Ahhh what a great time of the year... The weather warms up, things in the garden just explode... and the best thing of all is that I have finished uni for the year and get to be at home to enjoy all the things I love. Yes I love my garden, I spend a lot of time in it. I also love being at home with the kids.. watching ABC4 Kids in bed till Mariah gets home from her morning. There is no rush to be anywhere, we have all that we need right here at home.

Mariah took the girls to an 'Active Launceston' event this morning where they play and have a ball. The girls came home last week with a whole bunch of new games to play. It is great that Mariah takes them to these things. It was planned that I go with them, but a neighbor needed some help for a couple of hours this morning.

While they were out I got stuck in to some gardening. I planted our sunflower seeds, put up some wire for a new climber that we have. I don't recall the name, but it has the most beautiful scented flowers.. I'll add a pic when it flowers.

I also had to transplant some pumpkin seeds, and look what I found in the strawberry patch.

The first piece of fruit for the year... if you don't count rhubarb as a fruit. We washed it off and then all four of us took a bite. MMMMmmmmm I'm not a big fan of strawberries, but when you grow them yourself they are always better.

We also picked some of the first peas for the year, enough for a pod each.

We had some people here for tea on Saturday and Sunday. We had a Lovo (Fijian) Hungi (New Zealand) or an Umu (Tongan) for earth oven. It was great.. and I believe there is a blog somewhere that is on the way for that. Anyway on one of those days some one said (I think) that they don't like having to shell all the peas in preparation for a meal. I don't believe that any of our peas make it that far... I know we did shell some last year.. but  I think we just ate them all before they got cooked... that is the best way to eat peas.

For tea tonight we will have a stir fry I believe.. and too that we will add..

 

Bok Choi

So there it is ... that is what I did today. Mariah said that there were thousands of people rushing around in town shopping.... I know where I would rather be.

:)

Blog for a chook lovers

I promised this information to Alana, who followed the birth of our first chick.

As I often do, I have a go at things myself rather than pay for something. This time I was having a go at an incubator for some fertile chicken eggs that we had. Our chooks would not go broody so I had to find an alternative.

This is our incubator. It is a styrofoam box that we picked up at Youngs Vegi Shed. They are free, normally behind the counter there somewhere.

The first thing we did was fix a light, through a small hole in the top of the box. The light that we used was given to us from someone who purchased then at a garage sale.

**Ignore the seed raising mix at the back. Trying another experiment. 
We use a blue light with a wattage of 25Watts. You can use the traditional light (incandescent) or the fluro type globe. The wattage is the same. 25 or 24 watts. Any stronger and it will get too hot and kill the embryo (found out the hard way). You will find that this stays about 35-45 degrees, depending on the outside temperature. During the day it warms up, and cools as the day ends. I had a dimmer switch to put on, but must have wired it wrong and it blew up. So if you have a sparky at hand, see if they will wire it up for you.. I know a couple but was too stupid to ask for help.

I still have the switch, as I like to change the globe to candle the eggs.

The way that I control the temperature is this little door at the front.

It has two purposes. Control the temp and also as a viewing area. This allows me to monitor the eggs and open the door/lid to control the temp.
I made this out of an old takeaway container.
I cut the bottom off it and slid it into the hole that I cut in the box. I then used silicone to fill the gap around the sides, just to ensure that it is sealed properly.

In the cooler months I have not had to use the door, but as it had warmed up the past couple of days I have found that I just remove the door completely and it stays around 35-37 degrees. There will be some that say that it is too cool for the eggs, but it is much better than being at 45-50 degrees. The chicks will survive a drop in temp, but not an increase. This is where a dimmer switch would come in handy. You will get to know when to take the lid off and when to leave it on.

If you have a room somewhere that stays a constant temp (very hard to find) then this will save you the hassle of checking the temp all the time there is a fluctuation in the outside temp. We kept ours in the garage.

