in an effort to give you all an instant update of life at Mangana Mission we have now established a specific Facebook page :
Mangana Mission | Facebook
Please feel free to visit often and see how we are progressing,
Love and Light,
Andre' & Kate
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Mangana Mission News
Dear Friends and Family,
in an effort to give you all an instant update of life at Mangana Mission we have now established a specific Facebook page :
in an effort to give you all an instant update of life at Mangana Mission we have now established a specific Facebook page :
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Mangana Mission News- December 2011
Dear Friends and Family,
where have the past 4 months gone????? With all of the best intentions in the world the months have just flown by and now the author of this humble blog must try and recall the adventures of the last quarter of 2011.
2011 has been an eventful year with a number of new projects undertaken and completed at Mangana Mission. These were ably assisted by several wonderful international Helpers who all stamped their mark on the property on their own special way. I just had to go into "The Hilton" and view the flags on the walls to jog my memory to recall the list of Helpers/WWOOFER's who have stayed here since the last post.This is mainly due to the fact that many of them were only here for a relatively short stay so that life has become a bit of a blur for me.
The first was Soon-Pil from South Korea- a lovely young man with a very limited knowledge of English. It was an interesting experience to say the least and I am sure that a number of my instructions were not fully understood. We persevered and managed to complete a number of tasks including painting the new brewery floor as well as the entrance way to the Cabin, making covers for the fruit trees in the orchard, working in the vegetable gardens and more.
A major construction project was undertake in the Cabin with the building of the Mangana Brewhaus. This was achieved by reducing the size of the huge bathroom and the store room to make a good sized brewery for the manufacture of our own Mangana Beers and Ciders. It has been working flat out with us now making about 100 Litres of drinks every fortnight thanks to the assistance of Jason and the financial help of Phil and others. The stockpile was heartily enjoyed by many over the Christmas and New Year period!!
I was honored to have the return of Ching from Taiwan with her boyfriend James as well for a few days and they helped with the moving of the Berry Patch from the orchard to a new home beside the house. This will help to ensure that no berries are forgotten to be eaten.
Early November saw the arrival of a lovely young lady from France named Charlotte. She had only booked in for a 1 week stay however was a pleasure to have and a great worker as well.
During Charlottes short stay here we managed to complete a lot of weeding and landscaping projects in the formal garden and orchard areas. We also saw the arrival of our first baby chicken at Mangana Mission with the hatching of Noire.Kerry a friend from across the road had been kind enough to give us 12 eggs from her hen house to put under our 2 clucky hens and Noire was the result! We now have a magnificent young New Hampshire Rooster named Randolph so we are hopeful that he will soon be servicing the girls to produce a number of new chicks over the coming months. The plan is to expand the flock to a critical mass of about 40 birds.
Soon after Charlotte left , Kay an old friend from Sydney moved into Mangana Mission to take up residence in Scottys Cabin. She has been a wonderful asset to the farm and has energy that amazes some of the young helpers. The bountiful harvest that we shall have this summer from the vegetable gardens are in no small part due to her Stirling efforts. Kay is leaving us in early January to take up residence down the road however is keen to stay involved with the Mangana Mission gardens.
The next WWOOFER at Mangana was Sandra from Sweden who was again a short term guest staying for only 5 days before continuing her travels. She was a wizard in the vegetable gardens making up dozens of rows and planting out most of this summers crops.
This blog just seems to keep on going!! - But the end is nigh.
The next helper at Mangana was Sam from South Korea. She had a great grasp of the English language due to her studies as a translator and also had a love of the Mangana beers and ciders.She had an artistic bent and was keen to paint the new duck house in preparation of the arrival of our flock. She really loved her time at Mangana with its pristine environment and plentiful wildlife visiting nightly. Sam also started work on the renovation of "Morrie" our newly purchased 1965 Morris Camper van which is being repainted and then refurbished inside to be used as a spare bedroom on the property.
The end of 2011 was nearly upon us when Kate returned to Mangana for a 3 week visit. It was a very hectic time with preparations being made for a Xmas and New Years Eve Party at Mangana Mission as well as many guests dropping in for a chat and a drink. We also had a long trip together up to Bridport in the far North of Tasmania to collect our 13 member family of Pekin Ducks.
