19th March, 2026

 Ok, working through some more stuff.

Juliet, Robyn and I have been trying to go on a girls day at least once a month.

We've been to Bridestow lavender farm, Glebe Gardens Nursery and for a shopping day in Launceston so far. Plans for the future include the artisan dairy/cheesery at Smithton and TasBuilt homes at Longford.

I was doing some fencing the other day and found these moths on the south side of a fence post. Each one was about 10cm long.

I've been experimenting with making edible pearls. Pearls are like jelly and are made by mixing a liquid with agar agar and dropping the mix into very chilled oil. The flavours I have made so far are mandarin juice, balsamic vinegar, pomegranate juice and lime juice. They can be used as a garnish or on desserts or in cocktails.

I tried a new recipe too. Greek yoghurt and biscoff biscuits, just push the biscuits into the yoghurt and leave overnight and it turns into a creamy, cheesecakey dessert. The density of the biscuits controls how thick the dessert it. I reckon it would be a good base for a tiramisu. Aimee tells me it's a bit like a chocolate ripple cake, where chocolate ripple biscuits are pushed into whipped cream.

Here is a view over my fields and the valley as hay cutting begins in the district. This was early December before everything dried right off.

15th March, 2026

I can't believe it's been three months !!

Where to start....

Aimee came, stayed, worked at The Hub and at House Paddock and has headed off again. She was due to fly out through Abu Dhabi, but Trump started a war in the Middle East and now she flies out on the 17th via the USA. Which is probably just as risky. We did a truffle hunt and found some truffles, pity we don't get to keep them, but they did feed us a big lunch that included plenty.

The sheep are still doing fine, except for Toot, who I had to put to sleep as his arthritis finally got the better of him. He was still coming for treats, but spent most of his time sitting down grazing in a circle around him. This was ok when there was plenty of grass, but as things dried off over summer he was struggling, and he was really going to do it hard over winter. It's always the sweetest ones that go and the mean ones live forever. Which means I probably need to make arrangements for Twinkle in my will.

Speaking of summer, we received about 10% of the average rainfall for summer and things got really close to running out of grass. I got all 57 rounds into the shed with some creative stacking by Jason, and was about to have to start feeding hay when we got an inch of rain. One inch of rain equaled two inches of grass and then 9mm follow up. If we get weekly rain from now on we won't have to feed until June. You can see how dry it was in the photo below.

The vege garden did well, plenty of beets and peas, but the tomatoes are only just starting to ripen and autumn is here. I think I will be making green tomato chutney. I will be checking the spuds tomorrow. About half the apple trees didn't set fruit due to the remorseless winds, but I did get some cherries, in February. That long cold spring again. I did get a nice crop of satsuma plums that will be going into brandy shortly. And three whole figs. But I planted two new fig trees so hopefully next summer will be a fig bonanza.

The chooks are back up to 11, Robyn sent me her last chook, a blue australorp, very pretty, back left in the photo below. The old isa brown nearly scalped herself but we treated her with cetrigen and while it looks like she'll lose half her comb she will be fine. The windows on the chook shed were fine over summer, I only had to open them on a couple of days.

The cats are well, Suzie has now lost at least 100 grams. Only a kg to go. Shadow is slick and murderous as usual. Finn is missing Aimee, but has been taken to the beach and out shopping a few times and likes being patted by all the people who think a huge white fluffy dog is pretty special.

The cows are fine, I need to arrange breeding for the girls. Mae is growing like a weed and proving to have her mother's calm nature. Beanie, who is at Jason's place, slipped her calf and he borrowed my milking machine to keep her in milk until he had an orphan who needed a mum. Beanie is very food motivated and stood well for him and they enjoyed milk for the house until she was required for mothering duties.

Bessie the tractor went in for repairs and a service and is ready to come home. Hopefully she is now good for another 60 years. 

We finally put in the permanent pasture in the Knoll paddock. Cocksfoot, fescue, ryegrass, a white clover, a red clover, a subclover, some lucerne, plantain and chickory. This should last for 20 years if I manage it right. Next pasture job is to tackle the barley grass infestation.

29 December, 2025

Ok, a bit of a catch up. Might not be photos of everything, actually probably no photos this post, but I'll get to them.

Weather has been completely random, from snowflakes in full sun with a rainbow, to wind and sleet and hot and sunny. You name it, we've had a bit.

