The Autumn weather has been delicious – a balmy 25 most days with cool mornings and evenings and perfect sleeping weather! As the builders are about to start on the renovation I am relishing my last few mornings when I can sleep in past 7 am!! The fire season is now open too so we are enjoying a few bonfires in the back garden with plenty of fuel as we burn all the clippings from the pruning of our trees and roses ahead of winter. The trees are all turning orange and red and my walks with Bailey are a little brisker as the temperature falls.

Such a pretty time of year….

As lots of you know, I love cooking. As my family knows, I tend to nurture people with food. If someone is under the weather, a bit poorly, or celebrating a birthday, promotion or just about anything I will respond with food of some sort or another. As an English lass my repertoire of comfort foods knows no end. A home made pie with golden flaky pastry, a roast dinner with rich dark gravy and an alarmingly nostalgic array of yummy puddings – treacle sponge pudding, baked rice pudding, sticky date pudding, apple pie or lemon tart. Any of these and I am a happy camper. A warming home made soup full of veggies or beans and lentils with some local sourdough bread from the bakery and spread with lashings of local butter is the perfect winter lunch or supper perched on our laps in front of the fire.

I also absolutely love cakes. Biscuits, ice cream, chocolate and sweets can stay lurking in my pantry uneaten for months but a good cake is destined to be eaten  in my house. Just the smell of them baking in the oven fills the house with love and when I know people are coming to stay I try to have something for them to have with a cuppa on arrival. I have a vast library of cook books which I devour like novels, nothing makes me happier on a windy cold afternoon than flicking through my books and picking a recipe to whip up for afternoon tea. Now I am in the country this seems more appropriate than ever however we are trying not to feed our sweet tooth too much and are now mindful of how much sugar passes our lips, so all in all a cake is an increasingly rare thing of beauty.

My Mum who is a great cook used to make a fantastic coffee and walnut cake which to this day is right up there in my top 3. She also made a great Victoria Sandwich. This is a sponge traditionally filled with jam and fresh cream and topped off with a dusting of icing sugar. It is not however one of those airy fairy sponges that we see in Aussie cake shops, it has a fair bit of butter in it which helps it keep for longer and it is truly delicious. In my goal of becoming a true country cook I thought it was time to drag out the Red  Baron and whip one up. (If I ever want to be a true country cook I better be able to master a sponge of some sort -and don’t get me started on scones….). I have only used my new toy about 3 times and so far I am not convinced it works any better than my trusty old hand held whisk. This time was no different. My sponge ended up looking rather curdled and overcooked which was a great disappointment. It still tasted nice but no cigar for this little country cook. I must Google which attachment I am supposed to use with the kitchenaid mixer as I presumed it was the whisk but maybe it’s not? Maybe I also should have used smaller tins. This is a challenge I will continue to take on until I have a Victoria Sandwich as good as Mum used to make! In the meantime there are hundreds of other cakes just waiting to be made in my kitchen in The Meadow…….

The real deal compared to my rather pathetic effort….

The veggie patch is back in action with the garlic and onions being planted last weekend. It is rewarding to replant our own beautiful garlic from last year, it was a great batch so hopefully the genes are strong and will yield another gorgeous crop. The marigolds are puddles of orange and yellow sunshine in the patch, making it a happy place to hang out in. Our little seedlings of broccoli, cabbage, caulis and brussels have been attacked by some sort of caterpillar – I suspect the cabbage moth – and I am forever out there checking the underside of the leaves for the offenders. The chooks fight over them when I throw them into the pen – I doubt if they even touch the sides of their throats they eat them so fast! 

Cam and I have been trying to offset the gains of the past 6 months of eating and drinking with all our weekend visitors by employing the 5:2 approach to eating. As we are both hopeless at giving up the good life and don’t want to give up complete food groups (not to mention alcohol) we thought we would give this a go. Our friends swear by it for keeping a lid on weight gain and if you are good-ish for the rest of the week you can easily lose more weight. So for 2 days a week we fast. This is not as I expected, you can in fact have about 500 calories, which is enough to keep the wolf from the door and although you do feel hungry is that really such a bad thing? The moment we feel peckish on a normal day we invariably eat so the body never really goes without for any length of time and it is for this very reason that this eating plan works. It tricks your body’s metabolism into using fat stores but never gets really used to the reduced calories as the next day you eat normally again!The afternoons are long on a fast day but if you keep busy it helps and the prospect of being able to eat normally the next day keeps you strong. Pancakes for brekky or pie for lunch are all possible the next day to reward you for your abstinence. Plus the bod is already beginning to look a bit better in the jeans – win win!!!

