30th October, 2023

Back to rainy spring, and according to the dogs, there was a thunderstorm out there somewhere. There's snow in the central highlands and the wind is coming straight off that.

Finn has developed an aversion to the back steps. They are tiled and relatively slippery, and it's possible he did slip on the way down (he's perfectly happy to go up) and hurt himself and now he's scared to go down. He did have a day or two of needing convincing to go down the one step out the front door, but we had a discussion about having to get out of the house sooner or later, one way or another.

We made another curry with a marked down roast pork from Woolies. It goes really well in the rich coconut milk curries, toss in a heap of veges and squirt of lime juice and a little yoghurt and it's a lovely meal.

It's Aimee's 30th birthday today. I remember holding her in my lap as a days old baby.

As Sarge isn't very efficient with his cleaning I've instituted a wipe down each evening to help clean his coat. He's alot more tolerant of that than a weekly bath and is dry and comfortable alot sooner.

While I was out thistle spraying I walked the fenced off soak area. The trees we planted as 20cm high seedlings are now well established and starting to flower at the moment. Many of them are on the spiky side and make great nesting places for native birds.

Many small glades are among the trees, kept open by wallabies. These glades are protected from the wind and are lovely sun traps.

29th October, 2023

Another lovely day, and a very productive one. After doing all the basics I went and checked on all the stock, everyone is in good condition and enjoying the sunshine.

I weeded the side garden and collected calendula seeds to scatter. Then I brought the mower up and mowed the left half and nearly all of the right half of the front garden. It looks heaps better mowed, and now I can find the edges of the gardens to get in and weed the front beds.

A couple of loads of washing in and out, most of the house cleaning done yesterday with the cleaner, and some admin done.

I also took the sprayer out and walked a couple of paddocks looking for thistles. I have one more to do and a plastic tree guard to cut off a tree, and a fence to move. It's good to get out and walk and look at things close up.

28th October, 2023

I didn't get much sleep last night. My head wasn't slowing down, even by 2am. A glass of wine sometimes help sleep, but it does bring on hot flashes. I think I am going to try proper kava and see if that does the job for the once a monthish that I need to wind my mind down, without triggering the hot flashes.

Leigh finished shearing his sheep, a slow job when he's doing himself. Somehow he managed to let them get out into the piggery paddock and then spent half an hour trying to chase them back into the yards before calling Siobhan and the kids to help. Then back on the truck and back to their paddock on the other side of Scottsdale. 

The automatic gates were very slow opening, so investigations found that Leigh had turned the power for the shearing shed off at the wall in the dairy, which threw the gates back on battery power. Switched on they were back to full speed. I probably need to move the plugs around so that one stays on.

We had a lovely dinner with Warwick & Teena at their farm on the other side of Scottsdale. They run a few sheep and cattle and have two very large dogs, cane corso, a huge mastiff breed from Italy,

27th October, 2023

I was greeted by half a starling when I got up. Someone obviously decided to snack before breakfast and left the rest for the silly humans who can't catch their own food.

I came home from a trip into Scottsdale to hear sheep baaing as I paused at the gate. Where are my sheep now ? What are they doing ? Then I heard a lamb baa and I realised Leigh had put his sheep in the shearing shed to clear out for shearing. I poked my head in and saw the new ram, a young fella with a friendly eye, unlike old Jack, who lived to be a jerk.

The calves are now on 450g of powder in 3 litres of water until the powder runs out. They are eating enough muesli and there is enough protein in the grass to wean them off the milk now.

I went out with the spray pack and tagged all the thistles in the first part of the main paddock around cowmahal. They were variegated thistle and already flowering. Probably need to do a quick walk around and check the rest of the paddocks.

Little Moo is now scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Work was madly busy, it bodes ill for the run up to Christmas as it's not going to get any quieter.

26th October, 2023

O lovely day ! Yes, a slightly excessively breezy day, but there was abundant sun. And apparently snow at Cradle Mountain, which explains the icy edge to that breeze.

