Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Happy Earth Day!
The subject line says it all. Consider our planet! Do something positive for the future, not just for yourself but for those that will follow.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Autumn
The weather has been fantastic lately. Chilly nights and mornings, and lovely days (not hot so you can get lots of work done) and rain! I love autumn!
We have been so busy trying to get jobs finished etc. Finally got the engine back for our trusty old ute, so that should be back on the road soon. Brad couldn't help himself, so he had to respray the engine bay.... MEN....
At the farm we have been finishing off the outside of the shed, a few small projects, and planning the next stage. Finally got the flashing up, and cut off some bits of tin that still needed trimming. Hopefully this weekend we will be able to put the last bits of tin up and have a fully enclosed shed, but we shall see!
There has been crafting too! I'm now spinning the last of MY own alpaca fleeces, this one will be 'something' for me. Not sure if it'll be enough for the raglan I had planned, but we shall see... Its lovely and soft, and very nice to spin though... Brad has scored me some rovings from his Tai Chi teacher, so I will have plenty to go on to once the alpaca is finished! I'm almost done with his vest too, which is good. Then I'm planning some small projects! No pics sorry, I am lazy... Next time!
Oh, and we haven't heard from the lady who has taken Cookie, so I guess we can assume he hasn't caused her too much trouble.... YET! I do miss him, but its nice to go to the farm, and not have to spend all my time sorting his 'issues' out. Now I can go and burn off, or tidy up, or actually tend my plants! Wow a revelation.
Looking forward to the weekend and marshmallows on the fire - yay! Love autumn!
We have been so busy trying to get jobs finished etc. Finally got the engine back for our trusty old ute, so that should be back on the road soon. Brad couldn't help himself, so he had to respray the engine bay.... MEN....
At the farm we have been finishing off the outside of the shed, a few small projects, and planning the next stage. Finally got the flashing up, and cut off some bits of tin that still needed trimming. Hopefully this weekend we will be able to put the last bits of tin up and have a fully enclosed shed, but we shall see!
There has been crafting too! I'm now spinning the last of MY own alpaca fleeces, this one will be 'something' for me. Not sure if it'll be enough for the raglan I had planned, but we shall see... Its lovely and soft, and very nice to spin though... Brad has scored me some rovings from his Tai Chi teacher, so I will have plenty to go on to once the alpaca is finished! I'm almost done with his vest too, which is good. Then I'm planning some small projects! No pics sorry, I am lazy... Next time!
Oh, and we haven't heard from the lady who has taken Cookie, so I guess we can assume he hasn't caused her too much trouble.... YET! I do miss him, but its nice to go to the farm, and not have to spend all my time sorting his 'issues' out. Now I can go and burn off, or tidy up, or actually tend my plants! Wow a revelation.
Looking forward to the weekend and marshmallows on the fire - yay! Love autumn!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Good bye our friend
Its with sadness, and relief, that we say goodbye to our goat Cookie. Initially we had him on a chain, along with our other goat Archie, to clear blackberries, but that involved me having to travel for an hour each day to make sure they were ok, and to let them have some exercise. I did this for a year, and although it was my choice to do this, after a year, I decided that I would like the goats to live in the paddock. That and the fact that I'm pregnant with our second child, and I know I wouldn't have been able to 'devote' the time required for such a task each day.
So we tried 'upgrading' the paddock fence, adding an electric wire at the bottom, making sure it was all tight etc, and putting a small yoke - a Y shaped branch on Cookie's neck to stop him getting through. Now the thing about goats is that they are far too clever.... This worked for a few weeks, and we were pretty pleased with ourselves.
But then he figured out how to get through, so we 'upgraded' the yoke, something a little bigger... Cookie ended up wearing a yoke that was almost a 1.5m top to bottom. And yet, it didn't take him too long to get out again. Soon he was out eating fruit trees as well as the Mountain Ash tree we planted for our daughter when she was born (on her placenta). Then other indigenous trees. We continued to try, but soon he was out on the road, harrassing people getting their mail. He is a 'people' goat, so he doesn't care much for the others in the paddock with him, he would much rather follow someone around... This could be a problem, depending on who he follows....
So it was back on the chain. I put an ad up locally, but I was pretty certain that Cookie would be doomed to a life on the chain. But amazingly a lady with 3 other goats (who knows what they are like, and is able to cope with that!) rang up, and well, yesterday we delivered him!
I hope he wont give her much trouble, but I think he will be very happy there, she feeds them hay and other feed in winter, and there is so much grass, we couldn't even get him to raise his head for a photo!
So its a big relief, a weight off my shoulders, I hate to keep an animal chained up, so I'm very pleased that things have worked out. Now I guess we will see how long before she rings us up because she can't cope with him!
So we tried 'upgrading' the paddock fence, adding an electric wire at the bottom, making sure it was all tight etc, and putting a small yoke - a Y shaped branch on Cookie's neck to stop him getting through. Now the thing about goats is that they are far too clever.... This worked for a few weeks, and we were pretty pleased with ourselves.
But then he figured out how to get through, so we 'upgraded' the yoke, something a little bigger... Cookie ended up wearing a yoke that was almost a 1.5m top to bottom. And yet, it didn't take him too long to get out again. Soon he was out eating fruit trees as well as the Mountain Ash tree we planted for our daughter when she was born (on her placenta). Then other indigenous trees. We continued to try, but soon he was out on the road, harrassing people getting their mail. He is a 'people' goat, so he doesn't care much for the others in the paddock with him, he would much rather follow someone around... This could be a problem, depending on who he follows....
So it was back on the chain. I put an ad up locally, but I was pretty certain that Cookie would be doomed to a life on the chain. But amazingly a lady with 3 other goats (who knows what they are like, and is able to cope with that!) rang up, and well, yesterday we delivered him!
I hope he wont give her much trouble, but I think he will be very happy there, she feeds them hay and other feed in winter, and there is so much grass, we couldn't even get him to raise his head for a photo!
So its a big relief, a weight off my shoulders, I hate to keep an animal chained up, so I'm very pleased that things have worked out. Now I guess we will see how long before she rings us up because she can't cope with him!
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