A quick update!
We got our new two girls and their respective calves today. Emma was very excited when they arrived, she ran to the fence to see them all unload. Unfortunately we need to keep them apart. With Emma still being pregnant we can't let them in together yet. And the guy who dropped them off, said that Emma was in very good nick. In fact, she is too fat and chubby! This can give birthing problems, so he advised us to half her paddock, and then half that again over the next few weeks so her birthing is going to be easier. Oh boy... she's not going to like that! Especially not since our new girls haven't had enough food, so they can eat their fill at the moment - they need it. But they can see each other across the fence and talk to each other. It will be good for Em too.
Of course, Emma, being a Sophisticated Cow, speaks French and Low Lines probably only speak English - although Ursula assured me that they did know some German which she's taught them - so it may take some to-ing and fro-ing before they can understand each other :)
Graeme, who dropped off the cows was a lovely old man, he has lived here all his life. He used to have cows (including milk cows) for most of his life, and milk them by hand too so it was quite funny talking with him about Emma, and me handmilking her. He obviously knows his cattle so I was happy that he gave us advice. He said that once we all get used to our own funny ways, we won't have a better guard dog than Emma. She'll let us know if anybody unwanted is in our paddock, and raise the alarm for all sorts. That'll be interesting to observe! But anyway, as of tomorrow, Em will be on a diet! She won't be happy at all.
Graeme doesn't know our motivations for doing what we're doing and it was interesting listening to everybody complaining about the cost of food in the supermarkets. With oil nearly being at $130 today, and Bush threatening to invade Iran before he finishes his term (nothing new there, stupid war mongering little tyrant) I am glad to be on our way to self sufficiency. Things don't look too rosy for our future.
Our two new Low Lines and calves looked as cute as I remembered them. I found two suitable names. The biggest girl shall be called Lucille Hegamin, and the little one Bertha "Chippie" Hill, Lucille and Chippie for short. This is in keeping with the Jazz/Blues names that I wanted to use for our beasties. It looks like we'll have ladies singing the blues in our fields! We only need to get the cow bells and they're set. Only Emma is called Emma because she already had that name and responded to it. And Deuce Bigalow, well, he just is Deuce Bigalow. Unfortunately I can't name the calves or the chooks, as they might end up in the pot and it would be too horrible to be eating something with a name I guess.
We also have an extra cow here on a short holiday. She is also one of Ursula's cows, and she took on a little calf (on top of her own calf) that was abandoned by his mother. So she has been losing a lot of condition and really needed some extra feeding. Ursula wouldn't mind selling her to us as well, but she's very expensive and a full Angus as well. She's a lot bigger, and we would like to stick to Low Lines so we can get a little bull. Still, for now she can eat her fill, and her two calves are very sweet. I did find a good name for her, even if she isn't ours - Gertrude "Ma" Rainey because she's such a good mum. It's a blues in itself that we'll have to let her go. Hmmm.... I might feel another blues coming on!
Apart from that, we've had a busy few days. PJ's been working on our kitchen during the day, and I've been helping in the evenings. The progress shows though, and PJ wants to finish the plastering tonight. Then I can start painting the ceiling tomorrow evening while the plaster is still drying, so we should be ready before the cooker arrives.
That's it for today....
Moodles!
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Monday, 19 May 2008
Introducing Deuce Bigalow
Friday morning we went to visit Ursula. It's been great meeting her and getting to know her. We always have a good chat, and we seem to have a lot to talk about. She called me to let me know they want to sell some of their cattle, and they have two Low Lines, which basically is a small cow bred from Angus (which is a big cow), roughly the same size as a Jersey. Much easier to deal with for the small farm like we have, and they are friendlier too. We already knew that Emma needs a friend. She is so lonely, and ever since Jeff had some of his cattle in the paddocks she's been escaping to be with them, and not on her own in a field. Ursula had mentioned her cows, and she also was going to throw in a rooster as she has four of them, and four roosters is really three too many. I was interested to see the little cows - Emma is also considered small, and I find her big enough.
We went out to feed their herd, and that was quite an experience. They had 20 cows in this particular field, and they all pretty much came running. Having 18 Angus come running at you is quite intimidating, so I made sure I was near the people who knew them. Ian is obviously very comfortable with his cattle, and while PJ and Ursula were talking cows, I got to handfeed a huge bloody bull who seemed the biggest softie there was. He could have crushed me with one leg if he'd wanted to, but instead he seemed a little scared of me. It's a funny world we live in :)
The cow I liked best was a Murray Grey called Sam, but she is Ursula's favourite and she didn't want to sell her. The two little Low Lines looked lovely though, and one also came to eat out of my hand. After a little while we came to an agreement, and so now they are ours!! They both have cute little calves, and are already pregnant as well, so we're really getting 6 cows instead of 2. It'll be so nice to have calves, and that should be good for Emma's calf too. Also, PJ wants a bull and if we have cows of roughly the same size, it will be easier getting a small bull with the herd rather than one of those big jobbies that is going to break half of my poor cows' backs.
By that time I really had to make my way back home to do work - I guess it's one of those things. So we quickly went into the chookpen, and picked a rooster. It was difficult to do, as they were all magnificent creatures, but I picked a lovely colourful big rooster (big enough to sort out my white nasty girls), put him in the cat carrier, and off home we went. First things first of course, so when we got home, we went into the chookpen. Unlike the girls when we got them, my rooster made quite an entrance. He strutted out of the cat carrier, and took over. Within three seconds flat, he had the girls sorted. He was very happy, 8 girls all to himself, and they seemed to quieten down with him around. For the rest of the day we heard a lot of cockledoodling from a very happy rooster. I've named him Deuce Bigalow (male gigolo). He is a natural!
Saturday PJ and I did a first aid course in Hobart. The alarm was set for 6am because of all the feeding we have to do these days, then we rushed off only to remember we'd forgotten the Hobart street directories so we had to go back and get that. All in all, we did manage to get to the course in time. It was very interesting, with lots of hands on practice. We'll be doing the 2nd level in the near future. When the course finished, we had a quick look around to see if we could find a milk thermometer, which we did. Then it was off to Huonville, and straight to Tanya and Jamahl where we had dinner that night. It was a lovely evening, but PJ and I were knackered after our long day, so we ended up being the first to leave, and straight to bed (at least PJ went straight to bed, I needed to feed our kitties first).
Sunday we had decided we were going to put up the fencing around the chookpen, so we could let the Children of the Forest in the chookpen out. First I had a shock, as Emma was nowhere to be seen. But yes, she had escaped again to be with her friends in the next paddock. We herded her back into her own paddock, where she stayed sulking, she didn't even want her food or brushing. Once her friends were rounded up to be taken away, she stood by the fence again, looking in the direction of the cattle truck. It was no use us telling her she really was better off in the field than en route to a slaughter house; She wouldn't hear of it. Only two more sleeps and she can really have her own new friends in with her. It will be a good thing too. When she's been ramming the fence she must have done something on her head, as one of her horns is only hanging on by a thin thread. There was a bit of dried blood, but she seems ok.
