Goodbye Smokey

Today we said a sad goodbye to  Poppy's calf Smokey. Not so sad really as we sold her back to the farmer we bought Poppy from. He wants to build up his herd of Dexters again, so we were happy to let her go. It was always a bit of a concern for me when she started to grow horns. l would rather stick to the polled line then have the little Spanish fighting bull types on the place!!! She went up on the back of the ute without batting an eye.

Totally unconcerned!

 Then time for a quick yarn!!

Poppy didn't seem too bothered although as l sit here typing this l can hear her bellowing! Hope the neighbours don't mind .... It IS just after midnight! Oops!

 Goodbye Smokey!

Still confused?

 Are YOU my Mummy??

Shearing Day

Saturday was haircut day for the sheep. Most of them anyway!!! The two 'older stalwart' ewes we have up at Mum and Dad's REFUSED to be caught ,enticed, or lured anywhere near us the night before, so will remain fleecy till next week when we head up there again armed with wire,stock whips,dogs,motorbikes and maybe a helicopter for good measure!!!
So the more obliging girls and boys had their annual Summer trim. And not before time as tomorrow we head for our first true hit of Summer with 30 degrees (did you hear that Elle and Louise???? You going to be HOT tomorrow!!!!!!!) Omar as usual suffers it all with good grace.

Even during the rather delicate task of trimming back his wayward horns so they don't curl around into his skull. Barry the Shearer gingerly saws off the tip with a hacksaw to prevent any danger of that happening for another year.

Then the humorous part begins as the lambs try to find out which of these weird looking creatures is their Mother!

They never have any idea as they only go by sight not smell or voice!!! It causes great confusion for several hours!

After Barry left it was back to the slowly depleting wood pile!! Geoff is doing 5 barrows a day. Up to 25 so far and about 75 to go!!!!

 A quick stop to smell the roses so to speak and admire the light through the Walnut Tree.

And an even quicker hello and a pat for the little Orphan chick who is going great guns with his 'real' family!

Yep, thanks for hatching me and all that..... but l waaaaaaaaaaay prefer my REAL mum thanks!!!!

See ya!!!

 

Eclectric Treasures

My treasure hunting, l have decided, is going a little bit left of centre at the moment! Still buying things l love but WHAT l am buying is not quite the sort of things l would expect myself to buy. Like this gorgeous little $4 pair! Made in Japan, a sugar bowl and a milk jug both on saucers. Love them but when on earth are we ever going to use them??

This bowl...is it bizarre , gross or just downright ugly? l really don't know but  l liked it!

It's heavy iron with wooden beads threaded through with copper wire Begging out to be filled with oranges and perfect for our dining room!

And two $1 brass candlesticks......you can never have too many candlesticks.............

And this......a double stacker candlestick. Perfect for a fence post out on the farm somewhere....

Now THIS one is splendid! Not an Op Shop find, but a lovely present from my sister!

As was this! Found in an Antique & Collectors Market in Bendigo. Probably needs to be full of peas!

So all in all an eclectic mix! Weird and wonderful. l love them all!

Ohhhhhhhhhhh yes and this!!! Found in one of my favourite shops in our town. A badly angled photo l must admit but l was trying to avoid the camera flash in the middle of the shot! It's a print by a German artist. Geoff and l went halves on it as our joint Christmas present to each other.We both just loved the light on the sheep going over the bridge and on the water. We HAVE both spotted teddy bears, monsters and big grumpy looking lambs in the clouds but are trying not to dwell on that at the moment!!!!

Phew!

Success with the baby chick! My plan had been to slip it under the hen in the dark and hope she would wake up in the morning and not notice she had an extra kid under there! As it was a lovely sunny day yesterday, when l got home l  thought l would take chick outside and let him discover dirt, grass and sunshine for a little while before his big foray into the real world that night! To my delight , our lovely hen had no issues with taking him on board straight away!

Although the poor little thing took a while before he cottoned on that he was meant to follow the big fluffy hen and not my hand and voice!!!

 A happy ending , a good hen and a very relieved me!!!

New Chick

As l write this l am doing so with my left hand.The reason for this is because my right hand is clamped at my side! The reason for THIS is because l have a two day old chicken fast asleep in my armpit!!!!! Not my bed of choice l must say but he climbed up my sleeve till he got there and has settled down and gone to bed!! Great!!
He's the usual sad little hatching chick story. The eggs started to hatch and spread over a few days. The hen got to the stage when she took the chicks she had off the nest and decided to leave the others.
The eggs were cold and this little fellow had just started to hatch out. Of course as the egg got colder and colder its energy levels faded fast and when l found it , it was almost dead very cold and only a tiny crack in the egg to show it was even alive! It's that age old decision....do l hatch it or do l let it die... So often they don't survive and you wish you had let nature take its course and let them slowly fade away before they even begin.

 But no.............l didn't..........and amazingly it survived!  Its best friends are a teddy bear and a thermometer!

Apparently baby chicks need to be kept at  temperature of about 95 degrees.The first 24 hours he lived in front of and under the fire He has now progressed to a box with a heat lamp inside.

Hopefully now he is strong enough, l still have time to slip him under his Mum maybe tonight...

 If not.............l really REALLY don't want a pet chook.................!!!

Delivered today

Whatever angle you look at it.....

Its still a lot of wood..........that has to be shifted.....

Sort of glad I'm flying to Melbourne tomorrow for a week to see my sister!!!!!

Sorry Geoff!!!