Drip-dry!

It was hot today at Hamby Home(in)stead - all day, which was unusual!  The chookies had a lot more shade than in their previous location but were looking in need of a cool-down this evening.

Erin collected the girls and gave each of them a splash-down in the laundry tub. Judge Judy wasn't overly keen on being wet but Jo settled into the bathing routine quite happily!

New outlook for the New Year!

It's not quite the New Year but the chookies are enjoying a new view from their Fox-proof Fowl Fort (FpFF)!

Nick and Erin moved the girls' quarters today, so their fence now surrounds a tree in front of our house. 

We're hoping the new shady location is cooler for the chookies on our hotter days - or hottish parts of our usual varied-weather days!
The operation took several hours this morning. Previously Elmer has been used to tow the Fort into a new position but this time the fence was broken down into two-panel sections and carried across. 

The garden trolley was used to wheel the chook-house along but seemingly would only manage one fence panel at a time - and we had limited cable ties on-hand for rejoining the Fort afterward.  Once all was secure, the girls were ushered back home!

Putting the wind up our cow!

We received kites for Christmas and they have provided lots of amusement - for us and the cow(s)!  Although I took photos of Tea watching Erin and Vaughan yesterday afternoon, it seems some of the more distant cows were also intrigued by the antics!

Tea closely supervised the goings-on, though wasn't greatly keen on the flying things landing too close to her fence!

Moo-ry Christmas!

We very much enjoyed our first Christmas at Hamby Home(in)stead!

As some of you know, Tea featured on our Christmas cards. She starred on our festive t-shirts also, which we wore for our annual Santa photo. We've worn the shirts at other times also, with good effect and appreciation!


Sadly, kid-sized t-shirts were only available in white. Yep, the Young Master often looks like an OMO ad extra!

Tea's been a good cow lately, so didn't receive an electric fence from Santa.  Erin gave her a carrot and some beetroot tops for Christmas lunch but it seems vegies are far more appealing when plucked from the garden, on the sly! 

The chookies were far more appreciative of their Christmas goodies - particularly a large piece of watermelon, which was reduced to the barest amount of rind over a few hours! 

Moo-ry Christmas from us to you and our very best wishes for an absolutely bovine, er divine, New Year!

Watering the cow ...

There are no outside taps at Hamby Home(in)stead, so filling Tea's bath involves a bit of effort.  The taller, white bucket is generally filled in the laundry (at the back of the house) and then carried from there to the front paddock. 

Several trips are necessary.  Carrying water is heavy work, usually Nick's job but he isn't always available. 

I enlisted Vaughan's aid the other day and we loaded the garden trolley with three buckets, filled them and then walked very, very slowly - pulling the cart behind us.  We slopped a little bit of water but even making several trips, it was a much easier job than carrying buckets one at a time.  I introduced Erin to the water cart method today.  She's a covert!

Nick and I spoke to our landlady last week.  She is agreeable to running an irrigation pipe to fill a shared water trough, placed under the fence between the front of Tea's paddock and the larger paddock that is part of the main property.  Nick will need to dig trenches for the pipe and do various other work in preparation.  It won't happen overnight - but it will happen. 

Of course when Tea starts using an alternative water supply, she will no longer require her bath.  I love the roofless bath-houses at Yowah and suggested to Nick we might be able to rig something similar here, albeit even more rustic!

Another good chook ...

When Chicken Pooh died recently, Vaughan commented that Princess Fiona would miss her as they spent a lot of time together. 

There may have been some truth to Vaughan's observation.  Fiona died today.  It was a hot day, so the heat may have impacted but Erin believes the Princess hasn't been quite herself since Pooh's death. 

Our remaining two chookies, Judge Judy and Jo, were feeling the heat this afternoon.  Erin and Vaughan gave them a shower with a watering can - and then later brought each of the girls in for a bath in the laundry sink.  There was much giggling, splashing and cries of "this isn't working" during the exercise.  It seemed to work though, chooks and chook-handlers were definitely wetter and cooler some short time later!  At the end of their spa, the girls were carried back to their enclosure.  They regarded Erin warily when she later checked on them, no doubt worried they might be hauled in for another bath!

First harvests ...

I picked a few silverbeet leaves from our garden around the middle of November - and used them together with some home-made labna to make gozleme for lunch one day. 