Did the basics, a heap of admin, and sprayed some thistles.

The new Thai restaurant at Anabel's opens on Saturday, woo hoo !

25th October, 2023

Cold day today, that wind is coming off snow somewhere.

I went down to top up the calve's muesli and it was almost empty. I hope it's been the calves getting into it and not the chickens or some possum. Lots of eggs, either they're picking up or it's been a few more days than I thought since I collected them.

I took a load of recycling to the tip, picked up some medication, hamburgers from the new cafe for lunch and some interesting wines from the local bottle shop. And helped Rob Taylor rescue a cat that had managed to get his toes caught in the cage of a fan.

After being held up closing the supermarket by a recalcitrant customer, it was nice to come home to a lovely massaman curry that Geoff made with the leftovers of a pork roast.

24th October, 2023

An early-ish morning to get things done before heading off to Lilydale to visit a robotic dairy with the Legendairy Ladies. It was really interesting, especially the cow behaviour parts of the discussion.

 Three robots with cows inside and waiting

 A cow being milked

A three way gate, depending on the cow (as identified by an electronic tag on her collar) the gate will open in a different direction to send her into the milking area or off to other paddocks, or to a holding pen.

Weather was crappy, windy as heck and spattery And it got steadily worse over the day. It's like nature held out yesterday and said "See this lovely warm sunny weather ?" and then yanked it back and said "Well you can't have it !".

 

23rd October, 2023

With the forecast for "mostly sunny" I put a load of washing on last night to be ready to hang out first thing and save an hour in getting the weeks washing through in one day. I got up with Geoff and put a second load on, so I had two ready to go when the sun warmed up. The rest chugged through, including all the lounge blankets that are a bit, er, doggy.

The weather itself started off glorious, fading in and out all day. Jason and the others that have cut an early batch of silage will be stoked at the 35mm of rain followed by good sun. All my baby paddock trees will love it too.

I've calculated the milk reduction regime for the calves, they're now getting into the muesli so weaning will begin. Milk is $144 for 20 feeds, while muesli is $33 for 20 feeds.

I had a response to the Council job application. I had the interview a couple of weeks ago as they were looking for part time admin workers. With the delay since I assumed I didn't get the job, however it turns out they had an internal juggle and while they have filled the Bridport admin roles they are now looking for a full time admin at Scottsdale. They want to know if I want to put my hand up for consideration in the full time role. I did give it some serious thought, but the farm's not ready to be run on weekends.

It was a real conundrum, no more Woolies and a chance for my body to heal, but less flexibility for running the farm and getting out and about during the day. If I don't go for the full time they want to hold my application for future part time and project work.

I had lunch with Kelly, at the Ellesmere Patissere. We ended up leaving when they pulled all the seats in from the pavement, a bit like when the pub starts putting the chairs on the tables. We also stopped by the Amish vege stall, they are post winter veges and pre spring veges, so we picked up some apples and spuds.

At least we have lots of greens in the house garden, here's a shot of some of the self seeding rainbow chard that has now turned into small trees.

 

22nd October, 2023

Last night was all thunder and lightning, probably the biggest thunderstorm I've seen in nine years in Tassie. It doesn't tend to get hot enough to generate really big lightning, but the slightly warmer than normal couple of days combined with air drawn down from the mainland to brew one up. It certainly kept the dogs in for the night.

As a result, there has been a pause on Little Moo, Josh the Butcher had a sunroom roof torn off last night in the storms.

One of the cameras hosted a refugee. I doubt he was going to catch much, but he didn't blow away.

21st October, 2023

There was rain forecast for today, but other than fitful showers it took a long while to arrive. Now, at 10.30 pm, there has been thunder and lightning and heavy rain and the dogs are camped at my feet. We've had one 30 second blackout, but hopefully the worst is past. All the whitegoods are unplugged, I'd better make sure the fridges and freezers are plugged in again before bed ...

