Winter sun

30.7.2023

 

We are getting lovely sunny days this winter and the sun floods the house from early morning to night fall.  We have not needed any additional day time heating this winter. There is not enough sun light to heat the water, but a wood fire in the stove after the evening milking, every third day is enough to keep us going.  Traditionally this time in July is the coldest stage of the year.  We have had a few frosts, but they have been mostly really light.  Winters like this can be very pleasant. Yesterday we had lots of family here for a joint birthday celebration. There are lots of birthdays this month so we thought it best to have one main party and with the good weather the farm was ideal as a venue.  I was hoping to save Bo from the work by having the party here, but there is no stopping her.   She came and did the milking for us whilst I cooked and prepared and did heaps of work anyway.

 

I am very grateful for the help. Edd got knocked over by a goat last week and we think he may have a broken rib. I have a sore knee and hip so a rest from the bulk of farm work has been good.  Al, Pip and there three kids came up from Ocean grove and Pip’s parents came from the city.  Indi came with Alice and Wayne and Danni brought their girls. All the children played happily together, and Edd took them out for a ride on the carry all of the tractor.  This is the big treat they can only have on the farm.  It was a lovely gentle party and Edd and I felt really privileged to have so many of the family here.

 

In the week Stevo has been working here with Josh repairing the veranda on the donga.  The gutter from the big shed roof emptied onto the donga roof before draining to the small tank near the old dog run. They redid the roof drainage so that the pipe went across the front of the big shed and into the concrete tank between the goat shed and the dairy. This is the tank we all get our drinking water from so extra water in summer will be good. The veranda roof had collapsed due to the water pressure so it dropped rain onto the floor and rotted away the wood work which had to be repaired.  We hope everything will work better now, and CB does not have to worry about falling through the rotten floor.  Stevo says the roof needs repair work too so there is more to do before restoration is complete.

 

The multi coloured Persian sheep has had a little black and white ewe lamb.  Edd helped me get them into the shed with the other sheep and lamb so they are safe from predators. The black lamb has grown a lot but she will still be safest inside for a bit longer. We now have 4 Persian female sheep all very different colours and markings, so it is easy to tell them apart.  Sev has cut the fencing for the drive up into sections and the next job is to put them up.  Once this is done, we can let the sheep graze over the roof area which will save an awful lot of mowing and still allow us to drive off the property without opening and shutting gates.  The Persian sheep have hair instead of wool so they never need shearing, they are also not too big and heavy and are really easy to handle.  Both our lawn mowers are out of action at the moment.   Morgen, Josh and Edd have all been struggling trying to get them repaired but not with any success yet.   Grass is going to be a problem if they don’t get the mowers working soon.

 

The puppy has finally grown large enough that she can’t get through the house fence.  I have been taking her for a walk most mornings through the creek area. Sara runs round and I walk slowly, or scramble is a better description, because there are lots of large fallen gum trees to navigate over.  I take tools so I can cut down blackberries and dig out thistles as I go.  It is a lot of fun and the puppy gets exercise.  At least once a week we take her to visit her sister at Bo’s house. The two puppies row for hours and really enjoy playing together. This is another way we can get her the running time she needs when Edd and I are disabled with injuries.

 

The horrors of new things

22.7.2023

 

We seem to have become owners of the puppy Josh got from Bo.  She is a good puppy but over the last three nights she has had diarrhea and my first job in the morning is washing the floor in the mud room where she spends the night.  She has been very careful not to mess inside up till now, but some stomach upset has made life hard for her and us. I am not surprised, she eats every bit of wombat, kangaroo and duck shit that she can find.   I walk her through the creek forest every morning and I cut out any blackberries I find whilst she runs around.  We had to miss one day last week because there was a heavy wind and gum trees with their shallow roots are prone to fall over.  When we could go in the forest again yesterday several trees and branches had come down so I am glad we stayed clear.

