First a medical update after the excitement of last week. It’s definitely a case of two sides of the coin as Farm Girl charges down the road to recovery leaving completed school assignments in her wake with still one more week of prescribed recuperation in the bank, while our poor battered car languishes in no mans land – and at the panel beaters – waiting for a decision to be made about its future. As it’s now been over a week, I’m picking the insurance company’s abacus is working overtime and that our “significant damage” wording on the claim form was not an overstatement. C’est la vie and all that, but it would be nice to know whether we’re going to have to go vehicle shopping (groan) in the near future.
But being one vehicle down has not slowed us down too much. In the last week, for example, the menagerie has grown by three; two housemates for Ed the guinea pig called Cindy and April and, with an eye on Spring, Brent the ram.
Currently, Cindy is AWOL having made a run for it through a breach in the perimeter we had no idea existed until Cindy legged it. She’s not too far away though – we can hear her pottering about in the compost bit area so hopefully, when she’s had enough of the big bad world, she’s make her exact whereabouts known.
But by far the biggest happening this week has been the securing of Sleepout to Earth.
Ben the Builder had asked that we move or tie up the goats as they needed to leave the gate open to aide in Hiab maneuvering, but in the end all that was required was double hay rations as Marilyn so aptly illustrates. I, of course, was required to supervise the untethered goats…my lurking in the goat paddock had nothing to do with my excitement about the big truck and flashing lights.
We’re pretty pleased with the new location, the fact that it is very firmly tethered to the ground now, and the potential pastoral view (demonstrated by Shirley) from its windows.
And if that wasn’t enough,
it wasn’t a bad morning to be up early enough to catch the sun rising.
Union Homestead 
At Union Homestead there is rarely a dull moment. At my home, the opposite is true.
I think perfection lies between the two 😊
So glad to read Farm Girl is doing really well. Farm Girl, you rock! So sorry about the car. Unfortunately, even minor accidents seem to do a lot of damage.
I keep saying, ” it’s just a car” but not having it around does impact on life and our poor, aged farm ute is not really perfect for the daily commute with the Bean Counter
Of course it does! Hope your situation is resolved fairly soon.
Wow! You have managed to keep busy despite a convalescent at home, and being 4 wheels short. In my experience, producing a piece of carrot or sweet pepper (do you call them capiscums?) should bring recalcitrant guinea pigs out of nowhere. The sleepout looks very exciting – is it new? Its arrival and tethering remind me very much of our own adventures on this front – ours too had to be tethered via cables to deeply embedded into concrete hooks – and in some of our gales, and likely your Canterbury Plains everlasting winds, this is a very reassuring feeling. So glad FG is on the road to recovery – now to get the vehicle thing sorted out.
Cindy is not a fool. She crept back into her hutch and was found all snuggled up this morning. A spirited chase resulted in all three guinea pigs securely contained. The sleep out was the one the Tiny Housers bought and lived in, along with their caravan, for a couple of years. They had it on the market but after witnessing the bullying and nastiness potential buyers thought was okay – I guess because they were young – we decided to buy it off them as a spare bedroom. Having it properly attached to concreted in foundations means when the wind is slamming against the house, I can rest easy. Apparently, we will be hearing about the car early next week…whilst I don’t want a structurally/mechanically compromised vehicle I really, really hate shopping for them.
We had the same wait in a bodyshop for one of our previous cars. Curiously, although it was easily repairable, the insurance company paid us the scrap value. Something odd was going on. I hope that you get your vehicle back soon.
Tethering buildings and livestock is obviously important.
The wind can fair whistle down the Southern Alps and across the Canterbury Plains – the classic foehn wind – so it’s definitely a case of having everything securely tied down. When it’s really bad I have to remind myself of the former homestead and its potential tsunami risk and that makes me feel much better.
I would definitely agree that a gale is infinitely preferable to a tsunami.
Any future plans for the sleep out? Verandah? Steps? Ramp? Future studio? Man cave? I hope all is well in Guinea Pig Land and the fate of the damaged vehicle is sorted SOON!
We gave grand plans for the sleep out including veranda with hot tub but, once weve finished its interior paint and spruce up, its first job will be as a guest room. Guinea pig land is a very happy place…they are very content little beings