Mad Cow, Widget and the Escaping Kids

I have seen snow falling for the first time in my life. Saturday morning I went out early to feed the chooks with Mishka and Kit Cat when little flakes of ice began falling and settling onto their long coats. It wasn't terribly cold but even so I rushed back inside in time to see a whole lot of white stuff begin falling. Mesmerised I spent most of the morning peering through the kitchen and dining room windows at this sea of flakes drifting down around the house. Very excited I rang a friend in order to tell her that it was snowing at Tikokino and "it looks just like it does on TV!" After all the drama nothing settled on the lawn but snow lay on the foothills for most of the week.

Gine helped me with hanging the rest of the curtains in the dining room and already I can feel that it's much cosier in there now the heat isn't escaping out of the windows. The cats are miffed though that they can no longer sit staring out into the night pulling faces at any rabbits that might be passing by.

The biggest excitement of the week however was yesterday morning when Andrew decided to move some steers out of the paddock next door. One recalcitrant individual decided to make a break for freedom and ran in the opposite direction along the stock route with one naughty donkey in pursuit. Next thing it came running back with Andrew behind and one worried donkey in pursuit. The steer decided it wasn't going anywhere it didn't want to and leapt the back fence into my yard. Next it jumped over my temporary "girlie" fence into the hen house area. Andrew also jumped the fence and I heard some noise, a clatter, some metal clanging, and then the steer running around the house and past the dining room window. A minute later Andrew casually wandered past the same way with a wave, a grin and a "Hi Jen".

Also Widget Rooster disappeared. Two days ago he was looking a bit dishevelled and discombobulated and that was the last I saw of him. He was an old cockeral so he may have just gone the same way as Artemis and Suki. Locals are saying this is one of the coldest winters in the area for many years so it's going to take casualties I suppose.

When I arrived home after portrait class today I couldn't see the goats at all. When I went to let the chooks out for a scratch Xena Warrior Goat was standing by the house looking concerned. Next I heard a desperate "Maaaaah" and saw that Gretel and Heidi had managed to get themselves over the fence into the shelter belt area. I couldn't get them over the barbed wire so went into the orchard field and pulled John's cleverly constructed goat proof fence down only to find that Gretel had managed to squeeze back under the side fence and was now dancing around on the top of the netting in the grape area. Heidi who is too small and too naive to plan such naughtiness came towards me fence I had lowered and ran into the woodshed in relief. It wasn't too long before the others joined her although only after I had bribed them with some pellets. By the time I got inside I was in great need of a cuppa.