Richie

Today, after many, many years of procrastinating we took the plunge and bought a tractor!  Richie is a Shimbaura Tractor that was originally used in Japan and has been imported as a 2nd hand machine.  They get a good looking over and service to make sure all is ok before they are sold.  Richie has only done 298 hours work to now.  It seems crazy that Japan only allows cars and other vehicles (and obviously tractors) to have a short working life before off loading them to elsewhere in the world (I guess to spread the polution!).

Anyway…… we found Tractorama after speaking to our Piesse Brook neighbour who had bought a very handsome tractor there some months prior.  We’d previously looked at bobcats (way too expensive), dingos (too small and light for the work we need done), articulated vehicles (very expensive) and tractors before (usually ones leaking oil and in bad repair).  The tractors we saw all looked almost new but had not had paint touch ups or anything.  We narrowed it down to 3 we liked that were in our price range and that Cliff could sit in without his knees painfully banging against metal as he drove it.

Richie (named so as Shimbaura is similar to “Richie Sambora” of Bon Jovi fame….. don’t know why that came to mind but it did at the time and I can accept that Cliff thinks it’s totally stupid and a name not befitting a tractor any way) will be delivered to his new home in two weeks time.  We are looking forward to many years of happy sand moving, stump pulling out, rock shuffling, trench digging and diggin in of reticulation!  It’s gotta beat doing all that by hand as we’ve done for the last 6 1/2 years! or hiring machines.

Today Mark emailed a couple of photos over of Bonnie’s puppies.  They weighed only 450-500 grams at birth 3 weeks ago.  They certainly have grown.  We are allowed to go and meet the puppies when ever we like now, touch them and play with them.  At week 5 we can choose which little girl will be ours.   Somehow I don’t want to meet them yet in case I fall in love with one that someone else will choose as we have 3rd choice out of the 3 girls.  In another way I want to meet them and take photos and maybe the one that stands out to us will end up ours.

Left side looking up the hill

As it was the (Queen’s birthday)

Looking down to the backLooking down to the back

long weekend we decided to head up to the “farm” to do some maintenance.  We’d stayed there the weekend before and had taken up bedding, towels and other essentials which meant all we needed to take was clothes and some food.

Every time I stay there for the night… window open, fresh air blowing in, dark night sky, stars and silence (other than the dulcet tones of varioius species of frogs) I am reminded at just how magical this place is and how much I have missed it in the past 18 months I haven’t lived there.

Saturday morning Cliff jumped on our newly serviced lawnmower to mow the main grass area while the blades were brand new (before I got my hands on them!).  I decided to use the mattock to get out a few rocks (that are large enough to ruin mower blades)

A momentus occasion - Mitch whipper snipping

that were firmly embedded in the

Cliff on the whipper snipper

grass so they were impossible to see when mowing.  I then took on the task of digging up the roots and chopping out the two stagnent mango trees.  The first only a metre tall has not grown in the 6 1/2 years we’ve had the block.  I chopped a branch to test the wood and found it very soft.  I only had to dig around the root ball and down a foot to be able to chop through enough of the main roots I could push the tree over and remove it.  The second tree was about 7 foot tall but had never fruited or look anything much.  Due to its size it was much harder to dig out but I managed to use the mattock to clear beside each of the big roots and was able to chop through them and after pushing the tree in each direction snapped through enough roots to remove the tree also.

Kookaburra - and spot the two willy wagtails

At midday Cliff & I headed down to

Peaceful place

M&D Smiths to watch the footy grandfinal between Geelong and St Kilda.  We both wanted St Kilda to win but sadly they never rose to the occasion and Geelong were the better side on the day and took the cup.  St Kilda ended the season with only 2 losses all year and about 12 points clear of the 2nd side (Geelong).  After the game we headed back up to Piesse Brook to continue on the mowing.

On Sunday Cliff started the whipper snipping.  Mitchell met us up the farm (after driving himself there for the first time) and did a spot of whipper snipping.  I thought I’d take a photo to commemorate the momentus occasion that one of our children actually picked up a gardening implement and used it (even if it was just for 1/2 hour)… not one whinge was even had (a double miracle).

