Is it foxes or wild dogs?

We live under this green hill.

October 29. 2013-

Last week concluded better when Edd and the mechanics at the shop found out what was wrong with the milking machine. Some parts had been replaced wrong way round at repair attempt one! The good thing is that it is now working fine and in heavy use twice a day. I have weaned the second batch of kids and the first gang of four now feed together from the feeder bucket. There are only four goats left to kids so the bulk of work is done now.

On Sunday morning we woke to a horrid surprise. The lamb that I was bottle-feeding had vanished from the fold over night. We had lost one very small twin lamb earlier but I had thought that the bottle fed lamb was too big and heavy to be a prey for foxes. There was no sign of blood or of a struggle if the lamb had been dragged through the fence so if it is foxes they are behaving differently to usual. It is all very worrying and so sad too. The little lamb was a cheerful friendly fellow with a pink and black nose and was almost ready to be sold as a pet.

Some one else has gone too. My friend Beni has moved out of the donga and into her new home. It seems lonely here with out her but I expect she is thrilled to be in a proper house again.  Edd and I ate at my daughter’s house last night because it was her husband’s birthday. We all had a wonderful meal of swordfish with piles of amazing vegetables and a cake made mostly of nuts and fruit. It was a very special meal. My daughter’s eldest son played the ukulele and sang for us whilst his father accompanied him on the piano and my daughter helped with the singing. It is such a delight to have this talented musical group as part of the family.

Today Edd is doing his once a week teaching day at the High school and I am back to sewing curtains. The sheep escaped this morning and are grazing on the house roof! They seem very happy with this arrangement. It certainly needs some of the grass grazed down. At least it is all green this year. I rather like the idea of living down under a little, green hill. The faverolles have started to lay in their new shed and Edd has repaired the incubator so we can try and hatch some of their eggs. Pure breed chooks are getting very expensive now so it will be good if we can get back to rearing our own. The faverolles are a heavy dual-purpose breed so spare roosters will help feed us too. 

Edd's marathon with the milking machine

October 25. 2013-

Edd has had a terrible week. He has been to collect barley from the brewery three times but on all these occasions the brewers forgot to fill our buckets so we have been stuck with bran as a substitute. He has also taken the milking machine to be fixed three times and had it stop working as soon as he tried it back here. Twice he took it to our local pump repairers but when that kept failing he drove all the way down to the place we got it and let them have a go.  Today he is driving back there for try four.

Meanwhile I am hand milking. This is not too bad as the five new kids are still getting colostrum from their mothers. Vesna had two almost black bucks and has managed it all beautifully. She is very much a non-fuss goats and allowed me to milk her for the first time as if she had been milking for years. The first four kids born have now accepted bottle-feeding and are almost ready to learn how to suck up milk from the bucket feeder.  I have one remedial learner who is slowing the process down but even he fed better today. I will have to offer the other kids a first bottle soon because their mothers are out to graze with the rest of the herd.

It has been dry today so I rummaged through Edd’s shed until I found a suitable colour of paint and I have put two coats on the newly erected chook shed. The feather footed, faverolles have moved in now and are getting used to the extra space and light in their new home. The next step is to build the fence round the orchard to give them a safe area to free range. Getting chooks to keep down the grass under the fruit trees is an important step for fire protection. The old apple trees and plum trees survived in the old orchard because the chooks had kept them in a cleared area.

There have been terrible fires in NSW this week.  About 200 houses were lost but thanks to a superb effort by the fire fighting teams there has been minimal loss of life this time. It is still horrific to contemplate the huge area of the Great Dividing Range that is affected. When my daughter was in Sydney this week she said the heat was a real shock, right up in the high thirties. The planes were delayed and the city smoky. It is a very early start to the fire season and has everyone worried what is in store for the rest of us.

The days have been pretty full since kidding started but the weather has been wet and given me time to finish all the large curtains. I am now laying out the cloth to cut for the bedroom curtains. They are much small and less intimidating. I shall be most relieved when this job is done but then I have to get back to tiling again, which is just as worrying. Already we are planning for Xmas. We will have our feast earlier this year at the solstice so that we spread the family occasions out better. It is a bit much for our married kids to do one big meal right after another to try and fit everyone in.

More kids

October 22. 2013-

On Sunday evening the wind suddenly dropped and we decided to have a try and get the chook shed up. There are four large sides and a roof that have to be screwed together on top of the platform we made. Luckily Beni arrived home just after we started and the whole thing became possible. It was not easy but by the time the light was gone we had four sides up and we used Edd’s ute as a platform so that we could get the roof into position. It was too dark to screw it down so Edd lashed it in position with lots of ropes for the night.

Next day it was still standing and we were able to find the screw holes and complete the job. I have painted the inside this morning with a first coat of salmon coloured paint that I found in the shed. It looks quite flash. I just hope the chooks like it when we move them in. The shed is across from the dairy and backs onto the nut and olive orchard. We will have to build a large pen round the trees to keep foxes out and chooks in but it should be a nice area or them. The trees will give them shade and they will keep the grass down around the trees. Chooks do a good job maintaining fire breaks in hot weather.

