The Little Things

Little things happened this week.

Here's the cooked goat roast from last Sunday.

Coco ate too much left over wagyu meat from the big cook up at the feedlot (a hindquarter cut into big pieces).  She made a pig of herself over the leftovers, ate too much.....and ended up at the vet on a drip for 2 nights and 3 days with a bout of pancreatitis and a bright purple bandage. She's not very friendly with the vets; she knows that bad things happen when she goes there. Here she is in the car, sporting two shaved legs and a boring white bit of sticky bandage to stop the bleeding when the drip was removed.

Meg came home on Friday night; she has booked and paid the deposit on her next adventure - a 4 week trip to Turkey and Egypt in April/May next year (Anzac and Ancient Egypt).

The three of us walked on Saturday morning, inspecting the newly dug out small dam and checking the water level in the tank. Apparently it's going to rain big time this week so the dam should be full by the weekend. We've had a little bet on it.

Gibbo surprised us both by suggesting we go to Pips & Cherries for breakfast. A moment of madness??!!! He mustn't have been feeling well!! He never suggests things like that. We both jumped at the suggestion and yelled YES. We had a very pleasant time made all the better by me winning scissors, paper, rock when discussing the room configuration when we go on our FAMILY CRUISE in March!! Another one of Gibbo's ideas (not sure what's got into him lately). In the end we decided to be "all in together" in a 4 berth cabin........ If you knew me you might know that I don't ever partake in games such as scissors, paper, rock. I prefer to make a well considered decision and then stick to it - whereas the other G type people (ie Gibbo, Meg and Drew) love to play. They play and play until one or the other gets the outcome they desire which means games can go on for quite a while. I've usually wandered off by then to do something meaningful.

Meg and I went to town to help unpack my Dad's gear at his new house. All my family were there - Mate, Mum, Peter and Andrew. Lots of work was done unpacking and cutting back trees and shrubs. It's a perfect little house for him and his little dog.

While we were away some sheep were delivered to Woodlawn - 6 ewes and 3 lambs. The menagerie is growing. These weren't the sheep that we had intended to get but circumstances in another family meant that the sheep ended up with us. It looks like circumstances in a different family again will see a number of goats turn up here in the next week or so. And then there'll be the pigs. I'll have to give up full-time work soon. Yesterday afternoon we tried to walk the sheep up to the water trough. The plan was thwarted by Poofy and Coco trying to help. Farm dogs they aren't. Today the sheep walked up on their own. Perhaps they're not so stupid after all. Also today we ran two barbs to stop the weaners getting into the sheep paddock.

Speaking of the weaners, they have finally worked out that they have to walk back up the laneway to the yards to water at the trough. We've had to bring them up each day from their grazing paddock, Gibbo on the bike and me on foot (running across the paddock, through the grass, some of it shoulder high). Low stress stock handling - not for me it's not. Yesterday morning, they began to wander up in dribs and drabs to drink at the yards; by yesterday afternoon they were old pros at it.

Drew has had his first exam; has 2 tomorrow and the last one Thursday. He has picked up two hospitality jobs in the last week or so - one at an upmarket bar on Eagle St Pier (where he worked a 10 hour shift on Melbourne Cup day) and the other at a well known seafood restaurant in Milton (first night last night and he loved it - and the table of QUT Law graduate girls apparently loved him too)!! He isn't coming home for these holidays - he's going to stay in Brisbane and work, work, work to save money for his trip to Switzerland.

This morning we moved two lots of chickens from the shed up to The Compound. While were were there we put up some extra shelter on a couple of pens in case the predicted big rain actually comes this week.

Little Big Red is still with us, still being ostracised by Pepper. Sometimes he looks so sad I want to cry for him; sometimes he bunts me so hard I want to smack him.

Late this afternoon I gardened, planting the last of the iris that I brought from the feedlot along with a honeysuckle (outside the dining room window where we sit to eat and talk), two red hippiastrums and a day lily. These I planted in the metre wide gardens that run along the sandstone outdoor area. I'm planning on a wisteria up one end as well. It got too dark to take photos.