When a loss makes a winning opportunity.

 I lost a bet a few weeks ago. Richmond versus Collingwood. Long time AFL rivals and a silent part of our marriage. You see, Daryl is a staunch Tigers fan and I have barracked for the Pies since forever, so when we wed the rivalry continued year in year out. This year, Daryl decided to sweeten the game and throw in the suggestion of a wager - the loser takes the winner out for tea. I suspect he knew he would win and planned something he would benefit from in no uncertain terms. For me, I wasn't too fussed, didn't even watch the game but noted the score with a little more interest than usual. As luck would have it, the Pies dive bombed and the Tigers roared, I was now responsible for a night out on the town. Having started a

new job at work, the last couple of weeks have been hectic and I have been fatigued and I suspect running on adrenaline. As such, planning dinners out was not on my priority list. But not to renege on a bet, the loss niggled at my subconscious. At some point during this last week I decided that this bet offered me an opportunity - a chance to create some "us time".  A short getaway, designed to recharge the batteries and enjoy some uninterrupted time away from the responsibilities of the farm. So in a few hours I had booked a night away, with views over the water, near the beach and a room with a spa. A combination of the things we both enjoy. The sounds of the sea, the taste of salt in the air, the clear blue sky dotted with seagulls in the air and the elegance of the swans in the lake create a backdrop of relaxation and romance. Dinner out at our favourite

restaurant along with a cocktail or two and a bottle of red, made a beautiful night seem magical. A late check out the next day afforded us a sleep in. At the end of a long week the timing was just perfect. My loss gave us the chance to talk, to laugh, to remember how much we care about each other, and our life as a whole. We talked about how fortunate we are to share common goals, dreams and aspirations, the joy we share with friends along with the struggles and frustrations that fracture our days. Seems to me my loss was definitely a win for us both. The Lakes Entrance economy also benefited from our presence!

Of course after all great retreats, reality returns wth bite. Today we spent the day catching up. The cows needed hay, the chooks needed their pens cleaned including removing all the old flooring and replacing it with new sawdust. The old stuff, will make the best fertiliser and is filled with enough chook manure to fill a very large trailer. The task took several hours. Wearing a dust mask and safety glasses we raked and shovelled and got covered in grime. The white masks ended up a putrid shade of black and my hair resembled dreadlocks gone very wrong (although personally I never think dreadlocks go right). In our down time, Daryl thought loading up

the bonfire pile with more random tree branches would be a fun filled activity! Following our morning adventures I spent the afternoon in the kitchen, cooking up a storm of soups ready for quick and easy meals, along with fritters and naturally everyone still wanted to eat dinner, so a main meal was also on the agenda.
Now, after a glass of wine, a delicious meal and all the jobs completed I am well and truly ready for a nap. Daryl is out walking his gun, I haven't heard any gunfire so I suspect he has not found any vermin to shoot, as yet. Another week of work looms ahead of me. Daryl's holidays are over and he returns on Tuesday. We look forward to our next retreat, whatever form that takes; maybe the next time the Tigers and the Pies line up I will be the one getting whisked away for some romantic rendezvous.

Until next time,
N

A season in time

My arms are stinging as I write today, not from typing overload, but from cutting back out-of-control rose bushes and ground covers that reach to my navel instead of crawling along the ground as advertised. I have cleaned up the blood trails from my forearms and wiped the dust from my eyes. I look at this patch of garden and inwardly I groan. It has been a rose garden since I was a little tacker. I remember planting the thorny bastards and in the following years they have stood firm during frosts, winds and rain not to mention the dry and neglect.
When we moved back here, a few years ago, I added more roses, most of them given to us for significant reasons - to mark the death of my mother, to mark a friendship, now also dead, and finally to mark the death of my father. There's something strange about giving a living gift to mark the end of a life. Do we do this to remember the life that has gone by seeing new growth? I'm not entirely sure, but I understand the sentiment. For me it's the aroma. Anytime I smell roses, I remember. So many memories to be found in the familiarity of fragrance.
Recently, however, many of these roses have grown woody and tough, they send out weird tangled shoots, there are so many they bite me anytime I go to pick the flowers or trim them back. So I had decided to cull them and today, I finally finished the task.

The death markers are still there, they are younger and produce stunning flowers, fragrant and rich in colour. In the height of the flowering season, the blooms are always cut and I fill the vases inside, which in turn fills the house with a sweet scent infused with emotion and memory.

