Start of Term 3

Back to the routine with a difference of having half of the family not here.
We started off well getting up bright and early and getting to the bus-stop early. It got more and more difficult as the week went on, so it was a relief to get through to this morning's lie in.

The weather has been pretty wet for much of this week, but we were back to strong sun today. There was a chilly wind and Patrick complained of feeling cold as he set off for town wearing nothing but a tee shirt. (Don't worry Chan, he had a coat but hadn't put it on!)

There has not been much earth shattering news. We watched our various vids last night. Stuart enjoyed The Motorcycle Diaries with me picking up on the comic moments if not the subtitles and strong socialist message. I had only seen this film on the plane coming over here so it was good to see it under more comfortable circumstances.

We did the Saturday morning trip into town to get food and fruit and animal feed.

This afternoon one of Paddy's friends from school came overto play with lego. I made them go out for a fresh air braek after an hour and suggested that they feed the animals. I got a funny look when I suggested that they wear gumboots as they trotted off down the hill into the mud and manure wearing no shoes. It is quite a struggle to get Patrick to wear anything on his feet and even though I send him to school wearing a coat and shoes, he rarely comes home wearing either "They are in my bag!"

I made the most of the peace by planting 2 of the apple trees bought in the holiday. Someone suggested that you should dig a $100 hole for a $20 dollar tree. That made sense, looking at how some trees I just bunged in last year are not doing particularly well. We now have well planted Lobo and Ballarat on the hillside next to the dam.

It was great to be able to sit down in the sunshine and enjoy the peace. I remember being on the allotments and never feeling very relaxed about sitting down because of all the other people about.

There have been several wild ducks on the dam this week. 3 male mallard this morning. The harriers seem to be displaying at the moment as well. I saw a pair high up over the Matthews reserve during the week, making big swoops round in the sky and calling to each other. I remember seeing marsh harriers doing a similar display in the UK where they passed food to each other whilst in flight.

I let the chicken run chucks out for some freedom this afternoon. Rocky was first out followed by his six hens. They were reluctant to come out. Rocky was soon up by the goat pen checking out Stony and sh**ing all the hens he has not had access to in the last week. When it came time to get them in we managed to get Rocky and 3 hens back in.

Been having a think about sheep this week and am interested in the wiltshire breed. They shed their fleece in the spring by themselves so do not need to be sheared or dagged. Their feet are better than the Romneys we have got, and they supposedly have 2 lambs each that put on meat quickly. I am looking into places that might be able to sell us a few.

This time next week Chantelle and Eric will be back - yippee. How about sticking up some pictures of Blighty?