Blogs from Nangus, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania - page 3

DAY 418 I enjoyed the tranquillity of the bedroom before joining the hive of activity in the kitchen, however I only find Robert, it seems that everyone else is outside, looking out of the window Helen is almost up to her knees in water waving a little fish net around standing in the emptying fish pond. So today is the day that the fishpond gets a clean, it is all hands including 5 year old Alex who appears to be supervising the catching of the fish. The water is draining away slowly but catching the fish is also a slow exercise the water is quite soupy with algae so they are hard to spot. Andy is busy mowing the lawn with Helens sit on mower I glance over and wave, he waves back, I can see ... read more

DAY 416 Well Andy woke me at 6.00 with a cup of tea, I think everyone was waiting with anticipation to see if I would actually get up, now I do get up early if I have to, so Andy just encourages me by telling me he will buy me breakfast once we are on the road which makes it slightly more tempting for me. I am up and soon ready to go, I don’t even think I finished drinking my tea! Wandering out to the truck on this sunny morning I turn round to see all of the lovely dogs looking at us, well all except Kimba who is already sitting in her TV spot watching the chickens and Ducks. It does not matter what time of day it is you can always feel 12 ... read more

DAY 414 A cool start to the day, it had rained again over night, but the general feeling is that it is not enough to make a difference to the dams. After breakfast Andy and I head off to feed Jasons chickens and dogs. They are all waiting with eager anticipation when we arrive, especially the puppies who are all over me yapping and vying for my attention, I am really starting to see their little personalities develop, some puppies are looking a little bigger than others no doubt taking more than their fair share of food. One or two of the puppies are more timid than the others and seem to hang back a bit. Once the dogs are fed and watered I go and help Andy with the chickens, it is an easier job ... read more

DAY 412 Well today is Christmas Eve, and even though we are 10,000 miles away from where we started, the hubbub of Christmas is no different. The only major difference is here at Woodstock Farm, Nangus, New South Wales, Australia its 38.3 degree’s and without labouring the point it is baking hot. Christmas Eve in the UK will never be described at baking hot, most probably because home in the UK is wrapped in the middle of Winter whilst, here in Australia our new world is right in the middle of Summer. Though many of our readers will sigh and wish for the warmer weather after being entrenched in snow for a while, here on the farm, they have been in drought for nearly a decade, and all they would like for Christmas is some rain, ... read more

DAY 410 I Skyped Mum and Dad first thing this morning, I was still getting over my cold so Mum was about to tell me to go to bed with a hot water bottle, but then remembered that it was morning over here and because of the heat you wouldn’t really want a hot water bottle. They are surrounded by snow, but for how long I don’t know it is still very cold over there but I am sure the rain will come soon. The scenario here is so different, the temperatures are in the high 30’s, everyone hopes for rain, especially on Christmas Day, because there will least likely be a fire. A day of cooking and cleaning today, I am still not feeling up to much but while Andy and Helen beetle around doing ... read more