Of course this time of year the rose bushes are bare, its getting cool and finally the fires are being lit. The sweet scent is now replaced by the smokey, woody warmth that wraps around you the moment you enter the front door. The chimney gives away the warmth inside, the plumes of smoke ascend high into the sky and the wind plays with it, sending it east and west, at its will. There is comfort in seeing this as I drive down the road that leads home. During winter I am guilty of keeping the home fires very well

stacked, a jumper is never needed in our place. I can only do this thanks to Daryl's wood cutting efforts and his diligent gathering of fuel. He and his Dad have spent many hours during the past few weeks filling our shed full of red gum. Despite his advancing years, my father-in-law is fiercely independent and active, hauling wood, using the splitter and even the chainsaw. I hope we have many more seasons with him, although the time may come soon when he needs to leave the job of chainsawing to the young ones.

Occasionally, others have helped out and even helped themselves to fill their own sheds. Daryl says he enjoys it. I have not had the chance to help this year, apart from the odd collection of wood from the bush. I haven't contributed much at all. I rationalise this by the knowledge that Daryl and his Dad are spending time together, creating unbreakable bonds and memories that are more precious than gold.

With every season there are tasks to be completed, preparations made, the cycle never ends. Like every day, today is just a moment in time, a season, an opportunity. Make it worthy and take a moment to breathe deeply, enjoying the sounds and smells of today, they will be the memories of your yesterdays for all of our tomorrows.

"Nothing is more memorable than a smell. One scent can be unexpected, momentary and fleeting, yet conjure up a childhood summer beside a lake in the mountains; another, a moonlit beach; a third, a family dinner of pot roast and sweet potatoes during a myrtle-mad August in a Midwestern town. Smells detonate softly in our memory like poignant land mines hidden under the weedy mass of years. Hit a tripwire of smell and memories explode all at once. A complex vision leaps out of the undergrowth."-  Diane Ackerman


Until next time,
N

Escaping to an Escape Room

Ever been to an escape room?
If not, I encourage you to do so. It is one of many recent crazes to amuse our small minds but I must admit this one has got me. After hearing about it, from my son and his partner, we decided to surprise Daryl with a belated birthday trip to a 'Clockwork themed' Escape Room in Oakleigh, a short time ago. Armed with only our individual problem-solving skills, friends Zac and Carol joined Daryl and I on our adventure. In the beginning, Daryl was indeed skeptical but by the end he was a converted fan. According to a Google search an Escape Room is a real-life team-based puzzle game, where you are locked in a room and have to solve puzzles together to get out. The escape rooms are team based, and we found four an excellent number of people due to the limiting size of the room, but also allowing enough diversity in problem-solving skills to enable us to work together. Escape rooms have a clear objective which is to "escape" the room, which will involve finding a key, a key combo, or activating some sort of mechanism that will unlock the final door. Escape rooms are usually themed under some kind of "story". Some of these themes are stories, where you play some sort of character who was trapped in X and need to find themselves out. We chose clockworks, which was about travelling back in time, given Daryl's attraction to old clocks. The rooms were decorated from this theme and I have to say the designers are very clever. The puzzles involve finding hidden objects around the room, using tools to find clues,  pattern matching and recognition, ciphers, visual and spatial reasoning, putting together related physical objects and so much more. The puzzles aren't really the "logic puzzle" type - usually these puzzles are highly biased towards ones that require mostly creativity and a little bit of "thinking outside of the box". Our escape room had two rooms and we had to find a number of keys and codes, allowing us to progress to the next step. It is time limited, so there is a little pressure, especially if you want to succeed. We found the organisers very helpful and only had to ask for help twice. As we endeavoured to unravel each clue, there were moments of small tensions and frustration but mostly it brought the best out in all of us. We worked well as a team and we were determined to solve it. And we did, after they gave us an extra ten minutes. What conversation it created when we finally escaped, what fun it was to re-visit the scenes and scenarios. So if you looking for something different then why not find an escape room near you! 

The escape room was one of a number of activities we took on as part of Daryl's surprise weekend. Taking him away from the farm, can be a challenge, finding someone to mind the animals and ensure they are all ok, is not always simple and I know he worries while we are gone. But taking him away is important not just for his physical health ( he needs to rest even if he doesn't think so!) but also for our relationship and the relationships we build with our friends. Farming is not everyone's cup of tea and it's nice to play in someone else's backyard on occasion. 

