Xmas celebrations

28.12.2019

I am totally exhausted but we have survived Xmas for another year.  Edd brought a new

un- leaking tap and solved the sink problem, and everybody helped with food and cooking to make a perfect feast.  Dani, Wayne, their kids and Danni’s mother stayed with us on Friday night.    It had been a very hot day but by evening it cooled a bit and we all had a meal in the gazebo.  Wayne had put up a string of led lights around the gazebo roof and the sun set red through the smoke and dust making a quite magical settling.  

Luckily Saturday was cooler, but I still cooked the turkey in the oven in the dairy. Six hours of stove heat would not have helped in the house.  As usual it was unclear exactly how many would come but I think we fed about 40 a full xmas meal. There was not much left of an eight-kilo turkey, or anything else for that matter.  All Wayne’s mates from work and their families came, and Ben’s parents, Pia’s parents plus all our kids and grandkids and great grandkids, except Josh and Bobby.

They are busy packing up for a move to Perth where Bobby has a new job at the WA university as a lecturer.  It is a great start to the career she is after but getting there to start mid-January is another matter.  They can fly there but they have to get the car on a train and get their six rats over and into a new rat tolerant home.  We missed them but everyone understood why their focus was not in the holiday.

Al and Pip brought their own tent for Saturday night so we could all have a family breakfast in the morning.  Then we all parted, and the kids went onto the next set of parties.  Yesterday it was Edd’s birthday, so Al organised a meal out near his house.  Bo, Simon and Sylkie caught the ferry across the heads from Mornington where they were on holiday and I got up very early to do the farm work and leave to drive down at 9am.  This all worked well, and we had a great meal out at a winery with views over the sea.  We even had time for a beach walk before we had to drive home. The goats tolerated this disruption to their milking schedule but everything else was calling out for food when we got home.

It would be nice to think we could relax now but the first of our hay paddocks has been cut and the land is bone dry.  I had to water the trees this morning because they were looking very stressed.  The vegetables get watered twice most days, so they look OK.  The corn and pumpkins are larger every time I do them, they grow almost fast enough to see.  We have our first cucumber and some large strawberries, but the parrots have eaten the last of the loquats. No worry, there is still plenty of things we can eat.

19.12.2019

Water has appeared under the kitchen sink!  Why do these things always happen just as I am about to host the Xmas family gathering?  Everything was fine yesterday, but by the evening Edd noticed water on the floor and this morning everything in the under-sink cupboard is wet.  There is nothing I can do now, Edd has already left to get on a train to Melbourne where he meeting friends for their annual get together and I am picking up the turkey and other food, having my hair cut and taking the bins to the brewery to get the last barley before the holidays.

Yesterday it was over 40C, it was hot all over Australia and the fires continue to burn out of control.  The big fires started in Queensland and have worked their way down the coast. They are now in the North of Victoria and heading our way. Even our rulers now have admitted that this is climate change in action.  The hot weather means extra work to keep animals and plants alive.  We have mulched all the garden beds and water them twice a day. Growing vegetables need a lot of water.  Yesterday everything survived.

Tomorrow Danni and her mother are coming to help with the party preparations.  What a wonderful daughter in law Danni is.   She successfully runs her own business, rears to young kids and still finds time to think and do things for others.    It is predicted to be over 40C again on Friday, so I am very happy that I am getting some help.  I have worked this week cleaning everything up.  I have washed and resealed the house floors. De-cluttered the rooms and sorted out the flower beds and pots.  I have even polished up the horse brasses and copper pans because I like the place to gleam.  I really did not need a plumbing problem.

Edd has been whipper snipping down all the grass the mower can’t reach, so it looks much tidier outside too.  I am hoping he will find time to sort out the top of one of the outdoor tables that has collapsed.  I am hoping Danni’s mum will make up the Xmas crackers. Yesterday I went to the chocolatery in Yarra Glen and brought lots of delicious chocolates to go in them.   I hate the way the commercial ones have silly plastic tokens that all end up being thrown away.

Time to write at last

8.12.2019

We have been very busy, too busy to write the blog or much else that was not essential.  Now I have two weeks of relative peace before our seasonal celebrations take place.    The school camps went well, despite some difficult conditions. The students coped unexpectedly well with heat, storms and rain and remained cheerful.   Our Finnish work away couple returned for the last week of camp, so we had people everywhere.

Our shearer came with is family the next weekend and stayed in the donga with his family, we all co-operated to get the sheep shorn and drenched and we even strapped the alpaca down on a table and did him as well.   He complained bitterly throughout the procedure, but at least he did not spit at anyone.  

 The goat kids are now in small paddocks where they have grazing and space to run and jump. Only the boy, Nicky is still in the shed as it is time he separated from the girls.   He was not happy with this arrangement, but his mother Dixie stayed in the shed next to his pen when the other goats went out to feed.     This is amazing when she was separated from him when he was under a week old.     She was happy to leave him when he was relaxed with the other kids but obviously got worried when he was upset.    Luckily, he has settled down now to the new arrangement.