Not loving the halti

In action

Dougal

Miss Bailey attended training for round 2 and was actually quite accepting of the dreaded halti. My little bum bag full of doggy treats was definitely more closely watched this week, she can put 2 and 2 together quicker than most – in a way it made things harder. She has always learned new things with praise as her reward and now I’m not sure if it’s the food doing the talking or if she has genuinely learnt something new. Now we’ve been told to encourage her using a tugging toy as a reward for good behaviour and as something WE bring to her rather than the other way around. She has always loved playing with them by herself as well as with us so I’m not sure how I feel about withholding it from her now. Guess they have to train the owners as well as the dogs in this class…..

One of the bonus’s of the class is it’s location. Held in the Nowra Showground above the beautiful Shoalhaven River it is quite beautiful to behold as the sun goes down. The dogs are already getting used to each other and seem to know they’re not allowed to play until the end of the class. At the moment the border collies rule due to their dominance in numbers and have formed a little clique of their own. Luckily one of them, Dougal, lives in our lane and Bailey has been granted visitor access to their elite club…….

In what has been an exhausting week of decision making re the renovations and disciplining the hound, trying to keep the garden alive throughout 60km winds and starving myself in the name of vanity this little gem seems highly appropriate! !

A big part of our new life in the country has been Bailey. After losing our first dog Brodie about 12 years ago we always wanted another dog but living in the Inner West of Sydney didn’t seem a good environment for dogs. We had a tiny house with a tiny courtyard and despite there being lots of parks in the vicinity we always thought having no grass at home was a major no-no, especially for a bigger dog. Once we arrived in The Meadow it seemed sacrilege NOT to have a dog lying on our beautiful wrap around veranda and running riot on our 2 acres. My birthday bought me our beautiful little chocolate labrador Bailey and she has very much become part of our family, joining in most activities , however domestic, as well as adventures at the beach, the river and in the adjoining paddocks. She loves coming to local wineries and the markets and is constantly hopeful that someone will have dropped a few pie crumbs for her to clean up.

She is a very happy and affectionate little dog, always keen to please and VERY sad when she’s in trouble. There have been a few atrocities committed in the last 12 months but nothing too dreadful. She isn’t a hole digger for instance, more of an opportunist – if someone is silly enough to leave their shoes around at ground level outside she considers them in her territory and if we dare to lie in bed past 7 am she will let us know she is bored waiting for us to come and play by having a chew on them. Sadly the latest casualty was Wayne’s good walking boots – a rather expensive target that left her master less than impressed……

She has been on a waiting list for obedience training now for 8 months and thank goodness in that time she has become fairly well behaved. She does all the usual sit, lie down, shake hands commands and she waits for her dinner until her drool forms a little puddle on the floor, which is pretty good for a Lab, and I can walk her without a lead everywhere except in town where she gets super excited with all the people, smells and crumbs outside all the cafés and where it takes me 30 minutes to walk the 400 m of the high street because everyone wants to pat her and say hello – it’s exhausting!!

Finally we got the call up for the dog training school and she is one of 9 in a class – which is pretty distracting for a dog that loves to play. We go armed with 4 sausages cut up into little pieces as ‘encouragement’ to do as we ask and in a little bum bag to dole out as she performs to order. She is so excited when we arrive – so many new friends to play with, another Lab, 3 Border Collies, a Bull Terrier, A Staffie, a lovely ball of muscle of an unknown breed and a little shitzu. So much fun to be had and so little time…..

Also she had to wear a halti.

This is a little mini muzzle thingy that goes around her snout and she DIDN”T LIKE IT.

