Animal Farm

Feeling happy!

Me and MG at Dover beach on Aussie Day. I now know where Georgia gets her gorgeous hair from!

"look at mummy! doesn't she look funny" (ha ha) - lovely kiddies giggling

Bonnydoon - serene despite ol' Genny* running on Jerry's** good juice. We have names for everything now. This is how we manage with all this *time*. I say this as I listen to Georgia's sleeping breaths and Genny's low rumble. Little Lucy nibbles at my toes and her soft dark curls tickle my feet.


Let's talk about animals.

Richard aka Dickie aka Fabio

Giddy - daughter of Anna - lovely natured goatAnna - mother of Giddy - lovely natured but a tad skittish

Georgia with Lucy-lou - Cavilky puppy age 9 weeks

We are pleased to welcome to Bonnydoon some bonnie lasses and a handsome lad. Anna and Giddy are two (dairy) goats who are currently chowing down on some thistles. They are eating our weeds before we put them to a buck so we can get some milk. I bought some goat soap on the weekend and that would be fun to make. Handsome Richard (so named after the handsome Richard Gere) - aka Dickie is our cock-shaped alarm clock who crows at 6:20, 7:20 and 8:20am (we usually just ignore him and we wake up around 9am). He really is quite charming and roosts in a bush down in the forest. Today we acquired (bought) some pullets from the most dodgy chicken farm (actually a free range farm but dodgy all the same) and Dickie is doing a funny mating dance for the two girls, who are not interested in him in the least. They are chickens like the last ones we had (bitsas) and no, there are no plans to eat these ones - perhaps we shall eat the sons when they are around 15 weeks old. Want to come for roast chook?

Lucy-Lou (Lucy) is my new Cavilky pup. She is a cross between a cavalier and a silky. She is very sweet and affectionate and fun. I'm already training her. It's a bit odd that we got the farm dog when we lived in suburbia and the lap dog when we arrived on the farm, but since when have I been normal? My plan for Lucy is to find a cavilky mate and breed the pair.

The house is coming along - at least we hope it is. The architect is working on the drawings and I am hoping and praying and being really good in the hope that the house might be ready by next winter because all the locals are telling us how very freezing it gets here. Our neighbour even showed us photos of the 2004 snows on our hills. Eeeek! Monte is lugging wood around the place in the hope of getting a collection ready by winter, but going by most of the neighbours' wood piles, we're way behind and will most probably have to endure the winter on a tropical island like Tahiti or something.

We are settling in well and we are so happy to have some chickens now. They really are very entertaining and Dickie just makes it even more amusing! The children are very happy. Georgia can't wait to start school in 2 weeks. I can't wait either! She needs the structure and the learning. She is doing a kindergarten level workbook at present and is working through very quickly. She's a bright spark like her father. Matthew is really cheeky and finds everything funny. He is being particularly gorgeous and I am still feeding him 3-4 times a day. He is growing a lot and is quite tall and solid with a very cute face and a big smile and a cheeky laugh. He says "ta" repetively when he wants food, but if we have chips he yells "TA" in an agro tone because he is chip mad like his mum! must. not. eat. chips. or. drink. beer. (that's me, not Matty)

I am blissfully happy and excited about this life we have chosen. I love to sit at the table near my hillsy*** overlooking the hills and greenery and the cows. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity and I am really proud of mg who has taken everything in his stride. He seems able to do everthing and he knows so much! I am learning a lot too. So is Georgia - she drives up the driveway everyday.

SO much to say and so little time. It is late now so my incoherent rambling must come to an end.

Georgia cuddles up to Anna. Very sweet!

I wouldn't kiss the dog, it's just a pose. But I do find her very cute! My own little Ewok!

*generator
** jerry can of petrol

***hills hoist

Yay!

LOL for the first time in 3 weeks, we have internet up and running at home. No thanks to Telstra, whose wireless broadband doesn't support leopard! We installed a mac version of vista so we can be online. Monte's brother Chris has been a great help in sourcing info for us regarding internet and our power supply. You go man!

