Most days are pretty good - but some are special

S
I had 2 days at home this week - along with 2 in the office and a trip to Canberra.

Monday I had to do an big cleanup of the Feed Yard - because it hadn't been done the previous day by my dear son.  On my own it took me nearly two hours.  Hard work, but it was a beautiful day and I'm just very pleased to be capturing the fertility for use later.  Later we went over and shifted cattle at one of the farms where we have stock on agistment.

But the really great day was yesterday.  It wasn't a beautiful day - in fact it rained and was cold.  But I had a ball.  I started in my study doing a couple of hours on an interesting piece of work for an important client.  It involves things I have been around, in one form of another, for many years.  Each time it rained during the day - I just came in and moved the task ahead.  Stop start perhaps, but it gave me a chance to think things through.

With the rain I needed to finish transferring the outside haystack into the hayshed.  Most of it I had moved on Wednesday evening (in the dark) and Thursday morning (causing me to be late for a meeting - which I don't like doing).  Getting the rest of it away was important - hay is a cash expense - and we need to get as much of it into the cows' stomachs as possible.

I also set up the planting of 10 heritage apples (which got planted today).  Nine of them are to be espaliered on a dividing fence that was done as part of the building project.  They will divide the kitchen garden off from the western lawn.  I have planted Abas, Gravenstein, Snow, Cox's Orange Pippin, Jonathon, Opalescent, Blue Permain, Bramley's Seedling, Rome Beauty - and then, off to one side, a Sturmer Pippen.  According to the notes we should have apples from February to May with that lot.

In between times, a guy who calls himself the Trailer Doctor came.  He is going to service the two trailers we have - and also help me build a portable shade structure to provide shelter for the cattle on very hot days in several paddocks with no substantial shelter trees.  It's something I want to provide for my Scottish cattle - who struggle with 40 degree days in the summer - as we all do I guess.

I also had to respond to a couple of emails in relation to the IPO of a company I'm a director of - and complete the Feed Yard cleanup - and do a few other bits and pieces.

Then, in the early evening, some very good friends from Jakarta came to visit.  They are people we knew first in Melbourne about 15 years ago - and who were then very good to us on our recent stint in Jakarta.  We would have loved to show them the farm, but it was dark and wet when they arrived - so we just talked and had dinner.  That was good enough - a fine end to a special day.