Naolo a quiet young lady from Japan arrived late December for a 1 month stay and fitted straight into the band with her Bass Guitar for the New Years Eve entertainment- but more about Naoko in the January 2012 Blog!
The highlight of Kate's visit was our night out to the Scamander Beach Resort on her final evening in Tasmania (for this trip) . We had a wonderful night with a delicious meal in the restaurant and both look forwards to returning there on her next trip in hopefully a couple of months.
Well everybody that sees the end of 2011- a year of many highs and a few lows however we are lucky enough to have seen in 2012. The secret of finding tranquility is to learn to appreciate what one has in ones life-beautiful nature, great and dear friends and of course plenty of Mangana home brew!!
Hoping that you all have a Happy, Healthy and Tranquil 2012,
Love and Light to all,
Andre
where have the past 4 months gone????? With all of the best intentions in the world the months have just flown by and now the author of this humble blog must try and recall the adventures of the last quarter of 2011.
2011 has been an eventful year with a number of new projects undertaken and completed at Mangana Mission. These were ably assisted by several wonderful international Helpers who all stamped their mark on the property on their own special way. I just had to go into "The Hilton" and view the flags on the walls to jog my memory to recall the list of Helpers/WWOOFER's who have stayed here since the last post.This is mainly due to the fact that many of them were only here for a relatively short stay so that life has become a bit of a blur for me.
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| Soon-Pil with a pick in the orchard |
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| New look orchard with fruit tree covers |
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| Mangana Brewery |
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| Some of the brews that have been made |
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| The latest batch bubbling away!! |
I was honored to have the return of Ching from Taiwan with her boyfriend James as well for a few days and they helped with the moving of the Berry Patch from the orchard to a new home beside the house. This will help to ensure that no berries are forgotten to be eaten.
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| Ching and James |
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| New Berry Patch beside the house |
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| Weeding the Rose gardens |
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| Noire the first baby chicken at Mangana Mission |
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| Working in the orchard |
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| Randolph the New Hampshitre Rooster |
Soon after Charlotte left , Kay an old friend from Sydney moved into Mangana Mission to take up residence in Scottys Cabin. She has been a wonderful asset to the farm and has energy that amazes some of the young helpers. The bountiful harvest that we shall have this summer from the vegetable gardens are in no small part due to her Stirling efforts. Kay is leaving us in early January to take up residence down the road however is keen to stay involved with the Mangana Mission gardens.
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| Mangana Mission Vegetable Gardens |
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| Sandra relaxing in Spa after a day in the gardens |
This blog just seems to keep on going!! - But the end is nigh.
The next helper at Mangana was Sam from South Korea. She had a great grasp of the English language due to her studies as a translator and also had a love of the Mangana beers and ciders.She had an artistic bent and was keen to paint the new duck house in preparation of the arrival of our flock. She really loved her time at Mangana with its pristine environment and plentiful wildlife visiting nightly. Sam also started work on the renovation of "Morrie" our newly purchased 1965 Morris Camper van which is being repainted and then refurbished inside to be used as a spare bedroom on the property.
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| Sam working on Morrie |
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| Sams duck house |
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| Xmas Lunch at Mangana |
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| Kate and Brother Phil |
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| Andre and Kate |
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| Naoko playing with the New Years Eve Band |
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| The band plays on till the early hours of 2012 |
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| Morrie - a work in progress |
Well everybody that sees the end of 2011- a year of many highs and a few lows however we are lucky enough to have seen in 2012. The secret of finding tranquility is to learn to appreciate what one has in ones life-beautiful nature, great and dear friends and of course plenty of Mangana home brew!!
Hoping that you all have a Happy, Healthy and Tranquil 2012,
Love and Light to all,
Andre
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Mangana Mission News - August 2011
Dear Friends and Family,
I hope that you are all dually impressed that I have managed to update the blog after only one months activities compared to the last very slack effort.
August was thankfully the last month of what felt like very long and oppressive winter in Mangana.We were blessed with a range of conditions from frosty mornings with temperatures down to -6 degrees and a number of wet and dreary days which made motivation for outdoor work a challenge.