So, here I am at long last - internet widow for one. Blogging in the comfort of my own home too! Monte's chai tea has gone cold, and I miss our candlelit supper tonight! :(

I have no more to say; perhaps now people might catch me on ichat or skype! With the webcam on, I should attempt to fix up my relaxed appearance. Go trackies! Go messy hair! Go makeuplessness!

ciao x

Wow, I didn't mean to look glum when this photo was taken. I remember it was bright, and I was mesmerised by the views and the clouds. No, really, I AM happy! In actual fact, yesterday I had an epiphany. I sat on a blanket alone, looking over the hills (in backgound of this pic) and thought to myself that I live in the best possible spot on the planet!

Update

Possibly the best picture I have ever taken. Matthew is a real country feller in his overalls, with his trusty companion d'Artagnan.



When we arrived at the property, the first thing we did was walk the top perimeter. That's everybody, including the cat.

It was Monte's birthday the day we arrived. We celebrated midnight with a cake and some Moet! And yes, Georgia did stay up late.

Monte is building a power station. Here, the children are thinking that it is a cubby house, but in actual fact, their cubbyhouse will be down in the next paddock, under (or in) a 150 year-old blackwood tree!

This is me on the day we arrived. I am standing in front of my very own forest. It is divine.



We are thrilled that we sold our house at the price we wanted at auction last weekend. We are looking forward to getting things moving with the building of our new house. I'm sure it will take time! Life is good. We are very happy. In a moment we will go for a little drive in the country. It's all so relaxing and peaceful here, although cows are quite noisy!

Finally an Update!

Ok, so we're here in Tasmania. We don't have internet at home yet. Actually, we have the internet, but the internet doesn't support Mac OS10.5 yet, so poo to Telstra. We're all sitting in the local online centre, which is very flash. Georgia is playing games and Matthew is feeding a baby dolly with a toy bottle!

I have SO much to say. I just don't have the time to do it. So I will use lists at this stage.

Highlights:

• evening cups of tea by candlelight with my husband, as we debrief the day etc
• rigging up the coffee machine and enjoying my two lattes before I can function
• sleep ins! Don't know why or how, but we all sleep in till about 8:30-9:00!
• Outdoor dining. We have two set-ups - one for cool days and one for warmer days.
• Beautiful cool-warm weather
• Seeing friends the Smiths a few times a week
• Our views!
• Getting to know cows. They are pretty cool!

Lowlights:

none, except for poor phone reception, no internet, no tv. But these are not really lows! They're not even inconvenient!

What we have done on the 'cabin.'

• cleaned a lot!
• put in a toilet
• putting in a kitchen sink
• set up our furniture - it is all comfortable and feels like home. Washing and dishes etc are all easy and it's going really well.
• We have set the bus up as a playroom - very cool - and have put the leather lounges in there too. It's comfy enough.

How the land is doin':

• We're getting in cows soon to chew the grass down.
• We planted a vege patch but wallabies and rabbits ate the lettuce (no derr)
• We've planted citrus, olives, avocado and some other fruit trees

The house:

We've met the architect and it's coming along. We've chosen the house site. It's going to be a big house! I am loving the smaller cabin but more rooms will be good so we can fit in more kids and more books! We've opted out of strawbale for several reasons and we will be using hebel blocks on a waffle-pod foundation.

How we are all feeling:

We're all feeling great. I am really happy but I have certainly had a few flat days, when it seems a bit hard to unpack everything and settle in. I think I miss working but am too busy to consider it at this stage. Monte is loving the hard work and he is losing weight and looking fantastic! He's really tanned and is making me feel so happy. He is going out of his way to make a home for us all. Georgia is tanned too; my little porcelain girl is going brown. She loves the farm and the dog. She is helpful around the farm. She follows Monte around and helps him as much as possible. She loves putting things away and helping me with the jobs too. Matty is gorgeously happy too. His hair is getting long and is very curly. He is talking a lot. He plays very nicely. We're all a bit nervous about the auction tomorrow but we are assuming all will go well. We are also all excited about meeting our new baby girl "Lucy" who is going to be either a border collie or a king charles cavelier spaniel!

TTFN (tata for now!)