Settlement Day!

Today we said a final goodbye to 23 Watsons Road Glen Huon! Settlement went through without a hitch and the money is now in the bank! (Momentarily!!!)
Glad it's all over and we can finally be 'single house' owners!! Something we haven't been for several years!
Best Wishes to the new owners. May they have many happy memories to come in the old girl!!!

And another.....

And another.........taken from the off-takes at Christmas This one was just for me. l asked Simon to piece together some footage of Geoff and team it up with my fav track of all time......
Bob Dylan singing Forever Young. Who could ask for more? Check out the bit when the head collar falls off the big horse. Great smile........ Love it !
http://vimeo.com/68931993

Putting it out there!!!

The following link is a video of a song that l wrote a few years ago. When my brother came down for Christmas last year he filmed it for us. l don't love it (who ever does like looking at and hearing themselves??) but l do love the footage of us and the farm and especially Geoff looking like some farmer from the backwoods of America in the 1940's! Nothing was planned ,it's just a compilation of random footage taken during the day. He has done an amazing job even though the whole thing was recorded on his iphone hidden in the little pile of hay at my feet in the barn!
l have written the lyrics below to give you more of an idea. l hope you enjoy it!

https://vimeo.com/68836617

A wise man once told me
This worlds on its side
It's weary and aching, broken and tired
So he said ,ask all the questions
Don't put up with no lies
And watch all the footprints you leave behind
He said your gonna reap what you sow girl
And the whole of mankind
You've got to love this place that you leave behind
For the next generation, the new and the young
Should they have our mistakes when we are gone?
He said your gonna reap what you sow girl
And the whole of mankind
And watch all the footprints that you leave behind
Reap what you sow girl, reap what you sow
Reap what you sow girl...............



 

Still Frozen!

4pm next afternoon........... wheelbarrow ice still lying on the grass frozen!

A quick final trip to Glen Huon today to collect our last load of stuff!

 Brought it all back rather precariously on the back of the Ute! It all stayed on though!

Still hibernating!!!!

The Shortest Day..Thank goodness! Also possibly the coldest day!!! Only 4 degrees at 3.30pm. All the ice l tipped out of the wheelbarrows is still lying on the ground. It will refreeze there tonight and be thicker in the morning!!!!

 Hairy car???

 No..just a very frosty one!

It gave me a little smile this morning when l saw the warm patches of grass (and the little piles of poo!) where the sheep had been asleep whilst the ground froze around them.

l then found it way funnier to find the big fellow had done exactly the same thing and l had this perfect non frozen horse imprint on the ground!!!

 Or was l just imagining it???

Fat Bottomed Girls!!!

They love the hay...............Mama Poppy in the middle with her baby girls. Smokey on the right and Blue to her left....................................................Note fat goat Toggles on far right chomping on the hay from the other side of the fence!!!!

And Auntie Jack unimpressed at not being able to fit in!!!!!!!!!!!! The fact that she is so full she is about to explode is beside the point as far as she in concerned!!!!

Winters here!

Winter is truly settling in. The rains are finally coming, as is the fog,mist and damp mornings.

The cows spend their days huddled around their permanent lolly shop!!!!

There are no more leaves on the Walnut Tree..

Just a few random patches of colour still around...

And the gypsy wagon sits covered up, patiently waiting for Spring and more daylight hours!

Max is still annoying though!!!!!!!!!!!!! Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter..that will never change!!!

 Very ............ 

Very annoying.............

But revenge is oh so sweet sometimes!!!!!

 Good one Clips!!

It's War....

Pademelons are seriously cute little things.l love them except for one very large problem......they eat our grass!!! Lots of it! All well and good if you only have one or two,but when you have 30,40 or even 50 on your property every night they make a pretty big dent in the green stuff!

Well war has been declared on Pademelons at Candlestick Farm!!! This is our old fencing with nice big holes for them all to hop through..

And this is our new  one!!! WALLABY FENCING!!!!! Lots and lots of little wire holes that even the tiniest paddy can't fit through!!!! All we have to do with it is clip it onto the old existing fencing and fill the dips and holes with rocks. ((((Sounds easy but it isn't!!!))))

Some of the old Willows have to come down that are leaning on the fence.

This one lived up to its name of Crack Willow. Geoff only had to make a small dent in the trunk with the chainsaw and down she came all by herself!.

More firewood for next Winter!!

 Cute or not.........we WILL win!!!!!

 

Grape Vines

This morning Geoff and l were lucky to get first dibs in for some grape vines that were being pulled out at a friend's property not far from home.
It was a beautiful warm Winters day and the view from their place is just stunning.

 We collected 40 vines which should do us nicely!

Sold!!!

A contract on our old house finally went unconditional today! Settlement day is yet to be decided but sooner then later we hope!!! What a huge relief!!! We have been incredibly lucky in having the same tenants in there the entire time with very few problems so it really hasn't been any trouble still owning it but it will be sooooo nice when it's gone!!!!

We haven't quite cleared our mortgage on the farm as we had hoped. House prices spiralled downwards as soon as we put Glen Huon on the market and they haven't really recovered since but where has??? Given the rather grim state of Tasmania at the moment we are probably one of the lucky ones to have sold at all!

Hello Winter!

First day of Winter.

What a glorious one too!!!!

Beautiful day, gorgeous light.

And nearly all the leaves are gone from the Walnut Tree! Yipppee!!!

In the afternoon we tried to burn out some of the blackberries that infest and choke the Winter Creek that runs through the middle of the big paddock. Not successful as we did have rain last night and there wasn't much to burn under the stalks.Once the drip torch fuel burnt up all our little heaps of fire withered and died!

We then decided to chop and clear some broome in the paddock and made a path from the creek to a couple of big trees we have on the fence line. Once the paths are made the cows and sheep will use them and keep them open.

All the girls came over to watch. Little Girl, Fingal, Dot, Becks, Nigella ,La La and Omar.....

But none wanted to help!

So we brought in the big guns!!!!

Goat Power!!!!

They do love to help. It does make life a little bit more complicated as they insist on wanting to eat every branch you are about to hack down or nibble on every piece of blackberry you want to slash out. l am always terrified l am going to hack off an ear or a tongue!!!

But they do love it!

Even though it is obviously thirsty work!!! Thanks girls!

We then finished our lovely first day of Winter with a glass of red wine and a campfire near the Blackwoods. A perfect way to end a great day!