Blog for Friday 9th January 2026

Oh no! That dreadful ditty began alongside my bed at four o’clock this morning. It was time for me to rise and shine. Well, I did the rise bit, but the shine had to come a lot later!

I tried not to make too much noise as I climbed the creaking stairs up to my studio to have my Quiet Time. I do not think I woke either Paddy or Matt’ as I did so.

After my Quiet Time I could hear Paddy moving around in t the kitchen making coffee so I went down and joined him.

I was still in my ‘jamas when Peter arrived at about a quarter to eight, I think it was, to do more work on Tamryn’s container with Matt’ today.

I left the men to do what they had planned to do for the day, and I had shower and got myself dressed for the day.

Matt’ went up the hill to work with Peter for the day, and Paddy was all over the place getting the irrigation working again, fencing, spraying and he also planned to put up a blocking fence to stop the wretched bovines that insist on wandering onto the Highway – seriously for what reason do they do that? There is no grass there. Somebody, tell them please!

Oh, it is so nice to see that water squirting out of those irrigation pods, relieving the parched and very dry pastures, but the quad bike – that has just been fixed is playing up once again, which is not helpful at all for Paddy!

Mid-morning, I contacted the ex-SRE Co-Ordinator (the guy who handed that job over to me) and who had kindly ordered the SRE books for 2026 for me as I have no access to the SRE finances.  I can pick up my SRE book on Sunday after church, and I am looking forward to seeing what the curriculum is for this year. I will teach for as long as I am able to do so before we move off the farm.

Today, I cut out the remaining pieces for the little smocked dress for Zara and began the machine sewing, but … silly me, the other day I did not get more cotton when I was in at Spotlight, so my machine sewing time will be limited until I get more cotton. Ngrrrr! So frustrating especially when it is my own fault. I cut some fabric on the bias as I will make my own piping for this little dress, which means I will need to do some hand sewing while I wait to buy the cotton for my sewing machine. That should keep me busy and stop me sulking!

Oh, one of my friends down in Victoria had to vacate their beautiful farm this morning – a show piece - and her garden apparently is a masterpiece because she has spent her lifetime and with the help of hired hands creating it, as the fires swept through. Her husband was beside himself as he wanted to get back to the farm and at least shoot his animals before the fires got to them, but they were not allowed back. Shame, such trauma, terrible loss and unbelievable stress.

How one’s life can change in a moment of time.

Matt’ and Peter continued to work up on the hill in the container and have done a vast amount of work on Tamryn’s container today even in this heat. Paddy has been working down in the Large River Camp on the irrigation system and getting all the pods to work properly.

At about half past four or maybe closer to five o’clock, Paddy, Peter and Matt’ came back to the top shed and took a break to end their day of seriously hard labor.

Peter kindly acted as a witness and signed all the screeds of documents needed to alter the Trust from the original deeds drawn up a while ago, to a much fairer deal for all parties involved. Another step towards a new lifestyle for us, and a brand-new adventure for Paddy who in the Trust, will look after this farm for the future generations of our family! Exciting!

Rats! My oven stopped working again – it honestly just works when the mood takes it to do so! I had par boiled the potatoes and sweet potato mix and wanted to roast them to a crisp. Well, that did not work now did it! I had to endeavor to do that on the stove top. I cooked the steaks and made a tossed salad and a cheese sauce to go with it all.

After our meal we soon all disappeared to our respective beds and were fast asleep.

What lesson did I learn today? Enjoy your life to the fullest for you never know when it may change.

What am I grateful for today? That we are not experiencing the fires here.

My saying for today is …