The Finnish couple stayed about three weeks and helped us with farm work.  They took over from us one day and let Edd and I spend a night away.  We went to the hot spa near Mornington and relaxed in their wonderful bush land setting.  You can now walk quite a way along well-made paths and dip into various different pools.  It was so nice to walk barefoot and soak in hot mineral water. We had an evening meal on their restaurant too, which was great.

Back on the farm Edd is building a new bed for vegetables. We need extra space for the pumpkins as they sprawl everywhere.  The broccoli and cauliflowers are all gone now and today I picked the last cabbage.   We still have abundant lettuce and snow peas and have started eating the zucchini. The tomatoes and beans have flowers and the cucumber have started to put on size.

The school kids harvested and froze lots of lemons and made marmalade, but we still have spare citrus Our loquats are dripping with succulent fruit and the mulberries, straw berries and raspberries are producing berries. There is even fruit on some of the young trees in the new orchard. The kids put us up a new chook shed so we have chickens at work controlling the grass under the trees.

The weather is warming up but there is still a lot of green.  We are so lucky.  Fires still rage all down the east coast and many homes have been lost.  Sydney and Brisbane have dangerous air pollution from the fires and dust storms have affected the glacial ice in New Zealand.  We had dust here and all our vehicles ended up with red spots.  

unicorn has special powers

2.11.2019

The school campers have gone home but luckily it only began to rain again this morning. It has rained all day, but we have had a week outside in glorious hot weather and it is nice not to water vegetables three times a day.

We had one male goat kid that did not sell when we first advertised them.  He had a horn that despite our dehorning efforts had started to grow and I think it put buyers off. He was pure white in colour and very friendly, so I decided to try again to find him a home as a pet. After a lot of thought I advertised him as a baby unicorn, goat, and that got a very good response. 

Yesterday a very nice young man came to pick him up. He had an old ute and was happy to just put the goat kid in the passenger seat. He shut the goat in so he could have two hands to pay me. This turned out to be a mistake. The goat kid stood on a button and locked himself into the vehicle with his new owner outside, and the keys inside! Luckily the man was able to phone his wife and arrange a rescue, but it involved a long wait at our place until the spare keys arrived.

I thought that that was the end of the story but this morning the goat Eden who has given a very poor milk yield since she kidded came in with an udder almost bursting with milk. I looked on the board and sure enough she had given birth to the only white kid we had this year. Some how she must have worked out a way to feed him through the dividing fence. That has never happened before. 

A fortunate change in weather

31.10.2019

The weather this week has been glorious. We have a school camp here and the students have all spent afternoons in the pool. They have all been so relaxed and willing to do the set work that their teachers are relaxed too.  Edd and I actually feel we have less work to do than usual because the students have done it all for us. This is extremely lucky because the week before was so different.

Last week end we had a hailstorm and freak winds. Trees blew down everywhere and the power went off for two days. Fortunately, we had already done most of the preparation for the camp.  Edd had even cut down all the trees and broken branches that might fall on anyone, so damage actually on our property was minimal.  It feels good to get things right for once!

I have not spent much time writing this blog because we have been so busy.  This year we got help to crutch the sheep and mark the lambs.  There are over 30 in our flock now and we have decided we need help from people with flexible knees. Each day we put the sheep into our house site, and they are doing a wonderful job mowing the grass on the roof and round the dam.

Our garden has celebrated spring with beautiful flower displays. The wisteria climbs right up the paulownia tree and they both have big purple flowers at the same time. Tall foxgloves of various colours stand tall and proud and the jasmone flowers scent the air. Daisies of various species lend flashes of colour. We have rather over done the cauliflowers and we have been unable to eat enough.  We have used up all the broccoli we grew though, and we are now onto snow peas.  Even the asparagus is doing well.

We had a great time with Bo who took us to see an opera performed by young artists in a tent at a local winery. Bo and Simons brewery were sponsors and there were a lot of their beer cans used on the stage. I don’t suppose most of the audience would have noticed but we did, and it gave us a laugh.  

The valley has also hosted the Archibald’s portrait competition but sadly I have been too busy to go to the gallery.  We have, however, found time for friends and last week got together with some of our most favourite people.   Our age group has started to die off and it seems important not to waste time we could be sharing with those we have lived and 

Pasty day Party

The sheep are mowing the house site so we have put up a barricade to keep them away from the front door.

1.10.2019

The sun is shining, and the forecast predicts a warm week. About time too. On Saturday it was the football grand finals and Al had organised a party at our place to watch the match and cook Cornish pasties.  The swedes had grown well, and we managed to harvest them before the bush rats.  I made the pastry the day before and Bo helped me get the house ready and baby sit G, Grandkid 1, whilst mum, Indi went for a ride.