After the cleaner left this morning I took the quad bike up to Robyn's to pick up Bruce, the larger tractor. He will be used to lift Little Moo in the morning, if the appointment with Josh still goes ahead with the forecast weather. It's time for Little Moo to go and join Big Moo, he's lately showing he's ready to give up being a cow, life has become harder and harder for him as arthritis and his jaw tumour get worse. It's better to save him pain than drag life out at any cost.

I checked on the hop vines and set up the chains for their spring growth, and gave the silver beech saplings a pre-rain water so that the rain would soak right in. I collected the eggs and topped up the calves' muesli and made sure the chooks were good for a day stuck in their coop. Cast my eyes over Jaffa and her group under the macrocarpas, and the herd across the road, Annie and her mob in the loafing shed, and the sheep hunkered down in Cowmahal. I think we are as battened down as we can be.

20th October, 2023

With the news that the surveyor had managed not only to take 8 months to produce a plan, but now had produced a plan that the Land Titles Office could not register, Jason and I had a council of war this morning. Ably supported by cups of tea and choc chip anzac biscuits from Billie. We have about a dozen Plan B possibilities depending on what his bank is willing to live with. I guess that's Plans B through to M.

We've worked out some questions for the conveyancer and the accountant and once those are answered we're going to hit up his bank for a way forward. In the meantime he's going to ring the surveyor's company (former company, apparently the surveyor no longer works for them, wonder why....) and put the wood on them not only for expedited completion but a break on the fees.

On the normal world front, I just got the basics done today. With weather forecasts for rain, storms and wind over the weekend it might be a matter of whatever can get done on top of the essentials. Maybe a little work down in the craft room is due.

Geoff dispatched the old black hen with the tumours. She was one of the original australorps from Arfur at Ringarooma that formed the beginning of our Tassie flock.

Here is a photo of the piggy across the road. She's definitely happier out in the fresh air.

19th October, 2023

Today was a little hazy, forerunner of the clouds to come over the weekend. The air was warmer though, even at the end of the night I am sitting with the door open and the air is still, damp and not too cold. It's bringing out that minty eucalyptus slightly smoky smell that comes from the bush and paddocks around us.

Today I weeded and mulched and watered all the pots and sprayed thistles in the house yards and main driveway. If I get time tomorrow (unlikely), I'll do the barnyard, piggery and sheep shelter paddock. Then the ryegrass paddock and main paddock on the weekend (rain permitting).

I backlined the two bottle calves for worms, as they are grazing well and it's been a bad year for worms, and they aren't drawing antibodies from a mother's milk. Adult cattle in good condition almost never need worming, but being a poddy calf isn't the most ideal immune system setup, so it's better to take just a little extra care of them.

I picked up another bag of milk powder and one of scratch mix for the chooks, and dropped off two cartons of eggs. I stayed well away from everyone so as not to pass on the lurgi. 

I did go to work today, the shift went quickly as it was a busy night. I wasn't the supervisor so I was able to pace myself and got through in reasonable order. I picked up a nice selection of fresh veges for dinners over the next couple of days, and a roast pumpkin quiche to provide an alternative to the chicken laksa Geoff made last night that will do for several meals.

Leigh confirmed that he had moved the pig across to the 75 acres. She has access to a shelter there anyway, plus water and shade, and can get in and wallow down on the swamp if she wants. She seems to be in a cheerful mood and he is bringing her surplus bread and veges on top of her browsing and foraging. Happy pig. He's talking about breeding her instead of eating her, as she does have a very good temperament.

18th October, 2023

Another sunny day. There is rain forecast for the weekend, which means I will no doubt be well about the same time it starts.

Today the vet came and castrated Zipper and put ear tags in him, Joey and Star. She also vaccinated Poppy and discussed options for helping out her old bones. I need to get a urine sample from her for a kidney function baseline before we choose the medication, that will be fun !

