By Judy Barnet, Ag Columnist
The Big Day is nearly here. And I am nearly ready! Oops, no by the time you read this the big day has been and gone.
The day has come to wean the calves, I will still go down every morning and afternoon to check them but the days of lugging a bucket of milk and a bucket of hot water (to wash up with) are gone – for now. With a bit of extra time and the long days I will be able to spend more time in the garden. It is surprising how quickly the garden beds dry out and I spend a lot of time moving sprinklers. I was a bit late in sowing spring seeds and have only just transplanted a couple more Moon & Stars Watermelon seedlings, Delice De La Table Rockmelons and a funny thing called Parsley Parsnip as I am a huge Parsnip eater(I don’t ever remember a Xmas meal without Parsnips, it would be unthinkable). The Rockies are not coping well with the heat though and look unlikely to make it to the table, I have left planting a bit long. The yellow pear tomatoes are just starting to ripen on the vines and the Isabella grapes (or what is left of them after the cows came through) should also be starting to ripen soon.
This morning I took Dora out a bit earlier than usual and it was magic to go down to the dam and watch the wildlife. The Silver Leaf Ironbark trees are flowering and the sounds of buzzing bees fills the air, magpies were warbling and kookaburras were laughing. Magpies are my favourite bird as far as sounds are concerned. Looking up when I parked the bike at the edge of the dam I saw the Red Wing Parrots on their way to our Book Pine trees – the ones everyone keeps telling me to cut down so we get a better view of the dam. Every December they arrive at the farm and stay until all the nuts on the Book Pines are gone. At the edge of the dam – for a short time only until Dora scares it away – I see a yellow billed Spoonbill wading through the shallow water. Up above a Brown Goshawk glides slowly and effortless through the air scanning the ground in search of a meal. Wallabies and a bigger Grey Roo stand to attention in the nearby long grass, their eyes on Dora who has been in a bit of trouble lately for chasing them. On the dam Dragonflies were hovering and everywhere there are small circles made by all sorts of water life. A Turtle pops it’s head up (there are plenty of those). All this is seen in just a few minutes, it is incredible what you can see if you stop and take time to notice.
Speaking of Dora she is in the bad books at the moment, she no longer tries to chase the sheep and she ignores the poultry showing no interest whatsoever but the wallabies have started to prove to much of a temptation for her. It is the late afternoon rides that are the biggest problem – she knows very well she is not allowed to chase them but she just can’t help herself. She comes back after around 30 seconds – but that is 30 seconds too long. I will start putting a long training rope on her until she learns. Dora also has a bad habit of jumping up when I go to release her chain to take her out for a walk and doing the same when I go to put her back on the chain. Once again she gets excited – firstly because she is going for a walk and secondly because she gets a treat in the morning when she goes back to her chain (a big long running wire between trees) and her dinner in the evening. Yesterday she jumped and hit me right in the mouth so hard my front tooth has come loose. My first thought was I wonder if they have Afterpay for Dentists! It’s not too bad though if I don’t think about it!
The A.I. man has collected the semen for impregnating the 3 Heifers and now it is my job to a/ move the cattlecrush and the rest of the cattleyards to an accessible position and also to move the girls into a small paddock behind the house so I can see when they are on heat. It is probably about time to do that as I see my beautiful Just Joey Roses where Zorro is laying at rest have been eaten at the top and the fence bent over. It can only be the cows or the Alpacas. The girls were near the gate yesterday (Sunday) so I bribed them in with a bit of feed. The next morning (Monday) I heard Varina calling out and sure enough she was bulling. Now the fence in the lambing paddock is a good heavy duty chicken wire fence with a plain wire on top that we can electrify to stop the fox from climbing over. Later in the afternoon I discovered Varina on the other side of the fence though, still calling out looking for a bull. I went for a ride around the fence to discover there were no breaks or weak spots and I can only surmise that she jumped it. Bloody Angus – the Shorthorns would never do that! Varina is an Angus/Wagyu cross given to me as an Orpan calf 2 years ago.
Operation Billy the Kid was planned to catch the accidental Billy Goat and also to wean this years kids in order to put the REAL Billy in with the Nannies. I am sure you recall the earlier story of trying to catch goats in our yards. Well I am pleased to say Operation Billy the Kid was successful – Billy was caught and is no longer a Billy. I yarded all but 3 of the goats on Monday morning only half expecting them to still be in the yards when Richie came home but they were! We dealt with the Billy and separated Mums and Kids with a bit of help from our Camping Friends Shane and Lissette. One doe showed disregard for the yard gates straight up and jumped in with her kid but that was all. As it was just on dark by this time, we let the Nannies out and left the kids in the yards again only half expecting them to be there in the morning. At dawn this morning (Tuesday) we hooked up the trailer and arrived at the yards to discover only 3 had jumped out and those 3 were just the Nanny and a couple of wethers so no problems. Amazingly we were able to load the kids in the trailer without any escapees and take them up to the Dam paddock. A dream run! I will let you know later if they are still there.
I was delighted to open a parcel that arrived in the mail yesterday to discover Doug Walker had sent me a Christmas Present! “Birds of Glenlyon Station” includes an incredible 111 species of Birds. These birds were identified by Dougs father, Scott McLeod Walker from 1912-2002. I might start a record of how many of these the cottage guests see during their stays from next year! To say I was thrilled and surprised to receive this wonderful present is an understatement!
I hope readers have had a good Christmas and I look forward to catching up with you next week.
Judy
