Hunting for Eggs

You're never too old to enjoy an easter egg hunt; even at nearly 25 and 20. The competition is fierce and physical. Strength outweighs beauty in the fight for supremacy. There is nothing gentlemanly or ladylike in the execution; anything goes.

To the victor go the spoils!

Somehow they ended up finding six eggs each!

Dinner Duty

Gibbo and Meg were on dinner duty tonight and they whipped up a simple but delicious dish of steak (what else?) and steamed rice with a choice of 4 dipping sauces. Our Japanese colleague brings us dipping sauces and special salt each time he visits. We rated them 1 - 4 and mostly had a different order of preference.

Well done on the end (for my Mum), rare in the middle and medium rare on the right.

Deliverance

Drew likened Gibbo's poultry compound to the movie, Deliverance. Before I'd been up there to have a look for myself, I thought he was being overly dramatic. I don't now. In fact, I agree with him. G isn't worried about how it looks; he just wants his chooks safe. As he did load after load after load of pens and poultry, he just dropped everything off and went back for the next one. Now that everything and everyone is here, the work has started on building the security fence. A fox attack is inevitable and until the compound is secure, G can't sleep well at night. He loves his chooks.

Drew helped nearly all day, the two of them digging holes and cementing. Then they ran out of cement. Then it poured rain; 23mm.

Can you see why I insisted we agreed to site the compound a little way away from the house so that it's hidden from view. You can? Good.

Internet, Woodlawn Style

 Access to the internet is proving to be a challenge at the new farm. We have invested in an aerial and a patch cord that plugs into my wifi unit. (Unfortunately, said unit cannot operate without being permanently plugged into a power source because it's battery life is non-existent. It can appear to be fully charged but then be totally flat within minutes of being unplugged; it gets so hot sometimes that the "temperature is critical" and it shuts itself down).

Since finding the best position on the roof for the aerial and then hanging the wifi box nearby we are mostly connected. However, the patch cord and the aerial cord are quite short in length - so the wifi box has to have an extension lead attached that winds through the kitchen, through the sliding door entrance and out onto the verandah - a temporary arrangement especially once winter comes and the cold air streams in through the gap in the door.

Settling In

The new manager and his family arrived yesterday and are settling into our old house while we're settling into our new house.

Last night and early this morning we did lots of this....I only took one photo; we worked too quickly to take many others. There's still a bit of crivac packs of steak to finish off - the rib, the eye and the striploin. She was a fullblood cow out of 003 and looks to be a 4 or 5 so should eat well.

 Meg's home; can't you tell?

Our friend and his three chainsaws came out today; their other friend, the wood chipper machine, came too. When Peter was here on the weekend we walked around and earmarked trees that needed to go; some diseased, some planted in the wrong place and crowding out others; some too close to the house for comfort in strong winds. The boys worked liked demons and got through a power of work. Only two trees are left, near the house tank and clothes line. They're also the two that will take the most delicate manoeuvres to drop safely. It looks fantastic already and will only get better as we work towards making the garden/yard into a park-like area.

This chipping machine is one of the meanest things I've ever seen. Even going near it and hearing it grind the branches makes me nervous. Once you go in one end you come out the other in tiny little pieces; talk about lethal.

This tipuana went in stages. Our friend hurt his hand last week so G had to do a lot of the chainsaw work (under direction).

Explaining the concept. Note the 4 wheeler in the background with rope attached; the full extent of WH&S.

Getting ready to run if things go bad. Going......

Going......

Gone! And managed to only just clip the corner of the outdoor area gutter on the way down, no damage done.

Job well done.

Tomorrow, if everything goes to plan, we want to make strawberry jam, tomato relish and laundry liquid.

Coming Home

Coming home this evening I was compelled to pull up and take a pic of the moon high in the sky. It was about 6pm. What a beautiful sight.

We're In

We're in and slowly making progress. The floors in the lounge/kitchen/dining are cleared and so are the kitchen bench tops. The lounge is set up and so is the tv (of course). The office is a disaster site but that's ok; I'll chip away at that. We're still sleeping on the floor but we'll put the bed together over Easter.

It's all very nice to be in our own place and space.

The local wildlife are doing their best to keep the grass down in the garden. Not. Much yelling and clapping of hands sees them tear off at a rate of knots, back up towards the cattle yards where their mother is unhappily ensconced.

The chooks are slowly arriving in all manner of disarray. I'm not sure they'll ever fully recover.

I'm very much looking forward to the 4 day break. End of month will be done, I'll be caught up with work and can potter away in the office and garden. Oh, and now that the moving is done and most of the unpacking has finished, the children will be home. It will be nice to kiss and hug them again.

Not a Happy Chap

Poor Poofy; he knew something was going on Thursday morning when Gibbo put crumbles and water in the dog pen. He wouldn't come when Gibbo called - this was the result. A little extra encouragement was required.

Goodbye House

It's been great but it's time to leave. I hope you enjoy the next family.