I crawled in between the round bales and reached out the eggs from the cache, and filled the space with chaff bags. There is an active nest that I can reach just at the entrance to where the cache was, so hopefully the hen will redirect to that.

I found the dog water was dry, looks like that will be a daily job now, and filled it and watered the pots. It will be time to lay out sprinklers and lines soon. We have rain forecast for the weekend, but that won't take long to dry off.

It's our wedding anniversary today, 15 years. Amazing. Might get fish and chips and salad for dinner, I don't think I am well enough to eat out.

And a special treat, from the father in law (in Odessa, Texas) of Damon Lane, a meteorologist in the US. Remember, you can click on the picture and it should come up larger.

"this picture of his house during the solar eclipse today. Look at all the crescents! They were everywhere! As the sunlight hit the trees, the light was scattered everywhere under the trees. It lead to all of these crescent shapes. How cool !!!"

 

17th October, 2023

 First thing I found when I got up this morning was a large dead rat on the kitchen floor. Someone, I suspect Sarge, is taking care of business. They tend to eat the mice they catch, but not the rats.

Another day of being sick. I think I am doing ok, until I try to do anything significant and then I realise how weak and short of breath I am. It was another sunny day, it always happens that when I have a sunny day off I get sick, maybe I am allergic to solar radiation...

I called in sick for tonight and Chloe took the shift with Gillian as 2IC. I hope it's a smooth one for her.

Geoff had his skin check in Launceston with Dr Maggie today, all clear and next check in two years.

The calves had their first large morning feed today, 1kg of powder in 6 litres of water for Joey and 5 litres of water for Star. The difference is so that Star has half a chance of finishing hers before Joey does his and starts pushing for hers. I took them down to the muesli again and they nibbled a bit here and there. They had been down during the day and had some, hopefully that begins to be a habit.

I found another nest a long way back between two round bales. I'll try to get down tomorrow with a pasta spoon (the best way to reach up hard to get at eggs) and the dogs can have egg with their meal each night for another week. Then I'll bunch up some chaff bags and block access to that one. If a hen starts to sit she will get squashed when the round bale in front is moved.

The vet is coming tomorrow to castrate Zipper and vaccinate Poppy. I'll ask their advice on some help for her old bones, as she is getting quite stiff.

16th October, 2023

A bit of a catch up. I spent all day on the 14th working at the polling booth. All went smoothly, but it was a very long day. We had over 1,550 people, which proved to be one too many. That one gave me some kind of bug.

So I spent the days sick on the 15th & 16th. Alot of the time I was in bed trying to get warm, with the electric blanket on 6 and another blanket over the top of the doona. During those periods that I overheated (menopause didn't hold off during sickness) I got out of bed and gently slopped through a few jobs.

I forked up the loose straw in front of the round bales, making a pile of it on the side of the shed to use in nests and for bedding. I lifted the muesli bins to chest height for the calves, hopefully keeping their feet out of them, discouraging the chickens and encouraging them to check it out.

I wobbled my way up to the far end to check on the girls and make sure that power was reaching the electric fence. There is some kind of short somewhere, but I didn't have the energy to walk the full length and check, and there is power on the lines so that can wait.

I collected eggs and watered the mulberry and discovered the pig was missing. There was no pig in the paddock that I could see, and no pig in the piggery. Later this afternoon the pig was spotted over on the 75 acres. Did she go under fences and get there herself ? Did Leigh put her over there ? She was covered in mud so clearly she had found a wallow. It's a mystery.

I had to cancel lunches on Monday with Kelly and Tuesday with Michelle. I am not sure if I will have to miss work Tuesday night and cancel the vet (castrating Zipper and vaccinating Poppy) on Wednesday. Come to think of it, maybe I should leave Zipper as a bull, let him serve everyone, and then send him for beef. I have 24 hours to think about it.

