A Carpet of Green.

The farm has turned into a carpet of green grass. As far as I can see there is green.

It has not rained for a week, and the grass has really loved seeing the sun. It is growing.

Whilst the sun is shining there is lots of work to do. Mum and I have been mustering for shearing. 
Mustering is fun, I love to walk along behind the sheep and climb on rocks. 

Yesterday shearers came to the farm and shore some old ewes that are to be sold.

Most of these ewes are 6, 7 or 8 years old. They have had baby lambs every year of their life since they were 2 years old. They will go to the sheep yards to be sold in a few weeks.

I spend some time in the shearing shed watching the action, some time sweeping up the wool on the floor and some time squashing wool in the bins. It can be a lot of fun!

Yesterday there was an extra special treat, a set of mysterious twins appeared in the mob.

Dad and Mum have no idea how they have appeared. 

None of the ewes are meant to having babies now. 

I spent lots of time cuddling them, they even fell asleep. They are so CUTE!

 

Shearing is finished in the day and the shearers head home, and

Dad takes the ewes back to the green grassy paddocks.

Short Back and Front Please!

Have you noticed that sheep have four legs and no arms?

How do they ever brush their teeth, clip their toenails, comb their wool or wipe their bottoms? It is IMPOSSIBLE to do with no arms.......

Lucky for us there are very skilled people we pay to do some of these jobs.

The young ewes on the farm need to be crutched.

 The wool is growing around their eyes and they cannot see where they are going and...

their bottom is getting a bit dirty too!

All the sheep are put into the shearing shed overnight where they are kept dry.

The sheep are dragged from the catching pens onto the shearing board.....

where they are crutched,  a short front and back!

The wool is swept away and sorted good from bad!

I like to help sweep the wool away, you have to be very quick!

The sheep are returned to the paddock.

They are very happy with their short front and back.

They can see where they are going,......

and they have really clean bottoms TOO!

I Want my Mummy!

It is a very wet winter. All week we have seen grey skies and light rain.

Finally the sun appears for a weekend.....so our fun for the weekend is all about sheep.

The baby lambs that were born in April and May have grown up.

 They are now big enough to leave their mums.

All the lambs have another needle that will help protect them from diseases and worms. This one is their booster shot!

Mum gives all the lambs an ear tag, it has a special number on it that belongs to our farm.

The lambs look like they have an ear ring now!

The lambs are all put onto oat crops now to help them grow big and strong.

They are very noisy, crying all the time. I WANT MY MUMMY! Their mums are noisy too.

I am still a little small to help in the yards, but I love to play in the nearby timber.

There is lots to explore.

New Life.

The first calves have arrived.

This cow got a REALLY big surprise, double what she was expecting not one but TWO!

Yesterday as we checked cows we made this exciting discovery!

Only just born and already able to walk..

Not like human babies they are quick to their feet and very alert.

 They are a little wobbly at first,...

 but their mother is patient and helps them by softly nudging them with her nose.

They are very quick to find their mother's udder and fill their tummies with milk.

The first milk is very special it is yellow and is full of special ingredients that helps make the calves strong and healthy!

Calving time is exciting lots of new life on the farm!

All the Rivers Run....

We saw the sun......and we made the most of it!

A glorious Sunday afternoon spent in the fresh air. 

Moving our meat lambs to new paddocks, off the crops to make room for more.

There were other creatures out soaking up the sunshine too.

SPOTTO... a shingle back lizard!

All of nature was alive today!

The paddocks are very wet and water runs from dam to dam through all the little creeks.

On the way home Mum and I followed the water to see where it all comes from.

We started at the bottom of the farm and worked our way up.

From one dam to the next the water overflows through pipes and trickles its way down to the next dam and the next dam and the next dam.

 I call this dam... Big Barrie's.....he is a giant fish that lives at the bottom. He eats boats!

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All the dams are full to the top.

The dams are important to the farm. They hold water for the animals to drink.

They provide a home for water creatures.

They also help filter lots of natural things before the water reaches the rivers.

What to Expect?

Sometimes when I wake up in the morning Jack Frost has been to visit. 

He lays a blanket of ice across the farm, and the puddles freeze!

Work starts early when the sun shines, lots to be done.

The last of the cows are getting their needles and medicine before their babies arrive.

 These cows are called heifers they are about to have their very first baby.

I wonder if they know what to expect......

Soon they will be mothers and they will have a very big job ahead of them!

Stuck in the Mud!

Farmers will often tell you that there is money in mud!

Not this time...just POP's tractor!

You must think carefully about where you try to drive on the farm at the moment.

Feeding the cows and sheep can see you stuck in the MUD!

Grey Skies.

Grey skies are going to clear up....so lets get busy!

Two days of clear skies before the rain returns. 

All hands on deck.... to inject cows with medicine before their baby calves arrive in one month, and wean the baby lambs from their mothers.

The animals on our farm are what makes money for us. 

We must look after them the best we can.

The cows get a needle that protects both them and their unborn calf from diseases.

All the lambs that are being weaned from their mothers also get a needle, that protects them from diseases and worms. 

People get needles too, it helps keep us healthy.

We have had so much rain in the last 10 weeks. The dam behind our house is nearly full.

Even when it is not raining the water is still running into it, the ground is SO wet!

The water is running every where.......the creek through our farm even has waterfalls!

This creek starts in our farm and flows into another creek called Limestone. 

Then that creek flows into a river called the Belubula. It is brimming full.

The Belubula then runs into the Lachlan River and it just keeps on going! 

I am not really not sure where it finishes...............

My big sister KT and I have made the most of the weather.
We have spent hours exploring and having fun whilst the hard work was being done!

Mud Glorious Mud??

Rain, rain go away....I am sorry.... we need you to come back another DAY!

We have had lots and lots of rainy, grey, dark days.

And everything is WET, WET, WET!

The sheep are wet, the cows are wet, the roads are wet and the paddocks and BOGGY!



It makes getting around the farm a little difficult. 
It is too wet to get lots of work done. 
Lambs need to be weaned from their mothers. 
Cows are due to have needles before their babies arrive..... and the list goes on!

In winter on our farm the grass barely grows, the dirt is too cold and there is little sun.
So all the animals must be fed extra food by Dad.

We make hay from the spring grass nearly every year and store it away in sheds ready for winter time. 

'Henry' Ford and Dad spend hours feeding out hay to the cattle.

The cattle love the hay, it fills their bellies!

A Spoonful of Medicine?

Winter is here the grass will not grow much at all. The days are short in sunshine and the nights are cold.

The ewes and their lambs have been eating very short grass all autumn and they have lost condition. They have also got WORMS. Not the good worms we find in the vegetable patch, these worms are nasty and suck the blood from the sheep. 

The sheep get weaker and weaker and they can die.

We have a special spoonful of medicine that can fix this. The sheep need a drench.

Dad, Mum and I along with Gibson and Bear are drenching all the ewes.

I love to help. I am getting to be big help especially when I have Gibson by my side.

With so much to do we have morning tea in the paddock, a little picnic. It is a bit chilly!

The sheep are taken to a new paddock, the drench will hopefully kill off the nasty worms, and the sheep will be well again.

A big day in the sheep yards and paddock today and more of it tomorrow!