The New Lagoon

Now that the lagoon has been completed we are planning the next stage of redevelopment - the Milk Barn. We are awaiting prices from a contractor to complete the exterior, which includes removing old doors and windows and relocating them, putting on new siding and concreting around the outside to give us a cleaner more usable outside work space.


The lagoon project was completed in fairly quick time by Potter Excavation. As I mentioned previously they did an excellent job. We are busy fencing it off at present inbetween the rain showers that are becoming more frequent now as autumn hits us, and once that is done we can allow the sheep back into the adjoining field. The surrounding valley is at present a mix of green, orange, red and gold, but the cold weather is already here and we're hurrying up with our internal remodel of the house so everything is finished by winter.


In the coming weeks we have to plough over the vegetable garden, prune back the fruit trees so we can manage them better next year and then properly lay out the area ready for next year. This year the vegetable garden was more an exercise in discovering what we could successfully grow, and what we had trouble with. Being more organized next year, knowing exactly what to plant and when will ensure we have a more productive garden.

Things are starting to come together at long last. All of the projects that we have been working on since we arrived seem to be slowly coalescing toward our goal. Once the fencing around the lagoon is complete and we have repaired a few holes in the fenceline around the property, we will be ready for the new year. Last week we cleaned out the big barn, moved all of the manure into the holding barn and spread a few loads over the front and side fields. With just the 'lambing' barn and the jugs to be done now we will be ready for mid February when our first lamb is due.

The chessemaking is also about to get underway in a more earnest way. The next few months will see a lot of experimentation. We are hoping that in that time we can perfect our processes and our recording methods so that once we begin milking the sheep come April everything is second nature. We have also finalized our list of equipment with C. van 't Riet Dairy Technology.

Byron's recovery is thankfully almost complete. He still spends the majority of the day in his room, but several times a day he now gets the run of the back yard by himself. He has his 3 month x-ray's scheduled for the third week of this month and once those are done he should be able to join the rest of the dogs again.