My new glasses arrived today, and they fit well. It's a bit of a learning experience finding one sweet spot for distance and the other one for near, but I didn't get dizzy or headachey so I think they will be fine.

I've given the calves their last night feed, I am moving them from 4 litres morning and night to the day's powder in 5 or 6 litres each morning. It will be a rich mix and I am hoping not to give them scours. Hopefully, if I march them down to the muesli each day before work they will start eating more and more of that. And at least I won't be doing calf feeds at 9.30pm after work.

13th October, 2023

I put the step ins under the line for the lane and paddock up the top end and moved Jaffa, Freya, Sorcha, Zipper and Flora up there. They didn't seem to be very happy about the move. Annie and Little Moo weren't so thrilled to be left behind either, but someone has to be company for Joey and Star. Given that the ones up the end will be chest deep in grass I had little sympathy for their tantrum.

My bowel scan results came back clear, one of my official "now you are old" baseline tests for this year. I think I only have a hearing test left to do, and when Launceston health gets around to it, a heart stress test.

I moved the dwarf mulberry back in front of the craft room, I think it grew six inches in the week since I repotted it. I'd better make sure it doesn't outgrow it's new bigger pot too fast.

Star is now nibbling at the new muesli bar. She continues to be three times as smart as Joey. But then so is the hammer in my tool kit.

I'll be spending all day tomorrow working at the polling booth in Scottsdale for the referendum tomorrow. Up at 5.30 to feed the calves before I go, and home about 7.30. A long day and I'll be all peopled out, but good pay.

Zipper is growing nicely, he's a bit smaller than Freya, but lovely and fuzzy.

 

12th October, 2023

A bit of rain today. Not enough to be useful and water things, but enough to wet stuff. The hops have sprouted, I appear to have lost a few due to the very wet winter rotting some of the roots. I am trying to decide whether to replace them with hop varieties or some different types of vines. I might see what's available.

I've been picking the rainbow chard, shredding it and storing in a big bowl in the fridge (covered by a shower cap !). Then I can sautee a couple of handfuls quickly to add to meals.

I've been moving my small squares of straw out from in front of Leigh's rounds in the hayshed, and the chooks have now established a nest behind the new pile of bales. Luckily straw is substantially lighter than hay and I was able to finesse the pile just far enough out that I can reach the eggs, and add a fake egg to keep them using it. When I find a nest I can live with, I like to encourage them to use it.

I also moved two broodies into the broody pen. They will have three or four nights in there to break the brood, with plenty of food to top up what they've missed by sitting.

I had a good phone chat with Mum, she had a lovely bus trip and is keeping busy.

11th October, 2023

It seems that Leigh has moved the weaners out of the piggery paddock. I didn't see or hear a truck come, but when I left for work the paddock appeared to be empty. Since I come home at 9.15pm there was no chance to check tonight, so I'll take a look in the morning. 

If they have gone it will give the grass a chance to grow back before the summer dries off, and perhaps the heavy grazing of the early germinating barley grass will set it back enough that the later germinating good grasses will out compete it.

He also moved his tractor and a trailer full of corrugated iron and wooden planks that had been at the foot of the old machinery ramp for a year or so. At this rate the barnyard will be a machinery and construction free zone by Christmas. Then it's just my pile of old fencing to go.

I had a message from Eyelines today that my glasses were done, did I want them posted or pickup. I'll call tomorrow and get them sent out, if the frames need adjusting I can attend their next Scottsdale visit. I am really looking forward to trying them out. Not everyone deals well with the change between close and near sight on the lenses, but I think I'll be ok.

I pulled down the driveway electric fencing and rolled up the line. Closed the gates to the driveway and opened the gate to the sheep shelter paddock. Hopefully tomorrow I'll use the step ins to set up the electric divisions and laneway at the far end of the main paddock and move some cattle into the very long grass up there.

