Goslings and Ducks

Sadly yesterday we lost one of our goslings. l think it developed some sort of respiratory problem. It's so hard to know exactly what is wrong. It was much smaller then the other three and didn't grow at all whereas the others have shot up enormously already. It was very sad and you always feel guilty and awful afterwards and think you have been neglectful or should have done something better ,but l guess the more animals you amass the higher the mortality rate is going to be. l guess l better toughen up!! They are still under a heat lamp and have been moved into the barn as the weather really has been quite wild this past  week. Hopefully it will clear up enough so they can go outside by the weekend.

On a lighter note!One of our Muscovy ducks is broody so her pal is bored with nothing better to do on her own then wander around getting in the way.The garden is the place of choice at the moment and there's no way we seem to be able to keep her out! It won't be long before she waddles into the house to check it out. They are so inquisitive!

 

Sunday!

Lazy Sunday! Well ,not lazy so to speak! Worked till 3pm then lovely friends over for drinks ,walks,Pickled Walnuts and Home brand Cheddar Cheese! Trust me its better then it sounds!

Discovered an old car down by the rivulet, a remnant from the days when your trusty car finally gave up the total ghost, there was nothing for it except to run it down the creek into the water!! It has trees growing out of it and it used to be teal green!!!

Lovely Nat clamouring in checking out the duco!

Discussing what down by the creek? Fish size? Tree height?

Mabel the Whippet had a ball, chasing ducks and chooks in her beautiful red dress!

Back in from the cold and we all tasted some delicious Tasmanian Pinot Noirs from the North and South of the State as well as Geoff bravely opening up one of our Pinots that we made from two years ago. And it was very drinkable indeed!

The Piece De Resistance of the night though l think was the Blackcurrant Wine  we had from our lovely visiting neighbours. An absolute treat and quickly consumed by all! A wonderful way to end our week!

Saturday

Wet miserable cold Spring Day! Not an ideal day to have your sheep shorn! Nevertheless, shorn they were! They didn't seem too fussed and definitely not cold afterwards so we don't feel too bad about it! Omar has gone from Magnificent to somewhat sad looking.........poor thing! l couldn't help but burst out laughing when l saw him!

All done, dusted, wormed and trimmed!

Did a bit of burning and clearing of some big sheets of board that the previous owners left behind. Ideal day for a bonfire!

We used this wonderful old barrow that was given to us by Mum and Dad,its been given a new lease of life and reverted back to being a working barrow rather then a decorative ornament to put plants on!

We then wandered over across the paddocks as dusk fell and came across by chance at the point where four paddocks meet, the old cocky gates used to separate the paddocks. Completely buried by grass they were a bit of a find and once the grass has dried off them we can put them back where they belong.

It really was too cold for Lilli and she spent a while sitting pathetically under a tree before sloping back off to the house to the fire and her hot water bottle!

Sheep Wranglers!

Geoff and l have three sheep here at the Farm.We also had three up at Mum and Dad's place just around the corner in Franklin to help them keep their grass down as well as an extra paddock that WE needed before we moved here.

Tomorrow is shearing time so we had to go up and collect the three at Mums so we could have them all in the one place when the shearer arrives.

Its always a bit of a palaver getting sheep to and from their place.

a.) the paddock is a fair way away from the area where we park the car.......yes..car....(.our sheep travel in style in the boot of the old Mercedes). Well ,not the boot so to speak, that sounds a bit cruel and a bit Middle Eastern if l am allowed to say that? A bottle of red wine tonight enables me to say ANYTHING though! So its a Station Wagon and we block out the windows with cardboard throw down a tarp and we fit two sheep in snug as a bug and they travel incredibly well and always without trouble............the odd piddle or two but that's all.........

b.) you ever tried push/pulling a sheep?

c.) You ever tried it using a Chihuahua as a Sheep Dog?

d.) Ever know the real meaning of DISAPPOINTMENT when you have a real true blue fair dinkum Border Collie sitting IN the car without a CLUE????????

OK , now you see what we are up against before we have even caught one...............................Ah now...... now here's the NEXT thing......................................l KNOW one should never laugh at ones loved ones.............but........................the photo below l am afraid reduces me to tears of laughter every time l see it...................................

Visualise this........................

Sheep in makeshift pen.............a bit ramshackle as you would expect... two in, one to go........... third one in.Geoff makes a run for the gate (me.... barking instructions from the other side of the fence)

Third sheep cottons on, spins around and is gone..........................NOT taking into consideration that Geoff has just watched New Zealand beat France in the Rugby World Cup................he launches himself in to the air and lands ON the sheep. A tackle that would do any Rugby player League or Union proud.

"Get the rope... get the rope" yells Geoff.....................

 "Yes dear yes dear" replies l as l cruelly and ingeniously extract my ever so nifty slim line iPhone out of my back pocket................. "l am just undoing the knot now darling" .................((((((((((((.click)))))))))))........(preserved for prosperity) '"here you are darling........one rope".......................l think its the angle of the knees.........................l just don't know.............!!

Anyway.....tears of mirth and laughter aside......... we manhandle our first sheep up to the car, load her in the back and head back to the farm. Here she is peering over the back seat!

 She wasn't too keen to off load the other end so needed a bit of a push and shove!

Lilli LOVES this farming stuff! Here she intrepidly hanging out of the window on the trip back for the second two!

The next two went on just as easily.One of them however insisted if we pushed too hard or pulled too hard she simply sat down and wouldn't budge. Just a big fluffy soft  white ball of wool with her feet tucked under her sitting on the lawn!, So amidst the giggles  we exhaustedly (by  now) pushed, pulled, chased and dragged her up the hill to the car to finally make it home.