It has been a very busy morning. Wilma kidded and produced a large buck kid and I have begun making the first Feta cheese for the year. I think Zoe is about to kid too so we will need an extra pen tonight. I have just walked up into the paddock to check her but so far she is OK.  The first four kids are in the weaning process and all but one white buck are taking the bottle well. The white lamb is now a confident feeder and the little black lamb takes a bottle twice a day as well as feeding from her mum. We are now into the busiest time of the year and the milking machine is still not working!

4pm  Zoe has kidded, two enormous black buck kids. Fortunately she came back to the shed to give birth which saved both of us a lot of trouble. She needed help to deliver the kids and she is now licking them off. Wilma’s kid is a lovely fluffy boy and feeding well. The rennet for the cheese is still working so I have cut the curds for the first time and left them to settle. Now I am waiting to see if I am needed to pick my youngest grand child up from day care. Her parents have been away to some work do in Sydney and they are not sure if they will be back in time. This gives me a short break to work on the last of the big curtains.

kids, lambs and curtains

October 20. 2013-

It is hot today and very windy. Luckily the grass is still green and lush, so we are not in fear of fires here yet. NSW has not been so lucky and the news tells us that about 200 homes were lost last week. As I write new communities are being evacuated and so far we only know of one person who has died. Many fires in the mountains are still out of control and hotter temperatures and greater winds are predicted for the week so the danger is very real.

I am back in bottle-feeding mode. One lamb has been rejected by his mother and one of a pair of twins needed supplementary feeding to gather strength. I am slowly trying to convince Zero’s boys that they will be bottle fed from now on but the milking machine that Edd took to be repaired has now seized up so I am not happy about the extra milking.

Edd went into town for the engagement party on Friday but I elected to stay on farm duties. It was lucky that I did because Melissa kidded just as Edd left and had to be helped to delivery a doe and a very large buck kid. In the past we have actually helped lambs be born wearing evening clothes because of last minute emergencies but I just don’t have that sort of energy any more. The new kids are doing well and Melissa went out to graze with the herd today.

I am still sewing curtains but I am now on the last of the four big windows. These curtains have three drops each and take a lot of effort to make. I use heavy tape to make the pinch pleats easier but I still hang each curtain to check the length before I do the bottom hem. There are three curtains needed for the end bedroom but they are much smaller and less intimidating.

My friend Beni has started to move her belongings out of the donga and into the house she has brought. She hopes to complete the move over the coming weeks. I am happy for her that she will now have her own home again but I will miss having her around. She has been a very easy person to share with. Next we have Edd’s friends coming to visit from the UK and various school outings. There is always so much to do.

We have prepared the base for the new chook shed and Edd has straightened and strengthened all the wall sections but it has been too windy for days to actually put the shed back together. I am hoping we will get that done next week too, surely this wind can not keep up for ever.

Zero comes first

October 15. 2013-

The first of the goats kidded this weekend. Edd got the last run of goats into the shed and noticed that five came in instead of six. After a bit of working out we discovered zero was missing. Beni helped me search the paddock and we found her with two large white buck kids below the small dam. For a first kidder she had managed very well and the new family all looked healthy. We led Zero back to the shed and carried her kids in wrapped in old towels. I helped Edd build them a private pen in a nice warm corner of the shed so she could have a peaceful night.

Today Zero went out to graze with the herd after milking and I have just given her kids their first bottle. One little chap worked it out straight away and sucked eagerly but the other larger kid is not as sure about the new milk delivery system. I went out to buy new teats earlier in the day and came home to find a sheep cast on her back and the horses heading up our grass roof! The sheep was easily rocked back onto her feet and the horses followed me back to their paddock lured by some lucerne chaff. Someone must have left the latch improperly fastened on the gate, as it was wide open. I don’t think the horses have learnt to undo gates yet. I think I have now restored enough order to treat myself to a cup of tea.

This last weekend was very busy. We had some friends staying from NSW who were down south to run an art workshop and we also had a permaculture group on a site visit on Sunday morning. Edd had to go to the market on Saturday because once again we have produce to sell so I got up and did all the animals early so that I could do the art workshop with my friends. I do not often get whole days out with friends so it was areal treat. The subject concerned was the use of colour and I am all inspired now. I just wish there was more time for painting.

This is such a busy time of year because we are now into our growing season and all the vegetables need planting and tending. The broad beans are almost ready to eat. We have lovely lush lettuces and the snow peas are racing up their trellises.  I have fed the last of the old celery to the chooks and planted new seedlings and we have even put out tomatoes, cucumber, and other frost sensitive crops. Once again I am running out of planting space and have started to build a new raised bed. It is no good putting seedlings too close or they all bolt before they are good to eat.

The strawberries have fruit already and the mulberries and loquats are in the process of ripening. Little pears are forming and the season is off to a flying start. It must be all these rain showers that drive me crazy. The worst bit is that we are heading fast towards the Xmas season, which is totally at the wrong time of year in Australia. We also have a family wedding to plan for next March that could possibly take place here so that will mean extra planning. I do not mind. I enjoy things to look forward to.