mid winter

August 5 2017

We had some good rain last night and Edd is busy today pumping water between tanks so that we can store as much as possible.  With the roof on the new tank we now should have enough storage to get us through the summer months despite the fact that it has been such a dry winter.  The power bill for the last quarter has come in and even with the large freezer we have still made a profit from our solar panels.  I am pleased about this because with Indi and Ben here we are supplying two households with power.

The goats are starting to look pregnant.  Nola and Petra are very wide and Olga has started to bag up.  I was worried about her because she failed to get pregnant last year. Very occasionally we get an infertile goat so you never know.  I am only milking a few goats but we have enough to make cream cheese at least twice a week.  I could have fed a calf but with Edd being away for a month we decided to give that a miss this year.  The last calf we reared, Josie, is over a year old now and ready to sell.

It is very cold at night but the wattle is in full bloom, the daffodils are forming yellow banks and the native wisteria and rosemary are toning things down with shades of purple.  The vegetables have been very slow but this week the parsley has shot up and the frilly gold lettuce seedlings have germinated. We have rocket, celery, and silver beet, mixed lettuce, Kale and mizuna ready for eating so we can wait a bit for the rest.

Luckily the sun is shining today, because Bo is busy setting up in Yarra Glen for the festival of light that she organises each year.  I have instructions to bring in the market gazebos and two fold up tables.  Last night Bo rang up wanting me to do a site map of Yarra Glen showing where the lantern parade starts and finishes plus where to find entertainment, toilets and parking.   My efforts were not exactly a masterpiece but Bo has already put them up in shop windows around the town!