There hasn't been much action in the garden since, despite my regular checking.  I went out yesterday though and called Vaughan to see how much our plants had grown, after the recent rain!

The silverbeet had really taken off, so I cut a large bunch and used a generous amount in our dinner.  There were many holey leaves, so the chookies dined well on those!

Vaughan was keen to pull a few carrots.  He quite likes their twisted forms and took some in his lunchbox today.  He didn't actually eat them till this afternoon but they must have been good, cos now they are gone!

She was a good chook ...

Our weekend win against Tea's escapism was tempered by the loss of Pooh Chicken.

Nick and I answered Erin's calls of distress on Sunday and found one of our chookies had died - fortunately it was a fox-free natural death, though still a sad event.

Vaughan observed that Princess Fiona would miss Pooh Chicken - because they spent a lot of time with each other.

How now, Ms Cow?!

Tea has been a right royal cow of late. For the past few weeks she has regularly escaped her front paddock and was becoming increasingly adventurous. She even made it onto the road one evening, which obviously caused considerable concern.

We pondered various options before Nick decided on a plan, using materials already on hand. As it happened, he opted for a different method of tensioning the wire at Tea's escape point - as well as repositioning one of the wonky star pickets. We had leftover fencing crimps from our first chook yard, so they were used to fix the wire netting to the now-taut wire strands.

I don't have photos of the work in progress as I had a long nap on Saturday afternoon (after a chiropractic session). When I woke in the early evening, Tea had been re-located to her front paddock - albeit very reluctantly!  Nick and I walked the fenceline on Sunday morning.  It was clear that Tea had tested the boundary but had not been able to breach it.   Hah!   She's still there now, two full days later - a vast improvement on her previous two-hour limit!

The Fox-war!

After some discussion, Nick and I bought a cross-bow last Tuesday.

(We actually set out to buy to make our purchase on Monday but the shop was closed)!

Although we felt rather naughty when buying our prohibited weapon, everything is completely above board. 

As members of the Australian Bowhunters Association, we were exempt from holding a permit for the purchase. (Nick, Vaughan and I become involved in field archery last year and shoot at a local club regularly).  Obviously, proof of membership and photo ID were required - and those details are recorded in a register of sales.

When Nick suggested using a cross-bow rather than a rifle for our fox problem, I envisaged something far more medieval in appearance.  The reality is vastly different.  Ours was at the low end of the range and was fairly basic in comparison with some other varieties.  We explained what we wanted to do though, and what we now own is perfectly suitable.

Once home again, we showed Erin our purchase and muttered about the fox's days being numbered - just as he sauntered past the window!  At this stage the fox is still at large but we know where he lives and have been keeping tabs on his whereabouts.

Vaughan has been blowing the fox whistle so often and loud that the poor fox probably has a head-ache (and he/she isn't the only one sick of the whistle)! 

The quick brown fox ...

has definitely gotta go!

He's far too brazen and becoming bolder on a daily basis.

Last week, I looked out the front door and he was only a few paces away - no doubt attracted by the smell of my excellent Cobb cooker experiments.

The other morning we walked outside to find rubbish strewn over the driveway.


Our evening story-time was interrupted last night by some odd noises. When Nick went out with the spotlight, he surprised the fox quite close to the house. I managed to take photos near the water tank paddock gate, which are those above.

Seemingly much later in the night/very early morning, Nick went out again to investigate other noises.

Our resident possum had taken refuge on the roof, while the fox stalked him/her from the ground.

The fox has been spotted again just now, prowling around the Fox-proof Fowl Fort! It's an overcast day but even so, tis only 5:30pm!

Nick called out to me out and I was able to snap a few quick shots before Nick loosed an arrow toward the intruder. We weren't happy about the possum being harassed but stalking the chookies is really crossing the line. Hamby Home(in)stead has just declared war on the five o'clock fox!

In a moo-d!

Today is Tea's first evening without milk.  She has spent the day in the house paddock (as she keeps getting out of her usual one). 

I heard her calling, so wandered out with a half-measure of pellets, thinking to encourage her into her overnight enclosure and lock her up out of mischief for the night. 

(Yesterday she ate Nick's archery target, pruned one of our garlic plants as well as attempting consumption of various other inappropriate items - and that was during the day)!

