So, an update on Quest’s current and future status…..The lady who spotted our big bay’s sorry state out in a field has “rescued” him. That word is still hard to say in the same sentence as Quest’s name but sadly that is the appropriate word. Currently our beautiful Shire gelding is at a facility in Auburn and we are putting all our trust in that lady to restore him to his former glory. She has promised to make him the “best that he can be” and there is something about her that makes us want so badly to believe her. She has asked us to give her 3 months to see a significant improvement or she will bring him back to us. She has invited us to be part of his recuperation….and we ARE going to be there !!! We will keep you updated on his progress with photos.

Sophie our lovely young WWOOFER has sadly left the Ranch and gone back to the “real world”. We really enjoyed her exuberance, ever ready smile and miss her singing around the barn…think she was trying to drown out my Country Music !! Sophie will be remembered as she created imaginative name plates for the horse’s stall doors. The project was however not without incident and the no blame policy was quickly called into play when someone…somehow…..managed to leave the lids off the paint cans and I do believe more surface was covered in black than had been intended ( and not by the paintbrush, smile)

 Cody, Song, Alissia and Acorn our goat family are also sorry that their young friend is no longer around to cuddle with. Thank you for choosing our ranch Sophie and good luck in the Middle East, we know that you will make anything you try a huge success.

Jeff, on shore leave from the US Navy ( and friends with Dan The Man who spent time here earlier in the Summer) chose to exchange his patriotic duties on ship for possibly much more arduous and certainly much less clean “fun” on the farm ! We have had a lot of fun with our unlikely unpaid farm hand and are sure that we will NEVER forget the rendition of Scotland the Brave on bagpipes in bare feet in my kitchen !!! Sadly, Bran is clearly no enthusiast for our musical WWOOFERs !!!  After hearing Carla convert a saw into a musical instrument, the border collie with attitude and no ear for a tune gave her a resounding paw down. It would appear that bagpipes were actually more than the dog could bear, certainly off the canine Richter scale and, after positively lifting off the ground all four paws at once, with a look of pure horror on his face, he bolted through the kitchen to make a valiant attempt to try to hide under the refrigerator ( about 2”).  It appears that I  also have little musical ear as, when Jeff played the last note of what turned out to be Scotland the Brave….I smilingly commended him on his treatment of the traditional Sea shanty ( aka drinking song), “What shall we do with the drunken sailor ?”…duh, can’t take me anywhere. Hey, just googled it and I’m not crazy ( well, not quite as crazy as I thought earlier, smile) it IS the same tune. Jeff will never think of it quite the same again !!

Well, tomorrow I leave Greg and the farm team to go back to England for two weeks. It will be my first trip with my blue passport and my first trip for three years. I am entrusting the Almost Daily Diary to sub editor Greg and my Guest Editors, the girls. Better go and see what else I can squeeze into my suitcase !!! Take care, keep safe, M

Those horses are synonymous with Gentle giant Meadows Ranch. The huge  Shire horses that grazed our pastures welcomed visitors, invited attention and relished the love showered on them by friends, family, neighbours and strangers that just wanted to visit.

A little colt was born to Lady our gentle Shire Mare in May 2005, we called him Bridie’s Bequest in honour of my late mother. We called him Quest for short. For 7 years that beautiful horse was loved, cared for and kept from harm. Last year was a tough year for the ranch, both Greg and I had serious health issues that stopped us achieving some of the things we were working on. Backing Quest had been an on/off project and our big boy needed a purpose that we couldn’t fill. We elected to have him “fostered out” to a new mommy who would love, care for and keep from harm our beautiful gentle Quest. Lots of people wanted to take care of him and after a lot of careful deliberation we chose trainer Jamielynne Buckner. Quest didn’t want to go, he had never left the farm and he didn’t want to go to school. We made him go. His training was going to be finished, our health had stopped us and as his mommy and daddy we thought that we were doing the best for him. In February he left our barn, a handsome 19.2 dark bay Shire gelding, fit and well. He was going to be loved by Jamie Lynne Buckner and he would be safe.

We saw Quest on Sunday, we actually hardly recognized him. He looks like a coat hanger with skin over the top, he has open and healing sores from his chest to his sheath area ( back end) and the light in his eyes has gone. We stayed a little while. He still gave me kisses, he let us hug him but it was clear to us that he didn’t know what had happened to him. We both cried. We trusted Jamielynne Buckner to take care of him, we communicated with her ( as much as she allowed us to) and we believed that she would LOVE CARE FOR AND KEEP FROM HARM the horse we love too much to sell. Here are before and after photographs…..I will leave it to you,…what do you think.

