Tam's site and links grrrrr

Discussion in 'The big picture' started by forest, Dec 1, 2005.

  1. forest

    forest Junior Member

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    Tam, I looked at your homesite this morning. I read about your beautiful homestead and family, looked at your photos and generally rounded out my idea of you. To anyone who hasn't visited Tam's site, it's well worth it.

    Then I followed some of your links. I read all about home preserving and green living as well as a lot of other things.

    I've only just come out of my self-imposed reading frenzy. I should have been writing all morning but your site and links were too interesting to resist, Tam. Grrrrr @ me for spending so much time away from what I should be doing.
     
  2. Tamandco

    Tamandco Junior Member

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    Forest,

    Thank you so much for you comments. It's great to get feedback too. I really need to do more writing to back up the photos, but have been a bit distracted lately, and constantly tired! :lol:

    I too have been neglecting my chores :roll: so have had to back off a little from my time spent on the forum. I've still got heaps of fencing to do. Always fencing. Aggghhhhh, not more fencing!!! :lol:

    Isn't it amazing how you just never seem to finish doing the fencing. I try to forget about it sometimes when it all seems like too much, but unfortunately the animals don't. :lol:

    Tam :D
     
  3. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    Tam,

    What a wonderful website, I am in agreeance with Forest - double grrrr. You have a great set-up. We have 80 acres I had no desire for anything this big, I would have been happy with 2 acres. So, in reality, only about 2 acres of our property is 'civilised'.

    I have a family of willy wagtails that were on garden patrol and they kept my veggie garden remarkably bug-free. It's a pity they can't be bottled. I had a piece of no. 8 wire that was shaped into something like those shepherds' crooks that you see pictures of. I used that to push into the soil to check for water penetration and to see the how loose the soil had become. The willy wagtails loved that as a perch even though it wobbled around in the breeze. Occassionally I would get a brassica hit or a heliothis moth would sneak in and get a tomato or two. I grew a fair bit of tatsoi, like an open cabbage which was never affected by the white cabbage butterfly. Maybe we ate the tatsoi too fast.

    I also grew flowers in my veggie garden. It started being french marigolds but then it became zinnias, phlox, stocks and things like that... just a few and always scattered around. I gave up years ago on nasturtiums, just too hot, I think. Maybe that helped in attracting the willy wagtails because I had just about given up on cabbages before they came along. I like flowers in with the veggies.. I picked those too. I think they also encouraged the bees.

    We also have these things called 'mud wasps', they were very active too so I stopped belting them with an old squash racquet and made friends with them. They are frightening looking but none of us has ever been bitten. I nailed tins on top of tomato stakes and star pickets, they would get up under those to nest. [They prefer Hamper Corned Beef tins to Baked Bean tins... :oops: ]https://www.ento.csiro.au/insect_id/wasps/mud_wasp.html

    Do you use electric fencing at all?? It's great stuff.

    Cheers

    Mike
     
  4. forest

    forest Junior Member

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    Floot, thanks for that link on the mud wasp. We have them here too and I've never known their name. I agree with you that they are no problem in the garden. I've often seen them harvesting mud from the garden to build nests that I've later found attached to an ourdoor cushion or on a pole. I think they are gentle creatures. They'll patiently wait for you to move from an area and I've never been stung by one or known anyone else to be, unlike paper wasps.

    We also have willy wagtails here, but only in autumn and winter. Where I sit here at my computer overlooks their favourite habitiat, my vegie patch. I often see them during the cooler months out there looking for grubs and sometimes divebombing the chooks.

    Stocks are favourite flowers (although this varies a little). I've had problems here getting them to flower. Do you collect seed from yours?
     
  5. SueinWA

    SueinWA Junior Member

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    What is a Willy-Wagtail???

    Sue
     
  6. kja

    kja Junior Member

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  7. Tamandco

    Tamandco Junior Member

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    Thank you for everyone's lovely comments. I'm really glad that I've been able to share my place with you all. I love it here and really hope that my photos and stories will inspire others to perhaps question their lifestyles.

    Hi Mike,

    Yes I do and don't know what I'd ever do without it.

    I'm in the process of trying to upgrade though. We bought a large unit, way too big for our small property, but I was going to get an even bigger one which has an output twice this one, and therefore more suitable for the steers, some of which lack any respect, including for themselves. :lol: . The bloke in the store talked me out of it and I've been kicking myself ever since. Only today I returned to that store to find out about aranging an exchange. They want to see the other unit first which I'll take in tomorrow. I'll be pretty p@##$% off if they don't cos I should've acted on my instincts in the first place and always allow myself to be talked into things I later regret.

