Knitted vest finished!

Yay! I've finished the sublime little spencer vest for my friend. Love it! This one definitely needs some blocking. I'm really glad I added an extra 2.5cm to the length hope it will fit new bubby when he arrives! 

Knitted in adagio alpacas silver rose 2012 8 ply yarn.

The dogs can see the chicken in my bathroom!

So far the dogs hasn't even investigated all the chirping inside my bathroom... But they have now seen the chicken through the window and are barking at it... oh dear I'm going to have to be really really careful now!!!

Daffodil season

It's daffodil season! These daffodils came out today and perfect timing as its our wedding anniversary. Much better than a bought bunch!

The wild plums out the back have come out in blossom today as well!

Another sublime little Spencer knitted vest

A good friend of mine is due to have a baby boy in a month do I decided to knit another little Spencer vest in our yarn for her. She lives in the UK so I'm going to have to hurry up and finish it!

I'm pleased to say that the back is done!

The 0-6mths size is so much quicker! Less than 1 ball of yarn even with the added 2.5cm I added into the back measurements.

I've done much better job of this one, my knitting is improving!

Cute chick

Our one barnevelder chick is going strong! So cute! 

I've been trying to guess if its male or female. It's got quite a bit of white on its chest so my guess is make but without more chicks to compare with I really can't tell. I kind of hope its male as considering what it survived to hatch it is a hardy little creature!

It really is beautiful here today, no wind and sunshine! Definitely feels like spring!

Barnevelder chickens... Take 2...

We didn't have much luck with the first batch of chickens with only one hatching. They didn't cope very well with bring posted in winter and perhaps we had too many eggs in the incubator for them to turn well... I picked up another batch of eggs on my way home from visiting family in Sydney so hopefully we will have more luck!

We had hoped to also source some young chicks to give our one chick some company but I haven't had much luck sourcing any nearby this time of year..

Our first hatched chicken!

I was starting to despair! Then it happened! Our first chicken has hatched!!!

Alpaca knitted vest

I don't usually post photos of my boy but I can't help but post this one. We have only recently had the first yarn from our alpacas processed so its very exciting for us to show the first garment made from this yarn! I'm so pleased with how it has turned out! 

The pattern is from the Tenth Little Sublime hand knit book and I love it! Will definitely make the pattern again but I hope they have it in a larger size if I'm to make another vest for my boy!

Welcome Goldie!

Goldie joined our small alpaca herd today! She is such a beautiful colour! I can't wait to see how her fleece turns out as yarn. I also can't wait for her cria which is due in the coming months.

Arriving in style!

She made a beeline for the others.

Checking out the newcomer.

Settling in...

A watched egg never hatches?

It's an exciting day at adagio alpacas today! The first of the chickens are due to hatch and an alpaca we have wanted for a long time will be moving in!!! I am also attending an alpaca genetics workshop today sponsored by our local division of the Australian alpaca association. Oh and of course my toddler is cutting his bottom eye teeth so we were up watching cars movie for a significant portion of last night! It all happens at once.

The chickens are a bit of an experiment, they were mail order eggs that got a bit lost in the mail and are being incubated in a cheap incubator (and long story we ended up purchasing a second batch as the first was thought to be lost... The poor incubator is chock full of eggs!) so we are really nervous about how many chickens will manage to hatch! I have been watching them too carefully and dreaming about chickens hatching! I wonder if any will hatch?

Our own beef

Today was an exciting and exhausting day. It was time for our steers to be butchered and my hubby went in to help.  I don't think we will do 3 at a time ever again! They actually only finished 2 of them today. 

The steers were Galloway steers and for a small breed these were huge!!! The dead weight for all of them was well over 300kg! Unfortunately it worked out that there was a lot of fat and bones and only about 200kg of actual meat. 

The following is a photo of the T-bone steaks for just one steer lined up. The photo doesn't do the size justice.., they are huge!

We couldn't wait to taste it! Here is a portion of my husband's scotch fillet... (Mine went back on the grill for a while...)

Possibly the best steak I've eaten!!

Jumper finished!

I've finished my first jumper!!! I love the style but its much too big! This rookie knitter has a bit to learn!!! Looks awesome whilst the boy is sitting...

Another step towards self-sufficiency!

It was a bitter sweet day for us today. On one hand we are excited that our Galloway steers have gone to the abattoir which means very soon our friends, family and us will be eating beef that we have grown ourselves, on the other hand 3 characters with their teddy bear ears have left the farm. 

The photo is of my husband taking them down the road to our neighbours waiting truck... 

Morning!

It was particularly beautiful here this morning!