She spent the first 10 minutes trying to get it off and rolled around on the ground willing it to leave her body. I managed to distract her for a while with the special sausagey treats but she just wanted to play with all her new friends. Why after all would they all be together at a great park if you couldn’t PLAY!!!! She was confused and unimpressed but eventually she too was walking around in a big circle on a loose lead, her usual enthusiasm diminished and unsure as she got rewarded for being beige and boring. Next week hopefully it will all be a bit easier and the halti will be less weird and she will shine as an A student as our homework this week is to teach them to shake hands – something she learned a long time ago. Yes – it’s her time in the sun although there are other calmer, more beige dogs than her who will probably steal the limelight and be TOP DOG. Long live the sausage treat……

The main reason we are doing the course now is that I would like to take her to agility training as I think she will love it. You have to do Obedience 1 AND 2 before you can have a go at agility so I’m guessing these classes will be a regular entry in my diary for a while to come. Of course they would become available as Winter looms and instead of being tucked up at home in front of my fire with a glass of red I will be rugged up in the middle of a huge park exposed to the wind “encouraging” my little darling to comply with my wishes!!!

However it will all be worthwhile when she is beautifully trained and she also deserves to have some fun learning new things.A payback for the unconditional love she gives us.

On my way to work early the other morning I relished the view from my car window. The mist hugged the fields like your favourite blanket and a single boat was making it’s way up the Shoalhaven River cutting a swathe of ribbon through the silk of the still river water. In the distance the white cockatoos hung in the trees like Xmas decorations – entire strings of white baubles across the branches of huge trees and over the electrical wires covering the road, later I saw them feasting on unseen delicacies covering entire freshly harvested paddocks. The cows, as always, graze on the lush grass and no matter what trivial annoyances I am experiencing this picture of nature calms me and puts all of lifes little foibles into perspective.

I noticed a cow was beginning to calve yesterday at about 4pm and thought how wonderful it would be to capture it on film for you, my beloved readers!! She was very conveniently close to the road and next to my friends house surrounded by a 6 foot fence so I had somewhere to hide and surreptitiously video the miracle of life that was about to occur…..

Two hours later and now in complete darkness I gave up. She had laid down, groaned and pushed with the calf starting to emerge only for her to suddenly stand up and proceed to graze on the grass for a while, the little bundle disappearing within. This in/out thing continued until I wondered if it was perhaps me that was holding her back. I really wanted her to hurry up and have her baby before it was time for Freddy Fox to come out and play so with a heavy heart I came home – no video for you guys this time around I’m sorry to say. The farmers had previously told us that cows are able to “pause” a birth if they are worried about safety for the calf or if the weather conditions are truly awful – super hot or cold or wet. It’s quite amazing considering they are perceived as ‘stupid’ animals by many people yet they can influence their babies birth and we supposedly complex and intelligent creatures have no control at all, giving birth in cars and on bathroom floors all over town!

This morning I was very happy to see that this little guy had made it unscathed through the night to enjoy the beautiful Autumn sunshine and Mum was taking a keen interest in him. A miracle indeed, no matter how often you see it.

I was very excited this week to see an avocado tree for sale in a nursery in Kangaroo Valley. I have wanted one for ages and as we get through 3-6 avos a week it would be great to have our own, especially when they charge $3-4 each for them in the summer months when you want them  the most! They are a very handsome tree with large soft leaves and grow to be about 12 metres tall so we had to choose a special spot in the garden to plant it, away from the other trees to allow for it’s projected growth but protected from those nasty westerly winds that we get. It will hopefully start producing fruit in the next 2-3 years as it is grafted, otherwise you can wait 7 years for a tree to bear fruit. You also need another avocado tree nearby for pollination, so all in all it’s a bit of a lottery as to whether we will ever get our own avos but it’s worth the risk and the wait for me! I also picked up a finger lime tree, a native lime with little balls of amazing limeyness inside – almost a citrus caviar, which are great scattered over salads, tarts and in the odd G&T.

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I wonder if we could train The Chocolate One to tolerate something like this beautiful flower crown for the wedding?

A couple of days prior to the Easter Bunny arriving a tidal wave of cars towing caravans, boats and trailers laden with bicycles, kayaks and surfboards wove it’s way down the Princes Highway to the South Coast. In what is the longest of our long weekends other than Christmas, people flocked to the coast and the countryside in a mass exodus from the city. There are mixed feelings from the locals as they know that tourism is important for the area however it’s frustrating when it takes you 10 minutes to turn out of your road, there are queues at all your favourite coffee shops and a fight for a parking space when you can usually just pull up in the main street and park anywhere!!