Anyway, we got on with the chookpen, and yes, most of the day later, we finished! We had about an hour of light left when we could let Deuce and the girls out, and they loved it. So did we. The sound of chooks is actually really soothing, and they are a funny bird to observe. It's interesting to see who likes hanging out with who, and which ones look out for each other. Deuce at one stage made a funny noise and everybody was looking around. I'd heard that roosters will sound the alarm, especially when they see danger. And sure enough, we saw a small bird of prey take off from the trees. It didn't come near us, but still our boy is doing well. Check out some of the piccies: http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Asynick/ChildrenOfTheForest.
We decided to have a glass of champagne to celebrate, and there we were, sitting amongst the chooks in the chookpen. That of course was the time when the cattle truck stopped to pick up the cows, and I can only imagine what stories are going around about us now! As we were still sitting there, Ian dropped by to give Emma her injection, it's called 5 in 1 and is a standard vaccination for cattle, which we hadn't heard about. He had a good chuckle when he found us in the chookpen, but thought it looked great, a bit like the Taj Mahal for chickens. He said he might need to camp out there when he's been bad. We watched Deuce round up his girls and walk them in the chookpen. It's like watching the Von Trapp family, very organised :) Nonetheless, there is a small job we don't have to worry about (apart from closing the door).
We then decided that it was time for Emma's injection. Of course, Emma was in no mood to cooperate, and no amount of titbits was going to make her stand still. So we rounded her up, and put her in the cattle race. She was a good girl though, as we injected her, and then made sure she was ok. Ian had a good look at her and said he thinks she's still about 3-4 weeks away from birth. Sigh... so we have to wait a little longer. PJ was happy though - it gives him more time to build me a milking stall!
Today was Monday already again. We got up early, so we could clip the chickens' wings before we let them out. Mayhem all around, and the big meatbirds are quite a handful. And such noise. But we sorted them all, including Deuce who didn't peck at us, so I think we really have a good boy here. As soon as everybody was outside all was over and forgotten, and the girls were having a good time. It was nice hearing Deuce cockledoodling outside - it reminds me of where I am when I have to work!
I also let the cats out for the first time yesterday, or rather, I let them all out and Cookie and Cannon raced straight back inside and hid. BB was the happiest boy ever and ran around the house, smelling flowers and generally looking very pleased. He had an absolute ball. He wanted to come in at about 3pm, so I was happy with that. BB stands for Brave Boy these days. Today my other two heroes decided they too wanted to go out. So I opened the door, and all three had a good sniff and play. BB was most fascinated by Emma ('my God, I've never seen a cat that big'), as she was by him ('my God, what a strange looking cow'). They stared at each other for quite a while, and then went on with whatever they were doing. BB has reverted to being a leaf monster again, and spread leaves all around the house when he came back in. I'll have to find his brush again now! It was already dark when I remembered that we had to close the chookpen - whoops! Deuce had rounded everybody up nicely though, so really all there was to do was to close the door. Good boy!
PJ was a bit grumpy - after the difficulties with the MDF we have decided to change to gyprock boards, but they are very heavy so he can't lift them alone. So after dinner, we decided to put a few more hours in and put a number of them up together. Only one broke over my head so far so it's not too bad. While he is hammering and putting screws in, I thought I might as well write a quick update.
But... we're spent, and it's past our bedtime again, so I'll have to love you and leave you. Sayanara!
We went out to feed their herd, and that was quite an experience. They had 20 cows in this particular field, and they all pretty much came running. Having 18 Angus come running at you is quite intimidating, so I made sure I was near the people who knew them. Ian is obviously very comfortable with his cattle, and while PJ and Ursula were talking cows, I got to handfeed a huge bloody bull who seemed the biggest softie there was. He could have crushed me with one leg if he'd wanted to, but instead he seemed a little scared of me. It's a funny world we live in :)
The cow I liked best was a Murray Grey called Sam, but she is Ursula's favourite and she didn't want to sell her. The two little Low Lines looked lovely though, and one also came to eat out of my hand. After a little while we came to an agreement, and so now they are ours!! They both have cute little calves, and are already pregnant as well, so we're really getting 6 cows instead of 2. It'll be so nice to have calves, and that should be good for Emma's calf too. Also, PJ wants a bull and if we have cows of roughly the same size, it will be easier getting a small bull with the herd rather than one of those big jobbies that is going to break half of my poor cows' backs.
By that time I really had to make my way back home to do work - I guess it's one of those things. So we quickly went into the chookpen, and picked a rooster. It was difficult to do, as they were all magnificent creatures, but I picked a lovely colourful big rooster (big enough to sort out my white nasty girls), put him in the cat carrier, and off home we went. First things first of course, so when we got home, we went into the chookpen. Unlike the girls when we got them, my rooster made quite an entrance. He strutted out of the cat carrier, and took over. Within three seconds flat, he had the girls sorted. He was very happy, 8 girls all to himself, and they seemed to quieten down with him around. For the rest of the day we heard a lot of cockledoodling from a very happy rooster. I've named him Deuce Bigalow (male gigolo). He is a natural!
Saturday PJ and I did a first aid course in Hobart. The alarm was set for 6am because of all the feeding we have to do these days, then we rushed off only to remember we'd forgotten the Hobart street directories so we had to go back and get that. All in all, we did manage to get to the course in time. It was very interesting, with lots of hands on practice. We'll be doing the 2nd level in the near future. When the course finished, we had a quick look around to see if we could find a milk thermometer, which we did. Then it was off to Huonville, and straight to Tanya and Jamahl where we had dinner that night. It was a lovely evening, but PJ and I were knackered after our long day, so we ended up being the first to leave, and straight to bed (at least PJ went straight to bed, I needed to feed our kitties first).
Sunday we had decided we were going to put up the fencing around the chookpen, so we could let the Children of the Forest in the chookpen out. First I had a shock, as Emma was nowhere to be seen. But yes, she had escaped again to be with her friends in the next paddock. We herded her back into her own paddock, where she stayed sulking, she didn't even want her food or brushing. Once her friends were rounded up to be taken away, she stood by the fence again, looking in the direction of the cattle truck. It was no use us telling her she really was better off in the field than en route to a slaughter house; She wouldn't hear of it. Only two more sleeps and she can really have her own new friends in with her. It will be a good thing too. When she's been ramming the fence she must have done something on her head, as one of her horns is only hanging on by a thin thread. There was a bit of dried blood, but she seems ok.
Anyway, we got on with the chookpen, and yes, most of the day later, we finished! We had about an hour of light left when we could let Deuce and the girls out, and they loved it. So did we. The sound of chooks is actually really soothing, and they are a funny bird to observe. It's interesting to see who likes hanging out with who, and which ones look out for each other. Deuce at one stage made a funny noise and everybody was looking around. I'd heard that roosters will sound the alarm, especially when they see danger. And sure enough, we saw a small bird of prey take off from the trees. It didn't come near us, but still our boy is doing well. Check out some of the piccies: http://picasaweb.google.com.au/Asynick/ChildrenOfTheForest.
