Near death experience

 27.7.2024

 

Edd and I had a virus this week but we managed to keep going.  We had two years without any sickness when we were isolated, so I suppose we have some catching up to do.  

 

Bo, on the other hand has had a dreadful week. Morg, her eldest has a friend Jerry, who has often been just another family member. He has recently been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and is being treated. On Friday he drove home after having dinner with Bo and family and next day his step mother found him unresponsive and close to death. He was rushed to hospital intensive care where he was told he was the closest to death person who had ever survived there!

 

Bo and family feel awful because they all knew he was not himself and did not take any action.  We are all so lucky he has survived and hopefully he can get better care from now on. He is in his twenties and is living and working with his father. The question we are all pondering is how do you know when someone is no longer capable of looking after their own needs and at what point do you take over?

 

Al is also having a bad week. All his kids are sick and Pia is booked to fly out to Canada tomorrow for two weeks. It does seem as if we have an awful lot of bugs going around at present. Tilba’s family have also been sick. (They claimed ownership of the sock the washing machine seized. We have suggested that even though it is a large commercial style machine there are limits to how much it can cope with, without taking revenge.)

 

Both of the goats, Joy and Frani, who were in with the old buck look to be pregnant which is a relief. We were worried he was no longer fertile after getting no pregnancies last year. The young buck who was impossible to contain has simmered down a bit and stayed in the yards. We have not put any does with him yet.

high winds and other problems

 20.7.2024

 

The weather is just horrid. Icy rain continues to pour down and the water tanks are overflowing and creating small rivers just where we don’t want them. To make things worse, yesterday there were high winds and the road up our valley was blocked twice by falling trees. Peter from the hill brought down his digger and moved the first one and Edd dealt with the second with his chain saw.

 

Al and family went to the airport to catch a flight to Brisbane but were caught up in the global computer problem. After 7 hours waiting Al drove home but his car broke down on the way. Pip and kids got home by Taxi, but Al did not get home until just before 3am. By then the flights were going again and Pip left for the airport on her own because she was booked in for a conference. Al is at home with our three young grand kids who are probably exhausted.

 

To make matters worse the washing machine broke down. Josh took it apart and found the pump was not working.  He drove off and got a new pump and fitted it.  We are so lucky that Josh can fix things. Edd hacked the old pump apart and found it was blocked with a sock. I have always suspected that washing machines swallow the odd sock or two!  However, it was not a sock we recognised.

 

I am totally over winter and can’t wait for spring to arrive.  There are signs it is on the way. The wattle and lucerne trees are about to bloom and buds are forming on the quince and paulownias. The jonquils are in full bloom and there are heads forming on the broccoli. Tonight, we are off to a communal dinner to celebrate xmas in July. We have not been able to hold our mid-winter feast for several years now. Everyone in the family has commitments at different times making getting together as a family impossible which is rather a shame.

floods and flu

 16.7.2024

 

Last night it poured.  Flooding has closed the main route to Lilydale and the farm is a sea of mud. Even the sheep have sort shelter in their shed rather than go off to graze.  Our big shed floor has several melodious puddles which delighted the great grand kids until Andy slipped and landed plat out in the middle of one. Their mum had to strip off all their clothing on the veranda before they could go back indoors!

 

Stevo is feeling really sick with a flu bug he caught on a flight last week and Josh has picked up a bug somewhere else so work halted after lunch today.  Edd has been off collecting materials for the building work but he has had to drive a long way round to avoid roads that are closed by flooding. A job that should have taken half a day will probably end up being a full day’s work.

 

It does look as if the two goats we put in with the old buck are pregnant. We just took them to be mated when they were in season last year and they failed to produce kids so this year we have tried a different approach and let them live with the buck for several months. He has been very happy with this arrangement. The young buck has not grown tall enough to mate the does yet and we were worried the old buck was not fertile so things have worked out well.

 

The chooks are now laying well but we are worried about bird flu that has now reached Victoria.  It can be spread by wild birds and we have plenty of them. My worst fear is that the flu might spread to the goats.  I would hate to lose them.  We have lived with their families for years and could not find new goats so well suited to our conditions.

 

I am a bit shocked at how many people I know would have liked the Trump assassination attempt to succeed. It seems wrong to wish ill on anyone.

unusually cold weather

 5.7.2024

 

It has been exceptionally cold, well, cold for what we expect here. On three occasions we had heavy frost and the pipes froze in the dairy, which has never happened before!  Luckily the very frosty nights were followed by clear sunny days and the water began flowing again in time to do the milking. The last two days have been overcast and damp. Everyone I know seems to have headed for Qld to enjoy warmer conditions.

 

Stevo and Josh have been building all week. I provide their lunch and luckily the lettuce and rocket have cropped enough for a daily salad. I have also made hot soup every day by using stored pumpkins and tomatoes and other vegetables from the freezer.  I have also been helping the builders by painting undercoat on the ceiling panels and all this has kept me very busy.

 

The new chooks are laying well and providing our regular customers with winter eggs. The goats are still giving milk and the sheep are looking like we will get some lambs soon. With our animals we are enduring the horrid weather and at least the shortest day is now behind us.  Better news is that Julian Assange is now free and home in Australia.  We are not impressed by the USA ‘s actions and are totally mystified over their choice of two pretty alarming potential presidents. Australia seems relatively sane in comparison.

 

My grand daughter in law has decided to have her baby here in our donga. If that happens it will be a second great grand child born on the property. I have finished the cardigan I knitted for Al’s youngest daughter; I hope they pick it up before she has grown out of it!