Two Mothers!

A few weeks ago we had one baby chicken hatch. Just one! This little Chook is special though as he has two Mums!!! We have no idea which one is the real mother as they are both devoted carers and both cluck constantly ,fussing and finding food for him!

Sometimes l think he might get a bit confused which one to follow!!!

But out of it he is very well fed!

It's fairly unusual l think but the two hens are quite happy to be sharing the task.

And he is very well 'looked out for' !!!'

And when its time to go to bed???

Two Mums to keep him warm!!!

Coldest Day???

This morning was cold.................seriously cold. 5am was minus 3 degrees...............

Even the horse had white frozen tips on his ears!!!! Haven't seen that since England!

Heaven knows what was here! A big patch of unfrozen grass on the garden lawn! No idea! A curled up Wallaby?? Looks like a big footprint,........A Yeti?

Little Tinks resorted to eaten crunchy frozen reeds!

Blue decided running around was the only way to keep warm!

Toggles just sulked in the cold! And along with getting zapped several times by the electric fence,she didnt have a good day!!!

Crazy dog Treeka seemed to be the only one totally unaffected by the cold...............she was happy....Lilli as usual in the colder months nowhere to be seen............in front of the fire of course!

Then finally...along came the sun! Peeping over the hill. Warming and melting everything in its path! Bliss!

l love the way the grass remains frozen wherever the sun doesn't get to! In this case, the patch behind my favourite tree!

Within minutes we went from this.................!

To this! What a fabulous place!

Time to go inside for a coffee and enjoy the view!

Little Visitor

The last week or so there has been a little wallaby in the yards when l feed the horses. It hides in the lean to or behind the water trough. It's getting quite unafraid now and scares the life out of me when it nonchalantly hops past! She hangs around and waits till the horses have finished their feeds and obviously picks up the few scraps of food left behind. Like the little Bandicoot , l immediately assume it might be sick but its quite bright eyed and healthy looking. l stop and have a chat with it now each morning.....maybe it was a hand reared one, who knows.

Waiting....waiting...............waiting..................................come on.............................!!!!

Soon as the horses are out she's into it!!!

It's Winter!

We have had several hard Winter frosts now.......and a few epic fails in the garden department!!! This shrub was apparently 'frost tolerant' when l bought it..... l think not!!!

And this very pretty fuschia with lovely purple coloured leaves has been hit very hard! This was here when we arrived so l assume l can cut it back and it will regrow.

 There is still a bit of colour around though!

And the Pom Pom tree is finally bare.....................time for the chainsaw to come out and give it a MASSIVE down to the ground haircut!!! l feel a bit sad as the birds love it but it will be so nice to be able to see out of the front of the house across the paddock  instead of  looking straight into the tree!

22.............

She was flown across the world to take on British Racing at its very best. Royal Ascot. The Diamond Jubilee Stakes........Her biggest challenge yet........22 wins in a row.

Never beaten.........Just!!!

She's up there with Phar Lap in Australian racing legends and history and will be talked about for years to come!

 Well done Black Caviar. An amazing beautiful mare.

Red Dirt

Over 'my' weekend l dug a few more holes for the horse shelter going up in the paddock. It was pretty hard work l must say with massive rocks and boulders every inch or so! Once l got past the rocks though l hit the most beautiful red dirt! As red as any in the Northern Territory l am sure!

So six posts dug and five more to go in between. Geoff figures it needs to be pretty solid with  the possibility of it being used as an itching post for a rather large clumper!

Who was quite intrigued by what was going on over fence...... if only he knew how to dig!!!

The Best View!

Much warmer this morning. Well warmer as in no biting frost. l am sure there IS a lot of snow around but unlike Glen Huon we can't see any mountains around here except our own hills so l have no idea how low down the snow is today! There is a very cold wind and a bit of rain around though. Enough to keep the goats inside their shed this morning munching on hay like they were starving!

Making the bed this morning l looked out of the window to see these two staring at me through the glass. What a lovely sight to see!

And the view l got when l went outside on our front veranda! Who could ask for more??

Cold!!!!

Well this Morning was cold......................... freezing white frosty cold!!! Everywhere  looked just beautiful which of course had me running for my camera while all the animals yelled out in indignation for their breakfast.

The sky was a gorgeous soft sunrise red too which gave everything a pinkish glow!

Even the paddocks!

Very frosty barbed wire!

Hungry sheep enjoying their hay!

l noticed Blue sadly standing alone up at the water troughs trying to get a drink! A little blob of black amongst the white! l followed her up there (with three cold goats) to break the ice.

Lizzie just didn't 'get' the concept of ice! She kept on trying and trying to get a drink! Banging her chin furiously again and again!

In went the gumboot and the ice broke.............happy thirsty goat! (and cow!)

Geoff put one of the apple crates in their shed which they love..........correction.....Toggles loves it.... she has claimed top position on the crate complete with soft hay bed and full hay net on hand.....................spoilt???................No wonder they hate getting up in the mornings!

Have l introduced Dot yet??? l don't think l have and if l HAVE.......my apologies! Dot (aptly named because of the pure white dot on the top of her black head ) came to us from some friends of ours as a swap for one of our wethers. She's sweet and very inquisitive.

Anyway ...........Omar just LOVES her! Now he has two!!!!! They go everywhere together. Even the daily ritual of checking out the goat pen every morning. We call them Omar and the Black Sorrows. This will only make sense to the Australians out there . Named after a very famous band from Melbourne comprising of two wonderful Maori sisters called Vikka and Linda Bull. The Band went by the name of Joe Camalliri and the Black Sorrows....... Seemed apt.........