Hot and dry

January 17 2016

Edd has repaired the slasher again and started to clean up the roadside above our farm sheds.    All manner of native vegetation self-seeded up there and although it looks OK it could become a high way for fire.   The big shed is very vulnerable this time of year because it is full of hay and needs any help we can supply.

The animals have eaten everything they fancy from the land and have started to brake out onto neighbours’ land.  The only answer when this happens is to enclose them in well-fenced areas and hand feed them.  We have brought one load of extra hay already and stacked it in Judy’s shed as we agreed.  We will need to buy more for ourselves too.  Once again we need to sell some sheep, but they are best shorn first. I hope we can do this when Indi gets back from her holiday and can lend us a hand.

We had a really cool day this week and used it to sort out the chooks into different sheds.  The young ones we reared have actually started to lay already and we needed to separate them from the roosters.  The black marrons had gone broody and were clogging up the egg boxes so first we shifted them to the small house and chose a big red rooster, Rufus, to keep them company.  Then we shifted the oldest chooks to the largest shed where the rooster, Doodle, is in charge and lastly we put the new young chooks with the old marron rooster so that he could get them organised. This has mostly worked well, but egg laying is not back totally yet.

All the above means that we are not under any extreme pressure so I have made use of the unusual time space and started to paint again.  When I do art for myself I enter a totally different mind space.   For me it is close to meditation in that time stops and awareness of bodily discomfort stops.  I feel that this is a totally selfish space but luckily for me Edd does not put the brakes on.  I know that what I produce falls well short of what I have tried to achieve, I also know that it will not be appreciated by others, but the process I enjoy.

Most of my day is spent doing what I believe in and what helps others but sometimes it feels so good indulging myself.  

Blooming jungle

Out doors may be dusty, grey and dry but inside my jungle is blooming

Eating problems

January 1 2016

This week we had the pleasure of eating one of our problems.  Indi gave us some steak she had from the neighbour’s cow that caused everyone so much trouble. We preferred it much more cooked   than in orbit round the district breaking fences and causing everyone stress.    It is a bit worrying how much better home grown meat tastes.  We usually buy organic meat but it is totally different to what you produce yourself.    I had forgotten.

It has been slightly cooler this week and Edd and I have completed the next grow bed and planted out the pumpkins who had all out grown their pots.   They look much happier today despite the transplant stress.   At last the tomatoes are red and our meals can feature them again.  The zucchinis are still over producing and we have eaten the first cucumbers.    Our runner beans are fighting off some sort of attack, possibly snails, and the snow peas are finished.

My basil is nearly at eating stage and once again I am looking forward to pesto.  For breakfast the fruit are strawberries and raspberries.  It is definitely the best time of year for edible treats.    I have folded up the Xmas tree, tied it down and sealed it in its cardboard coffin waiting for the next festive season.   It is only a cheap imitation pine but it has lasted unexpectedly long and has gained survival status.    Also I do not want to murder a real tree or acquire a landscape full of huge unproductive pines. 

The hay has been a problem.   We may have to deal with round bales ourselves but the hay came from Judy’s paddock and the arrangement was that we had to put thirty small square bales in her shed before we kept the rest.   When the baler broke we asked the contractors to use the round baler because if the hay had been left it would have blown away and got wet.   We have the round bales safe but we still owe Judy square bales and they are getting hard to find.  They are also very expensive because they are made to order for horse owners etc.  This problem could cost us a fortune  and we can't eat it.

There is almost nothing edible left for the stock in the paddocks with the he grass is burnt off sparse.   The goats are working their way down the gullies eating black berries and dead leaves but we are already giving hay to the horses.    The fire danger has lessened with the cooler weather but there is a lot of the season gets to go.    We are working on fire defence and have brought a sump pump to get water up onto the house roof.  We need to fix up piping and power before it can be effective.

Bo and Indi have been hard at work all Xmas in the restaurant. Al has been working hard so that he can go to a workshop in Tasmania to try and sort out some answers to the displaced populations affected by war and climate change.   At least I think that is what it is about.   He is there already so we might hear more soon.  We have talked to Josh over the phone.  I do wish he could have stayed here longer.   I love it when we go to garden World together and both get tempted to spend too much on rare plants!