The last camp for the year leaves and Mellissa has kids

November 13

Once again we had a dry sunny week for the second school camp and a great deal of work was done.  These kids are totally amazing. The vegetable garden has been refilled and planted out with the new seasons vegetables and we have a physic garden that includes a new wicking bed.  The fallen trees have been moved off the fences and the last pile of dead trees left from the 2009 fires has been sorted and moved. The shelter shed has taken on a new look too with the last of the upright posts painted green and some fantastic new murals.

Edd and I were pretty tired when everyone left but three days later Edd was wishing they were all back so he could have the help!  We even found two lads who took on the weed strippers and cut down all the long grass on the slopes and other places that I cannot reach with the ride on mower.  Now I would employ those guys any time!

Even with the camps finished for the year the farm work carries on relentlessly.  On Monday Melissa, our oldest goat, kidded.  She was starting to go into labour at the morning milking time so we put her in a separate pen and gave her peace to get on with it. By the afternoon several hours had passed and she seemed to be no further on.  She was standing up and not even trying, which is a bad sign.  I managed to get a hand inside her and found a kids foot in the birth canal.  I soon located a second foot and a nose so the presentation was correct.  The only solution was to pull and ease out a very large buck kid.  Amazingly he was still alive and later she delivered a much smaller girl, so all is well.

We sold several kids and goatlings during the camp and I now have 4 more to kid and about 5 more goats to sell.  The camp took down the old barrier that separates the shed from the young goats paddock so that we can now clean up the area and then let the kids outside.  We will have to put up a temporary fence and move the buck, Turnbull, to the other side.  The wether, Abbott, has been sold as a pet.  He really did have a lovely nature so we have tried to choose him a good home. He was so friendly and nice natured that I really miss him.

Yesterday we did get some time away from the farm because we were invited to a friend’s work place at a local winery for an alfresco lunch.  A mixed bag of vineyard workers, wine makers an artist and us as cheese makers all brought our produce to share and enjoyed a long lazy lunch until we had to drag ourselves away for the evening milking.  We had been tasting some amazing and interestingly different wines and special food and learn about them.  It was like being back in France.

As soon as the camp left the rain returned and we had a very wet weekend.  We were so lucky that the camp was not this week because Monday was awful too. It is warming up again now so we will have to complete the job of cleaning out the pool and patching the worn bits.  The lining got very badly damaged in the fires and is a real patchwork but we might get another years use from it. We will try anyway.