Aimee is back from the UK here until mid Feb, and it's great having her around. She's working at The Hub in Derby again, and will start at the House Paddock in the new year. Finn is stoked to have her here, he's always remembered her taking care of him as a puppy. 

The sheep got shorn, young Tony (Calab's lamb) got crutched and castrated. I built a shadecloth share area over the wires of the hops area and they do actually use it on hot days. I did have to reinforce it in the middle of a gale, Billie stopped by to help, I must have looked like I was losing the battle. The three silver birch in their paddock are doing great, one day will be decent shade themselves.

The cattle are still fat. I saved at least ten round bales in the new feed bunks. I now have about 17 left from last year. Tiddy, Belle's steer of 14 months old was sold and I am milking Belle. Turns out the little fatty was still getting 10 litres of milk a day. The dog and chooks are swimming in the stuff and the fridge is full. Mae is long weaned and is in great condition, in fact all three heifers are sausage shaped.

We are down to10 chooks. Some kind of respiratory bug that only took two. They are still laying more eggs than we can use so everyone is getting gift cartons. Even Finn is getting one a day. They are taking turns going broody, the last one was so mean and growly she drew blood when I picked her up.

I finished all the windows for the chook house, they worked well to keep out the easterly rains. Next step is to add hooks and chains to let them come open to vent on warmer days. I like the results so much I might work my way across the rest of the pens. 

The raised beds are working well, everything but the pumpkin (didn't even sprout) and the basil (never easy to grow at the best of time) have really kicked on and I am eating fresh peas on a regular basis. Due to the cold weather the tomatoes have only just flowered, I doubt we will get a ripe tomato before winter.

The girl cat gang are doing well, Susie is on a diet. Seems to be the same one I am on, since we are both not losing much weight :-)  Shadow is terrified of a new human in the house, she's never been one to take to visitors. At least now she's staying in the loungeroom while Aimee is here instead of bolting outside.

I am working alot more hours at the moment, retail christmas at Woolies and covering people on leave at May Shaw. Next week I am working eight shifts in seven days. After that it should get back to normal and I have two weeks leave booked in Feb.

The new floor in the office has turned out well, and I am half way through setting up the office. I think I will toss out about half the junk stored on the floor once I get into sorting it. I did the same thing to the little room at the front door where Poppy used to sleep. I took three wheelie bins of rubbish and 30 feed bags of recycling out of there, not to mention all the gear that was rehomed back to the sheds that it belongs to. Now it's got my gardening gear, proper recycling set up and pet cages and litter trays. And I can walk all the way in and access everything.

I started hormone replacement therapy, estrogel and a progesterone tablet. Thankfully the hot flushes have gone and the dehydration is about half. Not sure about the brain fog yet, probably being tired has a bit to do with that too.

Jason cut and baled out hay, we ended up with 40 4 & 1/2 foot rounds. I am not sure where I am going to store them all. Maybe put last years hay out in the weather and feed it first come winter. And I will have to rejig another bay of the hayshed to store stacked rounds, I can only store about 18 per bay at the moment.

I have started strip grazing the pasture I have left, for the first time I have passed hay cut with pasture still left. That is because all my fencing work let me rotate the herd and let areas recover instead of them regrazing all the pasture and keeping it low. I am back fencing the grazed parts and they will regrow if we get any rain. I have further fencing plans which will make it even easier to manage the pasture. And we might be resowing the Knoll Paddock next year with a good permanent pasture.

We had Christmas Day and Boxing Day off, a roast chook and veges with ham and trifle, and lots of rest. My favourite way to spend the break. 

I think that's where we are at the moment. Photos to follow soon I hope. 

13th November, 2025

It's been a slog. Geoff flew to NSW on the 13th of October, so he's been there nearly five weeks. His Mum had a turn and he was caring for her while she was in the critical care ward at the hospital. She was off with the fairies but mobile, so a danger to herself and others if she went walking and started pulling things off shelves and out of the wall.

He was able to get her into respite care, as she won't be well enough to go home any time soon, if ever. Now that she has people making sure she eats and bathes regularly and monitoring her health she will be alot better off. Also plenty of company, instead of being home alone for weeks on end. Geoff is flying back tomorrow, I think he is very tired and emotional.

The sheep haven't been shorn, the weather has come in sleety and snowy and the wind, oh the wind ! So I left their woolly jumpers on for now.