Sadly, Al hurt his back and was unable to come but, even missing his extended family, we had 2 great grandkids, 8 grandkid generation ,3 kid generation and Edd and I as the oldies.  On Sunday we packed up a pasty and lots of party food and drove down to Ocean grave so that Al did not miss out.  Al and Pip were in a bit of strife because neither of them was fit to do much, but we stayed the night and did our best to help.  By the time we left on Monday, Al was moving a bit better, though he still could not pick up his baby.

Bo had done a terrific job taking over the farm duties. She had even managed to get the Youngest kids to take a litre of food at a feed, so they are now on twice a day feeding. This is a big step forward.  We had moved last year’s kids in to join the main herd and put the three oldest goats into the retirement paddock. They have all settled down with this new arrangement and the young goats have all learnt how to jump up onto the milking bale.

Tonight, we are going to Bo’s house for Sylkie’s 11^th birthday party.  She had a terrible accident at the weekend when she got some food stuck in her throat and could not breathe properly. Bo had to call an ambulance that came quite fast and talked to her all the way. Luckily the food dislodged, and her normal colour returned.  Bo had a big scare, but even she recovered well.

Spring is really here.  Blossom everywhere and the air heavy with scent. There are blue bells under the old oak tree and the paulownia and wisteria are just about to cover everything with a sea of purple. We had a frost last night, but we covered the zucchini and tomato plants and they have survived.  We have broccoli and cauliflower to eat and the lettuces are ready too. There is more than we can eat but I expect Bo.’s family will devour the excess.

Now we have the rush to get organised for the school camps that start in a few weeks’ time. 

We have just brought a new chook shed that can be put up by the new orchard as a school task.  We can then move the driveway chooks onto the new grass around the fruit trees. 

The sun shines at last

18.9.2019

We have had lots and lots of rain.  Rain is such a blessing that I feel guilty when I harbour resentful thoughts about it. Much of the country is in terrible drought and today the news tells us that Sydney water supply is in danger of running out! Fires continue to burn in NSW and in the rain forests behind Brisbane that were we went with Josh.  This week we have had sunshine and I can only feel relief.

We have been able to get more work done in the vegetable garden and around the farm. I have started working on a retirement area for the oldest goats.  Erin and Ester are 15 years old.  I never expected them o live so long. They are too old to sell now so I will try retirement quarters.  I usually try to sell our older does whilst they are still a good buy for someone else, but I could not bear to part with these goats at a sensible time.

There is more variety of food in the vegetable garden now. We have eaten most of the bok choi, but we have several sorts of cabbage, multi coloured silver beet, lettuce, mizuna, Kale and swede.  I have planted out some tomatoes in plastic covers and some zucchini that I cover on cold nights.  I am hoping for an early crop.  The first snow peas I put in are starting to climb up their sticks and the raspberries are growing leaves.  I have dug up the strawberries (those that survived an animal attack) and replanted them in refreshed soil. There is still plenty of work to be done.

Goat kid feeding has now got easier as they are all trained to use the feeder.  The older goats are taking enough milk that we have been able to feed them just twice a day and keep them growing well.  I have just advertised the males for sale and am hoping to reduce the numbers we are caring for as soon as possible. Then I can sell some of the larger goats to make way for the goatlings who will be entering the herd this year.

On Sunday it was sustainable house day.  It was a cold wet day and muddy under foot, so I was very glad we had decided not to open our home this year. Instead we. Were able to look at other people’s places. We visited a house in Toolangi that was very high tec.  The owner showed us his water and electric systems He had built special rooms and sheds to house walls of technology, all beautifully laid out. It terrified me!  I would not have the slightest clue how to manage such a complex system.  Luckily the owner was a tradesman with the right skills.

We met Al and Pe in Healesville and went with him to a co-housing project he designed. The houses on view were still being built so all the insulation and stuff could still be seen. Both properties we went to were surrounded by muddy drives and paths and all the visitors were only making things worse. I was most relieved that for once this was someone else’s problem.

Kids everywhere

8.8.2019

Goat kids have dominated our life recently.   We now have about 16.  I am not sure if Ziggie is going to kid or not.   She is the only goat still due and unless we got her mating date wrong it is well past her expected kidding date.  Luckily most of the kids are now feeding well on the feeder and some are already only having three feeds each day.   Life will get much simpler when they are all settled into a do-able routine.

We have had some warm spring days and luckily, we found time to prune the fruit trees. They are now covered in blossom and the leaves on the oak trees are breaking bud too.  We could still get a late frost but that is becoming less likely as the days pass.  If this continues, we will have a mulberry crop and the potatoes will have kept growing all winter!

Our Camelia is covered in deep pink flowers.   I always think of my father when I see this.  I remember him getting really excited about a camelia he planted by our family home at Broomfield.  He loved gardening, but mostly he paid someone else to do the work and just stuck to planning.  I really wanted an English style garden around our old house, and it took me ages to work out that without a paid gardener it would be too much work.