We decided to have a glass of champagne to celebrate, and there we were, sitting amongst the chooks in the chookpen. That of course was the time when the cattle truck stopped to pick up the cows, and I can only imagine what stories are going around about us now! As we were still sitting there, Ian dropped by to give Emma her injection, it's called 5 in 1 and is a standard vaccination for cattle, which we hadn't heard about. He had a good chuckle when he found us in the chookpen, but thought it looked great, a bit like the Taj Mahal for chickens. He said he might need to camp out there when he's been bad. We watched Deuce round up his girls and walk them in the chookpen. It's like watching the Von Trapp family, very organised :) Nonetheless, there is a small job we don't have to worry about (apart from closing the door).
We then decided that it was time for Emma's injection. Of course, Emma was in no mood to cooperate, and no amount of titbits was going to make her stand still. So we rounded her up, and put her in the cattle race. She was a good girl though, as we injected her, and then made sure she was ok. Ian had a good look at her and said he thinks she's still about 3-4 weeks away from birth. Sigh... so we have to wait a little longer. PJ was happy though - it gives him more time to build me a milking stall!
Today was Monday already again. We got up early, so we could clip the chickens' wings before we let them out. Mayhem all around, and the big meatbirds are quite a handful. And such noise. But we sorted them all, including Deuce who didn't peck at us, so I think we really have a good boy here. As soon as everybody was outside all was over and forgotten, and the girls were having a good time. It was nice hearing Deuce cockledoodling outside - it reminds me of where I am when I have to work!
I also let the cats out for the first time yesterday, or rather, I let them all out and Cookie and Cannon raced straight back inside and hid. BB was the happiest boy ever and ran around the house, smelling flowers and generally looking very pleased. He had an absolute ball. He wanted to come in at about 3pm, so I was happy with that. BB stands for Brave Boy these days. Today my other two heroes decided they too wanted to go out. So I opened the door, and all three had a good sniff and play. BB was most fascinated by Emma ('my God, I've never seen a cat that big'), as she was by him ('my God, what a strange looking cow'). They stared at each other for quite a while, and then went on with whatever they were doing. BB has reverted to being a leaf monster again, and spread leaves all around the house when he came back in. I'll have to find his brush again now! It was already dark when I remembered that we had to close the chookpen - whoops! Deuce had rounded everybody up nicely though, so really all there was to do was to close the door. Good boy!
PJ was a bit grumpy - after the difficulties with the MDF we have decided to change to gyprock boards, but they are very heavy so he can't lift them alone. So after dinner, we decided to put a few more hours in and put a number of them up together. Only one broke over my head so far so it's not too bad. While he is hammering and putting screws in, I thought I might as well write a quick update.
But... we're spent, and it's past our bedtime again, so I'll have to love you and leave you. Sayanara!
Thursday, 15 May 2008
About Chicken Carnage and a Jealous Emma
Yesterday we went to the animal market in Ranelagh. It was great! There was a real buzz around the place, and I so regret not taking my camera (but I will next time). This market is held once a month, and you can buy cattle, poultry, or food and veggies.
We were going to buy some chooks. PJ had finished the chookpen just in time, working his (increasingly smaller) ass off in the morning. He only had the door left to be put on. We left at 11am, bought some chook feed, feeder and water dispenser on the way, and arrived at Ranelagh at about noon. There were so many chickens, and I saw my other favourite, a bunch of ducks, and even a goose. The noise was crazy. One chicken was even busy laying an egg as she was sitting in her little cage.
I didn't realise it was a bidding process - I thought you'd just turn up and buy what you wanted. So they started at the cattle side. They had some beautiful calves, and one gorgeous heifer which PJ got all excited about and wanted to bid for. I was a bit more hesitant - I felt it was too easy to be swept away by the atmosphere, and I don't think a cow should be an impulse buy. Besides, Ursula has a few young cows with little calves which she would quite happily sell to us, and that would mean that Emma (and her baby) will both have some company. And the little ones can play together! We'll be going over to Ursula's tomorrow morning to have a look. She also has a cockerel she'll give to us, which should be nice for the girls. Anyway. PJ was a bit grumpy as he thought the little heifer was beautiful (which she was) and she only went for $350. A lot of people seem to be selling off stock, as they don't have enough feed. It has been dry even here, and if you have to buy a lot of hay to feed your animals the costs soon add up. Quite a few cows looked underfed. We know now from Emma that they will get their condition back very quickly once they have some grass and feed, but still I don't want to overdo it and I don't only want cows either.
Finally we went to the chicken stable, and the bidding started. PJ loved it, I let him do the bidding and pretty soon we found ourselves with 4 little brown Sussex type birds (including the one who nicely laid an egg earlier in the day), and a little while later we had 4 more light Sussex hens as well. The average cost was about $8 per chicken, which I thought was fantastic! There were a lot of cockerels for sale, some were truly beautiful. But, no one needs more than one in a flock, so the poor things sold for $1, or $2. I calculated that if you like to eat chicken, you might as well come here, buy 4 cockerels and you have really fresh food for a month (if you eat chicken once a week). It's cheaper than the supermarket, and you know for sure it's fresh.
At that time I looked at my watch and found that it was 2pm already!! So work was going to be difficult to fit in. With buying some more strawbales and having to drive home, I thought I might as well take the day off as it was 3pm, and I wasn't going to be able to work through the night anyway. So while PJ ran off to put on the door, I decided to do another coat of paint in the sunroom. It's only the gloss left now, and then PJ can do the floor. I can't even put a date anymore on when we could possibly move in, but it'd be nice to be able to put up our bed and actually have real room to sleep in, and not go to bed and wake up with the computer staring at me.
By about 5pm we were ready to put our girls in their new home. I put the straw on the bottom of their house, and we got the boxes. It was a bit hard getting them out, but once they were out, they were looking around quite curiously. Gosh they sound so lovely! One little girl will be the bottom one in the pecking order I think... we had 2 per box, and her bottom was all pecked. All was quiet for about 15 minutes, when Mayhem broke out!! We have one really big fat light Sussex, who started sitting on all the others and pecking them. Quite a few fights broke out around us, and we weren't quite sure what to do. It was getting dark, so we thought we'd better leave them too it, and I read they normally calm down in the dark. But, when we looked half an hour later (when it was dark) my poor little girl was red and raw on one of her wings. Not good! We've been reading our poultry books, so now I now that chickens like the colour red, so they can turn to cannibalism pretty quickly if one is bleeding. Sheeez, girls! Emma was very curious, and was galloping up and down every time we walked up and down with straw and what not. She could hear all the noises, and even looked a bit insecure! I had to give her a big cuddle and some hay, and she was quite content after that.
It gave me a bit of a sleepless night, as I knew they'd wake up as soon as it is light. I had another read of my book and a search on the Internet, and realised I have to be the Head Head Hen. So, if Miss Muppet steps out of line again, I have to tell her off so she knows not to pick on the other ones too much. Whoever said that work couldn't be interesting! And it would look lovely on my CV, being able to say that I am the Head Head Hen (May 2008 - Current).
