Yes it's been a while since I last posted and a lot has happened in that time. We're currently busy in the throes of haymaking as are all of the people here in the valley. We've had a week so far of wonderful weather so its all hands to the pump as it were. Given our location and the water rights we have from the creek that runs past our door we will be able to get a second cutting of hay later in the year, something few of our neighbours will enjoy. The irrigation piping is currently being laid out and we have a new pump on order. As has been the case with a lot of the farm's infrastructure, the old wiring for the existing pump is dodgy, badly corroded and likely a hazard. While taking the old pump around to get a new automatic starter / switch for it we got some interesting comments until I assured them that we hadn't just stolen it from the local farming museum. Apparently it was made circa 1952 and most were phased out almost 30 years ago.
We also currently have a full house. Last week I returned briefly to Australia to pick up my kids for a 3 week holiday, and Jennie's sister is also visiting with her two boys from Connecticut, so seven people and nine dogs means something is always happening.
The sheep from Vermont Shephard have all settled in now and their friendliness has begun to rub off on some of the older ewes and what lambs we have left from our lambing season. Two weeks ago we took the cull ewes (mostly the Suffolk and Hampshire's) and 50 lambs down to the scales to thin the flock out and so we are back to just over 50 now, a much more managable number. We'll do one more trip out there probably in a month as we have a couple of the younger lambs who were undersize left as well as a couple of ewes we have now decided to cull.