When I walked outside, I spotted her already in her pen, pacing up and down, obviously expecting her blue milk bucket!! 

She scoffed the pellets and is now standing by the fence mooing hopefully!  I didn't think she'd be happy about the new milk-less regime!

No more milk for Tea!

Our calf, Tea, was just a few weeks old when she came to live with us on 25 May.  Vaughan had already been visiting her daily to assist with her afternoon feeds. 

From her arrival till early September, Tea received two three-litre milk feeds each day (in all kinds of weather). 

Increasing amounts of calf pellets were added to her diet in July (initially with small amounts of hay and straw also). 

For the past six weeks or so, Tea has received her milk of an evening only - with a larger ration of calf pellets to compensate for the reduced milk.  She drank her last bucket of milk last night and won't be getting the pellets for much longer either.


Tea's a proper big cow now - in more ways than one, proving to be quite the escape artist, which will probably see us purchasing some electric fence over the weekend!

Fencing panels ...

Our initial plan was to build a much boundary fence around the raised garden bed.  Nick had a better idea today.  He made panels to slot into the metal supporting posts - and nailed netting to the panels. 

Each panel can be lifted out individually. At this stage three are finished - and two pieces of lattice are propped up along the unfinished side, which you can see in the pic below.
There are no outside taps at Hamby Home(in)stead, so we fill buckets and/or our watering can in the laundry then carry the water to where it is needed.

We went over to the dump shop this morning, specifically to purchase a 44-gallon drum as a stand for a small water barrel bought a few weeks back.

Fingers crossed for more rain soon!

Smothered in style?!

Since moving into Hamby Home(in)stead I've been pondering a solution for the large front "garden". 

Actually, it's not so much a garden as a ring of rocks around a number of grevillea and rosemary bushes - and one nectarine tree.  You would think the rocks might prevent the grass and weeds from over-running the "garden". 

Nope.  No such luck.

Our landlady visited recently and used round-up on the grass inside the rocks.  It has died off  but some particularly hardy weeds remain.  We were talking to a fellow today who referred to it as marshmallow weed.  I can assure you there is nothing soft and fluffy about it!

Encouraged by yesterday's rain, Erin and I started to clear a section of the front garden today.  We only managed to reclaim a small area but it's a start.  Later in the afternoon, Vaughan dug two holes and helped plant my chosen ground cover, suggested by a Bunnings staff member who assured me it would "smother" the grass and weeds.  Bring on the suffocation, I say! 

Growing walls (and vegies) ...

Not much has happened to our vegie garden since my last report. Nick suggested raising the walls by adding another row of sleepers but was working night-shift, so had limited time for such missions.

He and I made a trip to Bunnings today and purchased the extra wood.  I also bought various vegie seedlings as only a few of my seeds have sprouted. 

Once home, Erin helped me plant many of the new seedlings.

We had to fudge the recommended spacing a little, in order to fit them all in!

We saved some for Vaughan to plant after school.  He was happy to assist in the digging - and wielding the watering can.  So now we wait.  (And keep watering).  Fingers crossed!

El Toro!

Nick's bonus has enabled various equipment purchases this past week. 

High on the wish-list was a serious lawnmower. 

On arrival at Hamby Home(in)stead the cracked ground was bare, so cutting grass wasn't given much thought.  We do have a mower but it's more of your ordinary, garden-variety (hah) style! 

Nick's been pondering a solution.  Of course, while he mulled over the options the grass grew higher - and higher.  He's been tackling sections with the push mower and reclaimed some of the house paddock but really needed a larger, more robust machine.

When funds became available, the eBay watchlist grew (almost as fast as the grass).  Three machines were particularly favoured and the first of those was won at auction by us on Sunday afternoon - hooray! 

Nick and I drove out to collect El Toro today.  Our landlady's cows are currently in the paddocks adjacent to our house.  Negotiating the driveway (and the cows with their calves) necessitates opening and closing three gates at present.  As we drove out this morning with trailer in tow, the herd crowded along the fenceline and eyed off the trailer hopefully.  They moo-ed loudly, obviously hoping we were bringing some food for them! 

