Back to Work.

A couple of days off for Christmas cheer, followed by some light rain....it is back to work.

 There is more harvest to be done.

Today we are helping get trucks, augers and field bins to the paddock and I get to ride in the big truck.

We do not have as much crop to harvest this year.

 And the summer is hot and dry so the grain will not be spoiled by rain.

No need for big harvesting machines....this little guy should do the job.

Bad thing for me is...I cannot have a ride on this harvester.

Bad thing for Dad is there is no cabin that means no air conditioner, no radio.

AND lots of DUST and ITCH.

The new dams are nearly finished. Just a little bit of mud to move!

This is the bottom of the dam

This is the top of the dam...Can you see me? 

This dam will hold ALOT of water, when it is full.

 I wonder how much rain we will have to have to fill it up to the top. 

Maybe we could get some fish for the dams.

It would make a great home for fish. 

Hot in the Country!

Summer on the farm, hot, dry, brown, flies, grass seeds, harvest, dust, water.

The hills are now brown. The hot sun and warm winds have dried the grass out and it is no longer green. 

 The flies swarm all over our backs and under the brim of our hats. 

Annoying sticky little black flies.

The animals spend most of the day sleeping under shady trees, they will graze the grass now in the cool of the mornings and early evenings. 

They will perhaps visit the dam or water trough sometime during the day for a drink.   Every paddock on the farm has either a dam or a water trough for the animals to drink from. Animals drink alot of water when it is hot.

The hot sun and winds have made PopPop's oats ripe and ready to harvest.

So too is my garlic crop...time for me to get busy.

Gibbo has moved in and made himself at home.

And Beau is tickled pink to have the newest member of the team on the farm....

Meet Beau's son.....MONTE...born 20th October 2012.

The hot weather makes Monte very tired!

Fields of Gold.

Action stations everybody...........harvest is on again!

This year Dad has got another man to help get the grain off, his harvester is alot bigger and quicker than ours. Dad would take days and days, maybe even a couple of weeks to get the grain off. And there are lots of other jobs on the farm waiting to be done.

Harvest is a busy time, lots of trucks, tractors, headers and augers.

I can't ride on our header, it is too dangerous.

BUT I can ride on this one....

Can you see me?

 This crop of triticale has made Dad very happy, lots of grain has come off it.

4.3 tonne of grain for every hectare.

The silos are fast filling UP! All our silos are full and we have had to use some of the neighbours!

The triticale grain will be sold later, it is used for breakfast cereals and feed for pigs and cows.

One down and Three to go!

Christmas came and went....no horse delivered BUT a brand new bike!

The crops are ready to harvest and the rain has cleared. So it is time to get busy AGAIN!

Dad finished one paddock of oats on Christmas Eve. He was very pleased with it, last year it was a paddock of weeds, and now he has harvested lots of oat grains from it.



Stubble left behind....



and a picnic with Dad under the shade of a gum tree

 We went west for Christmas and saw my cousins....and do you know what the best part was....

they have horses.......YEEHAAA!

More crops to harvest when we get home, but we are getting a bigger harvester to come and help get it off a bit quicker. There are plenty of other jobs waiting to be done.

Bumper Garlic Harvest!

Garlic harvesting got underway today.....a really dirty job after the rain yesterday.

Mum digs the garlic bulbs and my job is to clean all the dirt off them ready for drying.

Some of the bulbs are enormous. They really like good, rich dirt.

The chooks are very excited about the harvest, they cannot wait to get in and clean up all the grubs.

After the wheelbarrow is loaded up, in come the chooks. It will be like Christmas time for them!

A really dirty job....a bath under the garden tap and a change of clothes.

The garlic is put in a dark, dry place until next year.

Then I will sell it.....more money for my horse!

My harvest is over and Dad still has not got started on his....it keeps raining!

Ripe and Ready!

Finally some of PopPop's oats is ready to harvest.

Dad checks the truck that will carry the oat grains to the silos to be stored.

Plenty of air in the tyres.

The header is ready.......and off it goes.

PopPop loves to drive the header, I think it is one of his favourite jobs, until it gets really hot. There is no cabin on the header so there is no radio or air conditioner. The dust from the oat seeds can be really itchy. It doesn't sound like fun to me! Our header is old, BUT it gets the job done. The new headers we pass on the roads are much bigger and have cabins.

The header cuts the seed heads from the stalk of the plant, and takes it in and sorts it all out. There is a big box behind PopPop where all the oat seeds are collected.

The header throws all the stalks and rubbish out the back.

When the box is full of oats PopPop empties it into the truck.

Loaded up..... the truck will empty all the grain into the silo. We will use it to feed the lambs or the steers or plant the seeds next autumn to grow more feed.

Feeling a little like Christmas

HOW MANY SLEEPS?

It is beginning to feel a little bit like Christmas. We have put the tree up and decorated it with all the trimmings....now we wait.....patiently!

I have only one special request of Santa Claus....a horse. I have been a really good girl all year. I have helped Mum and Dad on the farm so I think I should make the good list.

Each year the road we live on celebrates Christmas with a party. This year we had our party in the fire shed. We decorated the shed with Christmas trees, tinsel and bright lights. There are lots of people that live on our road BUT not many children.

It is nice to see everybody and catch up.

 My PopPop and Oppy

Christmas is an exciting time. I will get to see my cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles. I can't wait.

There are still plenty of jobs to do on the farm. The oats is nearly ready to harvest, maybe the end of this week or next week. We need some nice hot weather to make the seeds ripen hard. The triticale may not be ready until after Christmas.

The bulls and rams are nearly ready to come home. And there are lambs ready for sale!

Dad and PopPop have got plenty of work to do!

This week is my last week at preschool.....we are doing a special performance for the Mums and Dads. Then we graduate READY for big school next year!

Green around the Edges.

Summer has finally arrived, the oat crops are slowly, ever so slowly changing colour.

They have turned from green to brown.

BUT are still not ready to harvest, there are still green seeds.

This oat crop is right next to our house. When the wind blows you can hear the oat seeds shaking in their jackets. I think they are a little like maracas. SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE!

Dad and PopPop have been making sure the harvester is all ready to go.

 We just need some real summer weather to make the grain ripe.

Have you ever been bug hunting.....on Sunday Dad and I had an adventure.

We went to the big dam at the back of house hunting for bugs. The dam was full of amazing bugs: tadpoles, frogs, baby dragonflies and little bugs that have oars like boats. We bought home a few and set up a little aquarium, it was great. I even took them to preschool for show and tell.