Watch out for large holes

I came home today and found a very large hole at the front of my house, and my husband, surrounded by the canine family, looking more than exhausted as he rested on a very large drainage pipe. The hole has grown extensively over the past few weeks with the help of the tractor and auger, however today’s efforts were impressive, to me the observer, after the fact. Having bent the auger (who does that!) due to the ground being like concrete, and hiring a mini digger not fitting in the budget, it was left to major muscle on a crowbar and shovel. You will not be surprised to find that Daryl needed a shower, new arms and a couple of stiff drinks before he returned to his former self, albeit a little achy. This hole is indicative of the frustration we are facing of late, with no rain in sight, the ground continues to harden and remain dry and desolate. We are feeding the cows hay and lucerne and we are on the lookout for silage to supplement the meagre picking of the paddocks. We also feed them bread collected each Saturday from a local bakery for a small fee which we pay to take the excess loaves which would otherwise be thrown in the bin. Such a waste, if you consider that some weeks we get anywhere from 5 to 15 massive garbage bags full of bread. The sweet treats are sadly thrown in the bin, another example of how our laws encourage wastage. The cows and chooks love the bread, as do the damn rats if they can get hold of it. The cows will gallop down the paddock if they hear the ute and I’m sure they know when it’s Saturday evening and the bread collection is done. Speaking of animal feed, we have trialed a new chook feed and coincidentally the egg production has decreased dramatically. This is not a good sign. The egg orders are flowing fast and I am delighted each time we get a new customer. Our reasoning suggests It could be some chooks going into molting season, a select few chooks who are free loading or a protest in the change of grain. To try and work out the issue we have bought a couple of bags of the former feed and put it in their feed bins. If egg production improves problem solved and if it doesn’t then some of these chickens will be walking a fine line between free ranging and soup. Unfortunately, the new feed is much cheaper as we buy it in bulker bags and if we return to our old feed source our costs will once again be raised. This is not something we need right now. On the back of a long, dry summer/autumn season is the increased costs associated with the farm, including having to source hay rather than cutting our own. We had the depressing tasks of trying to balance the books last night, the resulting efforts sent us straight to the wine cupboard, a few glasses allowing the numbers to blur and eventually we couldn’t see the negative sign so clearly. Funds are certainly stretched these days with no income from the farm expected and only expenses going out. Our social life is severely on hold, not to mention other treats or gifts. It is not only the continuous warm weather that saps me some days. But this is the cycle of farming, no doubt in a season or two we will thrive again…at least that’s the plan.
 Back to that rather large hole, it is required to be used as a sump pit beside the carport concrete to drain away the excess water which runs off the concrete driveway we are intending to lay. Unfortunately, the house was built lower than the fall of the paddocks and every winter for as long as I can remember the area surrounding the house has flooded. Poor design is once again causing issues. My father tried to resolve the issue by running pipes into the paddocks and this achieved an ineffective lake of mud. Mind you he chose where to build this particular house and I suspect it was the cheapest option! 

The carport has been a long, slow developing project, but hopefully it will be ready before the winter season. In readiness for our slow approaching winter the chimneys have been cleaned and the combustion stove thoroughly scraped and all the excess ash cleared. We have tested the stove a couple of times recently and once again the water is boiling super-hot and the comforting aroma of wood burning permeates the house. I am eagerly awaiting the cooler days and chilly nights, unlike most people I know who relish the hot summer sun. The forecast still ranks a few days next week in the high 20 and low 30s, way too warm for autumn and I am hoping I can avoid the sun’s sting as best as possible. 

However you spend the last remaining warmth of autumn I hope it is with a happy heart and soul filled with sunshine.


 Til next time, N.