Ants...

Get outta here... and the did :)

Due to the dry we have had problems with a tiny ant colony that had made their home in our oven right behind the fan... Needless to say it blew up the heating coil which we have not been in a rush to replace mind you. We have our convection oven as well as the solar oven so have gotten by just fine... The new element will be coming shortly though... eBay wins again. Just too dear in the shops. :(

Cheers Damaris

What a beauty :)

Better dead than alive...

So glad to have this fellow or lady actually squished... For the last couple of weeks we have had some monsters around here. All that rain and sudden rise in temperature has brought out the hugest mosquitoes and flies you have ever seen.

This mozzie was not so lucky as to keep drinking from my blood. She had had me the night before on the couch and then again while sleeping last night... That was enough. Must say she is the biggest one I have ever seen...

Sorry had to share. :)

Cheers Damaris

A wonderful week coming to a close...

The view from our table...left side
Right side... just beautiful...

As I have written before my friend Adam has been staying with us all of this week. That comes to an end unfortunately tonight...

Yesterday, Russell, Adam and I went to Queen Mary Falls just past Killarney near the NSW border. We did the 2km round walk taking lots of photos. Russell took some beautiful ones. We have new screen savers now. :) As it had been raining there earlier in the week things looked allot greener then when I was there a few weeks ago with Angela so that difference was really lovely to see.

After our walk we went past the falls and kept driving another 7km to the Spring Creek Lodges and Cafe. What a wonderful view! I was amazed at how close to the edge we could sit. The restaurant was built so that you could see it all. What an amazing achievement. It was wonderful to sit down there. The view, oh soooo refreshing for the soul.

We were only going to have the Traditional Devonshire Tea there but Russell and I ended up taking Adam out for lunch. We all agreed that it was wonderful food and will be back. Adam even mentioned taking his mum there as she would love it there, not just for the wonderful food but for that spectacular view.

We were also very fortunate that it was overcast so we could see it all. Had the sun been out we would have cooked and would possibly not have sat so close to the edge. But it was cloudy and we enjoyed it all.

Coming home was a lovely drive in Adam's hybrid car. Her name is Pippa. I loved watching the gauge to see when the electric battery was fully charged. Rather addictive... :) We ended up finishing the night with a couple of games of Canasta. Have not played that in a long time and was great to do. Off course I lost big time... The boys beat the pants off me, figuratively speaking.

It truly has been an absolute pleasure to have Adam here this week. I am currently so relaxed and know that I have him to thank for that.

This morning he took Joshua to the movies in Toowoomba to see 'Astro Boy'. Timothy is in respite with Bluecare this weekend and will be home tomorrow afternoon. Russell and I took this opportunity to plant out some plants that I had kindly been given by my youngest brother and his lovely wife. They were getting rid of a whole heap of Mulberry trees and I got to get one. Other lovely bushes with flowers and grasses were also donated. Thank you again Chris and Mary.

We are still looking at our options for green and shade houses. We have realised, finally, that we also need a shed for tools that are kept outside. The weather is taking its toll on them and this way we don't have things blowing all over the property when it gets windy, which is alot around here.

I also watered our orchard this morning and found that most of what Sausage and Chloe and the hares and wallabies have been chewing on has still some shoots on it. The fig is doing exceptionally well. Both apples are with shoots, same with the fijoa. I did lose an olive tree and the Mango tree which I am not happy about. Will have to replace those. But all in all not bad.

Russell and I had decided that when we first got here that we gave ourselves five years to get things going well. Well that timeline has started again from when the cows left really. So from now we still have our five years. Forget the last two. Shame about that but better going forward then dreaming of something that is not real.

So for the next year we are going to be planting like mad and ensuring that everything gets water when it needs it. I even have it in my diary so I don't forget. That will give everything a good fighting chance.

Off now to enjoy some more time with Russell before Joshua and Adam get back. lol

Cheers Damaris

Orchard getting there...

Looking rather bare, but the plants are in there...

Yesterday Russell and I were rather busy. He was busy digging holes and I was busy filling them...

We finished putting in all the berry canes. I will make sure that they don't escape into the wild as some berries can. The boys are so wanting to pick them off the bush but at the moment they are just sticks. They will have to wait a couple of years before we get anything.

