Greeting to you, reader of my blog, on this ANZAC day. I heard today that it is 101 years since the first time Australian and New Zealand soldiers were called ANZACs. I respectfully acknowledge the amazing men and women who have gone to war and endeavored to make the world a better place. Thank you.

Today was another grey morning. Wispy clouds hung over the hills and dropped deep into the valleys and river beds. The dew hung heavy on the ground, but it wasn’t cold. I think Holly was happy to have her cover off! As I walked down the track I could see that it was raining out on the ranges. The mist was so thick, it was difficult to see the hills and mountains.

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On my morning walk I was accompanied by a chirpy little fantail, (piwakawaka). They always seem to be happy little birds and never cease to lift my spirits and put a smile on my lips. As I walked along the road from one access way to the next My eye was drawn to the old fence that is now falling away.I really like the way moss and lichens grow on the old posts, they are so interesting and no one post looks the same!

Laurie is building a goat shelter in Rosie’s paddock.(It’s called Rosie’s paddock because a pet sheep that had been in our family for a very long time died there – about 5 years ago.) These days the male goats from our milking goats live there. Ollie is a billy, who I hand raised, he is part boar goat and part feral. Ponga and Brontus are kids from Willow and are both weathers. They are good weed controllers and seem to really go for gorse and blackberry. This is a bonus for us as we have plenty of the latter and don’t use spray to control the weeds. Goats struggle a bit on The Coast due to our high rainfall. They are prone to worms and foot-rot and don’t like the cold and wet. Having a shelter will be a real bonus for them! Laurie has kit-set some of the shelter up at the house and then transported it on our trailer down to the site of the new shelter. Ollie won’t know himself when he goes home!

After looking at Laurie’s work, the dogs and I cut through the bush, off the main track and headed up the hill. I was hoping I might see some mushrooms, but did not see one! I did see a beautiful black fantail, but I could not get a photo of it. I don’t think it stayed still for more than half a second! It as very busy, but ever so pretty! It was nice to walk in the bush, I haven’t for a few days due to the rain and wet leaves. I so love the smell of the damp soil and the colour of the wet leaves on the trees and bushes. So clean and fresh – nothing like it! I came across an old fenceline from days gone by. It’s wire netting with barbed wire on top – yuck! I don’t like barbed wire – not one little bit!

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The rain started not long after I got in. I’d fed the chooks and put the goats out for a pick of fresh greens. I didn’t milk Willow this morning. I am going to begin drying her off for the winter, (sigh) that means buying milk again! I did some baking this morning; anzac and chocolae chip biscuits. By this time the rain was getting rather heavy, so Kayden and I cracked open a packet of potato chips and had a game of snakes and ladders. It actually became three games because we won a game each and had to have a championship. Guess who won? 🙂 🙂 🙂

It was raining when it was time to feed the animals and put them away for the night. Kayden let the chooks out of their run at 3:00. Not long after that I ran the dogs, got the goats in and gave them hay and gave Holly her hay. Then I fed the dogs before coming inside to cook dinner.

We had quite an unusual skyline tonight at what would have been the sunset. It looked like a black and white water colour, with different shades and hues of greys. I actually found it quite pretty and took several photos. I’ll leave you with a few of them. Night…