So inside you will the the eggs sitting on a wire tray that has been folded into a wave pattern. This just helps when rotating the eggs 2-3 times a day.. it just keeps them stable and keeps the temp even around the egg. I have a thermometer close to the eggs so that I can keep an eye on it. What you can't see is a water dish. It is important to have some humidity during the growing process. This prevents too much moisture drawing from the egg. I have read that you should increase that the humidity should be increased close to the hatch day.. 90% aprox. To do this you need to increase the surface area of the water. I just used a wider dish or Tupperware container. 

In about 21 days you should see a little crack in the egg, and in 24 hrs you will have a chick.

We have lost a lot due to high temperatures, If you can get a dimmer switch, and a room that has a constant temp, more so than a garage then you should have come success. 

This is what you should end up with. 

A Chick that is happy to sleep on your hand.

Birthdays and Bike rides.

September is birthday month for Hanisi and I. For those that don't know, Hanisi and I share the same birth date. and until this year, if our birthday fell on a Saturday we shared it with the AFL Grand Final.

It was a great day, we had a picnic down at Punchbowl.

The day of out birthday was a nice day and as I was waiting for my ride to church, we sat out the front and soaked up the sun.

The kids stayed home as they have been a little sick and we didn't want to share the bugs.

The birthday and the bike ride were two separate events, but to save time I have included a couple of picks.

Can you see the excitement on our faces? I don't know why we were looking like this, as we were happy to go for a ride. Must have been a bit bright that day.

Hanisi is getting really good at riding her bike. She can make it up the hill outside our place and loves the ride down the hill.

The kids love to see the train. We hear it everyday, however only get to see it on occasions. So it was a treat to see it while riding our bike.

Rounding the final bend to head home. This time next year Hanisi will be needing a bigger bike. Good on ya Hanisi for loving the out doors.

First Baby Chick

After school on Friday I had to go the Youngs Veggie Shed to get some apples and while I was there, I thought, "I'd better get another styrofoam box in case this chick decides to hatch over the weekend." So I did. I also stopped in and got some chick crumbs for food.

I had my doubts, as previously mentioned the others were unsuccessful due to bacteria, and the incubator had reached some high temperatures at times. I woke at 4:30am to the crow of our rooster that didn't get locked up in his box overnight, so I checked the eggs and nothing.

We visited Mum for her birthday, and the Dr to fix my finger, and a quick visit to see Aunty Alice and Uncle Josh and their puppies. I realised that when we were out that I had forgotten to open the vent on the incubator. We do that around 10 or 11 to keep the temperature down. So naturally as soon as I got home I checked the eggs to see if the temperature was ok, and I saw to my great surprise...


Insert first Pic.

The day finally arrived, right on 21 days (gestation period for chooks).

I was so excited. I called for Mariah to come and take a look. Then she called the kids to come and have a look. It wasn't much to see for them, but we explained that there was a little chicken inside and it was trying to get out of the egg. Hanisi took it in, but Milly just wanted to pick up the eggs.

We had to go out for the rest of the afternoon, and then to Grandmas surprise birthday party. The party was great. It was good to be with the family and see how it has grown. I got to cuddle some babies that I had not cuddled yet, and see those that I had not seen in a while. But at the back of my mind was the egg.

We got home just after 8 and the first thing I did was... Check the egg.

this is what 6 hrs of work looks like. Doesn't look like much, look closer and you will see. Think of how hard we must hit an egg on a hard service to get it to crack, then you will realise that this is a lot of work for a little 21 day old thing.

As I was playing with the camera to see if there was any difference in the crack, I thought I heard something. I stopped beeping my camera  and I heard........

Coming from inside the egg. A good sign, I hope. It is hard not to help the little fella, but if I do it will cause more harm than good.

So we wait. 9:00 and I and back in. I dunno if I will stay up or just wait till morning. Sunday Mornings are always a rush, so I fear that I won't be able to enjoy it as much as I could if I were awake when it decides to pop out.

2:00am. I woke in anticipation that it might be out. No such luck. It had cracked a little bit. Didn't take a photo.