It was the same deal this afternoon, even with the "new" mower fully visible and taking up most of the space within the trailer.  We drove into our house paddock and turned around to see the herd had followed us up.  They stood at the gate - calling loudly and then stayed to supervise Nick putting the self-propelled mower through it's paces.  Maybe they liked the look of our new "bull"?!

Dishin' the dirt!

Nick was paid a bonus over the weekend, which was well-deserved - and much appreciated. We've been putting some of the funds to good use.

The dump shop yielded excellent materials for our raised bed vegie garden (and fence) but we needed some new supplies from Bunnings also - so purchased those yesterday. Nick started construction when we got home.
We laid some mesh along the bottom of the bed and put a rough layer of rubble over that for drainage.

We had two cubic metres of dirt delivered this afternoon.  Actually it's not just dirt - it's "four-way mix", full of compost and various other good stuff.  It's sposed to be good for growing vegies, so hopefully it lives up to our expectations!

We left the chookies locked up till after the truck had left. Once released from their fort, they quickly came over to investigate our dirty deeds - but at least they didn't hinder our efforts too much!

There is more work to be done tomorrow, if the current rain clears. 

Once the bed is done, we can start building a fence around it - to protect our harvest from being prematurely harvested by chookies (or rabbits)!

Lucky Find!

Although jade plants are a symbol of good fortune, I doubt the one at Hamby Home(in)stead had been feeling very lucky.  The ugly concrete pot that housed it was substantially cracked down one side - and the plant was looking decidedly cramped.

I've been pondering a low-cost solution for several months.  A replacement "pot" became available today during another of our dump-shop trips.  (We haven't been for a while and were greeted extra warmly on arrival)!

I was already eyeing off this plastic barrel, when Nick suggested it for the jade plant.  Done deal!  We brought home a lovely swag of loot - all for $25!  (The barrel was probably $5.00 of the total cost, if that).  I like the dump shop!

Bunnings had cheap potting mix, so we grabbed three bags, which was just enough to re-home the jade plant.  I've given it a big drink and am hoping it settles well into it's more generous accommodation! 

Movie-ing along ...

Prior to our relocation a regular school holiday activity was visiting the Heddon Greta Drive-in.  Although prices are charged per vehicle very few patrons actually sit in their car. 

We suffered a little from culture shock on our first visit. There were many people (including adults) roaming around in PJs and slippers. Bean bags were commonly used as outdoor seating. Some families lounged on mattresses.  We felt quite staid sitting in our car - in our normal clothes!

In time we got into the groove with the best of them - converting Elmer's rear into a snug lounge area.  Our thermal cooker held fried rice and chicken drumsticks or other easily eaten fare.  We brought popcorn, lollybags - and our thermoses for hot beverages.

The drive-in pricing was very budget-friendly - $50 for two movies, $70 for three and $90 for four.  I don't recall ever seeing four movies in a row but we would see three on occasion. 

My loose budget for my Hamby Home(in)stead cinema under the stars project is around the cost of a night at the drive-in. So far we're tracking OK. 

The seats were $30 and this week we scored a second-hand video projector for $52 - with 1300+ hours of lamp-life. It (and various gadgetry) comes in a wheeled hard-case and retailed at around $5K a bit over ten years ago.

We have speakers and an amp that may only require a low-cost repair. With luck our camping gazebo walls will do for a screen - stay tuned!


Just for the record, I didn't ever wear my PJs to the drive-in (and neither did anyone else in our family)!

Mr Muscle ...

The hunka-chunka bull is providing lots of entertainment - particularly when he bellows to the cows in other paddocks (at different points of the day and night)!

Today Vaughan went over to the fence for a closer look at the "awesome" bull's muscles.  Of course, no-one is particularly keen to get too close - and that's probably definitely a good thing!

The bull is a Black Angus.  I used to wonder why the prefix "black" was necessary however there is also a red variety of the breed, not surprisingly known as Red Angus!

Things that go bump ...

There was a fair bit of noise last night at one point.  I wasn't sure what it was, so very bravely took our giant spotlight with me when I went outside to investigate.

I'm don't know what I expected to see but it certainly wasn't a brushtail possum.  I don't think he/she expected to see me either!

Vaughan was soundly asleep.  I called Erin though and we offered our neighbour some apple.  He/she was not impressed by our offering and quickly scuttled over the outdoor covered area to places unknown. 

