This is what it means to be grown up

So many things I used to thin would mark me being grown up.  First I thought it was when I got a job, then when I bought my first car, then when I moved out of home, then when I had a child, left my ex, then little things like booking the car in for a service on time, remembering that rego was due despite the fact I didn't recieve the letter...  But today is a big one. 

On Saturday we came home and discovered that our English angora, Rob Anybody, had Floppy Bunny Syndrome.  I spent the next 24 hours nursing him, keeping him warm and hydrated, trying to get food into him, every hour.  He looked to be pulling through but sadly at around midday on Sunday he slipped away.  He was calm and peaceful and not in any pain.  My son Ianto is heartbroken (Anouke is too young to comprehend death).  But the thing that has made this a 'grown up' moment is that I have to bury him.  It is a chore I would rather not do.  I really don't want to go out in the rain, dig a hole and place my lovely bunny in it and cover him over.  But there is no one else to do it, and I feel that I should too.  This is something that has to be done.  It can't be got away from and it feels heavy.  I can put off dealing with his hutch til the sadness subsides, I can leave the fibre I harvested from him and hadn't got around to dealing with yet but I can't put this off.  So today I feel like an adult.  And it sucks. 

Shetland sheep

My desire to have a sheep or two has lead me to a bit of research and I think I want a shetland.  They are an unimproved breed which dates back thousands of years and was probably introduced to the Shetland Islands by the vikings.  As they are unimproved they are very hardy (vital if something was going to survive in the Shetlands!) and have not been inbred for wool production or meat production at the expense of survival skills like easy lambing.
Because they were a breed that did well in harsh conditions near the arctic circle when they are in better conditions they thrive. They are good for fleece (which can sometimes be harvested without the need for shearing) and meat so are a good all round small sheep.

3 tonnes of firewood - more than just fuel for the fire

We got a huge pile of wood delivered the other day.  The overwhelming thing about a huge pile of wood in your drive way is that you then need to move it somewhere else.  By hand.  The process has highlighted a couple of things for me.  That physically, I am not that great.  That to live the life I want to, I actually need to start doing it.  Now.  That it will involve physical labour like moving firewood.  That I actually don't mind that physical labour.  On days like today when I am grumpy and irritable moving the wood brought some peace to my mind.  Getting off the couch and outside into the sun using my body calmed my mind and erratic emotions. 
The reality of the huge pile of wood is more than just warmth in the middle of a very cold winter.

More vegies

To add to the list
brussel sprouts
turnips
celery
beetroot
leeks
radishes
capsicum
tomatoes
saffron


I also want to build a root cellar for storage of winter vegies that don't get preserved, probably in the south facing hillside.

On another note, please don't hesitate to comment - different eyes see different oppurtunities and problems!

Garden list

Fruit
Avocado
apples
apricots
pears
oranges
lemons
limes
quince
cherry
passionfruit
peach
plum
kiwi fruit
strawberries
raspberries
currents (red and black)
cranberries
tomatoes

Vegetables
Potatoes
silver beet
broccoli
carrots
cabbage
zucchini
pumpkin
corn
cauliflower
asparagus
beans
pea
onions
garlic
chilli

Herbs/spices
parsley
cinnamon
allspice
pepper
mint
thyme
tarragon
rosemary
oregano
basil
fennel
vanilla

nuts (also for the wood)
hazelnuts
chestnuts

Things I would love to have
coffee bush
tea bush
grains like amaranth, rye or barley

Trees/flowers
silver birch
lavender
chamomile
daisies
nastursium
calendula

Jackie French's garden

http://www.jackiefrench.com/garden.html  Looks like that.  I love it.  I read her book "Backyard Self-sufficiency" last night and it is brilliant.  Previously I had only read John Seymour's self-sufficiency books and they are very different.
Jackie does gardens that require work to set up, planting and waiting and caring, while I am young and active, but by the time I am too old to prune trees, mow lawns, pick fruit from the tops of trees etc most of the garden should look after itself.  By planting groves of trees and creating an artificial forest that nonetheless takes advantage of the way actual forests grow she has managed to grow coffee bushes, avocados, bananas, and many many other plants in a similar climate to here (if anything more extreme as she quotes temperatures as low as -9 C and as high as 52 C) that I never thought I would be able to grow.  In my visions of the future things like that were things that would have to become very rare (or if TEOTWAWKI happens as I think it will non existent) and to think I could still have avocados, as a regular thing not a treat!  Even now they are a treat but it is concievable to have them all year round planting and gardening the way Jackie French does...  Unbelievable. 
The other brilliant thing about it is that it matches the type of garden I see in my head.  I have such a clear picture in my head about how my house looks and how the garden looks.  Now I have a block of land it is even clearer.  And a garden as productive as that that looks like a jungle just fits.  It matches a vague memory I have of my great grandmothers garden.  I can't have been any older than 4 but it was wonderful - full of little nooks and crannies created by well established plants and a wonderland for a small person. 
I just have to get over my gardening block.  I have always read gardening books and been totally overwhelmed.  Crop rotation, companion planting, fixing soil, rules about what works and what doesn't...  just completely outside my realm of experience and completely intimidating. 

So my gardening block is slowly melting, and my head is full of ideas.  Into a delirium of lists and plans - but I'll put those in a seperate post for ease of finding :)

The End Of The World As We Know It

It all sounds very dramatic, TEOTWAWKI.  Sounds like bombs, war, illness, death and pestilence.  I don't think it will be though.  I think it will be a case of 'not with a bang, but a whimper', especially for people who, like me, live in small country areas that are distanced from cities etc.  The world as we know it is one based on capitalism, more more more and materialism.  Personally I don't believe that this system is sustainable much longer, so the end of the world as WE know it is more likely to involve moving back to small villages supporting themselves, a barter type system rather than a monetary one, using sustainable and renewable resources and having less...  Just my thoughts on it ;)