Holiday unprecedented-isolated

March - June 2020

The story of our journey through the CoViD-19 saga - part 1 - isolation. Read more

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Janette and John Holiday unprecedented-isolated
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- May 3, 2020, 7:55 PM
- 🌙 8 °C
- Altitude: 293 m
- Australia Victoria Benalla Tatong -36.7062, 146.14231936°42’22” S 146°8’32” E
Sunday, 3 May 2020
May 3, 2020 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 8 °C
Up earlier today - the butcher is coming. Cold and bright - typical winter’s morning even though it is only autumn. Heifer with the fetlock injury is going in the freezer. The cow has improved so much she was let out with the herd today. Russell who lives in the next valley (Watchbox Creek valley) will butcher on site for farmers in the area. He very quickly had the animal skinned and ready to hang. He had John help by hanging the animal on hooks on the tractor forks whilst he ‘skinned and trimmed’. When it was ready he backed up the portable cool room and hung the carcass inside then took the cool room up to the shed and plugged it in. Next Sunday Russell and partner Di will be back to cut up and I will pack and stack into the freezer.

Waterfalls look great a couple of days after rain so we did the rounds twice today. Two neighbouring families wanted to take some exercise with a change of scenery.Read more
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Janette and John Holiday unprecedented-isolated
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- May 4, 2020, 4:40 PM
- ⛅ 14 °C
- Altitude: 276 m
- Australia Victoria Benalla Upper Ryans Creek -36.631054, 146.21174636°37’52” S 146°12’42” E
Monday, 4 May 2020
May 4, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Doctors’ day again today - both had appointments in Wangaratta. I had a post-op. check on my right eye and the surgeon kept muttering “excellent, excellent” so it really did go very well. He asked if I wanted to go ahead with the left eye - ‘Yes please!’ It may be June as they can only do one-quarter of their normal ops.

This timing will fit nicely, we hope, with John’s recuperation from the back op. John visited the anaesthetist for the pre op checks and also had pathology tests done. He tried to organise a stress test to make sure John's heart will be OK under the general anaesthetic. Couldn't be organised for before the op so he said, “we'll do the op, and when you've recovered, we'll do the stress test.” ????

Whilst in town we ordered some more ‘autumn colour’ trees and picked up a new electric bbq for the cottage as the old gas version finally died. We hope the electric version will be less bother as we don’t have to worry about whether the gas bottle has enough gas for the visitors. Also picked up extra take-away food containers for the beef - they stack really well in the freezer.

On the way home did a food drop and had a cuppa at distance with Kathy and Peter. They have had a blocked drain and the plumbers have taken out a lovely Chinese Elm tree (the culprit no doubt) and dug up the front making a big, sort of organized, mess. Kathy made John’s favourite lemon and ginger muffins and he got to take some home so he is a happy chappy!

Home to make some biscuits and cake for morning tea tomorrow - for the preg. testing team.Read more
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Janette and John Holiday unprecedented-isolated
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- May 5, 2020, 10:17 AM
- ☀️ 13 °C
- Altitude: 285 m
- Australia Victoria Benalla Tatong -36.705887, 146.14135736°42’21” S 146°8’29” E
Tuesday, 5 May 2020
May 5, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
Up early again - preg. testing the herd so need to get them in the yards and draft them before Mark and Bronwyn arrive to do the job. Late yesterday we added another dimension to the day’s work. After getting the herd in we would hold heifers and steers in the yards and neighbour Kevin arranged for his agent to come and look at them with a view to selling them on line which we have not done before. As the agent, Hayden, had the scales and camera with him we decided we had enough time to weigh and video them and they will be on ‘Auctions Plus’ tomorrow - decision made and done - all by 10.30 in time for the Preg testing.

Let the heifers and steers into the bull paddock and then herded the cows into the yards. Rob Erskine came down to help as did Darren who bought the Hidden Valley block. Kevin and Hayden stayed on so we had oodles of help - in fact Mark commented at one point he thought we had more helpers than cattle. Job done quickly (all cows pregnant) and then back home for morning tea break on the verandah.

Quieter afternoon recovering from chasing those cattle first thing. Just finished an early tea when a truck arrived with a huge, heavy compressor on the tray. Went over to assist with headlights in the dark so he didn’t get bogged. The compressor will drive the drilling rig for the new bore at the cottage. All good. Hopefully they will be drilling the bore before the end of the week. Pics tomorrow.Read more
Paul and Trish send their best wishes. Y’all may be in isolation but there is certainly lots of things happening. Congratulations on the positive pregnancy tests. Relieved it was the cattle you were discussing. If you need another bore at your place invite me over. Would love to see the digger working. Don’t leave it there too long. John will put a fence around it. Great to see your smiles. All the best.
5/5/20Reply
Janette and John Thanks. Best wishes back. Yes, good preg test results - empty cows usually get sold. Empty heifers mostly get a second chance. Thanks for the offer Paul but we'll probably have enough bores - but you are welcome anyway. The drill isn't here yet - maybe today?
5/6/20Reply
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Janette and John Holiday unprecedented-isolated
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- May 7, 2020, 8:48 AM
- ☁️ 12 °C
- Altitude: 300 m
- Australia Victoria Benalla Tatong -36.705009, 146.13827536°42’18” S 146°8’18” E
Thursday, 7 May 2020
May 7, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
Bit stiff & sore today. Still, no escapees overnight. Fed the mother cows in a fresh paddock a bit further away from the calves and the house. Great views from up there.

