Horses in the birdbath and hanging rocks

Horses in the birdbath
I lifted the blind and looked out the kitchen window yesterday morning to see a horse slurping in my birdbath. I did a double take then remembered - we offered for our neighbours Phil and Kerry to put their horses in our derelict vegie patch for a couple of days because they have so little feed in their paddock. It's great for us too because the grass is rampant in the vegie patch! Of course I filled a water trough, but do you think Matti was interested in drinking from it? Oh no. Sandstone birdbath please.

Small favours in a small community
In our small community we do little favours for each other all the time: loans of machinery or trailers, sharing excess eggs, passing on cuttings of trees at pruning time etc. Our entire southern fenceline in the 'Horse Paddock' is lined with poplars we were given by neighbours John and Sonya from when they pruned theirs. And they're sprouting! (not John and Sonya, the cuttings!) All we did was cut the ends and shove them in the ground. (again, the cuttings, not our nice neighbours). We were also given Tortured Willow and Weeping Willow cuttings. All up I'd say it's about 600-700 trees. This has saved us thousands of dollars. What awesome people! And it means that our own rows of trees can begin to grow before the tree plantation on our southern boundary is harvested, hopefully providing us with wind protection. Today we planted poplar and willow cuttings elsewhere on our property, in the North Paddock, in a tree corridor and around large outcroppings of rock to provide shelter for stock in summer. Magic!

The Weeping Willow cuttings we planted around the first dam are sprouting leaves already. Yesterday we staked them up for support. They will hold together the soil around the dam and prevent further erosion. And provide lovely shade and watery environment for all sorts of tiny creatures. Willows do so much good. By shading the water they also cut down on evaporation. their trailing leaves provide cover for small fish and frogs. I can't wait to see them grow in to elegant, flowing trees, reflected in the water with a glowing sunset behind them.

Hanging rocks!
Have you ever seen rocks wrapped in wire hanging from a fence and wondered what on Earth was the purpose? At first I thought it was some sort of Artistic statement. Turns out it's necessary in this part of the world where the wet soil can move fences which are strung tight. The weight of the rocks keeps the posts in place. Cool huh? this one pictured would weigh about 50kg I reckon.

Handy girl stuff!
I've been busy lately using the new drill I received for my birthday to fix annoying little jobs around the house. One of these was the lack of proper shelving under the kitchen sink, so I attached shelves to the inside of the doors! Makes it so much tidier. Yay! I love being independent and doing things for myself instead of asking Hubby to get round to it, (which could be years. He's got a lot to do!)

Maybe it's just because the weather is fine and I can go outside and work in the garden again, but I feel invigorated to do lots of things.

I guess it's just that time of year.