The Windmill Paddock

Paddock Update: Zucchini Edition

09:00:00

An inundation would be suffice to say.

We have zucchini's people!!

Hello there and welcome back to the zucchini edition of the blog. As you will witness in the following photographs we have an abundance of Zucchini's growing. I can feel a 4X...I mean a zucchini slice coming on. I think ill need a 4X after the mammoth cooking and pickling that is about to embark here at the farm. A 4X or more notably XXXX is a mid-strength beer by the way for you non Aussies following along. He he!!

The new veggie patch is coming along very nicely indeed. The rain we had a fortnight ago sure has helped it all along. Just a lazy 130 odd mls over the coarse of a weekend. Ive been pinching out tomato shoots, weeding, weeding and weeding. Seriously every morning there are new inch long weeds to pull out again after not being there the day prior. Im on a mission to stay on top of them though. Potato and Marshmallow weed. Errr!!

The corn is growing as are Gladioli shoots, Dahlia's, Basil, Celery, a new passionfruit (Ten Acres - You'd be proud) cucumbers and plenty of Zucchini's. Did I mention that!!

Considering the Zucchini's have been grown from seed, I and you also should be mightily impressed. I have been grating them into pasta sauce, taco mix and have found some pickle and slice recipes ready to cook a storm up. I have also been giving a few away as we can't keep up.

Look at all the flowers and Zucchini's to come yet...

Off topic now to the Tomatoes. Whilst they are continually growing and flowering they just dont all look too healthy as you can see in a couple of pics below. Im putting it down to the soil condition as it is rather like a sieve at the moment and water is just passing straight on through. However, Im also wondering if some are suffering from a teeny tiny bit of Round Up poisoning when I did the weeds close by. Hmmmm!!! I hope not as I certainly was very careful when I did spray before the rains came. Time will tell.

Whilst I dont like to use the spray, the amount of weeds here is on mammoth proportions if you dont get onto them, not to mention the creeping grass and I just did a spray mostly along the fence line to keep the boundary clear and have less hiding spots and access for snakes. (I havent seen one yet )

On other growing news...

Corn and some delicious peas growing up the stalks. Such a bloody great idea to do this...

The first flush of Gardenias for the season and it smells divine.

I replanted all the pots hanging here with new soil after all the frost damage from winter. All the plants are coming back to life again with the warm weather and the canopy of vine is also lovely to sit under at the moment.

Gorgeous Calla Lillies

Small but satisfying Christmas decos with beautiful Hydrangeas blooming at the back as intended for this Summer. Winning!!

I just love the white blooms. The best by far.

So many bees on the Rabbit's Ears flowers.

How the roundabout looks after a tidy last weekend. It should become a riot of colour again very soon. The Salvias and Cornflowers prominent here as are the spent Poppy Heads. Im keeping these in the beds to dry out but will be happy to share the love and hand them out once dry to anyone who wants to grow some next year.

The vineyard in the distance from the back lawn, all green and lush and needing lots of work at the moment.

Flashback: The garden at its Spring peak of beauty back in November. For all the flowers!

I just have to share a few pics from my camera for the record. I am now awaiting the Dahlias and the Salvias to take the limelight as well as the Red Flowering Gum and second flush of Roses.

Poppy Spam. They were so easy to grow and really made the front garden look pretty.

Below and we are back to the current status of the original patch. Its getting full. Sweet Peas, Potatoes and Parsley taking over here.

When can I start checking for Potatoes? Anyone?

I really do love the garden at this time of year. As long as I am keeping the weeds under control and keep watering, which is most days with this warm weather; Its all looking pretty nice out there. We will be picking Raspberries soon as well as the Spring Onions and plenty of Peas and you guessed it zucchinis.

Well, that's a wrap of pics for the latest in the garden today. I think its high time to bring some of those Hydrangeas inside to enjoy before we head off for Christmas.

Its the most wonderful time of the year....

Ill have some kid and baby spam for you in the next few days too. If I get 5 minutes to do it of course!!

Whats happening in your own gardens? Do tell.

Have a great day

Elisha xx

farmlife

Garden Diaries - Mid Spring '17

09:08:00

Hi there.

Whats going on?