John decided to do some temporary strengthening of an additional yard for the steers and heifers rather than risk more escapees if we let them back into the bull paddock before they are totally weaned. I took John his morning coffee to the work site in new, reusable, coffee cups. These have lids so the coffee stays hot for the trip to the work site. That way I can get more work done ... only joking!

John collected the mail and arrived home for lunch a little late. There was a small parcel for me - Mother’s Day on Sunday?? Opened it and a card fell out and we both had a really good laugh. It was a great, somewhat appropriate card. The chocolates won’t go astray either.

Drill rig delivered this evening - boring day tomorrow.Read more
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Janette and John Holiday unprecedented-isolated
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- May 8, 2020, 11:23 AM
- ☀️ 15 °C
- Altitude: 302 m
- Australia Victoria Benalla Tatong -36.708538, 146.13914536°42’31” S 146°8’21” E
Bore day - Friday, 8 May 2020
May 8, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
Lots happening today. They will be drilling the bore and we are anxious to know how far down they need to drill as it is charged per metre. Our steers and heifers will be auctioned on line around lunchtime and we will be hoping for good prices.

After ordering a fuel delivery and doing some everyday tasks (setting the stove and fire and doing some housework) we headed into Benalla. We mowed and clipped the in-town garden and then John went for a haircut - needs to look good for those nurses!

Back to the farm to check on the drilling which was underway. No news yet. Home for lunch and to check on the sale and great news - all sold for more than we expected (lots 701 and 702 in the pic.). John then went off in the tractor and brought back fallen tree logs for cutting and splitting - we have had a couple of offers to help if needed and the wood being handy will be helpful.

Later in the afternoon we checked again on the drilling and the lads told us they had a difficult start - they left around 5.30pm and will be back Monday morning.Read more
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Janette and John Holiday unprecedented-isolated
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- May 9, 2020, 9:01 AM
- 🌧 11 °C
- Altitude: 320 m
- Australia Victoria Benalla Tatong -36.704742, 146.1429936°42’17” S 146°8’35” E
Muddy May - Saturday, 9 May
May 9, 2020 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 11 °C
John woke during the night worrying about the calves being confined until Tuesday when the truck comes to take them to their new home in the King Valley - especially as we are expecting more rain and it will get muddy in the yards. Off we go to check any weak spots in the bull paddock. Some great views from there too. John put extra posts in, strained the wire while I walked the boundary looking for shorts in the electric fence and trimming any overhanging foliage.

We took the mothers even further away, put fresh hay out for the calves and opened the gates. They were content in the yards and slow to leave but the fresh hay and new grass were well received. We had a massive hail storm this afternoon but no escape attempts were made. Fingers crossed!

While checking the fences I noticed we had masses of olives. We planted 50 olive trees on the hill over 15 years ago. Tough position. Some of the trees get a bit of water over summer but in the main they have been planted and forgotten. They need a bit of pruning and shaping ... one day. Looks like a great yield but not sure picking olives on the hill is high up the list. Found some colourful fungi - shame they are not truffles.Read more
Traveler Hi Janette and John,You make farming look easy,lots of fun and utterly desirable.Next you'll be doing a series (a bit like River Cottage) Obviously there is never a dull moment on the land.......and who wants it dull. We have been doing lots of walking and gardening and generally keeping ourselves out of trouble.We really haven't minded the isolation and have found the lifestyle quite relaxing. Not that I would want it to go on forever.The kids have been here today (one at a time) for Mothers Day. It will be interesting to here what Dan Andrews has to say tomorrow about any relaxing of the distance rules. From what I am observing,people are getting fed up.Keep up the good work. xxDenise and Michael
5/10/20Reply
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Janette and John Holiday unprecedented-isolated
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- May 10, 2020
- ⛅ 9 °C
- Altitude: 296 m
- Australia Victoria Benalla Tatong -36.706158, 146.14250236°42’22” S 146°8’33” E
Sunday, 10 May 2020
May 10, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
Today is Mothers’ Day but we had made plans before we realised this. Because of the rules we cannot have family travel to visit so it was not a problem. Our lives are pretty good so cards and telephone calls, whilst not the same as a visit, are ok. I posted the Cole family card on Thursday. The John Knapper jnr. family card arrived Friday (by snail mail and it arrived!). Adam and Guler’s arrived yesterday. Adam’s is of his own work based on his ribbon series.

This morning was full-on packing the meat as the butcher cut and processed (sausages). It was really, really cold which is good for packing meat as it stays cool and there are no flies. Russell (the butcher) and his partner Di live at the end of the road in the next valley. Di grew up there and took over the piggery her father had established after fleeing Germany after the second world war. They devised and run our community Fish & Chip night and are really great people.

