And they're off! Overseas trip for Tess and Yarrow

Well actually, by the time I've gotten around to posting this, they're gone!! Tess and Yarrow left last Saturday for a two-month trip through Europe with Hans and Niki. This isn't their first trip around the world, not by a long shot: in 2010 they went to Portugal and the Netherlands. But this will be the longest that they've been away from home and I shall miss them muchly.

The day of their departure dawned in spectacular colours!

They were pretty excited to leave and had been packing and repacking bags for about a week.

You can see how much they've grown since their last Europe trip

Myself and the trusty Subaru were enlisted to take Hans, Tess and Yarrow to Coolangatta airport for the first leg to Sydney.

All that baggage, with 367,000 km on the clock and going strong. Good car!!

At the airport I waited with the travelling threesome until it was time to go.

A pensive moment

Waiting at airports is always slightly awkward ... there were moments of stillness and moments of silliness :-D

Horsing around:-)

 And then it was time to say goodbye...

Me 'n my Tess ...

Bye girls, have a wonderful wonderful time. I already know you're *loving* Paris :-)

Bouncy dogs and accidental injuries

Every Monday I teach in the Master's program up at Tweed Heads, which means I'm away from home all day. So usually I take Radha to visit my old neighbour Chris (she's not really old!) and her young dog Piccolo so they can romp together; and recently I've been taking Chicco for a calm rest day at my parents' place.

Yesterday though Radha was so happy to see my mother that she leaped up, and raked her considerable claws along my Mum's arm, accidentally tearing three large rents in her skin. It looked quite horrific at first - two of the tears were about 5cm long and had taken off large triangles of skin. On cleaning and dressing the wounds we discovered that there was not too much skin loss, though whether the flaps of tissue will adhere again remains to be seen.

A visit to the doctor ensued and a large bandage was applied, together with tetanus shots and antibiotics. So sorry Mam!! :'(

Here you can see my Mum showing her sadness about her arm:

Though of course, being Mam, she was able to joke about it too!

Radha, however, thereafter played all day with her friend Piccolo and gave my poor Mum not a thought!! Insensitive soul ...

Look out behind you Piccolo! There's a subtle ambush about to happen ...

Being dogs, romping in the water. Yay, MUD!!! om nom nom nom ....

Walking without Chicco ...

This morning, for the first time ever, I went for a 'round walk' without Chicco..

The round walk takes us eastwards, steeply down the valley, across the creek, northwards up the spur of a similarly steep hill - first brightly grassed meadows, then rocky,  along a densely wooded glade, and finally across the tops through long grass to come westwards back to The Grange. It takes about 35 minutes and involves some quite puffing and climbing. The last few times we did this one, I noticed Chicco lagging behind, hugging the easier slopes and panting heavily in any sunshine. She liked to lie in the creek, and was reticent about coming out to walk up the hill... Towards the end of the walk she was labouring, panting, and uncomfortable. She had to stop, and sometimes she had to just lie down. It was just getting too much for her.

She's nearly 13. That's 91 in Dog Years, which is old ... especially for such a large breed. Also, it's a long and loving time to have a fairly constant companion animal in your life.

So, this morning, even though Chicco's ears pricked when I picked up my walking boots, I pretended I was just brushing some dirt off them. I snuck out the back, whispering for Radha to come, so as not to hurt Chicco's feelings.We left her behind in her day bed and went on the walk, just Radha and me. Tears bit at the back of my eyes.

Walking down the first grassy slope to the creek, it just didn't feel the same. Radha kept looking for Chicco, and was unusually reticent and "un-playful". At the creek, where Chicco would flop blissfully in the stream, and Radha would scamper around and dip paws in and out with tail wagging hugely (she's not keen on streams is Radha, but she likes to play with Chicco in the water) ... this time Radha bent to sniff the stream intensely, and eventually left it to walk across the bridge, without any tail wags.

Coming up the hill Radha was startled by some strange sudden sounds coming from the glade: maybe a wallaby, or a lost heifer. She wasn't feeling brave.  She stuck by my side, frequently looking back, maybe to see where Chicco was.

