While the kids were still quite small we had a visit from Marcus, our grandson. He was very impressed with the goats, particularly Meggs, the surviving son of Honey (erstwhile goose companion). Meggs had extra fuss when he was tiny, so was quite accustomed to being picked up and cuddled. He's a little large for this now but still has some time for people and loves a fuss. Marcus was able to have him on a lead and go for walks.

When the walks were over it was time for a cuddle and Penny, bolder than her twin Tuppence, wanted in on the act.

Maybe Meggs will be making an appearance at a local Show next year. Meanwhile his horns keep growing, alarming to think they will be like Henry's horns in a year or so.

It's been a few months since I had time to create a new post, months in which we have been extremely busy with fencing (never-ending) and looking after new youngsters.
Lambs and kids appeared together, more or less, and all needed some extra care with rather wild weather. The kids were a learning process for us, having heard that they are more delicate than sheep. We had bought little jackets to put on the kids and ended up with one on a lamb, a slightly larger animal, but it saved one of Candy's twins, now called Jinks. Most of the kids wore their jackets for a few days until their feeding was established and their mothers were sure of how to look after them.
Angora kids are the cutest little creatures, just like small puppies and very affectionate. No we don't eat them.

They are several months old now but still affectionate, and white as could be, unlike lambs which quickly become dingy gray like their mothers.
Then the geese got clucky and started laying. Two of them. One seemed to be quite sure of how to manage the matter, whereas the other, Alice, was a bit unsure, being only about a year old. She ended up abandoning her eggs to help older mother care for her chicks. So we had two ganders, Gozzy and Greybeard, Alice and Mother, all escorting seven little goslings everywhere. Talk about hysterical and over-protective - but the babies survived in spite of greedy crows' attempts to enjoy a tasty meal.

Blaze, the second mother, was not so lucky. Her eggs hatched with no support from the others, who were still obsessing over the original hatchlings, and her ten goslings diminished to four in one day.
Somewhat bemused by her success and possibly confused by the continuing cool weather, Mother went back for a second sitting and we're not sure whether these will hatch or not.
All this reproductive activity necessitated new yards, and some shuffling of animals around to where the best feed happens to be.

Fencing, like death and taxes, is always with us, in the country anyway. Right now, that's where we're at, so no posts recently. It has to be finished before the next trees get planted, and that's very soon, so back to cutting strainers, digging holes and whacking in pickets. Then the big rollout of ringlock, strain it up and finish off with the tie-wire. Very satisfying when finished, but not always as straightforward as it should be.

The new girls' goat yard is nearly finished and today we'll transfer them from the boy goats' affections so they can gestate in peace. Pictures to follow.
But in the meantime other work proceeds, such as new machine embroidery designs. The newest one, I wasn't too keen on the set at first, but having digitised two of them, I can see them decorating home bar surrounds, either as pictures or on bar-top linen. See what you think, here is one of them:


This seems a particularly happy design, looking forward to stitching it.

The rain over the last two weeks has been wonderful, with sunny days providing warmth for new growth. Grass is growing well for the grazers of our animals, and it's rewarding to see how many trees have survived the summer from being planted as seedlings last winter. We planted about 9000 altogether - some as revegetation, some as timber trees for the future, some for more immediate use like broombush, and some for food for the animals. The tagasaste and saltbush are all doing well, and will be ready for cutting for food supplement soon.
This winter we'll be planting another 7000 or so in the mix as before, and certainly more fodder trees. The way our menagerie has grown in the last couple of months we need to grow as much food as we can.
On a more frivolous note, the roses are thriving, especially the ones we rescued from an aged persons hostel in town. They were being dug up and thrown away, to the local rubbish tip, until we rescued some of them. This in the height of summer. Anyway, we dug huge holes, put plentiful amounts of horse manure in, some good soil, and much water. Several of the eight we rescued have survived well and reward us with beautiful blooms.

This time of year is one of waiting, in a rural sense. The extreme temperature of summer is modified, sometimes we have cloudy days, but we're waiting... Waiting for the first heavy drops that signify an end to the summer drought. And this week it happened, on three days. We have nearly 35mm to start the season, and just a few days later, there's a green haze on the bare paddocks. Thoughts turn to sowing seed - oats, perennial pasture, whatever our small herds/flocks can thrive on.
Ok, this block has some salt flats, we have samphire and bare patches, but in the winter, with the rain these bare patches turn to shallow lakes, adding beauty to a stark landscape, like this:

Along with the reappearance of water on the block comes the arrival of the water birds. Two days ago we heard the shelducks flying over. They circulate between the dam next door, our lake system and the winter creek, which has yet to show any water. Obviously they're prepared for the wet season and are squabbling over whose nest site is which. It's a warming thought that these shelducks were here last year, had young, and have returned. To celebrate this I've started a new embroidery series - ducks. The first items are on the website now. Enjoy!