Pause and reflect, commemorate and remember. The stunning #Boorowa #WarMemorial on an autumn day  #ANZACDay #lestweforget #rememberanceday

“’O where are you going?’ said reader to rider,
   ‘That valley is fatal where furnaces burn’”
 
Meeting riders like this hen every afternoon. They especially like to wander in the golden hour, before sunset. Where are you going?? There may not be ‘furnaces burning’, but there is Reynard or Tod, and his Vixen, and Foxen litter, and Eagles and Baza, and Falcon… “Don’t worry,” she tells me, “I come back for supper” :)
 
#runaway #escape #pastured #eggs #freedom #running #chicken #hen #pasturedeggs #freetoexplore #explorer #freerange #explore #comeback #intime
--from the poem "O Where Are You Going?" by the great W H Auden

It was an egg inside an egg! Our MONSTER egg we found on Friday, was an egg inside the egg, and it weighed a whooping 182grams!
 
Some young chicken was getting confused, she forgot to lay the egg yesterday...
#monster #egg #egginsideegg #double #twins #nestingdolls #pastured #weirdegg #bigegg #giant #giantegg #pasturedeggs

"I bought a Maserati
and a new Mercedes-Benz,
plus a brand new Lamborghini
I could show off to my friends.
...
For though it’s fun to be
the richest [dog] alive,
I’m sure I’ll like it better
when I’m old enough to drive."

-says one of our Maremmas, the only dog in the world who LOVES to get car rides. All of our Maremmas are either suspicious of the car, and only interested to 'mark territory' on the smelly tires, or scared of the car, they hate the vibrations and the noise; they also suspect a visit to the vet is coming! (trying to get a wild Maremma to the vet in a car is a WHOLE other story to tell).

But this guy, the minute you leave a car door open, he is up and inside, and he is settling comfortably, ready for some backseat driving!
#doginacar #backseat #driving #lovecars #Maremma #sheepdogs #pastured #eggs #farmlife #cars #showoff #dogdriver


from the poem "I Bought a Maserati", in the book "My Hippo Has the Hiccups" by Kenn Nesbitt, with modifications by Hilltops free range

Photography by Haydn

We’ve tried flexible chicken fencing, we’ve tried modern style cow fencing, we lately tried construction fencing (!?), hoping that was high enough. But there are always those chickens who fly like the eagle and would do anything to get to the other side!
 
Sometimes it’s their inner compass and sense of direction: they want to go where they were before (as our chickens roam around the paddocks and move every few weeks to a new pasture). The trouble is, all infrastructure is in the new area of the paddock, including water pipes and fox protection (a.k.a. Maremma’s). Big problem for the daily hunt for eggs as well.
 
I somehow need to remind them: your grass also looks greener – from the other side!!!
 
#green #pasture #fencing #problem #escaping #freedom #pastured #eggs #runaway #chickens #greenerpasture #otherside #greenergrass #grass #pasturedeggs
 
-Photography by Tom

"The storm hath passed;
  I hear the birds rejoice; the hen,
  Returned into the road again…
  The country smiles;"
 
It’s all clear skies and the storms have passed: the whole farm smiles! We gathered up some fallen branches, in the path of where we want to move the caravans next. Wonderful red box gum, it would be heartwarming in the fireplace – probably very soon, as the morning have become quite crispy here!
 
#gettingcold #coldmornings #fallenwood #boxgum #clearsky #pastured #eggs #hens #freedom #poetry #green #pasture #farmlife #tractor #jobs
 
--from the poem "Calm After Storm" by Count Giacomo Leopardi, the Italian 19th century Romantic with the longest name in the world (you don’t believe me? Try Count Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi)

Photography by Tom

The tempest and the hail storm left our water tanks full but put holes in the roof of one tools shed:

Lucky for us, the path of the hailstorm miraculously spared all our animals and other infrastructure on the farm! However, Boorowa town was badly hit, and we hope everyone is safe and well.
We just take the holes to the tools shed as ventilation and carry on! All water supply is welcome.
 
