1 September 2009
No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow. ~Proverb
HAPPY SPRING DAY TO YOU ALL! At last the winter is behind us. Spring is my favorite season of all. It represents life. As the earth reawakens from its slumber, color and life resurface. Well at least it’s supposed to be like that. This is quite a cool spring the Ist and it definitely feels more like a winter’s morning instead. After that heat wave we had its back to freezing again. I’d just packed away my slippers and had to haul them out again.
Johnny came home with a few split poles he had picked up from the supply store and was really eager to put them in. So after dinner we geared up with jumpers, scarves and torches. Johnny sunk the split pole in and then noticed the pole was too far east. As a second thought he said maybe we should have treated the pole with creosote before putting it in! Ah, the joys of doing a job twice! During the time we were freezing outside, Jonathan accidentally knocked over the box of rattle sockets, which had been placed on top of another pole precariously. So there we were, on our hands and knees searching for these important sockets, which some of them I must add were so small it made it difficult to trace. After about half an hour of looking we decided to throw in the towel. It will be easier to find them in daylight.
8th September 2009
Today is windy and warm. The temperatures have increased and I’ve packed away the blankets and yes my winter slippers again. Hopefully this time they will stay packed away until next winter. The leaves are still dropping like its autumn but at least the weather is warmer. We collected our male goat from the breeder this weekend and affectionately named him “Romeo”. He is settling well, the girls give him a hard time as he hasn’t realized he’s a buck yet. He’s still rather young and they are a wee bit bigger than him. Billy-Joe said we should ideally only start putting them together around April next year so that one doesn’t have winter kidding. Johnny and I have decided that the goats need to be together and the sooner the better. Gestation takes 153 – 158 days so hopefully just before winter next year I’m hoping to have a kid or two. Carla isn’t the least bit interested in Romeo and is the roughest with him. If anything I’m guessing Lady will be pregnant first. It’s rather exciting just thinking about it.
Johnny came home early yesterday and we went to buy a grass catcher. It’s a really interesting contraption I tell you! At first I thought it would be a total waste of dollars but once I’d seen it in action I changed my mind. It compliments working in the garden so much and raking will be a thing of the past. It vacuums the garden actually. There are so many different machines that help in the garden - it is fabulous. While Johnny was cutting I took the opportunity to get stuck into some weeding. My, how the weeds have spread. Last night we had some more rain. The tanks along with the grass are very grateful as am I.
I pulled out the Barbie this weekend and it was really nice to cook outside again.
11 September 2009
Tonight a funny thing happened. Johnny was fixing an old sprinkler he found laying in the back garden. After cleaning it up, Jonathan set it up in the garden to water the much-needed grass. We all stood back and waited for the anticipated sprout of water to arrive, which was not forthcoming. So off it came again and it was back to garage light to see what was stopping it from working. Johnny couldn’t find the problem so he connected it up again and blocked off the one side with his hand this time. Low and behold out squeezes this tiny lizard from the open side. He must have been hibernating in there all winter. So there he was half in and half out the sprinkler spout. He looked alive but was not moving an inch more. I definitely thought he was stuck. Jonathan thought this was hilarious and there they were trying all sorts to get the lizard to move his behind.
They eventually resorted to physically removing him with pliers and he of course met his untimely death. The sprinkler now works!
21 September 2009
Time waits for no one the old saying goes! Wow is that true. Well the past two weeks have been very full. I was offered a job and took up the challenge of juggling work, farm chores and home life. While it wasn’t a walk in the park, I did manage to stay on top of most things. The animals were confused, as my usual calm morning ritual had turned into a race against time. Of course life can’t occur with out one drama to relay. The one hectic morning as I waved the kids off to school, Michaela came rushing back a few minutes later telling me the goats were on the road outside Iris’s house and they were eating her plants! There I was running so hard that my chest hurt. I ran down the road to try coax them back to the enclosure. They just stood there looking at me like I was mad and then calmly followed me back inside. I guess I should be grateful they see me as breakfast lunch and supper, most days!
After an internal investigation we discovered the culprit who left the gate open. The previous night the boys were chopping more trees down and moving them to the burn spot in the open paddock. As it turns out the main gate wasn’t shut after the last trip and then the following morning, Jonathan went down to attend to the animals for me. I had told him to allow the goats into the big paddock by opening the side gate. He never noticed the big gate was open.
And so the week of working passed. Now the children and I are on holiday. Jonathan is off on a holiday camp for three days. I spent the day watching “17 again” with Michaela. I’m at home for the holidays too, which is just so great.
The spring weather is warm and apparently a couple of degrees over the average for this time of year. Tomorrow we expect 33 degrees. It will be a hot one for sure. Tonight there was a little drizzle of rain but not much. Just enough to make the grass grow! We need water desperately.
23 September 2009
This week of holidays has been a wonderful week of visitors to the farm. The animals simply love all the treats these wonderful people bring along. The goats have graduated in knowledge and now can no longer be trusted out in the big paddock anymore. While relaxing on the porch I glanced over to see the trio of goats on the opposite side of our fence, again in Iris’s yard. I left my guest and charged over at lightening speed, my heart almost jumping from my chest. I reasoned on the way there that Carla would lead the rest back so all I needed to do was convince her to follow me. She stubbornly refused too and what followed was a struggle with her and I. Grabbing hold on her hind leg she struggled to get free and gave me a run for my money. It’s incredible the strength of these animals. Eventually she gave in and I managed to get her back over to the right side of the fence. As I thought, the other two followed suite without any troubles. I’m still at a loss on how they escaped, as the paddock is fully fenced. So for the past two days they have spent their days in the smaller enclosures. I will have to baby-sit them if I am to take them out into the large paddock again until I discover how they got out. It is a shame for the grass is getting greener by the day and is more bountiful than it has been in a while.