With some nice sheep poo etched into our jeans!

 

Hauling them out!  

Omar was quite impressed by the new arrivals. Louise didn't recognise her long lost daughter and they all settled down very quickly and very quietly.Phew!

Our baby chooks looked on...........

 Topped off by a beautiful sky over the house line. A good day and a funny evening....

Geese!

Today l went and met a lady in the Woolworth's Car Park in Sorrel to pick up four geese!  She had lots of young goslings for sale and for $5 each l thought they were a bargain! We have lots of grass in our orchard and as 3 geese eat as much as one sheep l was looking forward to four geese munching away by this afternoon! The gosling below is kind of what l was expecting!

Imagine my shock and surprise when l was handed these tiny little things!!

l had no idea they were going to be so small!! They won't be eating much grass for a while!!!  But aren't they so sweet!!???

Of course l was totally unprepared for such 'smallness' and spent the rest of the afternoon hastily constructing a pen to put them in. Luckily they are about one millimetre too wide to fit straight through the wire holes in the chicken wire! Phew! l had never thought of that until they frantically tried it as soon as l put them in and thankfully failed!!. Geoff came back  from work and we covered it all with netting to keep the goshawks away.....falcons.....eagles............. cats..........!

It's not so much the fact that they are so small , our baby chickens are much tinier, its more the fact that having no Mum,they have no radar, no watcher and no protector. Very vulnerable little things they be!

Lilli LOVES them! In the "l want to eat them....... l want to bite their heads off if only they would poke them through the wire..........l want to chase them"..............sort of way

Then they need to come in at night as its too cold to be outside with no Mum to snuggle under. So the store room is nursery to four little goslings in a huge Ansett Dog Crate covered with Geoff's painting floor canvas to keep them warm. l was a bit worried they would need a heat lamp but l just went out there and picked a couple up and their little feet were warm as toast so l will assume they will be OK!

Reminds me of the days l raised Duck my Swan!!! Lots of poo, lots of cheeping ,lots of fun!

Brrrr!!

Well last night was definitely a coldie! So cold that Lilli sneaked off to bed early and crawled and fought her way under the pillows and blankets to be on top of the electric blanket! Only place to be l think she figured!

This morning everything was white and even one of the little ducks found it too cold and when l went into the orchard to feed them, there she was perched precariously on a rock! Trying to avoid chilblains l'd imagine!

There is an old saying here in Southern Tasmania that you never plant your tomatoes in the ground until AFTER the Show. Well the Royal Hobart Show has well and truly passed us so l would imagine there are a fair few frost damaged tomatoes out there in the ground ! We haven't put any in yet luckily and the garlic and the onions seemed quite happy! The frost nipped into the Walnut Tree again! But l think the leaves are underway well enough how to not be too affected!

This  is something l have been meaning to take a photo of for quite a while now! It sits at the very bottom of our road where it meets the Huon Highway. l have no idea what it is exactly and how long its been there or who put it there! But its a rather lovely old thing to have as a  guide post for people coming to visit

Oh and Pushka must have read the blog last week and very defiantly went and slept on Mums quilt last night! Typical cat! 

Back to Winter

Cold today...an absolutely icy blast to remind us how fickle Spring can be. Didn't do much when l got home. Too chilly! Took advantage of the Arctic weather  and began sorting out some drawers and cupboards that are still full of unorganised chaos. We did go for a wander up to the back fence line to ponder the bracken and met our neighbour up there who seemed like a very nice man!Possum is a bit better but very stiff and sore! She had a small go in front of the fire.....

 until the Ultimate Princess took over!

Both of them will be shifting very soon when Geoff and l take best positions in front of it!

Congrats New Zealand!

Winners of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. A tough brutal battle against France with only a one point margin win. A nail biting game and a great one!

The Ballet was wonderful! We all loved it! A first for all three of us and our hats off to the Tasmanian Ballet Company for a beautifully performed colourful evening. A very different kind of entertainment for us all. And thanks to Mum and Dad who took us along as well of course!!

Today we said goodbye to Ollie and Laurie! These were two sheep who belonged to the previous owners of the Farm. They had stayed on with us for hopefully a romantic interlude with our ram Omar.It was relatively stress free catching them which was a relief as they are very big girls and off they went down the road in their trailer hopefully both in lamb!

Before their owners arrived (and while l was still at work) Geoff started to close off part of the Lean To next to the Apple Shed. Only partly done he has done a wonderful job and really will make the sheep easier to manage once its all finished.

Lilli and Treeka patiently looked on as usual.

Elle ,Louise and Omar looked on too. Wondering what on earth was going on!

One family member who was very visibly missing was poor little Possum. She doesn't seem very well and has spent the last 24 hours hiding in a Garden Sheds on top of an old canvas bag. She isn't a happy girl and we are quite concerned for her. She possibly has had a run in with something... a rabbit....wombat......feral cat............rabbit hole? Who knows, the possibilities are endless. She isn't visibly hurt just very stiff and a little fragile. We will leave her be for tonight and see how she is in the morning .A job isn't quite the same without her Supervision!

Elle had her second Zinc Sulphate foot bath which she stood like an angel for! She desperately needs a haircut. She looks like an enormous filthy ball of cotton wool!

Swan Lake and a Black Horse

Tonight Geoff, Bethie and l are off to see Swan Lake performed by the Tasmanian Ballet Company.Nothing happened on the Farm in the interim!!

And Black Caviar won again! 15 out of 15. How far can she go??