One way or another we got up at 6am, and as soon as it was light, we went to check on our girls. Emma saw us and was ready for her breakfast, and quite miffed that we went into the chookpen instead. My little girl is still red and raw, but not bleeding so we're keeping an eye on her. We thought we might have to keep her in the bathroom for a while if she was bleeding, to make sure she wouldn't be pecked to death. She is the friendliest one of the bunch at this moment. She came up to me making cute noises and wasn't the least scared of me. There are two distinct camps in the pen at the moment - in the one corner we have the four big light Sussex girls, and in the opposite corner there are the four smaller brown Sussex girls. I felt like an umpire sitting in the middle (the US on the left, China on the right. The Ghawar Oil Field in the middle). We did get a present though - one brown egg! I'm impressed, although whoever it was didn't use the little egg laying box that PJ had so nicely made.
The brown girls are much easier around me than the white ones. They just huddled in the corner and glared at me. I was tempted to call them Mandy (1-4) in honour of the very worst and nastiest piece of work I've ever had to work for in my life (Curtin University Perth: Never work there if you can help it) but they are my girls and I want to like them all so at the moment they're somewhat nameless until I come up with something. Suggestions are welcome :)
Emma, meanwhile, was standing in the next field, looking all forlorn and grumpy. She was not impressed at all that I went somewhere else first. I quickly got her food ready, and she was rather feisty when I tried to get through the gate to feed her. I've found that my voice is getting better with Authoritah, so when I tell her to go back, she's actually doing it now. I fed her and brushed her, and she got another big cuddle. I can nowadays quite easily put my arms around her neck, it's quite comforting she lets me do that, although I'm still aware of her head and her movements.
While I was working there was an enormous racket outside during the day. Lots of cow noises, and around lunchtime I thought I'd better check on the (nasty) girls and what the hell was going on. Jeff, who was keeping cattle on the fields next to ours had asked if he could use the cattle race to move them. He had another guy helping him, and somehow Emma had gotten mixed up in the whole episode. So I came out, and said to PJ, where is Emma?? When we saw her being hassled by some young bully in the field next to ours. We were pretty annoyed to be honest - I'd even (jokingly) said to Jeff that he could use our facilities as long as he didn't accidentally sell Emma, and there she was, in with the crowd. Jeff's helper claimed he couldn't stop her but that's just stupid. Anyway, PJ managed to herd her away, I opened the gate and she came galloping. I gave her some hay because she'd been a good girl coming, but she was rather lonely and kept on standing at the fence, sniffing other cows. Poor girl... we might just have to get her another one, they are herd animals after all.
Throughout the day I've been checking on the nasty girls (wasn't there a song about them a while ago?), and I'm cautiously optimistic that they're not going to turn into cannibals yet. The littlest darker brown ones seem ok, they do their own thing. The white ones are still a bunch of bitches, pecking the light brown speckled girls one after the other. It was quite comical if it wasn't so mean, one managed to escape and hide in a laying box, but the other poor thing was abjectly sitting on the floor with her head bowed down, and the white ones would walk past and... PECK ('squawk'), and another one: PECK ('squawk') and so forth. As Head Head Hen I decided to tell the nasty ladies off, and they were quite indignified by me. I've read they are like this, and maybe it's silly of me to think I can teach them I don't like that behaviour as it seems unnecessary when they have enough space, food and water.
Anyway... it's late again! And I need my beauty sleep :) But if you want to read some more, here is the link of the day: What organic homesteading is all about.
Hasta la proxima!
We were going to buy some chooks. PJ had finished the chookpen just in time, working his (increasingly smaller) ass off in the morning. He only had the door left to be put on. We left at 11am, bought some chook feed, feeder and water dispenser on the way, and arrived at Ranelagh at about noon. There were so many chickens, and I saw my other favourite, a bunch of ducks, and even a goose. The noise was crazy. One chicken was even busy laying an egg as she was sitting in her little cage.
I didn't realise it was a bidding process - I thought you'd just turn up and buy what you wanted. So they started at the cattle side. They had some beautiful calves, and one gorgeous heifer which PJ got all excited about and wanted to bid for. I was a bit more hesitant - I felt it was too easy to be swept away by the atmosphere, and I don't think a cow should be an impulse buy. Besides, Ursula has a few young cows with little calves which she would quite happily sell to us, and that would mean that Emma (and her baby) will both have some company. And the little ones can play together! We'll be going over to Ursula's tomorrow morning to have a look. She also has a cockerel she'll give to us, which should be nice for the girls. Anyway. PJ was a bit grumpy as he thought the little heifer was beautiful (which she was) and she only went for $350. A lot of people seem to be selling off stock, as they don't have enough feed. It has been dry even here, and if you have to buy a lot of hay to feed your animals the costs soon add up. Quite a few cows looked underfed. We know now from Emma that they will get their condition back very quickly once they have some grass and feed, but still I don't want to overdo it and I don't only want cows either.
Finally we went to the chicken stable, and the bidding started. PJ loved it, I let him do the bidding and pretty soon we found ourselves with 4 little brown Sussex type birds (including the one who nicely laid an egg earlier in the day), and a little while later we had 4 more light Sussex hens as well. The average cost was about $8 per chicken, which I thought was fantastic! There were a lot of cockerels for sale, some were truly beautiful. But, no one needs more than one in a flock, so the poor things sold for $1, or $2. I calculated that if you like to eat chicken, you might as well come here, buy 4 cockerels and you have really fresh food for a month (if you eat chicken once a week). It's cheaper than the supermarket, and you know for sure it's fresh.
At that time I looked at my watch and found that it was 2pm already!! So work was going to be difficult to fit in. With buying some more strawbales and having to drive home, I thought I might as well take the day off as it was 3pm, and I wasn't going to be able to work through the night anyway. So while PJ ran off to put on the door, I decided to do another coat of paint in the sunroom. It's only the gloss left now, and then PJ can do the floor. I can't even put a date anymore on when we could possibly move in, but it'd be nice to be able to put up our bed and actually have real room to sleep in, and not go to bed and wake up with the computer staring at me.
By about 5pm we were ready to put our girls in their new home. I put the straw on the bottom of their house, and we got the boxes. It was a bit hard getting them out, but once they were out, they were looking around quite curiously. Gosh they sound so lovely! One little girl will be the bottom one in the pecking order I think... we had 2 per box, and her bottom was all pecked. All was quiet for about 15 minutes, when Mayhem broke out!! We have one really big fat light Sussex, who started sitting on all the others and pecking them. Quite a few fights broke out around us, and we weren't quite sure what to do. It was getting dark, so we thought we'd better leave them too it, and I read they normally calm down in the dark. But, when we looked half an hour later (when it was dark) my poor little girl was red and raw on one of her wings. Not good! We've been reading our poultry books, so now I now that chickens like the colour red, so they can turn to cannibalism pretty quickly if one is bleeding. Sheeez, girls! Emma was very curious, and was galloping up and down every time we walked up and down with straw and what not. She could hear all the noises, and even looked a bit insecure! I had to give her a big cuddle and some hay, and she was quite content after that.
