Happy (late) winter solstice

The winter solstice (shortest day) just passed a few days ago. We had planned to celebrate it with a 'grand' feast, but time got away from us. We have been blessed with some lovely weather, although also the usual winter rain, fog and cold winds. Who knows, we may even get snow this winter!

For those living off the mains grid, this time of year is the most challenging. More so for us, due to the not so good location of our solar panels (its only a temporary spot though - and we were aware of the limitations of the site at the time - but we traded the time to build an approprite frame elsewhere, and the loads of extra cabling for the lack of winter light). The sun sits very low in the sky here and sadly doesn't barely hit the panels at the moment. Combined with the foggy days, it means not much power is made.... That said, in the location that they will go to when the house is built we will have no trouble at all as we have full solar access.

So we have had to put in measures for power saving for the last 2 or so months, turning almost everything off, and not turning on power hungry appliances like the TV or even the radio. Also turning off the inverter that gives us our 240V power unless we are using saves us power. We only run 12V lighting, and that comes directly from our batteries.

We will survive, and next winter will be easier, as we are in the process of moving the panels to a new spot where we get a little more 'sun' time. We will also expand the system as money permits. For now we will have to cope with running the generator a couple of times to charge up the batteries again, and soon the sun will peek out from above the trees again.

Enjoying the last of autumn

I think autumn is my favourite of all the seasons.






Although I enjoy the bounty of summer, I don't enjoy the extreme heat and the threat of drought and fire. Winter although cold and wet is a nice time to relax a little. Work still needs to be done, but the pace is not so hectic. I am enjoying these last days of sunshine before we decend into the 'dark' - the winter solistice is now only a bit over 3 weeks away.

We have managed so well on our stand alone solar power system (which is a pretty modest 1kWh set up). We are in a really bad site for solar power generation as we are surrounded by tall trees and as the days shorten so does our little 'window' of sunshine - currently we get about 2 hours of sun on the panels!!! However we haven't had to resort to the generator or hand washing (yet!).

I think one of the best thing about this time of year is that its a great time for planning and dreaming. And there is LOTS of that happening here, with new projects and big projects in the early stages. But I will write about those as things progress a little!

I'll leave you with a funny photo - our new goat Rosie - ontop of the pizza oven shelter! Goats...

Our boy is 2!

Last week our little boy turned 2.

On Sunday we had a small party for him to celebrate. With pizzas cooked in our woodfired pizza oven of course! And of course we made him a cake. Daddy is the cake maker in the family, and this year we made a train.

Meet Rosie

Yesterday we picked up the newest memeber of our family - Rosie (our daughter named her). We bought her to replace Gypsy who left us suddenly last week. Like Gypsy, Rosie is a British Alpine dairy goat, about 9 months old. She is from good milking lines, but a more stocky version of the British Alpine. Dorka our other goat (Gypsy's mum) is a British Alpine (or probably a cross with Toggenburg).


Rosie has settled in ok. She is more vocal than Dorka, and despite not actually letting us near her, she bleats and follows us along the fence when we leave! She seems to have bonded well with the alpacas, less keen on Dorka (as she has given her the butting treatment). Like Gypsy, Rosie has small horns, and will remain horned, as from all available information, dehorning at this age is cruel and painful. We plan on glueing rubber balls to the ends of her horns once they grow to reduce the likelyhood of her hurting the others. Most dairy farmers remove the horns for safety reasons, but when you see so many goats with very badly removed horns you have to wonder if its really worth it. The standard method is to burn off the horn bud when the goat kid is only a day or 2 old, but if its not done properly part of the horn will re-grow and this will either be mishapen and potentially grow inwards, or be weak and be knocked off and become infected. Many people don't realise that the horn actually has blood vessels running up the length of it, and its only the outer shell that is 'horn', to cut this off is probably equivalent to cutting off one's finger!!!

Our plan is to have eventually 3-4 milkers, and alternating which does have kids each year, so they all have a rest. British Alpines are well known for their extended lactation, producing milk for several years after the birth of their kid/s, so we will probably stick with them. We might even look at getting a buck at some stage down the track.

I will leave you with some photos of Dorka and the milking process. We are so lucky to have ample supply of healthy raw, un-tampered milk. Very special.

Frothy, fresh milk!

Goodbye Gypsy

We are in complete shock this morning, to find that our Gypsy - our milking goat's (almost all grown up) baby is dead. For no apparent reason.



We have had her since she was only 2 weeks old, and so small I could hold her in my arms. We watched her grow up, jump on our backs when we bent down in the paddock, chase the dog, and mature into a very beautiful healthy goat. We tried to give her the best 'childhood' so that she would be a great milker.....

It gets you every time, no matter how many you lose, it just never gets easier does it?

Goodbye Gypsy.

Chestnuts

Its been getting colder and wetter now, and the autumn winds are sure blowing up here. We have been enjoying eating the wild mushrooms popping up on our land, they are beautiful flavoured. We are also fortunate that there are several chestnut trees growing wild along the roadsides in our area. Chestnuts are definately a food of the autumn and are something to be enjoyed on a cold evening.

The kids and I ventured out to collect a box of chestnuts on the weekends. For me chestnuts have alot of memories associated with my childhood in Switzerland, and of times spent at my great-aunts place in Chestnut growing country. I have always enjoyed getting the nuts out of their very prickly cases, and the process of peeling them.

We roasted a small amount of nuts a few nights ago, ate some and turned the rest into soup. They are great for thickening up soups or stews and add a nutty flavour. You can also add the cooked nut into stir-fries and make deserts as well.


I doubt any one else in our area collects these nuts, so I am sure we will go back and collect some more before they all rot. I think the chestnuts will be the last of our harvests before winter sets in. I've been propagating lots of winter greens and brassicas for the garden, which are going in as we speak. I suspect that unless the weather changes pretty dramatically I will be making a big batch of green tomatoe chutney, as only half a dozen tomatoes have ripened so far!!! Maybe for next spring we will have to set up a small greenhouse!

Simple joys

I love this time of year, a gentle time, not too hot and not yet bitterly cold. The apple harvest is over (for us), but now comes the next harvest! We have been enjoying these goodies every few days, and I think it will improve as autumn progresses.


There has been a bit of this:


and this:

Lots of watching these little guys:

(sadly we lost one, so now there are only 4 - 1 rooster and 3 hens)

And lots of walks around the property, enjoying the clear autumn sky.