Mae will have her last serve of milk tomorrow. She's over six months old and a sausage, and finally eating pellets. I kept her going on two litres a day just to finish the bag off. 

I haven't milked Star for a few weeks now as Rani is drinking all on offer and I am tapering Mae off. I might take a little milk for the house if I see she has a full bag, but not until the weather warms up, as Rani will need plenty to stay warm.

We've lost one chicken, she was just stretched out on the chook house floor like she'd gone to sleep. They are pretty ancient so I anticipate there will be more over the next six months.

I have built four raised beds in the back yard, and filled them with combinations of apple tree prunings, aged chook poo, straw mixed with sheep poop, aged cow manure, and potting mix. Mulched with more straw. I have put posts and mesh around three and the fourth is working as a compost pile. 

I've planted dutch cream potatoes, a variety of tomatoes, peas, radishes, beets, capsicum and basil. Most of them are not liking the sudden cold, they may not make it through after getting a dose of hail. Out the front I have long pots hanging on the front fence and they have salad lettuces, also not appreciating sleet.

I went to Pub Choir in Launceston with some friends. We had dinner at a chinese restaurant first, and then to the Princess Theatre for the singing. A good time was had by all and if they ever come back to Launnie we'll go again. They tour all over the world, so it might be a while.

I'm in the second row.

To the left of the lady in the green top and the right of the lady with her hands in the air.

My nephew, Sharik, got married at the end of October. The ceremony was held at Hobbiton in New Zealand, the set of the "Lord of the Rings" movies. They had an unexpected visit from the actor who played Frodo, who was showing the set to his family, being in New Zealand for another project. The incident made the news all over the world.

Jess and Sharik 

The happy couple and their unexpected visitor, Elijah Wood

The feast at Hobbiton

 

My sister and her husband David 

My nieces Aimee and Nessa, and their dad, Gray

Click here for a news item on the wedding

1st November, 2025

 Bit of a catch up, things have been quite busy.

On the job front, I didn't get either of the Dept of Health jobs, hospital or physio assistant. What I did get was permanent part time at May Shaw and an extra day a fortnight. I now do Monday one week and Wednesday and Friday on the alternate. I have picked up some extra shifts around Christmas so that will be a tiring time. The New Year might be a good time to drop some Woolies shifts as I moved my contract around to fit the new May Shaw schedule in and didn't drop any shifts.

On the sheep front, all are still with us and are due for shearing next week. Caleb has brought home a lamb to raise for the freezer, and he has been integrated with my flock. They are all in the Hops Paddock until he is weaned and then they can go back to wandering where ever they like under the hot wires. 

Toot was checked over by the shearer during crutching in July to see if he was doing ok, and had one tooth left of his front teeth. He has since lost that and is alot more comfortable eating. He has access to hay and the grass is long enough that he spends alot of time sitting in one spot and eating in an arc before getting up and moving to the next spot. I think his arthritis is progressing, so we will assess him again at shearing.

On the cow front, Mae is still on milk. 2 litres of replacer and whatever I get out of Star each day. Sometimes nothing, sometimes 2 litres. She has about another two weeks of replacer left then will get weaned. She should have been right into the pellets but is just not interested. Luckily the grass is growing now and she can be weaned onto grass off six months of milk like a normal calf.

Star is becoming a great house cow. She stands pretty still now, sometimes even puts one foot back for me. She has small teats but all are hand milkable. Mostly I get some kind of let down, it just depends how recently Rani has drunk as to what's left in there. Rani is doing just fine, she is part of a girl-gang with Mae and Eloise.

The others are mostly all doing well, especially the steers Tiddy and Mato, who are over a year old and still on milk. Jack, however, is slowing right down and it's time to consider when things become too difficult for him. He is the last animal left from Dubbo, the end of an era. He's 15 and has had a good life for a steer.

The chickens are laying better, about a dozen and a half a week. The first broody is in the broody pen and I expect to see more soon. I still have 12 chooks, most of them quite old but they are all getting around well. I could probably do some claw trimming and will have to get organised for that.

Finn is still living an indoor and outdoor life. His nose is almost back to completely black but he sometimes knocks the layer off if he buries a bone by using his nose instead of his paws. He's shedding now and needs a good brush.

