Disappearing Dams

I have been very worried about the water situation for the sheep and cows.  The front dam has been dry for months and the back dam is the lowest it has ever been.  I have been checking it every couple of weeks.  But then when it actually did rain, I was surprised at how much water the back dam collected with two episodes of rain, so it’s obviously in a very good position, unlike the front dam.

27 May

 

7 July (after about 50mm)

New Biocycle

I have had a lot of trouble with my septic over the years and finally decided to spend (borrow) some money and buy a new one.  As I am in a drinking water catchment and laws for these things change, I researched and found that I had to put in an aerated system.  I chose a Biocycle and it was installed on 4 May.  I took lots of photos and have included enough to tell the story.  Due to the position of the outgoing grey water pipes a new hole had to be dug with the old septic tank being filled in.  As is it aerated there is a 75W pump that runs 24/7 and it pumps out treated water via a hose every now and then.  All the water from the house goes to it, including the shower and washing machine.  It will take some time to install all the necessary underground pipes and sprinklers, so in the mean time I have a soak hose on the front lawn.

Shed Guttering and Downpipes

Also on 17 April, with help from Dad and Steven to cut a hole in the guttering and silicone in the start of the downpipe, I installed a second downpipe to collect the water halfway along the shed eastern guttering in order to capture the maximum amount of water. This is a low point in the guttering and water would overflow into the shed when it rained, never making it to the tank.  It is supported with four bits of wire extended from nails or holes in the corrugated iron.  I also cleared the gutter on the western side and fitted more plastic gutter guard.  Now, all it has to do is rain.  

 

Shearing Plant Backing Board

In October 2010 I raised the shearing platform the height of a pallet to get it out of the dirt.  Since then the shearers have been complaining that the shearing plant is too close to the flooring.  So with the help of Dad’s know how and Steven’s strength on 17 April we raised the shearing plant by 160mm with three thicknesses of 12mm thick ply bolted together. 

Goodbye Arnie!

Arnie’s granddaughters are six months old and so it was time for him to go.  I had been thinking of selling some crossbred wethers too, so they all went to the sheep sales today (17 April).  Dad and I managed to get them into the yards but we needed Steve’s help to get them onto the trailer.  Unfortunately, they didn’t sell for much money – $25 each for the year old wethers, $15 for a seven month old lamb and $15 for Arnie.

Fence Mending

On Sunday (7 April) Russell and I walked along the western back paddock fence and along the gully to the dam and then back.  This was Russell’s first long walk on the farm since his hip replacement and he managed better than he had thought.  The purpose was to mend the boundary fence where the neighbour’s sheep have been getting through.  I had previously mended two obvious holes on 11 & 17 March.  But with Russell we did a more thorough job.  The dam was quite low, possibly the lowest I have ever seen.  The cows ignored us the whole time.

Dad and I also added droppers to the western fence in the top paddock (14 April 2013) in an attempt to stop the neighbour’s sheep from getting from the fruit tree run into my paddocks.  I don’t mind them in under the plumb trees, as it would be a major job to fix or replace the western lower fence, but I still need to stop them from getting into where my sheep graze.

Driveway Top Up

On my Monday (25 March) morning off I bought aggregate myself.  After driving home after work I ended up shovelling all of the aggregate onto the driveway all by myself – thank goodness for daylight saving.  I had also taken off the cage the previous Thursday afternoon all by myself – it took an hour.  The driveway looks great and will be able to cope with any amount of rain.

Bean Bounty

This is a photo of the beans I picked last weekend up at Russell's. I hadn't picked beans for two weeks. My veggie garden has not been as productive, although we have eaten some lovely tomatoes.

 

Inquisitive Calves

I went for a walk this afternoon to visit my cows. Tabby (one of my cats) was with me and the calves found him very interesting. The calves are about five months old now.  Jemma is still limping, although she is keeping up with the rest of the cows now, rather than just staying put.

The sheep also came running down to the gate expecting to be moved, but I didn’t take a photo because I was loosing light at that stage.  I will move them at the weekend.

Chocolate Coloured Lambs

The Sunday before last we collected two new chocolate coloured lambs from a farmer who couldn't keep them with the rest of his flock. I am calling them Chino (as in cappuccino with a frothy white top, left) and Marble (as in Cadbury Marble chocolate, right). They are both girls and they're gorgeous. I intended to introduce them to the rest of my sheep gradually by letting some in with them for a while, but I couldn't get my girls to come down to the gate even with a lucerne bribe.  So I just opened the gate.  The other sheep didn't bother the new girls but Bobby chased them for a few days.  They have settled in now and are part of the family.  I haven't taken a 'group' photo yet but will add one later.

 

Natural Dyeing Workshop

I had a very enjoyable afternoon on Saturday at a Natural Dyeing Workshop. The photo is of everyone's samples and a few larger projects with commercial dyes. For the natural dyeing we used a selection leaves, bark, flowers and berries and all had a sample skein in each, then added mordants which changed the colour with a second sample skein. I have wanted to do this for ages but hadn't had the time or opportunity. I look forward to being able to use natural dyeing for a project.

The photo is of my natural dyeing samples.  The colours were obtained from (left to right) Crabapple bark, Walnut shells, Ivy berries (immature) and leaves, undyed, Wattle (Cootamundra), Wattle + Copper, Yellow Paper Daisies, Yellow Paper Daisies + Copper, Blackberries, Blackberries + Copper, Dahlias, Dahlias + Copper, Buddleia + Iron (didn’t get my skein in first batch).   I'm thinking now that I might make something using all the samples, but I don't know what just yet.

