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

Day 3 - Even More Country Bumpkins

Day 3 yesterday saw Farmer Phil and I doing even more touristy stuff in Sydney! A walk around Darling Harbour and a visit to the Powerhouse Museum were the order for the day. We really needed more time at the Powerhouse so we've pencilled in visiting there next time we're in Sydney.

Imagine me driving this tractor to put the crop in!!!

Or heading off to a bush fire in this rig!!!

The Zoo and Aquarium that we've visited on other trips to Sydney so no need to do it this time!

The Maritime Museum which we've visited before and found very interesting.

PS - We arrive home at 1pm this afternoon - so glad to be away from the cars, people and pollution of Sydney and back to our rolling hills, green paddocks, fresh air, and peace and quiet!!!