While I was laying out the line for that one I found an old horse shoe. I have no idea how long it's been since a horse was on the place for more than a brief visit (we billeted a horse during an endurance ride national comp one year), but I think that one can go up in the craft room.

10th October, 2023

Between a sleep in and an early shift (1pm to 7pm) there wasn't alot done today. 

Besides feeding the calves and the chooks I got a load of washing in and out and set up new muesli bars for the calves. I introduced them to the concept and Star did some nibbling while Joey still tried to suck my elbow off. He's not the smartest animal I have ever dealt with.

After work we cooked bacon, eggs and sauteed chard. The eggs and chard were ours and the bacon was from Leigh's pigs (made by Siobhan and delicious) so the majority of the meal was sourced from this farm. That's a nice feeling.

Payday today too, when I get to pass alot of money very quickly to other people. The electricity bill was quite alarming, and then I remembered that we'd done reverse cycle heating this year instead of gas and what we were seeing is the money we'd have spent on gas going on electricity. It's probably worked out cheaper, but it's still a shock to see it all in one go. I am going to start making weekly payments towards it so that the next one has been well offset before I get it.

Kelly, who had a visit and lunch with me a couple of weeks ago, dropped in at work and asked if I'd like to catch up for a cuppa. We'll do that on Thursday. Then Teena stopped in at work and asked if Geoff and I would like to come over for dinner on the 28th. So another booking in the calendar. And a tour of a robotic dairy with the Legendairy Ladies on the 24th.

The sheep were hanging around Cowmahal again. I'd shifted them one paddock over when I was working on the fence for the cows and while they'd never walked under it outwards, they were clearly motivated to walk under it inwards to the shelter. The sooks. To be fair, if I can limbo under it there's plenty of room for a sheep to go under without ducking. The pig was wandering around near them and they seem to be adjusting to her presence.

9th October, 2023

The day started off cloudy, so I waded into some accounting work I had been putting off. And then the sun came out around midday so I headed out into the green.

I laid out the electric line for a laneway between the far end paddock and the water and shade, and disconnected the live wire from the bottom line in two fences as the grass was above it. It will remain as an earth, if anything touches both it and the live (eg a sheep climbing in between the two wires) they will get a zap.

Then I raced into Scottsdale to get a haircut, drop off some eggs and pick up some medication. Fed the chickens and collected eggs. Got sucked into a show on tv. And somehow the day went.

Dinner with Juliet and Shane and the kids, and a late night writing invoices. Living the dream.

 Enchanted Encounter - Sandra Henderson

8th October, 2023

Another gap, I need to get more focused on getting something down each evening.

The weather has been changeable, mostly dry but one day of rain. Which was snow down to 600m so nasty. But September was half the average rainfall, so it seems the drying up is starting.

I shifted Little Moo and Flora into the sheep shelter paddock as the cows are making a dent in the driveway grazing and she has a few teeth missing so could use the longer grass. A walk around the main paddock to clip grass off the fences has shown a need to get stock onto some of the smaller areas which are knee deep in grass. But who ? 

All animals need water, and I like mine to have shade and shelter. So do I set up a new alley to shelter and water and make them hit the deep grass, or do I open three areas and hope they wade into the longer stuff first. I bet I know how that will go ... so on Tuesday morning when I pull down the driveway fencing I will set up some alleys and get Annie and Flora onto the longer area. 

I should put Sorcha too, but I still battle with keeping calves in groups so they grow up with buddies, and my two calves need to be fed twice a day and introduced to muesli more effectively. Livestock tetris is something people with single age, single need herds never experience. Belle and Moose and Gizmo would be good up there too, if Belle wasn't in with the bull for the next three weeks.

The remaining pig has now ducked under the electric and is wandering the main paddock, so that's another reason to keep the two dairy calves close. The two beef ones have very attentive mothers to make sure a very large pig doesn't view them as potential dinner, but the bottle calves would be more vulnerable. The pig may have no such intentions, but I don't like courting danger. So Little Moo, Joey and Star will stay in the sheep shelter paddock for now.