The cats are a mixed bag. The girls, Shadow and Suzie, are fine. Suzie is on a diet, she's almost 8kg. Sarge, however, played road roulette once too often after ten years and has left us. It was instant and his body was found by one of the vets on their way to work. They are all gutted and sent us a card and bunch of flowers. We miss him terribly, especially Geoff. He took up alot of space for a small animal. At least he lived his best life right up to the end.

 I'll try and post some more updates tomorrow.

1st September, 2025

The first day of spring today, quite chilly, sun and cloud. This afternoon I spent some time standing in the orchard listening to the birds sing and the breeze rustle the grass, it was very peaceful.

We had snow on Mt Barrow again this week, quite a decent fall this time. Saturday was glorious though, no wind and some serious sun. The best of Tassie winters. More rain coming this week, but we are still 2 inches below average totals for this time of year.

No word on the hospital job, no movement at May Shaw, nothing special happening at Woolies. Still trying to identify the perfect small business that will let me work from home while doing stuff I love. I guess alot of people have that problem.

The day after the vinyl was done in the old office we found a leaking water line that looks like it could be leaking into the septic, and causing the overflow. This discovery was followed by 53mm of rain so although we fixed the leak it will take some time to see if the area will dry out. So the new toilet is on hold for a couple of weeks to see what the septic will do.

We are getting the odd egg, from four different hens I think. Maybe two or three a week. The flock is quite old, one of the hens is from the first lot we got from Arfur at Ringarooma. We don't need alot of eggs now that we aren't selling them, so I don't mind. 

Mae is down to 4 litres of milk a day and is eating her muesli most days. She now has a little friend, Star calved on Tuesday and has a little angus cross heifer named Rani. Rani is a little wild child, full of confidence and opinion. She and her mum and Mae spent a couple of days in the hayshed (where she was born) out of the wild cold snow weather, but all are now with the herd and she is making the most of the room to run. I have only milked Star once, as Rani is keeping her udder cleaned out, it's only a little heifer udder at this point. I added the couple of litres to Mae's milk that night.

 

 

The washing machine is still behaving perfectly, I should have bought the part months ago ! 

The loafing shed had a blowout, concrete cancer is eating one outside wall. Matt Cassidy came and looked at it and gave us a plan for reinforcing the wall and taking the weight as old age gradually nibbles away at the very thin concrete wall holding the roof up.

 

20 August, 2025

We have had some really cold nights, even tipping below zero once ! Mostly nice days after the frosts, with a bit of rain coming early next week. 

The carpet people (there is a book with that name by Terry Pratchett) are doing the vinyl floor in the old office tomorrow. This is the next step in replacing the septic system with a composting toilet. We are also replacing the carpet on the steps with the leftover bit of the length of vinyl, would love to do the loungeroom and also the back entry area (who does carpet in the entry on a farm ??) but that will have to wait.

While the composting toilet will be a little more complex than flushing, the upside is that the seat will always be warm in winter ! The kit even comes with a bag of peat moss and two bags of wood shaving as starter, sourcing those economically will be my next hunt.

Little Mae is growing well and I will soon start halter training with her. She is now nearly four months old and is still drinking 6 litres of milk replacer a day as she is still  only eating the muesli if I stand with her.

Star is building an udder and should have her first calf soon. I have started training her to milk, she kicks when the machine cups touch her udder, but they are cold this time of year so I can't blame her.

We hung the new small gate at the back of the implement shed and put good catches on another four to replace the make-do ones that I have been battling for ten years. Pruned all the fruit trees in the fruit orchard and were going to do the cider orchard tomorrow before we got word the vinyl was coming. I also need to spray the peach tree for leaf curl as soon as possible.

We did a "Murder Mystery" lunch with Juliet and Shane on Sunday. That was fun and we are going to do another one soon. We solved it relatively easily so I think we will go up a level in difficulty next time.

Work is going steadily. I have not heard back about the job at the hospital yet. The interview went as well as could be expected as I talk too fast and too much when I am nervous. They did say that as it's a government job it could be ages before we get any news.

The washing machine finally had a meltdown and we gave it a layman's service. This is downloading the service manual from the internet (this is not an easy thing to do, they are hard to find but I am good at it) and taking it apart and blowing on things and putting them back. 

We identified that it is the ball pressure sensor that is broken, and ordered one from Doug Smith Spares in Dubbo. The day I ordered that, the machine started working again. So the part is sitting in the laundry ready for the day the machine finally spits the dummy.