 

Last week end Bo did the animals and Edd and I drove up to Bendigo to the sheep show.  Thank goodness this is still a traditional agricultural show with plenty of sheep competitions and useful stores. We brought socks (for our feet) and copper sulphate for treating the sheep. There were lots of wool and craft halls. I was very tempted by all the glorious coloured yarns dragged myself past them until I found the people, I brought my loom from.  They looked after me and I brought a loom stand and more shuttles for my weaving.  The only negative event was that although   Edd was well able to walk round the huge show grounds he fell whilst standing up from a stool and sprained his wrist.  Next day it was still very swollen and I thought he might have broken a bone.   It was not possible to get a doctor appointment and next day it began to come right, but he still had an excuse to avoid milking.

 

Our next battle was one concerning new equipment. Our old printer had finally failed after 13 years of service and we brought a new one but getting it working was far from easy. Edd tried hard but we were forced to call in Josh who is a bit of a wizz at this sort of thing. Our next issue was to assemble the weaving loom stand. It was all beautifully packed up the Ikea style instructions were Ok but it still took two of us most of a morning to set it up.  The terrible fact is that new equipment is now a horror rather than a delight, an age thing, I guess.  I did manage to complete my rug weaving. When I began it, I could not even achieve a straight vertical line in the pattern but by the end I got my lines straight and even did a pretty impressive diagonal!  I have a lot to learn but the project was fun.   For my next experiment I am now weaving a woollen cloth that I plan to shrink and over dye. 

 

Edd has been doing leather work. He has mended family shoes, made a collar for the dog and is now working on sandals for me. The last pair he made me lasted for years but I lost them when our house burnt down.  Edd taught himself to make these shoes when we worked in the desert because they were essential equipment and not easy to get. That was long before we ordered stuff from the internet.  The nearest shop was 4-5 hours drive away, so a broken shoe was a major problem.  We have spent our time over the last decade rebuilding and doing school camps, but now we have to move to a new life pattern.  Our first step was deciding not to buy new point of lay chooks to provide the market with winter eggs.  We have still had plenty for us and friends but with only 2 chook houses instead of 4.

 

The next stage will probably be reducing goat numbers.  I hate this bit; it is a bit like selling family members.  I am worried that animal feed is going to get more expensive with drier seasons and world grain shortages. Fewer goats would mean less hay and are needed.  We are getting news about extreme temperatures in the northern hemisphere and El Nino could bring back those conditions here. 

 9.7.2023

 

It is now mid-winter and we have had a week of damp cold days.  Still, it is better than last year as we still get warm sunny days most weeks. It is now over 5 weeks since Edd had the knee replacement and he is slowly recovering.   Bo has been really sick this week and the week before she was helping Pip with the kids down at Al’s home whilst he was overseas at a conference.  This has meant we have not seen much of her, but she is now back on her feet and we are having an evening meal with her family tonight.  Yesterday Indi and Alice visited and on Friday we had Al and Graeme for dinner, so our social life has had some action.  I still miss my friend Bennie terribly but the good thing is that another long-term friend has decided to return after 3 years living in QLD. She has rented a unit and is planning to buy a new home back in the Yarra Valley.  I am thrilled.  Lots if our friends have died, which has been hard.

 

The ginger sheep and her lamb are still undercover in the shed we built in the yards.  The lamb is growing and healthy but still at a size that she could be easily taken by a fox or eagle.  I have to take a bucket of food for the ewe twice a day and one of the older sheep comes and taps on my legs with her foot until I give her a bit of feed too. I have no idea where she got the idea for this behaviour.   So far, we have only got one goat mated. I have not wanted to risk injury by taking the does to the buck whilst Edd and Beth have been unable to do farm work.  Sev has been a great help but he only comes once a week and no one has been in season on Fridays!  

 

I have kept up with the garden work.  The fruit trees are now pruned and the vegetable gardens are either planted out or prepared for spring crops.  The camelia has started to flower and the wattles and jonquils are in full bloom.  I was too late with the quince tree and it started to flower before I got round to the pruning. I had the same issue last year but I just went ahead and did a late pruning.  This was a mistake because I removed most of the fruit baring branches and we had a very reduced crop.   We have now eaten all the oranges but we have plenty of pumpkins, and tomatoes and beans in the freezer so lots of lovely winter soups at lunch time.

