this little piggy

Two weeks ago our Large Black sow April had her first litter.  The 13 little bundles were delivered by our clever girl who had made a nest in the woods behind Lisa's riding arena (much to the dismay of our mare Genevieve).

Unfortunately we lost three in the first 24 hours but we now have ten healthy little ones running around in the nursery paddock and enjoying the life of a true free range pig. Sleeping in the soft long grass during the heat of the day and chasing each other in a game of tag in the cooler hours of morning and night.  It is now two weeks later and they are all growing quickly. They have just started eating solid food which they steal from Mum when she is not looking!





Who's a clever girl then?

Yesterday one of our lovely purebred cows had a beautiful little girl calf.  Imagine our surprise this afternoon when we found another one!!  Harvest Moon and the twins are both doing well.  We have to keep a watchful eye on them all should she forget she has more than one!  But at the moment she is the perfect mum.

Its been a long time

Well it is now 2012 and we have not been blogging for a while. Things always seem to be busy.  We had thirty-three people at the farm on Christmas day with a lunch of roast pork, beef and turkey. Thankyou to all the family who helped out - it was a lovely day, enjoyed by all.

At the end of November we planted sunflowers and corn and now we are harvesting the rewards.  Unfortunately the sweetcorn is a little starchy but the 3 girls and Mojo don't seem to mind.  The chickens have also been enjoying a cob or two a day.  The sunflowers however - are breathtakingly beautiful.  They always make me smile no matter what the day has been like and what mood I'm in.  Thanks to 'Cultiver' in Ipswich we are now selling a few bunches a day at the shop.  It was lovely to hear that Bec had sold out the other morning and people were coming in to ask for them!

All Bonnie wanted for Christams was a garden of her own.  We know it is nearly Feburary, but everything takes time!!  Today Brian worked hard putting in stepping stones for Bonnie.  She has now planted Lisianthus, Marigolds and tomato plants and is looking foward to watching them grow.  She already has her own rubarb, strawberry and tomato garden which she takes very good care of and loves sharing her produce with the family.

Special Order made for the UK

Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to create for you.

I couldn't think of anything nicer to have my dippy egg and soilders on in the morning!!  And the placemats are reversible so you can use them at least twice before washing!!!!!

Another order destined for overseas - back to the mother country.  They are lovely, light and easy to post - an all round winner!!

The new addition!!

I have included these cute Koala's to my list of available creations!!

Would make a fabulous present for your overseas friends and family.  And all handmade and designed in Australia!!!!

'Livewell Farm Linen'

I am very excited to lauch 'Livewell Farm Linen'.

This set contains a french seamed linen/cotton embrodiered tablecloth with 6 matching napkins and rings.
The linen can be made to fit any table and customed to suit every taste.  Why not order a set with your own property name?

Napkins, rings and tablecloths can be ordered seperately and gift wrapped if required.

Spring has sprung at Livewell

Spring certainly seems to have arrived early here at Livewell. Not only have not only seen our first 6 foot Brown snake of the year but our ewes started lambing last week. We had a single ewe born on Wednesday that Hope called Flossy. On Saturday we had our first set of twins - a little wether and a ewe. They are all doing well though the mums look a whole lot slimer! We are not expecting the next births until late next week but mother nature does tend to surprise us!

A Happy Birthday for Hope

For 12 months Hope has been working hard with her school work trying to get to the 100 points she needed from us before she was able to buy her first sheep. With 97 points on the board, Hope was rewarded on her birthday with 4 merino ewes from Uncle Andrew. She is a very happy 10 year old and we are proud that she worked so hard for so long to earn them.

Ruby Rubarb, Celery, Charlotte and Lizzy were all named and started to be spoilt here immediately on arrival. All of them are soon to lamb - some apparently having a history of twins! How exciting!

Little cows for sale

The time has come for us to part with some of our cows.

We chose to breed the Miniature Zebu because they were better suited to our Australian conditions. With natural fly and tick resistance and excellent mothers they have proved themselves here as a great choice!

We have several little ladies for sale. Please enquire if you are interested.

The Pigs Go To Work

Our vegetable garden has had an invasion of 'nut grass' and our best efforts to remove them has failed miserably. We had an idea to put the two 'little' large blacks pigs in the beds to do some ploughing. From past experience (when they had occassionally broken in) we were aware that they enjoyed digging up and eating the bulbs of this dreaded weed. I couldn't believe my luck when I happened on an old round trampoline base that was the perfect fit for our garden beds! After some more work involing securing some weld-mesh fencing around the outside and making an entry gate we were able to finally bring up April and Autumn to enjoy the day rummaging in the garden. The picutres shown are of the second day when they had cleared the entire bed for us! What a great organic solution!! Happy pigs - happy Brian and Lisa!!

After another productive days work we will be able to plant out some winter vegetables - broccoli, cauliflower etc. We can then pick up the makeshift enclosure and move it to the next bed. The pigs love it. When we open the gate and call them up to the garden in the morning you sometimes have to run to get there first!