2020 ends better than it began

Goats begin to shine after shedding winter coats

Bo's house all tidied up for viewing

 

30 11 2020

 

The big news is that Bo and Simon sold their house this weekend and have paid the deposit on their new place.  I am really thrilled that they are staying in Yarra Glen because our two families work together and help each other all the time.  You can only really have this sort of relationship if you live close.  I don’t know when we will even see Josh again. Perth is so very far away.  We would have flown their last winter, but the virus made this impossible. It is even difficult to keep in touch with Al. His house is a three-hour drive from us so to visit him means 6 hours driving and we are finding that a bit too much.

 

Wayne brought his two lovely daughters up to visit us which was great.  Maya looks so cute but when I picked her up, she was surprisingly solid and very heavy.  I felt as if I was carrying a wombat!  Indi and Alice came over today to get fencing materials.  Alice loves collecting eggs when she visits us, so Indi has brought her a house and some chooks for Xmas.  Today they wanted to fence the chooks into a section of their garden. 

 

Victoria has gone four weeks with no new virus cases, and we have been released from all the travel restrictions.  Shops have opened and I have been able to buy a pile of second-hand books from the op-shops.  I am so enjoying being able to read novels that I haven’t read before.  I have also been able to go Xmas shopping.  For the first hour it was quite fun after not going near shops for most of the year, but the feeling did not last. Shopping is not really my thing.

 

Most people are very grateful that we had the lockdown and even now people are standing in queues at a distance and wearing masks.  The roads are very busy.  Edd and I wanted to go to Bunnings at the weekend but when we got to Yarra Glen the traffic was so bad, we turned round and went home.

 

 

The weather has warmed up lots and we are getting some challengingly hot days already. One of the sugar maple trees on the drive is looking pretty sick after the sudden change from swamp to dust around its feet.  I am watering the vegetables and also getting in all the summer crops. Already we have eaten our first zucchinis of the year and the tomatoes have flowers. The garlic is ready to be dug out and we are eating our way through the last of the broccoli.  

 

The goats are losing their soft winter under-coats, and some are already sleek and shiny, but others look quite mangy because their undercoats are much paler than their summer coats. Their kids are bouncing around outside and getting heavier by the day.    We are getting about the right amount of milk to feed the kids we have kept and make the cheese.  It is always a juggle to get this balance right.

Things look brighter

 10 11 2020

 

Sense and science have fortunately prevailed.  This is the tenth day in Victoria where there have been no new virus cases and no deaths. In fact, there is no-one left in hospital with the disease and elective surgery has started up again.  On top of this the USA has a new president who believes in science and is aware of climate change.  We all breath a bit easier.

 

Bit by bit the weather is warming up too, but everything is still very green.  We have nearly finished the new buck pen fence and Jeff has got most of the blockwork done on the car port.  We are going well but now Xmas is fast approaching, so it is time to change gear and plan for a party.  I was not sure if we could have friends over but now at least outdoors will be OK.  Edd and I have been married 50 years this December so we will roll that celebration into our normal solstice do.

 

Today we sorted the pump out on the pool.  I brought a new net and scooped most of the leaves and bottom junk last week, but we need the filter running for the next step.  The new house Bo is buying has an inground pool and a spa, but they are not able to move till next year, so we will have to have the party here, on the farm.  On Friday Bo and I did a marathon job preparing her house for the real estate agents to photograph. Bo painted the window frames and I painted under the eaves. 

 

 Then we rearranged the kids’ rooms and put new covers on the beds. The agents wanted more pictures and fortunately Bo has spent her free time this winter painting, so we had lots of mounted canvasses to choose from. Amazingly we found a picture to suit every blank wall.  We worked hard until 3pm when the first of the agents arrived and mostly things looked really good.  We just hope she sells quickly and at the right price.  It will go on the market this week.

 

More and more wood ducks have taken up life around our house.  They all have families at the moment and when we go outside they have to round up their babies and escort them down to the safety of the dam.  This takes time because the babies walk rather than fly.  Today one father duck tried the broken wing act to give his family more time.  He did a great acting job, but it was rather wasted as they were in no danger from me. They are really a type of goose and eat the grass whilst leaving a shitty mess, but they are amusing to watch.

 

Reptiles are on the move too.  I found a long neck tortoise waddling toward the dam, and Morg found a red bellied black snake in the garden.  Our tenant, CB. Is worried about snakes. It is her first summer of country living and she is not sure how she will cope with the threat of bush fires as well as the wildlife.  My plan is to clear up everywhere so there is no where that snakes can hide and nothing to burn.  The new storage shed will help a lot this year.