29th July, 2024

A couple of VERY cold days. There was snow on Mt Barrow. The night temps are around zero and the day temps are just making double figures. If you can get out of the wind the sun is lovely.

The shearer came today and crutched the sheep, and we trimmed their feet too. Two were a little limpy so I put a mix of copper sulphate and vaseline between their toes to kill the bacteria causing lameness.

I pulled down another couple of round bales and stacked some in the boat shed for quick access. I am getting the hang of this bale wrangling. The hayshed will be pretty well empty by spring though.

I put the bull back over to Robyn's yesterday, he wasn't keen to go and I had a couple of moments where I thought he'd get past me and I'd have to call in reinforcements. But he's back and hopefully Annie and Beanie are now pregnant.

I picked up some more small dog coats for Sarge. He has a habit of getting overly attentive to his belly and making it sore from licking. When he's getting a bit over the top a dog coat protects his belly until the urge passes. He doesn't love them and walks a bit funny when wearing them, but it beats a bacterial skin infection.

The dwarf mulberry looks like it's about to flower, I think it might be jumping the gun a bit. The lemon is bearing like crazy, but the leaves aren't looking so hot. I wonder if it's suffering a bit from the cold. I'll have to google if there is anything I can do to coddle it a little bit.

27th July, 2024

Cold and damp today, allegedly snow tonight. I don't think there is enough precipitation, but it's certainly cold enough. It's currently 1.7 C and the "feels like" is -1.5 C. Finn is racing around madly, you can really see the alpine breeding coming out in him. I am really missing my automatic gate !

This is the first post done on my new laptop. Not only is the new keyboard nice and punchy, the whole thing has about 10 times the operating speed of my old one. No 15 min startup time in the morning and continual freezing ! It has taken some setting up, verifications and drives and programs and settings have take probably about 8 hours, but I am almost there.

While I was browsing job ads on Dorset Employment Connect I found a job doing basically cyber private eye work. The company is based in George Town, of all places. About an hour from me. The criteria look as if they were written directly for me, so I spent an hour tweaking my CV and cover letter and I will send that in on Monday. 

It's a part time job based at George Town, but if they are at all interested in me I will push for remote work. And maybe if that particular role has to be in GT, there might be one they can use me for that is remote. More irons in the fire. I think that's three now.

We are still going through hay and silage at a great rate. Today while I was putting out another round for Jaffa's mob I saw Robyn putting out hay for her girls, a tractor went up the highway with a bale on, and Jason's tractor went down the Sledge Track with two bales on. It was a nice moment of fellowship, all doing the same thing, sharing the same work and concerns.

Sarge is asleep on the lounge, twitching. He seems to be hunting something in his dreams. It must be quite an energetic chase. Geoff is on the other lounge snoring away. Unusual that Sarge isn't actually sleeping on Geoff, maybe he's too noisy.

Not sure where this is, but I suspect the UK. I just found it a lovely photo.

25th July, 2024

Rain and wind, wind and rain. Annoyed with Jaffa's mob because they are throwing the good bale of silage around. I've scooped it all off the ground and will give them a gap between bales so they eat anything that's still good.

I went to a Dairy Tas event last night and won the quiz. I won it at the last one too. The prizes are usually a gift bag of assorted cattle gear, which I share around my table. In this one is a free worm egg count (parasite worms) and farm visit from the Zoetis rep. I will definitely be taking that one. And I keep the caps or beanies. You can never have too many warm beanies.

My new laptop has arrived and Michael will come tomorrow morning to help me set it up. Still waiting to hear from BoQ about whether I can add a bit to the mortgage for a zero turn mower. Much cheaper than personal loan finance.

I am looking at taking a leave of absence from Woolies to work in a calf shed for four months. The farm is just down the road and their working day starts at 9am. I can live with that. They will be needing people from August through to December. Maybe just keep the once a fortnight Saturday office shift.

I had a flu shot yesterday, one thing off the list. And I am down to 91.6kg. Getting there.

22nd July, 2024

More rain, another 27mm and a cold and damp day.

I applied for a job at Elders, on the front desk. It's a full time job but doesn't commence until November, by which time the days are long enough to have daylight either side for farm work. I'll cross the bridge of the short winter days when I come to them. If I get the job. Gotta be in it to win it.

Winter at Pyengana

21st July, 2024

It's been a long week.

