Goodbye Winter

Today was very cold! Last day of Winter l guess it's allowed to be! Tomorrow we are expecting glorious things! First day of Spring. Can't wait! This morning rugging up in many layers we set out to divide our large paddock into 4 smaller ones.

Most of the structure was already in place but we decided to put up sheep wire and one top strand of electric fencing as opposed to just 3 strands of electric. Wire on its own doesn't always stop goats! We also have opted for galvanised farm gates instead of the old style cocky gate. Much easier!
Of course this time of year we can't drive up the back as we would sink in the mud....so.............. we bought a Draft Horse that could work in the areas that the Ute couldn't go..................that's why the two pictures below sort of don't make much sense.......... really.....................
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE???? Again!!!!

And this one???? ( this was seriously heavy here! It took two of us to drag it up the back.)

Here's a clue..................................(and NO this ISN'T our boy!!)

And here is our reality............................AGAIN!!!!

l think we are doing something wrong here??????? He just hung around and watched us.....happy..... relaxed.........chilled out....... and checked out the very small calf!!!

Lilli also hung around making herself prime Eagle fodder......she was actually waiting for the Plovers to dive bomb her...She loves it!

And the goats just hung around full stop making total nuisances of themselves! Tinks tipped up and emptied the contents of this bucket about three times!!

Just another normal day really!!!

No rest for the wicked....

Today Geoff and l attacked a job we have been wanting to do for a while. Time for the ugly crooked shed to go!

It used to be the previous owners dog kennel for their two Labradors. We haven't really used it for anything as it seemed to be in a bit of a silly place! We decided to move it across the garden to our newly gravelled area so it can house lawn mowers and general garden stuff!

 So the roof came off!

 And each panel was carried across to its new home.

 Almost gone! Wasn't too bad to pull apart. Only two smallish spiders and one little lizard!

Gone!!! And a far better view! Even the duck thought so! We still have to remove the base which was built inside it. That was in fact a bonus as it contains about 30 metres of framing pine and some solid flooring panels which will definitely come in useful.

So everything was screwed back  together....

Perfect fit! It needs a paint to blend in with everything else but will be far more useful here then where it was!

And tomorrow?????  Gates await ........... stay tuned!

Hidden Gardens and Smelly Dogs!

Today Geoff began two weeks holiday. This morning we headed off down to the Rivulet to do a bit of cleaning up after we had gone through with a chainsaw a few months ago. Its starting to look great down there now. Still lots to do but gradually getting on top of it!

We also discovered (after considerable hacking and machete-ing through the bush!) this beautiful area of the Rivulet that rushes over these massive flat slabs of rock. A perfect place for a hot Summers day!

 And the view UPstream was equally stunning

 How lucky we are to have all this in our own back yard!

After working up a good appetite  we came back for something to eat.................Ever had a cold mashed potato sandwich??????.............No....neither have l...............

After Geoff's dubious lunch we went for a walk up the top paddock to check out the fence. Treeka found some disgusting stinking black mess to roll in so had to suffer an exceedingly cold bath when she got home!

 She wasn't happy!

Geoff then decided it was time to burn something! We chose one of the 5 heaps of Willow we still have sitting in the Hay Paddock. We needed some dry kindling wood to get the Willow going so Geoff lugged about 5 pallets across the paddock to the heap. What's wrong with this picture?????

Ring any bells????

We took the goats with us of course. The shortest most direct route is through the garden (over my new path!!) always a risky thing to do...... to let three goats into your garden! Geoff went in front rattling a tin of nuts and l walked behind with a large stick!!!

There were quite a lot of willow branches lying on the ground and l was amazed how quickly the goats stripped virtually all the bark off them! Destructive beasties that they are!

Toggles enjoyed it though. She has always loved a good fire!!!

Then just on dark ,home to our beautiful house. What a lovely day.

.

 

 

Goodbye to Carrie!

Sadly big Sis went back to Victoria today.We had a lovely time when she was here and here are a few more of her photos from her visit

Max looking wild and feral whilst having a hug!

An interesting shot of our Main Street in Huonville with Sleeping Beauty covered in snow in the distance!

The cutest little calf around!

And just a rather lovely one of the light shining through into the sitting room

See you next time Sis!

Paths!

Today l dug paths..................From the front steps down to the paddock gate  (which is a new path) and then uncovered an old path that went from the front steps up around the side of the house to the main lawn. At the moment l have just dug the turf out. We can put down the gravel at a later date.

This time of year is the only time to do it really as the ground is sodden and after having 24ml  of rain the night before l figured it was now or never!

It all looks so bare! Thank goodness for Daffodils!

l had a helper. She ran around after me and mercifully gobbled up every worm l managed to cut in two with my spade!

This path was hard work as underneath the moss and grass was old gravel and weed mat!

 l guess one day it will look like two paths ............right now it just looks like a building site!

Happy Birthday !

Today Mum had a 'Special Birthday!' A milestone indeed!
We had a lovely dinner at Petty  Sessions Restaurant in Franklin with all  of us 'kids' over from Sydney and Victoria to celebrate.
Happy Birthday Ma! xxxxxxxxxxxx

New Calf!

Another girl!! Must be the water up here!  Well done Poppy. Born this morning. We went outside about 7.30am and found them both. We figured she must be about half an hour old.! Geoff was hoping for a boy calf.....something to go into the freezer!!! Never mind!!!! A girl is good. She is sooooooooooo pretty and cute!

 Ahem...........................................

Two very different looking calves.!!

 

High Tea!

One of the nice things about having my sister come and visit us from Victoria is that she takes lots of great photos when she is here!!! She gives a different slant on things you take for granted which is always interesting! Here are a few from today.............  Except for this one...........l took this one!

A rare photo of me and the big fellow! l was crouching down to try and make him look big as he just wasn't appearing to be huge in the photos at all!

Some things l walk past every day!

Inside AND out!

 

Then this afternoon we (Mum ,Dad, Carrie and l) went to the Wrest Point Casino for 'High Tea' at the Revolving Restaurant! It was just lovely and we had a wonderful and unusual view of Hobart Town on a dramatically cloudy day!

 Pretty cakes...............

 ............and Pink Champagne!!

 Very nice!