Well It’s been a crazy few months here at Gundaroo! But lets start with the good news! The surgery for my melanoma was a success! I was supposed to have a PET scan to check if my lymphs were clear but for various reasons we have decided to wait on that and the doctors are happy. So it is time to move on and hope that the worst is over. All I have now is a good scar up my back nicknamed the ‘zip’ to remind me.

However the last 8 months had taken its toll and a couple of weeks ago I escaped to 1770, 3 hrs north of here. I was desperate for some peace and quite and not to have to talk. Which for me is amazing as anyone who knows me, knows- i can talk the hind leg off a donkey! We’ve even gained the nick name out here the ‘the walker talkers’. However I like to think that’s based on our hospitality as apposed to people not being able to escape us! Anyway I spent a precious 3 days walking, resting and gathering myself back together as I had been unravelling slightly! The effort of protecting the boys from how stressed we’ve been recently has been exhausting and I just needed to remove the mask for a while.

In addition life had to continue as it does for us all. We’ve been getting ready for the harvest and planting, managing the cattle and drowning in paper work! Keeping our menagerie going and just life with kids as we all know is a full time job in itself.

So I headed off for some silence and Tom took the boys for a fun filled weekend with good friends camping. We both arrived home just in time to greet the harvesters the ,planting crews and irrigator installers in the paddocks. The next two weeks have been spent busy gathering in the harvest, planting a last block of cane and overseeing the installation of the irrigator number 3! The fields have gone from green to golden brown and everything is covered in dust! The crews work 24/7 shifts and harvest here is like nothing I’ve seen before! The radio crackles constantly in the kitchen and we run around on high alert. The calves are being born in a steady stream and are a delight. Spring arrived but quickly turned into summer with a 40 degree heat wave. We are dry, dry, dry again, fire risk is on high alert and smoke is on the horizon regularly. However there is rumour of rain this week which will keep the irrigators switched off for a while longer and get some grass growing and fill tanks.

Toms out feeding cattle as I write this and the goats are bleating in their paddocks. Oh yes we now have three goats – Donny, Gemma and Dave! They are our lawn mowers and totally spoilt and tame. However they seem to want toast and grain more than grass so they are doing a rubbish job. they seem to have got us all wrapped around their little hooves from the moment they arrived and there’s not one of us who can resist their Charm! We have a had a couple of animal encounters too. Not sure if you saw Toms post the other day about his friendly python? Well he was lying on his back under the draw bar of the tractor when he looks up and is faced with a very large python looking down at him a couple of inches away! Well he yelped and got out of there pretty dam quick and spent a few minutes swearing and skipping around his tractor on the phone to me laughing at the other end! Some sympathy was given as at that proximity you don’t see what type of snake it is you just see SNAKE! anyway Tom calmly drove him back to the shed and to his original home with the help of a long stick!

Revenge was had for my laughing at him a few weeks later however. This time we were camping at Boreen point enjoying a late night drink and game of cards when I felt what I thought was rain. “Tom it’s bloody raining the weather forecast said dry?” I said and then he looked up and giggled as right above me was a possum peeing on me! Then to make it worse and before I could move he proceeded to poo on me too!! All that night outside was like a Possum party! They were every where and once I’d forgiven them using me as a toilet they were a delight to sit and watch!

Well I’d better go it’s Sunday and there chores to be done before we head off to the local Rodeo. Take care all and always be suspect of rain when there shouldn’t be any!