I am going to close there, I have little more to say on the subject,

Take care, keep safe, M   

Christmas and Thanksgiving are very handsome turkeys. Much of their day is occupied promenading in full ceremonial dress, big white tails fanned, wings open and trailing on the ground and every white feather of their impressive torso is fluffed out for maximum effect .An overload of testosterone is causing poor Mrs. New Year some amount of physical and lots of mental angst. The only hen turkey in the pen, the embattled bird is just looking for the way out !! Sadly, (since Thanksgiving isn’t far distant) practice time is running out and despite all the real time effort the two chunky toms employ attempting to get “it” right, poor Mrs. Turkey is still suffering physical abuse due to their inexperience and I guess it has to be said… obesity. Face turned purple with frustration and his snood dangling wildly Mr. Christmas has sat on her face, wobbled ungraciously sideways on over her back and  frantically tried to get under her. Each foiled attempt has been closely observed by Mr. Thanksgiving who, standing too close for comfort should his love rival  topple from his ever increasingly precarious positions. Occasionally Mrs Christmas makes a break for air and emerges from under her lusty Tom’s tail only to be sat on again, upside down side or upside down. Poor turkey, …maybe for at least one over loved hen, thanksgiving can’t come too soon !   
Doris the Destroyer is back and once again, poor Bran’s inadequacies have been highlighted. There we were, all booted up and fired up ready for another day at the barn and there she was large as life and clearly eating VERY well on the smorgasbord that is my hard earned garden. Eyes left…we all turn to look at the dastardly black tail doe deer…..who, through her doey (Ohhhh, bad !!) dark eyes, looked right back at us…and didn’t move. We shouted, she stood some more,…send in the big guns…”GO bran”…uh….”Bran see her off”…..”BRAN ..go chase the **** deer !!”. Bran, possibly offended by the verbal abuse jumped from the truck….”Duuuu…chase what ????”. Insult to injury for the embattled pooch, Jeff our intrepid WOOFER chased after the deer….and Bran, happy again, just chased Jeff !! Who’d be a dog ??
Timed out and SO much more to tell !!
Take care, keep safe, M

It shouldn’t happen to a dog !! Mr. Bran had been living in doggy extacy..The team were fence building and he had  (retrospectively thinking….for want of better judgement !!) been invited. There they were, the formation eating team under the leadership of matriarchs Gimpy and Bandit.. and there he was, out in the open field, nothing between him and them but grass. Dad and his young volunteers too busy to keep even a cursory eye on him.. He was SO in charge, the sheep, head down concentrating on the most important thing in life..eating. There he was, keen, mean.. a potential killing machine ….NOT. Gimpy raised her head, beady sheep eyes, like lasers she zoned in on the prowling dog. Her front leg stamped the ground in warning…Bandit, not far away and up to that moment enjoying an extended lunch felt her cohort’s tension and her gaze fastened on the suddenly under pressure and not so confident Border Collie. The waiting dog, previously poised and ready to pounce tried to break the eye contact without totally conceding power to the sheep. His eyes wavered, he glanced away, ears flattened against his head.. then cautiously glanced back. They WERE still watching, and no one knows better than poor Bran how a Gimpy or Bandit “T Bone” at ramming speed can hurt the body and how the flock disrespect hurts the self esteem. If he faced the other way and pretended he wasn’t really interested…would the girls forget he was there ?…slowly he rotated his body in the deep grass, discreetly he turned back but Gimpy and Bandit stares were relentless. Discretion proving the better part of valour and courage not being high on Bran's personality profile, the fainthearted pooch prudently crept away tail between his legs and head low leaving the girls to continue grazing totally unconcerned by  his presence in the pasture. Next time they will respect your authority Bran, next time,…maybe !!

Young Sophie got to drive the tractor, with just the occasional kangaroo hop, lurch and grind of gears our young WOOFER had her first driving lesson. The Sophie smile never faded as the big green monster growled it’s way across the pasture  (surprisingly, Greg no longer uses the farm yard...the corner of the barn has a bad habit of jumping out and hitting the tractor bucket !!) Well done Sophie...next challenge the backho !!

Edward continues to have a go at anything, quiet and confident, our “Cool Hand Luke” just gets the job done. Edwards time with us is drawing to a close and we would like to thank him for all the projects that he has helped the team to achieve during his time with us.

We would like to welcome Jeff to the ranch family, he appears to have integrated well over his first two days. Now clearly aware of how to use a shovel and wheelbarrow ( which is always a plus around here !!)  it was time to move on to a more challenging project. Frustratingly for Jeff, the nails and staples refused to co operate with him…must be duff nails ???  ( no blame policy called into effect !!) but tomorrow is another day and there is always another box of nails !!!