Thankfully those dark days are now behind us and Spring has come with a vengeance!! With the warmer weather I am pleased to advise that my spirits have improved as well as a new found motivation to get outside and make the new projects come to life. There will be more updates on these events in the coming blogs!
August saw Mangana Mission blessed with 2 wonderful Helpers. The first was Ching from Taiwan who was a great girl who always had a smile on her face and was the strongest Asian Helper to have worked here on the farm ( except for Huni from Korea of course!- but he was a man!!!)
During her stay here at Mangana, Ching helped to clean up the formal garden after the large black wood tree fell over in a wind storm and had to be chopped up and moved to the side fence for next years winter fire wood supply. As well as this she helped by looking after the village children, cooking beautiful meals, cleaning around the house, and undertaking the challenging job of sorting out my workshop- a job not to be taken on by the faint hearted.
A few weeks after Ching departed for Westbury I was blessed by the return of a very special Helpx friend Laurine from Belgium.She originally came to visit for 12 days back in May this year but she decided to make Mangana her final home stay for 1 week before flying back to Belgium to continue her adventures. The 7 days flew past all to quickly however we managed to get the frame of the new Hot House secured in the vegetable paddock, pick a wheelbarrow load of potatoes, brew a fine Magana Larger, sing many singstar hits and enjoy a rendition of "Dirty Old Town" with the crew at the Friday Night Music Night.
Well that about sums up the month that has just passed all to quickly ! The next couple of months appear to be very quiet on the Helpers front although Cosmos has a way of surprising us when we least expect it.
November onwards is now almost fully booked until early 2012 so there will be lots more to report I am sure.
Till next time keep happy and safe,
Love, Light and Peace to All,
Warm Regards,
Andre
I hope that you are all dually impressed that I have managed to update the blog after only one months activities compared to the last very slack effort.
August was thankfully the last month of what felt like very long and oppressive winter in Mangana.We were blessed with a range of conditions from frosty mornings with temperatures down to -6 degrees and a number of wet and dreary days which made motivation for outdoor work a challenge.
Thankfully those dark days are now behind us and Spring has come with a vengeance!! With the warmer weather I am pleased to advise that my spirits have improved as well as a new found motivation to get outside and make the new projects come to life. There will be more updates on these events in the coming blogs!
August saw Mangana Mission blessed with 2 wonderful Helpers. The first was Ching from Taiwan who was a great girl who always had a smile on her face and was the strongest Asian Helper to have worked here on the farm ( except for Huni from Korea of course!- but he was a man!!!)
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| Cold morning in Mangana with Victa behind the water tank! |
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| Ching working in the kitchen |
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| Ching at Binnalong Bay Beach |
A few weeks after Ching departed for Westbury I was blessed by the return of a very special Helpx friend Laurine from Belgium.She originally came to visit for 12 days back in May this year but she decided to make Mangana her final home stay for 1 week before flying back to Belgium to continue her adventures. The 7 days flew past all to quickly however we managed to get the frame of the new Hot House secured in the vegetable paddock, pick a wheelbarrow load of potatoes, brew a fine Magana Larger, sing many singstar hits and enjoy a rendition of "Dirty Old Town" with the crew at the Friday Night Music Night.
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| Laurine fishing for Bream at the Scamander River |
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| Laurine with the ghosts at Cullenswood Church |
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| Happy snaps in the fromt garden |
November onwards is now almost fully booked until early 2012 so there will be lots more to report I am sure.
Till next time keep happy and safe,
Love, Light and Peace to All,
Warm Regards,
Andre
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Mangana Mission News July 2011
Dear Family and Friends,
where has the last quarter of this year gone!!!!!!
I must apologise for my tardiness in updating the Mangana Mission blog however I shall try and get my act together and produce it monthly from now onwards. The greatest challenge that confronts me is now to try and remember all of the events that have taken place and the projects that have been completed with the helpers.
