Uralla

We made a trip to Uralla early last week. It was a long drive, but the countryside looks so good after all the rain this season. Uralla is quiet an early settled part of NSW. It had a strong association with the Bushranger "Captain Starlite" in the late 1800's.

I took this photo of a small church we saw. It is just lovely. Settled in among a large grove of huge trees and a vine growing on it.

I also took a photo of a large shed I saw in the distance. I think it could be for housing sheep in the cold weather but am not sure. It is an amazing looking building. I have never seen one like it before.

Excess Sale

I haven't added anything to my pages for a while, There hasnt been a lot happening.
I don't think I will get any dish cloths from my Luffa crop. Even though the Luffas' have done great, I think we will get early frost that will probably stop them from drying out. They seem to be different from the ones I have grown previously. I will just have to wait and see what happens.
We went to an Excess Sale yesterday in Coona. They are held about once a month. Usually there is
cattle, sheep, goats and pigs in the livestock line up along with a large variety of Birds Ducks and Chickens of all types. Sometimes there will be Ferrets, Rabbits and Kittens as well. Apart from the livestock there can be household items, various building and fencing materials. Yesterday I got a real bargin, I bought 3 large garden pots for $5.00. My buy of the day was a pair of
Silver Lace Wyandotte Bantams also for the price of $5.00 each. When I say my buy of the day - it was for me as I think these little bantams are just beautiful. I was told they were Stud Birds, but even if they are not- I am really happy to have them.

Great Season

These are the Luffas The Pumpkin Vines

We have had wonderful rain here during December and the first two days of the New Year.
My garden has filled in beautifully. I will post a photo in the next few days. The Pumpkins that we planted have gone mad. I have never seen them do so well. Ever since we moved here, 36 years ago, I have been trying to grow Luffas. Only one one or two occasions previous have they been successful. This year they have done as well as the pumpkins, Hopefully we will be able to leave some to dry to make dish and washing cloths from.

Goat Handler

Charlie has built a new goat handler. He gave his other one to a friend, as he decided he didnt need it. We have a few old pet goats and he found it difficult to handle them to trim their fee, drench and vaccinate them without the handler. So He built another one. He says it is an improvement on the old one.
I was very proud of my design for the Handler. It makes working with goats much easier.
I do believe my design has been copied by others, I cant get angry about it as it makes the job easier and the goats dont stress as much.

This is the old and new Handler.
They also double as a loading ramp.

Tree Stumps.

We had a large tree stump in the driveway. Yesterday, the stump grinder came and ground it out. This morning I have been shifting the saw dust up into the garden. I have piled it up to compost and will use it as mulch for the garden. It has a lot of soil mixed with it so I am hoping I can use it for putting into pot.

Back Again.

I haven't posted any thing on my blog for some time. I don't have any photos this time, but will get to taking some soon.
2009 Has been and gone. The last Days were very traumatic for us here. My sister-in-law passed away. She vertually died of Mechenical Failure, as she had a defribulator conected to her heart and it failed to activate.
It was such a shock, she went to bed on Wednesday Night and didn't wake on Thursday Morning.
I will miss here so much. Her service was held on 23.12.2009 followed by her cremation.
Her passing dampened the excitement of the wonderful rain we have had. Everything is green again. You can almost hear the grass growing. With the first 2 days of 2010 we had more rain.
Some areas of our state got more than their share with flooding occuring. That is about all for now.