I did hear more scrambling on our roof much later, so assumed our friend was heading to bed.  I wonder if we'll see him/her again tonight?

(Sucking) On the Fence!

Nick tried something new when feeding Tea this evening.  Usually we enter the enclosure with her and sit on an upturned crate to hold her milk bucket. 

Tonight Nick stayed outside the enclosure and provided only minimal support to the bucket. 

The new approach worked well and Tea enjoyed the hands-free approach, cos it meant less interference when she wanted to slurp the last drips from the bottom of the bucket!

As usual, there was a bit of a wrestle to remove the bucket at the end of the feed. 

Our little cow wasn't very impressed by the confiscation and sucked vigorously on the fence to let us know.

Within moments though she had her head in the larger feed bin and was nosing through her hay, eating calf pellets.

Our landlady called round during the week and is happy with Tea's progress, estimating her weight at 200kg. 

Superb!

Just before our December relocation to Victoria, a lovely friend and I enjoyed a "ladies day" outing. 

While poking around an op-shop I purchased a new pewter key-ring, which featured a superb fairy wren.

In funny co-incidence, one of the first things we noticed about Hamby Home(in)stead was the resident population of fairy wrens. 


When we arrived the male wren didn't look all that different to the females but for his bluish tail.  In the past couple of weeks though, the male has acquired his breeding plumage - and is now looking quite superb! 

He and his ladies check for insects in the sheltered area adjacent to our front door each morning.  They visit often through the day also.  We enjoy hearing their pretty song and if you click on the link (in the second paragraph), you can hear it too!

He's a hunk!

I mentioned that one of our landlady's bulls is spending some time at Hamby Home(in)stead - eating down the grass in our side paddock.

We've been admiring him - and he's been checking us out, too. He was supervising Nick's archery efforts just now.

We don't know what he thought of Nick's "form: but everyone agrees  the bull is impressively hunka-chunka!

Cue the freebies!

As I was preparing for bed last night, I recalled the location of another packet of seeds.

I checked this morning and the seeds were as I remembered.

Even better, cucumbers are on my reference list so I potted three small newspaper pots.

(The larger pots sitting behind them hold the gigantic garlic cloves).


The cucumber and tomato seeds were free, given to Erin when she volunteered at the Hunter Wetlands Centre.  There should be other packets but which box they are in is anyone's guess!

Moth playing chicken(s)?!

From time to time the chookies will tap on the glass of the front sliding door, or the window behind my usual seat at the computer. Today they tapped so firmly and persistently that I got up to investigate.

There were three of them, jostling for space and pecking at a small moth. Where was the moth? On my side of the glass. Did the chookies give up. No. Not till I chased them off.

The moth is the white speck you can see in the smaller photo - and is fluttering just below the beak of the middle chook in the larger pic.

Bigger is better?!

As you can imagine we were super-impressed by the gigantic "Russian Garlic" at a recent farmers' market. We had to have one - and true to form, Vaughan selected the biggest available to bring home!

I've used some of the cloves since but wanted to try growing a couple.  The two pictured are smaller - that is only about 4-5cm wide and 6-7cm long!  I told you they were impressive!

So far all my pots have been made using a half-sheet of newspaper.  That size didn't give the garlic much room and I pondered what else I could use.  It took a while for inspiration to hit.  I was a bit frustrated with myself for not seeing the obvious solution earlier.  By folding a full newspaper sheet, I made a pot that was sized just right.  (Goldilocks would be pleased)!

Mind your Ps and ?s

I'm quite chuffed with my efforts today. I made over two dozen little newspaper pots and planted 42 in total - as well as six toilet rolls! The peas are in the toilet rolls. It seemed (in)appropriate!

What else did I plant?  Well, there were the P1, P2 and P3 pumpkins.  I saved the seeds a while back but neglected to label them, hence the Play School style numbering!

I planted tomatoes, zucchini, two varieties of sweet corn, some purple carrots and possibly two types of capsicum.  I say possibly because I also saved capsicum seeds earlier in the year.  Or praps they were chilli seeds.  Yep another mystery, hence the question mark!

The potting mix was in the storage container and the seeds were either saved or left-over from previous gardening attempts.  The seedling trays were another find at the dump shop yesterday.  They were not costed separately but rather included as a bonus, given our other purchases.  I do like the dump shop!  (I also found some plastic pot saucers that should work as compost bin lids).

