On the farm...

We are on a "farm stay" for Christmas... basically we have rented a cottage on a farm for a week. It is a real treat to get out of our van and have a chance to feel grounded once again. 

We are at Bonnie Brae Farm Stay near the small community of Molesworth, not far from Melbourne. It is peaceful, serene, and picturesque, filled with birdlife, wildlife, farm animals and surrounded by fruit trees. Our timing couldn’t be better as right now the mulberry tree is heavy with ripe, juicy berries. They are so incredibly sweet. We both agree that they are the best berry we have ever tasted… yes believe it or not, even better than huckleberries! We should definitely look into growing these back home.

The farm is 500 acres spread over rolling grassy hills. They have cattle, sheep, horses and alpaca here. They also have chooks so that means fresh eggs for us. The owners of the farm are terrific. We can be involved with farm life as little or as much as we like.

Today we helped to gather some of the alpaca. They were then separated into groups, those that need shearing, those to be sold, and the males, sending each group into different paddocks. The 2 that are to be sold were brought into the shearing shed where we had to lay them one at a time on their sides on a table. The table top pivoted to one side, the alpaca was strapped to the table top and the table was then tilted back into place, so it was fairly easy to get the animal lying on the table. The alpaca then had its legs anchored so it was unable to kick or protest too much. It also had its head covered with a towel. This helped to keep her calm and also stopped her from being able to spit.

Tomorrow we will help with the alpaca shearing~ I’ll let you know how that goes!