High Five

I've been doing many jobs this week.
And in this weekly roundup I will be showing you two of them

Firstly is putting hay bales in the paddocks for the sheep, cattle and Roo to feed from.

They are loaded onto the tractor using the rear forks like so.

Then they are dropped into the paddocks as shown.

Another job shows that farm work is not all tractor driving.

In fact some jobs are what’s piled up in the next picture

This pile of s&*t was dug out from under the sheering sheds shown behind.

It’s not only sheep that get sheered in the shed as this video shows.

If you didn't guess, it's and Alpaca

Recently I have also been testing my cooking skills by cooking on a budget.
As eggs and lamb are plentiful I have been having many roast dinners like the one in the photo.

I have been perfecting my home made Yorkshire skills and believe I have cracked it.

I am also a pancake and scrambled egg eggspert now.

And just to finish things off for this week I would like to show you what I have taught this dog to do.

Sorry for missing the photo of me mum. It will be added within the week (don’t hold me to that).

Just a couple of notes about the blog. To enlarge the pictures, simply click on them.
Also please rate my entrys bellow each one. It is anonymous and it helps me to improve my content, and know how many people are reading.

Fox hunt

So this is an Australian style fox hunt.

No hounds here. A fox hunt happens at night when the foxes are out hunting. The farmer will usually drive as they know the layout. Then someone holds the spotlight and another shoots. The extras (me) open gates and collect the foxes.

Everyone drives around on the back of the Ute using the spotlight to search for the foxes. The spotlight pics up the whites of the foxes eyes (The video doesn't show this well). When a fox is found we would play the sound of a parrot squawking to keep the foxes attention while the gun man aims and fires. Then we drive over and pic the fox up. Most of the time the shot kills the fox instantly, On the occasions that it doesn't, everything is done to shorted the foxes suffering.

The video is not very clear as it is night time, but I hope it gives you an idea of how it is done.

Please note before watching the video that an animal was harmed in the making but many sheep, parrot, kangaroo and other creatures lives have been saved. No blood can be seen in the video but don't show it to the young ones before checking it yourself.

Odd Jobs

This is a rushed one as I'm just about to leave for a fox hunt.

I am currently cooking the liver and kidney of a lamb that only yesterday was roaming around the farm. My freezer is now full of Shaun.

This morning we went to make sure all the cows were okay and look for any new arrivals. Only one more today.Then we serviced the old yellow tractor before taking here to the other bloc to live for the purpose of carting hay.After dinner we had to bring some machinery back from the bloc to the main farm. this involved me becoming an escort warning drivers of a wide load. I couldn't take pictures for an obvious reason but this was taken before leaving the bloc.

So I'm off to hunt some fox, guess what the next post is about.

Feeding sheep

Due to the lack of grass in the paddocks we have to feed the sheep every couple of days.
The sheep are fed with barley and lupin from last year’s crop.

It is loaded into the feeder from the silos using an orga as shown below.

Then we drive of to the paddocks to feed the Shaun’s. John (my neighbor) helps by opening the gates and pointing directions to me.

Once we have located the sheep and tooted the horn, the mob come running towards the Ute (they know its dinner time).

Then the feeder is opened and the sheep get given their feed.

Once the feeder is closed the sheep all end up in a long line while they eat their feed.

The farm has about 20-25 mobs. This takes about a day to do

The next photo shows an alpaca amongst one mob of sheep (to the right). These are here to protect the sheep from the foxes. The idea is that they stamp on the ground near the foxes to scare them away. But it doesn't always work. It is not uncommon to see a couple of dead shauns who have been killed by the foxes while out feeding the sheep. And this is despite a couple of fox hunts each month.

I have also just witnest my food beeing slaughtered. Four sheep have are currently hanging in the shed ready to be butchered in the morning. One of the sheep will be my food during my stay here. So if your ever wondering what i'm eating in the evenings, the chances are its lamb chops or roast lamb.

While your here don't forget to have a look at my posts from the past couple of days.

Pushing sticks

One of the many jobs I have been doing on the farm is clearing the paddocks ready for seeding.

Fallen limbs and dead trees like this one have to be removed.

I drag them away to an open space using the 'front end loader'

They get pushed into piles like this.

Then when the wet season comes and the fire ban in lifted we will burn the piles.

Today also marked the beginning of calving season with this little one. She has been named daisy after its mother, sisters, aunties, grandmothers and cousins.

Don’t forget to read yesterdays post below.

ALL WORK AND NO PLAY.....

I am learning just how many things can be achieved in one day with no TV, limited internet access and few shops. Unfortunately this makes it harder to update this blog and keep in contact with everyone. So I’m sorry for the lack of updates and video’s. I am trying my best.

Since my last update I have been building fences, sorting sheep’s wool, spreading lime fertilizer, feeding sheep, building bonfires, moving accommodation, touring south west Australia and making curtains. Plus many other things that I have forgotten

On March 29th I went to the local Kodja Museum to have a look at the local history. Once again the truth of how the aboriginals were treated had been covered up am wiped from the pages of the museum waiting to be told at a later time when the generations have died off.

The Following Wednesday I went for a drive south down some back roads to Walpole to visit the treetop walk. The valley of giants is a suspended walkway amongst the great trees of South Australia that can be summed up in one word… Disappointment.

From there I went to Albany to do some shopping. On my way I stopped at Peaceful Bay for a walk and Denmark for lunch. Peaceful bay was as it says on the tin, A peaceful bay. And Denmark was a typical tourist town.

I haven’t had time to explore much since then. I went for a drive to Bridgetown one Sunday but everything was shut.

Just before the Easter weekend I moved into another house 2km from the main farm house. I’m still staying on the farm but now I’m on my own for the first time in a year.

My Easter weekend was very dull; I chose to stay away from the Easter crowds and stay in all weekend. I used my time to fit the truck with some curtains and plan my road trip north to Darwin.

I will be doing my best to update this blog every day for the next week with photos from the farm, but please don’t shoot me if I miss a day or two.

Oh and I want to show you a video of an Alpaca being sheered, but I can’t upload it now so I hope this photo will be a good substitute for now.


And Its almost lambing season so I have added this photo of some early arrivals. They have both been named Shaun after their mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins.

14 Day's without a cigarette :-)