Friday 4th of july

This morning we woke up earlier than normal, because our friends are coming. We first cleaned up a little bit and drove the camper down to our new spot. Then we walked up to the gate to wait for them and let them know where they needed to be. When they arrived we were all very happy and talked about everything that happened while not together. We set up everything and then it was time to cuddle some chickens. It was still very hot so a new ice bottle for the kittens and one for us to stay a bit cooler.

Saturday 5th of july

Today we needed some groceries and we went to the supermarket together. Because of the heat we did not do much else this day. In the evening we had a barbeque with Michel, Mirande, our friends and some friends of Michel and Mirande. We had a lovely evening and the girls had some kids from England to play with.

Sunday 6th of july

It was still hot today so we went to the swimming pool to cool off. We need some time to adjust to the heat here in this area, but it is july so it is supposed to be hot now. We give the kittens every morning a frozen bottle of water and in the evening it is still cold luckily so the kittens can cool off.

Monday 7th of july

Today Megan called with her friend from the Netherlands and it was nice to speak to her again. Megan also wrote the blog. After that it was time to prepare for a birthday party. Mercy  is almost 8 years old so we let her choose a cake we will bake on her birthday. In the evening Megan had to work and we ate together afterwards.

Tuesday 8th of july

Fire. We had a few fires the last couple of days, but today it got a bit closer then the last few. We know what we need to do if we need to evacuate, but it still is scary if you see the fire so close. While this was going on Michel and Mirande got bad news from home. They had to go to the Netherlands for family business. At the same time Lut needed to go home to Belgium. So we needed to learn how to keep the farm running while they are away. We talked almost the whole day about the ins and outs of the farm and we wrote everything down. They will leave tomorrow so we have a bit of time to prepare ourselves. We are very grateful that they trust us enough to let us run the farm while they are away. It is a big responsibility, but also a very good practice for when we have our own farm.

Wednesday 9th of july

This morning we walked through all the things we needed to know one more time and some things that slipped our minds the day before. Bryan and Jonny are in charge of the electricity and some maintenance. Megan is in charge of the little chicks and the new eggs that will arrive shortly. Jonny and Mercy will take care of the chickens in the morning. Bryan and Megan will sleep in the house of Michel and Mirande so their cat is not alone at night. 

In the afternoon Michel and Mirande were ready to drive to the Netherlands and we said our goodbye’s and after that we had a bit of time to relax at the pool before work started. We watered the plants when we got back from the pool and gave the chickens their food. When Megan looked to see if there were more chicks born, we had a bit more little chicks running around in the incubator.

Thursday 10th of July

Woke up in the house with Koos (the kitten) chewing at our feet, Flora (the dog) laying on top of Megan and a lot of noise from the bathroom. We got out of bed and let Karel (the cat) and Flora out of the house and went to check on the noise coming from the bathroom. 7 more chicks came out of their shell and were all walking around and chirping. After all that we checked the time and it was 6 in the morning. We needed to go out by 8 not 6 so it was very early for us, but going back to bed would not help, so we started our jobs a bit earlier.  Megan wasn’t feeling the best today so we took it slow. In the afternoon she was feeling a bit better and had enough energy to give the girls their lesson. We did outdoor bingo and walked around taking pictures of the things on the bingo kart. In the evening we did our jobs and ate together in the outdoor kitchen.