Well, I can hardly believe that Christmas is over - Emily had a tantrum this morning because there was no advent calendar - the explanation of which she wasn't happy about as I think she thought that chocolate before breakfast was a routine that should obviously continue indefinitely. Not only did we have a lovely day, but so did the animals - fundamentally because they are all still alive. A couple of days before Christmas the ducks obviously got wind of James' appraising looks as they went about their daily business. They took to the dam and refused to come out no matter how much food was shaken or stones were thrown in (to shoo them out). We have had buckets of rain over the last week - so much that I discovered yesterday we in fact have a dam on this property I didn't know existed. The rain meant that there was not only a rushing river at the back of the property but also an overflow from each dam to the next, the ducks utilised this well and swam from one dam to another, somehow evading the foxes and there wasn't a lot we could do about it. From Christmas Day onward however they came back to the shed and have been behaving ever since?? Archie the sickly piglet has been adopted and nursed to health by my lovely sister, who he faithfully follows around and screams at when he wants a feed. As you can see he has happily joined the Ormiston dog pack and I have no idea how I am going to introduce him back into pig society.Today James is the proud owner of .... a ferrett. I think my baby animal tolerance is actually perhaps nearing its limit. We have such a bad rabbit problem (I guess like all Aussie properties) that the local department of agriculture have advised gassing/poison/traps. We don't like the idea of any of those - poison oats may be found by pigs & dogs, traps are too horrible as is gassing. The solution therefore seems to lie in Coco, James, a gun and his new as yet unnamed ferrett. I am wondering how long it will be before we are known as the 'crazy Pom and his wife up on the hill'.
We hope you had a wonderful Christmas too and are looking forward to the New Year. Merry Christmas!