At the top of the hill, it started to rain softly. I thought, maybe I could have taken Chicco: the rain would have cooled her, kept her from overheating. She might have coped better in the cool. Maybe.

Walking along the ridge through the very tall grass back to the Grange, Radha and I decided that even though Chicco slowed us down so much, it wasn't anywhere near as nice without her...

Even so, I don't know I can take Chicco on this walk again.

When I got back, I looked with love on my old dog and apologised for not taking her with us. I stroked her black ears and her greying muzzle and promised some short interesting walks in the days to come. Her tail thumped, but then she looked away. She did, of course, know she'd been left behind. I'm not prone to anthropomorphism, but she's not daft, is Chicco.

Here are some photos from this morning. Of course, they don't contain any of Chicco.

On the hill leading down to the creek, deep in paspalum grass

Sniffing for a friend in the river meadows

Coming along the ridge slope towards the Grange I can see the faint track ahead of us, left over from Chicco's walk last week in the long grass. Can you see it too?

Here is the route:


View Round walk in a larger map

Monkey see, monkey do. Or is that "horsie see, horsie do"?

OK. Guess who's been playing with Briony's old swing, and got themselves stuck? My boy Rascal. Of course.

Ya gotta love 'em. 

PS No harm done: he stood perfectly still while I lifted his leg out (bit of a ballet dancer stretch, but never mind). He was very appreciative.

Team update

Ruby came over today and we made good progress with training Elara. At the end of the hour Elara was walking freely forward and Ruby could steer her where she wanted to go. Good going for a young team!

Parked and forgotten?

Rural decay, or simply an unpaid parking ticket? Whatever the cause, this old girl looks like she's staying put...

Photographed while walking the dogs in Bangalow the other week.

Radha offers to drive

7.30 am, and the girls need to get to their early Extension English class. No school bus available, and I'm wanting to get on with my Master's unit marking, and it's raining, and my ribs are sore, and I haven't finished my tea and and and ...
Don't stress, says the dog. I'm onto it. Leave it to me.

I put this photo on my facebook page and got some funny responses :-)

• Sharen Caines Nisbet, Lisa Shelbourne, Marion Hesseling and 25 others like this.
• 

  Felicia Dale Aw.... poor you! (((hugs!)))

  Tuesday at 09:43 · Unlike · 1
• 

  Robyn Rowland nawww all the dog just needs to do the head moving back and forwards to be a groove thing

  Tuesday at 10:04 · Unlike · 1
• 

  Chris Cbg Oh Radha! . . how we love you!

  Tuesday at 10:55 · Unlike · 1
• 

  Steve Smith Im disapointed Mieke, she's not wearing her seat belt, I hope she put it on before departure?.........lol, I bet she's a safer driver than some I see on the road.

  Tuesday at 11:18 · Edited · Unlike · 1
• 

  Jacqui de Roo It looks like you're in good hands! Lol

  Tuesday at 16:25 via mobile · Unlike · 1
• 

  Matthew John 

  Tuesday at 19:06 · Unlike · 1
• 

  Ayananda Johanna

  Tuesday at 19:13 · Unlike · 1
• 

  Marion Hesseling haha, nice

  Yesterday at 04:48 · Unlike · 1

Pony update

Well, young Ruby has been playing and working with Elara a few times, and we've achieved quite a lot in the process:

Elara has learned:
- to have a rug placed on and pulled off
- to accept having clothes thrown on, over and under her
- to accept having clothes dragged between her legs
- to accept people jumping up and down suddenly all around her
- to wear a saddle with girth and surcingle
- to enter and exit a small shed with flapping walls without being scared
- how to use a feed bag
- to carry a rider around the garden
- to climb up and down a concrete step

Ruby has learned:
- how to place and tie a rope halter on the horse
- how to remove a rug (it's a bit heavy for her to put it on at the moment as it is sopping wet)
- how to do 'join up' (a natural horsemanship technique for leadership)
- how to lead with confidence and firm assertiveness

Grazing in the rain :-)

On the horse for the first time!