Happy to see Carla back from her sojourn to the big city, good to have you back and sorry you missed the demolition. It's good to restore the girl boy ratio balance in our favour ( well,...I take 2 votes !! smile)

Quick update . We are working with a wonderful local author Renee Riva to write a heartfelt children's book telling the story of Quest the Shire Horse and Gertie the confused goose. It is going to be a hard cover with wonderful illustrations and beautiful shiny pagesWe are excited to hear it may be published by Christmas...so let us know if you would like one to slip in a Christmas stocking !!! ( see our "Forsaken Love" page)

Well, time to go, another cooler day out there.

Take care, keep safe, M   

Bran the Border Collie really earned his chicken and rice gourmet canine mix  (REALLY ???) today. Thinking about it, when did chicken and rice turn into dog food and not a Chinese takaway ?….regardless, that dog that spends more time sending the sheep into a headlong tailspin than rounding them up but today we were in awe…we know the dog is smart….he just prefers to pretend he isn’t…and he can be pretty convincing.

We were ( as usual) rushing ( when aren’t we ?) and, from around the corner of the barn came the Greg whistle and unique Greg yodel…”Come cows,,come cows”….the gate was open, big old Lady Lump the Shire mare had just lumbered through, on idling speed, no rushing that girl ! ….  Because we were in a major time crisis, (Sophie was arriving at the Purdy Park and Ride in precisely 23 minutes) we were wishfully hoping… (but not anticipating) the cows to be co operative. Greg’s call responded around the valley, the awaiting band of horses thundered to the gate. The formation eating team  (the sheep) lined up in front of the gate, a cacophony of  baaas announcing their readiness to return to the barn for the night and then we realized that Bran the Border Collie wasn’t in his usual position. No black and white canine trying desperately not to be patient, panting and whining restlessly ( or even remotely obedient !!) sitting by the gate…where was the dog?? Then we saw him, for all the world like “Lassie come home”, bringing all seven cows back from the pasture, all by himself. Little black and white body exuberantly bounding through the tall grass, tongue lopping out the side of his mouth …I swear he had a big doggy smile on his self satisfied face. Oops, convoy breakdown, Misty Moo the Jersey calf hesitated by the water trough, Bran the super star noticed,… sat and waited, we held our breath and with a little nudge Misty was encouraged to break into an ungainly bovine trot followed by a very pleased with himself Border Collie. Nice job Bran….now, about tomorrow ???

The Gentle Giant Wildlife Reserve got another two members today. Fortunately I wasn’t staring heavenward when Mr and Mrs. Blue Heron flew over to check out the local real estate because as I watched, a considerable sized blob of excrement tumbled earthward…..(that could have been REALLY messy !!!). Both birds eventually settled in the pasture at the edge of the pond with much wing flapping and a great deal of posturing. It remains to be seen if the Canada Geese returning from their Winter vacation in the Spring to reclaim their island in the pond nest will tolerate the new neighbours. I am struggling to remember when we were asked if we want to be a local bird sanctuary !!!

Well, Quatra is away to camp for the week, Edward went home to Seattle for the weekend ( probably to turn off the alarm clock and get reacquainted with the concept of relaxing !!). Carla has been playing at being a Californian for the past week and is due back tomorrow and Sophie is home..and still smiling. Greg and I have been “home alone”….It’s nice to have you just to me

Cowboy !!!

Time for me to go, another cool day predicted for tomorrow. Before we know it, Winter will be here. I know,….. some people are just never content.

Take care, keep safe, M 

It’s Sunday and through the kitchen window something is missing..the barns are still there silent in the early morning light, the pond still and dark beneath the sweeping branches of the giant cedar trees. The pastures dry and parched and the stony farm road haven’t changed BUT the sunshine has gone. The sky is heavy and grey, marine air has moved in and the cool down begins today….phew !!

Yesterday I had not one.. but two close encounters of the arachnophobia variety and around this place one sighting is WAY too many. The first, a BIG hobo spider ( actually MASSIVE !!) had clearly decided to practice the not exactly encouraged ( if you are a spider) sport of swimming. Harold the Hobo could have practiced being submerged in the pond…he could have paddled his eight legs in the culvert run off, he could have tried to drown anywhere..why did he have to pick Charm’s water bucket ? Then..just to make matters a hundred times worse, Harold the Hobo pretended to be dead and I thought I was safe. Bravely I even considered fishing him out ( very carefully !)…Carla’s obsession with anything with more than four legs and uglier than sin would possibly have made Harold welcome on a microscope slide. Predicament number 1…getting the “dead” eight legged monster out of the bucket and predicament number 2….what to do with said corpse pending her return. Fortunately for me, struggling with these monumental problems, Harold the Hobo resurrected…he was no longer dead…all eight legs were waving and I swear he was watching me!!!! Game over, sorry Carla, you’ll have to find your own specimen and I can safely say, Harold the Hobo spider will NEVER swim again !!

