Pumping Dam Water
Well, after a few failed attempts we now have the tank at the top of the hill about 80% full. Over Christmas my brother bought 150 metres of pipe and connectors and, together with about 300 metres of pipe in various lengths that Dad found in our forest, Dan and Dad connected the dam to the tank. (The pipe was from the days when the previous owners pumped water from the creek and the forest is just an area of dense pine trees.) We had a petrol pump that was here when we came, but although we had a bit of success my brother came to the conclusion that it wasn't up to the job. When Paul came home from spending Christmas with his family, we bought a new Davey Firefighter 6.5 horse power pump & motor. This worked for about a half an hour and then we were having problems with the intake. We then bought a new intake valve and connector. This actually came off the end at one stage. We now know that the back dam is as deep as Paul's legs are long (I should have taken a photo of Paul looking for the intake valve). Yesterday we pumped up another rung. Finally, today Paul pumped two more rungs (wide rungs) into the tank before the pump ran out of petrol. So we decided to call it a day. I think there's about two months worth of water for the animals in the tank now.
Dad took this photo after the long job of mowing a path for the pipe from the tank at the top of the hill down to the dam.

Empty Dam
Yesterday I went out to check the cows and Star had broken through the fence into the paddock enclosing the dam. I opened the gate and shooed her back through. I promptly moved them to the next paddock, because Star was after the grass not the water (as you can see by the photo). Then I fixed all the tie wire that had been broken.
One of the cows had also pushed the new fence near the sheep yards to get to the grass in there and the wire had unravelled from the strainer ratchet. I have left that for Paul to fix.
So the cows are now supposed to be in the lower western paddock but the Murray Greys and Brownie have already pushed their way through the middle fence into the large eastern paddock. Yet another fence that has to be fixed.
On Friday I heard that someone was illegally pumping/stealing water from our neighbour's back dam! If our back gate didn't have a lock on it they would probably be pumping water from our back dam too. Because our front dam is now empty and we only have about 2-3 weeks (3 rungs) worth of water in the tank at the top of the hill, we will have to find a way of getting the water from the back dam up to the tank.

A New Beginning
Paul is coming home today! It has been a long eight months (in fact a long year) and I'll be glad to see the end of 2006. We're going to start rebuilding our relationship and work towards building a better farm together. I'm going to change the name of my blog from 'My Journey' to 'Our Journey' but the focus will still be on what we're doing on the farm (plus my craft things along the way).
I hope everyone has a happy and safe Christmas and that the New Year is everything you want it to be.

New Sheep Yard Fence
Yesterday the fence guy finished putting on the gate of our new fence near the sheep yards. He and a mate built most of the fence on Saturday. The other fence on the western side of the paddock may not get built now until January. After I moved the trough from the Veggie Paddock and removed about 20 cigarette butts and a handful of wire off cuts I let the cows into the Dam Paddock. They have access to the area under the plum trees as well. They thought it was Christmas. I'm happy that they have at least two fences between them and the outside world now. Plus there is plenty of grass in that paddock to keep them fed for a while.

New Weaving Project
Apart from all the animal stuff, I have found time to start weaving another scarf. This time I wound my own warp and threaded the loom all by myself, with the help of two girls at my spinning group in planning the initial thread count and a book called Learning to Weave by Deborah Chandler. The instructions were very clear and I felt like I really achieved something. I have only just started weaving but I'm pleased with it so far. The pattern is a twill and is also from a friend from spinning. Now I just have to force myself away from the computer and to the loom, which is just on the other side of the room.

Brownie AI'd
On Friday morning I checked the cows and Brownie's heat/pressure patch was white. When I checked in the afternoon it had activated and was red and dirty brown, so she had been ridden during the day. (I have included a photo of Brownie's activated patch.) Plus I saw Brownie trying to ride Lady, something I hadn't seen before (Lady being so big). So, a 7am on Saturday morning (no sleep-in) Brownie was artificially inseminated and the AI girl said she was sure it would be successful. Lady on the other hand was a different story. She may not have been cycling anyway, but when the AI girl felt inside her she said she could find the cervix but couldn't find the opening and although she wasn't quite sure what was wrong, she said she didn't feel right. So, together with the fact that Lady had already been with a bull for two months and the fact that she is much larger than normal cows, we're thinking she may have reproductive problems. All this is leading to the decision to send her to the butchers in January instead of Star. I guess this is why people say not to become too attached to animals you may have to eat.

Dam Depth Gauge
When Mum and Dad were visiting, Dad secretly made and installed a depth gauge for the dam. When they were home he said I would find a surprise in the dam. I've always wanted to know the depth. Now we know how low the dam really is - less than a foot of water in the middle. There are other dams I see on the way to town that are lower than I've seen them in the time we've been here. Our dam actually dried up one year, but that was in March and we'd lost water because of tap problems.