The farm.

I always find it so interesting to see pictures of everyone's kitchens and pantries, cooking etc. And I find the US ladies lives and ways of doing something fascinating. So it dawned on me that maybe others would find the farm interesting?

This time I will post about the farm house, kitchen etc. as I stayed home and we didn't go out and around the paddocks. It rained a lot of the time. Previously I have posted at Christmas about the deer. Next time I will go for an evening drive and post pics of kangaroos and emus, stock etc. (It is a sheep and cattle farm.) 

So this is about the homestead.

It is also a nice time of year, the end of winter and just spring. Too early for many flowers yet.

The family moved to this farm when I was about 19. The site where the house is was nothing, barely any trees. We planted the garden from tiny plants and there was no hose, we watered hundreds of trees with buckets. My youngest brother was a baby then. The garden is surrounded by native trees and it blends in so you don't obviously see where the scrub ends and where the garden starts.

As you drive up the driveway on the left there is a large pond. The kids have a little canoe they paddle on the pond. Mum and Dad have always had little dogs and they hop in too. There are usually ducks here. In the evening and during the night there is the lovely sound of frogs. From my room I listen to the frogs in the night, I love that!

The front door is like a fortress and is huge and solid. No flimsy doors allowed! Also the whole veranda is made of posts that are the trunks of the local gum trees. That was Dad's idea.

This is the largest post on the corner of the garage. If I stand and put my arms around it I can reach half way. The house isn't going to blow away anytime soon.

In the garden there is an "arbour" that Dad had built of trees as well.

That is out the front so you can see the house behind it. There are hollow logs in this and they are always full of nesting parrots. Where there are not enough hollow logs Dad straps extra hollow logs! The birds nesting in these are Rosella's. Eastern Rosella's to be exact.

Mum and Dad each have a kitchen! Mum wins on cleanliness though. This is Mum's stove which is an Aga.

Mum has a large pantry, a very large chest freezer...

They are about an hour from the nearest small town and it is all dirt roads. So everything is kept on hand at all times.

Dad has a stove he uses all the time and this stove he is currently not using but it works. He got it from an old homestead that was falling down...

He has shelves all long a wall in the kitchen stocked with his favourite stuff. 

He also has a big freezer. It is the size of a bedroom! It is full of sheep, cows, venison, rabbits, fish and who knows what he has in there!

The garden is very peaceful. I really like it.

This is the Bay Leaf tree... I would guess it's about 6 meters/yards tall (roughly)... When I told Dad Bay Leaves are 40 or 50c he said that tree must be worth $10.000!

A Grey Shrike Thrush had built a nest on the back veranda which I was thrilled about! I stood on a chair to look inside and there were three eggs. She sat there singing away while on the nest, multitasking!

Over the next weeks I will work in a lot more photos but that's enough for one day! 

I find the farm really relaxing, sitting near the fire, the bird life is beautiful and around the house they are all so  friendly. Blue Wrens sit on the windowsills and sing. They are my favourite bird and also Grey Fantails. I saw five of those this trip.

 I am glad to have the farm in the family. And the girls grew up between the farm and the beach as we lived nearby right near the sea. That made for lovely childhoods. I came home with wildflowers, a duck, good op shopping, Bay Leaves and bunches of lavender.

Have a prudent and diligent week! I am heading out the door to stop and have washing on the line. xxx