The new pond

This is the new pond. the old pond did not hold water and when the water dried up the foxes got the ducks. This time we dug down till we hit clay and lined the pond with it. It has filled up with the rains and the level has stayed steady. If it still has water at the end of summer we will get more ducks. They are great for keeping the weeds around the trees down and the drains clear.

welcome to the new babies

Here they are the new arrivals. 4 goslings hatched but unfortunatly only 3 survived. This is the best picture I could get as the papas are very protective.

These are some other babies. Some baby apricots and some new seedlings

The very angry geese

These are our geese and their home. At the monment we cannot get too close as the male gets very threatening. I do however go into their pen every day and put food close to the sitting mother and every other day to give her water. They only leave the pen once a day to swim in the pond, but as soon as you go throw the gate into the permiculture area they all waddle back to protect the eggs. So I cant candle them to see if they are any good. I really hope at least one hatches for them they are so dedicated.

Our happy chooks

This is our chook house. Its an old cubby that we bought second hand for less that what the materials would of cost and we put it up on posts. During a wet winter it can get pretty muddy out the back so this way the chooks stay nice and dry. In the background you can see the goat paddock and like the sheep cannot get into the chook area. The whole area is surrounded by an 8 foot high fence so the chickens are safe. At night we still lock them up as foxes have been known to burrow under the fence.

These are some of our wonderful chickens and our rooster. We have 6 chooks who are all laying an egg a day for us and the rooster is so friendly he follows you around so close that you have to be careful not to step on him.

Next we will see the geese guarding the goose and her eggs.
see ya

Day three at the hospital

Today I spent all day at the hospital with leanne. This was her third lot of chemo and so she is half way through. Only three more to go. She is much more upbeat now and her outlook is better. She still has her monments, like the week after her treatment but on the whole she is doing very very well.
Tomorrow is the AFL grand final and for the first time in many many years there are two victorian teams contesting the coverted cup. Geelong, who won last year, and Hawthorn. Since I grew up in Hawthorn I will be barracking for them.
So go the hawks.
see ya

The secret garden

this is the door to the permiculture area out the back. this area has been a work in progress for about 5 years now, and its in here that the main vegie garden and hothouse live. We also have many many fruit trees and the chooks and geese live. We have a large pond for the geese and hopefully if the pond still has water in it after the summer we will get ducks.

Tomorrow we will go throw the door

our first vegie gardens

These were our first vegie gardens, first we built the one furtherst away and then the next year we built the second one. They are great because you can plant, weed and harvest without having to bend at all.

The first has garlic planted and in what looks like a bare patch has strawberries. The second, closer, garden hasnt got anythin in it yet, but will soon be full of lettuce, spring onions, capsicums and maybe a few cherrie tomatoes. I've decided to plant all the salad vegies in the one spot close to home making summer salads easy and accessable. This way the baby girl will be only too happy to be chief salad maker in the family.