MOTH's caffeine habit

OK, we've had the A team for more than a year now. So, there was originally 6 that quickly went to 5 and then 1 turned out to be a rooster on Good Friday (obviously an oman) of whom I returned and exchanged for two more chooker moles... 6 again.

Then there was the great incident of November 2011 when Peep (a very small - smaller than a bantam - white chooker mole with a very big attitude) got devoured by a big python. The others were so shell shocked that they insisted in laying in my tomato patch - or were they just saving me the trip to the chook palace on a Saturday morning omelette hunt? Anyway... the python came back a few weeks later and Iwas terrified into a stance of pure fear by my screaming "Snaaaaakkkkkkeeeee" (of which MOTH apparently identified as non venomous from my cries). Sid was then coaxed to move back up the mountain where he came from, given my COMPLETE phobia of the species, to live another day as a slow moving, territorial reptile that would keep the other nastier ones away.

STUPID Sid came back just days later to "rest" in said tomato patch to capture the chicken or the egg, whatever came first. Long story short but MOTH saw red, got very angry and Sid's head fell off!

The chooker moles now happily (OK, after a little re assimilation) lay in the chook palace and the world is as it was... BUT... MOTH has recently discovered that there is a massive supply for organic eggies where he works AND he can get $5 a dozen for them (I was giving them away to friends). He has now directly attributed this to his caffeine consumption in the coffee shop downstairs and mortified that the eggies go anywhere else, except towards his lush fund. Sorry, friends and colleagues at work, MOTH has taken over my supply...

I feel dirty... like a drug dealer...

KT

The rest of the menagerie

Yes, there's more...

Meet Baillie, our 5 year old Dogue de Bourdeaux. She is way too smart for her own good.

Her partner in crime is Roman. He's 3 years old and a bit simple in the head. In fact, some days he doesn't even know his own name.

So, one day when I was trying to clip Baillie (we clip them to minimise the risk of paralysis ticks which are deadly to cats and dogs) and he was giving me the shits, I gave him a quick clip. He walked around that like for a couple of weeks!

Baillie and Roman protect our house and keep away the snakes with their snoring. Man, can they snore. They get on well with the donkeys and chickens so we have no troubles there. But, there is something that Roman loves more than anything...

It's Moet, the youngest member of the family. She's a rescue kitten and is about 8 months old now. Because she is cream coloured, she is an inside cat. The local eagles would get her in a heartbeat if she was outside. We have had this happen to chickens in the past and it is horrific.

Finally, Moet's best friend in the whole world is another pound special, TC. He's a fat bastard. Originally he was called TC to represent Tough C*** (I didn't name him that) but he didn't work out that way, being a total wus, so his name is officially Tabby Cat. This picture of TC pretty much sums up what he does all day.

Then there's a couple of kids and us...

On top of that we have lots of native animals that come and visit and the occasional unexpected visitor like the piglet that turned up one night. Ended up being the neighbours so I was very happy to give it back to stop the echo's of "can we keep it, can we keep it".

[This posting is bought to you by our sponsor, Samford Vet (kidding, but they do make a small fortune out of us)]

Peeping Donkeys

Neighbours called yesterday morning, "Your donkeys are at our house".

The boys have obviously worked out that the electric fence is not turned on (note to self: TURN ON THE BLOODY FENCE).

"But they're OK, they'll be fine down here", says said neighbour. Next minute there's photos on Facebook of them enjoying carrots and playing with their dog - too funny! They are obviously not in a hurry to return.

The other thing is "down here" is exactly that. Our driveway, which passes their place down on the road, is more than 800m long and incredibly steep. It's too steep to easily walk down, let alone up!

Oh, and Guinness has taken a shining to their wee dog, Millie. He has also developed a nasty habit of peering in through their windows - who'da thought I had a Peeping Donkey on my hands?

So, while it's still pouring rain (has been raining for two days now), I will don my coat and start my journey down to reclaim my donkeys. Guinness will walk on a lead rope and Irwin just follows. I think he's too worried about being left alone. A legacy from his earlier days before I rescued him, poor soul.

MOTH (Man of the House) suggested we just leave them there but they can easily walk out onto the road and that could end up very bad. So, I'll post this and head on down the hill.

Happy (late) new year

Hi guys

Firstly I am so sorry that I have been sooo slack with getting into the groove of my blog. It's not like I don't have much to share, more that I haven't really had the time to share it.

So, as promised I will start with some pictures.

This is Irwin. He's a Jerusalem Cross donkey who came to us as a rescue donkey. He is about 13 years old (they live to be about 50) and is extremely shy - remnants of his past experiences. He lives in the paddock next to our house with Guinness (see below).

Guinness is a little Irish donkey who is much smaller than Irwin. He is also a rescue donkey and is about 5 years old. He is definitely a spoilt little teenager and is the dominant of the two boys.

OK, now for the chooker moles...

Meet Red Chook, Not As Red Chook, Black Chook and Lulubell. They're the A team.

And here's the B team, new editions to the chook palace.

These girls came to live on the mountain a few weekends ago and have not yet got names. Will happily receive any suggestions.

So this is the "farm" animals, I will introduce you to the domestic critters soon. Yup, there's more...

Please feel free to ask me any questions at any time, I really enjoy sharing what we learn along the journey.

KT