We were overjoyed to be told this week that we passed the scrutiny of the heritage consultant and our DA has been approved!!  The new building plans were a good fit to the original house and we can go ahead as soon as the builders can fit us in. In addition to that news our bed-in-the-cupboard saga has finally ended and we have a fully functioning and HIDDEN bed! Yay!!!

(Nice to get everything finished before we start messing things up again….!!!)

One of the biggest ‘happenings’ down here on the South Coast over Easter is the Blessing of The Fleet in Ulladulla. What started out in 1956 as a simple recognition of the local fishing fleet has grown into a vibrant local festival with thousands turning out to enjoy the occasion. A local Princess is chosen and a huge street fair is fun for young and old. St Peter is the patron saint of the festival due to his humble beginnings as a fisherman and the Italian families who started the initial proceedings are now represented by their great grandchildren as it becomes part of our history in The Shoalhaven.

St Peter -patron saint of fishermen

Fun for everyone

The Blessing of the Fleet Princesses

Ulladulla’s Blessing of the Fleet

We were invited down to beautiful Claydon Park to enjoy a pizza evening testing out their new wood fired pizza oven.  Lots of fun was had in the kitchen rolling and folding the dough before they sizzled and bubbled for just a few minutes in the oven coming out with crisp bases and and delicious oozy toppings all washed down with bottles of red wine and lots of laughs. Their new wedding/event business is up and running, working out of the old church at Milton and it’s looking beautiful with it’s newly landscaped gardens all ready for a wedding or a christening or just a wonderful party. (Check it out at http://www.theoldchurchmilton.com.au ) Autumn is really beginning to show down here as the seasons start to change, a beautiful palette of yellows and  orange amongst the green paddocks…..

A round table discussion

Our fabulous hosts

Claydon Park

Waiting for their dinner

Autumn leaves

We have had a procession of visitors over the Easter break with more to come so it has been a whirlwind of washing sheets and baking cakes but we are about to have a week off and head north to see my lovely Father-In-Law who is 90 this year and our dear friends Wayne and Kathy where WE will be the guests! Bailey is coming too and I know she will be in heaven being so close to the beach where a twice daily swim is definitely on the cards. The Retired One is easing into a more relaxed lifestyle although he seems a little lost without his daily emails and phone calls, I’m still not sure he is ready to put his feet up full time!

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Come on Guys – what’s not to love about Easter??

Doesn’t this look like the most perfect country lunch??

My friend and Pilates teacher Leanne from Pilates Studio Berry hosted a 30th birthday celebration for her daughter in law, the very talented Ashley, at her beautiful property. Ashley runs Piccolo & Poppi , an events company popular in Sydney and on the South Coast and it turned out to be a perfect day for her birthday gathering and a perfect location and view too!!!

This week we too enjoyed some beautiful country locations on our road trip to northern Victoria. We drove down the coast to Eden for our first night and as it is most famous for it’s whaling history we drove out to the old Davison Whaling Station to get an inkling of how things used to be in the mid 1800’s. Located in a glorious bay and surrounded by huge stands of silver gums the station would have been pretty self sufficient back in the day, growing its own fruit and veg and enjoying the local fish and the odd kangaroo too I should imagine! It was a really magical spot with bell-birds calling so loudly you could hardly hear yourself think and there was a very real and physical sense of the past; the only other place I’ve felt that way was at Port Arthur in Tasmania. Although the work would have been hard I think whoever lived here would have had a good life in comparison to those in the cities in 1850. A more glorious and tranquil bay would be hard to find.