We've had some good falls of rain, 61mm in the last one and it's been raining on and off for maybe another 5mm. Cold and windy, warm and still, we've had it all. Snow on Mt Barrow and in the central highlands and Ben Lomond.

The shearer was booked to do crutching and feet trims today, but called in sick. The sheep had spent the night in the loafing shed off food, but had had a good belly full in the hay shed during yesterday afternoon so they weren't too cranky. They got a treat on release too, and I had to work hard to actually shoo them out of the shearing shed. I will call and rebook later in the week.

The bull was following Annie around today, very keenly. Which suggests that the last heat didn't result in a pregnancy. Hopefully this time will because the bull is going home next Sunday. I have yet to see him get enthusiastic about Beanie. Anyone not bred now will have to wait until the next window on the other side of the planned gap to allow no calving or milking when I go to New Zealand for Sharik's wedding.

Michael Courtney picked out a new laptop for me, on special, and I put a hole in one of the credit cards and bought it. This one is starting to fail and when I told him how it was behaving he said to do a backup immediately and plan for the worst. It will be nice to have a computer that doesn't take 15 minutes to start up and freezes roughly every ten minutes. I could put up with inconveniences, but if it is on the way out I can't do without one completely and I can't afford to lose all the info stored on this one. 

Speaking of computer issues, we had a terrible Friday afternoon. Woolies was among the businesses hit by the global outage. We had registers freezing and going down, the online ordering went offline, the computers all died. And for some reason everyone in town felt the need to come shopping. There were still no computers when I went in for my fortnightly Saturday shift in the office so I dragged out the calculator and paper and did the cash handling manually, then went next door to the only functioning pc and entered it all into the system.

Robyn next door has started calving, I need to resist the urge to get a couple of poddies because I need to reduce the numbers, not increase them. I should run about half what I have, and have spare grass for hay. I guess if someone doesn't breed this season it won't be a tragedy.

Last year's poddies, Star and Joey, will be weaned off the pellets when this bag runs out. At a year old they have had extra protein much longer than calves who are on their mothers. With free choice hay, a vitamin and mineral lick block and a dry feed protein lick block they should be ok from now on. One less expense and one less set of chores. I have to decide what to do with Star, as I don't need three milk cows, but she's halter broken and easy to handle.

We had one egg this week, maybe the announcement of the days getting longer and laying resuming. They've had a fair bit of calcium and protein over winter so they should get going in good order. Those that are young enough to still lay, that is. I suspect we have better than 50% free loaders now.

I need to get another dry day to do another copper sulphate spray on the peach, nectarine and plum trees, for leaf curl. I did one when the buds started to show colour and I'd like to do another before bud burst. And I should get the trunks limed to prevent cherry slug asap. And prune them before they put too much energy into the new growth.

Here is a shot this morning of Mt Barrow, to the south of us. There was more snow yesterday, but the clouds sat on it all day so I couldn't get a photo.

16th July, 2024

More wind, still no rain. While most farms would want the rain, those where calving has started will be secretly relieved not to be checking the cows in the driving rain as well as howling wind.

This morning I moved three round bales into the boat shed where the tractor is parked. This will save some time over the next couple of weeks as opening the gate into the hayshed to bring a bale out requires either locking the weaners into the loafing shed or putting up with them galivanting around in the hay shed while trying to pick up bales. With only the boat shed gates open I can load a bale and take it straight out and there's not too much they can do in the boat shed. Up there for thinking !

The vet came and took a look at Pickle. She seems to have had a grass seed create an abscess in her cheek, so no bone is involved and he thinks the swelling is just inflammation and will resolve in time. He did point out one molar that is growing long without an opposite tooth on the bottom to grind against. Filing that back will require sedation and grinding, but should be good for a couple of years. I'll organise that for the spring when the grass is soft.

The vet also suggested looking for a second hand vbelt lift handler. This is a pneumatic unit that holds the sheep in a v shaped cradle and lifts them up nice and high so I can get to their feet to trim them. This would save no end of being smashed up and down the race while I try to wrangle their feet. It might be worth saving up for one.

I tested the second screen by moving it over to the desktop unit that runs the cameras. It worked all day there without a flicker. Moved it back to the laptop and it's out. So either the socket that it plugs into is toast or the driver in the laptop is. Another tick in the "buy a new bigger faster laptop that will stop freezing up and taking 15 minutes to start" column.

