Fencing repairs.

Yes under this lovely bunch of gum branches is a fence! I'd thought most of our spring jobs where over; marking the lambs, shearing and the endless grass cutting required to get ready for the fire season and then this happens a tree falls landing on the fence. The three of us with chainsaw tackled the branches cutting them off the fence so we could staighten and tighten the fence.



Shearing.

It sounded easy but it never is. There's plenty of shouting, swearing and running, usually us after the sheep as they escaped. Then it quickly decends into chaos with each of us, muttering under our breath at the sheep and each other. Since we've had Maggie things have moved more smoothly as one stare from our Border Collie and the sheep became more meek and obedient but since getting a grass seed in her eye the Vet told us Maggie needed a rest and no work! So here we were trying to pen then sheep by ourselves and all this just to have four woolly sheep shorn. The majority of our flock are self shedding Wiltipols and come spring naturally start to fall, however these four older sheep still need a visit from the shearer.  Unlike our neighbours with their shed where they shear their thousand plus sheep,

we move our portable panels into a small field and then decide which would be approach to guide the sheep into the pens and so here we are getting the run-around as sheep go everywhere but where they should! In the end we had to get Maggie and even on a leash it was if by magic the sheep became compliant and walked into the waiting pens. Now although penned we had to divide the sheep without a three way draft which again resulted in more shouting, a lot of dust and man-handling! By the time our shearer arrived it was peaceful and the actual shearering took no time at all.

With real farmers there's a couple of shearers or more, some shed hands and a wool classer and the fleeces are tidied and bagged, however ours are worth nothing so end up on the ground to be dealt with later.

The last job is to divide the ewes into two groups and then send them away with a ram each, as far away as possible from their lambs. Finally the job is finished.

Clearance sale.

We arrived early and looked over the farm equipment, household goods and the other odds and ends on offer at our neighbours clearance sale. They have sold their property and are down sizing, no longer needing all that stuff that was now for sale. There were a few items that caught our attention. Over the next few hours the number of people arriving steadily increased in cars and utes with trailors. They filled the parking in the field and both sides of the road.

Many were locals using the day as a social gathering catching up with the news but we were all amazed at the numbers of people. Once the sale began it was hard to see things for the crowd but the bidding was active with some people getting bargains. Unfortunately we didn't get what we wanted but we kept to our limit and didn't get carried away.

The catering was provided by the local country fire service group and they must have done well. The day was cool and sunny, with only the bush flies being annoying.

Lemons v lemons!

Which is the shop bought lemon?

There's nothing like a fresh, homemade lemon squash. Unfortunately I ran out of the home grown lemons that a friend gives me and I had to buy some. I was surprised at the difference! We have planted our own tree but at only five years of age it has only just started producing fruit. So I'll have to rely on my friends supply.

Hay Making.

We've never regretted our 'tree change' into the ranges. When driving home from the city one feels the stresses fall away the closer home gets and the freedom to walk across our fields with the dogs is wonderful. So it was a shock to us during our first spring when the once cropped, short grasses suddenly shot up to thigh height and then there were all the fire prevention messages and so panic set in! What to do? There's the expense of buying your own grass cutting equipment but there's a big difference in price between a ride-on-mower and a tractor plus parts, so we got a ride-on. That's when learning about the local contractor or a friendly neighbour becomes vital and they can then come to the rescue. Every year our hay field is cut then left to dry. Yesterday it was raked and then baled by our neighbours and those bales will be shared between us. Across the district hay making is in full swing and a patch work pattern covers the landscape.



Keeping chickens.

I never realised that owning chickens would be such a pleasure and that two would be such a handful. After a few weeks settling into their new coop we let them out into an extended run and also our covered vegetable garden. They loved it, being able to scratch around and digging up our seedlings! At bedtime one was easy to catch, she'd sit down and tuck her head down as if she thought; 'This is it, I'm going to die!' The other is a free spirit, she runs and twists away as we attempt to grab her.  We finally resorted to an old fishing net. All this just to put them to bed! The only down side so far is the lack of eggs. Only a 50% production rate, one of them has to get its act together.

Iris's

These are last years iris's however this year there are only a few spikes and I blame the unusally warm September!