Suzie (Shredder) making sure she never misses a meal. She's on a diet because she was heading towards 8kg and is hard to even pick up. This is the bench where the cats are fed, and the bonus is that it was catching the sunshine.

30th July, 2025

Hmmm... since the last entry we have had some serious rain and a few nice days. Actually, spectacularly nice days. Sunny winter days here are always good quality. There have been one or two bolts of lightning, one of which rattled the windows at Woolies, and the other woke Finn up from a sound sleep barking his head off at the invading mountain troll monster. I think he was a bit traumatised at that one.

We have pulled up the carpet in the old office, ready for the installers to scrape off the decayed rubber underlay. We did that ourselves for the kitchen and bathroom vinyl, but neither of our knees have gotten any younger in the years since then. Now waiting on an installation date.

I have an interview for the part time hospital job, next Tuesday. Might be a good time to get different work as the front end at Woolies has lost 65 hours a week. Depending who you talk to it's all the fault of getting self serves, another attempt by the company at screwing every last dollar out of their employees, or the front end supervisor rostering poorly over the last three weeks and letting the algorithm think we don't need the staff.

Mae is now twelve weeks old and resisting being a big girl. She will eat the muesli if I stand with her, but won't visit the calf creep on her own. She's on 6 litres a day in one feed of milk replacer. Yesterday was her first day on the once a day and I walked her into the creep and showed her the muesli. She wasn't impressed and threw a tantrum. She kept running out of the creep and ducking around the corner out of sight then coming back around as if she was just arriving. I guess that's the calf equivalent of turning me off and then on again to see if I will start working properly and dispensing milk  😊

I was sent this photo last week, I think she will be my mascot for the job interview ! 

16th July, 2025

Today the new posts for the automatic gates went in. That's the last thing we need an outside contractor for, we can hang the gates ourselves. At the same time we'll be hanging two small gates in the barnyard, taking one big one down, and putting in new fasteners for three.

The timber has arrived for the bargeboards for the chook house. These are boards that protect the ends of the roof beams from weathering and rot. The old bargeboards have rotted and split and come off (taking the damage instead of the beams) and these new ones will help the 50 year old structure remain sound.

The composting toilet has arrived, and the old office has now been cleared and we can start pulling up the carpet and scraping up the disintegrated black foam underneath. We did this when we put new flooring in the kitchen and bathroom, this is about 1/3 of the area so should be quicker. The flooring guy came and looked at the room and we are now awaiting the quote.

After six months without overflowing, the washing machine has started again. Still no idea why, or why not when it doesn't. What the tradies call an "intermittent fault", the hardest kind to trace. 

I remember one story of a motel room that was considered haunted because when the guest went to have a shower they could hear faint music but the source could never be found and it stopped when they came out of the shower. Turns out that there was a wire that was frayed and was sitting almost touching the copper pipes of the shower and when the hot water turned on the pipe expanded and touched the wire, and the wire powered the radio in a seldom used room next door. 

I have applied for another part time job at the hospital, this one is two hours on weekdays (4pm to 6pm) and two eight hour days (10am to 6pm) every second weekend. Those hours will work well for me now. It's worth about $500 a week. Add May Shaw at $220 a week and I can cut Woolies right back if I get it. There is, however, someone acting in the job at the moment and they will always have the inside running. So I am hoping for the eligibility list. 

Mae is doing really well, almost ready to transition to once a day feeds. She drank 5 litres of milk tonight and I think I hit her maximum. I will give her one more week of 5 litres at night and 2 litres in the morning before just doing 5 litres mid afternoon and pushing the calf muesli twice a day. Once she is eating 1kg of muesli a day she can start weaning off the milk.

The pantry has worked out really well. For some reason we've added a piece of furniture and yet ended up with more usable floor space after the rearrangement. The pantry itself is very useful, now everything is easily reached and easily found. Some of the space that has been made in the old cupboards now holds things that were sitting on benches but can be in the back of the deep cupboards, like the blackout kit and the supply of microwave meals for Geoff's lunch.

We'll be voting on Saturday in the state election. Then as soon as that's done we have to vote in the local government election. Both caused by politicians thinking of themselves first and the public second. Sigh. It seems that most of the people who want to go into politics maybe should be the ones we avoid.