Current situ: Sitting in bed with my laptop, which I never ever do at 9.17pm after FINALLY settling Darcy boy. Whether it is wind or something I ate disagreeing with him or the needles he had yesterday or a combo of both, who would know but he is in his bed asleep. Not that he was screaming the house down or anything. Far from it in fact, just not asleep. Sigh!!

Prior to this and since we arrived home just after 5pm it has been go, go go. Dinner, dishes, getting kids in the bath, readers, feeding baby, finding all the bits and bobs required for another school day and then finally settling the baby which I have alluded to already.

So im hiding in my room in the quiet, no tv or children distracting me and I quite like it. Im comfy and I'm here tap, tap, tapping away on my blog. Bliss.

I might also add that this is about the billionth attempt at writing this post. I think ill get sick of myself stating this at the present time, but it looks like there is a bit of a pattern emerging with this blogging business and a baby in tow. Its certainly intermittent and all over the shop but I can't really do much about it at the moment. Im here!!

So the main reason I did want to be here is because Ive been snapping pics like crazy out in the garden as its just looking so lovely at the moment. Whilst the pics admittedly aren't exactly my best efforts, nor have they all been loaded onto the computer, but I'm proud as punch at how its all humming along after only a year of being here at the farm.
Of course I have to share some of my efforts so if you are up for some plant spam then today is your day...

Pansies and Violets in a hanging basket to look at out the kitchen window. Priceless.

Alyssum still going strong. I scattered seed here last summer and it hasn't stopped growing and blooming. How about those Gerberas. I definitely need some more. Can you see the shoots of the Calla lilies in the foreground. They were a pleasant surprise to see last week as i moved them here last Autumn full of hope.

The vines on the back pergola always look so inviting to sit under as they start to grow out and tangle about. The scent on the flowers are amazing.

Our new temporary ad-lib vegetable patch planted out where we pulled down the shed in January earlier this year. We ordered three new varieties of tomato seedlings from Diggers Club and so far so good. We thought we'd lost a few but they are looking ok. We also have pumpkin and zucchinis growing from seed which are also from Diggers. There are some capsicum seedlings, marigolds, basil seeds strewn in and some Cosmos for the companion planting. The bees will love them. Finally Cam rustled up some straw for me for all of the garden beds and it all looks rather pro here!! he he

The driveway garden bed is coming along nicely with Irises, Foxgloves, Dianthus, Sedums, Cornflowers and Cat mint filling up the border. The Salvias are just starting to get going, the Roses are about to bloom and I even uncovered a Dahlia tuber breaking through. Im just loving all the colour and listening to all the bees. It wont be long until the flowering gum is in full flower to take over the show. There are still plenty of gaps in the middle for some more Dahlia tubers I think.

Thankfully I took this pic just before the rain on the weekend as all the Ranunculi petals have since been washed off the plants. The pops of colour of these and the Azaleas in the back sure do make this garden bed sing. Now I have to think of what to plant to fill the gaps when its time to pull up the bulbs. Some Zinnias perhaps or some more Salvias? What do yo think? Only the front third of the bed receives any substantial amounts of sunshine.

I also put in a couple of extra Azaleas to extend the colour throughout the bed. These tubers from Mitre 10 were only $3.50 and a decent size so hopefully they take off soon.

The veggie patch continues to change with the warmer weather. We have Potatoes growing, the Garlic wont be far off, Raspberry canes are flowering, Cosmos seedlings are popping up all over the place from last year, and we have what looks like a decent crop of Strawberries coming along. I will need to cover these as something is already taking bites out of berries on the ends. A good number of the rose cuttings I shoved in the dirt back in August are taking off and I finally have Sweet Peas flowering again. So pretty! The apples have fruit, not so much the pears (ill blame Cam's hard pruning tsk, tsk) and the broad beans have been a treat of which I have been putting in as many meals and salads as I can. Im thinking it might be an idea now to pick, blanch and freeze the rest so I can pull them all out and put in some new crops.

Its nice to walk out here at the moment to water and just observe all the growth and change taking place. Its always amazing.

We also celebrated Edith's 5th birthday back on the 11th and she had a lovely afternoon celebrating with a handful of her best buddies here at the farm. It was such a beautiful spring day too with a bon fire to finish off in the evening.