15th July, 2024

The polar blast has so far produced zero rain and a few gusty hours of wind. In fact, at about 2pm this arvo the weather was positively sublime, warm, quiet and sunny. While I'm not complaining about not getting the horrible wind, the rain is needed.

Among the things I didn't get this week was the post office job. I was unsuccessful according to the application site. No email or phone call, I'm not sure technology is improving things.

The second screen that I have connected to my laptop to make working on several documents at once has either died, or its cable has. It's a very old screen and a very old cable, so I am weighing up the pros and cons of finding a cable to test whether it's the cable or screen. Or just buy a new screen.

Charlie came over this arvo and helped me push half a dozen round bales down off the stack, ready for Bessie to drag out over the next week or so. I was worried they'd burst when they hit the ground, but we managed a controlled rollout despite the immediate invasion of six weaners the moment we opened the gates of the hayshed to work on the bales. You'd think they didn't have a bale of the very same hay in the ring to munch on already.

The bull has now been here for five and a half weeks. I think I'll make it six or seven before I send him back to Robyn's. A cow's cycle is 21 days so that means he'll have been here for two cycles for sure for Beanie and Annie. 

Anyone not bred by the end of his time here will have to wait so as to ensure I am not milking or calving during the weeks close to going to New Zealand for Sharik's wedding. Planning these things with a nine month pregnancy to factor in means starting now for end of October next year.

The vet is coming tomorrow afternoon to check on Pickle's face. She is one of the senior sheep and has a swollen face. She is eating well, so it's not too painful, but it could be anything from sinus to dental to cheek abscess.

12th July, 2024

We've had a couple of drizzly days, about an inch of rain. At first it was a nice rise in temperature because clouds hold warmth in... but it's been getting steadily colder and my breath was puffing this morning when I went down to feed the cows. There are warnings of a polar blast early next week, colder than the last lot. Oh, joy. Just as well all the critters have shelter, but it's going to increase their hay consumption. Hopefully no-one calves.

I have purchased some window film to use on the main bedroom windows to see if that helps keep the cold out. It sticks on by static rather than adhesive, so I can take it off if it doesn't work. I also lined a few doorways with draught blocking strips, and that should help a little too.

I scored some very marked down buns at work and handed them out to the cattle and sheep this morning. They are clearly under educated and only about half of them were interested. The underwhelmed response suggests I need to expand their diet. I did hide nine very ripe bananas in the weaners' hay bale and they have all gone, but I don't know if that was a general munching or one keen bloodhound.

Freya has been taking lucerne cubes from my hand for a few days now. Nothing like weaning and hanging out with other greedy kids to overcome hesitancy. Chloe was supposed to come and halter break her, but she is ill and I am not sure whether Freya will go to a beef herd as a breeder or a pet herd, so I need to decide whether to proceed to halter breaking her now she's approachable.

I bought vitamin & mineral blocks and dry feed blocks to put out as they have gone through the previous lot. The weaners also still have a bit of a green feed block left, but I expect that will be largely untouched until spring.

Still no news on the Post Office job, I might ask next time I go to pick up a parcel.

Dinner with Juliet and Shane on Wednesday night, one of those rare days when we are all off shift. Geoff visited George and Barb at Bridport on Wednesday, George is going downhill fast.

Karen and Andy brought an ancient cream separator down with them for me to use. It will need a good clean and lubrication, but I thought the envelope that the instructions came in was worth a photo. The machine was made in India, and the envelope was lined with a pretty silk fabric, I guess their version of a tough pack.

8th July, 2024

Today we had light rain and overcast and it was substantially warmer. I hope we don't get another cold snap like that too soon ! It's now raining in fits and starts, quite heavily for one or two minutes then off again.

I put silage out for Jaffa's group, one of the older bales that had been monstered over the fence by the cows. The holes in the wrap had let in rain and oxygen so one side was pretty yuck. I tipped the bale over on its side, yuck part down, before putting on the ring so the cattle can get right into it. 

I also used the tractor to move one of the solid sided hay rings in with the weaners. They have the open ring at the moment and are pulling alot of hay onto the ground and wasting it. Hopefully the solid ring will make the hay last longer.

