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| Tree roots & concrete! |
Progress is happening at Rivergum. Slowly, with hefty
amounts of determination and grit the clean-up is showing signs of success.
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| Work conference |
During the previous long weekend (thanks to the AFL) we
hired an excavator from Coates in Sale, such a nifty little machine and boy was
it put to work. Coates won the tender from us after ‘CanDo’, situated right
next door to Coates, ‘Couldn’t Do’ – they wanted to charge an extra day’s hire
due to the public holiday on Friday. No deal, they lost and we went next door.
That machine removed tree stumps and roots, concrete
pathways, agapanthus and dug the foundation for a new carport. It also dug
holes for fruit trees to be planted in the ground after becoming pot bound
since the move.
Daryl and Owen (plumber extraordinaire and awesome friend)
worked that excavator as hard as it could go, despite Owen being desperately unwell
he still rocked up as planned at 6 am on Friday morning. Our other faithful
friends, Carol and Zac, had stayed over Thursday night (after enjoying a belated
birthday dinner for me) and set to work before the sun warmed our hands. Once
our little treasure, Bek, dragged herself out of bed, and enjoyed a hot bacon
and egg sandwich, she too donned her work gear and began to sweat.
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| Carport foundations |
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| Saving the wildlife |
Throughout the day the three men excavated and we ladies
worked the scrap metal pile, reducing it to random nails and bloody barbed wire
which despite being rusty and brittle can still scratch any exposed skin. We
also started a fire, because you can’t have a working bee without one I say.
What started as a small endeavor, lasted for five days, and that fire glowed brightly
throughout the night.
The next day Owen finally succumbed to his dreadful virus
and stayed home to rest and recover. Despite our offer to extend our hospitality
Carol and Zac bid us farewell and we collapsed into bed. During the continuous
clean up and excavation work, tragedy struck and Daryl discovered the eaten
carcass of a new born calf, its mother suffering from paralysis in the top
paddock. We suspect a fox started at the calf before it was fully born. A horrendous
experience I cannot begin to imagine for both cow and calf. Daryl and I were devastated
by the loss and struck by the cruelty of wildlife. Daryl is still hunting the
fox and it is an elusive one.
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| Girls at work |
We had expected him at home to install a
new hot water service. Instead, the four of us (Bek got to go to work to rest!)
put on our work boots and got dirty. Over the course of the day, Carol and I
managed to find more rotten wood to stoke the fire and more barbed wire to fill
the metal bin. While we sweated and injured ourselves, the boys were ‘busy’
driving the tractor and the excavator. The day ended with chainsaws revving and
a mountain of old fence posts cut, ready to stack.
Sunday saw a new hot water service put up after our old one
died. This task took about 10 hours and it was doubly difficult for Owen who
came out despite his dreadful lurgy.
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| Snake pit gone |
In my enthusiasm I managed to smash the back window of the
ute while cleaning timber stacked in the old piggery. Certainly not on the
agenda.
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| Snake pit |
Thankfully Daryl and I needed to go to work during the week,
which allowed us to have a break from the labour-intensive farm cleanup.
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| Old piggery |
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| New solar hot water |
Yesterday it kicked back in with more metal being thrown
into the skips. The remaining tin was removed from the piggery. With every
piece of metal moved it was hard not to be jumpy at the prospect of meeting a
snake or two resting in readiness for summer. But no snakes, lots of lizards
and spiders, but all with legs. We then moved onto the old dairy and just when
I thought we were making progress, I found myself briefly slammed back into
despondency at the never ending clean up. With every piece of rubbish we pick
up and every broken piece of machinery we find, I am reminded that while we
physically pick up rusted and damaged goods we are also cleaning up someone’s dreams.
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| The old dairy |
At one stage this farm functioned like a well-planned party.
Organised, coordinated and using top quality goods. The farm was home to a range
of poultry, a piggery full of pork, a few dairy cows whose milk fed the piggies, herds
of cattle ranging from Herefords in the early days to Limousines and then mixed
bred steers. A few horses, dogs, and cats finished off the menagerie. Big
machines were bought on a whim, and
money was never an issue when it came to
equipment.
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| Penny on the job |
Like all good parties, it eventually ended and in this case
no-one came to clean up. Slowly over time the party goods lost their festive
feel and began to look second hand. Slowly over time the hopes and dreams, the
plans of a family disintegrated to little more than rusty wire and rotten wood.
I hope my family never have to clean up after me, to this
extent. I hope our work restoring Rivergum will be the beginning of a new
opportunity, a lifestyle we will all enjoy, our family and friends will benefit
from, and one day, to be passed on to the next generation.
Until next time,
N.
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| Why did the chicken get in the tractor cab? |