Meat came up really well despite being hung for only one week. The marbling in the steaks is very good and was a surprise given our cattle are pasture fed and not grain fed.

John was 'delivered' to the hospital at 4.30pm in readiness for his back op tomorrow.Read more
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Janette and John Holiday unprecedented-isolated
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- May 11, 2020, 9:01 PM
- 🌙 6 °C
- Altitude: 293 m
- Australia Victoria Benalla Tatong -36.7062, 146.14230336°42’22” S 146°8’32” E
Monday, 11 May 2020
May 11, 2020 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 6 °C
Weary blogger tonight. John’s operation appears to have gone well. He is in no pain at this stage but has lots of tubes and drips attached. His face is swollen (thankfully they warned me this would happen) due to lying face down for five hours with his face through a hole in the table. Will spend the night in HDU and may be on his feet tomorrow.

Farm still functions. Agent called to change day to collect the heifers and steers from tomorrow to Thursday. Tomorrow will now be easier but I was hoping to get it out of the way before the patient arrives home. Help is standing by in the form of our friend Peter who will bring John home if his exit day is Thursday.

Bore drillers came back today and found water at 36 metres at a flow of 3 litres per second. Water level has come up to about 17 metres from ground level. Called into the pump shop on the way to see John and organised pump installation - should be about two weeks. It is part of a small, longer term project to get water to some new yards which have not yet been built. It will also feed water to troughs in drought times. We probably won’t use much of this bore water but It is peace of mind and better than finding gold when your bore provides drinking quality water.Read more
Traveler Good to read that Johns operation has gone well. Will he be out of action for for a while? Sounds like you are on top of everything, but it also sounds exhausting for you. It’s a good job you are a very capable woman. It’s too bad we can’t be there to give you a hand. Xx D&M
5/14/20Reply
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Janette and John Holiday unprecedented-isolated
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- May 15, 2020, 11:09 AM
- ☀️ 12 °C
- Altitude: 269 m
- Australia Victoria Benalla -36.696159, 146.14315836°41’46” S 146°8’35” E
Friday, 15 May 2020
May 15, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C
John being in hospital has left me a bit short on time to ‘blog’. He looks really well and is not in pain but his feet/legs are not behaving quite normally so he is not coming home until tomorrow. He was not walking well before the op. and could be in terrible pain at times so he is in a much better place. However, his right foot thinks it needs to be in “first position” (for those ballet dancers amongst us) - or facing out at sort of ten past. Surgeon hopes when the blood around the nerves dissipates things will improve and that with rest and physio he could have a great result in 6-12 months.

Steers and heifers went off to the King Valley yesterday without a hitch. They were so quiet I got them into the yards on my own first thing. Neighbour Kevin and the agent, Hayden, drafted and loaded them later in the morning. If we go to the wineries in the next twelve months we will be looking out for them!

Have had beef in brine in bags in the laundry trough since the butcher was here on Sunday but decided two days ago it was in the way and as it is colder outside than in I placed it in an old French ‘brining bath’ we bought years ago. It works well as a big ice bucket at a summer barbecue and we have been told it is probably for a baker to put his dough in to prove. Still we bought it as a brining bath and it works very well. I left the meat in the bags as the bath leaks ... and it is safer from Molly.

Neighbour (Jeannie) called this morning - flat battery. Went down with jump leads as she couldn’t find theirs. Between us we jump started the car (not really that difficult but not something neither of us normally do so we were quite pleased with ourselves). I then followed her to town to make sure she got to the battery place without incident and while she waited for a replacement battery we bought three takeaway lattes and took them to Bev’s to have on her verandah. Then it was home to freshen up, off to the hospital for a visit, then back home and over to the cottage to give it the once over before the hunters arrive tonight.Read more
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Janette and John Holiday unprecedented-isolated
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- May 16, 2020, 12:13 PM
- ☀️ 14 °C
- Altitude: 293 m
- Australia Victoria Benalla Tatong -36.706195, 146.14230336°42’22” S 146°8’32” E
Saturday, 16 May 2020
May 16, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C
John came home today and is looking really good (lucky I had my cataract done). He seems to be improving each day and is standing much straighter, is in no pain, and has quite a jaunty little walk.

John took another photo of the Lipstick Maple which is now becoming lighter and pinker in colour. A lot of the trees with great autumn colour, eg the ornamental pear, lose their leaves fairly quickly but this lipstick maple hangs on and we get a good show well after the others are bare. Not sure if it is the tree or maybe where it is planted.

Today I ate the first sausage ever that I have not paid for. The butcher still hasn’t sent me his bank details. This is so common in this area and I am always chasing invoices. If I don’t chase them up they arrive many months later and there is a chance I might have dipped into the kitty. Even big jobs like the dozing work or the bore are not exempt from this. After a couple of calls I got the account for the dozing but I am now on the case to pay the driller for the bore. Received the invoice on Wednesday for the hay that was delivered last November!Read more
So glad John is standing better, and Janette is seeing better. Both John & the pretty tree give good reason to see better! - Andi [Andi]
5/18/20Reply
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