Barely recovered from my earlier trauma, we headed up to the house for lunch and out of the corner of my eye I saw it !!! Just waiting..still and menacing, black and hairy, big body and humongous eight legs !!!! NO, it was all just too much, I can deal with Ronald Rat, Mickey Mouse, Silas the snake and most any other barnyard bird or critter but don’t give me spiders !

Quietly doing what I do best, up to my knees in horse poop I happened to notice a sound that didn’t sound like it came from whence it should come. It seemed closer examination was required…but where was I going to look ? There it was again, a very distinct COCK A DOODLE DOOOO and it wasn’t from within the confines of the chicken pen. Big clues came from the roosters still firmly on the ground trying to round up the girls and glancing upwards at the bright red rooster playing king of the castle on the wrong side of the eagle net. Roger the Rhode Island Red Rooster had made it out through a small hole in the net but typically, his instinct for freedom had got him out but his chicken brain couldn’t find the way back !! Worse… his rooster testosterone had kicked in…and all the feathered ladies were back where he had come from. What’s a frustrated rooster to do but wander agitatedly around the pen trying to return to where he had escaped from. I think there is a moral here for a rooster with an independent spirit…just be content with what you have !

Time to go, Greg and I are home alone today..what trouble can we get into !!

Take care, keep safe, M   

I used to spot a stray sunbeam and prostrate myself to get maximum absorption level. Weather forecasts were scanned for an outside chance of a sun symbol, days off from the office were wishfully booked hoping perchance to have at least an hour or two of rain free (if not sunny) emancipation !! Holidays ( vacations) were arranged to places where the body would be  nicely browned…if not cremated and the more cremated the better !!

Maybe its encroaching old age, maybe I’ve got smarter ( doubt it !!!) but this latest scorching weather has found me ducking and diving from shady place to shadows….and I have even been found with a tall glass of water with icebergs floating in it !! ( I think the sun got to me, smile). The chickens appear to have struggled the most. I guess it’s tough to sit in even the most sought after and highly prized nest box, tough to cluck contentedly and expel a big brown egg when the temperature outside has reached 102 degrees. The chickens abandoned the roosts were they habitually line up in groups chuntering and chattering in a chicken convention, birds struggling to keep cool spread their wings flattened their feathers and panted. As the sun went down over the cedar trees I’m sure there was a huge collective sigh emanating from the birds broiling in the chicken coops.

For our equine friends these past few days have ended with a nice cold shower. One by one the horses returned from the pasture and for all the world like an assembly line, manes tails and hooves were washed and picked as each horse stood for the lovely cool treat. Get on the wrong side of the hosepipe and squeals and yelps notified the operator that Edward Sophie or Quatra had got an unscheduled shower. Zinny the little chestnut pony has been in our care while mom took a vacation and joined the assembly line with all the big boys and girls. Coyly the little lady that flirts shamefully with big Starbuck the black gelding crossed her back legs and crumpled up when the cool water was sprayed under her tail. Lady the big Shire mare struggles under the heat of the sun and when it’s hosepipe time that big girl just loves to play with the water. She mouths the nozzle and carefully and playfully stamps on the hosepipe to ensure the attention of the operator doesn’t stray from her. Starbuck the big black Appaloosa takes everything in his stride, tolerantly he waits for us to finish our ministerings, mouth quietly searching for the apple treat he knows wont be far away  whilst Charm the golden palomino, ( aka beauty with attitude) too hot for full on attitude, half heartedly tosses his pretty head and stamps his foot in a display of equine petulance. Roman, typically our problem child with anything new became our shower time saint. The black Morgan gelding has been known to shy at his own shadow (and snuff and snort at anyone else’s) but, grateful for the cool down he just absorbs the water and the attention.

Got to go, cuckoo has just cuckood, Greg has moved, dog is in position….must be time to head for the barn !!