Wayne brought Ella up to the farm last week to see the baby animals. She is still a bit warry of them, but she did pat a few of the kids whilst they were feeding.  I showed Ella how she could draw in the wet mud with a stick and she immediately wrote her own name everywhere she found enough mud. How fast she is growing up!  Danni send regular picture of their new daughter who looks like a cute cabbage patch doll!

We have not seen Al’s youngest this week because he has spent the week with his other grandparents. Pip has terrible morning sickness and has not been well enough to look after herself let alone anyone else.  She has been put on a drip in hospital when she gets too dehydrated, but there is not much anyone can do at this stage. We are all really worried about the stress this has put on her and on their whole family.  Pip’s mother was a nurse so at least she can be well looked after when she stays with her parents, which is reassuring.

Today is a wet. miserable Sunday.  Edd and I miss Bo’s restaurant. We always retreated there on difficult days and enjoyed time with family and friends.   Bo is now just as busy establishing her music therapy business but sadly we do not see her so much.  She came over last Sunday for Father’s Day and cooked us all a delicious breakfast, so we should not complain.

Morden spends all his time doing mechanics. He has brought several cars that he is doing up and is going to college to start getting qualifications.  It is wonderful to see a young person so happy and motivated.  There is no garage or at home for him to work in, so he parks on the drive outside his front door. This makes getting into the house a bit of an obstacle course, but we are all putting up with it.

Lambs out number babies

Top L Ti and baby rest Waynes daughter

7.31.19

It is just plain beautiful today.  Warm, sunny, crystal clear blue skies and little white lambs bouncing round the paddocks. We had another one born today which makes a total of 13.  The orphan lamb is now in a pen next to the young does in the shed, but I have a little ewe lamb in the house. Her mother, the big grey ewe had triplets and I was not brave enough to leave them all with her, so I took the smallest indoors before night fell.  It seemed a bit much to expect her mum to protect all 3 from foxes. 

I am meant to be cleaning up in the house today because we have a school group coming tomorrow but I could not resist doing a bit of gardening as well. Edd is teaching at the High school on Wednesdays this term so I have had the day to myself.  The lambs need 4 bottle feeds a day, so I have kept pretty busy.   Now the season is changing we start all the tours and camps again.  This is usually the coldest time of year, but the weather Gods do not seem to know it.

The wattle trees are now in flower and the big tree in the chook pen was covered in yellow flowers and bees.  The Lucerne trees are just about to burst bud too. I have trimmed the tree by the small donga and Edd is putting up a fence so it can be reached without going through the chook pen.  I have started to clean it out. Everyone has been using it for storage and most of the stuff in there needs taking to the op shop, tip or other storage areas. Once it is empty, I can clean up and make good again.  We will need it for guests to stay in when the Permaculture group come in August, so I need to get a move on!

At the week end we visited our latest great grandchild.  She was born on the 21^stand looks healthy, though she was asleep most of the time we were there.  Ti seems a very attentive Dad even though he is so young.  His mother in law and brothers in law are all staying with him to help.  Ti’s mother has very kindly let them all stay in her house for a month so at present they are all very comfortable.  Alvyn designed and built the house many years ago and it was odd going in it again after so long.  It was all very familiar, even Beth’s piano was just where she left it.

Our other great grandchild is off with Indi on her first holiday visiting a friend in Darwin. We will miss Indi. She often has a walk in the early morning with the baby and calls in to join us at breakfast time.  We will have to visit Wayne’s new daughter next.  They all grow so quickly that they change every week and it is easy to miss a stage.

More new arrivals

Flowers in my sun room jungle.

7.21.19

Apparently, we have a new great Granddaughter.  Bo has just rung me to pass on the news that Ti’s daughter was born in the night. I have not seen any pictures yet, so I have little to add but it is early days. This makes Al a grandfather for the second time and I suppose Pip is a step grandmother only a year after becoming a mother. The generations are getting very muddled.

We have also had a shower of new arrivals in the form of lambs that are arriving at the date they most often arrive (ie. during the tour de France).  There are now 7 lambs counting the one we are hand rearing in the shed who’s mother died.  We are letting the sheep graze the house site to give them fresh grass.  It is a bit of a nuisance doing this because it means opening and shutting gates every time we drive off. We also have to move the sheep out before dark so the dogs can have their run without scaring them.

The weather is varied. Yesterday it was warm and sunny, but we have big winds overnight and it is colder and over cast today.  The daffodils are in flower as is the native wisteria and rosemary.  The red-hot pokers are the brightest flower and the arum lilies are sprouting up. I can not remember if this is the usual time.  I do know that the potato plants are still growing well which means there have not yet been any significant frosts.  We still have lots of lettuce, turnips, silver beat and pumpkins to eat and we have had the broccoli that the sheep could not reach.