Mahli exhausted after a long weekend

I mowed the bottom grass area and then started ont he left paddock.  Our friendly kookaburras headed over and perched on low branches for a good view of any mice or large insects we may have been disturbing.  They have become so tame they are not the least bit scared of us.  They sit in the tree and allow us to get to only a foot or two away to take a photo and they just look at us and cock their heads blinking.  They swoop down in front of the mower or whipper snipper with seemingly no fear we are going to hit them.  They are not the least bit concerned about Mahli either!

On Monday we decided to sleep in and read for a while before heading out to finish off the bottom paddock before cleaning off the mower and putting everything back in our superbly clean shed (cleaned last weekend!).

Next Saturday we have the tree Fritz coming over to quote on trimming the dead wood off the willows and trimming a couple of the branches off the trees on the verge which Western Power have been flagging for years!

The Royal

On Friday 25th September we decided to cycle to East Perth and back (from the Lake House).  We headed off late at 10am after buying a couple of doggy toys and bones for Mum’s 6 month old pup Bonnie so she would did up J&P’s garden in our absence.

The round trip was 40kms and we stoped near the river in East Perth for lunch at “The Royal”.  Pol had the seafood risotto, Jules had the cajun chicken salad and I had the tasting plate (which scored a 10/10) and probably took me the 40km cycle to work the calories off.

Day 1 - Spring Clean 15kg

Well… the time has come.  I have been a fatty boombar for far too long (half of my life) and it is time to shed 15kilos (at least).  I don’t say the D word and don’t go on a D at all because it is just asking to be broken.  Instead I shall spring clean 15kg off my body over the next 3 or 4 months by not drinking a scotch and coke every night, by not eating potato and other stuff with lots of carbs (rice, noodles… you know all my damn favourite things!), by cycling more often, by sweating it on the bloody awful cross trainer.

I need to be able to wear a pair of bathers at the beach and not be at risk of being rolled back into the ocean.  I need to be able to see my toes (hmmm well that may not happen unless I get a breast reduction!).. ok… I need to be able to tie up my shoes without requiring to hold my breath.  I need to be able to reduce the stress on my knees, to fit into nicer bras, to fit into size 14 clothes (and not 16s and 18s).  I need to be able to like myself better and I think a less fat me could be more likable.  I want to see 80 and 90 rather than my overworked heart giving up on me at 50, or 60.  I want to be able to continue to go camping, and cycling, and swimming, and gardening, and eventually running around after my (future) grand-kids.

I want to do it for ME.  I want to do it for Cliff.  I want to do it for my kids.  I want to do it for my parents.  I want to do it for my sisters.  I just HAVE to do it.

So today is - Day 1 of Spring Clean 15kg and the fatty boombar photo to prove it!

Over the past 6 months Mitchell has been having driving lessons from Barrie.  He passed his logbook test and over the past few months has slowly been working off his 25 hours of driving that is required before getting his licence.

Mitchells last log book hour!

Today with only 1 1/2 hours left on his log book I decided to put my life into Mitchell’s hands and was passenger in our Prado while Mitch drove.  Considering I am a big chicken when it comes to being a passenger with other people and I was nervous when a passenger in Beth’s and Rowan’s cars when they were first driving I was quite laid back on this occasion and didn’t even have one heart palputation!

Mitchell drove from Leeming and through Jandokot, Armadale and up through Bedfordale then on the Freeway and Leach Highway to Alfred Cove and then back home.  So… that is his hours up.  All he has to do now is to get his log book witnessed and pass the last computer test and a licence is his.

Beth and Cliff

Bethany and Cliff decided a few months ago to book to see Slava’s Snow Show.  They weren’t sure exactly what it was going to be…. it had received rave reviews in sell out seasons across America and the UK.  All I knew is there were clowns and snow so I went with an open mind.  Mitchell and Bethany’s friend from Canberra (Carlos) came with us to the Regal Theatre on Wednesday night to see it.

When we arrived at the theatre it was filled with smoke from a smoke machine and it was pretty dark.  The theatre is old and small and quite personal and there was ’snow’ (made of white paper squares all over the floor, chairs and stage)……the lights dipped and the show started at 8pm.  Just one yellow clown, Slava, appeared…. during the show another 6 green clowns joined Slava.  The show was quite simple

Slavas finale

with slow movements, no words and things were funny because of the slow, deliberate movements made by the clown in the context.  The audience became more and more in awe as the show went on.  The ’skits’ again were all simple, but we were just spell bound.  It was funny in its simplicity and very hard to explain to anyone who hasn’t witness the show.

