Camp Candlestick

Last night Geoff and l camped out in the canvas wagon. It wasn't a particularly beautiful evening . A bit cool and a tad windy but we had planned to do so and the stiff British Upper Lip shone through and off we went!

With goats and wee small dog of course!

With Toggles the Motorhead never far behind the ute!

Wait for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.................

It was quick and easy to set up camp, and very cosy it was too!

With spectators at the back.....................

And more at the front! No privacy around here!

The horses stayed out with us for the night so were most interested in all the goings on

Especially as they knew their dinner was on the back of the ute....

Lilli was thoroughly miserable ...........

Until she got to sleep on the bed!

And as usual the goats settled in and made themselves totally at home.

So,  late afternoon............early evening...........wine open.................

 Fire lit............

Curry on the heat!

AND the bitter cold wind disappeared to give us a beautiful evening!

So we could climb out of the two shocking pink duvets we had been huddled into............

And enjoy the evening.... So near to home and yet so far away!

Geoff reading his book in the dying light!

Until it got too dark and we fell asleep in front of the fire...

Until Maxie woke us up of course!

Then we climbed into bed with nothing around except the possums and Maxie bashing at the gate every now and then!

A lovely evening indeed!

 

Paddock Names

I spent a few very peaceful hours this morning painting some paddock signs for the gates. I have been wanting to do so for ages and now as l am on holidays AND we have three new paddocks it seemed like an opportune time! Sitting under the Walnut Tree on a warm day wasn't a bad idea either! Boards cut ,cleaned, drilled with wire and ready to go!

Paintbrush ...........check! Black paint...........check!!

It took forever!!!!!

But l eventually got them all done!

Then l got the fun job of hanging them on all the gates! We are an inspirational pair Geoff and l............ Paddocks are imaginatively named ...............like this one..........................Mal's Hill...because it is on a hill and our neighbouring property is owned by Mal...................Clever hey?? Note this photo came complete with Toggles's ear....

And this one......................Yep...........you guessed it ......it's got Broom in it..............you can  even see it in the background!!

Ha! And this one??? Guess!!!!.................Our neighbours on this side are..................THE BROWNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now here is a curly one!  Well......not really. ....Blackwoods???......See that row of trees in the background???? Yep...........you guessed it ....They are Blackwoods......

Almost embarrassed to say really......maybe because Pete lives in the corner????? Well........he did....he died...........but his name lives on forever .....in our paddock....

AaHA! Now HERE is one where we DID use our wild imaginative imagination!!!!! This isn't really a paddock as such. It's the area where the gypsy wagons and the campfire live. ..............

And l suppose l don't really need to explain this one?? Even though it's not Maxie posing behind the sign! He just likes standing in there to confuse people..............

Sigh.................................. and this is the paddock where we get our hay from.......................

And so it goes on............but l wont bore you with anymore.....

l will let the wheelbarrow attacking gander have the last word!!

 

THE Lamp.......

l do believe my taste is going from the sublime to the ridiculous!!! l think in some past life l must have been some 1700's bohemian brothel owner ! Look at this lamp!!! l LOVE it!

Even though l know it's hideous, garish, ghastly, tacky and ever so slightly over the top l think its absolutely gorgeous!!!!!

Of course it can't live in the bathroom as it's way too big and there is no power point on the floor and it's too dangerous really having a lamp like that in there,....but l might sneak it in one bath or two with an extension lead and a glass of wine!!!

It's hilarious!................... And Geoff is going  to kill me when he sees it!!!!!!!!!!!

Geoff's Last Day!

Back to work for Geoff tomorrow morning. l still have a week off though. We achieved so much this holiday and have worked long days and very hard but happy with what we have done. We DIDN'T spend a night in the camping wagon as planned and we DIDN'T go away up the East Coast as planned and we DIDN'T spend ANY time in the garden or Veggie Garden as planned................but........!!! Our sheep and cows are now behind a very professionally built fence  even if the cows weren't very happy about it!!

They wanted to be in the other paddock with their next door neighbour mates!

The sheep were quite happy though! Not that it takes much to make a sheep happy.........

It's not all done though as we still have work to do on the other length that divides the rest of this big paddock. We knocked off early today as it was very humid and we really really HAD had enough fencing ! We clipped the wire up and we just need to go back during the next week or so and attach it all on properly.

We have saved a huge amount of money doing it ourselves as it's a very labour and time intensive job building fences! l don't doubt that two people who knew what they were doing( as opposed to us who pretty much learnt as we went)  would have been a lot quicker but it still would have been good weeks work by the time all the holes were dug , bracing in , pickets in, wires run out, gripples on, netting rolled out, netting clipped on, gates put up.......phew it went on and on and on!!!

So the old ute came down from the hill for the first time in a week.

Followed by wee small dog.........

It's been a real workhorse and made our life so much easier!!

And it was also a great snake safe bed for both the girls!

Who insisted on being with us all the time..

Contemplating all the jobs backed up or his next fence line?? 

l know for a fact that l have a huge amount of weeding to do!!!