I am hoping Edd will get time to fix the garden fence soon so that the area is protected.  The first job, though, is to sort out the small donga. It has been used as a store room since Josh moved out but we now need it as an extra bedroom for when the permaculture group stays. Yesterday I sorted out and washed the good clothes that people have left there and put all Josh’s stuff into a box.  I am not sure why but there are rolls of barbed wire and other odd stuff that needs moving.  Edd is going to rearrange the fencing so that it can be reached without going through the chook paddock.

I finished the baby knitting yesterday, and now I really must sort out the accounts.  With jobs I hate I force myself to do at least one small bit a day so that eventually things get done. So, I had better leave off this now and make a start.

getting to know the rats in Brisbane

17.7.19

It is totally miserable weather. Rain overcast grey skies and lots of mud.  We have just got home from our visit to Josh in Brisbane where it is warm and sunny, I can see why so many retired people move to Queensland.  Josh and Bobbie met us at the airport and were perfect hosts. We stayed in a hotel just down the road from their apartment and went out every with them every day.

 I got to know the 7 rats by name and learnt about their different characters. Josh has amazing plant growing systems under led lights.  He has one system that can reproduce the light conditions anywhere on the globe.  He could even mimic a thunder storm (though it drove Bobbie mad.)  The rats tend to get sick, so they keep their living room at 25 degrees. They have a kitchen in one corner and a bed in the other. The apartment has other rooms, but they have no air conditioning so get unbearably hot in summer, so Josh has set up one for plants and they seem to be doing OK.

With all the different life forms space in the apartment was at a premium so most days we went off and did things outside.    We had a ferry ride up the river and went to a great market where we brought hats and cheese and we had a beach walk on Bribie Island where we saw thousands of small crabs appear out of holes in the sand and swarm towards the water.   Edd decided we should celebrate Bastille day, so we went down towards Surfers and had a picnic on a warm beach with French cheese and wine. 

On Sunday evening Bobbie had booked us into a water side, sea food restaurant. We sat on the veranda where the views were spectacular. Edd and I shared a lobster.  I have been wanting to eat lobster for years and this seemed the ideal occasion.  Actually, we ate out every night and worked our way through every style of food we could fit in, which was great fun. 

 Bobbie had to go to work on Monday, but Josh drove us up the mountain and we walked down a gully track and saw massive stag and elkhorn ferns growing on the trees. There were also orchids, but they were not in flower. The forest was surprisingly dry, but the canopy of trees cut down the light, so the ferns looked healthy.  The plants growing around Brisbane are beautiful and I could learn a lot of tips that would be useful in my indoor garden by seeing things in a natural environment. At the far side of the mountain the farming land looked very dry but the cattle we saw were in good condition.  

Bo had been milking the goats and doing the farm work whilst we were away. Unfortunately, the sheep out foxed her and had daily raiding forays into the garden and shed.  They have trimmed plants and eaten the broccoli and rocket, but they also mowed all the grass.  It needed doing and it is far too wet to mow. They have made a bit of a mess on the driveways too. Edd’s first job after driving back from the airport was to find the sheep and put them back into their paddock. I had to leap up at breakfast time and herd them back in through the lowest garden gate that they had worked out how to open. 

Babies

great grand child and grand child

Feasting with babies

9.7.19

We had our midwinter feast on Saturday. It was actually very warm and sunny, so it did not have much of a midwinter feel until it got dark and even then, the family complained the house was too hot.  We cut down a mistletoe clump from one of the gum trees and I added fake pearls to substitute for the missing berries.  I think Sylkie was the only person who noticed, she shot off really fast when she saw what she was sat under. Maybe no one else fancied kissing.

This year I brought a nine-kilo turkey. It took hours to cook but we put it in the wood oven, so it did not dry out. I say we, because I discovered it was too heavy for me to lift and I had to get Edd’s help to manoeuvre the thing.   Bo came on Friday and helped me with preparations. I am not sure if I could have done it all with out her help.   We had invited about thirty people but in the end only twenty came so there was no worry about having too little food. Danni arrived with several sumptuous deserts and Bo had entrée savouries and Al a salad. I had cooked the pumpkin, broccoli, cauliflower and potatoes.   It really made a very good feast and people ate heaps.

Al and Pele and Wayne and his family all stayed the night.  Edd cooked everyone a full English style breakfast so the party continued until nearly lunch on Sunday.   Ben was away looking after the olive trees, so Indi and baby Alice came down again to join us. It is the first time we have had all the younger family members together. Indigo’s Baby A and Wayne’s baby M are both eight weeks old and found all the people a bit stressful but Ella and Al’s son, baby P are starting to really play around the place.  Al’s son is now walking all the time and Ella is a very mature 4-year-old. She is getting too heavy for Sylkie to carry even though Sylkie herself has shot up in height.  Ti’s baby is due in about two weeks, but I think that is the end of this increase session. We will need a collective noun for babies.

