Summer hits us with a wall of attitude!

There is an angry wind outside and it carries the heavy 35-degree heat. As we would expect, summer isn’t going to glide on in gracefully but hit us like a wall of attitude. It is challenging for anyone working outside, for the children in the schools and the elderly. The plants are trying to stay alive in our gardens so the vigilant watering routines begin and the animals need checking more regularly. The horses are drinking drums of water, the sheep, chickens, calves, dogs and home pets need lots of care.  But this is what many of us wanted hey? Summertime!!

 With its promise of afternoon drinks on the verandah, school holidays, Christmas celebrations and lots of swimming, December begins. We can wear lighter clothing and straw hats or have our swimming costumes under summer dresses and sunglasses on our heads. The fruit stays cool in the fridge and the ice cream is a popular choice as an afternoon snack. I spend my spare time researching family holidays, which is fun and I plan our Christmas lunch. The family is coming here, so we are very excited.

Our 2013 harvest is complete and it is very unusual to have December free to check sheep, sell grain, tidy up and do some maintenance before going away for a family holiday. Howard didn’t stress at all this year and really enjoyed driving his new purchase, a second hand header that went really well. Even when the air-conditioning stopped for a couple of days he didn’t complain. I think it also helped to have the few weeks of fine weather. When there is no threat from the looming storms there is less pressure.

We have stored most of our grain at the Bribbaree silos but some is in silo bags on the farm as well. We have almost every grade of wheat possible; this shows the diversity of the frost and dry damage. On average we are pleased with what we have to sell and the prices are good. Each day we look at the grain prices as they climb a dollar here and there. It is a time of big decision making when no one knows if the grain prices will go up further or start falling. Do we hold a little longer or sell now to get the money in within 30 days?

The wind outside is really building. It would be a terrible day for a fire to start. I suspect they will stop all the headers that are still working due to fire danger.

Tomorrow we are heading to Sydney to pick up the girls from boarding school. It is great to have Howard for company and to help with all the heavy bags. He will also be attending the speech and awards ceremony with us and we have a brief business meeting to go to together Friday morning. It will be a quick overnight stay though and we will have the car packed full of things for the trip home. But there is nothing like the feeling of the first day of a long summer break…I can’t wait to have everyone together again.