fencing and building

April 15 2017

The rain has stopped, and Stevo is here starting work on the sidewall of the big shed. The idea is to give the goats a bit of extra protection against bad weather this winter. The fencers have gone now but they created a new paddock below the dam and fenced off the gully by the side of the old drive as well as banging in all the posts needed to repair the fence in the gravel pit paddock where the horses were escaping.  They had all the right machinery so putting in fence post took no time at all.  The ground below the surface is still dry and rock hard and it would have taken ages to do the posts with hand tools.

It is Easter but almost everyone we know is working. At least it is nice having Stevo here so we get to laugh with one friend.  Bo is working all weekend in the restaurant and Simon got up at some ungodly hour to brew beer. Silky is here with us. I have been finding craft activities for her this holiday and at the moment she is very busy making loom band bracelets.  Our youngest grand daughter, Ella, went home with all Silky’s previous efforts after refusing to be parted with them.

I also left Silky with a big bag of Easter eggs to arrange in baskets for various family groups but this was a bad idea. With two hungry brothers at home most of the eggs have already disappeared! Perhaps I will replace them with real eggs as they might be safer to leave in the baskets.

Eggs are not my biggest worry.  I am disturbed by world news and fear that we might be slipping into world war 3.  I get the terrible feeling that I should be doing something but I can’t think what.  

April 12 2017

Our beautiful warm sunny autumn has been interrupted by storms last weekend. On Sunday it absolutely poured and ground water accumulated behind the goat sheds making gumboots essential.  It is only today that the whole area becomes navigatable again.  This is important because now all the goats are coming into season and we need to cross this area to get them to the buck.

I feel sorry for the goats.  Unlike us they cannot just put on winter clothes when the weather changes this suddenly.  I have put down lots of fresh straw for them to bed down in and made sure they have stomachs full of roughage to create internal warmth but there is not much else I can do.  They are not complaining and the sun is out again today which helps.