We farm a property of around 240 acres (96ha), about half of which is covered in grass. Some of the rest is deliberately left in blocks of regenerating bush, with some simply doing it on its own. There are three rivers/streams flowing through the farm, one coming down through Diggers Valley, the other two from the surrounding hills.
On the farm with us currently, are around 100 cattle, most of which are Aberdeen Angus. We have a small Angus stud which we began when we purchased two stud cows a few years ago and is gradually growing in size; those cattle mix in with the others, with the exception of the one remaining older cow, who has lost some of her teeth and needs some extra attention to maintain herself in good condition.
We have a small flock of 11 sheep, mainly of Romney blood, many of which are tame, as a result of having been raised by hand when their mothers died or could not feed them as well as we wished. We shear them twice a year and are gradually reducing their number, as sheep require a great deal of hands-on maintenance, for which we have less and less time and enthusiasm.
We keep a few hens, a peacock adopted us a few years ago and there is a fluctuating number of very noisy ducks, including some Muscovies.
We raised a couple of Paradise Ducks in 2001, a highlight of the last few years, but they are sadly no longer with us.