Last night we went to view a prospective bull in the area. He is magnificent and a definitely plus. We need to negotiate his price and hopefully he will join our herd shortly. He’s on the young side too so we don’t expect any action for a while yet.
Today we experienced our first sand storm. I was of the impression that these sorts of weather patterns happen only in the states out in the deserts. Do you remember those movies with the town out in the middle of nowhere where the cowboys had gunfights in the center of town? You would see rolling tumbleweed in the background and the red dust swirling in the air. I’ve never seen anything like it in real life until today. The sky was red and the air was clogged with dust. I had to close up the house to avoid the dust penetrating inside. The wind howled outside and Michaela and I spent the day baking and watching DVD’s. It was one of the peaceful days indoors while the elements went wild outside.
25 September 2009
I finally got to take a walk around the big paddock to investigate where the goats had gotten out and could not find any holes in the fence and was satisfied that the only place they could have gotten through was the gate leading into the very bottom paddock. If they had gotten through the gate which was latched but looked as if it had been bent on the bottom, then all they had to do was work their way around up another path and then their wasn’t anything to stop them going over to Iris. I made sure the gate was secure and then went up to collect the goats. My plan was to sit with them for a while and then walk them around the fence again to see if they found any new spots. All went well and I was reasonably certain that the problem was solved. I really hope they won’t surprise me again.
I sat for a while down by the dam watching the ducks. They are such graceful creatures on the water. The dam looked wonderful today. The water was a dark clear blue. It seems to me like the water takes on a life of its own. Some day it is cloudy and others it’s crystal clear. The reeds provide a safe haven for Daisy, the moorhens, and the wild ducks too. Donald is still very territorial and frequently rushed up to me while I was sitting watching them. These days though he seems to put on a show more than anything else. He’s grown into a beautiful specimen of duck.
Johnny just got home with the wonderful news that my new computer will be ready on Monday, what awesome news that was. At last I can start down loading my hundreds of photos and update my Internet blog site.
What’s life without drama like? I certainly don’t know much about that since arriving on this farm. This afternoon we ran out of water. I was in the middle of cooking and came to turn on the taps to find no water. We knew we were low but it was amazing how quickly we went through the last bit of water. So Johnny phoned around to the water carriers and nobody apart from a very small 8500 liters could help us out straight away. The earliest they could deliver was Saturday morning latest in the afternoon. I discovered the water was gone around 2 on the Friday afternoon. It is astonishing how much water one person uses in an hour. Most people including myself don’t think much about it, as it is always just available when you open a tap or hit the flush switch. I now find myself calculating the amount of liters we may need on a daily basis. I sure do remember taking the precious stuff for granted and my eyes are open to a new reality now. Water is a precious commodity and it’s high time the world starts thinking about saving it. I got to think just how much water a suburb for example uses in one day, or a city? What about a country? These are questions that would scare me if I knew the answer too. Right now I’d give a lot to have a full tank of water.
27 September 2009
Well another weekend is behind us. It was a very good one. We worked in the garden mostly and Johnny repaired some more of the fence. The children and I painted the one side of the fence with creosote. What a difference it has made to the facade of the front garden. I can hardly wait for the whole fence to be finished. We must have transferred about five full loads of rubbish to the back during Saturday and Sunday. My roses are blooming wonderfully. There are about fifty buds on the one red rosebush. I must remember to take a photo of it. Johnny set up the sprinkler again from the dam water. The grass has taken a beating from all the pruning and dragging of branches along. It will do well to get a drenching.
The water arrived around 4 pm, which was wonderful. Johnny had given the tank another clean out so we were ready for the carrier. The first thing I smelled climbing into the shower tonight was the chlorine in the water. It was a wonderful smell and I know I sound really weird but I’ve missed that smell. I can now differentiate between the two whereas before I could not. I’m more water conscious now than ever before and understand how vigil we need to be about it. Once again experience is a great teacher.
30th September 2009
Johnny has taken leave for this week and we have gotten so much done around the garden. We painted a little more of the fence with creosote. What a messy, sticky job that was! The children eagerly took up their paintbrushes but the novelty soon wore off as I expected it would. One by one they disappeared indoor to cleaner grounds and as usual it was Johnny and I left to finish up. We finished to the left of the gate but still have what seems like miles and miles of fence to still complete. What an amazing difference it makes to the old fence. Although I must add that the wire at the bottom was straighten and the ground was leveled off too. All three of these jobs added to the end result. I can’t wait for the whole project to be complete. It will take some time though.
Most of the day was taken up with the general garden duties but we did get to some nice chores too. We unearthed the existing veggie garden patch and were very pleased to see the beds had crusher run laid around them. Somebody had at one time lovingly prepared these beds and must have grown a successful vegetable garden. Because it was over grown with grass you couldn’t see much of it but as we worked on removing the grass we discovered pegs to mark the outsides of the veggie beds and then we found the pathway. A lot of the grass came away quite easily. We now need to add some fertilizer and some ag-lime to improve the soil quality and then we can start planting. The children each want their own beds, Johno wants to plant chillies, and Micky wants strawberries and grapes. We might just have ourselves a little healthy competition I think. Whose plant will produce first?
Johnny made a stand for the washing up basin out side and tidied up the piping around the pump and filter. It looks so much neater. I carried the outside table down to under the trees this afternoon and we had tea in the garden. I looked around me once again and then closed my eyes. The wind was gently moving the wind chimes and the birds were whistling in the background. I opened my eyes again and took in the progress in the garden. Yes, it’s been eight months and we are moving ahead.
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