The old Whaling Station

steps to paradise

such serenity

silver gums

Boydtown

The Seahorse Inn at Eden

After a lovely nights sleep listening to the ocean crashing into the cliffs below us we hopped back into the ute and headed inland and up over the Snowy Mountains stopping at Mount Hotham for a lunch with a view. I haven’t been up in the mountains in the summer and it is amazing how different it looks without snow. The air was fresh and clean and the winding road took us through some lovely old country towns before we arrived in Beechworth for the night. A town famous for it’s connection to Ned Kelly and his gang and for it’s local honey and wines and the generously wide old main street with gorgeous old buildings. It was fascinating going around the old sandstone courthouse and jail and learning about life back in those days when you could be sentenced to death after a mere 20 minute hearing. A display of public drunkenness saw you jailed for a month and many a woman was left at home to run the farm and raise the 5-10 kids they invariably had, alone.

lunch at Mt Hotham

top of the world…

fabulous bookshop in Beechworth

A Beechworth pub

Country pub at Cann River

A quiet corner

A couple of people suggested we go to Daylesford via The King Valley, a popular wine growing area and as one of Cammo’s favourite wineries Pizzini lay within this valley we took the detour. The only patches of green we saw were the vines and the odd garden in a village that was obviously being hand watered. There is a bad and widespread drought in this part of Victoria with everything either the colour of bleached straw or sunburnt orange. The poor cattle and sheep were literally nibbling the baked cracked soil and farmers are having to hand feed at considerable expense. Some can’t afford it and are having to sell their herds instead. It’s a sad state of affairs and you hear nothing of it on the news – the poor farmers really get no help at all and then we wonder why we’re getting an avalanche of meat from overseas or interstate in our supermarkets instead of local grass fed animals.After a long day on the road we finally arrived at The Dudley in Hepburn Springs.

I cannot recommend this place highly enough.

A beautifully appointed boutique hotel with a husband and wife team that leave no detail undone. The level of service and thoughtfulness was second to none. They even drive you to and from dinner so you can have a couple of drinks and the breakfast menu is something to behold. An exceptional pub dinner at The Farmers Arms was all the better for being unexpected and we started to feel like we were on holidays! The next day as we were staying 300 metres from the famous local mineral springs we enjoyed a couple of hours floating about in 34 degree water full of magnesium,calcium and other goodies and left feeling decidedly the better for “the taking of the waters”. That night we dined at the famous Lake House and enjoyed another lovely meal albeit a very different one from the previous night. Much more refined and labour intensive but as is often the way when you really look forward to something and it costs a lot you become more critical and I think my dinner partner preferred his big plate of pork belly from the night before to his kingfish carpaccio and duck breast at the highly acclaimed Lake House!! I loved both meals in different ways….

Pizzini wines

A relaxing corner

Worthy of the title

Cellar door at Pizzini

Champagne prior to dinner

Japanese windflowers

The Lake House

Tranquility of Daylesford Lake

Goats Toast breakfast at The Dudley

Asparagus and salmon brekky

With our car laden with our various purchases we reluctantly left Daylesford to start the journey home. Cam wanted to visit Tumut – a town at the foot of The Snowy Mountains where his Dad had grown up. With very little information we set out to find the old house that Cam had last visited at the age of 8. We had a street name but no number and of course it was one of those super long streets that literally stretch from one end of town to the other. I had no faith that we would find it but incredulously the ute came to an abrupt halt outside number 149 which looked extremely familiar to him despite recent additions to the roof. It was opposite an old house which back in the day had sat in the middle of a big orchard that the kids frequently stole fruit from. It was now surrounded by battleaxe properties and had obviously been subdivided and it wasn’t until he knocked on the door and the people living there now affirmed the presence of an orchard out the back that we knew he had indeed found his house!

It just goes to prove that the power of special memories really can last a lifetime!

In the same vein we bought flowers and drove to the cemetery in the hope we could find his Grandma who we knew was buried there.With no office or map it was literally a case of walking up and down the rows until we found her. Another small miracle and an emotional afternoon for The Retired One. A couple of drinks at the local pub to wash down a pizza and we were happy little vegemites. We woke in the dark to get an early start and had just set out when the rain came down. As the whole area was crying out for it we were happy and proceeded to drive through it for the next 4 hours until we stopped in Braidwood to check out a French antique place called Longbarn and String which I had read about. They have some lovely things and they also do an annual trip to France for small groups.

Drought stricken Victoria

A wide brown land…

The house Wayne’s Dad grew up in.

We found Wayne’s Grandma in Tumut cemetary

Braidwood

Braidwood

After picking up a very happy but exhausted dog we drove home for one night before getting back in the truck to drive to Sydney and a lovely reunion with some of Cam’s oldest friends at a beautifully organised soiree in the Eastern Suburbs. We stayed next door to our old house with our lovely ex-neighbours who are always so hospitable it’s like being in a B&B and it was really lovely to see all our old mates from The Street. We had a delicious breakfast together the next day before one last drive back to The Meadow.