#hailstorm #hilltopsregion #water #summer #hail #eggs #water #pasturedeggs

"The heat’s a fire in the sky,
It makes the trees and people cry.
I’d leap in water, if I could,
But all the lakes have dried for good!”
 
..if not in the lake – jump in the watering bowl! 😂😂😂We’ve had a fair share of sizzling days this February, but our Maremma dogs always invent ways to leap into the water. Makes us want to jump in too! 😁
#keepingcool #water #hotsummer #pastured #eggs #farmlife #Maremma #dogs #cooldown #wateringbowl #invention
 
—Photography by Haydn
 
—from the poem “Sizzle” by William Blake

“I'm up and down, and round about,
Yet all the world can't find me out;
Though hundreds have employ'd their leisure,
They never yet could find my measure.”
 
We have one hen which lays perfect circles, every time! And since way back, we humans can measure the circumference of a circle, but we cannot find what the exact value of Pi is! Maybe this hen has finally solved this age old question?!
 
We are showing you the regular, ‘normal’ shape of an egg to compare, and the perfect circle on the left! We get one of those every day now.

#circle #circleegg #circular #egg #pasturedeggs #perfectcircle #pi #howmuchispi #
-- from the poem “On A Circle” by Jonathan Swift, all the way back in the 18th century!

“And when the Sun comes out,
After this Rain shall stop,
A wondrous Light will fill
Each dark, round drop;
I hope the Sun shines bright;
‘Twill be a lovely sight.”
 
We had those wild, stormy rains, we had the gusty winds, we had the power out, the internet connection down, the fencing down, the packing shed flooded, and so… both chickens and I really think that a bit of blue sky is a ‘lovely sight’ 😊
We hope everyone is now dry and lookup into some lovely sights 😊 😊 😊
#wild #weather #storms #bluesky #lovelysight #poetry #pastured #eggs #outdoors #summerrain #rains #aftertherain
 
-- from the poem “The Rain” by W.H. Davies

"Something’s not the same,
I taste the sap and feel the grain,
hear the rolling of the [hen]
ringing, singing in a change.

Something’s set to start,
there’s meadow-music in the dark
and the clouds that shroud the mountain
slowly, softly start to part."

May the New Year come in for everyone with a new start, with dark clouds drifting apart - albeit slowly, softly, but steadily. Just like the vibrant green renewal after summer on our paddocks!

#newgreen #newgrass #summer #paddocks #chicken #pasturedeggs #eggs #freedom #newyear #poetry #farmlife #wishfornewyear #freerange #pastured

--from the "Poem for a New Year" by Matt Goodfellow, with modifications by Hilltops free range

"How very simple life would be
If only there were two of me
A Restless Me to drift and roam
A Quiet Me to stay at home.
...
One eye turns to the forward track,
The other eye looks sadly back.
I'm getting wall-eyed from the strain,
(It's tough to have an idle brain)
But One says "Stay" and One says "Go"
And One says "Yes," and One says "No,"
And One Self wants a home and wife
And One Self craves the drifter's life."

However you have chosen to celebrate New Year - whether it was a drifter's life, or lazy days at home, with late mornings, frequent naps and favorite hobbies - we hope you had some wonderful food and wonderful eggs!

Happy New Year everyone! May we all have double the joy of the life we choose!
Our GIANT, double-yolk pastured eggs, beautifully described by the poet, and leaving room for one to do sunny side up, and one to do over-easy :)

#poetry #eggs #doubleyolk #gianteggs #doubleyolker #brightyolk #
--from the poem "The Double Life" by the American poet Don Blanding
--Photography by Haydn

Since we see nothing but eggs, eggs, eggs, and Christmas day is half-spent collecting eggs, our snowman is also made entirely out of eggs 😊 We get all sort of eggs at the farm: they don’t always fit the ‘standard’ box of the egg cartons.

We get double-yolker eggs that weigh more than 120grams each – and that’s a good one for the base of our snowman. We get eggs that are a good decent size and fit the egg box that can fit inside a supermarket shelf – and that’s the middle of our snowman.
We also get eggs that are teeny-tiny, weighing just a few grams, looking like bantam eggs – and that is our snowman’s head.

