Smartphone vs Sheep

My purchasing decisions have recently been challenged, I have been contemplating buying a smartphone for a while now, but have struggled with spending so much money on a device – which truth be told isn’t a necessity.

I have been reading Affluenza a book by Oliver James which suggests that wealth and misery go hand in hand, there definitely have been some home truths in there for me! Affluenza is best described as a virus-like condition which expresses itself as selfish capitalism, or in old fashioned speak “keeping up with the Jones’s” syndrome.

Our childhood which was focussed a lot on getting by, making do, and religion has made me more immune than most to Affluenza. It was a good read and reinforced the positives in the direction we are taking as a family to move to become more self reliant.

The beauty of having time on our side is that we have been able to talk and plan a lot of the decisions in advance of being back on our village block. We have the land around 1 ½ acres so that is our limiting factor.

Half an acre is planted in more than 50 fruit and nut trees which are coming into their own after 8-9 years, another half an acre is fenced off and had previously contained our sheep, chooks and ducks. The house sits on the other half acre, with trees for every season shrouded by a hedge of 200 Camellia sasanqua “setsugekka”.

In the wake of losing our last livestock to old age (RIP Bridgette) throughout the winter, and with the spring growth imminent we made what has possibly been the most satisfying purchase I have made in recent years -three very special sheep!

The sheep are horned Wiltshire’s, and are an ideal investment for a small block like ours. Not only do they shed 100% of their wool each spring (don’t have to shear them), but they are less prone to fly strike, and foot rot than your average sheep. They are also very good breeders, with a high rate of multiple births – usually twins – perfect for a perpetual meat supply!

With two ewe hoggets and one ram lamb weve got things covered – evidently that little guy whose only a month old will be ready to do the bizzo in the Autumn and we will have lambs next spring. Now theres something to look forward to!

For us this is what it is all about – an investment of $250 taking care of half of our meat requirements, and if managed carefully with a ram swap each year we wont be buying lamb from the supermarket ever again!

Beat that return smartphone!