The Red Lion Crew.

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This sure rings true and can equally apply to a certain chocolate dog……

It’s been a week of hard physical work and LOTS of sweat. Not mine. well, not much of mine in comparison to everyone else working in The Lane this week. Mother Nature didn’t get the memo that it is now Autumn and we have had a week of temperatures in the 30’s making it decidedly summery. Unfortunately I couldn’t leave the veggie patch any longer as we are going on a couple of little holidays in the next few weeks and I needed to get the beds cleaned out, turned over, fertilised and mulched so that everything is ready to go and I can plant the winter veg when we get home. No point planting seedlings when you cant water them twice a day for the first couple of weeks. So despite the heat (and the sweat) it is now looking much tidier and ready for the next season and I’m feeling chuffed I got it done.

It helped that I worked alongside Joe – the new ‘Will’ in the garden – who spent 6 hours in the full 35 degree heat digging out my new hydrangea bed and scrambling under the prickly wild rose to try and track down the source of a rather annoying and persistent vine that has entangled itself in the same prickly rose hedge. It looks like we may have to gently bathe the leaves in poison in order to get to the cause of the problem as it is nearly impossible to see it’s origin. Much as I hate using Roundup (and refuse to use it in the veggie beds) it is sometimes the only thing that will actually work on those stubborn weeds such as wandering jew and onion weed. The bed is looking lovely following the curve of the other hedge and we will mulch it heavily until we buy the new hydrangea plants when the weather is a little more gentle. Lets hope that they will be established and strong by the time next summer comes along when they will have to deal with the full brunt of our Aussie sunshine.

Hopefully it will look like this in a couple of years….

Meanwhile next door has been a hive of activity as well. They are replacing their old septic with a new environmentally friendly system which basically necessitates digging up half of their garden to lay pipes, submerged tanks and spraying systems and they are simultaneously laying a slab for a huge shed to relocate all of his farming equipment ahead of the sale of the dairy. The chief plumber on this big job is going to be 70 next month and while the younger lads man the machinery he hacks away with his shovel, sweat pouring off him as he manually digs ditches in the tricky areas where the machines cannot go.He is friendly despite the conditions, wiry and strong and never complains – they sure do breed them tough in the country.

They had a break yesterday to attend the funeral of Old Man Morschel of the famous local family that live 2 minutes from us. He was born, lived his entire life and died in this house so it was only fitting that his funeral was also held there. You just don’t see this complete and utter connection to one place any more do you? I’m rather in awe of him as I LOVE moving and experiencing new places and couldn’t imagine for a moment how you could live in one place for 98 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To celebrate Cam’s”retirement” we are off on a road trip to rural Victoria and an area I have always wanted to see. I had imagined pretty towns with a European aesthetic full of deciduous trees and beautiful architecture however I’ve heard they are in the middle of an awful drought and there is not a blade of green to be seen anywhere so now I’m not too sure what we will see! We will embrace all the differences that our little mini adventure may bring, together with one bucket list dinner at The Lake House in Daylesford , a beautiful hotel and restaurant run by a chef/artist couple (www.lakehouse.com.au) and maybe some relaxation in the thermal springs in Hepburn Spa, or hiring a couple of bicycles and exploring various local haunts including the Macedon Ranges wine area and generally enjoying a bit of downtime somewhere new. I’m really looking forward to it. Bailey is going to stay in Milton at Claydon Park where I know Karen and Phil will look after her as if she is their own and she will have an absolute ball playing with Corona and Chloe (fellow labradors) on their 100 acre property! She may initially be slightly concerned as to why we are not there at night but it will quickly become a holiday for her too, just like those 80’s animal movies The adventures of Milo and Otis or Homeward Bound with Chance, Shadow and Sassy. Goodness only knows what those three will get up to in our absence!!! Good luck Rileys and thanks so much for babysitting.

The skies have been amazing lately both early in the morning and at dusk. I have the hot days to thank for my early rising and the chooks to thank for being outside at sunset as that’s when we tuck them into their coop before Mr Fox comes out to play….

