Death at the party

 20.12.2021

Events took a tragic and unexpected turn this weekend.  Usually, we have a big gathering for friends and family as close to the solstice as possible. This leaves our kids free to visit other relatives for the actual Xmas day.  For as long as I can remember we have had this do at the farm but this year Bo offered to have it at her place and as there is a teenagers hang out in the big shed, and a beautiful pool and spa area everyone liked the plan.

 

I soon realised that I had just dumped 90 percent of my seasons work on Bo but I tried to help her prepare as much as possible. Bo and family produced a fantastic feast and the weather was hot and sunny so we were all set up o have a wonderful time.  Wayne and Danni arrived with their daughters but Al and family arrived first with Amy , the great Dane.  Indi came with Rosa and Bo already had her two dogs there so the place was soon swarming with very young kids and dogs. 

 

When everyone we expected was gathered the feast began. Then Amy began to stager and look very sick indeed. Josh, Ollie and Pip loaded her in the car and headed for the vet. Soon Al and his boys followed them as it became clear their dog was unlikely to survive.  We soon heard that she had passed away which rather dampened down the party. Josh and CB were planning to leave early for a camping walking trip to Wilson’s prom but they did not get off on time as planned.

 

Ollie and Stevo went off to the farm to dig a grave and we had a burial party before dark and planted an oak tree on the grave. We were all so impressed with Ollie. He was very traumatised as a child when his dog was attacked and fatally injured whilst he had her right next to him on the lead. Then he had to nurse her in the car down to the vets where she had to be put down. This latest misadventure was a complete re-enactment of the same situation but he could deal with it in a very mature way this time and won everyone’s’ admiration.

 

Luckily the small kids where all so young that they took this in their stride. They continued to frolic in the pool and gleefully unwrapped their gifts. Alvyn’s sons even took part in the burial with no outward signs of distress. They spent the night here and then we all met up at Bo’s place for lunch as there was lots of food to eat up. The day was very different.  Thunder storms had raged all night and the day was cloudy and dark. It echoed the dark cloud that hung over us all.

Summer arrives

 12.12.2021

Finally, the weather has changed, and hot dry days outnumber the cool ones each week. Last month we had another storm that brought down trees and power lines and we endured days with out power and floods. At least I didn’t have to water the vegetables!  Now the earth is drying out fast, the grass has gone to seed and everyone is trying to work out how to get the hay done. There used to be teams set up to cut and cart hay but finding someone now is getting harder every year. No one is catering for the small farmers any more.

 

We prefer to have traditional, small ‘square’ bales. They are not really square, but the big bales are called ‘round’ which isn’t strictly true either. You can feed out the small bales easily as they break into neat sections, the round ones fit in a bale holder and are good for feeding cows in the paddock. They are difficult to store in the shed unless you have special lifting equipment and they are also much more work to feed out in small amounts.

 

To make things even harder this year Edd needs a hip replacement and is really struggling with the pain and not being able to walk much. This all came on very fast, but he has an appointment with a specialist next week so things might get set in motion.  Luckily, I have already sold half the goats which reduces the work we do every day. We have Josh here and if I am not around to help Bo comes and does the milking and animal feeding. Edd has been very useful fixing machinery and doing stuff where walking is not essential. The milking machine broke this week but he took the thing to bits and got it running again very quickly.

 

A couple of weekends ago we had a celebration in the ruins for a dear friend who had passed away.  His partner organised their friends to come and Bo did most of the food. I cleaned up and prepared the ruins and for once the weather was perfect and everything went off well. This was a great relief for me as most of the people who came were strangers. The ruins are fabulous party space for this kind of thing. The walls are now covered with creepers so it is very much a garden setting but we have a roof or shade and two toilets.

 

I am still doing too much mowing and cursing myself for selling too many sheep. The vegies are going well. We have heaps of snow peas, and at last, zucchinis. The lettuce is still plentiful and the garlic is about ready to harvest. The pumpkins keep getting eaten by slugs and snails but so far, the beans are OK. This year we have loquats again and we are eating our raspberries and strawberries for breakfast.