Pregnant Cows and Low Dam
I went for a walk the other morning down to the back dam to check that there was still water in it for the cows, as another dam I see on my way to work is extremely low. I found the cows down near the dam and there was still water there but the 'beach' was as large as I have seen it.
My cows are due to calf again in late December or January. I was worried about weaning their previous calves but I think they have done that themselves, as they all seem to have largish udders, ready for the new calf. I have included photographs of the dam, pregnant cows, and inquisitive steers and heifers. Oh, and some sheep too!



I think this will be my last post before Christmas, unless we have a calf or something else significant happens, so "Best Wishes to All for a Happy Christmas and an even Happier New Year".

Solar Energy Sustainability
I have joined the ranks of the sustainable energy producers. It has been quite a long process. A solar energy company launched a Solar Project in our area. Just like others in the state they were promoting the Solar Homes and Communities Plan (previously Photovoltaic Rebate Program). In January this year I paid my deposit and applied for the rebate. At this time the solar company assessed my roof for the potential site of the panels. They had to go on the rear, as the solar hot water system was on the north facing section of roof. I was also 'given' a Wattson Energy metering device (part of the deal). The Wattson shows you how much energy in watts that you are using at any moment in time. Now that the system is up and running it shows how much I am producing and also the nett amount. Initially, this helped identify where I was wasting/using energy and I subsequently turned off the television and computer at the wall and was very mindful of energy usage.
Upon approval of the rebate in late March, I had to wait for more people in my area to take up the solar offer for us all to qualify for the Solar Project. We received the final go ahead in late May. I paid the final amount on 2 June and the panels were erected on 5 June. The electrical work was completed on 8 June. I had applied for the Grid Connect Process through Country Energy in late May, not knowing that it would take five weeks for this approval to be processed (I should have applied for the Grid Connect earlier!). On 3 July Country Energy came to connect the two-way meter for the grid connection - a full month after the system was on the roof and ready! And for some unknown reason it has taken until now for me to receive my rebate, some 19 weeks later.
I applied to sell my RECs (Renewable Energy Certificates) at the end of July and they were eventually sold and I received the money at the end of September. This also took longer than I expected.
I paid $12,547.00 minus $8,000 rebate minus $792 RECs (22). The whole system ended up costing me $3,755.
I have a 1080W (1.08kW) system including 6x180W Kyocera panels and a Latronic PVEW2500 inverter (for future expansion, possibly wind). I have included a few photographs from various angles. I have been taking readings from my two-way meter at the end of each month to compare my usage and production. Last month I produced 57% of what I used! With Summer fast approaching this will increase every day. I can't wait for my next electricity bill!

Blackberries Be Gone
Over the last year my Dad has been progressively trying to eradicate selected patches of blackberries, working away at them with the mower and whipper snipper with a steel disk instead of line. About a month ago he finished cutting down a large patch of blackberries on the walls of the front dam. Then three weekends ago I sprayed the new shoots that had emerged since Dad had finished cutting using a backpack spraying device that had been bought years ago and never been used. The poison I used was called Erase Biaquatic Total Weed, which was supposed to be frog and fish friendly but would kill blackberries. I also sprayed a few stray blackberries coming up through the wood piles next to the wood shed. After three weeks they are actually showing signs of being sick. Some leaves are yellowing and curling. I haven't been over to the dam since I sprayed but I think I will have to spray them a second time to actually kill them. I was going to do that this weekend but it was way too hot to be outside spraying weeds. Maybe another weekend. I have included a photo of the cleared area. Unfortunately, we don't have a 'before' photo. This whole area was covered with at least 1 metre high blackberries.

Shed Skylight
About six months ago in an Autumn storm a sheet of corrugated iron came off the shed roof. Because it was over the car area I didn't rush out to fix it. Then I realised that I liked light shining into the front end of the shed, as it was very dark in this area. I eventually bought a sheet of Laserlite. Then six months after the original sheet of iron came off, I eventually arranged for a handyman to come and install the Laserlight sheet (plus mend numerous other loose iron sheets and ridge capping). Now I have a skylight in the front of the shed. Of course this introduced another problem of the sun shining on the freezer. This problem was remedied by using two reflective 'space blankets'.

Last Lamb
On 30 September there was a new lamb. I thought all the ewes had either had their lamb or lost their lamb/s. The mum was Rosie, one of the lambs from last year! (My neighbour tells me that it is 'okay' for sheep to mate with their father but not their grandfather.) This little lamb is a boy and so there are no worries of that happening. My neighbour, who sold me the ram, says Rambo only has one season left in him, so I am keeping him until maybe April or May next year and then selling him, probably for pet food or something (poor Rambo). Rambo has given me three good merino lambs from last year and two from this year, plus a few eating lambs as well.

