Purple Poppies Purple Ducklings and a Happy New Year!

This time of year is poppy time! At Watson's Road we had the most beautiful poppies l have ever seen.  Some as high as 6 foot tall. All shades from brilliant red to dusky pink, bright purple and every shade of each colour in between. It was a glorious display that sadly lasts all too short a time. Photos here taken by super talented big sis!

We don't have any poppies here....yet............. it was too late to put the seeds in this year but next year we will make sure we have an area set aside for their brilliant display.

We had one.............. just one! It popped up unplanned and unannounced in a tub alongside a walnut tree sapling. Its just as beautiful even though there's just one!

Went out this morning to feed my little waterfowl tribe to find Momma Duck and only three ducklings! After a quick scout around the orchard as l knew no animal would be able to get them out of there l found them. Two sad sorry little things huddled up alongside the house each with one wing bloodied and chewed. Amazingly though the injuries are fairly superficial and although the wings are hanging down l don't think they are actually broken. l doused them with Cetrigen( otherwise known as the fix everything Purple Antiseptic Spray) and put them in a small pen away from all the others. They are eating and drinking so l am hoping they will recover even though they might both have peculiar shaped wings as they grow up. These are the two l wanted to keep as well! The little one l think is the only girl  and is the one l hatched myself as she ran out of energy getting out of her egg................

And the big boy is the only lavender coloured one of the batch. So now l have little purple ducklings as well as a purple poppy!

l must say l am at a loss as to what could have done it. All l can think of is a rat trying to pull them away from their Mum and grabbing each by the wing. Unfortunately because of the injuries l can't put them back with the mother as the other ducklings attack them. Must be a self preservation survival of the fittest thing happening there! So they will have to stay apart until they recover!

And aside from that its about time to sign off for 2011 from us both. Its been  a huge year and where we were 12 months ago is so different to where we are today. Have a Happy New Year everyone and see you all in the next one!

Geoff and Danni xxx

Ughhhh!

My second day off was all planned. l was heading off to my favourite antique shop with Christmas money from Mum and Dad in my hot little hand to buy something old and wonderful for the house. The day abruptly ground to a halt as l opened the back door to let the dogs jump in.
Who invented Spiders anyway?? Seriously! Who and WHY? l would far rather live with 600,000 billion more flies on this planet then have ONE of these ANYWHERE in my peripheral, immediate or extrasensory vision!!!

It was almost 6 inches across!!! l mean really............................WHY??? And why MY CAR???  So l  emptied 2 and a half fly spray cans into my car. ...... while it was still on the door.........there is no rhyme or reason OR logic to what you do as an arachnophobic!.....

Just in case l there was ANOTHER one in there l suppose. Suddenly as l stood there procrastinating as to what to DO, it scuttled across the roof and disappeared inside the drivers door! The trouble that l have is that although l HATE them , l can't kill them. So l stand there for what seems like hours trying to work out how far away my husband is, then as in this classic case its too late!!!!! IT'S IN THE CAR!!!!!! Heyyyy... hang on.................. what about my karma for saving the one in the wood heater last week??????????

Anyway, any plans for going out for the day were abruptly halted as l considered selling my car 'where is as is' for a couple of dollars so l could then go out and buy a new one which l knew probably DIDN'T have a 6 inch wide spider inside......... Geoff was no help as he was miles away.But......................................again......to the rescue....................Dad!!!!!! Within a flash he whizzed around with his spider free station wagon to deposit on my door step to use for the day!!! Good on you Dad!!! lf l knew you were always going to be my spider rescuing hero l would have moved to Franklin years ago!!!!

So with my day back on track off l went! l bought a couple of lovely things! This chair for our bedroom which matched the curtains perfectly!

And what l desperately need and don't have many of.................................................a candlestick!! This however is a candlestick with a difference! About 4 foot high too heavy to pick up and solid cast iron. One of those things you just HAVE to have!!! l love it!

 We think its from a Church as it has these wonderful religious figures on the bottom!

So day complete. Car is now soaking in Napalm and hopefully the toxicity will be gone by the time l have to go to work tomorrow....

Cow is happy and gets on well with the sheep.

Still trying to capture that darn light

 Goats happy on a warm late sunny evening.

 House looks lovely and cosy still with its Christmas lights still up!

Spiders aside.........life is good up here.....

Cow!!

She arrived! She's gorgeous! Way way smaller then what l thought! When we saw them in the paddock it was hard to get an idea how tiny they actually are. Ideally they are 97 to 107 cm high measured at the hip. When she gets to a point where l can get a halter on her l will be interested to see how short she is!

 Her little calf! She is about 4 months old and a stocky little thing!

They have been beautifully and quietly reared by their breeder  and came off the back of the ute as quiet as the proverbial lambs. She is understandably a little shy and cautious as they would never have come across goats, sheep or chickens before! She has never been hand fed as in wheat or cow pellets so the first job is to get her to discover how yummy they are then to come when called at the rattle of the bucket!

The sheep were interested! Actually this photo gives you an idea on her size as she doesn't appear to be much bigger then the sheep!

 As does this one!

A few randoms!

In the cement around the house here are a couple of pieces of history embedded into the place for eternity! One is this little paw trail of footprints. Cat? Or maybe a puppy , possum or even  a bandicoot?

