Smoke haze from the Longwood VIC fire in the vineyard this morning. Not great but at least the vineyard is visible, unlike 2020. Still hope that we may have a vintage 🤞🤞

My kelpie boys Ralph & Sam moving sheep to the back of the property. First day on sheep after the Xmas break & the opportunity to shed some Xmas kilos, after lying around bored witless for weeks..#workingdogs

Evie, our Xmas Eve orphan, truly a survivor. & sweet-natured. Got through the worst 3 days we’ve had in years..especially today..#lambs

One of the toughest gigs in radio has to be doing the Bushfire Emergency Announcements with all the weird & wild Victorian place names.

Sunscreen protection for grapevines with 3 days of 40+°C coming. First photo is without sunscreen, second photo of a couple of blocks with the first sunscreen application. #wine #heatwave #beechworthwineregion

Thought they’d come up to the house to put some pressure on for an early feed #sheep

Evie, our Xmas Eve orphan - a cute little survivor. Getting stronger by the day #lambs

3rd feed of 4 for the day for this little girl. Still trying to settle in.. One of our kelpies is keeping her company most of the day

Found this abandoned little newborn ewe lamb this morning checking stock. Thing is, this mob is due to lamb in April so there must have been a rogue ram lamb in with the girls. Not your typical Christmas lamb ..

Feeling a bit lucky..this old giant fell over the fence where I was working while I was at lunch.. Benign conditions- no wind..no warning- widow maker.. 15T CAT dozer for scale

Incoming storm- part 2…31mm so far. So welcome..

The ‘rat pack’- this season’s lambs. Still a few more to come..Can’t come quick enough. Need some sleep..

Not the most salubrious accommodation but at least it’s dry, sheltered from the wind & rain & they’ve got another for company..#springlambs

These 2 little orphans will be living with our chickens for a while. Both have perked up after a few bottle feeds today..#springlambs

When I was a kid, you never went into the ram or bull paddock unless you could out sprint it.. This is Neville, 1 of our current Dorper rams. So good natured and docile. I had to clip his hooves recently. Alone. He’s 90+ kg, I’m 68 kg. Flipped him on his back. Job done in minutes, no struggle..🙂

Started lambing Friday night- 8 so far including triplets..long way to go Shot 12 foxes in the last week..115 for the year Won’t be sleeping much for a while

Great shot of the vineyard and the Vic Alps beyond on a frosty morning, from the vineyard next door by a colleague.

Incoming..

Waiting in the shed for the rain shower to pass so the sheep can be fed. No pressure…

Finally our creek is flowing again after more than 6 months dry.. Such a beautiful sound..🎶

Throw the fricking stick Dad! These two spend their days pestering us to throw bits of old vine wood as we try to get through pruning 100K vines

Nice to see some water in the creek, although it will need another dump to start flowing. Has been dry as the proverbial for months..

Where’s our food?? We’ve been waiting for hours..worst service ever..no stars for this place 👎

Took my 96 yo mum for a ride in the sidecar today. She loved it- reminded her of when she & my dad used to get around on bikes

This little girl decided a trip on the motorbike was preferable to the long walk home from next door..

Sheep in the vineyard..can mean one of two scenarios- someone left a gate open…or vintage is finally over. Thankfully it’s the latter- two incredibly intense and exhausting months that’s going to take some time to recover from..

Bringing the sheep home from next door after some unauthorised but necessary voluntary bushfire hazard reduction work

Nice sunset to bring the sheep home after a hot day

Almost there..1km of road to go

Bringing the escapees home..again. Every few weeks they find a new wallaby hole in the last remaining section of dilapidated boundary fence & they’re away..

Sunday morning walk after a small shower of much needed rain-these 2 got after a fox today 🦊

Wine grape harvesting this morning @ 2 am with rain and electrical storms all around us. The speck of light is the harvester..

Started vintage 2025 @ midnight last night machine harvesting Chardonnay & hand picking Chardonnay today. Fruit looks spectacular & will make stunning wine. We’ll be finished before it’s too hot..#BeechworthChardonnay

We’ll start vintage 2025 next week. Pinot Noir is almost there, as is Chardonnay & Pinot Grigio. Looks like we’re gonna be busy. BTW the white flecks are sunscreen..

I’ve listened to classical music all my life, including when I was a punk, as well as most other genres of music, which I still listen to- mostly jazz & blues. This has to be one of the best programs on ABC radio to immerse yourself in for a couple of hours.. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

These two materialise when the ham container lid comes off..nowhere near the kitchen & suddenly they’re there..#dogs

Found this little ewe lamb on her own in a paddock, so gave her a lift back to the mob. She didn’t seem to mind sitting next to me on the ATV seat. One of the few black-headed dorpers we have left..

We live on ~300 Ac of bush. We expect something like this to happen every summer & it did a few years ago- deliberately lit from the road. Fire roared across the neighbouring paddock into ours. Luckily CFA got onto it fast. I was an hour away @ work.. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Happy to give an uninformed opinion on the state of federal politics in exchange for sheep nuts #auspol #sheep

This is Pippi, a Dobermann rescue we adopted in the early 2000s..nicknamed the 6 million dollar Dobi because of the vet bills but a gorgeous soul in spite of that. Moved 5 x with us. Buried in our chookyard..miss her

Ralph & Sam, my rescue kelpies enjoying a bath after mustering 5 mobs of sheep in fairly warm weather today. Those Xmas kilos are coming off quickly..🦴💪

Moving the boys again- 4 kms up to the back of the property. Nice to see some rain finally- so dry… Destocking more sheep this week - another 200. Ralph & Sam really keen to work today after too many snacks over Xmas/New Year break..😄

Back flushed & cleaned the coffee machine today. Makes a huge difference to the coffee. Usually do it when I open a new bag of beans but must have forgotten last time..

Sammy, one of our boys, loves to ride on the back of the quad bike when we go mustering… Ralph, the other kelpie, not so much, but loves the atv @ work

Throw the ball now or I’m never gonna bring it back again!!

Flat out like a working dog 😂… They find the cricket pretty boring & prefer musterdogs instead & also it’s stinking hot outside

Waiting for Xmas dinner…why so long?

Bringing the mob home after their holiday next door, courtesy of a hole in the fence #sheep #sheepdogs

Happy dog..loves pats #dogs

Ralph, one of our red kelpies watching the sheep feed with me