Journey to farmlife

Part two of chapter six,



01 July 2009

Isn’t it just so annoying when you think things are going to be one way and they turn out completely the opposite? I go and order a drake for my supposed two females and the paperwork is complete and the collection day is set and then, two days ago I noticed “Miss. Peking” is developing one curly tail feather so she ain’t a Miss. Due to my ignorance in this department about sexing a duck I relied on asking the local feed stores and anybody who owned ducks. Each time I spoke to someone they gave me different things to look out for. The one said the female looks like she has a heavier bum (to carry the eggs) another said there’s something different in the quacks. Yet another said curly tail feathers. None of these were very specific and then I met Ingrid the breeder for the Australops. She breeds ducks as well. Now she told me that there is only one definite tail feather that will curl which indicates you have a drake. I have been watching for this for the longest time and eventually gave up waiting for the feather to turn up. Content that I had two females I decided to order the drake through Ingrid. Now I’ll back up to two days ago, while feeding them I noticed the long awaited curly tail feather. It wasn’t there the day before and now has appeared. I immediately thought of the ordered drake but it’s too late. Today the situation got even more interesting. I saw what I think was mating! I won’t give you the graphics as I’m not to sure how to describe them myself. So the bottom line is I’m thinking of ordering another female Peking to balance out the equation. Come spring I should have some baby ducklings waddling around either way. It’s going to be wonderful.

Kiara is not a very calm heifer. Maybe it’s because she is pregnant and just moved home but she is sure cranky. I hope she will calm down though. Enough for me to milk her. Tonight I managed to rub her belly and even touch her little udder. She didn’t take to kindly to that and stomped her hoof. I have a lot of work to do with her if I’m to milk her come January. I’m sure she will come around though. The steers really did.

Today was such a lovely warm day for a change. The herd didn’t even want to come up for the night. They were grazing at the far end of the paddock. It took a heap of convincing to get their attention. At last they took the bait and came galloping up. I had gone quite close to them to get their attention so had to turn and run myself to make it back to the gate before they ran me over. It was so funny and I was huffing and puffing by the time I reached the gate. Nothing like an evening run to get the blood pumping I say.

With the beginning of a new month I thought it will be good to tackle my linen cupboard today which was all upside down. I’m happy to report everything is back in order and I’m rather pleased to have conquered this mountain.

05 July 2009

Sunday night is upon us again. Where did that weekend go? Today being Sunday we welcomed home the two other pregnant heifers. There names are crystal and Queeny. I did have ideas to call them different names but they arrived with these names so I don’t want to confuse them further. We’ll stick with it. The two new heifers are just as dominant as Kiara and they have bumped heads quite a lot already. It’s sure to slow down as they become accustomed to each other. The paddock looks complete now. Five cows and three hopeful baby calfs to come. Who would have thought this was to be. It’s amazing. The ducks are doing their mating ritual daily now and I’m more certain than ever we will have some tiny babies come spring.

Today we all got stuck into cleaning up the garage and the area around it. Johnny took three loads of junk from the previous owners to the tip. It was great to see it go. I’ve picked out my veggie patch but it will still take some work to get it under control again. The grass is overgrown and it doesn’t get much sun due to the overhead trees. Johnny will have to prune back a few branches. I discovered another lonely tomato plant growing in a very odd section. As for the other tomato plant I moved, well it’s hanging in there, what can I say. The pumpkin seeds I planted are at last sprouting and growing well.

Friday night we got stuck into the office, preparing the walls for painting. Earlier on in the week Johnny had pulled out all the old cupboards and lifted the carpet tiles and literally striped the room bear so we were ready to start. Friday afternoon we had gone to purchase the flooring, paint and skirting at the local hardware. I found some nice reasonably priced laminated flooring along with some baby blue paint and some very nice molded skirting to finish off the walls. I can’t wait to complete the furnishing of the office and then move my computers and desk into that room. It will be very rewarding I’m sure.

Saturday morning the kids and I started some weeding. It is incredible how fast the weeds grow. Johnny had cleared an area in the courtyard a few months ago while it was still Autumn and I know it was a while back but these weeds were knee height in some places I kid you not! We started at about 7.30 and got three quarters done within an hour. Luckily they uprooted fairly easily so it was not too much hard work. I got some more done in my front flower bed too. I planted some of the plants I’d found in other areas into the flower bed. They look great. The roses are at last flowering buds again and hopefully I will have some attractive blooms soon.

12 July 2009

It is a cold Sunday night and the children are curled up under blankets watching DVD’s. Johnny has retreated to the bedroom after a very long, hard days work for him in our beautiful garden. We made major improvement in the garden this weekend which is always lovely. My front rose bed is finally completely free of weeds and overgrown shrubs. I worked really hard and finished off replanting plants I found lying around the property in pots. Now that the garden bed is cleaned up I will just have to maintain it which I must add will be a breeze compared to cleaning it up. While I was working on the beds Johnny was dealing with the trees and overgrown shrubs to the side of the house. He cleared the whole area and cut down quite a few trees to let some more sunlight through. He made periodic trip with the trailer to the back, on which Michaela perched her self. From time to time I would hear a squeal of delight as she called to me. “Look how high I am Mom”. I would caution her to hold on and pray quietly for her safety. She would wave at me as they took yet another load of cutting to the back. Johnny let the goats out of the paddock and brought them into where he was cutting down the branches. The leaves of the tree he was cutting is a favorite of the goats. Unbeknown to me there was a can of old paint in the ground that has accidentally been knocked over. Carla the bigger goat walked straight into it. So with two red hooves she went prancing around making an even bigger mess. Johnny and I decided to captured her and try and wash her hooves. What a saga I tell you. I managed to barely get half of it off so she still has slightly pink front hooves. The goats got stuck into the leaves on the cut down branches and made short work of them quickly. Spot got a bath this afternoon after lying in the sand all morning while I was gardening. He likes to lie right in the path of where I was working and after severally scoldings he moved off and settled on a pile of weeds I had pulled out earlier on. I don’t know why I bothered to worry about bathing him. No sooner had he gotten away from me he ran down to the bottom dam and straight into the muddy water. So much for the bath!

