Another Silo + Earthworks

We have decided to build another 300T silo which will be located right next to the other one built earlier in the year. The builders were here on Friday setting up the crane needed to lift the silo as it is being built.

We also had the local earthmoving contractors in to laser level the small paddock the silos are in. It will eventually have just a 1% fall across the whole paddock which will make it much easier for semi-trailers to tip their loads of grain into the silos.

The machines were quite mesmerising to watch in action! The levellers hold almost 50T of soil when full so you can imagine the horsepower needed to pull the beasts!

Birthday Cake and Field Day Loot

Farmer Phil and Ryan arrived home last night at 7.30pm both complaining of sore feet, legs and backs after a very long day at the Henty Machinery Field Days.

Ryan is now able to eat solid food after his surgery 3 1/2 weeks ago so it was steaks on the BBQ with salad and roast potatoes for his birthday tea. Then we had a chocolate sheet cake from The Pioneer Woman's cook book - yummo!

I took these photos this morning of the mess left after Farmer Phil inspected every purchase made yesterday. There are cordless drills, an impact wrench, rain gauge, motorbike work stand, HID lights for the tractor, drill bit sets, miscellaneous tools and another 3 hats and 4 stubby holders for our already overflowing hat and stubby holder cupboards!!

Ag n Chat Overnight Trip to Cowra/Canowindra/Manildra

Last week 10 Ag n Chat ladies embarked on our annual overnight trip - this time visiting Cowra, Canowindra and Manildra. First stop was a quick morning tea/catch up at Young before heading to the Cowra Information Centre for a presentation there about the World War II Cowra Breakout.


The Cowra Japanese Gardens were next on the agenda and what a beautiful day to visit there!

On to Canowindra and the Age of Fishes Museum to learn about the districts important fossil history.

Our overnight accommodation was at the very comfortable Old Vic Inn at Canowindra.

We were joined by 5 local ladies from the NSW Women In Agriculture group for a very yummy dinner.

Super cosy lounge room to have a great old chin wag!

Next morning was a very informative and mind-blowing tour of the Manildra Flour Mill. Wow, whoever designed that factory was very ingenious!

Last "agriculture" stop was the MSM Milling canola crushing and packing plant.

We then all wanted to go back through Canowindra and sample some of their gorgeous boutique clothing (Saffi) and homewares (Bendy Street Emporium) shops and art gallery (River Bank Gallery).

Phew!! We fitted in a lot in our 2 days away - thanks Wendy for organising!!

Henty Machinery Field Days and a Birthday

Farmer Phil and Ryan have gone for a day out at the Henty Machinery Field Days today. It's Ryan's 17th birthday today so Farmer Phil has been instructed to purchase a present for him while at the field days - a motorbike workstand and some tools! Daniel is coming over from Denilqiuin and they'll all meet up together for the day.

I decided to stay home and get some jobs done as next week we are all away at the water ski training camp we attend every year. I need to cook some biscuits and slice and maybe get some housework done which has sadly gone by the wayside this past month!

Another Deck Update

Our builders Graham and Kade concreted the deck area on Monday (steps at the front path will be done later so no photos to show there). Hopefully in a few weeks the merbau boards will be fixed on top and it will all look fantastic!


They also concreted around the pool filtration setup which will have a retaining wall and a large steel-frame box cladded in decking boards surrounding it with opening doors for access. It'll look much nicer than it has the past 2 1/2 years!

Deck Update Etc

I was away for 2 days with our annual ag n chat overnight trip and I came home to this - yeah!!

The builder will be back on Monday to pour the slab for the deck and make me some stairs at last!!

My Stuff!!!

Farmer Phil and I were in Adelaide for 2 days this week collecting a new car for his parents. We flew over on Tuesday and drove back on Wednesday. I did my research before leaving home and discovered that IKEA in Adelaide is right next to the airport!! Of course a quick stop was called for because while I was in Sydney last week with Ryan's hospital visit I wanted to buy a glass front cabinet but found that it was out of stock at the Homebush shop - Argh!! Anyway, Adelaide had it in stock so we drove home with 2 cartons on the back seat!!


I've also been busy re-doing our bedroom. I started to make this quilt a few months ago and now I've just got to finish off the binding (it's only pinned on in the photo!). I made the padded bedhead also to complete the look - I love colour, if you hadn't guessed already!!

Please don't look at Farmer Phil's messy pile of farm magazines, brochures and books on his bedside cupboard! But please note my neat pile of Real Living magazines!!

Farm Stuff

Farmer Phil says that I don't have enough "farm stuff" on my blog! Even though it's called "The Farmers Wife" I think I should be able to put whatever I like on it!!!

Anyway, I just took a quick drive around a couple of paddocks near the house to take some photos of the crops. The first one is canola almost out in full flower. The canola crops are all a bit behind to what stage they should be because we had to re-sow them after the mouse plague decimated them. This one was re-sown 3 weeks after the first attempt. If we receive some nice Spring rain they shouldn't feel any effect from the late re-sowing - fingers crossed!

This is a paddock of wheat in front of our house - I look at it from my kitchen window everyday. It's really come along in leaps and bounds after some nice mild weather and rain over the last month. More rain is needed in September/October for the wheat to yield high.

PS - This post is especially for all those farmer friends of Farmer Phil - Farmer Andrew, Farmer Kevin, Farmer Greg, Farmer Kade..............................!!!

Scholarship Concert

Last night Emma had to sing at the Riverina Conservatorium's Scholarship Winners concert. She did a beautiful job of Adele's "Turning Tables".

10 Years......

Yesterday it was 10 years since we moved into our new house on the farm. It's still very much a work in progress! In November last year I organise for a builder to come out and start building our deck - he finally came yesterday!! It's been a long time coming but I'm very excited now!

We've gone without steps at our front path for all of those 10 years too but they will be completed next week - yeah!! Our friends and family use our back door entrance so this is really just for visitors and those who don't feel comfortable using the back door.

The deck area has been levelled and filled with crusher dust ready for a slab to be poured next week and then the decking boards fixed on top. It will be such a bonus for us to finally have a nice area to have a bbq and sit in the northerly sun. More photos to come as building progresses!

Sydney Again....

I was in again Sydney this week for 3 days with Ryan who was having another surgery to straighten his jaw at North Shore Private Hospital. Check my post from last year about Ryan's story.

I took the photo this morning to show the site where he's had ten operations to try and get his jaw straight - it's a bit swollen at the moment though! The original bone graft surgery was done when he was 6 years old. The rib bone that was used keeps growing at a faster rate than Ryan does so it's necessary to have it reduced every 12 months or so until he stops growing. This is an unknown factor - Ryan will be 17 later this month and he's already 6ft 1 tall (Farmer Phil is 6ft 3). Once he finishes growing there will be a final operation to get the jaw straight and his teeth aligned correctly.

You can also see Ryan's reconstructed ear which was done when he was 10 years old using cartilage from behind his rib cage and skin grafts from his scalp. It's amazing what the surgeons can do these days because when Ryan was born his only choice then was a prosthetic ear which would be attached to his head with magnets!!

Not a very flattering photo of Ryan but you can see the work that's been done.

Spring Has Sprung!

Well, Spring has definitely sprung around here! I love to see the new leaves on the silver birch and liquidambar trees. The Manchurian pears are out in full blossom with new leaves just forming.

Charlie and the Lemon Scented Gum which two years ago was about 1m tall and it's trunk was only as thick as your finger - look at it now!!

Pear blossoms