So the escape weekend consisted of dodgy accommodation (thanks to it being grand prix weekend); shopping at DFO (sorry Zac we know you hated it); fabulous food at a variety of locations, of particular note souvlaki at Stalactites Restaurant (go there, its just divine);  club style tenpin bowling, (or disco dancing Carol style with encouragement from tequila shots and cocktails); Go-Kart racing; food truck festival and lots of coffee and other liquid refreshments. We didn't realise that when we organised the trip it would be the Greek Independence Day and therefore found ourselves among thousands of Greek descendants as they celebrated their day in Oakleigh. Lots of noise and colour and barely a space to walk between the crowds we managed to miraculously find a table in a restaurant and enjoyed the delectable delights of Greek cuisine. The weekend was busy and terribly indulgent but if you can't indulge now and again, then life is simply hard work and where is the joy in that?

Speaking about hard work, the hole from my previous blog is still not big enough so Daryl spent a few hours this morning digging some more. At least he got some reprieve after escaping the hole and enjoying the delights of the Tinamba Food and Wine Festival. The hole will wait another day. Will keep you posted.

Until next time,
N

Watch out for large holes

I came home today and found a very large hole at the front of my house, and my husband, surrounded by the canine family, looking more than exhausted as he rested on a very large drainage pipe. The hole has grown extensively over the past few weeks with the help of the tractor and auger, however today’s efforts were impressive, to me the observer, after the fact. Having bent the auger (who does that!) due to the ground being like concrete, and hiring a mini digger not fitting in the budget, it was left to major muscle on a crowbar and shovel. You will not be surprised to find that Daryl needed a shower, new arms and a couple of stiff drinks before he returned to his former self, albeit a little achy. This hole is indicative of the frustration we are facing of late, with no rain in sight, the ground continues to harden and remain dry and desolate. We are feeding the cows hay and lucerne and we are on the lookout for silage to supplement the meagre picking of the paddocks. We also feed them bread collected each Saturday from a local bakery for a small fee which we pay to take the excess loaves which would otherwise be thrown in the bin. Such a waste, if you consider that some weeks we get anywhere from 5 to 15 massive garbage bags full of bread. The sweet treats are sadly thrown in the bin, another example of how our laws encourage wastage. The cows and chooks love the bread, as do the damn rats if they can get hold of it. The cows will gallop down the paddock if they hear the ute and I’m sure they know when it’s Saturday evening and the bread collection is done. Speaking of animal feed, we have trialed a new chook feed and coincidentally the egg production has decreased dramatically. This is not a good sign. The egg orders are flowing fast and I am delighted each time we get a new customer. Our reasoning suggests It could be some chooks going into molting season, a select few chooks who are free loading or a protest in the change of grain. To try and work out the issue we have bought a couple of bags of the former feed and put it in their feed bins. If egg production improves problem solved and if it doesn’t then some of these chickens will be walking a fine line between free ranging and soup. Unfortunately, the new feed is much cheaper as we buy it in bulker bags and if we return to our old feed source our costs will once again be raised. This is not something we need right now. On the back of a long, dry summer/autumn season is the increased costs associated with the farm, including having to source hay rather than cutting our own. We had the depressing tasks of trying to balance the books last night, the resulting efforts sent us straight to the wine cupboard, a few glasses allowing the numbers to blur and eventually we couldn’t see the negative sign so clearly. Funds are certainly stretched these days with no income from the farm expected and only expenses going out. Our social life is severely on hold, not to mention other treats or gifts. It is not only the continuous warm weather that saps me some days. But this is the cycle of farming, no doubt in a season or two we will thrive again…at least that’s the plan.
 Back to that rather large hole, it is required to be used as a sump pit beside the carport concrete to drain away the excess water which runs off the concrete driveway we are intending to lay. Unfortunately, the house was built lower than the fall of the paddocks and every winter for as long as I can remember the area surrounding the house has flooded. Poor design is once again causing issues. My father tried to resolve the issue by running pipes into the paddocks and this achieved an ineffective lake of mud. Mind you he chose where to build this particular house and I suspect it was the cheapest option! 

