New arrivals ...

 It has been a brutally cold couple of weeks in Tasmania. In the central highlands, the hamlet of Liawenee (permanent population of two) recorded overnight temperatures of -12.9 and -13.5 degrees Celsius, respectively, on last Wednesday and Thursday. The latter is the coldest temperature recorded in Australia this year, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. The Huon has not been as cold as that but this morning the temperature was being recorded as “feels like” -3.8 degrees Celsius and during the week we had a couple of very heavy frosts. Needless to say, the garden is looking a pretty bare, although we have a couple of tibouchina trees and some lovely wall flowers that are defying the frost and giving us a splash of purple. Even more impressive have been the chilly winter sunrises and sunsets.

 Winter sunrise

 

Winter sunset

While the garden for the most part is lying dormant, patiently awaiting spring, other parts of the farm have been very busy. The first event of major significance was the ceremonial arrival of Macca, the Wiltshire Horn ram. Macca is a fine looking specimen with a reputation for producing the goods. We have found him to be even tempered and quite happy to eat sheep nuts out of your hand. He is due to stay with us on loan for eight weeks, representing two cycles for our six ewes. We are hoping that in October there will be a few little Wiltshire Horn lambs in the lower paddocks.

Macca's arrival

Macca and the ladies

Regular readers of the blog will recall that in the post of 10 February 2024, "A caprine chronicle ...", I described the arrival of our three goats, Jess, Clover and Cocoa. I also mentioned that as we left the owner of the sanctuary from which we picked them up remarked casually that one or more of them could be pregnant. And so it transpired, with Jess becoming increasingly large and ponderous as the weeks passed. Cath's research suggested that the average gestation period for a goat is 150 days and true to form, yesterday morning precisely 147 days after she arrived at Cracroft Farm,  Jess gave birth to twins.  Cath and I arrived on the scene shortly after the event, with one of the little ones still unable or unwilling to stand up.  It is hard to describe the feeling of wonder you get when you observe nature in action up close and personal. The darker of the two kids gently nudged the lighter one, urging it to its feet. To our relief, Jess seemed to be bonded with her two babies and bleated softly to them while checking them over, giving them a good licking. After a careful examination by the emergency doc, they were both pronounced to be male.

First photos

 They were born out in the open under a wattle tree in the middle of winter - a pretty rude shock to the system, as if just being born wasn't tough enough.  To try and protect them from the cold, Cath and I moved them into the little goats house in the paddock and tucked them up with straw. When we checked on them late last night they were still all cosy and warm in their little shack, and this morning they were happily standing outside their home soaking up the weak rays of the early morning sun.

Second morning

Hopefully they will thrive despite having arrived in the wrong season! The task is now to give them appropriate names - at present Oreo and Milo are what we have in mind but suggestions are welcome ...