It gave me a bit of a sleepless night, as I knew they'd wake up as soon as it is light. I had another read of my book and a search on the Internet, and realised I have to be the Head Head Hen. So, if Miss Muppet steps out of line again, I have to tell her off so she knows not to pick on the other ones too much. Whoever said that work couldn't be interesting! And it would look lovely on my CV, being able to say that I am the Head Head Hen (May 2008 - Current).
One way or another we got up at 6am, and as soon as it was light, we went to check on our girls. Emma saw us and was ready for her breakfast, and quite miffed that we went into the chookpen instead. My little girl is still red and raw, but not bleeding so we're keeping an eye on her. We thought we might have to keep her in the bathroom for a while if she was bleeding, to make sure she wouldn't be pecked to death. She is the friendliest one of the bunch at this moment. She came up to me making cute noises and wasn't the least scared of me. There are two distinct camps in the pen at the moment - in the one corner we have the four big light Sussex girls, and in the opposite corner there are the four smaller brown Sussex girls. I felt like an umpire sitting in the middle (the US on the left, China on the right. The Ghawar Oil Field in the middle). We did get a present though - one brown egg! I'm impressed, although whoever it was didn't use the little egg laying box that PJ had so nicely made.
The brown girls are much easier around me than the white ones. They just huddled in the corner and glared at me. I was tempted to call them Mandy (1-4) in honour of the very worst and nastiest piece of work I've ever had to work for in my life (Curtin University Perth: Never work there if you can help it) but they are my girls and I want to like them all so at the moment they're somewhat nameless until I come up with something. Suggestions are welcome :)
Emma, meanwhile, was standing in the next field, looking all forlorn and grumpy. She was not impressed at all that I went somewhere else first. I quickly got her food ready, and she was rather feisty when I tried to get through the gate to feed her. I've found that my voice is getting better with Authoritah, so when I tell her to go back, she's actually doing it now. I fed her and brushed her, and she got another big cuddle. I can nowadays quite easily put my arms around her neck, it's quite comforting she lets me do that, although I'm still aware of her head and her movements.
While I was working there was an enormous racket outside during the day. Lots of cow noises, and around lunchtime I thought I'd better check on the (nasty) girls and what the hell was going on. Jeff, who was keeping cattle on the fields next to ours had asked if he could use the cattle race to move them. He had another guy helping him, and somehow Emma had gotten mixed up in the whole episode. So I came out, and said to PJ, where is Emma?? When we saw her being hassled by some young bully in the field next to ours. We were pretty annoyed to be honest - I'd even (jokingly) said to Jeff that he could use our facilities as long as he didn't accidentally sell Emma, and there she was, in with the crowd. Jeff's helper claimed he couldn't stop her but that's just stupid. Anyway, PJ managed to herd her away, I opened the gate and she came galloping. I gave her some hay because she'd been a good girl coming, but she was rather lonely and kept on standing at the fence, sniffing other cows. Poor girl... we might just have to get her another one, they are herd animals after all.
Throughout the day I've been checking on the nasty girls (wasn't there a song about them a while ago?), and I'm cautiously optimistic that they're not going to turn into cannibals yet. The littlest darker brown ones seem ok, they do their own thing. The white ones are still a bunch of bitches, pecking the light brown speckled girls one after the other. It was quite comical if it wasn't so mean, one managed to escape and hide in a laying box, but the other poor thing was abjectly sitting on the floor with her head bowed down, and the white ones would walk past and... PECK ('squawk'), and another one: PECK ('squawk') and so forth. As Head Head Hen I decided to tell the nasty ladies off, and they were quite indignified by me. I've read they are like this, and maybe it's silly of me to think I can teach them I don't like that behaviour as it seems unnecessary when they have enough space, food and water.
Anyway... it's late again! And I need my beauty sleep :) But if you want to read some more, here is the link of the day: What organic homesteading is all about.
Hasta la proxima!
Monday, 12 May 2008
Frosty mornings
This morning we woke up late, around 7.30am. I had to get dressed and go outside, as our picnic chairs were still on the back of the truck, so that we could sit down in the kitchen and have some coffee and tea. And what a surprise it was... the chairs were frozen, and had a layer of ice on them. When I walked back to the house, Emma was waiting by the fence, eager to get her breakfast. The poor thing was also covered in a layer of ice, but I was horrible, and decided I really needed a cup of tea myself first.
We've been very busy over the last few weeks, and I've been a bit too tired and tied up to write. Three notable things happened over the past few weeks.
The first one was that Ursula stopped by for a surprise visit. Ursula is Ian's wife, who is the real estate agent we bought our first property from. She is from Switzerland, and we already found we got on quite well. We went over for dinner to theirs a few weeks back, which was lovely. Ursula loves Jerseys and wanted to see Emma, so she had decided to stop by. Apart from it being really nice to see her, I was keen to ask her some more questions. She is very knowledgable about cows, and her and Ian have about 80 cows themselves, so I had already discussed the birth, and milking with her. I wanted to ask her about Emma's behaviour, and whether it was normal. So, I explained what happened and we went out to have a look at her. As per usual, Emma decided to slowly walk towards us, but the closer she came, the faster she went. It's been quite a few mornings now where she gallops towards me and can barely stop in time, skidding on the grass. First of all, Ursula thought that Emma looked fantastic, so it looks like all my brushing is paying off. When she saw how Emma is around people, and her age (4) she said, Emma is just very happy to be here, and being a young cow, she wants to play! So poor Emma, I got her completely wrong. It's a relief to know that she's not mad and does not have undesirable behaviour problems. She's just a happy girl!! I was very happy with that, although 450kg of happiness coming your way is a lot. If nothing else, I have a new found respect for her, and am more aware when I'm in the field with her (and have an exit ready). Ursula had a good look around her, and Emma of course let Ursula scratch her favourite bits (being her bum and under her chin). Ursula reckons she is about 2 weeks away from birth now, so I'm watching her closely for any changes. I've noticed that she has a big 'vein' developing underneath her tummy to her udder, and that her udder is also starting to fill up. Part of my brushing routine is to 'fondle' (hahahaaa) her udder and teats. So far she hasn't minded at all, but she prefers me on her right side as opposed to the left. Something to bear in mind when we're building a milking stall. Ursula said she may get more touchy about this as she gets closer to birth, and she may also become less friendly towards me as her calf is due. Maternal instincts and all that, and I need to let the calf drink with her for a few days. After that, I will have to do the nasty on her, and keep her calf away from her at night, so I can milk her in the morning. From what I've found on the Internet and my books, Emma would really not be too impressed with this at all, and we're most likely in for a sleepless night the first time they're apart. The idea is that the udder will fill up over night, I milk her in the morning, and then the calf gets to spend the rest of the day with its mum, drinking the rest of the milk. I think this is the nicest way to do it. The other way is to take the calf away altogether, but then I'd have to milk twice a day, and feed the calf half of the milk anyway. It doesn't seem as nice and I think it's more natural if they can spend time together for most of the day. Unfortunately if we were to leave the calf with her at all times, there won't be any milk for us, so this is what we have to do! Ursula and Ian have a few cows with calves for sale, and we would like a few more as well. We have enough land, and as a cow is a herd animal it is nicer for Emma to have some company. We'll be going over next week some time to have a look. She also brought over some of her homegrown tomatoes, and boy, they were absolutely delicious. I feel a bit cheated sometimes as we are finding more and more fresh food. Food can be so tasty, and yet we're all conditioned to eat this shit that you buy in the supermarkets. I'm sure as a kid I must have had better food, but I'd forgotten what it tasted like. I made a bean salad with Ursula's tomatoes, and they were so tasty I didn't need any dressing. Try and do that with those hard tasteless bullets you buy in the supermarket!
