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!

LIVEWELL BUNNIES

My easter bunnies have been hopping out the door. Thank you for all of your positive comments and orders!


These little ones are waiting for you to offer them a new home.


Standing approx 23cm tall they have tiny bead eyes, pipe-cleaners in their ears so you can position them, beautiful hand sewn faces and a very cute tail!





As with all of my creations - no two of these guys are the same and it is no problem to cater for colour requests.



Just email or ring if you are interested in any (or all) of them!

Well you may not see a pig fly - but see these swim!

Over 37 degrees here today on the farm and our two very friendly 'Large Black' pigs knew exactly the best place to be.

Storm clouds gather over the Farm

Well after three days of temperatures in the high 30's and overnight temps' that didn't drop below 24 the storm clouds finally started to gather. The photo was taken of the second storm front that approached us around 4:14pm and the temperature had already dropped to around 25 degrees.

Mother nature always continues to impress.

From This, to This, to This

Remember this back in November of last year.















Well three months have passed since then and in that time we have had flooding rain along with 35 degree days but the sweet potato patch has thrived and now look how it looks as we are just start to get our first ones fresh out of the ground.
















Our first simple dish we made was a filo pastry tart with sweet potato, caramelised onion and sorrel with a Parmesan and egg base, all served with boiled potatoes and butter.

Oh the simple pleasures.





Livewell Feelwell Eatwell

Johnny the pirate

I couldn't help myself.... His name had to be Johnny. The most handsome pirate on the big sea.

Complete with eye-patch, this young charmer is ready join ranks with his captain - Isaac. I am able to make other pirate's and have found a few different great fabrics. Just contact me if you are interested.

He has already worked his way into Gabriella's heart. I do hope she doesn't run away with him!

End of January 2011

Time has really flown along this year.

Brian has been very busy slashing and raking the hay ready to bale before the next lot of rain comes. I love seeing the hay shed full but I get tired just thinking about how much energy it takes to get it there!! I am going to plead with him to make the bales just a little little so I don't get a hernia trying to throw them on the stack.

I have been expending a lot of energy the last couple of days but of the creative kind, not the physical. I finally completed Gabriella the ballerina. I love all of the toys I make but this one is really special. I know she is going to make some little girl very, very happy.

She is quiet but fun. Tries really hard in everything she does and dances her way through life. This is Gabrielle the ballerina.

Jack Be Nimble

Sorry it has been so long since the last blog.

As you all know a lot has been happening in Queensland and especially our 'neck of the woods'.

Livewell Farm has never seen so much rain. We registered 500mls on one day alone.

We are all safe and sound and our little farm has been a refuge for a few families needing showers, batteries charged, home-cooked meals, washing done etc. Our thoughts are constantly with those that have suffered loss.

'Jack be Nimble' evolved over the flood period. At first he was going to just have those cute red and white flannelette pyjamas but Brian came up with the night cap idea. Then of course he needed a little one to take to bed - so I was able to play around with a bunny idea I wanted to do for Easter.

And now introducing.......

This cute little bunny is Jack's bedtime friend. What do you think about these for Easter with an egg?

Christmas around the corner and the rain keeps coming



The rain keeps falling here on the farm and last night we had another 25mm (1 inch). The ground is so wet already that it is just running straight off the ground; however life goes on and over the past 5 days we have had two new calves both little girls born to proud Mum's Nova and Lucy.



Nova and her girl

 

           

Lucy and her girl



The rain also keeps the pigs happy here is Fauna enjoying one of her many wallows, oh to be as happy as pig in mud, it is also doing wonders for our newly planted Zucchinis (Courgette) which have now started to produce a great crop of lovely fresh vegetables (watch out for our latest recipe blogs). 

Fauna relaxing in her mud bath



Rain does slow somethings down though as I am currently waiting for a break in the weather so that I can start cutting, raking and baling one of our lovely grassy hay fields, oh well they do say you can never keep a farmer happy.

Finally here is wishing all our readers and followers a very happy, safe  and festive Christmas from all of us at Livewell Farm



Designer Living in the Country....

Poor Allyson has had to wait some time for this blind to be finished.
I got a little carried away making reindeer!

But as you can see it was worth the wait.  The fabric is designed and printed in Australia by Thea and Sami.  The picture does not do the colour justice.

I have another one to make for a bedroom in sage green.  Will have a short break over Christmas then back at my machine!!

Rainy Weather Brings Elephants!!!!

This glorious rain has enabled me to get these elephants finished so they can be delivered before Christmas!
All my girls have fallen in love with them and will be sad to see them leave.

Mobah and Booboo have been lovingly created over the last 3 days.  There seems to be a lot of mother/daughter action here at the farm lately!!!
We had a little heifer born from our most beautiful cow Nova.