"Holiday" Shopping Specials..

Christmas occurs in high summer for us, no sleigh bells and snow, crissy dinner is usually cold meats and salads. This is harvest time, spuds, carrots and so on, so very busy. Most people I know don't even know what thanksgiving is, so it isn't widely celebrated over here.Black friday is to some extent.
It also our rainy season, so lots of rain with fine clear days in between.
Is the season to work to get crops in before winter. Luckily, no snow in winter here, just a frost which is gone by 9 am usually, and then its jumpers off as the temp is 25 deg c or so.
The shops tend to have specials leading up to the holidays, but I haven't noticed as many this year.
Is the season for keeping a sharp lookout for wild dogs, dingos and foxes that want a meal of chooks, or new born farm animals. The rifle is never far from hand now.
The bees are very busy, as is the beekeeper. Lots of honey flow, and filling their boxes every 2 or 3 weeks. Unfortunately, the wet weather is preventing me from checking hives and there have been a couple of swarms from them over the last week or so. As soon as the weather clears, it will be a busy time spinning out honey, and Im expecting over 10 kg per box, so some hives that have 2 or 3 supers on them will spin out 20 or 30 kg honey. Probably over 1,000 kg this time. And the same in 3 or 4 weeks time, just before Christmas.
Everything is growing, you can almost hear the grass shooting up.
The dehydrator is working every day, dehydrating potatoes and corn. Water tanks and the dams are full, and the solar power systems on the dwellings on the farm here, are fully charged by 10 am, when relays switch on the 240 v booster elements in the hot water systems, to give them a bit of a tickle up as there isn't much direct sun at present.
Its the time to rotary hoe garden beds and prepare them for summer planting, some for the second crop. Time also for planning next years gardens and breaking the ground for them so the pigs can dig them over for the next 10 months.
Add in 2 or 3 days a week casual work and the days are filled with activity.
The summer afternoon thunder storms are destroying any radio communications on the short wave bands, so its listening to some music after tea instead.
Being sabbath keepers, as opposed to 7th day Adventists, we look forward to the one day of rest a week.



I'm learning to fly...and I don't have wings !

We are trying to untangle ourselves from the shopping system, knowing its going to crater sometime soon. Our own eggs, milk, meat (lamb),honey, vegies as seasons allow, assorted fruits and berries as well as totally off grid power and the means to make our own fuel for generators, vehicles etc from wood, via pyrolosis.
Water from rain tanks, pumped to header tanks with solar, and dam water for irrigation, once again pumped with solar to header tanks.
Practicing for the end with dehydrating foods of all kinds whilst they are available and a failure doesn't matter.
With the coming on of summer, there are lots of predators trying for a dinner of fresh chick, so a rifle is always at hand to deal with the odd dingo, wild dog, brown snake and fox.
Its not easy when its so wet that I cant slash and have to resort to making paths through the grass for access to sheds and so on.


Here is a tagline for our Canadian mates......Ig:An Eskimos house without the loo.