 

In my spare time I have been experimenting with my simple weaving loom.  I have mastered the art of tablet weaving (warp faced) and am now working on a piece of weft faced cloth like a Navajo blanket.  I have used up lots of old hand spun wool left over from other projects. The moths had got into some of the wools so it all went into the freezer for a bit and then wound into smaller balls which are ideal for some weaving projects.  I have had most pleasure from taking the puppy for runs on the hill and along the creek in our own property.  It is such a privilege to own a private little forest park that I can visit by just walking out from my front door.  The feral deer have done a lot of damage but they have also cleaned out all the black berries and under growth so that I can walk on endless different tracks. Since Indi took the horses to her house, we have had no stock in this area so nature has just taken its own path.  The ti-tree thickets that sprang up after the 2009 fires are gradually being replaced by wattle and gum trees and the ferns and other understory plants have come back in places the deer have not been able to reach.  

 

16.6.2023

 

I have been too busy to blog over the last few weeks. Edd was in hospital for three days after his knee replaced, and then came home to recuperate.  He can walk slowly with two crutches but his whole leg has been very swollen and stiff so he is not doing much yet.   Luckily, we have a physio who visits once a week and keeps an eye on things.  It is a good job we got the sheep shed built because today we have the first lamb from the ginger, coloured Persian sheep.  I have shut all the sheep in the yard so that I can get the ewe and lamb enclosed and safe from foxes.  The foxes even hunt during the day so I think it is best to play safe.

 

It is very mild today and sunny so it was a good day to be born on.  All sorts of things are flowering. We have jonquils, and lots of bushy things with small purple flowers that I can’t even guess how to spell.  They look very pretty.  We are now eating the oranges from the old tree below the water tank.  They look as if they are too dry but once opened, they are sweet and juicy and altogether much nicer than the ones in the shops.  

 

 

27.5.2023

 

I think we are ready for next week when Edd goes into hospital for his second knee replacement.   We are hoping for the best with a speedy recovery, and preparing for a harder out come at least in the short term.  Last week Stevo and josh helped build a shelter shed for the sheep and Sev re-enforced the fences with recycled netting. This gives us a yard where the sheep come up each day for a feed and the means to shut them up in a sheltered place where the lambs can be protected from foxes.  I have dried off as many of the milking goats that I can and Edd and Sev have moved the round bales into the shed and up to the old drive where they are protected from the worst of the weather.    Last year’s lambs are now ready to eat but I rather like them and am dithering over their fate.  Luckily, we are still under stocked so I am not under pressure from lack if paddock feed.

 

The puppy, Sarah, is growing fast. She is a lot heavier than she was when she came and is learning to respond to several commands. The rest of Bo’s puppies are now rehomed and she is just keeping one for Morg.  Over the last couple of weeks, the puppies have rampaged endlessly round Bo’s Garden and have created a sea of mud. Today she has washed the mud off the house floors and is out looking for pavers to try and control the situation.  Sarah has no mates to play with so I brought her a special dog ball. When I rolled it past her, she grabbed it and returned it to me and we played this game several times until she decided it was no longer amusing and now, she just ignores the ball.  

 

The pumpkins are all in a pile waiting to be carried back to the house now they have hardened off. We have already started using them for soup and as a roast vegetable.  The freezer was almost at full capacity and I had to buy extra pots for food storage. Now we have started to use up the stored food and I can reclaim the pots again.  For fresh, greens, the rocket and pac choi are making a nice change from the silver beat, and I have harvested the quinces and taken them to Bo’s place for making quince paste.  The kangaroos are getting very bold and I think they are damaging some of the vegetables.  I also counted 30 wood ducks in the house site yesterday and they don’t help. They just ignore the puppy, which is surprising.

 

We celebrated Bo’s eldest sons 21^st with a couple of parties. The first was a family do on Tuesday evening where we shared stories and laughter. Simon and Bo were persuaded to perform so Simon played the piano and Bo sang which we all enjoyed. I feel absolutely blessed to be part of all this.  The second party was more about friends and was very noisy. People and dogs all milling around everywhere. Al came up with his two young sons and helped with the cooking. It was another very happy occasion.