One of the Austrolop chickens is much larger than the rest. Today we noticed how he was treading all over the new baby chicks. Johnny thought it would be a good idea to move him over to the older hens. This was a bad proposal as we were to find out later. The older hens ostracized the chick and ran at her and pecked at her with loud noises. I was nervous to leave her there but things eventually settled down and the hens went back to scratching in the ground and overlooked the chick. Throughout the day I checked on her and she was doing okay. The last time I went down in the afternoon I couldn’t find her and panicked instantly. I searched everywhere and still do not know where she had vanished too. There were no feathers anywhere and there was no trace of any fight. I can only presume a bird snatched her. It’s a real mystery and I’m saddened we lost another bird. It’s a lesson learnt though, not to put the chicks out prematurely even if they look bigger than the rest. There is no better teacher than experience. I just hope she’s not out there in the wintry weather somewhere because she will never survive the night. I did my best to look for her but sometimes things just don’t work out.

The ride-on lawnmower has gone on the blink yet again. I’m so close to going out to buy a brand new one that will start on the click of the key first time, every time. Johnny has stripped her again and checked everything yet still she doesn’t start. My grass although still reasonably short is still in need of a trim. I do hope Johnny can solve the puzzle of why she won’t start.

Tonight we set the bonfire in the paddock ablaze at last. We have been piling more and more green waste on top of the mound and it was time to send it into cinders. The children had great fun hitting the pine cones into the fire which causes the flames to soar to the sky. We had to retreat as the sky became full of embers and started raining down soft feathers of ash on our heads.

Today I got to thinking about this diary I’m writing and the reasons for it. In the pages of these stories my children will one day find memories which would have otherwise slipped away. I myself might forget and so I hope to seal them into my heart by recorded them as I have. Hopefully someday the children and I will reminisce about the fun times and family moments filled with success, failures, joys and heartaches. They will have a hard copy of our very full life as a country family learning and experiencing and riding the winding roads of farm life. As they grow so too will these pages be filled with new experiences and many more adventures.

As I think back now on how my life collided into this farm lifestyle I realize just how much I have been longing for this country lifestyle all my life. This is definitely what was missing and now it’s found. As I sat watching the mesmerizing flames of this afternoon fire, I am content and happy.

13th July 2009

"We live in a fast-paced society. Walking slows us down."
~Robert Sweetgall


Well so much for the mystery of the missing chicken. This morning while making the customary cup of coffee in the mist of many yawns, Jonathan heard Spot making a real ruckus outside. He went out to see what was causing the disturbance. The last thing on my mind at that time of the morning was definitely not the case of the missing chook. As Jonathan was approaching the kennels he saw Spot sitting in front of the closed gate and barking. Low and behold there was the baby chick eating along side the hens. Where had he come from? Who knows but I’m sure glad he survived the night outside. I quickly whisked him up and took him back indoors.

As I was cleaning up after dinner tonight I looked out the kitchen window and saw the bonfire we had started yesterday. It had burnt out during the early part of the evening last night, but now was ablaze again. It is really creepy how it just starts burning all on its own. I guess it was the embers underneath that never got wet from the dew and that was where the fuel came from. I watched from the window but it only burnt for about 10 minutes and then went out again.

Today was the last day of holidays for the children, so tomorrow it is back to routine, packed lunches and homework. All good things must come to an end sadly.

17th July 2009

The children have successfully started school again. I’ve been terribly ill these past few days and went to the doctor in the beginning of the week. I’ve been feeling awful. I am now taking anti-biotic’s so hopefully will be on the mend. Yesterday Michaela came down with the flu too, probably me passing it on. She was not well so I took her to the doctors too. She was complaining of a headache and I had the same now that I think of it. It must be this flu virus. The good thing is that neither of us have a fever so I know it’s definitely not Swine flu. Talking about the swine flu, I heard on the news early this morning that Australia has reported 9 swine flu related deaths. That is terrible news. It just reminds me how fragile life really is and how I long for the cold months to pass even more now.

This mornings’ temperature was 7 degrees and I felt all 7 of those for sure. I woke up this morning feeling much better and decided to get up a bit earlier. My routine is to put on the heater, fill up the hot water bottles and of course I need to dress like an Eskimo.

I looked out the kitchen window as I wait for the kettle to boil. The animals don’t seem to mind the cold at all. The hens are laying wonderfully still and the ducks seem to enjoy the lower temperatures of the pond water. The cows seem to hover around the bonfire area each morning before ambling past to the big paddock. Now that could be from the bit of warmth from the smoldering embers or it may have something to do with the banana leaves in the pile that the cows just seem to love eating.

I think I should make the children some hot oats for breakfast this morning. The day has started so let us begin.