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Second wave holiday

July - November 2020
Just when it looked like the CoViD19 situation was relaxing a little, cases in
Victoria spiked... Read more
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  • Janette and JohnSecond wave holiday
    Day 23

    Road grading

    August 4, 2020 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 5 °C

    3 calves today - 6 so far.
    Over the weekend we heard that the council had started grading our road last Friday. History says that they will only grade up to our gate. Over the years there have been many 'discussions' re the section of road that goes through our place. Because it's gated off, I think many people assume it's a private road and getting any maintenance is like pulling teeth.
    Yesterday morning, I phoned the council and left a message to the effect that I expect them to 'do' the entire road.
    On our trip to town yesterday, there was no sign of the grader working - probably an RDO.
    Today they were there. I drove down and asked the bloke in the water truck, “how far down the road are you going?” The answer? - “to the gate”.
    Would you believe I was a bit 'miffed'?
    Straight home and back on the phone to the council. Molly, the poor girl on the switch assured me that she had passed yesterday's message on and I would get a call. I said the grader will be gone before I get a call - I must speak to someone NOW.
    Joe came on the line and assured me they will be going right through to Tiger Hill Road - I hope so!    Read more

  • Janette and JohnSecond wave holiday
    11
    Day 24

    Intervention vs interference.

    August 5, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    No new calves this morning but 1607 was showing some signs of getting close. I kept checking her, but there was little progress. After lunch she was close but still not really progressing. She would lie down, stand up, call out, lie down, stand up etc. When she lay down two hooves were visible but that was all that happened - when she stood up they weren't visible. Janette drafted the cows in the hospital paddock such that we could allow three to go back with the herd. So, mastitis cow and the two that had the bacterial infection were let out. That left the original two and they will stay in there.
    I started to think about getting her into the yards and pulling the calf. I set up the yards, picked up the pulling gear and got Janette to help. She agreed that we should get her in. Only one problem though - the cow didn't agree with plan A - walk her down to the yards. She just kept wanting to go back up the hill. Plan B then - get the tractor and a roll of hay and get all the cows near to the yards then push her in.
    She didn't like this plan either. She walked up the hill a little, lay down and guess what? She calved!
    I couldn't help but remember some advice I received many years ago - “there's a fine line between intervention and interference”.
    We enjoyed a lovely meal at Martinis with Kathy and Pete. Bev didn't go as she wasn't feeling well. The restaurant was at the allowable capacity - nice to see that support. On the way home it was very obvious that every restaurant was busy - many people did what we did and dined out for the last time for at least six weeks.    Read more

  • Janette and JohnSecond wave holiday
    Day 25

    Sun, moon and a severe frost.

    August 6, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 1 °C

    I think it was minus three degrees this morning. Went down the road early to check the cows but didn't 'start work' till the sun was well up and the frost was thawed. Driving on frosty grass snaps the stems and leaves of the grass.
    The road crew arrived about 8.00am. YES the road has been graded. What's more, a bloke in a truck with a load of gravel turned up this afternoon. There was a section of road that wasn't too bad and they thought the grader might do more harm than good. Therefore a load of gravel was organised for the potholes in that section.
    We planted an Algerian Oak in a gap in the ones over near Lex's and put four poplar sticks in the rest of the gap in the hope they will 'take'. The gap was left because it gets very very wet there in wet years.
    We finally decided where to plant the umbrella (stone) pines and, wait for it, we planted them. Janette took the Hi-Lux and sprayed along some fence lines.
    No calves,but a couple do look close - I always say that.    Read more

  • Janette and JohnSecond wave holiday
    Day 26

    Rain always follows the grader.

    August 7, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C

    Whenever the grader is on our road we say something like, “Oh good, we need the rain”. Most times, there has been rain not long after the grader has been. Guess what? It's raining and will be for a couple of days. We need it as July was quite dry. The trouble is that the graded surface can become quite greasy and can be a bit of a bother for unsuspecting drivers - not that there should be too many of them at the moment.
    This morning's early check revealed a new calf in the hospital paddock - always a great start to the day. That leaves one in there to calve. She's the one with the crook hip, so we'll be very relieved to see her up on her feet after calving.
    At lunchtime we were watching the CoViD update on ABC tv. First Daniel Andrews et al and then Scott Morrison et al. I only mention this as we were quite distracted while it was on, but I did hear something very memorable from the PM in response to a journo's question - “...don't bother about the politics and other nonsense...”
    Anyhow, the reason we were distracted was a cow that was close to calving walked to a spot that was clearly visible from our seats. She would lie down, stand up, turn around etc. I had the binos on her. We would stand up, sit down, turn around - know what I mean?
    In the end we decided to drive down and have a look. It was raining so hat, coat and outdoor shoes, dog into the car and then off we went. By the time we got there, she had the calf on the ground and was licking it!
    Janette decided to bake a lemon cake this afternoon. When she opened her recipe book, she happened to see a recipe for a ginger sponge. Having never baked a sponge, she, for some reason, decided that today she would bake her first. She was edgier about the sponge than the calving.
    All turned out well. I suspect there won't be any left on Monday.    Read more

  • Janette and JohnSecond wave holiday
    Day 27

    An escapee.