The audience was mostly adults in their 40s with many younger couples with children of around 10 or 12 and teenagers.  Snow fell during the show… lots of snow.  We had a blizzard so ferious it felt like it was real… wind howled at us… snow came straight at us so thick we were covered with piles sitting on our laps.  It was just amazing…. people were just stunned.  People laughed.. and cried they were so in awe of what what happening.  There was a lot of audience interaction.  The clowns came into the crowd walking over us balancing on the back of audience members chairs.  We were rained on.  We had a huge spider web that was a thin, white layer of kapok or something (like the man made stuff that is inside pillows) that covered the width of the stage and then enveloped the audience from the front to the back.  We passed it over our heads to the audience beind and the entire place was covered all at the same time with the stuff.  Cliff put his arms up through it and got all tangled up.

The show finished and the yellow clown sat on the edge of the stage and huge balls, filled with helium came out onto the stage and were pushed and hit up high into the air by the clowns.   There were about 10 huge

Slava meets the gang - Tues 15 Sept 2009

balls…. so large that 3 of us could reach up and push the ball up above us… there were dozens of huge helium filled balloons too.  Snow fell down on us, the clowns danced around, the yellow clown just sat on the edge of the stage smiling watching the audience lose themselves.  The audience sat there laughing, talking, crying while the snow lightly fell, the music played, the balloons and balls bounced up and down moved along by the audience…. this lasted over 1/2 hour.  Eventually people started standing up to leave.

People filed past the yellow clown, still sitting on the edge of the stage, and thanked him and shook his hand… I’ve never seen that before (an audience just so happy and so in the moment that they were impelled to thank and shake a hand).  The feeling was just so over whelming…. we all felt like we’d spent two hours like a child, 2 hours inside a magical, snow globe, 2 hours inspired into a magical, amazing and innocent world.  People slowly left.. the snow continued to fall…. the snow was everywhere and went out into the street where people were still hushed and smiling.

I have got to say this was the most magical, amazing two hours I have spent in a theatre and I would recommend every adult sees it and every teenager or primary school child.  Mitchell (18), Bethany (21), Carlos (23) all felt the same… the it was the most amazing thing they had been part of.  Slavas Snow Show 2009

Indy - the puppies dad

For the past 18 months, since we left our Piesse Brook property, Mahli has spent most of her time at Bethany’s rather than being our dog.  So although Mahli is at work during the week, outside work hours for the most past we have been dog-less during this time.  We decided late last year that we would let Bethany keep Mahli (though we will have dog-sitting rights) and put our name down for a puppy.  We had been on a labrador waiting list for 6 months but got sick of waiting.  So we decided instead to look at Labrador Retrievers.  We made contact with a breeder in Southern River who had two females due in September.

We visited both females last Saturday - Bonnie was an older female who’d had 3

Bonnie

litters before and was due any day.  Camry was a 3 yo female pregant with her first litter.  Camry already had pre-sold 4 female puppies so we decided, as we wanted a female, we would put our name down to wait for one from Bonnie (as she had only pre-sold 2 females).  As it turned out just two hours later the breeder rang us to say that Bonnie had given birth by caesarian to 9 puppies - 5 females and 4 males.  So…. we difenitely have a puppy!

It may be a co-incidence that Cliff’s mum’s dog is called Bonnie and my parent’s new black lab puppy is called Bonnie… and the mum our new puppy is called Bonnie?

We were told that we can come and view Bonnie and her pups at any time.  For the first two weeks this is done through the viewing window as the puppies have their eyes closed and stay curled up with mum while their immune systems build up.  We are allowed contact with the puppies after

There is always a runt! 400grams and 2 hrs old

that time.  We are allowed to choose which female will be ours when they are just 5 weeks old.  We are allowed to visit as often as we like so may go a few times to take photos while the puppies are so tiny.  They weighed between 450g and 500g when they were born.  There is a little runty male one who needed bottle feeding the first few days.

We are trying to decide on a name.  We had chosen “Shimi” (a Japanese word) a long time ago but we aren’t sure if this will suit this puppy.  Cliff and Mitch like Jay Jay (JJ - as our old retriever was called Jessie James too).  I kind of like Shimi still because it is unusual.  I’m sure the kids will come up with lots of new names once they see the puppies.