Early morning mist and  a sky that’s splodged with charcoal clouds

Someone has spilt peach and apricot paint on this sunset sky

I keep thinking I should take up yoga and be a bit more zen but every time I try this is pretty much the result……….

It’s been a busy week for the local vet with a lot of ‘stuff’ happening in the lane. Last weekend we had not one, but two, dead calves. It always makes me feel so sad to see a little black and white bundle lying in the grass and nine times out of 10 a sad and exhausted cow lying nearby. Sometimes it’s a false alert with the little ones just sleeping but you can normally see an ear twitching or a tummy rising and falling.

Not so this time.

Another cow, Mum to the other inert bundle, was licking this new calf desperately trying to get it to breathe but to no effect. The nurturing force must be strong in her as I saw the farmers having to shoo her away hours and hours later – she was determined! She was apparently a very young cow and this is often the outcome when they become pregnant too soon. She survived to be a Mum another day but sadly the other cow died with paralysis, quite common after a difficult calving.  All in all farming is a really really hard life, I’m sure those days when you have to pick up a dead calf or a full grown cow, these guys must wonder if there is another way to make a living and I’m not even going to get started about the 5am starts and the weather variations they have to work in….
Things will change down the lane this year as the young farmers lease runs out on the dairy farm and they have decided not to renew. Their parents have a farm and they will go and work alongside them instead. If no-one else locally is interested in renting a dairy farm it looks like it will be sold. Such a shame after several generations of the same family farming that land and yet another small dairy goes out of business. The land is not zoned for residential so we are not likely to be surrounded by building blocks any time soon. There are 3 separate 100 acre titles and I’m thinking that a canny developer may buy it in the hope the zoning changes in the next 10 years or so. We will miss seeing the cows wandering past in single file on their way to milking or dotted in the surrounding fields looking all the world like a still life painting in the golden afternoon light.
We wont miss the extra flies that they bring though.
Always a silver lining folks…..

Dougal, the new puppy on the block, has been diagnosed after extensive testing with lupus which is going to adversely affect his hereto happy life in the countryside and Molly the goat had to have surgery for a hernia much to her disgust. She is doing well but her bleating has an extra sad tone to it. Vets are such an important part of rural living. We love our pets of course and will do anything to keep them happy and healthy but for some local people their animals are their entire life AND income and a sick animal, or worse, a sick herd has severe repercussions. Their dedication and love of what they do sets Vets apart I think. At least doctors don’t have to work in a muddy paddock in the pouring rain with their patients……

In happier news it has been a lovely week catching up with friends and enjoying some stunning scenery at the same time! Lunch at Wharf Road with my friend Sue was lovely. All the more for the fact it was air conditioned on a very hot day and we enjoyed their lunch special of a main course and a glass of wine for $25!!

Then a quick trip to Sydney and an opportunity to choose some tiles and bathroom items for the renovation (if and when it ever begins) and the odd compulsory wedding decoration purchase! I’m so glad we have plenty of time before the big day so I can really enjoy the process of planning everything with Lauren. A lunch with the eldest son at the Boathouse at Balmoral was the perfect Sydney ending to my trip. All sunshine, blue skies and a gentle breeze keeping things bearable on what was a very warm Autumn day.

Bailey has been enjoying some long local walks, we try and go early in the morning or in the late afternoon when it’s cooler. Her favourite place is the beach where she can run for miles and leap into the waves to fetch her ball as well as bump into lots of other dogs. It completely knackers her for the rest of the day and is a great excuse for us to have a lovely coastal walk too. The country lanes allow her to meet other animals and she is always inquisitive leaning into the fences to get as close as she can to the cows, horses or donkeys. At home and at work she loves to be involved with whatever is going on and is always right at our side being ‘helpful’…

So our little life in the country bimbles along with a pleasing rhythm, our daily chores dictated by the seasons and the weather. We have been so lucky that loads of our friends past and present have popped in to see us when they are in the area. We see so many more people down here than we ever did in Sydney and have also reconnected through this blog with people we knew 10 years ago which is just lovely. The fact that people are often down here for weddings and holidays means we get to see them for a couple of hours or overnight on their way home and we feel blessed and very lucky to be moulding this new life of ours in The Meadow.