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Valentine's Day is early on the farm!

The farm is awash with romance as the rams have a reprieve from their time in isolation and are allowed to join the ewes, literally. 28 happy rams have 8 weeks of mixing with 2000 ewes in Howard's carefully thought out breeding program. The twins and triplets will be born first, followed by the hundreds of bleating lambs, around 1700 in total, in July.  

As you can see in the images, the farm is drying out and we have started hand feeding the stock, oats and hay. We are hoping to only have to do this for a month or so, until it rains again and we can sow the grazing crops. 'If we get an early break in March, the ground is still warm and the feed comes away very quickly in the pasture paddocks and the grazing crop areas.' Howard explains.

We store our oats in large silo bags, that is the long white sausage I am leaning on to practice my morning meditation, while waiting for Howard to load the grain bin with the tractor. These shots were taken yesterday and I am soaking up the summer weather while it lasts. Summer softens over the next few weeks and the mornings have a freshness about them that is delightful. The dust is powdery under foot from a hot summer beating, but the trees and deep blue sky are a constant back drop to a season you either love or hate. My new panorama camera is fantastic because I think it really captures the enormity of the space we enjoy in the country. I hope the images upload ok for you to enjoy.

One thing I cannot share is the aroma of a farm. Yesterday I took a moment to stop and take it all in and the first thing I noticed was the smell. It was a mix of eucalyptus, straw, dust, grain and a sweet summer breeze. It probably doesn't sound that nice but it was really lovely. The great advantage of meditation is that you can get your busy thoughts out of the way and see what beauty is right in front if you.

The last thing I noticed yesterday was the sky filled with stars. I could see them through the lemon scented gum tree in our back yard and it looked like a Christmas tree with the stars dangling around its hanging leaves. The branches moved ever so gently, giving the impression the stars were twinkling. I could have sat there all night!

What do we miss....what do we miss?




 

   

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