BBQ with Dad

We packed the little red wagon with goodies today, and headed down to the picnic area. Good to see John hasn't lost his touch when it comes to the 'manly' art of bbqing.

Part of the happy group of 'campers'.

Yes, of course the two girls came with us!!

Here's the tribe resting after lunch.

A big day. Daddy carries Willem while Jessica holds on to Daddy's hand.

I think John is enjoying being back on Wallaby Scrub. I know we're enjoying having him home.

One More Sleep!!!

One more sleep until John arrives. Although he only has ten days in the country, you can be sure we will pack as much into those days as possible. I'm stocking the pantry and the eskies so we don't have to hit a shop for all the days he's here. We'll drag the little red wagon all over Wallaby Scrub in pursuit of bbq-ing, hammocking, and general R&R.

The Gutty Chooks

Following the quoll attack, two of the chooks have been isolated from the others. Each time we tried to put them back into the run the other chickens would peck madly at them. These two have improved and grown new feathers to replace the ones the quoll tore out. Here's one of our free ranging hens under the house - a favourite place for foraging.

We decided we didn't like the little hen house (although we will need to use it when we travel north for our appointments). So we needed to construct a quoll safe roost for the girls. After much discussion with my local stock and rural agents, and hardware boys, I came up with a solution. (By the way, the hardware boys thought I was off my rocker! Another 'built by the farmer's wife' project.)

But this is it. Galvanised garage shed shelving, completely enclosed with fine chicken wire and equipped with a 9mm hinged door. The tarp is for a little more weather protection on the cold mountain nights.

Josiah changes the hay every few days and the airy shelving makes for very pleasant surroundings for my hens while they lay. Only the best for the Gutty Chooks.

The great thing about this arrangement is that every week we can move the whole contraption to a new area. This allows the used area to regenerate, and the new area provides for limited foraging. Anyone who has owned chooks will also realise that after a week, chooks can leave an area pretty bare. So, I am using them to clear certain parts of our house block. A win-win situation, I say.

My ever inventing son, however, saw a problem. The chooks couldn't get up to the top shelf. He tried leaning a branch up to it. Although they used the branch, they slipped and slid and flapped their way onto the shelf. "There must be a better way," thought Josiah. Into the workshed he goes. Out he comes with his version of a chook ladder.

Well done, Josiah.

Where Did That Week Go?

I don't know! One week was spent looking after the five littlies who caught another tummy bug. All I seemed to be doing was washing, wiping, changing, holding, washing... They have all recovered now. Went to town Monday, and then again on Friday. Spent a fair bit of time catching up on the local goss with the neighbours. Did some sewing and a lot of reading. Kids have been pretty quiet. Some new cubbies went up over the week. Jack saw a red belly black, Elsie saw a brown, have seen heaps of echidnas and wombats, too. Black cockies have been screaching, and the rain arrived in torrents today.

On our way back from town this afternoon, we met our neighbours. They came out and had a cuppa which turned into dinner. Very nice people. They own the local roadhouse, so we're going in there for dinner on Tuesday night. Kids think that's pretty cool.

So, what's the upcoming week hold? Well.... John should be arriving Thursday for ten days, and then returning to where he's coming from. We are in the throws of cleaning, organising, filling the pantry, tidying the shed, picking up all the stuff that the k's have dragged into the yard. (I told them they remind me of puppy dogs that insist on dragging every bit of stick, rubbish, paper, bone, string, plastic and anything else that can be dragged into their yard, and expecting the boss to be pleased with them!) We are all so excited. We're down to counting hours now.

The budding photographer has been happily snapping some more Wallaby Scrub shots. I'll post them tomorrow though. Everything is silent here. Fire has died down. Children all asleep. I wonder what surprises tomorrow will hold for us....