Profit on Wool
Bobby was shorn on 11 October. I had no trouble getting him on the trailer and off the trailer at the other end. He walked on the lead very well and made me look like I knew what I was doing. I now have another bag of brown alpaca fleece. I have actually started spinning one of his fleeces from a previous year, although I have a long way to go.
The sheep were also shorn on 15 October. Steve stayed over to help me with the skirting and bagging the fleece. This year I borrowed two bale bags from the wool brokers, one for merino and one for the cross breeds. We kept two of the merino lambs fleeces separate. And of course we bagged Ebony's grey wool and Coco's black wool separately, plus Rambo's wool because it was short, as he was shorn at crutching time this year. I didn't take a photo of either the sheep all naked and white or the wool haul but I guess that never changes. Although, I would have liked to have shown the comparison between the two small bags of merino lambs wool (one was accidentally put with the rest of the merino, otherwise there would have been three) that sold for more than the huge bale of 7 cross breed fleeces. I have today paid for the shearing and I sold the wool last week, making a profit of $140!

Mended yet another hole and fence
Yesterday when the cows didn't come to the fence when I called and left lucerne, we went for a walk down to the far corner of the back paddock just to check they were all there and okay. And it was a good thing we did because we found a gaping hole in the gully fence again and another part of the fence was leaning at 45 degrees or more the other way. My neighbour had mentioned that my cows were in his place but thought they had pushed down the fence. I think the hole in the gully fence was probably the means of escape. So today Russell and I mended the hole in the gully and propped up the old fence with four star pickets and tied down the very old hinge joint. Dad and I mended one side of the gully a while ago, now I think (hope) it is fixed for good. Although I'm sure the cows will find yet another weak spot in the fence for me to fix another time. I have included some before and after photos (I forgot to take a photo of the leaning fence, we just launched into fixing it).

Skinny Cows
On 14 August I brought my cows and calves down to the front paddocks so the neighbours could take their bull, three cows and a calf back to their property. Unfortunately, I could not get Chrissy to join the others and so had to leave her with the neighbours cows. Then in the afternoon I had another try and this time Freda ended up joining her. When the neighbours rounded up their cows they very kindly managed to get both Freda and Chrissy to join the rest of my herd. However, on rounding my cows up and on having them closer at hand I noticed that they were very skinny. I had not visited them for a while because of the presence of the bull and I had not noticed how skinny they were before this. So I bought some mineral blocks and lucerne hay and I think they are gradually looking better, especially Brownie who looked worse than ever before. I guess this is becuase the cows are most probably pregnant again and they also have a 6-8 month old calf still feeding from them. I bought some more lucerne on Friday and so will feed them every second day for a while longer. They are down the back paddock again and I'm sure the grass will improve with warmer weather. I have included two photos of the cows and calves milling on the other side of the fence around feeding time in the early morning.

Lambs but no lambs
I didn't realise it had been so long since I updated the blog. On 24 July Fluffy had twin boys, this was a Friday. I was away for two days and on Monday morning they were no where to be seen (being here would probably not have made any difference). They were very small and they may have died and probably a fox took them. I have seen Bobby in action so I'm sure he would have looked after them if they were alive. Then yesterday Spotty Nose had a very small boy lamb and today again he was no where to be seen. Again he was very small and weak. I know it is part of nature but it's sad all the same. I am pretty sure there are no more pregnant ewes. So I guess it's time to start thinking about shearing. I have included two photos of the lambs that didn't make it.

Lots of Lambs
Last week my ewes had three lambs.
14 July 2009 "Original Mum" had a girl "Snowy" (pure merino)
15 July 2009 "Pinkie" had a girl "Little Pinkie"
16 July 2009 "Big Baby" had a girl "Little Baby" (pure merino)
Sorry about the 'unique original' names but they all look the same, except "Snowy" she is very white and fluffy. "Little Pinkie" has a very distinctive pink nose just like her mum, and I haven't been able to get close enough to "Little Baby" to find something to identify her by.
So far we only have one boy - "Ebony's", who by the way I'm going to call "Ivan". I don't think many other ewes are pregnant or they are a long way off having them.














