Em Nau Farm BLOG

We have now been on Em Nau for about six weeks and we have been extremely busy with repairs, new construction, more repairs and stopping the driveway ending up in the paddocks.  Like most of the east coast of Australia, Em Nau farm has not been immune to the torrential rain that has fallen.  Over the past six weeks we have had to resurface our drive way at least twice with a third time looking likely.  The gradient of the drive way and the lack of maintenance of the spoon drains has caused mass erosion and more than a little fun when driving up to the gate.

All the chooks have settled in well and we have had a few “pass-on” the most notable from Brett’s point of view was ‘Raptor” a modern game that we are sure had direct links back to the Jurassic period.  The mornings have been bliss as we awake to the sound of roosters crowing – in fact they worked well as an alarm clock when the power was disrupted and the clock battery failed.  We have still only constructed two pens but the chooks don’t mind the slight overcrowding as the get plenty of quality free range time during the day.

In summary (from H’s jottings on the aussie goat forum)

.Chook pens up (still 2 to go), and you'll be pleased to know the cable tie pen is holding up very well! (Made great use of the "donger" bashing those steel posts in!!)
.Richard and Trevor (most handsome roosters) installed with their combined harem - happily free-ranging during the day, and more happily providing the wake up call each morning - love it!
.Beaudette (jersey house cow) has arrived and is being very generous with the milk she's giving us - it'd been many many years since I'd milked a cow, but all over it now!!
.Cheese production going nuts keeping up with Beaudette's milk - plus providing plenty for the chooks to drink - should see the froth on their whiskers!!
.Despatched about 40 hundred cane toads - even hit one with the whipper snipper (is that inappropriate?)
.Seen 2 snakes - - one huge carpet snake up on the driveway, and a little (BUT STILL) orangey/stripy/kinda snake curled up in the pavers ON THE VERANDAH
.Lined up 4 goats to arrive in about 3 weeks or so - 2 does in milk, 1 doe in kid, and 1 wether who'll be the man about town - unable to do the bizz, but not destined for the freezer!
.Bought a new beaut ute - we're farmers now!! (but no dog for the back - we're cat people)
.Met the neighbour in week 1 when a truck delivering pavers couldn't get up our very long and steep (and at that stage soft from rain) driveway - "Ah hello there, I'm Heather, your new neighbour. Don't happen to have a tractor do you??" Luckily they did - and it cost me 2 bottles of scotch!!
.Had many nights of broken sleep - due to really bad carpal tunnel, hot on the trail of spraining my ankle 2 weekends before we moved - still swollen and tendon damage - but that's ok, with a combination of gobbling heaps of drugs and meeting my 2 new best friends in Dayboro - physio and podiatrist - well on the way to recovery, and a full night's sleep!!
.Still haven't finished moving all our stuff from the other house, but sorta kinda organised here - as I look upon the heap of clean washing piled on the floor waiting to be folded and/or ironed..

Since H wrote the above (about week 4) we have commenced construction of the goat milking shed and pre-planned the goat pen, H has seen an echidna, B has put in a car landing strip (so the car tyres don’t get dirty in the mud around the house) and we are both a lot sorer than we wish to admit from all the manual labour.

We plan to get our goats (four in total) over the Easter long weekend – ah life is good.