6:30am, The chick has been working through the early hours of the morning.

While I was watching another small piece of the egg came off,

When we came home from church we were expecting to see our new baby chick... Not so. But it had been working hard. 

The next few pics are what occurred over the next 2 hours.

Doing a back flip for a fancy entrance in to the world.

*that is its belly button not it's bum. *

Taking a well earned rest. 

I can't believe that we did it. Turning the egg three times a day, watching the temperature like a hawk. Loosing a few, but gaining experience the more we went on. We have him in a separate incubator now while we wait for the others to hatch in a few weeks time.

The kids were excited to see it hatch. No "Where did it come from" or "but why" questions. 

This is what Milly thought of the whole situation.  

ACTIVE MARIAH

"Active Launceston  is a community driven project aimed to improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Launceston through increased participation in physical activity.

UTAS is leading the project. Funding has been provided by UTAS, the Federal Government Department of Health and Ageing, Sport and Recreation Tasmania (through the Community Recreation Grants program) and Launceston City Council."

Mariah has been involved with Active Launceston, I think, since the earl days. When we were living in the city she would go every opportunity that she could. Since we have moved out to Perth, her trips in to town have been limited, however there is a couple of, what I call, "strange people" (those that wake before the sun to workout) out here that Mariah loves to work out with. Although the Perth "strange people" group is great, Mariah often keeps and eye on what is happening with Active Launceston.

One day Mariah excitedly told me that Active Launceston is holding an expo and that is it aimed at families and that we should go.

So we did as we were told, as you do when your wife dons the boxing gloves, here is a reminder,

 It was a good display of what is available for those that are after a gym, health insurance, want to join a sporting club, or just try sumo wrestling. Yeah that is right, Sumo wrestling. No I didn't have a go.... there was no one I could pair up with.

Everyone else was busy.

Hanisi and Milly had found the Playgroup Tasmania display and were utilising the toys that they had on display.

  Luck for me Mariah had found someone to take her frustration out on for the day.

Notice the smile on Mariah's face! She loves inflicting pain.

This poor Judo demonstrator, who looked like she had taken the day off school to showcase her sport, underestimated what she was up against when Mariah stepped on the mat. 

Her instructor, the guy in the blue suit on the right, who was a black belt stepped in to save his student. The photo says it all. She dropped him to the floor. He then pointed to her and said to me, GET HER OUT OF HERE!

It was a great day. Hanisi and I tried lawn bowls, Mariah showed Hanisi how to do a hula hoop and Milly played golf.

Active Launceston start up again soon, and I am sure that Mariah will be attending some of their free fitness sessions.

What better way to end the blog than to include a pic of Milly falling asleep while eating an ice cream on the way home from the expo. 

Movement

If you follow you will know that I have chooks and recently added a rooster to the collection. 

For the soul purpose of playing cupid for my hens. 

I built an incubator, which has been an interesting exercise. I have found it difficult to keep a consistent temperature and if there is one thing eggs need it is a reasonably consistent temperature. When we are at home it is ok we can monitor it and open the vent if it gets too hot or make internal adjustments when it gets too cool. these past few days have been the hardest. We have had a few cool nights and even a couple of frosts. The eggs are in the garage and I am convinced that it not the best place to have them. It gets quite cool at night and warm in the afternoon. 

Anyway yesterday we had a party at punchbowl for Hanisi. with all the excitement of getting ready I forgot the rearrange the internal walls of the incubator before we left. I got home and one of the first things that I did was check the eggs. My heart SUNK! They were too warm. I thought that I had lost them. I cooled them down as best I could and thought, Do I scratch this lot or do I keep on going and see what happens. The first batch is due to hatch this coming weekend. (mums birthday). 

So I left them bee and thought I will check them in a day or tow and see what happens. I have lost a few already due to a bacteria that grows in the egg for some reason. 

Tonight when I checked, this is what I saw.

The little black thing moving around is the embryo.