    August 8, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Checked the cows, did a head count and one was missing. Janette drove around and couldn't find her. I went behind the calving paddock (up the hill) and there she was. She had just delivered her calf. Don't know how she got out yet but she obviously wanted to be in the bush. I can understand that she'd prefer that, but, we confine them in case they need help calving.Read more

  • Janette and JohnSecond wave holiday
    Day 28

    Two new ones today.

    August 9, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    One new calf first thing. Yesterday's escapee was waiting at one of the gates to come back in. Checked the cows after lunch and found another one just born.
    Janette has been thinning out some native irises and offered some to Sue, Kathy Z's daughter. She said she'd take some. Good excuse to go for a drive and deliver them, which we did this morning. Janette made some almond croissants and Kathy had made some muffins, so we had to have a cuppa while we were there.
    Driving down the road, my concerns re rain following grading were realised. There are a few spots where it's quite sludgy and slippery.    Read more

  • Janette and JohnSecond wave holiday
    Day 29

    Tidying up a bit .

    August 10, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    First a GP appointment for John to continue having some sun spots cleaned up with liquid nitrogen. GP Peter is the fastest freezer gun in Benalla. He's worried about a couple of them, so I'm booked in for 8th Sept to have them excised. One is on my back but the other is on the top of my head - that should be fun (?).
    Straight from there to a physio appointment. I find some of my exercises quite tiring but I came away feeling confident that, in time, all will be well (?).
    As Janette broke our garden fork - the metal shaft snapped - we headed to Mitre 10. With new fork, citrus food and chook poo, we headed home via Tatong.
    After lunch Janette sat on the ride-on and I sat in the tractor. We have more rain forecast for Wednesday, so that gives me today and tomorrow to clean out the yards and take the soil over to Lex's to cover up the septic diggings.
    David from Forest Management called in. He is running a feral pig control programme. He's probably mid-way through a three year programme. He has traps set, but the pigs have moved to the South. He wants to get another trap in and wants to lower it in by helicopter. He's asking everyone if it's OK to land on their property. Hopefully I'll be around when they do it.
    Did a last check of the cows about 5.00pm and one had just calved.    Read more

  • Janette and JohnSecond wave holiday
    Day 30

    More plans.

    August 11, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    We have a couple of large gum trees in the gully next to the house, one at each end. There are also a couple of old tree stumps that get in the way of mowing. We have asked North East Tree Services to remove the trees and chip the stumps. We'll just have European trees in the gully now.
    Moved some more soil from the yards to Lex's. Just need to put the fence back and get some plants in. Easy if you say it quickly.    Read more

  • Janette and JohnSecond wave holiday
    Day 31

    Powerless.

    August 12, 2020 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    No newbies today, so still 14 calves.
    We were scheduled to be without electricity today to allow work on the power lines. Not really a problem as we have the wood fired stove - in fact that's really all we have. Anyway, as long as the kettle is always on...
    Just before lunch we were whinging about the constant bad news on radio and telly. “We should watch DVDs instead of telly”. Only problem with that is we currently have no TV set in the study where our DVD player is.
    So, after lunch, into Wang to buy a little TV.
    Bumped into Kevin Ryan on the way home and arranged for him to come and weld a rail on the cattle race back on. I wrenched it off with the tractor some time ago when a calf decided it would be good fun to get its head stuck between rails.
    Home about 4.00pm, power was back on, so set up the new TV. It’s smart TV and I've decided that the TV is a lot smarter than me.    Read more

  • Janette and JohnSecond wave holiday
    Day 32

    Thursday 13th June 2020.

    August 13, 2020 in Australia ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    Again, no new calves today - the bull must have had a couple of days off.
    Had a couple of 'visitors' this morning - two sheep. They belong to neighbours, Catherine and Darren. They bought them several weeks ago, put them into their yards and they escaped straight away. They haven't been able to recapture them. They obviously prefer to free range. They are likely to be seen anywhere along this stretch of road.
    When the septic system was installed at the cottage,the front fence was cut and pulled aside. As the soil has now been taken to the garden at the cottage, it was time to repair the fence. This will make cattle management easier as we won't have to keep them away from the cottage.
    Big thunderstorm tonight. Poor Molly was shaking so much that you could hear her teeth chattering.    Read more

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