The bale covers are perfect for the job, keeping the rain off the bales and stopping the wind from stripping the hay and blowing it away. This is the yard next to the feed bunk, a corner fenced off with solar electric fence and giving me room to work without having to fight cows. You can see in the foreground how muddy things are where the cows are walking. Each day I rake up the hay you see scattered on the ground from pulling off the bale and that gets fed too. There is almost zero waste with this system. 

7th July, 2025

First day back at work, end of my holidays. I really enjoyed the time off working here. Didn't get all my wish list done. Probably not even a third of it. But what I did get done was good.

I finished the last of the cutout switches. Sprayed for thistles. Made gates for all the new pastures. Bought and connected a new 240V fence charger that does 10 km of fencing to replace the 1.5 km one. Instead of being a tickle at 3kV it now spanks along at 15kV. It will make their whiskers curl if they sniff it.

The new mesh panels arrived for the hay bunk and went on, working beautifully. Ordered two round bale covers, a game camera, some adhesive velcro, some flannelette sheets (showing some weird preference for plaid patterns ?) and a pantry. Despite the pantry being a flat pack with an advertised construction time of two hours, we are on day 4. It's now together and just needs the doors adjusted to be square.

The composting toilet is on its way, and the local flooring shop is coming round to quote on putting vinyl down where it's going to go. Which is the old office. So the bunk beds are now back on top of each other in the second bedroom and all the office furniture needs sorting and storing.

I put fresh straw in the nests for the chickens to start laying now the days have turned to getting longer. Which they promptly raked out to look for missed grains in the straw. Nice one guys. The new gate post positions are marked for the fencing guy to come and put the posts in so the gates can be hung, and then the openers finally back in operation. The shearer is coming to crutch the sheep and do their feet.

Had a Wednesday Legendairy Ladies trip to a dairy on the other side of the Tamar River, followed by lunch at the Blue Tiers Distillery. Then dinner at Lords with Geoff on Friday. Picked up my new reading glasses, very nice bronze frames. Mae is doing well and is just about eating 1kg of muesli a day, which means I can start reducing her milk to once a day.

Rearranged the kitchen to accommodate the new pantry, which put the printer on the butchers block in the loungeroom, the filing cabinet under my desk, and the cat bed on top of the corner unit. The long unit where the cats eat is now under the front window and the table has done a 90 degree turn. I think I am becoming an expert at furniture tetris.

27th June, 2025

I had a lovely sunny day for my birthday, so I did some fencing in the sunshine. It was nice to be outside in the fresh air doing something for myself.

Wednesday was a Paint n Sip put on by RAW (Rural Alive and Well). We were doing a rainbow cow. A long way from how I would like it to be, but I reckon it was the best one there. Not too modest, huh ?

I attended a Climate Seminar on Thursday, really good information and some ideas for planting pastures to cope with reducing autumn rainfall and slightly warmer winters.

Today was more fencing and then a Thermo-mix party at Juliet's. I think Thermo-Mixes are the new tupperware. We made a roasted capsicum and cashew dip, a strawberry and rhubarb icecream, pizza bianca and a chicken pasta dish.

We had some snow on the mountain on Tuesday, and unusually it was still hanging around on Wednesday.

I repaired the sheep shelter, as the cows had been rubbing on it, cracking the palings that it was clad in and ripping them off. I replaced the broken palings (the lighter coloured timbers in the photo) and put two big pieces of timber on the end of each verandah wall to stabilise them and protect the palings.

 

Part of my fencing included setting up cutout switches so I could power only the sections of fence that are needed right then and save some power. This one was quite complex but I can cut off or on three different sections.

21st June, 2025

The first day of my two weeks off and gloomy weather. The clouds were below the Sideling, which I guess must classify as a high fog ? No fog at our level but I could see up the Cuckoo Valley and it was bright sunlight there, maybe 5km away as the crow flies.

I had a very quiet day, had two long naps and I think I needed them. Apart from the animal chores the only other work I did was feeding the washing through (as it's going to be wet later in the week) and filling the dishwasher. 

Geoff and I went to Little Rivers for drinks and dinner (texas bbq food van) with Shane, Juliet, Thomas, Mark, Sally, Mark & Sally's daughter, and Pete. They had mulled wine and hot cider, live music and a wood fire so it was a very cheerful night. I now have a hankering for rice pudding and mulled wine so I might do some of my own for my birthday tomorrow. 

