Our First Bonfire, Docking Tails, and Gender Bending

Well Myles is back to work today after getting the all clear from the Doctor. Apparently he had Pneumonia which is much better than getting some weird flu from an animal. My back seems to be getting better thanks to some core muscle exercises - I swear they are hard though. The Physio told me to imagine pulling my balls into my stomach WTF! My fitness ball is ready for use this afternoon so I shall be watching TV etc while sitting on the ball.

Safety first - hose nearby

Meanwhile in the valley...

We finally decided to light our huge pile of trees and branches on fire. When Myles and I arrived the whole property was overgrown and we spent months trimming and chopping down trees. We asked the local Fire Brigade to burn one of our piles but they are yet to show up even after 6months! So we spent a fair amount of time trying to get the fire going but it didn't seem to catch - too wet. Finally after a few nice days we have been able to light it and have been enjoying watching the fire at night. Myles says it reminds him of his childhood which is interesting because he apparently never had a bonfire. However, I am reminded of Guy Fawkes in New Zealand. I have no idea why they celebrate Guy Fawkes in New Zealand? I am reminded of the Guy being dragged into the street on the back of a wheelbarrow, the bonfire being built and the guy being chucked on top of it. Originally it must have been a first to burn an effigy as you see in protests now. There were always loads of fireworks on that night too - New Years Eve was nothing in our household but Guy Fawkes held a special place. There is probably only another night of the bonfire left then we can move to the next one!

I read that you must dock the tails of lambs in their first week of life. Naturally Myles and I had never done such a thing and were a little apprehensive about hurting the cute things. It is necessary to complete the task or the sheep will be in more pain in the long term. So like all good farmers we Googled how to do it and saw this awesome little video. Myles and I spent a couple of hours running around the paddock trying to catch the lambs and slide the rubber thingie on tail. Many old crumpets were used to get the sheep to go where we liked - they LOVE crumpets! It is all done now and the lambs appear not to feel anything - WHEW!

Finally a neighbour came around to check on our bonfire and saw one of the goats in the paddock. He commented that the goat must be pregnant because of her size. I was looking into the paddock commenting that you can't tell if a goat is pregnant but it was indeed possible because the Billy had been a little randy. Myles wondered over and overheard the neighbour and pointed at the brown goat and asked if that was the pregnant one? The neighbour confirmed he meant the brown one. I had thought the neighbour was talking about the white goat - the brown goat is a boy! And proved that he couldn't be pregnant by standing up and showing us his jewels!