The next thing that happened was that we met up with Joe, who is the local solar specialist. We found him initially on Salamanca Markets, and got talking with him then. One Wednesday evening we went over to his place, to decide how to proceed with our heating system. After seeing a lot of different things in his shed, we decided to go for two panels with solar tubes, which will work in combination with our woodstove which should come in about 2 weeks' time as well. It's all quite complicated how it's going to work, but they work together in heating up the water that we're going to need for our hydronic heaters and our domestic hot water use. PJ had a great day working on the roof with Joe. They clicked very well, and once they found out they both really like cycling, the conversation didn't really stop. So, we not only have hot water coming (and heating, which can't come fast enough!!) but PJ has also found himself another cycle club that cycles around the mountains here on a regular basis. Solar panels don't look that pretty, but still, I think the idea is great and it's cleaner and more sustainable than what we're using currently. So I think it's a beautiful thing on the roof. Of course there are not many houses around yet that have this, so people have been noticing it. We needed a plumber in Glendevie, and they knew straight away where we lived when PJ mentioned the panels on the roof. And this is not even everything! We will be looking at solar panels for electricity in the near future too, so we can be off the grid, but feed back into the grid - just as people are already doing on a large scale in Germany.
The last great thing (for lack of a better word) that happened was that I had an email from Steve - he and his wife Marjorie are musicians living in Franklin. I found them on the Internet when I was still in Perth, and met briefly when they had a performance in The Palais in Franklin. They invited us over for lunch yesterday, and said to bring our instruments. PJ felt shy and didn't want to bring his guitar, but I was keen to see whether we'd click. We had a lovely lunch, and Steve's mum came over as well. They are 'original' Tasmanians, the first we've met since we've been here. So it was very interesting to hear about the history of Franklin, and we also talked a lot about climate change, and good places to live in the world. Steve's mum was a very switched on lady, and said she thought we'd made a good decision coming here with the change in climate. Of course we have that, and other reasons for coming here, but it was good to hear someone of her generation also being aware of what's happening and reading up about the topic. After lunch, Marjorie and I picked up our violins and started jamming. It was absolutely great. I haven't played very much with other violinists, and I think we really clicked. We played a couple of tangos and gipsy tunes, whilst PJ and Steve were steadily working their way through a bottle of wine and having a good conversation. After a while, Marjorie brought out a few duets for violin that Steve had composed, and we started going through these. They are tricky pieces, but it sounded great. Steve was also very chuffed to hear his pieces being played, and both were happy as Marjorie's students are not quite ready to play them yet, and (probably because they're not easy) are not too keen on them either. I'll need to practise, but I think we both enjoyed ourselves and will catch up soon again to play a bit more. What an unexpected pleasant and happy surprise in my life! Steve plays the guitar, and PJ has found himself a sympathetic teacher which will be very good for him - and I think it's made him happier about picking up the guitar again as well. I am so happy about this, as I've found that once you play music it's very hard to get it out of your system, but there is nothing nicer than playing with other people. Practising with CDs or band-in-a-box is one thing, but music with human interaction is quite another.
What else.... Yesterday evening we went over to Monte and Rebecca's for a lovely lasagne dinner and multiple apple desserts - my favourite fruit, made with a variety of apple that was appropriately called Miranda! Today, we decided to give ourselves a break from all the painting and renovating we've been doing, and go for a walk in Hartz National Park. Unfortunately we had run out of bread so I first had to make dough, and then I realised I was out of yoghurt and tried to make that too. It's a bit more difficult at the moment as the stove is not cooperating fully (it's either very hot, or very hot), and PJ managed to break my milk thermometer that made it all the way from Perth in one piece! Bugger! I just found a kitchen shop on the Internet this evening, so I'll have to get another one as my yoghurt failed miserably when I checked it after 6 hours. The bread came out nice though :P Then we decided to quickly put one more undercoat in the first sunroom, and one thing led to another and we ended up going to the National Park quite late. We still managed to walk around for an hour though, and it was as majestic and beautiful as we remembered. The clouds were coming in, but we could still look out over the valley. Photos will be posted soon!
Next week Saturday we're going to Hobart to follow a first aid course. Apart from it being handy as I'm getting back into martial arts again, it will be a very useful skill for the future. It seems that everything is accelerating at the moment. We've seen oil climb to over $126, a rise of more than $10 in about as many days (and roughly double the price of what it was a year ago). I'm seeing more articles even in mainstream news talking about demand for oil outstripping supply, though never mentioning peak oil and the real effects this is going to have on everybody's life. Food shortages are in the news all the time, and when we did our food shopping on Thursday we saw that rice had actually sold out even from the supermarkets here.
And still the world around us is asleep.
I found a place in Victoria that does cheesemaking courses. They sell rennet over the Internet, as well as yoghurt starter cultures. This is a great find and they're not even expensive! PJ and I are planning to go over to Victoria in the near future, and do a few cheese courses - hopefully we can combine 2 one day courses that they hold over a weekend. I know I'll be having lots of lovely milk to practise with, and this will be invaluable information and knowledge for the future. Marjorie said that they would love a house cow at some stage, and that Steve's mum used to have one and make her own butter. I will have to ask her how she did this.
Ok, it's way past my bedtime....
Buenas noches!
We've been very busy over the last few weeks, and I've been a bit too tired and tied up to write. Three notable things happened over the past few weeks.
