Our great southern migration

Halloween was last night for us. We did not stock up on "extra" candy, being 2k down the dirt road with no kids in sight. However, we still get plenty of "trick or treaters".  Note : we did NOT see all of these critters yesterday evening.  The echidnas are the nice kids. They don't bother anyone. If they notice you (questionable), they try to burrow into the ground and hide. Easy in sand; not so easy in clay. The wallabies hide in the basement and turn off the lights so no one bothers them. At least they would if they had a basement. Hiding in the basement is what I used to do when living in Roseville so I totally understand. This kangaroo child was getting her face cleaned before going out trick or treating. Apparently a good ear twitch is useful across species.  While the roos can be destructive as they jump hard and fast leaving the area they are not aggressive. Broken tree branches are the most we typically see. This guy came by way too early in the day. He ...

  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...

  Our tank is now in place. It was quite the production. They set up molds and poured the concrete on site. We were most impressed that they removed the molds from the manhole in the top. This also meant the workers had to be removed from the tank! The tank now cures for 10 days and then we can let it start to fill. Of course, there is no rain on the horizon. We are in for an El Nino year so the winter may be pretty dry.  We have now convinced the sheep to go into the working pen. No work done with them yet and no promises they will stay long enough to be worked on. I went into the co-op on my own because the bumpy road really hurt Scott's incision. I asked about sheep bribery and came home with a bale of lucerne (alfalfa). They do like it! I didn't get a picture of all 5 in the pen but this one was close.  We also went into Moruya to get Scott's incision checked (he had to go with me on this trip). On the way back, we picked up a lawn mower.  Yes, we have several bu...

  The whipbird has an amazing call and is hard to catch with the camera as evidenced below: For the last one, you can see its tail as it flies behind the tree. And these are the shots we saved! This video is also amazing (not mine) and has the call about 1 minute in: I felt it was appropriate to have the sensation of whipping around in circles for this blog.  Our container is ready for release! As of Friday afternoon. Monday is a holiday. We want to leave for our anniversary trip on the 1st (Weds). This is not computing.  Back to the beginnings.  Our anniversary is Oct 5 and we hit 25 years in 2021. Right in the middle of pandemic isolation. Rather than the sailboat adventure in the Virgin Islands, we went for a walk in Green Lake Park in Shoreview.  It was lovely. However, we decided to try again for 30 years. We have rented a houseboat in Myall Lakes Oct 3-7. Being as we are retired, we were going to take our time getting up there. No, our truck is not yet ...

  Apparently you can find them just up the road! This echidna really didn't seem to notice us on our walk on part of the Bingi Dreaming track Also known as spiny anteaters, echidna are another egg laying mammal and are not related to the US anteaters at all.  Wikipedia has all sorts of interesting facts on them! On my first visit to Scott's family, his mother gave me an echidna shirt. They still hold a favorite status for me. We have also seen more reptiles out as things get warmer. Yes, this includes snakes (pythons and poisonous ones). Small lizards were all over the place on our walk. This one also didn't care if I took his picture. This blue-tongued lizard was enjoying the patio warmth until I got the camera. Then it scurried into the bush by the driveway. Of course there are fantastic birds, too. The galahs have returned to the neighborhood and were visiting this am.  Love the iphone movie version. Scott was getting the van ready for our pet sitting adventure and yo...