Sheep Shearing

This is a short movie of our two pet sheep, Blossom and Lucy, flat on their backs being sheared. Thanks to Christopher for helping with the filming and our shearers Don and his Son.

And on a side note, compared to some of the hair cuts I've had up here in Blackheath, Don the shearer is looking pretty good... and I don't mind being thrown on by back by a big muscly guy... just a trim thanks mate.

The quality is not as good as I would like - as much as I love Your Tube (check out some of my other videos) it really strips the data down to its bones. I'm getting some new software soon, so hopefully it will improve things. Anyway enjoy.

Fire update & photos

The smoke is so bad I feel like we live in Beijing - The fires seem bit more under control in our area at Blackheath and its a bit cooler today. Unfortunately the misty rain prevents the backburning work from progressing but does not put the main fire out - It is still active and remains uncontained at 14000ha... that's a lot. Here are a couple more photos, taken in Blackheath where we live.

Blue Mountians Fire Update

So the fires have circled out little town of Blackheath like a band of indians. There are helicopters everywhere collecting water from the local golf course in front of our house and the river just down the valley. The hoses are all out and we have made exist plans for our animals if the need arises. Here are some more photos, the first one is a satellite image and the last image is a map of the burn out areas. These are care of the NSW fire service.

Blue Mountians Bush Fires

We live in Blackheath on the top of the Mountain, at the moment the air is thick with smoke and ash falling from the sky.

The fires are still quite away from our home, but close enough to see from up the road a bit. Here are some photos. As bad as the fire is it's also quite beautiful in it's own way and some australian plants actually need fire to germinate. To bad about all that additional C02 (Greenhouse Gas) we defiantly don't need any more of.

Unfortunately though as the planet heats up, it will just get drier in Australia and that in turn means more fires and even more C02. Damn we really need to do something more serious about our coal plants (electricity), cars and other greenhouse gas producing companies.

Dare to be honest

Asking The Question aspires to end the conflict between who you are and what you do.

There is nothing more brave than filtering out the chatter that tells you to be someone you're not. There is nothing more genuine than breaking away from the chorus to learn the sound of your own voice. Asking The Question is nothing short of an act of courage: It requires a level of commitment and clarity that is almost foreign to our working lives.

Dare to be honest with yourself, people who faced up to it, armed with only their weaknesses, equipped with only their fears.

They didn't wonder where they belonged in life.

Your calling isn't something you inherently "know," some kind of destiny. Far from it.

Most of us don't get epiphanies. We only get a whisper -- a faint urge. That's it. That's the call. It's up to you to do the work of discovery, to connect it to an answer. Of course, there's never a single right answer. At some point, it feels right enough that you choose, and the energy formerly spent casting about is now devoted to making your choice fruitful.

Is your choice something that will stimulate you for a year or something that you can be passionate about for 10 years?

The relevant question is not What will I do? but Who will I become?

You'll be a lot happier if you aren't fighting the value system around you.

Find one that enforces a set of beliefs that you can really get behind. There's a powerful transformative effect when you surround yourself with like-minded people. Peer pressure is a great thing when it helps you accomplish your goals instead of distracting you from them.

Gardening Tips and a bit of fun.

Conditioning Soil with Barley Grass... What's that boy doin now!

My Box

See the video!

Christopher Bunnies

Yep, they sure are cute. These are Chrisophers Bunnies. Sam in the hay, Charlie eating and Curly with his toys. As far as pets go Rabbits are probably number one in our books. They are very affectionate and loving and don't bark unlike our dog... he's cute too but can be a bit naughty. Sam and Charlie live outside in this amazing hutch Christopher build them with a big out door area for during the day... Photo to come... Little Curly lives inside as we rescued him when he was still a tiny kitten and he became a house rabbit,. I don't think he would have it any other way.

Alex's Pottery

Thought I'd start posting regular photos of my finished pottery. Everybody keeps saying that they have not seen any of my work, so here ya go. I do sell my pottery so leave a comment and your details if your interested in anything.

Pottery Garden Urn

So I've been had building a Garden Urn, fancy name for plant pot really. Anyway its made from coils of earthenware clay, which I then pinched together. I had added feet.... yes feet (see detail) I'm really pleased with them and now I have applied an black oxide.

I'm very excited about the first bisque firing coming up. Jane and I are planning a wood firing in the backyard for the final stage, so that's going to be heaps of fun....

Our chooks

So the new new chickens 'chooks' are all laying now and very happy scratching around the backyard, bottom of the property and in the little creek.

Some chook lingo:
A baby is called a chicken or chick.
A male under 12 months is called a cockerel.
A female under 12 months is a called pullet.
A male over 12 months is called a rooster or a cock.
A female over 12 months is called a hen.
Poultry is the word to describe domestic birds such as chickens, ducks, and turkeys as a group.
The word 'chook' is Australian & New Zealand slang for chicken!
A bantam is a very small chicken that produces smaller eggs.