The next steps are to get Elara's teeth done by the equine dentist and then off to the trainer for some specialised training. We want Elara to become a super reliable, 'bomb proof' child's mount, so in the end Ruby could (if she wanted) attend pony club with her or enter her in some gymkhanas, or ride around the village. It will take time and patience but I think Ruby and Elara have the potential to make a great team. It's a 'win-win' situation I believe.

Briony

Beautiful Briony ... on John's birthday (at the Eltham "Not Quite Folk" evening)

A buckskin brumby cross is not quite a racehorse

We need a photo of Elara. Yes we do. 'Cos she's such a lovely mare :-)

Elara is Rascal's half-sister. I'm arranging to send her to a trainer to further her education. Then, I'm aiming for a local lassie, ten-year-old Ruby, to be riding her regularly and enjoying her good nature and lovely paces.

As John said, tongue-in-cheek, it's a bit like owning a racehorse: after all, racehorse owners have a trainer, a jockey and a racehorse ... So far, we simply have a potential trainer, a village lassie and a pony...

Nearly racehorse owners!!  But not quite.

:-D

More horse photos and shenanigans

By popular request :-) some more photos of the steeds.

On Sunday John and I went for a ride to Booyong nature reserve / village green (not much village left in Booyong, though, sadly). There, we met up with Hans (riding Emu) and Niki (riding Duchess). I had wanted to do some gallivanting about on the horses together but alas: upon remounting Rascal I found I had not tightened the girth properly; the saddle slipped round; Rascal plunged forward and I crashed to the ground.

Gravity sucks :-(

It was very painful. But John looked after me and later on Rascal carried me carefully home, just walking, on a loose rein ... what a good boy he is. Eh, these things happen.

John moseys down the road, bareback on Saturn

Rascal sees his Mama, the brumby Duchess for the first time in three years. He's amazed! (So is she) :-D

The glorious and gorgeous Saturn enjoying a bit of liberty.

Hans with his good steed Emu (who previously belonged to John). They get on very well together!

It was a great place to ride and I can't wait for my ribs to heal so I can go back there with John and the horses...

Some recent flood photos

It's that time of year again (apparently). With the cyclone (see earlier post) came the rain, and with the rain came the rising of the river. Wilson's River peaked at just under 10 metres, cutting us off from nearby towns and villages. The wind hurled several trees to the ground, narrowly (and in some cases not) missing sheds and houses. We lost power for three days, which also meant no pumped water ... But hey, it poured from the sky so that was not really an issue ...

Between Sunday and Tuesday the river rose sharply

A fig tree fell on our neighbour Rick's shed (photo by Grace Westera)

And another one just skimmed his house (photo Grace Westera). Rick was OK though.

Boatharbour Road could well be ... just Boatharbour?

50: no, no ...

All in all it took about five days for relative normality to return. No real harm done here other than perished food in the freezer ("Happy Days!" sang the dogs ... Om nom nom!!!) and two of our horses became ill with some sort of mud fever, perhaps stress related. But they're a lot better now.

John and I were fine and used our camping stove to cook, candles and solar to provide light ... we relaxed and read books, and since there was no internet we even did a jigsaw puzzle  ... :-)

This morning's walk

Just some random photos taken this morning while walking the dogs...

Taken from the old pig paddock, looking East to the distant horizon over the hills

Romany Ruby Smudge is now a two-year old. And limber :-). Standing near the western side of the farm which borders the village.

Mama Nova glowing in the early morning sun. She's a sweet and kind mare.

The deciduous fig, a lovely landmark ...

No-dig veggie patch

Each year after the young chicks are reared and gone I use the patch where the chook tractor stood to make a new veggie patch. This year I've decided to make a more permanent patch in the form of a "no-dig vegetable garden". Seeing as our old water tank had collapsed, we sawed it into pieces (creating big O rings). One half we gave to Hans and Niki for their garden, the other half I sawed in half again to make the start of ours.