With all this good news, I also have some sad news. Russell and I buried "Cross" last weekend. I don't know the whole story because I wasn't there, but she was attacked by something. I moved the sheep down to the paddocks near the shed on Wednesday 15 July in the morning. It took a while because "Pinkie" had only had her lamb that morning but they were forecasting very cold temperatures and I didn't want to lose lambs to the cold. Even after I had them all in the Triangle Paddock Bobbie seemed to want to get out, so I twigged that something was wrong and I hadn't noticed. I counted the sheep and figured out that "Cross" was missing, so I went up to the top paddock and walked up and down and couldn't see her. Thinking she may have got through the fence and that I would find her tomorrow I had to get to work (a half hour late). Then on Thursday morning I set out again to look for her and I found her behind the tank and there were guts and wool tufts all over the place. I surely wouldn't have missed that before. So I don't know whether she was actually alive on Wednesday or not. If she had gone off to lamb by herself and as attacked, I imagine Bobbie made the decision to protect the majority and the lambs. I don't blame Bobbie, I blame myself for not finding her the day before, but she might have already been dead then. Either way, "Cross" is buried and the rest are close to the shed for the cold nights.

Another New Lamb
This morning, when I went to feed my two lonely chickens, the sheep and cows saw me and started 'calling out' to me, so I knew something was up and decided to go and say hello. As I got closer I could see what all the fuss was about - a new little white lamb. The mum was Original Mum and I think the lamb is a girl and she is white as white with fluffy wool. She is a full merino and therefore is here to stay. Ebony is also one of Original Mum's lambs, so she became a grandma and a mum in the space of a couple of weeks!
The cows were also at the top of the hill so I got to talk to them and patted Gemma and Freda.
Unfortunately, we're in for some really cold weather over the next week, so tomorrow morning I might try and bring the sheep down to the 'Triangle Paddock' with access to the shed. I was intending to move them to the next paddock or down to the 'Dam Paddock' next weekend, but I think I'll skip a few paddocks and bring them near the shed. I don't want to lose any lambs due to the cold and it will be safer from fox attack too.
I didn't bring my camera with me this morning, so I'll take photos another time.
Lambs are supposed to be born in spring! I hope their mums keep them warm tonight.

A June Lamb
Yesterday after planting the pine tree seedlings we noticed that I had a new addition to my flock of sheep - a baby boy lamb. It was Ebony's lamb and he wasn't black! If he was black or coloured in any way that would have saved his life - now he is destined to be chops and roasts. Even so, he is adorable, as lambs always are. Some of the other sheep are also pregnant but I think it will be a while before we see another lamb born. (I apologise for the poor quality of photograph, I will take some more photos soon.)

Five Trees for Fifty Years
Yesterday we had the perfect conditions to do something I had been wanting to do for a long time. We dug out some seedling pine trees from the front of the property near the road and planted them in the wind break near the western neighbour's fence. It is winter so the trees are dormant and digging was easy because we have had some rain, and we also didn't need to water them in because we had good rain overnight as well. I didn't do this by myself either, as my whole family are visiting to help me celebrate my 50th birthday. Originally we had decided to plant five trees for my fifty years but I miscalculated the spacing and had to plant six instead, but that didn't really matter. The tree break does seem rather wide and empty, but in time I plan to plant some gums or maybe wattles in between the pines.

Bladey Grass and Woodpile
While Russell and I went on a short holiday from 21-26 May Mum and Dad came to look after the animals and the farm. During that time Dad mowed the areas of bladey grass to keep it under control. Since the photo Dad has used the whipper snipper on the grass near the fence.
He also sorted the wood on the woodpile. This woodpile has accumulated over the whole time we have been here and I think even before. Dad wanted to control the blackberries growing up through the wood and to do this he needed to move the wood. He sorted it into piles of different sizes and eventually was able to cut and dig out the offending blackberries. Then a couple of weekends after that Russell chainsawed most of the large stuff ready for chopping for the fire. (I have included a photo of the sorted piles and the chopped piles.) Even though most of the wood is not good quality, there were some ancient fence posts from the fence I replaced on the eastern neighbour's side and they are burning very well indeed. In time the aim is to use all this wood and clear the area entirely.

New Driveway
Some time in the middle of March the Council sealed the driveway leading to the gate from the road. With everything else happening this has taken a back seat but I thought it should be recorded as it has improved the look of the entrance and ease of driving through the gateway. I thought it was a lot of money at the time ($350) but the car doesn't bottom out any more. We did have a bit of trouble at first because they didn't pack down the dirt added before sealing, but it has hardened now and works well.