From the smallest to the giant, all eggs bring joy and fun, if you look at things the right way. One piece of good news: this snowman won’t wet the bed by morning 😊 and makes some mean pavlova base!

Merry Christmas and best of the holidays to everyone!

From the Hilltops free range egg farm

#eggs #snowman #pastured #fun #farmlife #christmas #chickenedout #fun #art #farmart #allshapesandsizes #smallesttothebiggest

“The Grass so little has to do --…
With only Butterflies to brood
And Bees to entertain --
…
And stir all day to pretty Tunes”
 
A hectic day: chickens running all around, sheep breaking fences and getting where they are not supposed to, dogs barking left right and centre, late to pack the truck, driver waiting, and then I turn around: the tallest grass of Summer, which ‘stirs all day’, just swinging in the wind, hiding the bees, the butterflies, and occasionally hiding a few chickens too...
 
We all wish we were grass today!
 
#grass #sway #wind #hiding #tallgrass #poetry #summer #farmlife #nothingtodo #poem
--from the poem “The Grass so little has to do” by Emily Dickinson

Our own abstract expressionist movement, with the chooks using the ‘drip technique’, and innovating with the egg surface as a canvas! 🤣🤣🤣

Truly amazing as a whole-covered canvas, taken against the backdrop of burnt grass from the dry spell we had, mixed with some newly sprung fresh green (after this week’s lovely and very welcome rains).
 
Drip painting with our bright yolks 😊Art will save the world, they say, one hen leading the way. 🤣🤣🤣

#art #eggs #pasturedeggs #drippainting #jacksonpollock #farmlife #artandfarming #grass #pasture #canvas #hens #mischief #inthepaddock #eggsart #artoneggs  

I see you!
Normally, there should be eggs coming out from this belt, not chickens 😃😃😃

Our youngest chickens having fun, poking around everywhere we look.
 
#eggs #young #chickens #peekaboo #pastured #farmlife #surprise #hens

"The mechanic raised up from under my hood
He shook his head and said, 'This ain't good
Your timin' belt's done, shrunk one size too small.

Those spark plug wires are a little too long
And your main prodsponder's nearly gone
Your injector ports are stripped and that ain't all."
"The torque converter's runnin' low on torque
And that water pump's nearly down a quart
But we caught it all in time so you're in luck"

...don't be downhearted, I can fix it for you, sonny
It won't take too long, it'll just take money"

The Polaris part arrived after a long wait, we fit it in, and after an hour of egg collection, the wheel broke (you can see the front right-side wheel in the photo).  The Land Cruiser engine blew up on the way to Gundagai, trailer full of stuff behind it too. The big FUSO truck in the middle of Harden got stopped for being past rego, trailer full of eggs too. The other ute's tyre got a puncture so a quick run to the Active AG Tyre was a gift from above.

It's been one of those weeks, what can you do? Just crank up the volume on that country song and -"it'll just take money"!

#brokendown #eggs #pastured #mechanic #troubles #rough #terrain #farmlife #farmvehicles
--from the song "The Talkin' Song Repair Blues" by the talented Alan Jackson

“If ever there were a spring day so perfect,
so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze
that it made you want to throw
open all the windows in the house
and unlatch the door to the canary's cage,
indeed, rip the little door from its jamb…
 
…well, today is just that kind of day.”
 
There is this ‘just perfect’ moment in Spring: not too cold, not too hot yet. Not too windy, not too sunny. And although we spent the day dealing with water problems again (this has been the week for emergency water pump replacement, burned controller, persistent airlocks and cloudy days where the solar battery is not enough), we still take a moment to lift up our eyes and watch the sea of lush green wheat that has come through, and the nodding purple poppies.
 
We hope everyone can enjoy this Goldilocks Spring moment: open your windows and rip out your doors indeed 😃
 
#spring #goldilocksmoment #greenwheat #pinkpoppies #purplepoppies #lush #paddock #freerange #pasturedeggs #perfectday #water #problems #farmlife #farming #outdoors
--from the poem “Today” by Billy Collins