Sweat, sawdust and sunshine

A great team

Sweat, sawdust and sunshine were the order of the days this past weekend. With the help of our pseudo farmer friends Zac and Carol, trees were felled, bush areas burnt and about 14 metres of red gum split ready for stacking. With the aid of 7 chainsaws, a wood-splitter, tractor, ute, 4WD, trailer, and Ag bike, tools and equipment were within easy reach when needed, along with an array of safety gear and the hotplate for a traditional bush bbq.

Bush bbq

We cheated a little with the fridge in the back of the 4WD to provide necessary supplies and lots of water. The unseasonable warm spell made for some very thirsty workers and they enjoyed well earned drinks at the end of each day. 

A little cute

Jacob - filling a trailer for his Nan

We had a number of visitors come our way and were thrilled to share our patch of paradise with them especially our beautiful granddaughter, who at 15 months is full of adventure and curiosity.
Without fear she mingles with the animals and finds enjoyment from sticks and rocks and is keen to climb most things.

Ahh the serenity

Unexpected bush clearing

Too comfy to move

This weekend provided us not only with a shared supply of wood but reinforced the value of friendship and satisfaction of a hard work. It is a rare friend who decides sweating their backside off, swatting flies and getting sawdust in all bodily crevices is fun, but it seems we have such rare friends, and we are beyond grateful for their support and willingness to get down and dirty on the farm.
Of course it is not all hard yakka, and we make sure to enjoy many laughs and memorable moments (like letting the barbecue fire get out of control). The debate still continues as to who is responsible for that one :)

Carol n Zac

In other exciting developments our busted up tractor has been taken for further investigation and we have a hire John Deere (a newbie with a tiny 20 hours on the clock - its all shiny and still has plastic covering on the seat!) It's hard not to have tractor envy; maybe they wont want it back - if only.

We are booked in to get our west boundary and front fence lines rebuilt in three weeks. So now the rush to get the old fence,or should I say what's remaining of it, down and cleared ready for the contractors; ordering posts and wire, which by the way is always worth shopping around for, as prices from local suppliers range significantly.

The trees we bought have been planted (by Daryl) and only one has been eaten by our cows; little horrors just picked the tree straight up from the middle of the plantings, without touching the tree guard.

So much potential

Finally remember my toe? well it is still causing me grief and I have a surgeon's referral in my bag and a new batch of painkillers. So still going to work in thongs, so classy.

We are also working on our next project - a website.





Til next time,

Cheers
N

Sweet scent of autumn

Hello friends, how nice to be back at Rivergum3851.

Sunrise

It certainly has been a while and I wish I could keep up with all the tasks I want (need) to do, but alas, I have failed. I suspect, I am like most people who have high expectations of what is achievable, despite the reality check that says 'Your Dreaming Sunshine' in bright red letters. We become accustomed to re-prioritising and pushing out deadlines. Naturally, I find it gets even harder to be motivated once I've sat on the couch in front of the fire and poured a generous glass of red, after a long day at the office. Oh, how I would  love to only work two days a week, outside of the farm, if only the wage equated to full time pay.
Maybe one day, but for now let me update you with our progress.

Life is sweet here at Rivergum and Autumn is showing her beautiful colours. The temperature is dropping and you can feel the 'crispy' creeping into the air. The scent of the fire draws us home and is a welcome addition to the season. It's time to find the gumboots and remove the spiders, before long we will be trading our steel caps and dust for rubber and mud.

Fencing - Daryl style!

New chook yard

Hens will love it

Since the "tractor incident" Daryl continues to work on the farm-rebuild in between the everyday chores around the farm. The chook yard is progressing and it is exciting to see the new fence go up.  Naturally this project has its challenges. Fencing is always easier with two people, but given we need to pay our bills, I had to go off to work, leaving Daryl to do the hard yakka. Unable to tension the wire on his own he managed to get the ute to assist (see photo for explanation) A fine job in the end. The cows also appreciate it, thinking they now have new scratching posts. I suspect the electric fence will follow swiftly. For now the cows are banned from playing in this area. 
The tractor saga continues and today we finally got the good news it will be repaired and NOT written off as they wanted.Yikes! The damage bill is hefty and apparently close enough to the limit to consider not repairing it. For us that would be disastrous. It would leave us without a good tractor and not enough payout to buy another comparable machine. So the green beast will go for repairs next week and we will get a loan tractor to use (Daryl is not allowed in the bush with this one!)

It certainly hasn't been all work and no play.

ACDC 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle 

Sand and sea

Funny girls - Bek & Beth

Hens helping with the planting

We did get a few days away at the beach thanks to our friends Carol and Zac who did a farm stay,looking after everything, including some naughty escapee calves.  We also spent an enjoyable day at Farmworld bringing home a few goodies including some steel-capped boots for me. Did I mention my toe is not broken, but I have significantly damaged the nail bed - surgeons referral in my bag, along with a good supply of pain killers! We picked up a heap of native tree tube stock to start creating some wind breaks around the house and in the paddocks.


Following our first unfortunate venture into horse ownership, we have welcomed  "Kiwi", a very handsome horse to our home. He is Bek's baby and no doubt shall provide some stories down the track.

And finally Daryl bought an Ag bike yesterday, as you do when go to a clearing sale with your father-in-law!

 Until next time,

Cheers
N

Tractor Trauma

The front and rear windows have blown out and the rear light dangles from the one remaining wire. The roof is fractured and the tyre guard broken. The interior is covered with shattered glass and rubber seals hang limply without any glass to hold. The driver is shaken, his shoulders and arms glinting in the sunshine from the tiny shards of glass sprayed all over him. There are only a few trickles of blood down one arm. His faithful kelpie sits beside him, wondering, I'm sure, what the hell happened and why is there a large tree resting on top of the tractor they where sitting in moments before. 

I received the call late this afternoon. It was the tone that gave him away. Daryl has particular tones for different circumstances and this one caused my heart to stop, for just a second.

It turns out while felling trees in the morass, one didn't read the rule-book and landed the wrong way - smack bang on top of the John Deere. 

A relatively simple task, the chain was attached to the partially sawed tree (largish around 30 metres) and Daryl began to pull the tree down with the tractor. He had placed the tractor on the safe side of a second tree to ensure that he was not in line of the fall, however as the fall happened, the top two-thirds of the tree split away from the trunk, slid down a different tree, which was on a lean, and the impact directed the broken portion onto the top of the tractor, with Daryl and Mia inside.

In the space of three seconds a very productive day was shot and we were once again reminded how  vulnerable we can be.

 In a strange coincidence last year on the 12th of April, Daryl had another accident with the then newly purchased tractor and a tree.

I think next year we should go on holidays between April 10th and 15th - just to be sure!

The tractor has now been limped back up into the shed, awaiting the insurance assessment, the tree lays where it fell and Daryl is thankfully minus the million tiny specks of glass and safely sitting in front of the fire.

The result could have been very different. How truly fortunate we are tonight.

What do we learn from this experience?

• Always carry a phone with you when working alone
• Preferably do not work alone when felling trees
• Material items can be replaced, tractors can be repaired
• Lives cannot be replaced
• Daryl should not use the tractor in April - ever!

Until next time.

Cheers
N