18th Jan

 Well hello there. Its time for a few chicken photos as that what today was about.
I was awoken at 5.30 am by a sickly sounding crow. Ugh looks like my baby chicks I hatched had a few roosters in there. So I lean out of bed straight to my ipad and advertize free to good home rooster maybe more than one.
Turns out 3 of 6 chicks that I hatched were roosters. I had a feeling one was a rooster, but anyway a lovely couple came and took them of my hands.

 Much to the disgust of this girl

 This is one of the chicks , not a great photo but she is a splash Australorp.
Such a good versatile chicken if you are looking and getting into chickens, they are excellent layers as well.

 Another chick she is a blue Australorp. I have a black one as well but she wasnt impressed about photos today. To busy scratching around in the gardens and to quick for me to get a shot of her.

 Now these girls are beautiful ducks they are Indian runners and if you love duck eggs, these are the breed to get as they are simply the best layers,  they have a pool but for some reason they like my pond they sit in it all day , hence I havnt put fish in there. I tried to put wire on it but they just plonked themselves on top of it.

 A beautiful lily that I purchased not so long ago for the garden. There is always something in bloom around here.

 The girls had a wonderful day today scrounging around the yard.

 Boy do I love dahlias, I think I have mentioned this many a times on this blog. But I dooooo.

 Everywhere I go these girls follow me. Chooks have to be the best pets.

 Snowball is looking a bit of a wreck today, dirt everywhere.

 I love that they pull out weeds and all sorts of goodies from the earth.

 They didnt find these. These are the last of my berries, a beautiful thornless blackberry bush. My freezer is full of logan and rasberries. This is my blackberry bushes first year  so hopefully I get a few.

 My one and only sunflower how gorgeous are these , such a happy looking plant.
I think it self sewed  here from the chicken feed.

 Its amongst my fruit trees

 My girls are certainly laying well at the moment. Some days I get nine eggs, today it was 6.

 Blooming dahlias.

 My new little addition to my bunny clan, this is a broken orange she is just beautiful.

 My shed is devoted to my bunnies, I spend a bit of time down here brushing them cutting nails and cleaning cages Popping them outside in the bunny run to take turns in the sunshine.

 Now onto the next new years resolution on getting fit.
Also de cluttering , well this thing here had to go. it was a fad for the first week but after that I found it extremely boring and hour on this just walking no where was not for me.
I love to walk and be able to look at gardens and birds and flowers and houses and just generally wander around. So thats what Im doing , so this went into the local buy ,swap and sell and thank god for that it was huge and taking up to much room and I want to re decorate this room.

I was also going to follow the latest trend of getting a fit bit {look them up if you dont know what they are} but instead Ive stood my ground Im not a follower and didnt want to buy another piece of rubbish that would end up on the scrap heap. So above is a picture of my fit bit. She just loves a walk  and I like to keep her happy and I can tell how many steps we have done as she is tired and doesnt dig as many holes in my garden.
So there you go. Thats my Sunday.
Enjoy your week everyone xxx

De Clutter

Since the first of January I have cleaned out a few things each day.
I hired a skip for my shed items. Now my shed is looking the way I like it.
Ive cleaned out that junk draw in the kitchen that was hard to shut, you know the one that you just throw anything or everything in that really doesnt have a spot. Well I filled up 2 bags with that one.
Ive actually cleaned all my kitchen draws.
The corner tupperware cupboard that would hardly shut.
The bathroom upstairs has been completely done all the cupboards and draws.
I still have a fair way to go.
Ive made a start, Ive filled a skip. Ive sold things in the local Buy swap and sell groups on facebook and Ive made several trips to the opp shop.
Thats my rule there is piles to sell
piles to opp shop and piles to throw out.
If the item doesnt sell it goes to the opp shop.

Ive sorted the front and back garden with help from my Aunty and Uncles which was just fantastic.
2015 Im zooming along.

 My plum tree which was only planted this year. Is just full of plums and boy are they the sweetest most yummy plums.

 Beautiful cactus flower

 Gladis blooming everywhere

 My spot

 New orange dahlia

 Purple gladi that I had admired in my Aunties garden , is now in my garden. I just love swaps

 Speaking of swaps is this big giant white cactus dahlia although something is eating it. So thank you Tracy from Sunny Corner Farm.

 Poor vege garden not a great deal in here. Pumpkins, corn, tomatoes and some kale

 This grape bush just goes wild it takes over everywhere.

On that note signing of into the sunset to think of what de cluttering job I will tackle next.

If these walls could talk. Tour of Aradale

I have often driven though Ararat and seen the large white building on the hill, even as a child I can remember it.
Today we decided to take the tour of the Old Aradale mental hospital and what incredible sadness I felt.

 These are a few snippets from ex patients. This one just speaks for itself

 If you click on the photo above you may be able to read this one

 Ararat Mental Hospital opened 1867-- decommissioned 1993

 Aradale was built as a town within a town. It had its own market gardens, orchard, vineyard, piggery and other livestock.
While NMIT has a vineyard, olive grove and lavender farm at Aradale, the extensive asylum buildings are in disrepair. The Friends of J Ward hope the 90-minute tours will draw wider attention to Aradale and spark efforts to preserve its 146-year-long history.

 I took to many photos to post , there is so much history and sadness here.
The photo above is administration everyone would of come through this room

 Staff quarters, training nurses would stay on the property. I really dont think I would like to be a nurse in those days.

 This is a single room. Its quite dark but patients would be locked in at night.
The saddest thing about those times is young or old ,male of female who had a mental illness such as autism, down syndrome,epilepsy, post natal depression may of found themselves here.

 The chapel, the guide told us a story about a man who every week asked the priest to pray for his mother, after several months the priest asked the man is your Mother ok, the mans reply was " I dont know Ive never met her I just wanted to make sure she was ok" The man had been in an institution all his life {he had down syndrome} I almost cried.

 Shared showers

 This desolute building once housed over 1000 patients with the only home they knew and generally stayed there for life.

 The men and women were housed seperately

 This building was the most disturbing they didnt take us through as it had been vandalized . But the guide did say it housed the most disturbed patients, at most times they didnt wear clothes, they would toilet where they stood and were hosed instead of showered. He did say all the hoses were still there. To me I just cant imagine how horrific that would of been, and even to work there. They were heavily medicated as well.

 An exercise yard, on each building was supposed to be so they could get out and play ball and mingle but with heavy medications this was difficult

 Cellars to store food that was grown on the property

 This is a room where the female would do activities such as peg making and basket weaving

 A bakery where they made their own bread

 The diet chart for soft ,special or full meal.

 This is where the gardens once were

 The front of the building where the patients were driven up to it looked quite ok

It is well worth a visit . Very interesting and very sad.