The sheep work hard to keep things tidy

September 22, 2018

It really feels as if the winter is over, though we are still getting frosts.  Today at our community market I was among several women who had laid aside winter woollies and donned lighter clothing.   This afternoon I was out in a shirt shovelling more earth into the new area for Toby’s garden.   I could start planting now but I am worried about how the sheep will react.  They have been grazing around the house and doing a good job removing weeds between the stones but I need plants that they will leave alone.

Bo has had a bad week because her new chef resigned and forced her back into the restaurant kitchen. She is in the last few weeks of her music therapy course and really needed this time to get assignments in. I cannot  think of any way to help her, I certainly am not skilled enough to be a chef.  Al was very pleased with feedback he got after our open house marathon.  He is off to the UK  where he is giving a paper at a seminar next week.

It is now a school holiday period, so we have no more camps for a couple of weeks. We did have a walking group here last Thursday though for a tour and morning teas.  They were lovely people and ended up paying me much more than I asked for which was rather a surprise.  I try to give better value than people expect for their money and they are usually happy with that.

The goats are almost ready to kid so we will soon enter a very busy period.  Already I get up early to give the buck kid a bottle and Edd stays up for his night feed.  We have eggs in the incubator and chicks on order.  Last year we paid a lot of money and brought rare breed day olds.  These were a total disappointment.  Some were roosters, some were not the breed they were meant to be and none of them laid when we wanted them to.  This year I have gone back to ordering chicks from our local commercial place.  They may not look very good, but they are all the right sex and lay well.

Edd has planted out the first tomatoes.  We have them covered with mini glasshouses made from chook feed bags in the hope that they can survive the last few frosts.  We have zucchini seedlings in pots that we put under cover at night and it is time to start growing the other seeds we need for summer vegetables. Last year’s raspberries canes have leaves but the new ones planted this winter are yet to show signs of life. Raspberries are my favourite fruit, so I am keeping a hopeful eye on their development.

I have finally finished the splash back in our kitchen.  I did the last bit of grouting on Friday, it seems odd as I have been working on the project for several weeks and collecting the tiles for months.   I just wish I had managed to get it done for open house day.