Other babies have also started to arrive. The first lamb was born on the day the tour de France started and last night a second lamb was born but then abandoned. I have given it colostrum saved from the goats and left it in a small area with mum, but she does not look right, and I have little hope she will take to mothering.   She is about the oldest ewe so it maybe too much for her. 

This is not at all convenient because we have flights booked in two days’ time to take us to Brisbane for a visit to our youngest son, Josh.  Bo is going to look after the farm, and I had tried to get the work load as low as possible.  Feeding an orphan lamb adds considerably to the load.  It is also too short a time interval to offer the lamb for sale.  At least there is plenty of goats’ milk to feed it on.

Oh deer

28.6.19

We have had a glorious week. Cold clear nights changing into warm sunny days with clear blue skies. Luckily there is plenty of outdoor work as an excuse to enjoy working with the sun warming us and stunning views to make life even more enjoyable.  Why would we want to go on a holiday somewhere else unless it was to visit someone?

It is 6pm and dark now but still warm.  As I chop kindling to light the evening fires, I can hear a neighbour with a chainsaw, no doubt also with fires in mind.   Tonight, I have lit the wood stove to give some extra heat to the water.  This is the first time in three days because the sun on the solar panels has done most of the work.  The fire lighters have mysteriously disappeared, but they are not essential. I just have to be more careful without them.

Today I resumed a digging project to enlarge the growing space in the vegetable garden. I now have a flat area under a high bank that needs some sort of terracing. I am waiting for Edd to fix the fence before we can plant out this space because I am still worried about deer. Yesterday we found a huge samba deer dead by the old wooden shed. We could see no sign it had been shot or killed by violence. It had been scouring for at least a few days so was it sick, or had it been poisoned?

The next problem was what to do with it. It was far too big to bury, and anyway foxes dig things up from quite deep holes.  It took two of us to drag it onto the carryall at the back of the tractor, and I have now shut the goats away from that paddock in case it had some disease. We will have to do a bit of research.

Strangely enough Edd and I had gone to a Landcare meeting about deer last week end. They are breeding massively and are now in big enough numbers to do damage in the forests as well as farms and gardens.  The samba deer are the worst pest and have caused several road accidents locally. Driving up the road from Yarra glen after dark has now become a hazardous venture with the deer adding to the menace caused by kangaroos and wombats. I drive very slowly and carefully, with this in mind.

The next task is to prepare for the midwinter feast on the first week of July.   I have ordered a turkey and will do masses of vegetables to go with it.  I can make a crumble from the fruit I froze earlier in the year. Indi has not been well this week but hopefully she will have recovered by then.   I am eyeing off some mistletoe on the old drive. It has not got white berries like the UK plant, but I plan to remedy this by a cunning addition of some fake pearls I have harvested from a necklace I got at the charity shop.

A little catch up of news

21.6.19

It is still raining but at least the dams and tanks are nearly full. I have plenty of indoor work. Today I made bread and cheese, and tonight I am cooking a roast meal for Berni, Edd and I. Whenever I get a moment I am knitting.  At present I am completing the second cardigan for my nieces’ twins and then I have to knit for Ti’s baby, who is due in five weeks. Indi’s baby is growing fast and has almost out grown her first clothes.

The power at Indi’s place is not totally reliable but they are now managing. The coldest part of the year is yet to come but already the first jonquils are flowering, and the daffodils are shooting.  The paulownia trees are developing buds and so are the loquats and today is the equinox so soon the days will get light for longer.

I am just hoping we have enough hay to last us until Xmas. Hay is in short supply this year and the prices are soaring. The vegetables are doing well but keeping the deer and kangaroo off them gets increasingly hard. Even Edd concedes that he will have to put up the missing fences.

19.6.19

We had a family gathering on Monday to farewell Arden who was flying out on Tuesday back to Germany. Al, Pip and baby P stayed the night and left early on Tuesday to drop Arden off at the airport.  I wonder how many years it will be before we see him again! He has left the Donga very clean and tidy which I so much appreciate. Not every one is so considerate.

6.6.2019

There is mud everywhere. It is not particularly cold, but it is very damp and not at all conducive to outdoor work.  The goats are staying in the shed or very close to it, but the chooks carry on as normal, except that they are making a muddy mess instead of dust. We have a daily battle with wombats who did under fences every night and make tunnels that chooks can use to get out.  They get out but then get stuck out and have to be rounded up and put back into their pens when it gets dark. 

The kangaroos are a worst pest and there are lots of them. They raided the vegetable gardens this week and destroyed a whole bed full of beautiful lettuces.  This is the first time in 20 years that they have got into the garden and it is not a good look.  Edd is doing the finishing touches on the fence around Indi’s area and he is not at all pleased to have me begging him to start on the missing stretch of the garden fence.