What feels like a very long, long time ago I was blessed with the arrival of an extremely talented young lady from France called Lucie. She is a brilliant artist so it was decided to make the most of her talents and let her loose on several artistic projects that had been in the pipeline for some time.The first of these was to paint an angel on the standing log in the native forest, followed by Ned Kelly the Gold Prospector and the Aliens on the Cabin and finally the Pirate on the wall of Garden Shed.
During Lucie's long stay there were a couple of outstanding events that will stay in my mind forever.
The first was our decision to take a tour of the North East of Tasmania as it was a very rainy day and not really suitable for farm work. The drive across the Mathinna Plain dirt tracks was interesting due to the rain and mud however the rain refused to stop. During lunch at the Welborough Pub the rain teemed down outside, by the time we reached St Helen's on the way home the main street was totally flooded and it appeared that we would be stranded in St Helen's for the night. Due to the responsibilities of feeding the animals at Mangana we persevered and finally made our way home after over 30 water crossings! There were great celebrations upon our return!
The second great adventure was a day trip to the Freycinet National Park. In the past many helpers and WWOOFER's have mad the trek up to the Wine Glass Bay Lookout so I decided that I may as well give it a go. It was (for me at least) a challenging climb but the view at the end was worth the effort. I may even give it another go again in the future after a bit of fitness training and giving up the cigarettes!
After Lucie I was blessed with the arrival of Laurine from Belgium. She is a wonderful person and we had a great time together chatting away till early most mornings. During her stay at Mangana Mission Laurine dedicated herself to painting the furniture on the back decking amongst other jobs. The outdoor suite had been painted quickly by myself some time ago using Chicken Feed Black Spray Paint. As the old saying goes "you get what you pay for!!" The cheap spray paint looked good for a while however by the time that Laurine arrived it was looking very tired and second rate.
As well as her painting duties Laurine also washed down the entire outside of the house, painted the rain water tank stand, made a batch of Mangana Cider (which is delicious as well as very strong!!!) fed the animals, did gardening and heaps more. I hope that she will return for a visit before she returns home to Belgium.
where has the last quarter of this year gone!!!!!!
I must apologise for my tardiness in updating the Mangana Mission blog however I shall try and get my act together and produce it monthly from now onwards. The greatest challenge that confronts me is now to try and remember all of the events that have taken place and the projects that have been completed with the helpers.
What feels like a very long, long time ago I was blessed with the arrival of an extremely talented young lady from France called Lucie. She is a brilliant artist so it was decided to make the most of her talents and let her loose on several artistic projects that had been in the pipeline for some time.The first of these was to paint an angel on the standing log in the native forest, followed by Ned Kelly the Gold Prospector and the Aliens on the Cabin and finally the Pirate on the wall of Garden Shed.
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| Mangana Angel |
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| Ned Kelly on the Cabin |
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| The Gold Panner on the Cabin |
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| Alien Invasion at Mangana |
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| Touching up the Pirate |
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| Lucie at Wineglass Bay Lookout |
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| Working in the Vegetable Gardens |
The first was our decision to take a tour of the North East of Tasmania as it was a very rainy day and not really suitable for farm work. The drive across the Mathinna Plain dirt tracks was interesting due to the rain and mud however the rain refused to stop. During lunch at the Welborough Pub the rain teemed down outside, by the time we reached St Helen's on the way home the main street was totally flooded and it appeared that we would be stranded in St Helen's for the night. Due to the responsibilities of feeding the animals at Mangana we persevered and finally made our way home after over 30 water crossings! There were great celebrations upon our return!
The second great adventure was a day trip to the Freycinet National Park. In the past many helpers and WWOOFER's have mad the trek up to the Wine Glass Bay Lookout so I decided that I may as well give it a go. It was (for me at least) a challenging climb but the view at the end was worth the effort. I may even give it another go again in the future after a bit of fitness training and giving up the cigarettes!
After Lucie I was blessed with the arrival of Laurine from Belgium. She is a wonderful person and we had a great time together chatting away till early most mornings. During her stay at Mangana Mission Laurine dedicated herself to painting the furniture on the back decking amongst other jobs. The outdoor suite had been painted quickly by myself some time ago using Chicken Feed Black Spray Paint. As the old saying goes "you get what you pay for!!" The cheap spray paint looked good for a while however by the time that Laurine arrived it was looking very tired and second rate.