The carport has been a long, slow developing project, but hopefully it will be ready before the winter season. In readiness for our slow approaching winter the chimneys have been cleaned and the combustion stove thoroughly scraped and all the excess ash cleared. We have tested the stove a couple of times recently and once again the water is boiling super-hot and the comforting aroma of wood burning permeates the house. I am eagerly awaiting the cooler days and chilly nights, unlike most people I know who relish the hot summer sun. The forecast still ranks a few days next week in the high 20 and low 30s, way too warm for autumn and I am hoping I can avoid the sun’s sting as best as possible. 

However you spend the last remaining warmth of autumn I hope it is with a happy heart and soul filled with sunshine.


 Til next time, N.

One tick and one tock at a time.

In my efforts to clean up the surfaces covered with the past few weeks’ worth of letters, magazines, flyers and invoices, I found my late father’s watch. Silver coloured with a clip lock, it ticks away, passing every second with a small sound, so subtle you need to really focus to hear it, yet it represents such a large concept. Time is passing by one tick and tock at a time. I stood there momentarily, waiting for the welling in my eyes to pass and remind myself that everything is ok, just different. I have continued his habit to wear a watch and rarely will I not have one on. I suspect this is steeped in the need to achieve, not waste time. Planning provides the avenue to productivity and then persistence and often a bit of sweat and a few tears achieve the results.  I am a goal setter whereas my husband Daryl is not, he tends to go with the flow and tackle whatever job needs attention first. Both systems have their flaws and favours. But I must admit, following some reflection after writing my father’s eulogy a couple of thoughts have impressed upon me and I have found myself making changes.

When you write a eulogy (I’ve done two now, both for parents) it is a process of reflection, consultation, and finally prioritising what information to include. It is an emotive process filled with questions that are marred by grief and loss. Constant questioning over what words will sum up the life of a person, what stories will show the character of this person and what achievements will be memorable to those who knew them. How will their final tale be told? At the end of this process I discovered that you focus on the very foundations of who we are as humans – were they kind, funny, stern, resilient, compassionate, determined, stubborn, silly. We want to know how their life impacted on other lives, our lives, how did they intersect, entangle amongst the hundreds of people they crossed paths with, professionally, personally, unintentionally. Did they strive to make the world a better place, did they aim to bring joy into each day, did they dream of better things and make efforts to achieve those dreams - it is these stories that we crave to hear in their final tale. It isn’t about wealth or status, it isn’t about fame or fortune, while they may be contributing components of a person’s life they are the minor factor. It is about how they achieved these things. What sort of person were they as they ascended the corporate ladder or social sets, how did they treat people, how did they care. These are the questions that come to the fore after much reflection.

My Father’s watch is quietly ticking as I type away. It is hard not to reflect on my own use of time. In the past few weeks I have been sorting and clearing out, simplicity is the trend term right now and I guess I am sensing the need to simplify my life in order to achieve the important tasks. I sat Daryl down one day recently and asked him to work with me to make a Rivergum To Do list for 2018, fearing that we would again get so caught up in doing things that we didn’t achieve our main goals. Now the farm is always going to throw up unexpected tasks that will need to be attended to, especially with animals a factor, but I sense if we focus we will achieve far more this year. So, a list has been developed and is included later on. The list only looks at major tasks and sometimes it is disappointing to note that we have been able to only cross off one or two jobs so far. Many of the jobs are in progress and rely on other factors to be completed before they can be classed as finished.

In the meantime, we have agreed to simplify the farm as much as possible, this will include minimising the complexity of the farm. I have decided rearing chicks is too time consuming and while they are adorable, they require extra attention and care that I don’t have the time to provide. So, once these last two lots are grown, we will concentrate on egg production. This is something I really enjoy and I love being able to walk into the pen and have the hens run up to me as if they are saying hello (I know they only want food). I enjoy when friends and grandkids get a buzz out of collecting eggs and I get a great sense of achievement when people enjoy eating our eggs, fresh and full of flavour. Our alpacas, who are low maintenance, bring joy to my day and I could watch them meander the paddocks with ease. Such funny little creatures, I would happily have a few more and keep those dastardly foxes at bay. Our herd of cattle will continue to transform from breeders to steers and once again this is in an effort to create ease of function.

