Harvest time

 28.2.2024

 

The sheep are now shorn and the Persian sheep are separate on the old drive where I can feed them separately. At present I spend much of my time with vegetables.  We have an abundance, far more than we can eat. I have cleaned out the freezer and am preserving everything I can but I had to resort to taking zucchinis to the charity shop. Today I prepared and froze apples, pears, sweet corn and beans.

 

We are now getting hot dry days. This was supposed to be a day of the worst fire rating with very high temperatures ad wind, but so far it has been only moderately hot and pretty calm.  There are large fires that have been burning for a week near Ballarat that are not yet under control, but so far nothing new has happened that we know about.

Last week our half of the valley had three days without power but our solar system worked brilliantly and everything worked as normal with the sun and batteries help.  We have a generator that we used to move between the dairy and the house as needed but this new system is far superior.  

 

Our next big job is getting the deep litter cleaned out from the goat shed. This has not been done for three years so there is a huge build up.  Our friend with the gear to do this is away in Ireland so we are stuck till he gets back.  Luckily, we still have some litter left from the last clean out that I can use to refresh the vegetable beds, but the supply is getting low. I don’t think we could grow much without this fertiliser.

 

Our tiny steels creek market is now back on twice a month and it is great catching up with neighbours. It is another place where I try and give away vegetables.  I was given apples last week end which was great because the sheep got into the new orchard in spring and ate all the branches that would have born fruit. 

A big storm

Beth at her piano launch outside the memo in Healesville

 20.2.2024

 

Autumn draws close. The leaves on the Virginia creeper have started to turn red and the Autumn joy succulent flower are becoming pinker.  The grass is still green but we have had several sunny dry days.

 

Last week we had visitors. A couple we know who worked with us in Aboriginal communities in the NT parked their caravan out side our house and we had a week of fun sharing food wine and stories.  One day it was hot and windy so we swapped our planned BBQ in the forest for lunch out in Healesville.  It was a good job we did. Half way through the meal a giant storm hit and all the power died.

 

SES and fire truck were belting off to deal with trees that had blown over and pavements were flooded.  One town got almost destroyed by the storm but else where there were 45 houses destroyed by bush fires.  Luckily, we avoided the power cuts at home but several big electrical pylons carrying power were blown over to add to the problems caused by trees falling on the smaller lines. 

 

We are worried about the Persian sheep who are not doing well. The old sheep and cross bred are fine so it is hard to work out what is wrong.  Sev came and helped us yesterday so we drenched all the sheep and did their feet.  Sev also helped Edd move the large round bales into the shed and collected more fire wood.  We have been waiting for the ground to firm up so we could reach the wood, but with all the wet weather it has been a long wait.

 

Our sheared has not come yet which is a worry. He had his ute and gear stolen so is in difficulties. Josh has a new boss for electrical work. His old employer crashed their work ute this week and wrote it off. It was not insured so they are also in a mess. Josh was lucky to change jobs when he did. 

summer music night

 8.2.2024

 

Bo’s boys rounded up a team and the hay bales are all stacked neatly in the shed.  The large round bales are still down the road but Edd is preparing the tractor and will drive them back here one at a time. It is all a great relief to get to this stage. 

 We have just had an English style summer. The grass is still green and regular rain ensures there is plenty of work needed to keep the grass around the sheds and house under control. Usually by this stage the grass is all dried off and no control is needed. I suppose we should expect the un-expected with climate change.

 

Last Friday we did have a glorious sunny summer evening and we all went to Healesville where Bo was opening her latest public event. She has organised for piano’s to be installed in several town streets so anyone can have a play.  For the opening she had organised Simon and some friends too come and play and she was dragged in to do the singing. Eventually a young man took a turn and he could make the piano sing. He got Bo singing opera and everything took off. It was one of those nights I will remember for always.

We went home fairly early but apparently the party continues for ages with impromptu music singing and dancing.

 

Josh is glowing with relief now he has full time work. It is not always easy but the jobs are varied and interesting. He has also been asked to train apprentices and Stevo says he calls him when he needs some advice on the best approach with hopeless students. Al has had a bad week when his youngest daughter poked him in the eye and caused damage. Fancy being attacked by a baby! He thinks the damage is slowly repairing itself now.

 

We have moved all the chooks together in the old drive way shed so that we have somewhere to house new chooks for winter eggs. We did not buy any chooks last year and have managed with the old ones.