Its mid afternoon 22nd May, 2013. Raining and really quiet cold.
We need the rain, but I just don't like wet days this time of year.
It is miserable for the animals, even though they have warm dry
 shed,
and are fed very well. But everyone needs the rain, so it is a
matter of taking it and being grateful for it.
I have been making soap using goat milk the last few months.
Even if I say so myself it has turned out really well. I am intending
too keep trying and hopefully my efforts will improve as time goes by.

My heart goes out to the people in Moore, Oklahoma, USA. I cant imagine
how frightening the Tornado that hit them must have been.  It is
impossible to imagine how they are coping with their losses. I just hope
 things improve for them all.

Our first goat babies are due 2nd July.  Jewel has been a bit of a problem,
but it looks like she will be the first to kid this season. We are looking forward to

the arrival of strong healthy babies from her.


This is some of my first attempt at soap making.
We have used it now and it is very good.









Jane is a maiden doe who will kid for the first time this season.

2013 is here and already it is 1st February. Just after lunch today we had a very big storm.
The thunder and lightning was really severe. Rain fell in all directions and the wind blew it
everywhere in sheets of water. We measured 44ml. rain.
It is impossible to imagine how diverse this country of ours is. Raging bush fires and flooding rains.
The National Park in the Warrambungle Mountains near Coonabarabran was destroyed by fire.
The fire was reported to have started on 13th January and there was still a lot of hot spots burning,
however I expect the rain today would have taken care of them. The fire escaped the park and burnt out reportedly 56thousand hectares and 53 home completely destroyed along with numerous Shed and farm equipment and vehicles, not to mention the loss of animal life, domestic and native.
Victoria and Tasmania also have had their share of huge bush fires, while the top end of Queensland, down to Brisbane and into NSW have been inundated with flood waters.
These events are not new as my Parents often spoke of big bush fires and floods that left people with a lot of damage.
In 1950 the flood waters went through our house.  Dads prize stallion spent the duration of the flood an the table top from a truck suspended on 44 gallon drums.  Food and fresh water was carried to him by row boat.

These are the pleasures of living in Australia. Just one of the many pictures taken of the fire.

My desert Roses were badly frost bitten last winter, so it was a lovely surprise too see one of them flower this summer.

Early this morning Charlie found half a black snake at Darcys' Kennel.
We don't know if she ate the other half or just pulled it in two. She
is not showing any signs of being sick, we don't think it bite her.
It will just be a case of wait and see what happens next. Fortunately it
was the head half we found.

Update.

I haven't visited my Blog for a while. I have not been enjoying the best of health.
At present I am undergoing Chemotherapy for Colon Cancer. I have been a non smoker and non drinker of Alcohol all my life and have eaten fresh fruit and vegetables daily. I dont know what has caused my illness. My husband and I have done the Rotary bowl scans each 2 years, with no adverse results. I had very few symptoms and thought my trouble was gall stone.
I would like to ask anyone reading this to make sure they have a regular check-up. Chemotherapy is no fun, but hopefully the end result will be a good outcome.

Resident

This is a resident in my Garden. These little Lizards are so cute. When it is hot they will drink from the end of the hose.

Frosts.

Its been very cold here the last two mornings. I am not sure what the temperature has been, but it must have been below zero by the very heavy frosts we have had. I think it would have been colder this morning then yesterday as the water pipe to the kitchen was frozen for the first time in quiet a few years. The poor old hens had to wait until the ice on their water melted before they could get a drink. It was the same for the goats and dogs. I am not at all keen on this frosty weather, but then again I don't seem to handle the heat of the summer too well either. My garden is not doing too well with the heavy frost and most of the plants are keeping their heads down. I tried to get some photos of the ice on the garden yesterday, but the photos don't really show how heavy the ice was.