Not having breeders will allow us to leave the farm, in the hands of farm sitters who will be able to enjoy the property without the stress of potential calving problems. Going away and having a break at the beach or the city is important to both Daryl and I. We refuse to become slaves to the land we love, it is so easy to do. I watched my parents do it. I won’t let us fall into that trap. Every now and again I check and ask Daryl if he is still enjoying being a farmer, and while he says yes without hesitation and a sparkle in his eyes, we will continue, but when the uncertainty starts to creep into his voice then it will be time to reassess our priorities. For now, though Daryl has got his new bee hive happening and we have hundreds of bees busily working on producing what we hope will be heavenly honey. For a while we considered raising pigs, but at this stage that is off the agenda, simply due to the cost and time required to make it successful. But who knows what the future holds. For now, the aim is to enjoy the challenge of Rivergum restoration, without detracting from time with our families and friends or holidays and spontaneous trips away. Life is way too short to waste on things that bring no joy.

Standing at the lectern, with a coffin beside you, watching a sea of tears  on faces grieving the loss of a friend, father or foe quickly reminds you how precious life is and once it’s gone, its gone forever, there is no second chance to say I’m sorry, I love you, or I forgive you.

As I type away the washing machine is whirring in the background, the butterflies are frolicking outside the window as the cockatoos call out to one another. The sun is shining brightly, Bek is working at her new part-time job and Daryl, with the help of his father Max and friend Zac, are in the bushland collecting firewood for winter. If you listen carefully you can hear the sounds of chainsaws roaring. They are in their element. I am happily pottering around the house today, we have my son and granddaughter joining us for tea tonight. I will collect our friend Carol from her conference soon. I spent time with my offspring yesterday and we had friends over for tea last night. 

These are good days.  

Rivergum To Do List 2018:

Carport - Concreting

-       Drainage

-       Roof/wall

-       Storm water

-       Lights and PowerPoint

2    Tanks    -  Connect pump

-       Connect fittings (house)

-       Connect fittings (shed)

-       Power point

3   Fence backyard – Back fence line and driveway side

-       Spray weeds

-       Load of top soil

-       Fence yard

4   Driveway paddock fence – Cut trees to make billets

-       ram posts

-       Cut posts and rails for front fence (gum)

-       Wire fence

-       Oil posts and rails

     House front fence – Cut trees to make billets

-       Ram posts

-       Cut rails

-       Oil billets and rails

-       Put on chicken wire

6   Finish side house fence (paddock) – ram pine posts

-       Hang gates

-       Wire fence (dog proof)

7   Fence cattle yard – extend yards

-       Redesign gate access to paddocks

-       Complete fence line to paddock

-       Replace timbers on cattle race

8   Spray thistles – Everywhere!

9   Sow annual crop – Autumn (corner south-west paddock) –

     Remove concrete – old piggery and near feedlot

     Redesign chook pen – change so chooks cannot roost in laying boxes

                            -       Change so can access eggs from outside pen

Create new chook pen for broody chooks – behind house shed

1    Water tank – place behind house shed

      Establish paddocks where old piggery stood

      Fix bush fence lines – West neighbour’s Boundary

-       East neighbour’s Boundary

-       Fence line between flat paddocks and morass

1     Paint house windows – East lounge

-       North Lounge

-       Ensuite

-       WIR Master BR

-       Spare BR

-       Bek’s BR

-       WC

-       Kitchen

       Paint house door frames – Front door

-       Sliding

-       Laundry

Paint fascia boards – verandah

       Finish back verandah – close in East side

-       Replace gate and gate position

-       Build fernery West side and close in verandah

       Vegetable garden – create pathways (gravel/concrete)

-       New fence

-       Extend once old chook pen is gone

  Backyard – Concrete around clotheslines

-       Put in pathways to clothesline from house

-       Put in pathways to garden from house

       Trees in front paddock – remove tyres from base

-       Trim up branches

        East paddock – remove wooden fence

-       Remove irrigation pipes

       Central paddocks – remove irrigation pipework

       Water troughs – dig new supply lines for cattle troughs:

-       1 x shared between 2 paddocks behind feedlot

-       4 x single troughs for West paddock

Repair Land Cruiser

The list is extensive and entails hours and hours of labour. I’m not sure if we we will achieve everything, as this list is only about the farm, not the rest of life!! But we will give a go and review at the end of 2018.

Wish us luck!

Until next time,

N