The first one was that Ursula stopped by for a surprise visit. Ursula is Ian's wife, who is the real estate agent we bought our first property from. She is from Switzerland, and we already found we got on quite well. We went over for dinner to theirs a few weeks back, which was lovely. Ursula loves Jerseys and wanted to see Emma, so she had decided to stop by. Apart from it being really nice to see her, I was keen to ask her some more questions. She is very knowledgable about cows, and her and Ian have about 80 cows themselves, so I had already discussed the birth, and milking with her. I wanted to ask her about Emma's behaviour, and whether it was normal. So, I explained what happened and we went out to have a look at her. As per usual, Emma decided to slowly walk towards us, but the closer she came, the faster she went. It's been quite a few mornings now where she gallops towards me and can barely stop in time, skidding on the grass. First of all, Ursula thought that Emma looked fantastic, so it looks like all my brushing is paying off. When she saw how Emma is around people, and her age (4) she said, Emma is just very happy to be here, and being a young cow, she wants to play! So poor Emma, I got her completely wrong. It's a relief to know that she's not mad and does not have undesirable behaviour problems. She's just a happy girl!! I was very happy with that, although 450kg of happiness coming your way is a lot. If nothing else, I have a new found respect for her, and am more aware when I'm in the field with her (and have an exit ready). Ursula had a good look around her, and Emma of course let Ursula scratch her favourite bits (being her bum and under her chin). Ursula reckons she is about 2 weeks away from birth now, so I'm watching her closely for any changes. I've noticed that she has a big 'vein' developing underneath her tummy to her udder, and that her udder is also starting to fill up. Part of my brushing routine is to 'fondle' (hahahaaa) her udder and teats. So far she hasn't minded at all, but she prefers me on her right side as opposed to the left. Something to bear in mind when we're building a milking stall. Ursula said she may get more touchy about this as she gets closer to birth, and she may also become less friendly towards me as her calf is due. Maternal instincts and all that, and I need to let the calf drink with her for a few days. After that, I will have to do the nasty on her, and keep her calf away from her at night, so I can milk her in the morning. From what I've found on the Internet and my books, Emma would really not be too impressed with this at all, and we're most likely in for a sleepless night the first time they're apart. The idea is that the udder will fill up over night, I milk her in the morning, and then the calf gets to spend the rest of the day with its mum, drinking the rest of the milk. I think this is the nicest way to do it. The other way is to take the calf away altogether, but then I'd have to milk twice a day, and feed the calf half of the milk anyway. It doesn't seem as nice and I think it's more natural if they can spend time together for most of the day. Unfortunately if we were to leave the calf with her at all times, there won't be any milk for us, so this is what we have to do! Ursula and Ian have a few cows with calves for sale, and we would like a few more as well. We have enough land, and as a cow is a herd animal it is nicer for Emma to have some company. We'll be going over next week some time to have a look. She also brought over some of her homegrown tomatoes, and boy, they were absolutely delicious. I feel a bit cheated sometimes as we are finding more and more fresh food. Food can be so tasty, and yet we're all conditioned to eat this shit that you buy in the supermarkets. I'm sure as a kid I must have had better food, but I'd forgotten what it tasted like. I made a bean salad with Ursula's tomatoes, and they were so tasty I didn't need any dressing. Try and do that with those hard tasteless bullets you buy in the supermarket!
The next thing that happened was that we met up with Joe, who is the local solar specialist. We found him initially on Salamanca Markets, and got talking with him then. One Wednesday evening we went over to his place, to decide how to proceed with our heating system. After seeing a lot of different things in his shed, we decided to go for two panels with solar tubes, which will work in combination with our woodstove which should come in about 2 weeks' time as well. It's all quite complicated how it's going to work, but they work together in heating up the water that we're going to need for our hydronic heaters and our domestic hot water use. PJ had a great day working on the roof with Joe. They clicked very well, and once they found out they both really like cycling, the conversation didn't really stop. So, we not only have hot water coming (and heating, which can't come fast enough!!) but PJ has also found himself another cycle club that cycles around the mountains here on a regular basis. Solar panels don't look that pretty, but still, I think the idea is great and it's cleaner and more sustainable than what we're using currently. So I think it's a beautiful thing on the roof. Of course there are not many houses around yet that have this, so people have been noticing it. We needed a plumber in Glendevie, and they knew straight away where we lived when PJ mentioned the panels on the roof. And this is not even everything! We will be looking at solar panels for electricity in the near future too, so we can be off the grid, but feed back into the grid - just as people are already doing on a large scale in Germany.
The last great thing (for lack of a better word) that happened was that I had an email from Steve - he and his wife Marjorie are musicians living in Franklin. I found them on the Internet when I was still in Perth, and met briefly when they had a performance in The Palais in Franklin. They invited us over for lunch yesterday, and said to bring our instruments. PJ felt shy and didn't want to bring his guitar, but I was keen to see whether we'd click. We had a lovely lunch, and Steve's mum came over as well. They are 'original' Tasmanians, the first we've met since we've been here. So it was very interesting to hear about the history of Franklin, and we also talked a lot about climate change, and good places to live in the world. Steve's mum was a very switched on lady, and said she thought we'd made a good decision coming here with the change in climate. Of course we have that, and other reasons for coming here, but it was good to hear someone of her generation also being aware of what's happening and reading up about the topic. After lunch, Marjorie and I picked up our violins and started jamming. It was absolutely great. I haven't played very much with other violinists, and I think we really clicked. We played a couple of tangos and gipsy tunes, whilst PJ and Steve were steadily working their way through a bottle of wine and having a good conversation. After a while, Marjorie brought out a few duets for violin that Steve had composed, and we started going through these. They are tricky pieces, but it sounded great. Steve was also very chuffed to hear his pieces being played, and both were happy as Marjorie's students are not quite ready to play them yet, and (probably because they're not easy) are not too keen on them either. I'll need to practise, but I think we both enjoyed ourselves and will catch up soon again to play a bit more. What an unexpected pleasant and happy surprise in my life! Steve plays the guitar, and PJ has found himself a sympathetic teacher which will be very good for him - and I think it's made him happier about picking up the guitar again as well. I am so happy about this, as I've found that once you play music it's very hard to get it out of your system, but there is nothing nicer than playing with other people. Practising with CDs or band-in-a-box is one thing, but music with human interaction is quite another.
What else.... Yesterday evening we went over to Monte and Rebecca's for a lovely lasagne dinner and multiple apple desserts - my favourite fruit, made with a variety of apple that was appropriately called Miranda! Today, we decided to give ourselves a break from all the painting and renovating we've been doing, and go for a walk in Hartz National Park. Unfortunately we had run out of bread so I first had to make dough, and then I realised I was out of yoghurt and tried to make that too. It's a bit more difficult at the moment as the stove is not cooperating fully (it's either very hot, or very hot), and PJ managed to break my milk thermometer that made it all the way from Perth in one piece! Bugger! I just found a kitchen shop on the Internet this evening, so I'll have to get another one as my yoghurt failed miserably when I checked it after 6 hours. The bread came out nice though :P Then we decided to quickly put one more undercoat in the first sunroom, and one thing led to another and we ended up going to the National Park quite late. We still managed to walk around for an hour though, and it was as majestic and beautiful as we remembered. The clouds were coming in, but we could still look out over the valley. Photos will be posted soon!
Next week Saturday we're going to Hobart to follow a first aid course. Apart from it being handy as I'm getting back into martial arts again, it will be a very useful skill for the future. It seems that everything is accelerating at the moment. We've seen oil climb to over $126, a rise of more than $10 in about as many days (and roughly double the price of what it was a year ago). I'm seeing more articles even in mainstream news talking about demand for oil outstripping supply, though never mentioning peak oil and the real effects this is going to have on everybody's life. Food shortages are in the news all the time, and when we did our food shopping on Thursday we saw that rice had actually sold out even from the supermarkets here.
And still the world around us is asleep.
