News from around the property and our Balingup cottage accommodation news


Seasonal News - from around the property

The chestnuts are developing on all the trees and soon we will discover how good our crop will be this year.

In our two house orchards we only have figs and plums developing and ripening and all our other stone fruit has now finished. 

The garden around the cottage is looking most attractive and the roses are looking beautiful this year.  The grass is drying out on the property and some of the surrounding hills have turned yellow.  Our small flock of sheep are lazing around under the big trees, rather than earning their keep, and can be seen standing on their hind legs to trim leaves from the large trees.

Our donkeys Rosie and Maelise have now developed their summer coats. They stand very still and enjoy having their short coats brushed and their feet cleaned. Like the sheep they are busy trimming the lower branches of the trees however at a much higher level that the sheep can reach.  Field mice have claimed the area behind the donkeys' straw container as their home.  Here they can live a cosy existence sheltered from the weather and with a regular food source as they eat the seeds that are sometimes left in the straw.  The donkeys appear not to mind the mice rushing out into the stable if they get a fright, which is more than can be said about some of us humans who manage to jump each time this happens.

They are now out in the paddocks without being locked away at night as the grass has dried out and no longer is so rich. Jasper rides Rosie
They seem to be in good condition now and look happy as they have a run around the paddock each evening.  There is a fine line between just enough and too much food for them as they do not stop eating when they are 'full'.  Too much food (and excess weight) leads to problems with their feet and then they suffer very badly and can't walk.  Their diet must be watched closely all year but particularly from September until the end of December when the grasses hold more sugars.  The donkeys just love attention and enjoy having their coats brushed, and they are quite happy to stand very still for a long time while this is being done. 


flying
Scarlet robins, red-eared firetail finches and black-faced cuckoo shrikes and Silver Eyes are in abundance at the moment.    The New Holland Honey Eaters are here in huge mobs.  Brush Bronze Wing Pigeons, White-tailed Black Cockatoos and Red Wattlebirds continue to be seen.  The fairy wren families around the cottage are fun to watch. They make loud noises as they play in the proteas near the deck or come onto the front balcony to look at themselves in the windows.  This year our paddocks were visited by a large flock of Sacred Ibis along with a few white faced heron.

Our pacific black ducks have not returned in large groups as yet but we still have one or two regulars around our house and one lone male mallard duck. mallard The ducks visiting our paddocks are keen to check out the donkey shed for any missed seeds and also check out the house orchard for any goodies that may be hiding under the mulch.

We only saw a couple of small groups of ducklings this year. Sadly each year we watch the numbers of ducklings reduce each day as something near the brook is finding them a tasty meal.   We also have a few resident kookaburras who greet the dawn each day and also mark the end of day.  And of course the parrots, magpies and ravens are always about. 
Take a little peep at our property, birds and animals here

Check out what is happening in Balingup this season on our Balingup News page.

Strolling through the local galleries, swimming in crystal clear water, viewing the rolling hillsides, walking in the bush, relaxing in shade in the cottage garden with a good book and a great bottle of wine, or snuggling up under the down doonas on a cool night - summer is always a beautiful time of year to visit our cottage in Balingup.

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