Farm Visit

Last weekend the tables were turned, and Freya brought Scarlett to the farm to visit us :)  It was fab.

Initially she was a little overwhelmed by the affections of Kiki and Yoyo, but she quickly learnt to make them 'sit'.

The vast amount of water in the dam was a huge attraction.

But the stuff lying around in puddles in the paddock was the best fun.

She enjoyed meeting the animals, and they were all keen to investigate the new little person in their midst!

Scarlett, Taco and Me

Lucky enough to spend some Sunday time with Scarlett again this weekend.  Taco, the budgie, is getting very tame and Scarlett is learning to let him come to her and not to chase him!  And we had cuddle time - cant beat that!

Meanwhile in Melbourne ......

..... Young Jacob appears to have thoroughly enjoyed his first birthday party, sorry we missed it Jake!!

Photos then Shopping!!

This Sunday we attempted a marathon shopping event, fabric shopping in Queanbeyan and then clothes shopping in Belconnen, with a quick visit to the motor spares part shop... which didnt stock the spark plug I was looking for!

Quick snaps and then we were off!!  Scarlett was 'ready' for the flash!!

The shopping went quite well, except for the spark plug, and Scarlett had a lovely time on the play equipment in the mall at Belconnen :)

Scarlett - Working it!!

Scarlett loves her Sunday photo shoots, yesterday she was in fine form, loving it!

Last Sunday's Visit with Scarlett

As soon as she sees my orange bag, which holds my camera, Scarlett quickly gets ready, winning smile etc, and asks for her photo to be taken.  I'm happy to oblige :)

Paddock Shuffle

Yesterday was a busy day, we moved some of the animals into the new paddock across the road.  It needs to have the access road fenced off, and some yards and then be divided up into smaller paddocks.... but for the moment, its one great big paddock with a LOT of grass in it.  It is great to be able to see llamas (and alpacas and sheep) in a big chunk of our property that until now we havent been able to use.

 BeetleBub, Red Riding Hood and Gracie in exploring mode.

We meet Mareebah while we were out checking for small gums that will need tree guards if they are to make it fully grown trees.

It didnt take them long to find the dam, and though a sunny day, it wasnt much past mild on the temperature scale, none-the-less some of them went in for a swim!!

Jemma is a big fan of a little swim:

The Weekend

I was supposed to spend the weekend driving to Narrabri and back, but a quick review of the weather forecast including the flood warnings meant that plans were postponed.  Instead I managed to fit in a visit to see Scarlett - who was in fine form :)

Jake and Coco

Some pics of young Jake with his dog!

Mud, Wash Aways and Llamas

Yesterday Jay Jay - an aging llama - leaving the yards and the creek paddock after breakfsast, must have walked on a part of the bank that had been affected by wash away from the recent rains.  The result was that she landed in a tight muddy 'gorge' and was completely wedged in :(

I tried pulling her out backwards and had her pretty much 'free', but her instinct was to go forward and pretty soon she was wedged in tight all over again!!

I tried getting the hole with her and pushing her out.. no progress.

I tried digging the sides of the gorge wider to help her get out... the soil/clay was much too compacted for me to make much head way and Jay Jay kept spitting at me the whole time I was digging.

By this stage we were both soaking wet and covered in sludgy mud :(

Finally I tried getting the belly band from the crush around her chest and putting the quad bike in the creek bed, lower and behind her and hitching the belly band to the winch on the bike.  I was pulling her back and rotating her at the same time... all good, stopped to assess and see if I could get her free when she started trying to get out herself.  Much wriggling later she had shrugged off the belly band, but rolled herself into a lower part of the gorge on her back!!  She was now stuck in a shallow V shape, on her back, legs flailing in the air!!  More pushing, pulling and maneuvering on my part and I had her out, she was a bit shaky and shivery and totally soaked, but she stalked off as haughtily as she could!!

This morning she opted not to come in for brekkie!!

2 Visits with Scarlett

I've been to visit Scarlett twice recently, as soon as I arrive with my big orange bag she wants her photo taken and then to look at it on the back screen of the camera.

Last Sunday was Mother's Day and I had a lovely time, Freya made a yummy lunch, and gave me champagne, chocolates and potted tulips (in bud) which was all very lovely.

After lunch we took Scarlett and went shopping to spend the money my mother gave me for my birthday - bought some lovely French style crockery that I've been eyeing off for a while!!  Scarlett had to try out every ride on toy in the centre.

I know... its green and I never choose green, but here it just works!!