Anyhow thats about all I've got- Im signing out. My brain is fried and Im starting to just stare blankly at the screen.

Hopefully you have something awesome growing in the garden at your place. Id love to hear all about it and anything you think I should be planting here too.

Hopefully Darcy sleeps for a good while - at least until 1am. ( He actually did!! )Fingers crossed. Yawn!!

Thanks for visiting today

Elisha xx

Baby

Late, Late for a Very Important Date.

10:00:00

Hello again.

Well, well what do you know? This very important date I speak of did finally eventuate and it was Monday 18th September when we welcomed our newest addition; Mr Darcy Patrick into the world.

He is now 5 weeks old.

I did actually start writing this post three weeks ago I should also mention. Snippets of 'me' time is a tad hard to come by at the moment let alone how quickly time is passing by. But here we are...

The following is brief account, (rather boring really in the scheme of things) but its a nice record of what went on, to add to the memory bank to remember the day.

I was now 41 weeks on this particular Monday the 18th September and had been having niggles and contractions constantly for the previous fortnight so I was very ready to have this baby.

We had been staying at Cam''s parents place in town now since the previous Friday, you know, just in case and nothing was happening. I had a doctors appointment at 9am so off the kids trotted to kinder and school with the grandparents and I went to see why this baby was still incubating away.

A standard appointment proceeded.

Blood Pressure. Check
Fetal Heart Beat. Check
Internal. Check (2cm dilated already)
A bit of a sweep. Check.

The doctor also sent me off to have an ultrasound to check the fluid levels and placenta function as well as to the midwife not long after to have a CTG.

All was well and an induction date for the 21st was put into action.

The CTG took three and half hours to complete as the baby just would not keep still so they couldn't get a reading that would let me go. Fortunately it was around the lunchtime run at the hospital so I cashed in with a free lunch, uninterrupted tv and a chance to relax for a couple of hours all on my own. Winning!
Whilst hooked up the CTG machine around the hour of 1pm I started to get some tiny contractions every five minutes or so.
I just hoped that they would continue into the afternoon and evening.

Having not been home for the last three nights in a row I really was keen to get back at this stage, as were the kids. The contractions seemed to have stopped. Or not? Perhaps because I was moving around again after leaving the hospital I didn't notice them as much. Anyhow, the kids arrived back at Cams parents place after school and we departed for home.

All I could think of was all the things that needed doing 'in case' I did have to go to hospital and didn't want to leave incomplete at home.
First thing to tick off the list when we got home at around the hour of four was to water the garden.

I know, of all the things I could/should be doing and Im outside watering. Well I knew it wasn't going to rain anytime soon and if the baby was coming it would be another week before the plants got a drink again. What can I say, I love my garden!!
It was around 4.30 pm, that I could feel the contractions getting somewhat stronger and I started getting a tad excited.

Second off the list was to get the last of the dirty washing into the machine ready to hang out on the clothes hoist as well as a load of Cam's shirts for work and to hang them up to dry inside.

While the machine was running I managed to rustle up some snags and salad for dinner and bathe and pj up the kids.

Cam came home from work at 6pm and I was darting around the house multitasking like you would not believe. I thought Id tell him that I was having what seemed to be some more serious contractions.

Dinner ensued and then while he tidied up, I had a shower and then commenced to repack and organised the suitcase once again.

Fresh pjs for the kids, clean uniforms and kinder outfits and some clothes for Cam. Edie had activities at kinder this coming week that needed special items and Hugh had his school concert and Footy Day to prep for and organise. Thankfully my bag was packed two weeks earlier and was one less job to worry about. Can you imagine me trying to do this?

Whilst I might be sounding like a nesting mad woman at this stage, I really wasn't going totally bat shit crazy, (ok maybe a bit on the erratic side) but I can tell you that I certainly wasn't relaxing with my feet up on the couch. There were just so many little jobs that needed finishing and tidying up.

I thought Id better give the hospital a call to tell them I was having contractions every 1-2 minutes at this stage and that whilst they were only lasting 30 seconds or so they weren't yet stopping me in my tracks yet. Nearly though. Just to give them a heads up you know. Just in case!

The Block was on by now so it was around 7.30 pm and I was still fluffing around trying to get everything sorted. All of a sudden I found myself stopping what I was doing and waiting for contractions to subside. Not too bad but like a really bad stitch. Some stronger than others, 1-2 minutes apart.

