  It seemed a waste of good grass to cut it all the time, so we thought pigs.  After speaking to a few people about pigs, the idea of sheep in that space would be better.  Totally green with sheep, we started asking questions about breeds and management.   We settled on looking for the wiltshire breed as they self shed their wool and are less resistant to common diseases.  They are also great breeders producing twins or triplets.

Ok ... decision made .. now to get some and from where.  Again I turned to trade me to gauge prices then an awesome opportunity for two ewe lambs came up that we just couldn't resist.  The breeder we purchased from are a lovely couple who are sheep crazy and helped us trim their feet.  She keeps in contact with me and is keen to come out whenever we need her assistance.  The lambs are due for their vaccination within the next month, so we might be calling on her assistance.

Baabara & Shaunequa ... still shedding their wool

All settled in now

The plan was to simply fatten them up and put them in the freezer, but we've decided that we will look for a ram and breed from these two.  Given the prices for lamb at the moment, it might be a fruitful investment.

Happy learning peeps!

Shutters Turned Photo Display

Rolling on from my post OLD LOURVE DOORS TURNED SHUTTER DÉCOR, these hideous brown doors which were given a new lease of life have now been given another purpose for Jayden.  A photo display.

My original thought was to use old wooden pegs to help display Jayden’s photo’s she wanted, but unfortunately I couldn’t find any pegs that could hold the photos.  Solution?  Small bulldog clip.  (Well that’s what the guys in the office call them).  I even found different coloured ones and took them home to see what Jayden thought.  Luckily she approved and voila!!  Shutters turned photo display.

Happy living peeps!!

Ornate Mirror Renewed

There’s a few favourite websites I like and trademe has to be one of them.  Although some things that I generally look for are unrealistically priced, if you look hard enough you can find some really great deals.  

Over a year ago, I was looking for an ornate mirror that could sit on Aaliyah’s drawer and started “watching” one which was priced for about $150.  It was made up of three mirrors which could tilt/turn in different directions and thought it would be perfect.

Unfortunately I missed the auction and had to start from scratch again.  Fair to say I was pretty disappointed with myself UNTIL I visited one of my favourite shops on the north shore of Auckland called JUNK & DISORDERLY.  Low and behold it had exactly the same mirror for less than $100, although this one had seen better days.  “Nothing my husband can’t fix” I decided and carefully crammed it in the back of the tiny car to take home.

I was pretty pleased with my purchase as was my husband and both my daughters.  As it turned out, the mirror didn’t end up going into Aaliyah’s room on her drawer and I’m not sure whether Jayden claimed it for herself or whether Aaliyah agreed to keep the one she already had.

The mirror now sits in Jayden’s room on top of a great desk I got for a bargain on trademe.  I blogged about it in OLD DESK MAKEOVER.  My husband fixed the small issues it had and gave it a beautiful gold finish.  For an added bonus, he whipped up some great lights.  What do you think?

 After finding this beautiful piece, I've since seen another just like it pop up on trademe every now and again.  I've been tempted to buy now

Happy living peeps!