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Today started very early. I was up until 11pm last night working on a computer project and finally hit the sack. Then at 11.55pm work calls and I have to go fix a fault. It was a 140km drive over rough gravel roads with lots of Kangaroos because of the near-full moon that took close to 2 hours each way. The fault was pretty simple to fix and I was away from it in under half an hour then the trip back. Finally got home after 4am and hit the sack yet again. Slept until 11am and bummed around until 2pm when I had to go back to work. A couple of hours of paper work and I was home again.

Found out this afternoon there is a problem at mining area C that needs attention so that is where I will be going tomorrow. Another 4 hour return trip with an hour or so work to break it up.

Ronnie tells me the ducklings are appreciating the freedom and are splashing around in any puddle they can find. They are big enough now that the crows won't bother them but i don't know what we are going to do with 16 of them.

Its nice and warm up here. Flew in tuesday night so its been three days but it always feels like longer.
I am looking at buying a MIG welder so I thought I would ask an expert for some advice. Bruce is a professional welder who specialises in repairing railway switch frogs. AS it turns out he does not use small welders, but offered to give me lessons on stick welding techniques. Spending his 'beer time' as he called it, he showed me methods surface preparation, striking and maintaining an arc, and correct weld structure.

AS far as work goes, its been pretty quiet. I should be able to complete all my maintenance by the end of the weekend, so all those odd jobs that have been put off may actually get done.

A few weeks ago I decided that today I would visit a farm field day at Newdigate. Its one of the two big field days and attracts more than a hundred major exhibitors and thousands of visitors. I left home at 5am and got there around 9am. The trip was 300+km each way in my charade with a few minor stops. I was going to take my F350 but the charade is MUCH better on fuel. With the cost of fuel being AU$1.40 a litre it cost me $50 for the trip instead of $120.
The field day was rained out a bit, and very windy. I wandered around and looked at the stuff and took a few pictures.
The green machines are MERLO multifarmers and I was interested in them as we have one.
The wool fleece is from a sheep that had been treated with a chemical shearing enzime that causes all of the fibres to break at the same length, removing the need for shearing and gives and easier way of handling the cut fleece. We may try this at some time for our small herd (8) of sheep but we are concerned about meat contamination. Apparently it is a natural enzime produced by sheep that shed their own wool.

It has been raining most of the day. Went out to let the chooks out and collect the eggs. I think one has gone clucky so we are storing the eggs indoors to protect them until she starts sitting properly. Fed the orphans down in the yards their regular bottles and dropped some hay in for the horses. The rest of the day has been paperwork and house chores. Didn't get to fix the F350 so I plan to do it tomorrow.

Had a nice quiet day. Rob and Mike went out to Unicup to pick up the last few bulls and to mow the jungle that is the house garden. I spent the day sorting through all the stuff moved up and out of reach of our 7 month old daughter as she is getting mobile. My F350 started motor packed it in a few weeks ago. I put a 397 cu in chev diesel in it and it goes very well. I think moisture penetrated into the starter motor and corroded all the connections until it eventually stopped working. I managed to pick up the spares for $50 and will rebuild it tomorrow.

Spent all day today separating the bulls from the rest of the herd on the other property. There were 12 bulls and they were spread out all over the 1900 acre property. We have had one of the wettest years this year and many of the paddocks were under several inches of water. I was driving the jeep sportsman and Mike was in the F150.
Some of the older bulls were easy and knew the way to the yards once we got them moving, but the younger ones just wanted to run around and much fun was had chasing them around in the mud.

Its thursday and time to bring in a large mob of cows and calves( 180-ish )from the far paddock to take out a couple of bulls and pick some of the best to take to the other farm. Spent a couple of hours on my horse which was fun. I haven't ridden him for a few months and he is pretty spirited. Pointing him at a bunch of cows is like hitting the turbo button.
The grass is growing pretty well and its also time to rotate another mob into the next paddock. They have eaten it down well but it should regenerate quickly.
Josie, one of two jersey cows we keep for milk calved on saturday. We bought her earlier in the year and were told she was not pregnant. She was still well in milk so we adopted an orphan onto her. Unfortunately the orphan was now large and when the new calf came it was stomped on and now has a broken hind leg. Ronnie put a poly cast on it and it should mend ok. We milked her tonight and got 3 litres, plus the calf drank his fill. Its still colostrum so when she is supplying regular milk we will keep some for ourselves. Previously we have made icecream and skimmed off cream for scones. This season we will probably make butter.