I went up and opened the far end up for the cows as the grazing is all gone close to the house. They galloped up there and were still there when I went out to feed Mae about 9pm, so I put the feeder and milk on the quad, rode up there and fed her and rode back. Finn ran along all the way and is now sound asleep. There are headlights on the quad so that is a real plus. The cattle were a bit bemused but Mae was very glad for her milk.

16th June, 2025

Woooo.... back to cold and wet weather. Snow somewhere and the critters happy to be inside. Had a couple of cracker frosts followed by lovely days, but now the fronts have started.

I put the last of the apples into the dehydrator today. My favourites when dried are the King David, the Cox's Orange Pippin was lovely and so were the Pink Lady. The last to ripen have been the Granny Smiths.

When I do the chores I generally have a posse. Three cats and a maremma. Yesterday I was carrying my farm basket back (with some potatoes from storage in the old chiller) and put it down to go and check the mail. Cats love sitting in things. This is Shadow.

The bunk is working beautifully, virtually no waste at all. I've worked out a routine and have some tweaks I'll make once I start my two weeks off work on the 23rd. Namely a little gateway so I don't have to climb over an electric fence, and good anchors for my lift ropes.

The sheepies are doing fine, they can get at grass the cattle can't, as well as having full range of the whole farm because they can duck under the one strand laneway fencing. Left to right Fang, Jonesy, Toot, Emmaline, Twinkle and Dea.

10th June, 2025

Another cold day. I don't know why I am surprised, we're not far off the winter equinox.

New chapter in "why I love living here"... I called the mechanic at Branxholm who does our cars to ask about a whining noise in my car. He told me to have my keys with me on shift at Woolies tonight. He came in, took the keys, brought them back half an hour later and said "It's the air conditioner drive. Probably not worth repairing, I took the belt off and the noise stopped, the belt is on your front seat". I asked how much I owed him and he shrugged and said "I might need some electrical work one day.".

A rainbow over Scottsdale

9th June, 2025

So cold today, rumour has it that there was a dusting of snow at South Springfield. Some sun later in the day and if you could find a sunny spot out of the wind it was lovely. I sat on the bench by the front door for a while with Finn and just let the sunshine wash over me.

I put muesli and lucerne chaff in the calf creep for Mae today. She likes the taste but might take a bit to figure out she can come and go and help herself. The feed bunk went into operation today too. It looks like it will work nicely, though there was some kerfuffle about finding places in the row.

A round bale stored under a tarp for rain protection. The bunks with gates and mesh laying down and haul ropes for lifting the mesh so hay can be put in the bunk and the mesh laid down on top. Electric fence closing the area off from cows so I can feed out in peace and the hay can't be molested.

A clearer shot of the mesh and gates lifted ready for hay. There are two proper mesh panels on order from Elders that will replace the gates and offcut mesh. The ropes are looped around tent pegs at the base of the concrete so I can get on with feeding.

The first use of the bunks tonight. Eloise and Mato have the hang of it. Their mums have had a tantrum about the newness of it all and gone off looking at the old hay feeding station. Come midwinter storms when they can step out of the shelter (behind the blue tarped bale in the first pic), eat and drink and go back inside, they will appreciate it. Maybe. Or not. You know how animals can be :-)

Juliet and I have applied for polling booth work for the coming state election. Not sure when it might be, but it's likely to be this winter.

8th June, 2025

A few frosty mornings with lovely warm clear days, nights are frigid. I'll take those warm days for working outside.

I had an eye check on Friday, all clear except for the very beginnings of cataracts. The Dr said that at the usual rate of development I probably have ten years before I need to think about them, but that my yearly eye checks will pick up any faster progression. I ordered another set of reading glasses for work and went home to muse on the subject of aging.

Speaking of aging ... the 75 year old septic has finally failed. We currently have sewage puddling in the back yard. Replacing it with a properly engineered and permitted new system is quoted at around $25,000. The bank wouldn't give us $10k for a zero turn mower so that was never going to be a goer.

So we thought laterally. Composting toilets have come a long way in the last 20 years and we can get one that is self contained, just a tray to empty once every three months of finished compost. A small fan and vent makes it odorless. We can get the one I am considering delivered here for $2660 total. So, at one tenth the cost of a new septic this will do us until my super comes out. If it works well I might not even get a new septic and save the cost.

The aurora showed up again this week, this is a view from Willow Lodge, taken by Tim.

4th June, 2025

We have had a variety of weather, cold, nice, dry, wet, frost, fogs. This was the view this morning as I headed off for work.