Nova gets away again
On the morning of 28 April when I poked my head out to get the cat food bowl I heard mooing. Not the normal far away not my problem mooing, but a closer to home come and help mooing. So I quickly got the cats fed and set off to the back paddock. When I got there I found Nova in the neighbours place at the back. Heavens knows how he got through the fence, I certainly couldn't see. He is turning out to be quite an escape artist. And of course to get him back in I had to unlock the back gate - I won't forget the key the next time I go down the back. After returning with the key I managed to get Nova out the neighbour's gate and into our gate without letting Star out. Cow and calf were very grateful to be reunited. Star was the one doing all the mooing, by the way, not Nova. After all the commotion all the other calves sidled up to their mums for comfort too. But that was soon forgotten and all the calves got together again. In the photos you can see how fast Nova is growing compared to the other calves.

Erickson is no more
Last Friday morning (12/6) I came out to feed the chickens and found three lonely black chickens and Erickson in a pile of white feathers minus his head. He was a very brave rooster and had fought many battles, which is why I didn't lock them away every night, plus I hadn't seen any foxes lately, either alive or dead on the side of the road, so I thought it was okay to let them waltz in and out as they pleased - but obviously not. I locked them in over the weekend while I was away and then Tuesday night as well. Then, thinking the fox would give up and go elsewhere, plus I was tired and it was wet and dark, I neglected my duties again and lost another chicken. So now I only have two very lonely black chickens who will be closed in every night or else I will lose them too. Before I get any more chickens I will build a proper enclosure, so it will be safe to let them roam as they please, plus so I don't have to trudge out in the dark and sometimes rain to lock them up at night.

Crutching, Shearing Rambo & Bobbie
The sheep were crutched by my neighbour on 14 March. Then on 2 April the shearer came to shear Rambo. I wanted to protect Rambo's fleece and keep him warm now that winter was fast approaching, so we put a cover on him. Now I don't know whether Bobbie remembered when Rambo first arrived or if he just doesn't like covers but he started attacking Rambo. The next day I got Rambo and some of the sheep back into the shed and removed Rambo's cover. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough for Bobbie and he continued to spit on him and chase him and wrap his neck around his head and the like. So I moved the sheep to the next paddock and kept Bobbie separate and let him into the 'tree run' surrounding the middle eastern paddock. I kept them separate for three whole weeks, then moved them all to the top eastern paddock. Everything is back to normal now. I guess that means that I can never put a cover on Rambo, because I'm not going through that again.

Harry's Meat
Harry stayed at our neighbour's yards overnight with a few young steers to keep him company and the butcher came to collect him the next day 9 March. I collected Harry's meat on 20 March, just over a week later. The total cost was $409. His carcass weighed 256.8kg and we received approximately 160.2kg of meat.

So he was 37.6% bones, which was good

compared to Patch and

Lady's meat to bone ratio. The actual meat cost

me $2.55/kg. By the way, his steak is beautiful.

Love at last
I have been 'off the air' for a bit as I have been rather preoccupied. I have fallen in love with a wonderful man who loves me very much. I think we suit each other very well and we have been spending every weekend with each other since about the middle of February. His name is Russell and he lives in a neighbouring town about 1.5 hours away. I firmly believe that everything that has happened in my life has happened for a reason and to bring me to where I am today. I am happy with who I am.

Tagging, Ringing and Visiting
Yesterday, two stockmen took our cows and calves to a neighbours cattle yards about 2km up the road. They tagged all my new calves and put rings on the two boys. Then we left Harry with the neighbours steers and brought our cows and calves home via the road together with the neighbours handful of cows and their bull. Harry is being collected by the butcher later this afternoon. The neighbours steers are keeping him company until then, then they will be let out into the paddock. I have completed my very first Vendor Declaration from my own special booklet. Then in a few weeks I'll have a freezer full of beef - we'll be able to eat steak again!
I have included a collection of photographs of the process. Of course when the cows were closer and when they were tagging I was too engaged and busy to be taking photographs, so the camera missed the good bits.

Coco
On Thursday 5 March a neighbour wool producer gave me a coloured lamb. She was only just due to be weaned, so she is quite young. I have named her Coco as she is multi-coloured, white and brown. Bobby and the other sheep are not sure of her yet and have been giving her a bit of a hard time, but I'm sure they will settle down soon. She will probably be on the fringe until there is another newcomer. She is very cute.

