Chook pen works dog fence fails

September 6 2015

We had our usual fabulous food at the Indian restaurant with Al on Friday.  He has all kinds of interesting projects to talk about from Buddhist temples to peace gardens in Gaza!   He is lucky having a career that he is so interested in, life would be much simpler for young people if they knew what they wanted to do in their lives when they left school.  Most people have to find their way through the various options that are open and settle for supporting themselves however possible.

I would never have guessed that Bo would end up running a restaurant. Her degrees were in English and music and her doctorate in opera research. She still enjoys being involved with music but meanwhile she runs a great restaurant and employs all the local young people who are in need of funds.  Edd and I had lunch in her place yesterday and it was terrific . Indi, Bo and Morgie were working there and we caught up with other neighbours who were also eating there.

Simon is selling so much beer that the brewery is struggling to produce enough. This is really good for us because there is lots of barley left over to feed the sheep and goats. It has not even got warm yet so it should be the low time for beer drinking. I think now he is selling more in different states it is less seasonal.  I know Simon’s first love is music but running a brewery seems to suit him very well.

Pip had an adventure yesterday when the bus she was travelling home in suddenly stopped because the driver said he felt unwell. He then collapsed and Pip had to take care of him until the ambulance came. Bo has had dog dramas. The new dog is an escape artist. Simon spends his weekends trying to sure up their garden fences but Gracie still gets out. Bo spent Friday night chasing her under the Anglican Church after a search through Yarra Glen.

Back at the farm Edd has completed the new chook fence and it even has a proper gate that swings! This means that the chooks are safe to run free range even when we go out for the day, which should please them. I am extremely grateful not to spend half an hour each night rounding them up. The chicks Edd hatched have started to grow wing feathers and will soon need a larger cage. There are no more goat kids yet though according to the records Wilma is due. Opal has such a large udder that she can hardly walk so I have confined her to a kidding pen.  She is actually due a week after Wilma but we will see.

The goat problem with hair loss has got better rather than worse. I moved the selenium salt lick and have fed the goats a small amount of sulphur with their feed. The wombat on the roof continues to try and dig in and basically we are very fed up with wombats in general. They shit everywhere and dig under all the fences. They dig up lawns and spread mange. Only the babies look cute in my opinion.