Mae is doing just fine. She's scarfing her bottle and has transitioned fully to milk replacer. This week I will see if she will move to a feeder, meaning I can up the amounts in her meals as the bottle only holds 2 litres. I will also introduce calf muesli once I set up a calf creep.

The new feed bunk is nearly ready, I just need to wash it out and add some mesh to hold the hay down.

I am applying for another part time job. This is the ad :

We have a private advertiser who’s seeking a Stakeholder and Administration Coordinator. The role will include:

• General office administration duties
• Database management and use of software programs
• Management of stakeholder relationships
• Assisting a range of clients with administrative-type tasks
• Connecting and communicating with various stakeholders
• Working with a small team to deliver small and large local events
• Fun content creation and public relations tasks

All training will be provided for the role, so both entry level and experienced candidate are encouraged to apply.

The agency has no further details, it's all hush-hush. They will only be contacting the people they wish to interview so unless I am a strong contender I guess I'll never know. The reason, apparently, is that they wish to avoid the pressure to appoint friends of friends and relatives of relatives. Fair enough.

2nd June, 2025

On a pretty regular basis I remember why I love living here.

Robyn helped me treat Annie, Beefy Millwood took on the hardest task, Jason took her body away for me, Calab fetched milk for Mae. None of these people had to step up, it was all kindness.

Also this week Jason found one of his cows out on the road and was struggling to get her back in without letting the others out. Calab stopped on his way to work and helped Jason nab the wayward bovine.

Scott kindly set aside 30 small bales of hay for me, even though I know he will probably be a little short himself by the end of winter.

On a side note, recently I was on the front cover of the local paper, with friends and neighbours, in an article about the highway upgrade that will be going past our place. This week my suggestion to the consultation was also in the paper. 

26th May, 2025

We've just had 30mm of rain. The sky is crying for Annie too.

It's also been cold and windy and having Star in with Mae to keep her company as they share a shelter with deep straw bedding and hay walls has helped ease things for Mae and kept her warm too.

The rest of the herd are finishing off the last of the grass (unless this rain comes just before the ground temp drops too far for grass to grow) and I am clearing out the old feed bunk ready to eke out the hay over winter.

When they eat free-choice from a ring, big eaters like Jaffa just stand and eat and drop hay and walk on it. She didn't get to the shape of a hippo by walking away from food. There's alot of waste and I don't need them to get too fat. 

Putting out a certain amount each day into the bunk keeps dropped hay contained where they don't step on it, and they get to fill up twice a day without simply eating themselves into bowling balls. It is alot more work than putting a round into a ring once every three or four days, but I spend alot of time picking up hay and shoving it back in the ring anyway. And it is better to spend a little time each day and make it through winter.

Here are some photos of Mae, and one of the milk Calab (the tenant from the cottage) drove all the way back to the dairy he works at on his day off to bring for Mae. The little caravan sink pump is my idea to get the milk out without tipping a heavy container and risking spilling it everywhere. Works a treat.

25th May, 2025

 

Farewell my beautiful Annie

1st August, 2019 to 23rd May, 2025

 

Annie calved on the 4th of May, a lovely heifer calf we've named Mae. 

 

Despite being in great condition and seemingly perfect health before calving, Annie came down with milk fever and then pneumonia, and then ketosis and finally liver failure. We fought for three weeks to save her and she fought for three weeks to live, mothering her calf the whole time.

 

Finally, the blood test results came back from Launceston and the verdict of liver failure on top of everything else, and her not having eating almost anything for two weeks, made the final sad call.

 

Mae has taken to the bottle and I will look after her and be her mum for Annie. She has had a great start, and is fat and sassy. Alot of the condition Annie lost so fast went into giving Mae the best.

 

Annie was one of those cows that seek you out for love and responds with a cow hug, wrapping her neck around you as you stand beside her. She was my buddy and I will miss her so much.

 

Annie liked her food, especially apples and pears. She was a busy cow, always paying attention, but never naughty like Belle. Her glossy black hair always smelled warm and sweet and she delighted in giving a good bath with her scratchy tongue. She came to me from Robyn's dairy next door, via Aimee and was hand raised here.

 

Mae is her first heifer, she'd had three bull calves that she raised with great enjoyment. Mae will stay with me now, she is half angus and may not make a house cow, but she is family.