On a more positive note our new computer was delivered on Monday and I am now using it.  I did love the old one, but it was ten years old and there were a lot of things it just could not do any more, like get messages into the printer and send out mail (without a fight).  Getting new technology is always a stretch, but Edd is doing battle every night and we have most functions now in action.  All our gear is ten years old because we had to replace everything when we were burnt out, so it is all wearing out now.

I am spending as much time indoors as possible. I have been doing the accounts and working on knitting projects.  I even did a thorough house clean this week.  

Busy

Family youngsters

Monday June 17

I am busy cooking a fare well meal for family to see off Arden who flies back to Germany tomorrow.

settling in for winter

May 21, 2019

This week we have had some lovely days. Cool nights and clear fresh sunny days.  Edd is fencing in gravel pit paddock and I lit the burning piles when I was not needed to help him.  The piles of tree branches and old wire have been there for about ten years after our neighbour bulldozed the fence line to clear the way for its replacement. If we can burn enough of the wood the wire will become accessible and we can remove it.  Quite a lot of the wood burnt but we will need to get rid of more before extracting the old fence wire.

Today we have been paid for all the school events and camps we have run so far this year. Payment was so late that we were beginning to think we might not get anything, so it is a big relief to finally have the money in the bank.  The first thing to do is replace the computer. It is ten years old and I have difficulties building up on problems.  I actually hate changing computers. It is like getting a new artificial limb , and not quite knowing how to use it.  This old apple has actually been marvellous, and I will be very lucky if I get another one as good.

Now that the seasons work commitments are over I have started storing stuff away and looking at what other work I have been too busy to do. Accounts, loom large, but this week I have tackled the back log of laundry, most of which is now ironed and put away.  Cupboards need sorting and excess stuff taken to the charity shop.  I am also working on knitting which I have promised to family members.  Knitting is my effort towards family diplomacy.

If I have a target this winter it will be to set up a system to make sourdough bread.  I have everything I need but skill.  I have made ordinary bread for years, but we prefer the taste of sour dough and it is more sustainable because you don’t have to buy dried yeast. The soap we made is very nice to use so I need to make more.  I should really tackle it, but I have found a book that I love and ordered more by the same author which I find much more enthusiasm for than bread and soap.

Another new baby

May 11, 2019

Winter has arrived with the usual sudden change. After months of dry heat, we now have non-stop rain and chilly winds.  The good thing is that the water tanks and dams are filling fast.  We were getting dangerously low with our water supplies, but that problem is over.  We were lucky and got the goat shed cleaned out whilst the paddocks were dry enough to drive over with the truck carrying the deep litter. The restored ramps between the goat shed and milking room are now doing their job and keeping the goats feet out of the mud.

I have planted more vegetable seedlings, but we have had a setback. A kangaroo has discovered the garden and eaten all the straw berry plants.  I am really worried it will start on the vegetables next.  Edd and I blocked the openings into the ruins, but we need a whole extra fence to protect the garden on all sides. It has been such a bad time for plant growth that everyone is finding their garden has been under attack.  A friend down the road even had the leaves of her rhubarb plants eaten!

The really big event has been the birth of our next grandchild.  Bo, Sylkie and I drove down to Melbourne to greet her on Monday evening a few hours after she was born. She looked very peaceful and has lots of dark hair and her dad’s eyes.  Indi  , Ben and their baby came to lunch today when Al came with Pele to see me with mother’s  day flowers. Al was very thoughtful and brought Indi flowers too.  Arden, who is staying in the donga, also joined us so we had a big family gathering.  I was not sure how many were coming so I made a big pan of soup and a plate of cheese. Al brought bread, olives and meat so there was plenty to go around.  

Indi’s baby has a little knobbly chin, but Wayne’s baby has the family chin dent.  This is the wrong way around, because it is Indi’s baby we are genetically related to and not Wayne’s! Pele, who is one year old,  is the uncle of Indi’s baby so we are getting a family web rather than a family tree structure.  In the end it is just wonderful that all  the babies are healthy and have arrived safely. 

A much better week

May 5, 2019

We have made it through a week that could have been disastrous and come out triumphant.  Our first Great Grandchild , a little girl as yet un-named, arrived safely on Friday evening.   Indi started labour on Friday morning when we still had twenty students here.  Luckily, the fence posts in gravel pit paddock were laid out and put in on Thursday, so work had finished around Indi’s house. Another lucky thing was that the weather was perfect so that a blow-up birthing bath could be set up on the veranda. 

The weather had been fine and dry until Wednesday evening when we had a big Thunder storm and massive rain fall.  We all woke in the night with the loud thunder claps. I got up and put the house lights on in case any campers needed a refuge, but the kids stayed put and actually seemed to enjoy the storm.  They were even cheerful next Morning.   Most were able to continue their main tasks out-side, but I took my gardening group into the house and we dyed wool and made biscuits.  This time the dying was much more successful. The artificial dyes made the wool strong blue and light teal and the onion and avocado skins turned the wool a lovely gold colour.