I will try and set up the broody pen tomorrow too, though as a day off it's rapidly filling with "to do" list entries. I found an egg cache in the hay shed while I was moving the straw bales further back into the shed, so the dogs will have eggs with dinner for a while.

The job interview on Friday went well, I think. I should hear this coming week. The skin check in Launceston was clear. I'm on yearly checks now. And that afternoon we met Pete and Hardy and a couple of their friends for drinks and pizza at the Little River's Brewery. It was a long day, but I think a successful one.

Geoff picked up some green prawns on special and cooked a coconut milk soup with them for dinner tonight, I had planned on bacon from Leigh's pigs and eggs from our chooks, but we'll do that for lunch tomorrow now.

It looks like we'll be hosting veterinary students between November and February again. It takes some thinking to keep them busy and show them useful things, but it's worth trying to introduce young vets to rural practice as there is a real shortage of rural vets.

5th October, 2023

News today that we've lost another worker at Woolies, decided to do other work. On the up side, we can employ six people now. They are going through resumes knee deep.

Weather is supposed to be snow down to 600m now. The wind is certainly icy tonight. The cows and sheep are appreciating their respective warm sheds, but I feel sorry for Belle. The other four of my cattle with her on the 75 acres are rather furry, but she is a typical jersey with a thin coat. Hopefully she has enough condition on not to feel it too badly.

Annie is on the eve of her last day of drying up feeding, her udder is mildly full but doesn't appear to be at all uncomfortable. I will continue to monitor until she is slack.

I need to organise for Zipper to get castrated, and Poppy is due for vaccinations, so I think I will roll both into the one farm visit.

With the weather so cold and windy today, and a series of hard shifts, I had a good sleep in and only did the basics today. I will need to coddle myself a little if I am going to make it to Christmas in some kind of order. 

Tomorrow I am off to Launceston for a skin check appointment, but have the interview for the Council job in the morning first. I'll have to get up at a normal time to make sure I am ready and focused.

4th October, 2023

Well, I moved the dwarf mulberry, but I thought the tangelo would be fairly safe. I was right in that they didn't want to eat it... but I was wrong in that they did want to fight it. So it's lost pretty much everything above three feet high, and only time will tell if it will survive. I clipped back all the broken branches and put a couple of sheep panels around it to try and protect what was left. I am glad I fenced out all the rest of the fruit trees when making the electric fences for the grazing area.

The cold is back again, snow below 800m on Thursday, 1500m today, and winds that are going through you rather than around. No wonder the plants get confused.

Annie is on her second day of just feeding and no milking. She's not even all that enthusiastic for the feed. She seems to be holding fairly well in the udder, not too full. I will feed and check for anther couple of days and then call it quits. 

At the moment spending ten minutes instead of an hour is welcome, and one less chore will be great. It would be different if she was easy to hand milk, but she has tiny teat orifices and an unwillingness to put a foot back to give access to the udder. One is a matter of training, the other is probably never going to change.

So far the chickens are laying in the nest boxes and haven't gone too far afield with their nesting. I always seem to have one broody, but they change from day to day so I am not sure who to put in the broody pen to snap out of it.

Finn is getting the same kind of damp mats on his back as Poppy. I think it's an artifact of the relentless wet weather. Hopefully if I get them both divested of this batch of mats the dryer summer weather will avoid making new ones.

Leigh's last pig is out again, seemingly able to fly. I think it's time he just opened the pen gate and left her food in there for when she comes by. I have to give her points for determination.

I wasn't successful in getting a job with Sheep Connect NSW, which is a pity because that could have been interesting. But they would like to hold onto my resume for project work. I do have an interview for the Council admin jobs on Friday. I need to find some interview clothes and have a think about what sort of hours I'd be up for.

