High winds and heat

The old sheep need shearing

Josh's kitchen/lab in the ruins

 13.2.22

 

The hot dry weather has continued all week. This morning we woke to really strong winds. When I started watering the vegetables, I saw the shade sail on Josh’s room break loose from one of its three mounting spots.  It was whipping around in the wind and I could see that the large D ring on the loose end would very likely smash through a window or cause other damage. This meant I had to climb up a ladder and untie the tarp from its pole. 

I felt like a sailor at sea trying to reef the sails on a tall ship in a storm, which was not a good feeling.  Eventually I got the knot untied but then I found myself at the top of a ladder holding onto the loose sail that threatened to drag me off the ladder.  It was a hair-raising experience getting down the ladder to a point I could jump off and put all my weight on the canvas. 

I think this was all achieved before anything got damaged, me included.

 

Sev came to help us on Wednesday this week.  The liner in our pool has disintegrated to below the filter and was too damaged to repair. Sev emptied the remaining water and took the liner out so we could see what condition the metal walls were in. Some places were OK but in others the rust had taken over. This meant that not even a new liner could save the pool but now there is such a nice pool at Bo’s house ours has not been needed so much. We only really kept it going for the school camps. Sad, but one has to be pragmatic.

 

The goats seem to enjoy the hot weather and are all looking fat and gleaming now they have shed their winter coats. The lambs have adapted to life on the old drive enclosure and come rushing up to the gate in anticipation of food when I call them. At one stage they got through the fence and re-joined the goats back in the shed but Sev and Edd have repaired the fence and so far, they have stayed put.  The four old sheep are waiting for the shearer so it is hard to tell if the two ewes are pregnant.  They are now accepting the Persian ram as part of their flock so it is possible, we might get a few lambs this year The two lambs in the old drive area are two small and young to mate this year so the lambs if we get them will be all cross bred. 

 

Harvest season continues and I have begun freezing the excess beans.  The tomatoes are maturing too so I will have to start pulping and freezing them this week. They are so delicious that we are eating quite a lot of them. I convert the basil into pesto with garlic and olive oil and then that gets frozen in ice cube moulds or small containers. If I am feeling workish I mince the garlic and freeze that in cubes too. It is easy to use when I cook this way.

Harvest time

 5.2.22

 

There were kangaroos grazing just outside my bedroom window when I woke this morning. I have not seen them so close to the house before but recently they have been out of the forest and feeding in the paddocks when I take the dog for his morning walk.  Flynn ignores rabbits and wood ducks but he would really love to chase kangaroos so I always take him on a lead. 

 

This week I have harvested the bulk of the sweetcorn the apples and plums. We eat as much as possible fresh and I blanch the rest and keep it in the freezer. This is the first year after the fires when we have had enough plums to preserve. Ages ago we got buckets loads and I would make jam to sell at the market and use for the farm stay guests.  The children would go out with the horse and cart to collect road side plums to add to what our own trees produced. Sadly, the fires destroyed all the plum trees along the roads and our old trees never recovered either.

 

Our new worker is proving a wonderful help. My vegetable and ruins garden look well groomed and all sorts of odd jobs are finally getting sorted. With Edd’s hip so bad it has been all we could manage to get through the routine daily work let alone make progress.  We fixed up the remains of the fences after the fires but they have now disintegrated so we need to do more work on them next. Also, we should get fire wood ready for winter. The kids on the school camps used to do this this job which, was really helpful.

 

So, farm life carries on as normal but in the outside world covid and climate are still causing havoc.  They are talking about trying to get some 4WD vehicles through the flooded Stuart Hwy tomorrow but many towns still have shortages with supplies. Nursing homes are unable to get enough staff and old people are getting neglected whilst locked away from their relatives. It is a very, very, sad look. I am grateful that Edd and I are not yet at that stage of life. 

 

Edd has just heard that his sister in the UK has been taken to hospital but we do not have much in the way of information yet. Edd’s niece keeps him informed as much as possible and is doing her best to sort things out. But it is just so sad that we cannot be there to help.