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| Laurine being reborn from a tree in the rainforest |
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| Laurine at Peter and Shelly's Fountain Party |
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| Laurine giving the outside of the house a good clean |
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| Laurine making a batch of Mangana Cider |
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| The new look back deck after Laurines handywork |
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| Laurine the singer at the weekly music night |
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Mangana Mission News - March 2011
Dear Family and Friends,
I hope that you are all fit, well and most importantly happy.
As seems to be the case every month March has again been a very busy and productive time at the Mangana Mission.
The month commenced with the arrival of our first ever Helper from Malaysia - Karen Lim. She proved to be an excellent worker and has left a significant mark on the property. The first few days were devoted to giving the "formal garden" area a much needed make over. After the "summer that we never had" with sunshine one day followed by rain the next, the job of mowing the acres of lawn and weeding the numerous garden beds became a never ending chore.
It was decided to place weed mat around all of the roses and then cover it with horse compost to help reduce the ongoing maintenance by just a little. The bulb bed and fruit trees were also give a much needed weeding and clean up.
During her stay at Mangana Karen had a day trip up the North East Coast of Tasmania as well as a visit to the stunning Goblin Walk at the Blue Tiers Reserve. On her final day here Karen agreed to re cover the lounge chair - what was planned to be a 2 hour job ended up taking up the greater part of the day. The end result was wonderful and thankfully the Cats have avoided sharpening their claws on the side- so far anyway!
The next helper to grace Mangana Mission was Suzi from Germany. She is a lovely girl and enjoyed Mangana , the people and the environment. The renovations to the gardens continued and it was decided to give " Mt. George" the water feature a major overhaul. It had been let go a fair bit over the past year or so due to the enormous number of projects that were being tackled.
The job was a challenging one however the results were well worth the efforts put in. It now looks even better than when it was originally constructed with Sippy 3 years ago
The last few days that Susi was here were devoted to the thistle wars and completion of Stage 3 of the vineyard which saw the last 2 rows of the vineyard weeded and the remaining grapes finally in the ground.
Leanne from Isle of Man arrived on a Thursday afternoon and spent 4 days here with Susi before Susi continued on her travels to the South of Tasmania. Sadly the weather during her first week was pretty dreary and wet limiting the number of outdoor jobs that could be tackled..Nevertheless when the sun returned to shine over Mangana Leanne made a great contribution to the projects that were outstanding including planting the last of the grapes, weeding, hoeing out the blasted thistles, hekping to progress the paths around the property, cooking wonderful meals and being a great friend and companion. She will be sadly missed by all at Mangana Mission and we hope that her travels go well XXX
The rains became worse and Mangana saw one of the largest floods in many years. I was getting a little concerned that the Mission may end up under water however Cosmos took care of us and the waters stopped about 1 metre from the front door!
Victa the new addition to the household is growing daily as are the flock of chickens. Hopefully the first batch of eggs will be on the table within the next few weeks.
Well that's the end of this months report and i look forwards to updating you of the latest events in a months time.
"Live Well, Laugh Much,Love Often"
Love and Light,
Andre'
I hope that you are all fit, well and most importantly happy.
As seems to be the case every month March has again been a very busy and productive time at the Mangana Mission.
The month commenced with the arrival of our first ever Helper from Malaysia - Karen Lim. She proved to be an excellent worker and has left a significant mark on the property. The first few days were devoted to giving the "formal garden" area a much needed make over. After the "summer that we never had" with sunshine one day followed by rain the next, the job of mowing the acres of lawn and weeding the numerous garden beds became a never ending chore.
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| Karen getting ready for work |
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| Relaxing in the spa at the end of the day |
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| Suzi from Germany |
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| The angry water feature gardener |
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| New improved water feature |
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| The Truck gets a much needed detail |
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| Leanne the sharp shooter |
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| Schoolhouse bridge under water |
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| Mangana Mission river |
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| Fingal Football Oval under water |
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| South Esk River in flood with rainbow above |
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| Victa the water cat!!! |
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| Chook paradise |
"Live Well, Laugh Much,Love Often"
Love and Light,
Andre'
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