The other is certainly interesting given the date. 1968 clearly marked just outside the back door. We only discovered this on Christmas Day. The date being the year after the 1967 bush fires here in Southern Tasmania that claimed 62 lives, over 63,000 animals lives and burned over 1,400 homes. 110 separate fire fronts raged on the same day  burning 2,640 square kilometres within a time frame of 5 hours. There is a telegraph pole out in the paddock with an old burn mark at the bottom so one can only wonder if any of this was relevant repairs to that terrible day.

Aside from that life is pretty much back to normal here! Both of us back to work on Boxing Day. Geoff is loving his crook and never heads off out into the paddocks without it!

Hay growing like crazy. The paddock drying out. Hoping to get it cut in the next week or so.

The flowers are growing too!!

As usual l am always trying to capture the beautiful light here and never succeeding as most of the time all l have on me is my iphone!

And tomorrow our cow arrives! Very exciting and meant a flurry of fencing and organising to get the yard ready where she will stay until she becomes at least half tame! As usual the old Mercedes did a top job as work horse!!!

Christmas Day!

A  lovely lazy Christmas Day!

We had expected rain and wind so the table was carefully set for inside. The weather however was kind to us (karma l believe for the supreme act of bravery by me as l rescued a BIG ....not HUGE....but BIG Huntsman Spider out of the wood burner when Geoff wasn't there!!! l am expecting several Brownie Points still owing to me on that one for the next year or two at least!!

So the sun shone Mum and Dad arrived and we had Mulled Wine and opened presents! My biggest thrill was watching Geoff unwrap a genuine Shepherds Crook from Mum and Dad. All the way from Oregon in The States. To say he loves it might be the understatement of the year! He's going to hate me but l love this photo!!!!

Our friends arrived and we cleared the table and carried it all outside and spent the afternoon sitting under our lovely tree. Eating wonderful food and enjoying the weather.

Friends and family all gone we finished our day with the last of the Mulled Wine and a wander down to the River and to our delight after not even 2 minutes sitting there along came the Platypus! We sat and watched him as he floated and watched us!

We finally hung up our Capes and hats for another year slightly wet after the rain shower on the way home and said goodbye and goodnight to our first Christmas here on the  Farm.

Happy Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve to all and everyone! Geoff and Danni xx

Summer Solstice

Well yesterday was the Longest Day. Seems hard to believe that the days are now getting shorter! l spent the second of  my two days off fairly lazily sitting on the front veranda reading a book! The sun was shining, the book was great and it seemed to be the best place to be for a couple of hours!!

In the evening Geoff and l went to a Summer Solstice party in Judbury near where we used to live. It was a bit of a hike to get there but well worth the effort and great to catch up with so many people.

The theme was the longest day of course but with Christmas thrown in only a few days away it was the perfect excuse for a party!

The property is stunning. Right on the Huon River with beautiful gardens just a perfect venue. We had more food then we could eat and a girl with a lovely voice serenade us with a haunting Celtic song.

Oh yes and were all given a "fresh garden garland" to wear on arrival. Geoff's was a little bit more extravagant as he went for the' optional parsley hair extension' as well!!!

On the way home we drove past  ' the house near the Tip; which is the locals way of describing this unassuming little house on the Highway next door to the Council Refuse Dump! At Christmas this place is transformed into a Fairy Santa Grotto of outrageous proportions! The owner stands out on the side of the road every night until about 11pm with a big bag of lollies for the kids. This year he even had a snow machine and his son joined him dressed as Elvis...................This picture does it no justice. It really is quite incredible... if not a little weird....

Home at 10pm and decided not to end the night there so we gathered a guitar, a kero lamp, matches , dogs and a glass or two of red and, headed down to the river and lit a fire next to the water. It was just a perfect way to end our day (even though l was nervous about meeting leeches...... but l saw none..!)

Got back up the house and into bed at 1am. Alarm set for 5am. l know December 22nd was officially the longest day but trust me December  23rd at work seemed waaaaaaaaaaaaaayy longer!!!

Prune Mad!

Today l decided to prune! It was a beautiful day. Not too hot but the sun was shining. l love pruning. l grabbed shears, hedge loppers and secateurs and off l went.l cleared all the fuchsias that were blocking the path................

l pulled out all the forget- me -nots and buttercups that had swamped the flowerbeds.............

l cleaned up the tree ferns that had severely got knocked back from the late frosts we had................

And  savagely cut into the pop pom tree that blocks all the light into our bedroom...........

Oh yes and l cleared under the Grevillia so l can mow under it now................

Trouble is though, much as  l LOVE the pruning, cutting, lopping and chopping l hate the moment when you look BEHIND you and see the trail of mess, leaves , branches and rubbish you have left behind!!!. l then spent the entire afternoon carting wheelbarrow after wheel barrow of cuttings to the compost and the bonfire. That bit of pruning l don't like!!!

Geoff came home and got into it as well and brush cut a bit of the driveway that was getting  long.

It all got a bit smoky as l decided to burn the whole lot last night as l was a bit concerned as to toxicity of some of the plants l threw on the bonfire. A small problem when you have nosey goats that eat anything!!

And a couple of new additions to the menagerie arrived yesterday!

Mr Magnificent is very proud!