As you can see the chooks got straight in to lend a willing "hand" in turning over the mulch at the bottom. No dig indeed. Who needs a spade?

Chook farming

Seeing as this year our motley crew of hens managed to hatch 34 chicks between them, I decided to advertise and sell the chicks using the online community classifieds forum, Gumtree. And what a success it was! All the chooks are now sold and I made a profit of $315 ... (OK, I won't give up my day job).

Plymouth rocks, Wyandotte, Bantam and Australorp crosses in this colourful lot

I think I got the pricing right: it's very hard to determine gender, but people don't want roosters (most people can't bear to kill them), so I charged the following:
- $5 for a rooster,
- $10 for an unsexed chook (gender being a gamble),
- $15 for "probably a hen" with the guarantee that they could return it if it started to crow and receive a $10 refund. I offered to despatch the chook if so and the owner could take it home for the pot.

This seemed to reassure people. I've taken the ad down now but am still receiving queries of "when are you breeding more?" so that's a good sign for next year.

All in all a satisfying enterprise.

Note: a huge thanks to Teun, Annamiranda, Leaha and Briony for helping look after them during the various extreme weather events we've experienced these past months.

Dennis' birthday and a cyclone

On the weekend John and I went to visit our dear friends Dennis and Amanda in Beachmere (which was just recovering from bushfires) to celebrate Dennis' birthday. But instead of extended family and a barbecue lunch, Dennis and Amanda got a visit from ex tropical cyclone Oswald, as king tide and flood waters causing a sea surge came over the sea wall and flooded the town. Good Beachmere residents came and helped each other but the damage would have been extensive.

So Dennis' birthday lunch was just us awesome foursome with quite wet feet ... and even John and I had to leave early so as not to be caught by more flooding. But we had a lovely time with Dennis and Amanda, and we agree that Beachmere is a *really* exciting place to visit!

Rain and wind lash the coast and the tide comes in. It was hard to stand up here.

A quiet place to meditate and watch the ocean?

The sea water floods the town. Nothing to be done, Mother Nature's in charge here ...

I made a short video as the water came in over the sea wall, probably to the detriment of my good camera...

 

Dennis helped neighbours and friends and meanwhile, the resilient and resourceful Amanda drummed up a  lovely lunch after all ...

Calm during the storm ...

Thank you Dennis and Amanda for a lovely weekend!


After a rather difficult trip with torrential rain and much wind, we made it home safely, just before more cyclonic winds hit our farm. More updates on that to follow.

Good old fashioned fun: happy kids

Going back a few weeks now, but here's a lovely short clip of Esmée using the rope swing to join Yarrow in the river. The kids built this swing themselves when we were camping at the Clarence River down at Alice Flats. They spent most of the days in and out of the water ... Well, who wouldn't?

I love the wink and the thumbs up ... and that confident little wiggle, yes ... :-) :-) :-)

Rascal goes to the Clunes store and café

Today John and I went for a ride, and took Rascal for the first time right through the main street of Clunes to the shop and café. Busy traffic: cars, trucks, kids on bikes, flapping plastic bags, barking dogs: he just took it all in his unflustered stride. I'm so proud of him and so very happy with the excellent training that Carla Stanford gave him.

At the café they offered Rascal a coffee, which he politely declined...  but he did get a couple of juicy big carrots which he shared with his good friend Gandhi (who was a very good boy too). They also posed for some photos. Karen the shop owner took some photos too and when I get a copy I'll put them up as well.

The boys give each other a nuzzle

Bring on the carrots!!

Sister

My loved sister Anoush (Ana-mir, Anna, Auntie Anana ... a rose by any other...) is visiting from Melbourne on a rare and welcome long visit. Today we took a wee break from family stuff and Anoush went for a ride on the good cob, Emu, who is now owned by Hans. She has overcome a good many health problems to get back in the saddle and as you can see, has done so admirably! Our dear old dog Chicco ambled along (though she kind of went adrift every now and then ... but hey, at 13 she is fairly ancient).

Emu's got his ears forward and was obviously enjoying the ride with Anoush.