Are you my mother?

 

We have an echidna growing up on the farm! I first saw it down by the creek. I managed to scare it into the round ball below. Usually they burrow into the sand but this was clay so burrowing was hard. 

After surviving the initial scare, it seems to have gotten very bold. We see it going up and down the road and wandering through the paddocks

We have also seen an adult echidna but they do not travel together.

These would be one of my favorite creatures!

We also have substantial kangaroo families, but the youngsters stay pretty close to mom.

This is the view from the kitchen window on many mornings.

This youngster has only recently ventured out of the pouch, despite his size. He definitely knew who his mother was. 

The juveniles (out of maternal protection) often have a big brother as care-taker.

They do venture in other areas besides this spot bbehind the garden. This one was outside our bedroom one morning. 

Another one stopped by the front door, seeming to want an invite. 

The sheep have been with the ram long enough that we hope to have babies in 3-4 months! We talked about moving them into the lane but will wait a couple more weeks. It would involve closing the "Gates of Ostentation" and we are expecting more visitors over the next two weeks. 

Dubya is settling in and exploring more of his paddock. We haven't yet gotten him an official companion but we do hang out with him (with food) twice daily and that seems to be appreciated. He also has wildlife in there with him! This evening brought some kangaroo company and I am sure the wombat comes out at night. 

He has been rugged the last couple of nights as winter has hit here; he is very tolerant of various manipulations so far. I am glad fireworks aren't a worry, though. Still too skinny so we haven't been riding him. However, we have acquired a fair bit of second hand tack, some of whcih needs a good dose of care and attention. 

Maybe by the time we get things cleaned up, he will be ready for some more work. 

We have been setting up the new raised garden beds and finishing up the fall crops. We got a large load of good dirt delivered and Scott has been working on movimg it into the new beds. Still harvesting carrots, spinach, sliver beet, turnisp and a few very sad parsnips. I think the parsnips hit solid bedrock so stayed crunched up. We are getting some fresh broccoli and may have some edible cauliflower coming eventually. Mostly I want to clear things up so I can reset the beds! Apparently the trauma of spring has faded enough. 

I buggered up my hip (muscle strain) so have been mostly doing light duty for a couple of weeks but am anxious to get back outside. The nights have been cold and the days clear and crisp. I went out today and started lightly pruning the citrus trees. We have been able to let more light in the garden by removing overgrown and dead trees and the trees seem much happier with light and water. The orange tree has a single orange specimen but the mandarin and lemonade trees are loaded. It is midwinter so I don't totally understand but am okay with it. 

We are still covering the multitude of large white expanses in the house. The latest editions are the hometown puzzles we have - one for our house in Roseville and one for our new place in Cobargo. I have never framed a puzzle before but these seem appropriate! 

Very few photo expeditions lately, so you will have to be satisfied with this little one - the flame robins seem to settling into the neighborhood. With any luck, we will have more mother-baby conversations in the future!