Yippee!!!!!

This was the scene at the paddock in front of our house this morning on another beautiful hot sunny day:

2 headers waiting to be serviced
3 semi trailers ready to be filled
1 bagging machine waiting to be finished off
1 field bin waiting to be emptied
1 tractor and chaser bin waiting to start
1 water cart ready for when a fire may start

This is the same paddock this evening:

1 bag full of wheat

all machinery gone because we've finally finished harvest!!!!!!!!

grey skies which have brought rain!

Holiday here we come tomorrow morning at around 4am!!!

At the moment we're trying madly to get everything packed into the ski boat so we can get the early start we want. Renmark is about 700km away from here so it takes a good 1/2 day to get there.

The caravan is in storage over there already with everything in it that we need, so all we really need to pack is our clothing, the kids tents and bedding, and all the ski gear.

So it's goodbye from us for a couple of weeks - see you all when we're back to the real world after 2 relaxing weeks of skiing, eating, drinking, and catching up with our friends Andrew, Michelle, Lucy and Hannah!!

Bye!!!

2010 - A Year in Review!

Fiona over at Cattle, Kids and Chaos has inspired me to post about our 2010. So here goes:

JANUARY 2010 - Holiday time at Renmark, SA for 2 blissful weeks of camping and water skiing, I celebrated my 41st birthday.


FEBRUARY 2010 - the farm receives 180mm of rain for the month which resulted in some flash flooding, Ryan and Emma are back to school for another year.

MARCH 2010 - Farmer Phil and I have a few nights in Melbourne where we see the musical Mamma Mia, Farmer Phil celebrated his 44th birthday and Emma turned 14, I am honoured to be named as one of Casella Wines Top Country women and win $1000 which goes towards a new BBQ for the family, the farm receives another 150mm of rain for the month so cropping is looking like having a very good start.

APRIL 2010 - cropping starts at the end of the month so machinery is being prepared in readiness, Ryan and Emma attend their final water ski tournament of the 09/10 season, Farmer Phil and I attend a friends beautiful wedding.

MAY 2010 - our house gets a facelift with a much anticipated pergola being built after a long 8 1/2 year wait, cropping continues with Farmer Phil and I working around the clock to get the crop sown on time.

JUNE 2010 - Ryan has another surgery to correct the overgrown bone graft in his jaw (I think this is about the 12th surgery!), Ag n Chat visits a dairy and none of us farmers wives wants to trade places with the dairy wife, we visit friends for a bonfire night to celebrate the Queens' birthday weekend.

JULY 2010 - we remember baby Brendan who was stillborn 17 years ago, Emma attends choral camp and performs in a production of Phantoms, Cats and Superstars, Ag n Chat enjoys Christmas in July.

AUGUST 2010 - Emma sings at the Sydney Opera House with the State Public Schools choir, Farmer Phil and I celebrate 22 years of married life, Ag n Chat reveal their artistic sides by attending a metalwork day, Emma sees "Wicked" the musical in Sydney.

SEPTEMBER 2010 - Ag n Chat visits Hay and Deniliquin for an overnight trip, Ryan turns 16 and attains his Learners Permit, the family has a week at Colombo Creek for a junior water ski training camp, Spring rain is falling.

OCTOBER 2010 - Wagga experiences it's first flood in 10 years, Farmer Phil and I get started paving around the pool, the farm experiences a wet Spring which hasn't happened in a very long time so hopes are high for a fabulous harvest!

NOVEMBER 2010 - Emma visits Tasmania for 6 days with her Year 9 school group, Ryan sits his School Certificate exams and then has 2 weeks of work experience to complete Year 10, Ryan and Emma attend a water ski training school for a week at Narrandera, harvest starts with hopes of it being a bumper one!

DECEMBER 2010 - harvest continues but under very trying wet conditions, Daniel comes home to help with harvest, Ryan and Emma finish school with floods enveloping YAHS, Ryan and Emma spend a week at Stoney Park near Port Macquarie for a water ski training camp, Daniel turns 22, we have a very quiet Christmas Day at home, and an even quieter New Years Eve with Farmer Phil and I on the header and chaser bin to see in 2011!

Farmer Phil

Farmer Phil would like me to tell you that we are not hopeless farmers who get their header and chaser bins bogged all the time! He said that in my previous posts it looked like we were a pack of dills who do dumb things! Of course we are not, it's just silly mistakes that happen when you're tired, busy and stressed. We've also never experienced a wet harvest like this one has been!

So here are a couple of photos of us looking much more professional!! That's Daniel on the header with Ryan on the chaser bin helping out.