a miracle of packing

30.8.2010

The dangerous machinery is in action again and I discovered a sudden need for paper work time. Edd and Craig are trying to up root the old water tower and lie it down away from the shed so that the solar panel men can have improved access on Friday. The other option was to dismantle it piece by piece but the bolts have had 30 years to rust into place and burning it did not help. This idea might work.
They have already moved the pine tree by the small donga. It was slowly leaning farther and farther over until today I noticed that about half the roots had pulled out of the sodden ground. All hope of its survival was over, and the most important thing was to make the area safe. I think the high winds together with the unusual ground conditions are the problem No water shortages now. We have not had a year like this for over a decade. The grey skies are getting depressing.

Last night the first goat kids arrived. They are so large that they represent a miracle of packing skills. It is impossible to imagine how they fitted inside mum. Two lovely healthy girls make a good start to kidding season. Edd has almost finished welding up a new milking bail , which we will be needing extremely soon! Lots of udders look alarmingly large!

Things may be moving with our rebuilding plans. Doug has done most of the engineering and Al has almost done his plans. The present hold up is getting the plans past the energy assessor. Houses must reach a five star standard decided by a computer program that is not designed to cope with under ground homes. We are told that someone with the most adaptable of the three programs who know how to cheat the system should be able to get it through! No one person failed, though.

Next we need a building permit , building insurance and then some workers. At least something has happened and the wheel has started to turn. It is now or never if Edd wants a holiday. He can’t relax if he has to look out at all the jobs that need fixing here so is desperate for time out. I cannot leave kidding goats but then I have had more than thirty years practice at living with all the work here.

Edd has booked a holiday doing something so we both benefit. He is going back to Yuendumu to pick up a brindle puppy for me. He can get together with all our friends again and hopefully come back refreshed and ready to launch with gusto into the building project. At least, that’s the idea. So far the hardest part has been getting tickets on line. We seem to waste more time dealing with stroppy, inflexible computer systems than anything else.

storms and mulled wine

18.8.2010
How do I cope with this? The wind is howling around the donga and it shakes like a leaf with each buffeting blast. It is as un-nerving as being on a jet when you pass through turbulence. More annoying it also blows right through the donga so there is nowhere to escape. It is blowing through the sheds too, so our tools and stuff are getting wet and the animals are miserable.

We have three sheep in the shed, two with twin lambs and one with triplets. I suppose however bad it is in there, it is better than being outside in the paddock. I have bedded the animals down with fresh straw and loaded up their hay racks to make them as comfortable as possible. For the first time ever Edd and I are wearing coats and scarves indoors. At lunch time the plumber had still not arrived so we evacuated and spent most of the afternoon in Bo’s restaurant. She stoked up the fire and after two glasses of stout and a pie we began to feel slightly more human.

Tonight Edd has gone off to choir and I have mulled some wine and am taking regular doses as a survival tactic. Nothing seems to have progressed with the house plans , but why? Is Al not bothered about us, have he and Doug conflicting ideas about the engineering? Is his rating engineer incompetent? The annoying thing about not being in control is that I do not have the information needed to find out and I will have to be very assertive to get it. I could just employ new “experts “ in hopes they would come up with the needed stuff but that would mean paying everything double and yet more waiting.

It would be a good time just to draw up anchor and depart for warmer climes but the sheep are lambing and the goats are due any moment so that idea is out. What is this about Mars too? Is it really going to appear the same size as the moon by the end of August? Mars , the God of war! I kind of have the “oh sh**” feeling.

The mulled wine is starting to take affect and the stinging in my unthawing fingers has gone. Tonight’s plan consists of having a warm shower and retreating into bed , I don’t think I will bother with a meal.

good things happen

14.8.2010
Ha. There are times when life is great. How good does it feel to go roller blading with ones six- year old grandson and his friends and find that suddenly armed with the right footgear you can move faster and freer than the youngsters! How good does it feel on coming home to find that you have been given an amazing work of art?

Edd tells me that Don turned up here, totally unexpected, and presented him with this book he had made from his photographs taken on our wilderness property near Cooma. They are incredible. Not just photos but works of art using photography as a base. We are overwhelmed. I am really enjoying doing my own art too. Each Thursday we have an afternoon at a studio in Yarra Glen and just work in peace. My efforts are improving but I have a long way to go. It is coming back but unfortunately not as fast as skating!

On the home front at present I seem to be winning the power war. I am now connected back to TRU energy, who are also our local supplier and suddenly E-mails are answered and we are being helped! I am still trying to get connected with a grid interactive solar system, as I was before the fires. The only remaining issue is the type of panel. All I read seems to suggest that mono crystalline panels are superior to the poly ones except that they are dearer and have more embodied energy. If only there were only one type.

Better still, Josh has actually sounded happy the last few times we have been on the phone to him. He sounds as if he is putting together some sort of life for himself despite the isolation from family and friends. He has done his intensive and is now doing practical work in clinics and in theory all the assignments. I am just praying that things go a bit more smoothly for him now.

Al had the opening for his new school building at Mansfield last week. It is the one I went with him to see. The opening went well even though it was on Friday 13, which was hardly auspicious. Bo is attracting larger and larger crowds to her restaurant. Edd and I go to foodie’s night on Mondays and this week we were joined by Beni. She is struggling to pull her winery through the bad turn in the market and is also trying to write an historical novel based on her husband’s family. My goodness. What a creative group of friends and family we have.

Realism will hit soon as the goats are due to kid in September. Edd has worked hard on the dairy. He has all the cupboards and stainless steel tops up in the milk room and is now working on some devilishly creative pipe work to link all the tanks, pumps and buildings! We have ordered a plumber for next week and at last I might have a washing machine here. We need to have the plumbing all done so that we can wash out the milking machine. Otherwise it will be hours of hand milking which we are all keen to avoid!

High winds are rocking the donga and the constant rain has resulted in mud but I am just grateful we have not started to build yet. We have just about achieved a holding pattern and it is now possible to relax and let things take their time.