I found a place in Victoria that does cheesemaking courses. They sell rennet over the Internet, as well as yoghurt starter cultures. This is a great find and they're not even expensive! PJ and I are planning to go over to Victoria in the near future, and do a few cheese courses - hopefully we can combine 2 one day courses that they hold over a weekend. I know I'll be having lots of lovely milk to practise with, and this will be invaluable information and knowledge for the future. Marjorie said that they would love a house cow at some stage, and that Steve's mum used to have one and make her own butter. I will have to ask her how she did this.
Ok, it's way past my bedtime....
Buenas noches!
Friday, 2 May 2008
Patience is a virtue
This week we have had a few setbacks. After finishing painting our first room, we noticed little hairline cracks appear all over the walls. Monte had earlier said to PJ he thought that using MDF could cause some problems with moving, and therefore being very difficult to paint over. Alas, the job had already been done, but he was right, and so, patience and some rework is now called for. PJ has been covering the cracks with some special sealant, but as it has been really cold this week, we've had to wait for it to dry so he can sand it, and I can subsequently paint it again. Sigh... I guess these things are sent to test us, and we'll just have to deal with it. We have decided as a result, to switch to gyprock boards, as they will not have this added feature that MDF has.
In the meantime, PJ has been continuing putting the Aircell up around the house (this is the insulation we use) and boarded up the sunroom with the remaining MDF boards. Now that we know what will happen, it's a matter of filling the cracks, sand, fill them again, sand... paint, sand... But we'll get there.
Work has been getting me down this week. It seems pretty meaningless what I'm doing, and I feel stuck. I'm stuck to the desk and don't feel that I'm really contributing with working around the house. I do some stuff in the evenings, but then not every evening, because even sitting behind a desk doing computer work is tiring. As an income it's pretty good though, and I guess that's a help for us as well. It gives us the means for PJ to be able to take 6 months off. And when I look at what he's doing, I must admit that I wouldn't have the skill or the patience. The house is not straight of course, so nothing can go straight on the walls.
Yesterday PJ pulled up the lino in the sunroom. I had a quick look, and saw that there were some newspapers underneath. So now we know they enclosed the verandahs around 16 January 1952!! It was quite interesting reading the newspaper - they were talking about the first nuclear tests in Australia, and were quite breezy about it. A snapshot in time, and although I don't know what to do with it I'm keeping it for now.
I had a good start to the week with Emma. I have been feeding her in the morning, and then brushing her. She loves being brushed, and she stands completely still so I can brush her all over. I've managed to brush her legs, her neck, her back, and I've been touching her udder and she doesn't mind any of it. I can lean against her which she seems to like. It's been good for me to get comfortable being close to her, and being able to walk around her. She's been nudging me a bit softer which is good too, after a big bruise she gave me on my leg affectionately (?) headbutting me last week. She's been licking my legs all over, which I think means she likes me. But, just as I was getting comfortable, she's been weird the last 2 days. Yesterday I finished brushing her, and she started bucking and boulking when I stopped. The word 'NO!' seemed to work a little bit, but not much. I was a bit concerned and thought I'd better get out of the field, but the bloody cow wouldn't let me. She'd fake charge me, and then start bucking again. To be honest, it freaked me out quite a bit. I was wondering whether we had a mad cow apart from the fact that there is no mad cows disease in Australia as far as I know. I noticed she'd calm down as soon as I'd start brushing again, but still. This is not acceptable behaviour!! This morning PJ came out with me to see how she was this morning. She looked all sweet and lovely, but as soon as I held the bucket with food in front of her, she went beserk again and was thrashing her head in the bucket spilling half of the food. PJ took over but she was like that with him too. He reckons that she might be hungry after a cold night, or that maybe her hormones are playing up getting close to birth. One way or the other, we decided that we do need to train her, so took her food away, and didn't brush her. She stumped off and started grazing, ignoring us. My my, what a temper our little bovine brute can have!
I've been looking up some information on cow behaviour, and haven't found anything that matches what she does. The general consensus seems to be that they only buck when they are nervous, scared or in pain. None of which applies to her. I posted a query on one of the farm forums, and one person suggested she's getting annoyed because she likes it, and gets cranky so that I will continue until she has decided she's had enough. Unfortunately for her, that is not going to happen! Apart from that, I found some other good information on starting to milk a cow - with lots of tips and what to expect, especially when they are not yet used to it. I think we're going to be in for an interesting time, and PJ has already said he'll build me a strong milking stall. The main message was to persist and not give up, no matter how cranky they get. Basically you want them to know that being cranky doesn't get them anywhere, because otherwise she'll learn that she gets her way acting like that. Phew. I think we're already having to start that with her! In the end, she has a role to fulfil in our household, which is to provide milk and keep the grass down. And she will have to learn to behave a certain way. I don't think we are treating her badly. When I was looking for information on dairy cows, I saw some atrocious sites and photos showing how they are kept in an industrial setup, where the poor things could not lie down, stand comfortably or even get to their water and (processed) food comfortably. Our Emma has a good life here, which is why I don't feel guilty about 'exploiting' her. Still, her behaviour with everything else that happened this week has been getting me a little down.
Tomorrow we're going to town, to have another look at Salamanca markets. We also want to pick up a chest freezer so we can start using our little energy saving device, and some beer ingredients so we can start brewing some good stuff. It'll be nice to go for a drive, and it will give the opportunity to have a look at what we can do for our impending kitchen.
Wednesday evening we went to see Joe, the solar guy in Ranelagh. PJ's been talking with him a fair bit, and he will be coming next week to install solar water heating on the roof. This will work in combination with our woodstove, and provide hot water for domestic use, as well as for our radiator heating. I'm very interested in seeing it all work. We had a good talk with him about going off the grid, and he can also supply solar panels which is another thing we can put on our roof. But that is for later. On the way there we got lost, and drove past this farm that had piglets for sale. I got quite excited, as I think they may be a really good addition to our farm. PJ is less keen though, and we will need to have very good fencing in place before we can have them. I like them because they will help you plow fields, and clear up roots and grass for you. They will also eat lots of scraps and drink the whey which I presume we'll have some of, when I start trying my hand at cheesemaking. The piglets were $80 each though, and I'm not sure if that's a good price.
So, there are still lots of interesting things happening around the house and the farm. We had some good rain this week, and our crops are surviving, even though there is some onslaught by snails which I will have to feed some beer to get them away from our food! I'm still keen to get some ducks, so they can perform a snail patrol around our veggie patch.
This weekend, Agfest is on in the north of Tasmania. Everybody we know is going, but we've decided that this first year we're going to stay at home. There is too much happening, and with cats and a mad cow in the field I'm just not quite ready to go away for a few days. Maybe next year! So, a quiet weekend ahead of us... the first one since we've arrived. I think we'll be catching up on some sleep!
Interesting articles read this week:
- Is Your Daily Life Enslaved by the Electronic World?
- Keeping fed
Interesting with a view to all the food articles out there lately - Closing the 'Collapse Gap': the USSR was better prepared for collapse than the US
- Shortages Threaten Farmers’ Key Tool: Fertilizer
- Belief system
- The waking up syndrome
- The 2020 Summit - will Rudd’s children forgive him?
About Australia and how our government is... yes, you guessed it!! Not going to do anything!! Woohooo!
and a funny one:
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