Covered garden boxes

It can be hard to get vegies to grow in the winter frost, hale, and cold winds. Last year we built these covered boxes for our plants over winter, they where cheap to make and are really effective. We used fence palings, plastic and tacks.

Gus our wooly dog

So I have not done much blogging over the last few weeks, its been a crazy old time, big computer crash, works been busy - late nights so I have not really felt sitting in front of a computer for any longer than I had too. I also find winter a bit depressing so its hard to get motivated. Anyway I'm feeling a bit better about things and I have a little more time, so here goes.... any eazy post to start with.

In winter our little spaniel 'Gus' gets very thick, long wooly fur and is very cute - you just want to hug him all the time. 'Wooly' is also his nick name, he normally gets called that in winter, he seems to know both names. These are photos of him in the paddock playing soccer and against the fence asleep in the dirt. It seems the longer his fur gets the more he likes mud and dirt. Its a dog thing I suppose.


I think he looks like 'Wokie' from 'Star Wars' in this photo.

The Truth about Pigs

"I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals."
British politician and Nobel Prize Laureate Winston Churchill.

Most people don't have the privilege of getting to know a pig. For most of us, the thought of pigs conjure images of dirty, greedy animals living in their own waste. We couldn't be more wrong! Pigs don't perspire, and so wallow in mud to keep themselves cool. They are naturally very clean animals and, if given the choice, they prefer to cool themselves down in fresh water. When in a natural environment, pigs build communal nests and toilet areas away from their sleeping area.

Smarter than Dogs?
Pigs are remarkably intelligent creatures thought by many to be smarter than dogs. They can be trained to respond to simple voice commands, and are easily toilet trained. Studies have revealed that pigs have a long memory and are able to focus on specific tasks even better than some primates... read more click here!

Left over tomatoes

We had a pile of left over Tomatoes and Herbs from our garden, so I have been busy in the kitchen making sure nothing went to waste. We died our herbs, made Green Tomato Pickles from the un-ripened fruit and Pasta Sauce from all the red ones. The Green Tomato Pickles recipe comes from my grand mother, they are really tasty and never last long. This is a photo of the jars still left. Click here for the recipes

Snow Garden

So as you may have already figured out its been quite cold and snowy this year in Blackheath. The only vegies that are doing much good are the seedlings in our new covered garden bed. So glad we made it and will probably have a few more built for next winter.

Where we live

We live on the top of the Great Dividing Range and our part in New South Wales (Australia) is called the 'Blue Mountains'. Its about 1.5 hours from Syndey CBD. (Central Business District). The photo shows our town 'Blackheath' on the plateau.

The range comprises a well-dissected sandstone plateau that rises from an eastern escarpment. Its slopes are generally precipitous and scary. Blackheath is 1100m (3600 feet) from sea level and sits pretty much on the very top - its kinda cool.

In 1788 the Blue Mountains were originally named "Carmarthen Hills" and "Landsdowne Hills" by Governor Phillip, (really bad names). The Blue Mountains is densely populated by oil bearing Eucalyptus trees. The atmosphere is filled with finely dispersed droplets of oil, which, in combination with dust particles and water vapour, scatter short-wave length rays of light which are predominantly blue in colour. It wasn't long after 1788 that the distinctive blue haze saw the change in name to the Blue Mountains.

The first Europeans to cross the range were the explorers Gregory Blaxland, William C. Wentworth, and William Lawson in 1813. We have towns named after them.

Snow Dog

Well it's not the most exciting podcast in the world, but we only get a few days snow a year, so to us its pretty exciting!

Chicken Cam

Yes its a little Podcast / Chicken Cam so you can see our new new girls. Its all a bit silly really, but I had fun doing it.

The Chronicles of Narnia

We went out and brought the DVD 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe' last week. I had just finished reading the books and was keen to see the movie. Although it has a stolen story line from the bible, I enjoyed it anyway - the messages are still positive ones, even if you are a non beliver.

Anyway as for the movie, I was more disappointed than a disappointed thing is disappointed.

I'm not a big fan of talking animals movies, but the talking animals where probably the best part of this movie and the kids where pretty good too. I liked William Moseley as Peter the best. The CGI was really bad in places and the story line dragged. I did not get that feeling of magic, excitement and wonder that I got from the book. My biggest gripe is probably with Tilda Swinton as the White Witch - she was so not scary at all and I thought her acting was dreadful in this movie and as for her castle, talk about dull. I expected something more imposing like Mordor but with ice instead of fire.

Maybe I was just expecting too much. I give it a 'luke warm' rating, It was just too disney.