05-14-03

 

Rampant sunshine here, I have been working in a t-shirt, 54mm of rain in the Sydney CBD since 9am.  There is no rain here in the Western Districts of Victoria forecast in the forseeable future.  Well, at least I'm getting a lot of washing done.  Have to tell you, very few people over here have dryers, we mostly use clothes lines.  In fact, the Hill's Hoist rotary clothes line was invented by a guy in Adelaide.  We have so few electric clothes dryers that our local LARGE supermarket only stocks one brand of dryer fabric softener, and certainly no home brands.  Current temp. is 20 deg. C or 68 deg. F.  And that's in the shade.

 

Our cat that was dumped on us, Madam Cabochard, has had her kittens, and she has now moved them to the Garden Shed.  They are a little on the feral side, but I'm working on them.  The poor dogs really can't understand why they are not allowed to hug them with their teeth, and the little spitfires expand to twice their size chasing the dogs away.  I will have to find homes for them soon, and I hope she does not get pregnant again, or we will have to give her to the local pound, as we cannot afford to get her desexed and I do not want to "litter Australia".  They are gorgeous little grey tabbies, though, and Madam Cabochard has never ever scratched me.  I have not seen a trace of a rodent around the place, and that includes the chook pen.

 

Speaking of unwanted animals, we have had several 'phone calls about the goats today, so hopefully they will be going to a good home tomorrow.  One bloke wanted some of them as part of a "Farming over the last 100 years" exhibition.  I said that unfortunately they were already spoken for (I'm sure you know how early you have to telephone to take advantage of freebies), but he did tell me that some Scottish Longhair cattle were going for as cheaply as $60, and the same with belted galloways, which I always call the "g-stripe cow".  We want to mate the two, and get a miniature, g-striped longhaired.  Now, doesn't that sound interesting? 

 

Phew!  I've just been chasing those silly goats over from next door again.  Rembrandt is the only one who doesn't stray, and he needs his nails clipped, which is probably why.  It's just so much fun climbing over barbed wire fences and running after a goat who can't figure out how he managed to get into next door's paddock in the first place.  Barbecued goat is suddenly looking very attractive, so it's a good thing that Carmel and her husband will be taking the blighters.

 

I had my first ripe fig from one of our trees the other day, and am waiting for a second to ripen.  I've placed it on the windowsill.  Glory, that first one was just so scrumptious.  I could have pigged out on several dozen, never mind the ramifications a day or so down the track.  Sometimes it is a mixed blessing when other members of the Family don't like the same things as you.  I had it all to myself.  Shame about that.

 

Just telephoned a stock agent, as we will be offloading the Friesians.  Finally.  We need still to pay back my dear Mother-in-law, who would have to be one of the nicest people I have ever met.  She very kindly loaned us the money to buy our tractor, if you remember, and told us to take our time about paying it back.  The Australian Government has instigated a system whereby if you sell cattle at the Market, they must have ear or tail tags, which cost.  So does the paperwork, if only in terms of time.  I think we can bypass this if we get an Agent to sell to.  Also, prices have been ludicrous, as you can see above, so we need to get a good price to pay back the $900 and have a reasonable profit, having paid for the critters and their milk early on.

 

I still have not had any success with the Apple Butter recipe, so perhaps soon l'll just wing it and see if it turns out OK.  I'll let you know.  I try and go for simple recipes, as I find it is easier, having no great desire to impress my husband, who is as happy with satay out of a bottle as made from scratch.  For lunch I had a very plain Greek dish of boiled rice which I then put in a microwave safe container with some raw spinach and a little olive oil.  Covered and steamed for a few minutes on high, then served with lemon juice and salt, it is "pollee orayus" as the Greeks say.  Very good.  Good for what ails you, coming into winter, too.

 

The flour mites seem to be 99.99% gone, which is such a relief, as I thought we would never get rid of them.  I will restock some time down the track in that cupboard.  I am very grateful that I did not have to spray.  We still have the dogs infected with fleas, so I will be happy when Brian finally has the Ute roadworthied and on the road so that he can concrete the dogs' enclosure and I can finally get rid of the little festers.  I really must get into feeding them more garlic and put more wormwood in their current enclosure, which is bedded with sawdust and wood flakes.  An ideal breeding ground, and almost impossible to fumigate successfully.  Not that I want to use such things with the dogs.

 

I took our yabby to school for Alice's class the other day.  It was a great success.  I gave the children a talk on yabbies and told them not to try and touch it or they would be in a great deal of pain.  I have found that usually (but not always!) works with children.  We have an underground storage tank for overflow rainwater.  It leaks, but Brian will, one day, plug it up. Then we will breed yabbies in it.  It's no good for rainwater as the gutters of the Hovel collect too much dead milk powder from the air wafted through from Murray Goulburn.  Tastes terrible!

 

Until next week - Dominus tecum, Leonie