Yeah that is a little chic embryo bouncing around. I know which chook this is from and I am not surprised that this is her chook. All the others have been quite still and just happy to keep growing. So this was exciting to see. I was so glad that I didn't throw them out yesterday. This one seems happy for now.

This weekend will be exciting waiting to see if we have a new addition or not!

WHIT WILL

I am sure that it is stated somewhere, or maybe it is just part of our developed culture that people at weddings should not upstage the bride. Feel free to comment if you have any links to actual facts.



So as I mentioned in a previous blog, our family attended Mariah's brothers wedding in Sydney. It was a beautiful day and we had such a great day. I was so surprised to see that there was one woman who had obviously attempted to take the spotlight from the bride. I have to admit though she was good looking and caught my eye on more than one occasion.

Whit Will..... I think Mariah enjoyed being out of the tracky dacks and in a dress.

The kids even got in on the action thanks to GNB.

Been Busy

Being at Uni, is busy. It has been a good semester so far, probably the semester I needed to calm the nerves and show myself that it can be done.

It means that I have been busy and have had to leave Mariah at home with the kids a lot more than I have had to the last few months. I do believe that she was enjoying having me around to help out, especially with the cooking and entertaining the kids.

I do know that one thing that has kept me on track with my study has the been the lousy weather that we have been having. We took a trip to Sydney in August for Mariah's brother''s wedding and we had 25+ degrees everyday that we were there. It made us so sad that we had to come home to rain and cold. But it was home and it is where we love to be.

So back to being busy and the cold weather, Milly and I decided to take a break the other day and went out the back to lay in the hammock. Hanisi came for a play as well but then decided that she would be better off seeing what mum was up to. In the time it took for Hanisi to go in side, and back out again with mum, Milly and I were out to it.

We were both so pooped, Milly had been unwell and I was just pooped from a busy couple of weeks. 

  

It was nice and warm in the sun, and so comfortable having a quiet snuggle with each other. It wasn't long before Hanisi was back with a "daddy, wake up" into my ear trough the cloth of the hammock. 

So I have been busy. So busy in fact that I needed a little nap. 

Love you Milly.

Spring

We've had the spring lambs, who have arrived early, bu now as Perth (Tas) starts to warm a little the magic of spring is starting to appear.

 Our deciduous trees are preparing explode in to colour.

The seeds that have been planted are starting to shoot to the sky and soak up as much sun as they can get.

 The kids are enjoying being outside without freezing off their fingers, or being covered in mud. It gives them a chance to get to know our cooks a bit more.

 We stared off with e few hens, then we got some younger pullets that are just starting to lay in the past few weeks. This is one of the pullest (young hen).

We could not let Spring go buy without getting a rooster. We all know that spring is the season for swooping plovers, baby lambs, new growth, and we are hoping that it is the season for baby chicks. We have seen our rooster getting friendly with the hens. We have waited in anticipation for the hen to become broody and sit on her eggs. After weeks of waiting I did some reading and found out that hens from egg farms tend not to be the best at nesting on eggs. So we have been collecting the eggs from 'THE' hen and have being preparing to incubate them.

A good incubator can cost thousands. We do not have thousands. So...................

Here is one that I made from scraps in the garage and a free Styrofoam box from the local green grocer. It works well and so far so good. It holds a constant temperature which is good, it is warm, and we hope that it works. We should be able to hold egg up to the light in a week or so and see if there are chicks growing. in 21 days we should have some babies.

Spring is a great time, a time of preperation for the summer months. We are enjoying the longer days, and look forward to daylight savings and being outside more and more.

These two pics are just some of the kids wearing the head lamp that we use when we lock out rooster up at night. Yeah ... to keep us and our neighbours happy, our rooster gets locked up overnight in an insulated box to muffle his crow.

Lamb!

Our neighbor from across the street invited the kids over today to have a play with some lambs that they are baby sitting for their in-laws, I took a break from study to join them for a play.

FUN!... What a great time of the year... getting excited for spring to arrive!