This round of camps has been really good. Lots of work has been done cheerfully and willingly and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  Last week the ramps in and out of the goat shed were taken up, cleaned out and relayed so that now the wet weather has arrived the goats can come and go without tramping through mud.  The big tank there was checked and found to have doubled the amount of stored drinking water we had.  That was just in time because stores of water were worryingly low.

Now we can relax a bit. The kids are weaned, the big goats are drying off, the trees and gardens are getting enough water without work, and baby number one has been born safely.  Things are not over yet because Wayne’s new daughter is also due.   So far, we have two boy babies with Pele and Pip’s nephew but now the girls are catching up.  It would be lovely if they could all grow up knowing each other and feeling a sense of belonging to a larger tribe.

We also still have some family issues, but everyone has been very careful and at the end of this week  I can see hope that wisdom and love will prevail.  I am very lucky to have such a kind and thoughtful family.

I am so sad

Permaculture meeting in the ruins.

April 28, 2019

I feel so incredibly sad. I am worried that there are now issues in politics and family politics that are causing massive splits and disruptions where everyone will end up suffering.   Our poor earth is being ripped apart by greed and fear and today our family seems to be going the same way.  I just pray that there is enough wisdom left to eventually restore some sort of balance.

The weather has changed. The temperature has dropped enough to make me light the wood stove and today continual drizzle is giving the parched land some relief.  We have 20 students due here on a school camp tomorrow morning and getting things ready is tough in these conditions.   Luckily our mate ,John , came yesterday and moved all the deep litter from the goat shed down into the paddock to mature.  The goats are now closer to the ground and can benefit from the wind break provided by the corrugated bases of the walls. There was just enough straw left to make them comfortable.

Al and Pip brought some rocks up from Ocean Grove that they do not want in their garden and stayed on Friday night.  Little Pele is almost walking now and took a great interest in using my big bowls and pans as percussion instruments.  Indi is actually due to give birth today but there is very little happening yet.   We are trying to make sure she is given much support as possible, and is not left on her own too long.  I think Arden is still working on a car that he and Ti organised.

Dani is due next week end so all in all this could be a very difficult week, but once we get through it Edd and I can relax into winter mode.    We are drying off all the goats possible and now we are getting plenty of vegetables without spending hours watering.   I have beans to freeze from today’s harvest and a large beetroot to cook.  There are plenty of pumpkins I roasted one for the family meal on Friday , which was good. We have salad green again too. They did not do at all well during the long hot summer, but they are making up for lost time now.

Surprise visitors

April 19, 2019

Our plan was to have a quiet week before Easter, but as usual circumstances changed. On Saturday some good friends turned up who we had not expected.     We were ,of course , really happy to see them and we all shared a fun filled evening meal with lots of news to catch up on.     On Wednesday we had an even greater surprise.    Indi drove up as we were eating breakfast and we saw that she had someone else with her who was not as tall as Ben. They came into the house and it was only then that we realised that Indi had her brother with her who we thought was in Germany.

It turned out that Arden booked a ticket to Australia when he heard that Indi was expecting but mostly he kept it a secret.  He certainly gave us a huge surprise.  Luckily Dan had left the donga spotless, so he could move straight in there.  We had planned to let Indi’s friends use the donga over the time round the birth, but we had not expected any one to turn up so soon.    Indi is thrilled to have the company and I am most relieved that she will have extra support.    Her plan is to have a home birth which worries us a bit.

Bo and Sylkie , Indi ,Ben and Arden all joined us for an evening meal to welcome Arden home.  Luckily, we had enough food stocks in to cope but the following day I went shopping again as stocks were getting low . I had no butter, flour or sugar left  so we were not even able to cook a crumble for desert.    Bo brought plums and ice cream so that had to do.

On Tuesday we borrowed Indi’s car ( Edd’s ute is not strong enough) and drove up to Ballarat where we picked up two tons of oats.  The farmer we buy from is semi-retired and is only down from Queensland a short time , so it had to be Tuesday.  With the weather so dry we were relieved to get another few months, supply of oats. We just hope enough rain comes so that they can plant again this year, but things are looking grim.

Fortunately, we have water in the big dam because I need to water the vegetables every day to keep them alive. The nights are a bit cooler now but not as cool as we expect at this time of year.  The tomatoes are starting to die back but the pumpkins are still growing. The new beans I planted are cropping well and we are eating our way through the beetroots and snow peas.  The school kids planted lots of seedlings like cauliflowers , rocket and broccoli so winter vegetables are started.  We can’t plant any more until the pumpkins and tomatoes are pulled out and we get extra bed space.

Now we are into Easter and the grouping of holidays gives everyone almost two weeks off. Except for us farmers, that is.  We just keep working because goats need milking and plants need watering whatever the event.  Perhaps we will get our quiet week over Easter when everyone else is away.