Not only have we finally moved in, but we’ve been here two weeks! My goodness, how time flies.
The move went about as smoothly as could be expected for a family with far too much stuff, five-year-old and 11-week-old boys, and a dog, and a cat to move. Actually, it went very well. Pixie (the cat) arrived around 10.30pm, just before Lindsay’s cousin Heidi & family (husband Allan, and daughter Grace) pulled in to stay for the weekend. Needless to say, Pixie spent a good chunk of the weekend under the house. But, the point is, she stayed, and once we had the house to ourselves, she settled in very well.
So one task of the first two weeks has been about getting used to the new school run (Just a 10-minute drive into town. A little heavier on gas than we’re used to, but just a small price to pay, really). There is a local school, but Josh only just started school in the last term of last year, and his friends from kindy go to the same one, so for now I can’t bring myself to swap him out. So far, he loves the move.
Another is getting used to hand-washing all dishes (the dishwasher went “poof”, with a puff of smoke, on the first night). My goodness, that is a time-sucker.
Allan got us all set up with a decent compost pile during his weekend here, all layers of grass, seaweed, shredded paper, leaves, pizza boxes, and lots and lots of water. Then that pile was all wrapped up in plastic and left to cook. Since then, I have been working on our day-to-day compost. I chuck our kitchen scraps in, obviously. But, we also use washable nappies for baby Gæbriel with liners to catch the worst of the mess. At our old house, we had the water pressure to rinse this down the sink. Not so here. And so, I’m prepared to find out how well the liners break down in the compost. Of course, as soon as I add such a layer, I go and collect a bucketful of pulled grass and dump that on top. It keeps the smell down as well as taking care of the needed green quotient. And I usually water the compost once a day, too. It really does feel a little bit like looking after a pet. A working pet, like a farm dog.
Speaking of working dogs, Lucy has been loving it here. She loves night times best of all, because that is when the possums are out. We’re fully supportive of her taking care of them. And stoats. I’d like to get her onto them, too. We just need to keep reminding her that the chickens are not on the list. She’s not too bad. And the peafowl can pretty well take care of themselves. They can be quite scary for a little dog.
In amongst the semi-routine that is breastfeeding a baby, changing nappies, and getting a baby to sleep, I’ve been finding my daily routine while still slowly unpacking boxes and finding/creating new homes for things. This is a process I’m excited about, as I’m keen for this house to be our home for a good long while, with the key there being the word “home”. We’ve lived in houses before, but this is our first home. Suddenly, I find myself wanting to put photos and artwork on the walls, and install shelves here, and here, to improve usability (not that there isn’t already great storage here, but it can be better).
And all the while, in the back of my head, is the long-term picture of what we want to do here. A Pony Playland. A place where the horses and ponies enjoy their lives and people can come and share in that. We’ll have a few other animals of interest, because, heck, ain’t no way we’re evicting the peafowl (No matter how Lindsay feels about them pooping on the decks). Plus, since it’s good to pasture rotate horses with other stock, I’m looking at some Highland cattle.
The great thing is that, while what we want to achieve is going to have significant setup costs, we don’t need to do it all at a top-notch, perfectly pristine kind of level. So, I’ve been collecting second-hand pony saddles, and a second-hand saddle blanket, and bridle, and some grooming gear. We managed to pick up our yearling Standardbreds for a great price, we just have to wait to ride them. And same goes for pony Diego. He was a good price, with a great deal of potential to earn his keep. He just won’t be able to do it in his first year, or two. So, we’re going to have a couple of tight years, but we will get there, and it will be grand.
So, this post is a “Hey, we’re really here and this is really happening post”. I’ll continue to post up “Meet The Crew” posts until we’ve covered all the special creatures here and to come, and I’ll share progress as it gets made.
We’ve got a huge list of things we want to do here, so I hope we can do them without too much struggle with Council or neighbours, or the elements, and I hope you’ll join us on our journey.
Originally published on our self-hosted website. Come join us there.
Pony Playland 