February

Laura started training, she got picked up for a 5 hour drive to her trainers place.
Chester was not happy...

But most of all he would like some rain, the paddocks are so bare...

Two weeks in, Laura is doing great. Cattle work can be very technical.
At home I’m practicing with Chester on opening and closing gates while riding and picking up kids at the bus stop. Riding easy while his leg is taking a long time healing from his abscess.

Breakfast smoothies for a great start of the day, we’re going though our blueberries rather quickly.
It’s all great practice for a workshop I’m supposed to be running in April...

Our dragon fruit has been flowering and producing it’s first fruits. The flowers are so big and bright white, filled to the brim with bees.

The kids have counted 21 flowers!

Sophie’s riding lessons

For weeks we had been looking for a second kayak, for Tim’s birthday. However no luck, the day of his party a friend mentioned he had a couple of kayaks taking up space in his shed. He delivered us 4! We now have a whole fleet, we didn’t see much of Tim and his mates all weekend...

Also David is becoming an old hand on paddling the dam. Do you see his friend in the tree?

Cyclone Oma, so far south. It got very windy for a couple of days, but all the rain that got predicted didn’t eventuate... We really could have used it...

Birthday cake at the Full Moon gathering.

Boys are making lots of progress with athletics this year.

Sander fractured his finger with volleyball and required surgery. While his finger was getting screwed back together, we made the most of our time in Coffs on the break wall.

 And even got to see a sea turtle!

 Full Moon rising over the paddock

My garden is a sorry mess. Not having had any rain for months on end, combined with very hot and windy summer days, water is very precious. I’m hand watering my orchard, taking u many hours of my week. The permanent plants in the vegetable garden are being kept alive by a drip irrigation. But for anything else to grow, I’ll need some serious rain. We’re onto the third day of Autumn, we’re getting a little bit of drizzle during the night and the temperature has dropped a bit for now (you know you’ve gone through a hot summer when the kids are wearing jumpers as the temperature drops under 30 degrees!). It has given me enough confidence to plant out one (out of 7) garden beds. Knowing that at least I can keep the watering up, without stretching myself even thinner. 

Hopefully when the busy registration part of the soccer season is past us, I have a bit more free time again in my weeks.

I’ve been asked give a Master Class on macadamias at the upcoming Regional Masters Food Expo on the 30th of March in Yamba.
Being part of the Gate to Plate movement we have in our valley which focuses on the exquisite ingredients we’re producing locally. A fundraiser for the Gallery Foundation.
If you would be interested to Go Nuts! with me: tasting, trying and experimenting with macadamias and their wide variety of uses. You can find more info and tickets here: https://gatetoplate.com.au

School Holidays: into the mountains

Another week of school holidays.

With quality time at home, doing some fun workshops at the library, kitchen experiments and a trip into the mountains.

A change of scene also creates head space. A drive along the Mann River always puts a smile on my face, trying out new tracks a sense of adventure.

Bush tucker Taste and Talk at the library. Getting some new ideas for the kitchen and the garden.

I accidentally made honey macadamia brittle while trying to improve a recipe.
I must admit, this turned out so good. Not too sweet, letting the macadamias shine. There was so much positive feedback on it that I might try to replicate another batch, but making sure to press it flat this time!

More Going Nuts! kitchen experiments: Macadamia nut butters. With a hint of vanilla, sea salt and local honey. Adding raw organic cocoa made me a winner...

The scream

for coffee...

School holidays = Board games

And silly selfies.
Team: Curly Whirly

Horse riding, enjoying the sun, space and fresh air.
While David rides his bike besides me and Tyson is never far behind me.

Middle of the Winter. With sunny and dry days often reaching 20 degrees.

The nights have been a lot colder this year, we’re going through hay and fire wood in record time.

Going into the New England Highlands for the weekend.

Driving up, through the mountains, with beautiful views on the Clarence Valley.

With the road cutting through the Word Heritage listed Gibraltar Range and Washpool, National Park. Giving us a beautiful, fresh, picnic at Dandahra Creek.

Which is very much like a painting...

A run at The Standing Stones

 The Chill in Glen festival.

David was rather proud of his (mini) snow man. 

But didn’t understand why his hands got so cold!

 Finding a new and trendy coffee place.

Farmstay on the plains,
surrounded by 450 acres with only cattle to share the space.
So quiet during the night!

With the night reaching -8 degrees. Waking up was a rather cold affair!
Now I hear my fellow Dutchies thinking, “have they turned into complete wusses?!?!?”.
Yes, maybe, well, let me explain: houses build here don’t have double glazing, wall insulation or central heating. Just a bit of ceiling insulation, if you’re lucky.
For warmth you have a wood fire in the living room, that needs to heat the whole of the house.
While the very modern houses have reverse aircon...

Being on a farm, this is the best place in the house.

But seeing everything white outside from the frost....

That needs investigating!

Which warranted hot chocolate for breakfast...

 Going down at the mountain. Making a stop at the Boundary Falls for a walk.

 Spottting good boulders and trees to climb.

And of course a pretty waterfall

Next stop: Coombadjha creek,

at Washpool National Park.

 Team: Straight & Narrow

Trying to keep the kids on the walking track with a creek nearby was hopeless...
Rockhoppers, all of them.

But with a rather wild rain forest like this, who can blame them.

Revived after a weekend of fresh air.

Ready for the next school term, a rather busy one by the looks of it. We’re expecting the new cabin to be build it next week, the soccer carnival and a major overhaul of our septic system. 

At the beginning of the year I made a deal with my husband. He would go rock climbing in Thailand with a mate, I would catch up with my sister in New Zealand. 

Already looking forward to the next adventure, I’ve just booked the plane tickets for the next school holidays, two weeks exploring the North Island, before my sister Lisa will commence her training there.