wish list

birthdays and christmas remind of how my life has changed recently...my wishlist has gone from cds, clothes and funky trinkets to a sharp spade, a kaffir lime tree, a finished vege retic situation and maybe some more sheep manure. and some new gardening gloves. although i asked tim for a cd...bring on the 30th.

it's raining!

We got 10mm of rain yesterday - enough to make everyone smile. Except my calf Lulu who doesn't think it is funny at all. Have been reflecting with some friends on the time it takes to increase your self sufficiency. There is no way I could work full time and be self sufficient - the vege patch is basic at best and to improve our productivity I will have to work hard to develop some fruit and other yet to be determined things. No other deep and meaningfuls at the moment - life is just ticking along.

dead stuff

It still hasn't rained yet. So not much to blog about really in that regard. Today a whole heap of sheep walked into the dam behind our house for water except the dam is empty. And they got stuck and died. There is a distinct smell of rotting that is in the whole house - yuk. I am going to town tomorrow so will be good to get away from the smell and the disheartening emotions it provokes.
I got two more calves last week but one died after having muscle tremors and falling over a lot. So I have one more feisty calf who is still in the chookpen calming down - I keep telling her there is such a thing as peaceful coexistence.
Tim and I kayaked across the Esperance bay on the weekend and it was great to do something like that together. Inspired to do more and develop my upper body definition...Tim working at night a bit at the moment so generally desperate and dateless at present - spending a lot of time trawling free sewing pattern sites on the internet is keeping me entertained.

the psychology of rain

didn't really believe in this...but, here we are. we have had zero rain. and everyone is starting to get stressed and grumpy. i read somewhere recently that australians have recently changed how they feel about rain, given the drought. where we used to get annoyed at the inconvenience, now we enjoy it. it is so dry here and the animals are running out of food and water. we have lost quite a few lambing ewes because of it. i have found myself praying for rain - it is getting pretty desperate. although i also have been thinking about the people over east who have gone 5 years without rain. hopefully we get a break sometime soon.

a new love

Although I'm sure the farmer hasn't read my last post, he must have sensed the vibe. For he bought me home a present this afternoon. It is a skinny orphan calf, and I have named her Lulu. I am not sure if it is a girl, but Lulu seems right. It has just drunk it's first bottle of milk and I hope that it is a bit stronger in the morning. My pet Brownie from last year came up to have a look - and she is huge compared to little Lulu. Again wishing we had a functional camera, but just imagine a black calf with a white face - and the cutest cow face ever seen!
The farmer is the love of my life.

turning thirty

thirty's just around the corner for me (about a month). And I'm having somewhat of a problem with that. So I thought I should use the opportunity to do thirty things around the date of my birthday to help distract from this event. I've got about 10 things so far.
One of the things I am feeling acutely as thirty approaches is my current lack of engagement with social justice. My work at the moment involves working with the most disadvantaged people in Esperance, and while I feel I do offer them a chance to interact with a health professional, it doesn't feel like much changes when they walk out the door. In the past my volunteer work has given me a chance to maintain an outwards focus, but here's the issue. If I spend any length of time in Esperance, I generally bump into clients who would rather not see me. And sometimes I would rather not see them. So while I continue with this work, it makes it hard to have personal relationships with people who are marginalised without crossing some boundary. So I'm pondering what to do as I turn thirty - feeling more self-centred than I ever have before. The movie that triggered this for me is the Oasis movie off the ABC - but I think the change that may happen can only be good.
Tim is working long hours again as we have started seeding crops. This weekend I am finding that difficult - talking to yourself has nobs on it.

...and a favourite series

Our uncle and friend, Doug.