For beginner gardeners such as myself, Gardenate is a fabulous resource.  The site provides planting guidance for various climate zones - in Australia and around the world.  I've been signed up to their email reminder service for longer than I'll admit to - but am finally acting on the site's advice!

Musical chairs!

I'm one step - or eight seats - closer to my plan of having an outdoor movie setup at Hamby Home(in)stead! 

I spotted these seats at the dump shop last week.  There were four rows then but only two left today. 

Obviously she who hesitates is lost - or loses out on movie seats.  As we already had the trailer in tow (collecting garden fencing), I enquired about the "movie seats". Special price for me - $30 for the two sets. Bargain! These days you'd be lucky to get two tickets to the movies for thirty bucks! All right - my eight seats aren't perfect but are much more comfortable than they look and will work out very well for my cinema under the stars scheme! 

While at the dump shop today I also spotted some heavy vinyl banners that I thought might be adapted as a screen for the storage container.  My technical adviser wasn't convinced though, citing the fact that I don't yet have a projector for my movies - and that item may well influence the type of screen required.  More action required!

Recycling the news(papers) ...

We don't get much junk mail.  Nick sometimes picks up discarded newpapers from work, which are used for fire-lighting (and lining the bottom of Keegan's cage).

I was lucky to find a few sheets of paper to try these origami seedling pots.  Vaughan and I followed some YouTube instructions and soon had completed several pots each, grinning at our success!


I made quite a few more pots while watching a David Attenborough documentary, before my modest newspaper supply ran out.  Our local library generously donated more newspaper to the cause last night - that is, the librarian was happy for us to rat through the recycling bin and take what we wanted! 

I found quite a few seed packets when sorting through some boxes this week - and discovered some potting mix in the storage container too.  My plan is to use items on hand and start off some seeds (from packets or saved from other vegetables), while waiting for the garden fence (and garden) to be constructed.

Capsicum security?!

I've been thinking more seriously of starting a vegie garden. In the past, I've successfully grown cherry tomatoes and various herbs in pots.

Although I've made a few attempts to grow proper vegetables, my efforts haven't been greatly productive. However, in the spirit of "if at first you don't succeed ...", I'm going to give the idea another go.

Given the chookies scratched out my raspberry canes yesterday, Nick and I decided a fenced garden would be necessary. We headed up to the dump shop today to source building materials (having already picked over the backyard for anything useful). We were super-impressed with our trailer-load of stuff - which included a few long pieces of timber, strapped to Elmer's roof. $55.00 for a garden fence. That's gotta be a bargain!

Garden hen-dering!

Our chookies are very lucky. Not just because they live here. Lucky that I like them as much as I do. Particularly after today's efforts.

Three of my raspberry canes have been scratched out. I am not at all impressed.

I'll replant my raspberries tomorrow - and plant some chicken netting, to discourage further hen-vestigations!

The grass IS greener!

What a difference (almost) six months makes!  The  paddocks were super-dry when we arrived.  There were deep cracks in the ground too. 

Many people said the grass would grow when the rains came.  It is fair to say we were ... sceptical!  It did happen though.  Eventually. 

The rains took longer than the oft-quoted three months but now we have green grass.  Far too much of it!
 


Nick has been mowing sections with our hand mower and today borrowed our land-lady's ride-on.  The house paddock is looking much tidier as a result of his efforts.

Tea is steadily munching in the front paddock - and today one of our land lady's bulls came to spend some time in our larger side paddock.   I'll have to take some photos of him.  He's not as large as Tea's Dad but he's still a very impressive fellow! 

Spring-ing into action!

Spring is here! It arrived on Sunday. Of course, Sunday was the first official day of Spring but even better, the weather was absolutely glorious and has stayed that way since. Hooray!

I sat in the sunshine on Sunday afternoon and was warm for the first time in months. Clear skies. No wind. Sun! Three days in a row! It's been wonderful. Today was 20 degrees. I'm liking it. A lot.

Nick tells me another cold spell is on it's way, so I'm definitely making the most of the sun while it lasts. He and I have both been doing some work around the yard.

