Spectacular sunrise, followed by a sandstorm and winds from the Dune movie, followed by a lightning storm that scares grown-up dogs but not the puppies, followed by Telstra 4G disappearing, followed by the usual power cuts, followed by nurturing, marvelous rain!
 
The chooks and I are ready to do it all over again 😊
 
#ruralllife #AustralianOutback #farmilfe #pasturedeggs #chickensroaming #chooks #freerange #sunrise #redsunrise #spectacular #nofilter #rain #farmingday

"Let the rain kiss you
Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops
Let the rain sing you a lullaby",
 
For when the rain is finished, the sky's blue is the clearest, and the chook's dinner forage is the most bountiful supply of worms from the soft ground.
 
 
-- from the poem "April Rain Song" by Langston Hughes. The American poet just had the month mixed up, should be the 'November Rain Song' for Down Under, on the last day before Summer starts.
 
#rain #sun #worms #forage #freedom #pasturedeggs #pastureraised #beforesummer #lastdayofspring #spring #eggs #poetry #farmlife

"I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,
From the seas and the streams;
I bear light shade for the leaves when laid
In their noonday dreams.
From my wings are shaken the dews that waken
The sweet buds every one
...
I wield the flail of the lashing hail,
And whiten the green plains under,
And then again I dissolve it in rain,
And laugh as I pass in thunder."
 
 
Dear Cloud Rain, you have been most welcome. 😊 We had been missing on the rain clouds for a few days now, so very glad to have you here. 😊
#cloud #rain #sky #farmlife #pasturedeggs #pasture #nofilter
 
-- from the poem "The Cloud" by Percy Bysshe Shelley

"The Wind begun to rock the Grass
With threatening Tunes and low --
He threw a Menace at the Earth --
A Menace at the Sky.
 
The Birds put up the Bars to Nests --
The Cattle fled to Barns --
There came one drop of Giant Rain"
 
 
Lying in the grass, at the end of a hard day’s work,  the wind whispering while swinging the blades. In the distance, I can see the birds are safely in their bars to nest. A giant rain drop came! And not much followed 😊
 
#wind #grass #poetry #farmlife #pastured #eggs #beforetherain #raindrop
 
--from the poem "The wind begun to rock the grass" by Emily Dickinson

Deep in the shady tall grass, “there shall be
beautiful things made new, for the surprise”
of finding eggs and some lost chickens,
on an expedition far outside their flock.
 
 
#losteggs #lostchickens #pastured #pastureraised #tallgrass #eggs #pasturedeggs #expedition #explore
 
-- excerpts from “Hyperion” by John Keats, Book I.
Photography by Haydn

The ‘Stonehenge’ of Hilltops free range (as we call it) is just next to one of our flocks. The one in Southern England is aligned with the sunrise on the summer solstice. The one in Chile is aligned with the sunrise on the winter solstice. But the one in Hilltops is aligned with the golden light of a lazy afternoon’s forage for the birds just before sunset 😊
 
The hens like to explore far and wide in those couple of hours before the sun sets, when the wind is quiet and the bugs come out and fly. ‘Our Stonehenge’ is a nice cool couch to sit on – and also a neat place to hide even more eggs 😊
 
 
#pastured #freetoroam #justbeforesunset #goldenlight #stonehenge #rocks #stones #paddock #farmlife #eggs #pasturedeggs

After Jack’s retirement (see our post from January), Fluffy stepped in, in a self-declared promotion, to become the Chief Commanding Officer of all troops. Two-legged and four-legged included. Feathered and furred alike.
 
Fluffy is an exceptional Senior Executive: he 'transcends' borders (i.e. doesn't respect flock boundaries at all) and cares equally for all humans, chickens and other Maremmas (i.e. makes sure they all listen to him).
 
He is checking on every flock and even coming to check on the human lunches and dinners. 😅
It’s so good to see how this little puppy grew over the years. We named him 'Fluffy' because he was the chubbiest baby in the litter. He used to eat all the leftover food from everyone’s plate and gained the most weight the fastest. He was always curious, and always would go first: first to escape under the fencing, first to climb down the stairs, first to chase the new lambs.
 
We are proud of you, Fluffy 😊
 
#ChiefCommander #ChiefCommandingOfficer #CCO #theboss #Maremma #Maremmasheepdogs #pastured #farmlife #growingbabies
 
 
Photography by Haydn

“I felt my life with both my hands
To see if it was there –“

That feeling of finding three double-yolk eggs in one flock!
#joy of #farming
#handsfull
#hands #pastured #eggs #hens #grass #gianteggs #doubleyolk #doubleyolkers #sausageeggs

-- From the poem “I felt my life with both my hands” by Emily Dickinson
Photography by Haydn

"Poppy! delicate and fine,
Is it really true that you
Are no better than a cheat
Set among the golden wheat?
 
That for all your lovely [pink]
You will never make us bread,
That though with an elfin guile
You have caught the sun’s warm smile
Captive for a little while
There is no real use in you --
Tell me, tell me, is it true,
Poppy, delicate and fine?"
 
...
 
When the summer days are spent,
When the reaper’s hook is bent,
When is garnered all the grain,
Shall men say you lived in vain?
 