I gave a tweak to the bonsaid apple tree. I tightened both the top and bottom wire and shifted it perhaps 20 degrees closer to vertical. That will do for a few weeks, I don't want to tear the roots.

 Just Good Friends - Sandra Henderson

2nd October, 2023

I shifted the calves up a notch in feed quantity as they are now 8 weeks old, and started taking their milk out in buckets instead of 3 litre bottles as Annie is reducing production and less of the meal is going to be fresh milk. She is due to be dried off by mid October anyway, so it is better to start transitioning now rather than make an abrupt dietary change.

As the quantity of power per feed will double now I have moved the bag of powder up to the house, fetching up small bucketfuls being one less daily chore. I also moved the newly potted dwarf mulberry out of cow reach, as it is very edible, and tightened up the wires on the apple tree I am straightening.

The cows were in with the sheep this morning, the gate to their paddock having come adrift. I moved everyone back out to the barnyard and the sheep made several tentative forays out to the newly opened up driveway area, but seem to prefer the security of the barnyard. The cattle are camped next to the other cottage, hopefully Caleb's gates are secure.

I washed all the blankets off the lounges, it's amazing how dirty the cats can be, plus Finn's hair. Luckily it was a good drying day and they are all back on and protecting the poor old lounges.

Freya is going ahead in leaps and bounds, she's going to be a spectacular heifer. Zipper is doing well too, I'll have to get another photo of him.

I had a bit of a shock when I looked at the moon tonight, it was bright orange. Then I remembered that people will be burning now before it dries out, and there was a sniff of smoke in the air all day. There's no wind so there will be a layer of smoke low down, which the moon was making it's way past.

1st October, 2023

It's been a busy couple of days.

The cattle have just about finished in the main drive circle, tomorrow I will move the fence again.

 

The calves are all well, Zipper had a day of being farty and smelly, he was drinking a little more milk than his tummy could handle. Cows don't fart alot, mostly they burp, but if gas builds in the post-burp areas then it only has one way to go. He seems to have stabilised now, and is getting around with the herd instead of doing the newborn eat/sleep/eat/sleep thing.

It's time to look at the next stage in the feed plan for Joey and Star, they aren't eating anywhere near enough muesli to hold the milk at this level, and I have to dry Annie off in mid October. So time to sit down and work out nutritional needs and how to best meet them.

Leigh's pig was out in the main paddock yesterday, to the sheep's dismay. The pig showed no interest in them but they clearly felt the presence of a potential predator. When they saw me at the gate they were more than pleased to follow me into the sheep shelter paddock and leave the main paddock to the pig. Who was enjoying the grass and sunshine and fresh air.

Roda and I worked like mad yesterday morning and got most of the cleaning and washing done. I am doing one load today and need to give the bedroom walls a mould wipe, but mostly it's just the daily stuff left for the next week. This is working out really well.

I picked up a mock half barrel for the dwarf mulberry. It will sit in a series of progressively larger pots inside the barrel until it grows into it. I don't know where, but I read that it's better than putting a tree from a tiny pot into a huge pot all on one go. I think I need to refind that and work out the reasoning, but for the moment a step up will do to stop it getting root bound.

I also picked up a line trimmer/brush cutter. Among other things it will keep the grass down around the hops and help me open up the area around the soak for fencing in as another small paddock.

I woke this morning to a huge clap of thunder and three seconds of hail. I stumbled right out of bed to let Poppy in before she knocked the door off its hinges, and she is still in because clearly there is something happening up there that I can't hear.

But the hideous wind is playing havoc with my day plans, which I could have predicted. Three days of lovely weather was too big an ask during Nasty Spring. So I did the basics and plus one project (potting up the dwarf mulberry) and had a nap.

I had a three day weekend on the roster for the first time in ages. It didn't last. I picked up a Sunday close, which is the most lucrative shift of the week, being at double pay plus late loading. If I have to slog back into work it's at least worth the time. It was, however, the ugliest shift I have ever done. Too few workers and too many customers.