With a scorching 36 degrees Celsius forecast today, Zoe and I decided to get out on the farm nice and early. Amazingly for mid summer, it still looks lovely and green.

Cool before we cook

One of the first things we did was check on a calf in the sick bay. Dubbed “Pinky” by Zoe, this calf is about the same age as my own baby Alex – eight months – and is thriving but had an umbilical hernia that vet Pete operated on last week. We are spraying her with a pink disinfectant and fly repellant to keep her wound nice but it looks horribly inflamed as a result. She’s camping in a small paddock by the shed with a friend to minimise the amount of running around she does for the next week or so.

Pinky recovers in the company of a friend

Zoe and I also stopped to top up Charlie and Lola’s pantry and say good morning to our semi-nocturnal Maremma guardians.

Good morning sleepy head

But it was a far less cuddly creature that greeted me when I went to check the milk chart.

Aaaargh...look who came out to greet me!

Yikes! Got to take the good with the bad!