No, for, like a lovely thought
In a blossom’s semblance caught,
Your own meaning you have taught.
 
And I know, by Hope’s eyes brightened
By the weight of sorrow lightened,
By a faith deepened and heightened,
I know, I know it is not true
That there is no use in you,
Poppy, delicate and fine."
 
 
I came across the first pink poppy on the farm just there, next to the fence line of the flock on top of the first hill. In the afternoon of a hard day's work, chasing chickens, dogs, eggs, fixing fences in the scorch and dust and sweat, to lift up my eyes and see this pink poppy.
 
Yes, there is definitely use in you, our first Pink Poppy, with "sorrow lightened" and "eyes brightened".
 
 
 
#poppy #pinkpoppy #spring #useful #flower #pastured #eggs #freerange #lighten #sorrow #poetry #farmlife
 
-- from the poem "A Poppy" by the Australian poet Agnes L. Storrie, with modification by Hilltops Free Range

The salad bar is open 😊
Wonderful paddocks after the rainy winter, and where the chicken caravans have just passed through and fertilised generously.
 
#saladbar #greens #pastured #eggs #highgrass #spring #salad #naturalfeed

“A Drop fell on the Apple Tree –
Another – on the Roof –
A Half a Dozen kissed the Eaves –
And made the Gables laugh –
 
A few went out to help the Brook,
That went to help the Sea –
Myself Conjectured were they Pearls –
What Necklaces could be –
 
The Dust replaced, in Hoisted Roads –
The [Hens] jocoser sung –
The Sunshine threw his Hat away –
The Bushes – spangles hung –“
 
 
And so our chickens wondered if they could make pearl necklaces from the perfect droplets of rain on the spring grass. We have had a wonderfully wet winter and can’t get enough of the deep green of the grass, the deep darks of the clouds, and the velvety brown of the hens.
 
#spring #colours #rains #pastured #eggs #farmlife #raindrops #clouds #nodust #pasture #wetwinter
 
--from the poem “Summer Shower” by Emily Dickinson, with modifications by Hilltops free range
 

“Dust if you must, but there’s not much time,
With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb;
Music to hear, and books to read;
Friends to cherish, and life to lead.
 
Dust if you must, but the world’s out there
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair;
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,
This day will not come around again.
 
Dust if you must, but bear in mind,
Old age will come and it’s not kind.
And when you go (and go you must)
You, yourself, will make more dust.”
 
Here go the young  puppies, swimming rivers and climbing mountains, no time to get clean 😊

#puppies #Maremma #freedom #dustifyoumust #poetry #farming #farmlife #pastured #eggs #muddy
--from the poem “Dust If You Must” by Rose Milligan
 
Photography by Haydn

Me and the dog when we finally saw a little bit of sunshine today 😊
It did not last long.
 
Rain…rain… rain… mud… mud… mud…
#rain #pasture #pastured #eggs #Maremma

“Blow, blow, thou winter wind,
  Thou art not so unkind
     As man’s ingratitude;”
 
Blow, blow the winter wind did today.
We have nothing but humble gratitude when holding a warm egg early in the morning, just being laid.
#warmegg #winter #wind #pastured #freerange #eggs #gratitude #warmth #shakespeare
 
--from “As You Like It” by William Shakespeare, Act II Scene VII.
 
 
-Photography by Haydn

“To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.”
 
During the darkest days close to Winter Solstice, we are putting our new birds to sleep in the caravans, and we can definitely confirm that the dark ‘sings’ and ‘is traveled by feathers and feet’ 😊
 
#dark #chickens #pastured #wintersolstice #shortdays #poetry #farming #sunset #beauty #nightclouds #eggs
 
--from the poem “To Know the Dark” by the poet – and also fellow farmer! – Wendell Berry
 
Photography by Haydn

One of our younger Maremmas, enjoying some play time on the first day of Winter, June 1st.
The importance of play, of approaching each moment as a new thing, full of possibility, discovery and beauty.
 
The freedom to play all day for chickens, Maremmas and – sometimes – farmers 😊
If this is what winter will be like this year, please bring it on!
 
#Maremma #play #winter #pastured #eggs #freedom #chickens
 

"There’s no shadow without a light
No shallow without a height
No love without a fight"
 
Half of this is frosted grass, minus 3-4 degrees at the farm at night.
The moment the sun shines, the grass becomes luscious once again.
 
Here we all are, like the chicken, caught between frost and warmth. Between shadow and light.
 
The yin-yang of winter mornings at the farm.
 
#frost #winter #yinyang #pasturedeggs #grass #frostedgrass #free #
 
--from the poem "Soft Shadows" by Natasha Turner

"Daily the low sun warms [us]
in a late love that is sweeter
than summer."
 
The flood of autumn colours: while picking some eggs in the autumn low sun, the chickens came to check on me, then the dog came to check on the chickens.
 
We all stretched and enjoyed the low sun glow love.
 
#lowsun #warmautumn #autumncolour #pastured #pasturedeggs #eggs #farmlife  #autumnleaves #leavesandeggs
 
--quote from the poem "Plums" by Gillian Clarke, with modification by Hilltops eggs farm