It’s so lovely to have visitors. We both have friends and family who live far away (happily, some closeby as well) and it’s no small thing for them to make the journey here. It’s a gorgeous place, very beautiful, a kind of paradise, especially for inner urban dwellers. The farmhouse has been lovingly fitted out without taking away any rustic charm and historic ambience. Michael, my good friend who owns this place has put great effort into the design and infrastructure, and the establishment of the gardens and the renovation of dilapidated outbuildings etc. So it’s a lovely holiday for those who visit.

Everyone who has made the effort to come and stay has been so engaged with our projects, and we really appreciate their interest and eagerness to get their hands dirty. We’d be happy for them to sit on the verandah, snoozing in the hammock, or doing the tourist drives to the local villages or going for coffee to bangalow or whatever, but instead they coose to grab a mattock and decimate thistles and other such hot and thirsty work.

I really wanted to thank our lovely friends for their efforts, and hopefully put pics of their pet projects up!

Sarah was official photographer of everything we did while she was here! The lovely banner pic and many more are her work. She also taught Charlene to play guitar and built a pyramid hay feeder for the cows so they wouldn’t foul their hay and so it wouldn’t get trampled and blown away. We’re off to buy some lucerne and so next time it’s in use (read: when the sun finally comes out!) I’ll take a pic and insert!

Matt the aspiring tree farmer hardly sat down. Despite the fact that his wardrobe was decidedly metrosexual, he was up and at em with the mattock, waging a personal war against the weeds. He also built us the Chook Hotel for Mamma Chook and her 4 babies. Their accommodations were inadequate, space wise, and not snake proof (we’ve had alot of snakes), so using discarded corrugated Matt built a moveable run for them, with their smaller house inside (they like the safety of the smaller space at night, so they can snuggle under mamma’s wings). Covered half with shade cloth and half chicken wire it was a larger and safer space for them to learn how to be chooks! This has been decommissioned since we’ve let the chickens out into the regular run. Mamma is still a bit crazy (a broody chook can have the devil in her, I tell you!), but the little chickens are exploring the world at large. There have been some requests for pictures, so I shall endeavour to insert chicken and chook hotel pics here. 

My Dad was a powerhouse, and all I can say is that he’s crazy and generous and despite my best efforts, I could never keep up with him. He did the bulk of the garden bed preparation and also did a good stint on the fireweed. He’s my ultimate working buddy. Never flags.

Sido was a joy to have on the farm. Generous with her knowledge and her energy, she really helped me to sort out the gardens, as is evidenced in the last few posts. 

Greggie is one of a favorite people. He comes equipped with all the recipes in the world, scissors to transform the rattiest farmgrrl into a stylee queen who turns heads in downtown Dunoon, and never lets you into the kitchen. Heaven!

Kathy, Julie, Darcy, we love having your presence around the farm. It’s lovely to be able to offer friends and family a retreat where they can recoup flagging energies. We look forward to more of our distant friends and family coming to visit.

Watch this space for pics of pet projects

xx