Hello to our new (PINK!) Chicken Coop!

When we lived at the bottom of my in-law’s garden, there was already an established chicken run, complete with laying hens. It was wonderful having our own fresh supply of eggs (especially as Everly eats 2 eggs just about every day for breakfast…click here to read more about her ‘real food’ weaning & feeding journey) but also because Granny & Grandpa were a mere minute away for visits.

While there is a very old and rusty metal chicken house in one of the farm sheds, Farmboy has been wanting to make his own one for a good number of years now, and so our new home was just the prompting he needed t get started on the project. I will have you know, the pink colour was not my idea, but of course, I am thrilled with it! As there were two options for a primer for the wood (white or pink) the choice seemed obvious to my dear husband, and voila…the pink coop!

Farmboy didn’t work from any plans when we put it together, working from an idea on Pinterest, and his own clever farmboy mind, he whipped together a very snazzy A-frame house, complete with double story roosting space inside, and a hinged door on the side to collect eggs from. The chickens are locked up at night (to keep them safe and sound) and during the day are let out to wonder around their enclosure. We do let them out into the garden too, but they are such social creatures that they are ALWAYS making themselves at home on our verandah, and leaving ‘evidence’ behind that is just impossible to clean.

Here are some photos of the behind the scenes set up, as well as some photo of Everly collecting the first egg (it was promptly dropped, much to our horror) but luckily that evening there were another 5 eggs waiting for us.

We put all of our garden refuse/mulch into their pen, as they love pecking around in it. We also make sure the have straw for roosting and laying their eggs. Oh and don’t forget about Edgar, the man about town. He’s our friendy garden rooster, who lives in the garden, eating insects and other little bits and pieces…he sleeps in the trees! And everyone morning comes along with us to check on his ladies and make sure they are all happy. Funny little thing.

Enjoy

x

Winter afternoons on the Farm - Life on a Dairy Farm in Creighton, South Africa

Winter has been especially mild this year (although as I type this I've been told we are in for one last cold spell before Spring officially arrives).

My good friend Storm (you might remember her as my stylist and florist friend from Korea whom I worked with on numerous styled shoots over the past few years...see posts below) came to spend a few days with us on the farm. It's been a good time to have friends stay with us as the countdown to Baby Hutton is well underway (at the time of writing this I have 4 official weeks to go!).

While Storm was here we spent a most wonderful afternoon chasing the last sun rays and showing her around the farm. Here are some photographs of our afternoon adventure...the golden afternoon light of Winter is always my favorite time of the year to shoot.

For any photographers interested...all images below were taken with my Nikon D750 & 50m 1.4 lens, with a few gentle edits done in Lightroom.

Enjoy

x

Thank you to Storm for taking this family photo below:

Shadow The Korean Jindo at home in South Africa

It's nearly been a whole year since our rescue pup, Shadow The Jindo, arrived on South African soil.

Farmboy and I found Shadow as a teeny tiny little ball of fluff wondering along a dark country road late at night. We were living & teaching English in South Korea at the time, and had absolutely no plans, whatsoever, to adopt a dog. We were far too independent,  loved traveling, and if we were to get a pet, we would absolutely have to bring them back home to South Africa with us. Taking animals to South Africa is FAR more expensive than taking them to any other country (bar the UK which is also crazy) and so it never once crosses our minds. That is, until Shadow came along an stole our hearts.

Here he is as a teeny tiny pup:

If you're wondering what a Jindo is, it's a dog breed native to South Korea. Not much is known about them, and they aren't seen much outside of Korea unless bred by authorised breeders. A lot of the 'street' dogs in Korea are Jindo mixes, just like our precious pup Shadow.

Pure breed Jindo's come in 5 main coat colourings (white, brown/yellow, brindle, black & tan and grey). Shadow is of the 'black & tan' variety, but is most definitely a mix due his long hair and very long ears. We think he is crossed with Husky/German Shepard, but there is no real knowing unless a DNA test is done. He has 100% all of the characteristics of a Jindo (click here to read more about the breed) and we just adore him.

Shadow grew up in our teeny tiny Korean apartment, and is now loving his life roaming the wide open spaces of dairy farm life now that we are home in South Africa. We've had a few issues with him and getting his bathroom routine sorted out (well these issues are more to do with the fact that he is an incredibly private dog when it comes to his toilet time, and now regards out entire garden as his 'home' and will not, under any circumstances, soil his home!). This means he quite literally  'holds it in' until I take him for a walk where we can run free and find a suitably private place to do his business. Funny dog this one haha.

Anyway, here are some recent photographs I've taken of him in the months since we have been home. He is such a happy pooch, and the most incredible dog either of us have ever had. We both can't wait for the many happy years ahead of him as a big brother to our little baby coming along in September this year. My camera is going to be FULL of baby and pup pictures...I can't wait!

In the mean time, I hope you enjoy these photographs.

x

You can follow Shadow on his adventures with his cat siblings over on Instagram:

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We're having a baby!

We have such happy news to share with you today! We will be welcoming a little bundle into the world in September this year, and we couldn't be more excited.

I have to be very honest and say I wasn't sure I was ever going to feel 'ready' for kids, but that feeling of readiness really does come to you when the time is right. Of course, it doesn't alway happen as quickly as it did for us (the moment we both decided the time was right, I was basically instantly pregnant) and I know a lot of people for whom the process can take a while.

Everyone's body is completely unique, and you really just have no idea how long things will take or what your pregnancy will be like. It's great hearing other ladies share their stories as it helps to open your mind as to what might happen for you. But definitely be prepared for the chance that it might take a whole lot longer (or a whole lot shorter) than your friends.

On that note, I read the most amazing book that covers everything and anything you've ever wanted to know about getting pregnant, but were too nervous to ask. I learned SO much from this book and can't help but tell everyone I know about it. Even if you're not thinking about having kids now, this book will help you prepare mentally & physically for what's to come. It helped me understand why I kept getting negative results on my pregnancy tests, even though I just knew that I was pregnant (turns out there is a waiting period after actual conception and you won't be able to test for pregnancy until your next period is due...around 2 weeks later).

The book I keep mentioning is The Impatient Woman's Guide to Getting Pregnant and I just loved every page. It's written by Jean M. Twenge who is as informative as she is funny, and each chapter is filled with everything you need to know about getting pregnant, including when you can test for pregnancy, how to prepare your body both physically and mentally and it also has a whole chapter dedicated to natural ways of enhancing your fertility.

I actually only bought the book for the chapter on how soon you can test whether you're pregnant, but found every single page to be full of useful information.

It's not just for first time mom either, Jean also talks about trying to conceive baby number 2 and 3 and also goes into great depths dispelling myths around older women not being as likely to fall pregnant as younger women. It's a must read for anyone even thinking about possibly having a baby at some point in their lives.

I am now in the last week of my first trimester (I'm 12 weeks pregnant) and that means I'm a third of the way there...eeeek! Nine months has always felt like a long time, but it's just flying by. 

And now for something a little different.

I've decided to create short weekly/monthly (I haven't decided how often I'm going to make them) videos to document my pregnancy, and I've just wrapped up the first one.

I hope you enjoy this little look into my pregnancy so far, and if you have any questions/comments/queries please feel free to leave me a comment below!