The kids were playing quietly, Cam was watching The Block and I came into the lounge room to tell him that I think we needed to go back into town pretty shortly. I was pretty calm and relaxed at this stage about what was ahead. I thought I still had plenty of time and knowing how quick Oliver came out at the end I was very certain that I didn't want to do any panicky last minute dashes into town to the hospital which was a good 20 minute drive away.
From previous nights where I was having niggles, Cam suggested that perhaps I should just sit down and relax and watch show with him and just see what happens and then we can decide in the next hour or so. Rather then me darting around the house like a crazy lady on a mission.

I had another contraction and I think by the look on my face that he knew it was time to go.

Cam got up and got dressed, hung the shirts up to dry and I gathered the suitcase, the kids and the rest ready to put in the car.

We left for town just after 8pm. The kids were very excited but still a bit unsure of what was really going on.

We finally got the kids to bed at Cams parents place and sat down to watch tv with a cup of tea and tried to relax. It was about 8.30 pm. The contractions picked up a notch in earnest and it wasn't long after I finished my tea that I told Cam it was definitely time to go to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at around 9.15pm, I had three decent contractions in a row just between getting out of the car and entering the hospital ward. We were greeted by the midwife who was very surprised to see me so soon after the phone call earlier. We were shown to the birthing suite and it wasn't long after that the midwife did a check to see how dilated I was and then to let the doctor know I was here.
I was now already 5cm and kindly asked the midwife at this point for the gas to help me through all the following contractions. Gas is definitely my friend!

The next hour proceeded pretty similarly to Oliver's birth, contractions pretty much every minute for the next hour or so and ending with three very strong urges to push the baby out.

Darcy Patrick arrived very quickly soon after at 10.21pm.

The doctor arrived a couple of minutes later. Missed it again!

It wasn't until about 1 am that everything died down and I was finally able to get some sleep. No tears or stitches which was a bonus, however Darcy landed a lovely haematoma on the right side of his head which is rather big but sure enough, like the doctor and all the nurses said, after a few weeks is finally now subsiding.
A birth injury that you get I guess when 4.2 kg decides to push through a straw in about three minutes flat!! Yeow!!!!

Gosh he was puffy!! he he

I felt like Id been hit by a bus for a few days following the labour and the after pains of my uterus contracting back down whilst feeding was not enjoyable to say the least for the next week or so. My tummy has split about 5cm and I really should be doing all the exercises like the lovely physio lady said but...meh...all in good time. Kegals? Whaaaaa?

I was able to stay in hospital for another two nights which was a lovely quiet time getting to know our little man and to get as many zzz's as possible. The staff, and particularly the midwives at Benalla Health were just fantastic and I couldn't have asked to be looked after any better.

Now we are already five weeks in can you believe it? Whilst I don't think I can ever get used to or overly enjoy the middle of the night feeds, all is going well here. Darcy is settling around 7.30-8.30pm most nights and sleeping until midnight-two am for a feed. It usually takes an hour to feed and settle again and then we are back up to do it all again between anywhere from 5-7am. Im always counting my blessings if it is light when he wakes again!!

Tired? You bet!!

Thank goodness for the warmer weather lately as it is making it much easier to get up for the late night feeding sessions. We also had the two week school holidays here at home to try and get some sort of pattern going and to just enjoy being a family of six.

There have been moments where I have found the ship sinking here at certain times of the day - in a frazzled kind of way (golly gosh there is so much to do and there are other little people with lots of needs and hunger...always so hungry!!) But mostly I feel we are swimming and life is one big, messy, busy pot of fun here at the farm. Ive even managed to get us all to school on time twice over last week and have had plenty of time; well enough time to get out and do some gardening to get my fix. Yay!!
The baby is a feeding machine and has already clocked over 5kg and clubbing up nicely, the older kids absolutely adore him and I am loving (99.9999 % of the time) having a baby in the house again.

Our little family is complete.

Have you introduced anyone new to the family recently?
Thanks for visiting today
Elisha xx

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Paddock Update: Zucchini Edition

Garden Diaries - Mid Spring '17

Late, Late for a Very Important Date.

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