My Cows are Back
I realise that they've been in our back paddock for about five weeks now but they're back down the front where I can see them now. Yesterday I separated my cows and Harry from the other herd (whose numbers were closer to 30 then 20 as I originally said). I came across Brownie first and after talking to her she called out to Harry, who was on the other side of the herd, he answered and came running. I then called out to the other four and they answered, although they didn't actually come over. So I walked amongst the herd and the other cows moved away, leaving my girls. Then with a few hand claps and encouragement I got them moving toward the fence. Brownie joined us and started heading for the dam, so we all just followed her. But when we got to the dam she continued on to the fence. (I think she went that way to skirt around the bull, who was actually between us and the gate to the other paddock.) Then I just walked ahead of them up to the gate. When I opened the gate they started running and kicking up their back legs, they were so excited about changing paddocks. Luckily there were enough of them to still feel part of their own herd and didn't mind leaving the other cows. (I remember how difficult it was separating Lady from a neighbour's herd, she had become attached to them and didn't want to leave.)
Later that morning our neighbours came and collected their cows and the bull. The cows did a good job of eating down the grass, which it badly needed. The dam has a bit of a beach, which is very churned up with hoof prints, but there is still quite a lot of water there (which I hadn't checked during their stay, so I'm glad). I'll give the back paddock a bit of a rest for a while.
And so now I just have to wait and see how many of my cows are pregnant. And then in nine months time we should have some baby calves - I can't wait!

The Daddy of My Calves (Hopefully)

I finally have a photo of our visiting bull (I probably should find out his name). He is in the photo behind Freda (left) and Jemma (right). At the time of the photo he was interested in Jemma, which is why he was in amongst the cows. Sometimes I see him way off by himself. Whenever I go to the top of the hill, and if the cows aren't too far away, my five cows and Harry all come up to greet me. They are a herd on their own and haven't mixed with the visiting cows as much as I thought they would and they sort of stick with each other. If there is a fence between me and the cows the visiting calves are very inquisitive. I can't pat them or anything but they come very close to the fence to say hello.

Mum and Dad visited from 21-27 April. (I realise that is a while ago but I have been very busy with typing lately.) I thought I would mention some of the jobs my Dad helped us with.

• Dad and Steven cleaned out the house gutters (just before it actually rained, I might add). We had about 50ml last month during their visit and Port Macquarie had 100ml a day for at least two days while Mum and Dad were here!
• Dad and Steven cleared out the downpipe on the shed tank. It had been blocked for a while and I thought it might be able to be cleared by feeding a hose or wire through it or something. But nothing is simple and Dad (and Steve) ended up having to dig up the whole pipe and replacing two elbow joints. So more water gets into the cement tank now, but the tank still leaks because the cement guy hasn't returned my previous calls and I haven't had time to ring again - it's next on the list.
• Dad also built a floating island for the shed tank from wood and foam. Because the tank is open and the cats climb on the shed roof and sometimes skid down the slope, I worry about them falling in and not being able to get out. Now we have a floating island.
• Dad, Steven and I all helped replace the chicken wire on the bottom of the chicken coop and moved the chickens (and the coop) to another area with new grass. As you can see from the photo there is plenty of feed in the paddocks but it is very brown.
• And last but not least (and probably not all), Dad cleared the dirt and grass away from around the septic tank lid. A while ago Country Energy came to trim the trees from near the electricity wires leading to the house and they ran over our septic tank lid and broke one half in half. Because our septic is a non-standard size they had to get a whole cement lid (two halves) especially made slightly larger than the old one, so Dad cleared the dirt around the edges to make room for it. Yesterday they finally came and installed the new septic lid. The guys that came removed the old lid and after installing the new one they replaced the dirt and grass, leaving everything looking tidy and as good as new.

Of course, while Dad is outside fixing things, Mum is inside ironing, cooking and washing up. Mum also collects kindling and pine cones for the fire. I am very grateful for their help and look forward to their visits. Because their stay included Anzac Day we had extra time together with lots of cups of teas on the verandah and we even managed to play cards a few nights.