It’s been a while . . .

I had a whole post ready to go but it's disappeared into the aether.  Typical.  I can't remember what it was about so it couldn't have been too interesting. I hurt my neck.  Couldn't move it without it hurting.  It was worse after having had Bowen, of course.  But it settled down and I got …

Oranges. O.M.G.

I have been banned from the oranges.  I can live with that, funnily enough. It's Easter Sunday and it's all hands on deck as there are a bunch of oranges that need to be picked.  I've slept in, having had 2 days off and I'm not feeling it.  But I'm in the van only a …

Dastardly Dates.

Dave has asked us back to tickle more dates and we've arranged to get there early, as it's easier when it's cooler. No problemo. Except Vicki has to knock on my door as I'm a little slow getting started this morning.  But I'm ready and we head off.  We send him a text when we …

Tickling Dave’s Dates

I'm sitting outside, enjoying the afternoon sun when Dean says I'm on dates.  No worries, I'm nothing if not accommodating.  Wear a long-sleeved shirt, pants your boots and safety glasses. What the . . . ? My roommate hears that Vicki and I are on dates and she is NOT happy.  That job should be …

Lacerating Limes

Dean grabs me and says I'm on limes tomorrow.  I can do limes.  They're little and light and yummy so yay!     Four of us get dropped off and the farmer is a cheerful bloke who tells us what he wants done and how to use the sawn-off bit of pipe to measure as we pick and …

Bloody Rain.

So yesterday we went back out to the grapes, which delighted the march flies no end.  Rotten things.  I'm familiar with them, of course, but these were brutal!  I didn't realise they actually took chunks of skin off but they do and they are vicious.  I smacked so many of them but they would not …

The Grapes of Embarassment.

I have just had the BEST shower of my life!  Ice cold, lathery - I could have stayed there all day.  The relevance of that assertion will become clear.  Patience. I had got into Loxton at 2145 last night.  Joe was on reception and said there was grape picking tomorrow and to be outside at …

My Country

When I was a kid my favourite teacher taught us a poem that struck a chord with me then and continues to do so today.  I think of it every time I go bush. The love of field and coppice Of green and shaded lanes, Of ordered woods and gardens Is running in your veins. …

Re-Fencing

We completed a whole section.  (tired but pleased)  Yay! And it's so pretty.  Katrina joined us today.  Tony put me to work rolling up more of the old fencing (insert bad words here) but Trina helped to organise the barbed wire and it ended up a lot neater this time. The cyclone mesh was loaded onto …

De-Fencing

So tired. Today we had to get rid of an old fence, ready for tomorrow's fencing job.  First, we started by cutting the fence away from the old posts and meticulously removing any loose wire (if cows eat the wire they can die) and the old posts, which took all morning and I was very …