The chooks have given up laying altogether, but Kelly gave us a carton of eggs when we had dinner with her and Derek and their neighbours at Lords. She had pullets hatched late in the season so they came into lay when the older chooks were all going off.

Kelly mentioned that she'd received notification that her application for the Post Office job was unsuccessful, but I haven't heard anything so I am not sure whether to be hopeful. "Gotta be in it to win it" and at least I'm still in it.

These pics aren't as spectacular, but they're from this farm. These were taken at about midday.

Icy Poles

5mm of ice on the trough

 

 

Ice on the donor car

6th July, 2024

I gave Star another halter lesson. She follows eagerly, I think I must be giving too many treats. I need her to pull away so she learns that the halter wins. I might have to tie her in the yards and wait with her until she gets bored, then untie and treat when she settles down.

The cold snap continues, there are frozen fountains and frozen waterfalls and frozen roads. Rain should come, with the temps rising starting on Sunday.

Here is a selection of photos from the Great Lakes area.

 

4th July, 2024

Colder again. Liawenee was -13.8. It was colder than Casey Base in the Antarctic. The days are still clear and sunny but the heat goes out of the sun early...

Karen and Andy, my friends from NSW, dropped in on their way around Tassie today. We had lunch at Lords Hotel, a walk down in Northeast Park, and cuppas at our new/old picnic table. They will be off down the east coast in the morning, I hope they take it easy on those mountain passes.

Otherwise a reasonably quiet day.

3rd July, 2024

The cold, frosty weather has continued. Some places are very cold, Liawenee got down to nearly minus 13. That's generally the coldest place in Tassie. The days are clear without much wind, if you find a nice spot in the sun it's lovely.

Hay and silage out for the adult mob and the weaners. All the critters doing well.

I put in my application for the post office job and got in just under the wire, I think. There wasn't a closing date on the ad, but it was gone the next morning. The system accepted my application and I was sent a few assessment tasks to do, which I did late last night. It's in the hands of the recruiters now.

My subaru was given a new clutch yesterday, and the mechanic took a polisher to my headlights, resulting in quite an improvement to my night vision.

1st July, 2024

Sunday, quite a sharp night. Breath still puffing in the air at 9am.

The bull has moved on from chasing Annie, hopefully she is now pregnant. I put a note in the diary to watch her for heat in three weeks. 

Mainly housework, vacuumed, tidied and mopped the upper floor. Four loads of washing. Caught up on emails. Had a nap, haven't had enough naps lately.

Jaffa's group found an unlatched gate and let themselves into the hay shed. Thankfully I fed the chooks about ten minutes later and was able to evict them before they did too much damage.

 💥💥💥💥

Monday, an even sharper night. The frost was still all over the paddocks down in the valley at 10am, despite being in full sun. There was still frost in the shade in the barnyard after lunch.

Picked up the paperwork from the accountant, fueled up the car, bought builders lime and linseed oil to make lime wash for the fruit trees, picked up maize and barley from Stronach, filled a couple of scripts at the chemist, picked up yoghurt and salads, and dropped my car off at the mechanic at Branxholm. 

Popped in to the post office to ask about the advertised job. They have minimum hours of 2pm to 5pm Tues, Wed and Thurs and 8.45am to 5.06 (??) pm Friday, with more hours possible filling in for leave. I need to tweak my resume.

The latest batch of Temu bits and pieced arrived and I charged and installed all the lights into the corner cupboard. They stick to magnets on the underside of the shelf above, are rechargeable and motion activated so they go on when I open the door. Really pleased with those. Also got a wireless charger for my phone, this slows down the wear and tear on the charging port, which is non repairable.

Geoff put a motion sensor spotlight pair up on the wall near the back door, lighting up the driveway. This will be handy for night time knock offs and visitors instead of tripping over dogs in the dark. I want one in the back yard too, to hang washing out by.

Most of the calves are well and truly old enough to wean, I have just been leaving them with their mum to try and keep the cow's weight down. But now the calving dates are approaching and cows need a dry period to refurbish the udder and build colostrum. So Freya, Zippy, Moose, Joey and Star are all in the barnyard with Flora, who is retired from breeding so can't be in with the bull, and will be the aunty. They will all get pellets along with their hay.

Everyone else is now out in the main paddock with the bull and will be on silage, as the larger group can eat a silage bale before it goes off. The sheep are out there as well, enjoying the opportunity to laze on the slopes in the sun.