Take care, keep safe, M      

Broil roast or fry, no choice of medium rare, we are all going to be well done to cremated !! Yesterday was HOT HOT HOT and today the thermometer is going to rise even further. Poor Bran the Border Collie would love to play stick…but finding the stick takes effort and chasing said stick would be far to much trouble. The chickens only need breading and they would all be instant Kentucky fried. Poor birds are digging deep holes in their pens, spreading their wings and panting…not sure what it’s going to do to egg production, the nest boxes have morphed into convector ovens!! The horses long since developed a way to look miserable and over the past few days they have perfected the art. A long cool shower in the evening has been welcomed by even the biggest water hater with the biggest attitude, Charm the golden palomino just absorbs the jet of water from the hosepipe which used to be public enemy number 1….maybe Mr. Attitude has had an attitude adjustment…or maybe not !

Quatra Sophie and Edward our Woofer volunteers have been busy, despite the solar onslaught. Quatra is still busy in her hole and happy as a clam with her bricks and mortar board. It’s looking good, thanks Quatra !! It was power tool Wednesday down in the relative cool of the old cedar barn and Sophie and Edward got familiar to friendly with the nail gun, sawsall, jigsaw  and the plain old fashioned ( but effective !) hammer. True to form around here, a wall came down and a wall is going up…how come that always happens ?? Dust was flying, cities of sprawling cobwebs were demolished and huge spiders scurried for safety under the nearest dark and gloomy hole. Old rusty nails had to be pulled, ancient cider boards pulled apart, levels checked and rechecked and the new stall is under construction.

Edward heroically (I think!!) volunteered to go with Greg to collect fresh shavings. Greg and Edward disappeared in a cloud of wood dust and our depleted shavings pile has been replenished. Sophie, clearly quite the artist has made us a new “Eggs for sale” sign, a delicate creative design,….now I have to have the egg hutch painted to match ! ..uuuh ..Greg !  Thank you Sophie,….now, how can I utilize that talent a little more ???

I may have a new career path for all my spare time (?) Much to my surprise it seems that someone thinks that I can write ? The “someone” is actually a very well known local author, Renee River and she and I are together making a childrens story book ( true/ fairy tale..oxymoron)based on the Quest and Gertie the goose love story. We are excited, it will be my first adventure into story writing…I usually just brain dump  random thoughts… but my memories and our photographs are (we hope) going to create a beautiful children’s story book. Maybe we will be the new Dr Seuss ..how’s that for ambition. The Quest/Gertie story is on my “Forsaken Love” web page and the new book will hopefully be a wonderful endearing fairy tale. Should be ready for Christmas ? Any enquiries will be answered by my secretary ( NOT !!).

Time to go, Take care, keep safe, M

Maybe today can return to some sense of normality around here…whatever normal might be ( smile). It has been very strange to be hailed as heroes, Greg and I are ranchers ( I always think that sounds a little presumptuous, “Ranch” gives me in my selective English brain visions of Bonanza, Southfork and John Wayne). We raise tend for and love our livestock who sometimes love us back! We till, seed and weed the gardens and orchards …so Doris the Destroyer can bring all her deer friends and family to sample and harvest. We don’t search for attention and surely don’t really know how to deal with it when it comes. We thank you all, we are content with our decision to react as we did (despite several comments alluding to obvious insanity here in the Sikora household) we are still keeping all the people who were sharing those seconds and minutes ( that seemed like hours !!) of insanity closely in our thoughts and prayers.
Little has been said about the emergency services, the police and the first responders who had to try to make sense of what was  (and still is) clearly a senseless situation. Many of the deputies were on a day off, relaxing at home with their families, a hot sunny Saturday that should have seen them around the Bar-b-Que with a hot dog (or three). I heard one deputy comment that the budget was going to be cut and it made me (a lowly “rancher”) wonder what our world was coming to. We have our own lovely little world. Gentle Giant Meadows Ranch is a peaceful and happy place… but out in the bigger world these wonderful dedicated professionals are being faced with job cuts because of the budget. Hopefully we will never have a repeat of Saturdays nightmare, but if we do…we do need you guys and we want to THANK YOU for being there for us.
That is all I wanted to say today, our hearts are still heavy and the wounded are sadly still in hospital but today is another day.
Heartfelt thanks for all the kind words and messages, so appreciated.
Our animals await our morning appearance.
Take care, keep safe, M 

This morning is going to be a brief entry. Its difficult to be light-hearted knowing there are two of our peninsula residents in the hospital from the wounds they suffered at the Lake Kathryn Food Market shooting on Saturday. We just ask that you keep the them and the others that were in the store at the time of the shooting in your thoughts and prayers. We are glad we were able to be there at the right time to help out.  Who knew what started out as a trip to the pharmacy to pick up our prescriptions would turn into a life saving effort for someone else. We are just glad we were able to help.
Take care, stay safe
Greg and Maureen