I moved my black compost bin yesterday, which involved re-shovelling all the contents. It seems to be rotting along nicely! The blue part-barrel improvised bin is almost full and I've been pondering what to use next. As luck would have it, someone has dumped a rubbish bin along the road in front of the property. We'll have a closer look tomorrow. It might just be what we've been looking for. You know what they say, one man's trash ... is another woman's compost bin!

Fox o'clock!

This is not our fence - but it is my photo, taken about 50km from home. It was an amazing sight and I had mixed feelings as I viewed it.

I wondered at the person whose fence has obviously served this purpose over a long period, given the fox bones in the foreground (and more decayed carcasses out of shot). 

What is the story behind the practice?  When did it start?  Were the foxes shot on the property or collected from a wider area?  Is it the work of one person, or a community?

We've seen other fox-fences since but nothing like the scale of this one, just a couple of bodies usually - maybe five at most.  Even so, praps fox-fences are fairly accepted here in rural Victoria.

One of our resident foxes is reasonably identifiable because his/her coat is more sandy-coloured than the more common dark red.  I was up late one night and happened to glance out the glass sliding door, just as he/she was walking past!  I thought that was very bold and started to wonder how often he/she prowled so close to the house when I wasn't watching! 

More recently the same fox was spotted at five o'clock sauntering across the front paddock, quite close to the fence in front of our house.  I raised the alarm and dashed outside with Erin and Vaughan on my heels.  We yelled loudly and the fox bolted away to the tree-line.  The chookies were promptly locked up.  Even though there have been no further daytime fox sightings, the girls now have a 5pm fort curfew!

Sill-y Chookies!

I don't know why the chookies wanted to sit on the kitchen window sill! They've never been up there before (and hopefully won't make a habit of such antics) but it was funny to look out at them peering in at eye level!

Often when I am working at the computer they tap at the window behind me - or "knock" at the sliding glass front door, when they tire of sitting on the doormat!


I bought a new doormat this week. The girls weren't impressed. I had the front door and the mat to myself for a whole day. It was novel not to have to shoo them away when entering/exiting the door. They were back today, camped on the doorstep again. I guess they do like the new mat after all. Drat!

Milk milestone ...

Tea turned four months old yesterday.  She enjoyed a celebratory cuddle with Nick - and her last twice-daily milk feeds.

A new regime started today.  She will receive an increased amount of calf pellets and hay daily but only one evening milk feed - with a view to being fully weaned in a month or so (depending on her condition over the coming weeks).

Happily for all concerned, she didn't seem greatly fazed by the changes, though stood at the fence and began mooing much earlier in the afternoon than usual!  Over the past few days, she has been rope-led from enclosure to paddock and vice versa (given her recent tendency to run-off during transit).  Vaughan led her back from her front paddock this afternoon.  She trotted along quite eagerly - hooray!

Tea slurped her milk in record time - and seems to have largely given up on "asking" for my fingers to suck on.  That's definitely cause for celebration as far as I'm concerned!

Contrary Cow!

A much younger me - arguing with Anna!

The photo at right was taken in the late 1970s when my family was just starting to settle in the Dooralong Valley, after around two years of caravan adventuring.

Goats have a reputation for being stubborn and certainly Anastasia was one who lived up to all widely-held beliefs.  I reckon though that our calf, Tea, could've given Anna a run for her money!  No kidding!

Tea will be four months old tomorrow.  She is testing boundaries, in all senses of the expression.  She is testing my patience too.   In the past fortnight she has broken out of her paddock several times, run away when transferring from paddock to enclosure (or vice versa) - and just generally been contrary!

She and I were at a stand-off yesterday afternoon.  Tea decided she didn't want to mosey along to her evening enclosure but rather did the bolt to explore the larger side paddock.   I locked that gate after her and manoeuvred Elmer to block the stupid gate leading to the main driveway.  She danced and dashed about for a while.  I left her to it.  (I have a few stubborn tendencies myself, left-over from my goat-herding days). 

About half an hour later, she'd decided I was the bigger cow and started moo-ing for her evening milk.  I brought in the washing and took my time about organising her feed.  By that stage she was happy to trot along behind me back to her "Tea-house".

I had another win - or a series of wins.  Over the course of the weekend I had refused to let her suck my fingers, while she was drinking milk from the bucket.  She wasn't impressed but wore the 6th consecutive finger-free feed - and I wore less of the milk, when she butted against the new rules!