Old friends and hay drama

Al's combined kitchen office.

December 24 2016

Xmas eve has not had a very auspicious start. The forecast predicted a heat wave over Xmas so everyone cut their hay.  I woke early today and so did Indi who rang to tell me she had three hundred bales ready that we could have. From the house everything looked as if it would be a very hot dry day but when I went out to water the garden I noticed ominous black thunderclouds over Christmas hills and realised we had a problem.

Edd set off to Healesville but the storm was already starting so I suspect we have failed to get the hay in dry.  I started the milking early and fast because I was worried that we would loose power.  This did not happen but the thunder and lightening got pretty scary and close. The goats and I shuddered every time there was a big bang.

Bo came over to let Silkie cool off in the pool last night. She and I are just so glad that we have got our Xmas party over.  She is now the main chef in the restaurant as the real chef has an injured arm and I am deep in hay problems.  Tonight we are going over to Al’s house to say goodbye to it and then next week we are helping him move down to the coast. 

We had a lovely morning on Thursday when friends that we worked with in Yuendumu in the NT called in to meet up.  It must be 20 years since we were up there but we still all feel very close having shared so much in Aboriginal communities that most people never even know about.  I was reminded once again how lucky I have been in life to have such amazing friends and family and to have enjoyed so many wonderful adventures.

Reptiles and feasts

December 19 2016

We have survived the Xmas party and the mess is mostly cleared up.  Today I separated the stock, bones and solids of turkey and vegetables. The bones were thrown away and the stock and the remaining dog food frozen. We had a lovely group of family and friends come to the party and it was cool enough this year to have the turkeys hot.  I also attempted to serve hot scalloped potatoes but they took ages to cook through and did not turn out very good.  I think I will go back to baking them the day before next time.

Beth brought beautiful seafood and salads and everyone else supplied the trimmings and deserts so there was plenty top go round. I cut open two of my latest batch of hard cheeses, a plain style and a Wensleydale and they were fine.  Beth’s boys nearly ate the lot as they arrived early and they are a good test. Luckily, this time I wrote the recipe down so it is just a matter of trying to get it repeatable.  And to think, I was just about to give up!

Edd has found a remarkable thing. One evening he called me out at twilight to see a long necked tortoise that was digging a hole in the bank. It was busy for some time and we think it may have been laying eggs. The tortoises usual swim around in the dam and sun themselves on the bank but they do move around and constantly die on the roads.  I think they must have an instinct that tells them to move to higher ground to lay eggs.  I often wondered what they were doing.

I have also seen a beautiful blotched blue tongue lizard by the ruins. It was not at all worried by my presence and made no effort to hide.  I have mostly seen the Eastern striped blue tongues recently so it is great to know the blotched ones are still around. Josh had a pet blue tongue called Silver when he was small and I wonder if this one is a relative.

Edd is back onto fencing. We have brought the horses up into the crofts by the dairy because they were getting too fat and they have already eaten everything down in the first area. Today Edd finished re-fencing the bucks’ pens and he has let the horses in there first to eat it down a bit.  It is good to rotate stock through areas to keep the parasitic worms under control and it is good to have very short grass by the shed now that we are going into the fire danger period.

The Years end gets close

 The Xmas tree in my sun room

Al.s house is being finished off ready for renting out.

December 15 2016

Only one day to go now before our solstice Xmas celebration.  I have been working on this for weeks but I am not confident I am really ready.  The weather forecast has changed several times making organisation harder.  Last year we had to relocate our feast to Bo’s house at the last minute because it was a high fire danger day but now the latest forecast is for 19 degrees, which is actually quite cold.

I am now planning to have the party around the house rather than in the ruins, and to serve the turkeys hot rather than cold.  I have made up all the Xmas crackers and this year they contain a lottery ticket that relates to a gift under the tree.  The tree is the same artificial one that we had years ago before the fires. It survived because it was stored in the cellar and has become rather a symbol of survival.  This year it is in my tropical jungle surrounded by bamboo and bromeliads. I have re -arranged out sunroom for the summer and it all goes together quite well, at least I like it.

All together we have invited over 30 people to our feast but usually there are dropouts at the last minute so 20-25 is about what we get. Once we have done this I feel that coping with the rest of Xmas is plain sailing.  We can concentrate on getting in the years hay supply and working out how to shear the sheep.

The family have big changes coming up in 2017. Al and Pip have brought a house in a place called Ocean Grove which, as the name indicates, is by the sea West of Melbourne.  There is a surfing beach with in walking distance that is a big attraction for them. Tilba plans to move with them and is enrolled at school down there for the next year.  It is a about 3 hours journey from the farm so we will no longer be able to drop in on them for a day but I think getting away from the past is pretty important for them at this stage.

Bo also has changes in her family. Her second son starts secondary school with his brother at Templestowe College. (The school that has a camp here) and he is very excited at the prospect. Bo, herself, has been accepted into the training for music therapy at Melbourne Uni. She had to pass strict audition tests and have a huge range of qualifications to get a place so we are all relieved that she has made it.  

Josh also starts a new job on an Island near Brisbane. It looks as if there is a bridge to drive across like Philip Island but I had never heard of the place. Bobby has another year of work ahead on her PhD before they can consider a move away from Brisbane.  So everyone has changes coming up. 2017 looks as if it is going to be an interesting year.

November 30 2016

All the goats due have now kidded.  Erin and Ester were the last.  Sadly Erin kidded in the night and a huge buck kid was born dead leaving Erin sore and miserable.   Next day her sister, Ester, went into labour but this time both Erin and I were on hand to help out and she delivered two healthy doe kids.  Erin helped clean off the kids and began sharing child-rearing duties with her sister. Soon her grief over her dead kid was forgotten and she is taking her duties co-parenting very conscientiously.

We have now got 14 kids in the shed.  I plan to rear the 7 females and possibly one male but the other males will have to be sold.  The big goats are now producing prodigious amounts of milk and I am making cheese everyday as well as feeding the kids.  I am still not happy with the hard cheese we make.  I keep on trying to make a basic hard cheese that we can use for everything but I have not got a consistent way of getting a good result.  I am almost at the stage of giving up.

Making feta and cream cheese is now so routine it is easy but it would be nice to have a good hard cheese as well.  They come out at about a kilo and a half in weight so really we need under 18 a year.  If I could get it right this would only be 18 days work which would be very do-