Fencing, baking, and naughty Angie and lovely Lucy.

We have been working hard on the stock fences over the past few weeks. The electric fence had many shorts, and was losing power, and the cows were taking advantage of the situation, and breaking through the fence at will. Jesse worked hard and largely overcame the problems. Here he is assisted by Ali and Ian.









Even though the current in the fence is now giving a good belt, Angie is still breaking through, lured by the greener grass on the other side of the fence. She really has a thick skin.










We were also delighted to get the power hooked up to the new implement shed.











As well as the spouting up on the cob cottage.











Ali's chicks are growing quickly, but the younger ones are still just balls of fluff and skin.










The youngest chicks are causing us some consternation, though. All of the clutch but two look like this.











Then there are the two odd balls,who are half the size of their brothers and sisters, and only half the feathers are formed on their bodies. Even our chicken expert, George is unsure just why they are so different. We are waiting and watching to see just what they will become.




Wwoofer Nico is a baker in his French homeland, and very kindly shared his skills with us, making his speciality brioche. He used my sourdough starter, (and gave it the thumbs up) and ten eggs, butter and flour.












The results were delicious.











We also welcome Lucy to the farm, she is Joy's first calf, Angie's older sister. She is all grown up now, and is expecting her first calf this spring. We have purchased her as a breeding cow, and love the her dun coat, making a nice contrast to Joy's black coat.

Update on the cob

Well, it's time I gave an update on how we are going with the cob. Progress has slowed for several reasons. Firstly the weather is much cooler, and the wall is drying more slowly, meaning we can't make each lift as high. Also, now we are getting higher up the wall, we need to climb a ladder each time to place a cob on the wall. Still we keep on, slowly but surely. I wanted to share with you some of the pictures from our international "mud stompers" hall of fame.

Firstly Jesse and Annie from stomp the Canadian way!














Meagan stomps solo in the Aussie way.












The cup of tea way.












Returning for his 3rd visit, Kiwi Ben stomps the Kiwi way.













Dita stomps the Czech way, watched by her parents. Dita and Martin had been wwoofing with us late last year, and were responsible for some of the most beautiful tiles in the earth house. It was so wonderful for us to host the whole family for a few days, before they headed back to Czech.












All that stomping has given a few of us sore feet. Meagan and Annie decided to do a new take on 'bound' feet, and found that red duck tape was a real winner.














Morning tea on the deck of the wwoof house.












Scones and cream, Ali's favourite.















Another important way to mix the earth and straw is to roll it using the tarp on which it sits. Here wwoofers Gaston and Barbara from Argentina show us how it's done.











You might be wondering how the earth is applied to the walls. Meagan shows us how to form the earth/straw mix into a rough brick-like shape.










This is then applied to the walls and worked in with your hands and fingers to ensure each lift mixes seamlessly with the one before.











And the most important thing is that the walls are going up, slowly but surely.










And we have even reached the top lintel on the northern corner. Gaston and Barbara show how excited they are about that!

Ian's soup extravaganza.

Every Friday night is our Special Meal night, when we invite fiends and family over for good food and fun. Our resident wwoofer chef Ian (UK) decided to treat us all to some of his famous soup, and went even further and held a Soup Extravaganza! 3 different kinds of soup, all delicious and very filling and satisfying.



As usual Ali was on hand to entertain everyone with tall stories, unique laugh, and that moustache.










Chef Ian had lots of happy helpers in the kitchen, wwoofer Jody (UK) made his hat and penned the menue, wwoofer Meagan (Australia) is the champion pot scrubber, and wwoofer Jesse (Canada) is the ever polite waiter.





Ali's parents Beryle and Ron are our favourite Friday regulars, and here Jody and Meagan hear some pearls of wisdom from Beryle.










Our dear friends Ray, Denise and Jesse Badger joined us at meal, and Ray and Ron swapped jokes and had us all in stitches.
The favourite soup was the Carrot and Corriander, with the the Curried Pumpkin and Seafood chowder tying for a close second. Dessert was Apple and Rhubarb Crumble and homemade icecream.





Woofers and hosts pose for a snap, feeling full and relaxed, ready for a weekend with no cobbing.








At the end of a wonderful meal, coffee is served in our best china tea cups, the perfect way to end the evening.