Rudi to the Butchers

While I had the cows in the yards for tagging, etc. the calves it was a good opportunity to send Rudi to the butchers.  He was collected on Monday morning and was no trouble at all.  We collected his meat on the Friday two weeks following.  From a carcass weight of 356.2kg I only received 176.63kg of meat, which is 49.59% and much less than previous steers.  The butcher said this was because Rudi had a lot of fat wastage, although his meat was marbled, which is supposed to be a good thing.  The total cost was $767.15, including freight to the butchers.

Buying Water & Broken Pipe

In October the tank at the top of the hill was almost empty as there had not been enough rain to pump from the shed tank, so buying water was the next option.  Unfortunately, not long after this I lost the lot due to a broken pipe.  After a bit of work and fiddling I mended the pipe and then managed to get the electric pump working to pump from the front dam (with a bit of help).  I have pumped a few times from the front dam now, plus one pump from the shed tank after about 12ml of rain.

  (I have included a picture of the path mown for the water guy and the mended pipe.  After the photo I filled the hole and secured the stand pipe to a star picket for support, so it wasn't broken again.)

Snow in October

The day after Smokey was born it snowed!  I have included a photograph of the cows in the snow and snow on the chopped pine tree.

Four Calves

At the end of 2011 and beginning of 2012 I had my three cows and two heifers artifically inseminated.  Tawnie and Blackie, my two heifers, were the first to calve on 14 and 18 September.  Then Brownie had her calf (Zorro) on 20 September.  Sandy (with Smokey) was the last on 11 October.  Jemma didn't calf at all, which was disappointing.

Before the new year really starts, I thought I had better finish off summarising the events for the second half of 2012.

2012 Lambs

I moved the sheep to the ‘Far East’ paddock and took stock of which ewes had lambs.  There were eight new lambs, so including the three from earlier this year in January and March that’s 11 lambs and a total of 29 sheep including lambs.  Even Spotty Nose had another lamb this year and she would be close to ten years old.  At shearing time when we tagged and marked the lambs, I was pleased to see that there were 3 boys and 8 girls, and some of the boys will stay as merino wethers.

 

Fallen Pine
Last month I was walking down the front and noticed a gap in the trees along the road, a large pine tree had fallen down ... in the direction of the road.  Luckily, it had fallen diagonally and not right across the road.  I think it may have spilled onto the road but some very kind passer by had already removed any large pieces from the road.  I didn't hear it fall, so I don't even know when it happened.  I hope this is just a one-off and no other large trees will fall down.  Of course the top fence wire is broken and the rest of the fence is taking the strain, but there are no animals in the front 'house paddock'.
We have not been able to get out there with a chainsaw yet but intend to cut it up and bring the pieces in for fire wood.  I know pine is not all that good for the chimney but together with other wood it will be fine.

First Fire of 2012
Anzac Day was a cold windy day, so I thought it was the perfect day for the first real fire of the season.  I had lit the stove once for cooking pizza a few weeks earlier, but this was the first fire in the sitting room.  I had forgotten how lovely the warmth from a fire can be.

Ready for Winter
My new load of wood arrived on 20 March. I didn't even get a chance to load it into the shed this time, Steve and Dad did it all for me. Russell and I have started splitting it for the fuel stove, with the larger pieces for the inside fire, but we haven't actually had a fire yet. Maybe next weekend. Or I might even light one just for myself if it gets too cold.
Also, while Mum and Dad were visiting, Dad mowed the centre tree run, so the little trees could see the sun. Plus he mowed some paths. One path in particular was for the car, all the way from the back gate. Steve was asking about taking the chicken coop to his house and to do that we would need to bring in the trailer, so Dad mowed a path. But we will need quite a few people to help lift the chicken coop over the fence and that hasn't been organised yet, let alone the initial inspection. All in good time.

A Colourful Addition
About five months ago I heard that someone was looking for a home for a black lamb. As I would eventually like to own a collection of coloured sheep and I don't believe a lamb should be eaten just because it is coloured, I offered my little farm as his new home. Also, Coco had died only a week or so before this. Back in October, I had noticed that two sheep were missing about a week before but didn't find them until I had moved the sheep to the next paddock. I hate not being able to walk amongst them now that I have 'Arnie the Charging Ram'.
Anyway, with one thing and another I had not been able to collect this black lamb, now a sheep, called 'Blackie' until 13 March. With any new additions to the flock, they have to be introduced by degrees, so as to escape the wrath of both Arnie and Bobbie, and even the other sheep. (I remember Coco had a hard time for weeks.) I put Blackie into the small paddock around the yards and encouraged some sheep down to join him. This proved difficult and I only managed to entice two sheep into the yard paddock. This would have to do, as I didn't want either Arnie or Bobbie to come in too. So Blackie spent the next three days with two ewes. I was surprised, though, because Spotty Nose gave him a bit of a hard time and I didn't think she would, especially as I had thought she would be a good introductory companion being the oldest ewe and my lead sheep.
On the Sunday we managed to separate Arnie into the laneway and Bobbie in the cattle yards and brought all the sheep into the yard paddock. I left the sheep to sort themselves out with both Arnie and Bobbie watching on the sidelines. Very late in the afternoon I reintroduced Arnie and Bobbie and everyone was one big happy family. Arnie nudged him a bit but Bobbie didn't bother him at all. So, all in all I think it all went fairly smoothly and I now have another black merino sheep for spinning wool. He is a fine black sheep with only a little bit of white on his face. Steve helped him into the trailer and said his fleece was very soft, so I am looking forward to the first shearing.