WHATS HAPPENING ON THE HOME FRONT - July 2006

Well a lot has happened since writing to you last.

We have had some rain and the bottom paddock which was sown to oats has turned a very nice shade of green.

The weeds are doing very nicely thank you and little tufts of grass are appearing.  The horses are roaming far and wide trying to source what they can.  We are of course feeding them their minerals and vitamins and they are lined up each morning waiting for their "meals on wheels".

As I am typing, it is raining. Whether or not this is going to be drought breaking rain only time will tell but we are certainly very grateful for it.  Our water tank which is a 20,000 gallon tank was almost dry, so every drop is precious.  Fortunately, we have a large roof on the house.

With some moisture back in the soil, we can again think about gardens.  We have endeavoured to keep most of the plants alive, but unfortunately we have lost quite a few as the bore water that waters the gardens seems to suit only the hardiest of plants.  Having said that, the roses although not looking brilliant continue to thrive.

This is a good time to get ready for spring planting in Australia.  Time to turn the vegie garden soil if you are starting a new vegetable garden.  Use some of that compost and fork it in and let the whole garden rest.  As the weeds come up, pluck them out and you will be ready for early planting.

We were very excited the other day as the species of birds that have been appearing are growing in numbers.  We had a robin redbreast the other day.  We have not seen this bird for many many years.  We used to see them when we were kids.  He had with him a mate, so we are hoping that they are a breeding pair and will set up house in the garden.  The grass parrots, wrens, finches are all starting to appear.  It is very exciting as when we took over this farm 6 years ago, there wasn't even an ant.

We are currently renovating the old federation homestead and the thing we have found is that everything that is needed for it costs mega bucks!  Fortunately, Vic is very handy and has already built one house, so renovating costs at least on labour is a lot cheaper.  We have done up some of the rooms and the next thing we need to tackle is the kitchen and bathroom.  Unfortunately, to do any of the rooms left, we need to do part of another room just to get the first one done, so we will be living in a war zone for awhile.

Until next time.