Weekend Warriors

Me and my gang weekended at Bottle Tree.

There were bulls to be taken out ... again.  Not content with enjoying each other's masculine company over the Winter months, they wreaked havoc on fencelines and re-joined the girls.  It keeps us on our toes.

See those two pesky black bulls in amongst the grey stud cows.  Not meant to be there.
We caught up with some old cow-friends,

and contemplated weaning.

With calves nearly as big as their mamas, it's almost time.

With fences to mend, bulls to draft and one last little group of big calves to brand, we filled in the weekend.

We even found evidence of a rock slide on Mount Figtree,

pleased to have missed the actual event.

Mother's Day saw an amazing assortment of gifts and cards from my team,

This calendar from Sally explaining the extended absences each evening this past week as she locked herself in the office.

I love it.

Of course Mother's Day without two flat tyres and an extended walk may have been even better.

Special thanks to Nanny and Grandad for rescuing us.
Some weeks I'm pleased to see Monday come round.

Because it's Sunday ...

... the dress code can be somewhat relaxed.

Because it's Sunday ... we can eat chocolate cake still slightly warm from the oven for smoko.

Because it's Sunday ... we can eat fried chicken for lunch,

and enjoy it with salad.

Because it's Sunday ... I avoided butchering duties, opting to wash kitchen windows, though peered outward occasionally.

{This sign proffered by my Mum all too apt unfortunately}.

The children were so excited by the window-cleaning act, they kept exclaiming things like:

"Caw Sally, you've got to come and see this".  The visiting three extras weren't nearly as bedazzled.  I explained to my four, they've obviously seen clean windows before.  It further affirmed my view that performing the task less regularly certainly added to the enjoyment when it was done.

Tired of fighting the battle with mildew on the windowsill behind the sink, I cheated and after a light sanding, slapped a coat of high gloss enamel straight over the top.

Because it's Sunday ...

we enjoyed a cold ale with our friends when they picked their children up enroute to their home two hours away.

And because it's Sunday ...

there'll be toast for tea.

Saturday on the Farm

You'll be pleased to hear yesterday's Acco-venture went without hiccup.  A load of cattle transported to Bottle Tree without major incident, a procession of 'slow' signs as opposed to 'stop' signs through the various roadworks between here and town, and then green lights most of the way through civilisation.  A lucky day indeed.

Today started with a breakfast recently sighted on one of those cooking shows.  Crepes rolled with a filling of ham and gruyere cheese.

A hearty start to a day filled with strainers ...

and pliers,

and ending with a completed fence-line.  Fred the retired wonder-dog joined us, too precious to travel in the back of the ute with most of the kids,

he takes pride of place on the back seat.

We returned home in that golden hour of beautiful Autumn lighting,

with enough time for Dad to put a little more work into the dog cages,

while chores were completed.

A bumper crop of mandarins have everybody watching for a change of colour,

though lemons are good to go.

Ruby kept a close eye on Mama Pig

while this fat porker enjoyed his last supper.  With hungry children with a penchant for bacon, ham or sausages for breakfast, he'll enter the cold room tomorrow afternoon.

Heifers In, Bulls Out

...or is it Heifers Out, Bulls In?

After close to two weeks of illness starting with a head cold brought home from school by Sal and culminating in second stage mycoplasmal pneumonia or possibly acute bronchitis (self-diagnosis ... thankyou Dr Google), I have re-entered the work force in the past couple of days.  In the words of my spiritual advisor, I could make the choice to continue to mope in self-pity, or step up and soldier on.  I know.  I'm very lucky.  My own Dalai Lama in the form of my husband.

With a truck-load of odds and ends destined for Bottle Tree tomorrow, I set about gathering some extras to make up the load.

Bulls would normally have come out of these heifers a month ago, but due to the late start to our season, and the fact that we'd kept these girls empty to transfer embryos into them earlier in the year, they were given an extra month of opportunity to conceive.

The seven young bulls who have been doing their duty were removed today, six Brahman bulls destined for sale later in the year, one Brangus bull heading to the Bottle Tree bull paddock, his services required again later in the year.

These pesky girls decided on the nature-route today.  The road situated some fifty metres to the left of these heifers only walked on as we crossed it.  The zig-zag nature of our trip home making me wish I'd left the camera behind and instead brought a couple of dogs.

This afternoon's bull-removal from the stud heifers made so much easier by the presence of my youngest assistant.

Tomorrow will see me and the old Acco working in perfect harmony.
No harm in hoping for the best.  Soldiering on.  No moping.