New Baby

This little guy is only an hour old.  He was born today and many people came over to celebrate his birth or more accurately watch and comment.  He is huge for a baby goat and it may be because he was a singleton, when twins are more usual amongst goats!  He was very sweet and tolerated multiple kids picking him up and cuddling him.  He unfortunately is a he, which reduces his chances of reaching a ripe old age by a large factor.  We ended up having to get the vet because after the baby came out, it took too long for the placenta to follow it!  Of course, as soon as the vet's truck turned the corner, it all worked out for itself! 

It has been a busy weekend.  I have been doing yard work which is really a huge job at the beginning of Spring.  I was Weed Whacking all day yesterday and was entertained by all the locals coming around to watch me, or more specifically profit from my labours!  I have worked out that the birds know the sounds of the equipment.  The Whipper Snipper attracts the Kookaburras.  They are getting very brave and yesterday, one dropped to the ground about a foot from me and grabbed a huge spider that had been exposed.  He had grabbed a leaf at the same time and it was fascinating to watch him manipulate his beak until the leaf dropped out and the spider stayed there!  Butcher birds all follow the mower because the animals exposed are all smaller and therefore easier for the smaller bird to swallow.  But yesterday I was also joined by another local.  This guy showed up as well.  Now goannas can be really big and this one was probably only about 4 feet long, but he just stood there watching, and waiting for the food train!

Today with all the excitement of the goat and the mower breaking down (again!) I didn't get a lot of work done!  The day was nasty because people were burning off all over Brisbane.  Smoke hung everywhere and you could smell the ash in the air.  The only silver lining was that the sunset was beautiful!

Levi and I went up and sat on the fence and watched it going down!  It was a lovely moment but only a moment, before Levi had leaped off the fence and was running around like a mad thing again.  He is excited as well, because his vacation bedtime is an hour later than his school day bedtime.  It is exciting when you are six to be able to stay up until 8pm rather than 7pm!