The orchard is rather bare at the moment as the calf has still been getting into the area. No amount of electric wiring is slowing him down or stopping him for that matter...

The wallabies are also happily munching on some canes that I put in the ground last weekend. I had to replant five plants that had been stripped of little leaves and had been ripped out of their planting hole. But thanks to a wonderful friend I am going to try an organic homemade spray that once they smell the cayenne pepper in it they will not bother them again... Here is hoping.

I also dug allot of holes in the backyard as well. Had the two dogs for company and they loved smelling the soil as I dug out the holes. We have some shrubs and trees growing in there now which will make it nice and a little shady in years to come.

We are getting there... I wish in a way that it was spring as I really want to get into the veggie garden but there is no use as we are still getting frost. Have not for the last couple of days but we are expecting more this weekend. So will have to be patient... Hard to do when there is so much we need to do...

Cheers Damaris

Animals interactions

Sausage teasing Bailey as he knows he can't get him...

Don't know about you but I love to watch our animals interacting with one another.

Over the last few weeks my gander, Chuck has gotten really close with my Cavalier Bailey. Not on the friendly type either. You see they don't get along. Whenever Bailey sees Chuck, he barks at him which invites Chuck up to try and take a bite out of him. The closer to the yard fence that Chuck gets, the louder the barking and carrying on from Chuck. It is sooo funny to watch them...

Bailey also loves having a go at Sausage, our calf. He barks at him and mum, Lorray comes charging up at his as if to say, "You stay away from my baby!" The calf just looks at him and gets closer to sniff him. He is very curious.

I also love to watch the chooks. They are so funny. Love to hear them clucking away. Bruce, the Rooster is wonderful in his little antics if he finds some food for his girls and let them know about it. The babies love running up to me as if to ask for food whenever I am near their chookhouse. Go find your own food, you have 8 acres to run around on, I say...

The ducks keep quacking away, and heaven help the geese when they try to break up Quack and Beauty (mum and dad ducks) when they are mating. The geese get upset and make a racket but the ducks still keep going at it :)

It is funny watching the chooks and ducks fighting over the dead mice at the moment as well. They launch themselves at the pile I throw out of a morning and at intervals whenever I happen to go to the shed to check for more and to reset traps. Over the last (nearly) three weeks we have caught about 300 mice and still get a handful every day. Today I left out two buckets of milk for the chooks, geese and ducks to let the sun curdle the milk (so they don't get the runs) and ended up with three drowned mice in the buckets. Well done I say and didn't even plan that one.

They keep me very amused and love to share with the kids what the animals have been up to. They also love to hear about it...

Cheers Damaris

And then there were 31 less, mice that is...

Bottom right shows shadow of a chook wanting to get her beak on that mouse...

Out here we have had a problem with mice for the last two months or so. Alot of people in the village are sharing stories about their homes being invaded by the critters. I can't stand them myself. Joshua used to have them as pets. That was fine as long as I could not smell them or had to feed them. I am more a dog person. :)

Yesterday while in town I went to the Hardware and decided to get the cheapest mouse traps that would work. So I ended up with 12 wooden ones for $.60 each. I got home and with Timothy (who is still home from school due to pins in his broken arm) helped me put them all over the shed floor. We got a heap yesterday and kept checking the traps, adding more peanut butter if need be.

We did it again one last time last night when I finished milking Lorray and left the shed be for the night. This morning I had 31 mice in total dead, ready for the chooks and ducks to eat. They had a feast and wanted more. This is gonna safe me some seeds as well which is an added bonus.

This has been the best option that we have used to far I must say. I had used Ratsak before but only found a few and didn't want them leaving the shed and then eaten by my animals or native birds etc.

I am about to go out again and see what the traps are up to and how many we get but one thing is for sure - when milking this morning, I don't see or hear anywhere near as many as I did yesterday running around the place. It is nearly quiet, just the way I like it.

Here is to the end of an invasion. Now how to keep them out of the garden and my roof area.....

Cheers Damaris

Update: Over the last week we have killed about 200 mice and still going. The numbers have come down alot but they are still there... Now it is getting colder hopefully we can get them all. They don't tend to breed during the colder months but the shed is warm and dry so here is hoping they don't all find it from the neighbourhood....