Fruit in Season
It's blackberry and apple season. The last couple of years I haven't really paid a lot of attention to the blackberries or the apple trees. But this year we have had a bumper crop of both blackberries and apples. We were down picking blackberries near the dam and to my surprise there were two apple trees laden with apples! Not all of them were edible but about a third were perfect for eating, although some were a bit tarty (maybe because I was a bit eager and picked them too early). I don't know what type of apple they are but the flesh is white and juicy.
I have also included photos of some of my blackberry haul. I have eaten them raw on cereal and stewed on ice cream and I have made two lots of jam. Of course I should be out there every day picking them so they don't go to waste ... but I'm not. I am enjoying the fruit I have picked and eaten, though.

Brownie's Surprise
A neighbour rang yesterday to tell me that Brownie had had a boy calf (because the cows are in the back paddock their children noticed the new calf first). I didn't even think that Brownie was pregnant! But sure enough she has had a small black/brown boy calf. I have named him "Rusty" after a new friend of mine. So I now have five calves. I have also been talking to my neighbour about the possibility of his bull visiting again - at his suggestion (they were going to sell the bull but haven't yet). And in the same process I could possibly have the calves tagged and the boys 'taken care of', plus have the butcher come and take Harry to the abattoir! All this has to be confirmed with the stockmen, but it could be soon.

In Memory of TK
We lost one of our animals today. We had him euthanased, as he was not able to fight a respiratory infection because he had FIV (the cats version of HIV). Apparently it can be in their system for a long time, then when they get sick they get really sick. TK (The Kitten, originally) may not have been a productive farm animal but he had been in our family since he was about a month old in November 1997. We sort of adopted him from next door. Although he was very cute he had a fighting spirit in him and after he attacked an old lady up the street when he was about two years old (I found the note the lady wrote to us) we kept him in a cat run with a tower, a tunnel and a large flat area with access to inside a shed at night. While we lived in Sydney he lived in his run with the occasional respite inside. Of course when we came to the country he calmed down considerably and enjoyed the peaceful surrounds. However, in the last six months or so he has been going down hill, not venturing very far and not cleaning himself as well as he used to. The photograph was taken April 2008 after we had his ears trimmed due to cancers on the tips. Recently he had a few teeth problems and eye problems and then this week he developed respiratory problems and got very sick very fast.
Goodbye TK.

Good News & Bad News
The bad news is that I won't be milking Jemma and I was looking forward to that. The good news is that Jemma had temporarily misplaced her calf! She hadn't 'lost' her after all. I didn't get time to visit the cows on Sunday but on Monday night I went up there with the stainless steel bucket expecting to be able to milk Jemma and there were four calves including two little black calves. I did try to milk but Jemma wouldn't stand still like before. I think on Saturday she had left her calf sleeping somewhere and had forgotten where she was ... or something. Anyway, everything is okay now - we are back to three girls and a boy. I don't have any photos yet, as I hadn't taken the camera with me - maybe next time.

Milking Jemma
I thought I would leave Jemma and her calf for a few days since all the other cows were so protective at first, plus I was busy with work and other things. Then this morning I saw the cows at the top of the hill, so went up there to say hello. The first three calves were being looked after by Star but there was no sign of Jemma's calf. Thinking it may have been asleep somewhere nearby I asked Jemma to show me where her calf was. Now I know they don't understand what I'm saying but they do understand, if you know what I mean. Anyway she started walking away down the hill, stopping to look around to see if I was following. I followed her to the middle of the top eastern quarter of the back paddock, where she started to look around in a large circle. I am thinking this is where her calf may have died and where she last saw her. There was no sign of her now. She then walked over to the large pine in the middle of the paddock and then back up to where the rest of the herd were. The poor thing. She let me pat her all over and her udder was quite large and tight. And she actually let me milk her a little. So I went back, had my breakfast, and returned with a freshly washed stainless steel bucket (purchased years ago for this very purpose), a warm clean cloth to clean her teats and a clean tea towel to cover the bucket on the return walk.
She was very good and mostly stayed still. I just knealt down near her (no stool) to milk one teat at a time with my other hand holding the bucket. The only time I tried to use both hands she kicked the bucket over. I couldn't reach the teats on the other side, so I had to milk one side and then go around to the other side. In the end I managed to milk half a cup, which would have been more if I hadn't spilt some. I'm going to try again this afternoon and maybe every day. At least until I know she's not going to get mastitis or something. Maybe next time I'll bring a halter. It's a pitty I don't have the cattle yards and milking bail.

I have strained the milk and it's in a jug in the fridge. I intend to have it on my breakfast tomorrow. I might even get more this afternoon. This is quite unexpected. It's sad that she lost her calf - particularly since we can't even find it. But a new adventure has started.

I thought I would include two photos taken the day Jemma's calf was born (or the day after), because the previous photo I included you couldn't see that she actually had a calf.