    The trouble here Floot is that even though we think our place is pretty productive, including to a small degree income generating, the local livestock carriers look at the size of you place then treat you like an idiot. I've been on to 3 in the last 2 months trying to get someone to take my belted galloway to market. They pick up from the neighbours from time to time so I figured that they could just pick up mine on the way. Steers are getting nearly $2 per kilo live weight at the moment, he'd have to be over 300kg which'd make him worth close to $600. Some bloke turned up and said he wouldn't bring anything at the market but he'd be willing to pay me $300 cash! What an opportunist! Tell him his dreaming!

    Most of them just don't turn up and the cattle are stuck in the yards all day long waiting for them. It's pretty depressing. We'd have him butchered here but were really counting on the money to meet our last month's mortgage repayment!

    Sorry for the winge, just wanted to take the opportunity to vent my frustration!!! :lol: Sometimes I wish I could say I had 80 acres, just so they'd take me seriously!!! :(

    Tam
     
  8. baringapark

    baringapark Junior Member

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    Tam, a lovely site and a gorgeous home you have. No photos of you though unless I missed 'em. Congratulations!

    E
     
  9. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    Tam,

    On the galloway:

    1 Advertise it for $700 in the paper. Sure its only about 300kg?
    2. Get hold of a horse float, you may be able to hire them in your area.

    I know what you mean about transporters and their unreliablity.

    I cant honestly comment on steers and electric fences. I do know our donkey only ever stayed contained till he was pissed off. It did have the kids and the horses bluffed though. :D

    Mike
     
  10. Tamandco

    Tamandco Junior Member

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    I'm putting him in the paper tomorrow for $550. It's hard to estimate his weight. I had my ASH weighed at an aggie show years ago and she weighed 425kg. He'd have to be at least 3/4 of her weight. 14 months old beef x dairy so I reckon 300kg would be a very conservative guestimate. That way they can make an offer. They'd get a bargain, and I'd end up better off too not having to pay agents fees, yard fees, transport costs etc, GST, etc.

    Thanks Mike. We've actually got the use of a float but the usual way to sell cattle is to engage the agent who then arranges for the
    carrier to pick them up and take them to the market where they then sell them. I'll try the paper anyway. It worked the last two times. Just thought I might get a better idea of what they're worth if I put this one through the sale yards. It's all a learning thing.

    I think I've managed to sort out my electric fence problems. The store seemed happy enough to agree to exchange it for me. They just need to work out the difference. I'll be very happy once it's all solved. Don't get me wrong, this unit's a real beauty, but because I use so much polywire around the place due to temporary fencing and strip grazing, it loses the charge and as a consequence loses it's 'bite'. I've been setting up the galvanised 'feeder wires' along the boundaries, so that any temporary fencing has a really good source to tap into. It's time consuming though, but I'm getting there.

    Tam
     
  11. Tamandco

    Tamandco Junior Member

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    :lol: I'm usually the one taking the photo. :lol: A few of my little boy though. See my new avatar, that's me!

    Had someone appraise my belted galloway steer yesterday and estimated him to be around 350kg. We're taking him to market ourselves next Monday.

    Tam
     
  12. bushy

    bushy Junior Member

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    Tam, just a word of warnimg,I've seen horses die from a heart attack after contacting an electric fence. Some horses more susceptable than others of course.
     
  13. Tamandco

    Tamandco Junior Member

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    Don't worry Bushy. I got 'zapped' by this unit soooo many times while I was pregnant. After one incident, I was a bit worried so rang the Thunderbird helpline. They assured me that they are very safe and comply with the Australian Standards. The output in joules is for such a fraction of a second that it actually can't do any harm.

    Modern units need to comply with certain standards but years ago, the fences were usually connected directly to the mains without the 'pulse' factor. A family I know lost their Hackney Stallion to heart attack when it got caught up in the fence and couldn't get away.

    I haven't heard of this happening in years. If you know of cases to the contrary, could you provide details please and I'll take it up with the company.

    Tam
     
  14. bushy

    bushy Junior Member

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    Tam, sorry to alarm you like that, yes you're probably correct as my experience was long ago.
     
  15. Tamandco

    Tamandco Junior Member

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    Thanks Bushy. I guess it doesn't pay to be complacent about potentially dangerous things such as electric fences. I've been told by people even recently that I shouldn't have bothered wasting the 4 or 5 hundred dollars on a unit as there are ways that you can put together a home made one. :shock: Thanks, but I think I'll waste the money. :lol:

    Tam
     
  16. Cornonthecob

    Cornonthecob Junior Member

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    Awww if you're going to waste it :rolleyes:

    :p
     
  17. Tamandco

    Tamandco Junior Member

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    Sorry Corny, it's already spent! :lol:
     
  18. Cornonthecob

    Cornonthecob Junior Member

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    Doh!

    Oh well...never hurts to ask :lol:

    :)
     

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