Ice in the Birdbath

Pretty cold here overnight and early this morning. The temperature plummeted to a low of -4.3 degrees.


We still managed to eat breakfast out on the kitchen deck. One of the joys of a north facing house.

Not so sure about the birds though.

Full Charge Ahead

Last Monday our solar system reached full charge for only the third time for the month of September. Last September we were fully charged three times for the entire month, but as there is another week to go we may beat this target this year. Last August we got to full charge on 14 days; this August we didn't make it once.

It's been a long cold wet winter, and so far a wet spring. Tonight again we were happy to tuck into a bowl of vegetable soup.

Sadly, we only managed to keep two of the kids that were born in early August. And today Mrs T, an elderly and much loved Toggenburg goat, lay down and had to be helped to her feet. In our experience goats really don't deal well with rain.

Today there was snow on the Great Western Tiers. No wonder we can hardly remember our recent holiday in northern Queensland. Still, there's new growth in the paddocks, and we've begun to cut down the quantity of hay we're feeding out. The cold weather can't last forever; soon we'll be complaining about the heat and the lack of rain.

Getting Dunked

I hate to do this to those of you who have toughed out the winter without escaping north, but Farmdoc and I have just returned from ten days in Far North Queensland and I can't help gloating. It was so beautiful it was almost impossible to take photos: they all looked like such cliches. These three were taken from our room on Dunk Island.

We swam, we ate too much, we paddled a kayak through turquoise water, we climbed to the highest point on the island - the top of Mount Kootaloo - to admire the view.

We trekked through the National Park that covers most of the island, and discovered tucked away beaches.

I apologise for this post.

Kids Will Be Kids

Here is one little kid watching the video of another little kid from the post below:

Meanwhile, the goat kid is thriving and has been joined by several new playmates.

The cold weather doesn't seem to be bothering them at all.

Just kidding

When we fed out hay to the stock this morning

We found the kid we'd seen yesterday

plus this little brown one being guarded by its mother

Standing around in the cold we heard bleating coming from the bushes. Up amongst the rocks I found this new litttle chum:

I watched it as it struggled to its feet:

It wobbled slightly:

and then stood firm:

Hay Ho,Hay Ho