I should be sleeping right now....

Saturday, November 1, 2008

It's early at the moment & the house is quiet (well except for Eli who loves to get up early - that's why I'm staring bleary eyed at the screen trying to put thoughts into words from a mind that's much to fuzzy to make sense), so I thought I would take this opportunity to update. Sorry it's been so long. This week has passed in a complete blur. I have had so much on my mind. (As you can guess from the last few posts.) I still haven't gone down to get pics of the crop. We will be down there today as this weekend we have to totally eradicate any locusts off our property because in the next few days they will mature to adulthood & then they can fly & cause all kinds of problems for farmers all over eastern Australia. So this means we need to walk the paddocks that are effected & take notes exactly where they are so that our neighbour who is licenced to spray can come & spray them for us.
I've been meaning to answer a question as well. Mummy McTavish asked:I thought I must ask you what was your husbands background that he wanted to pursue the farming life and what brought about the move so far south, as in, what made you choose there against some other farming area?
For my blog friends I need to apologise in this area. I guess I forget that you don't actually know us, so don't know why we moved here. We moved because Dave was offered a great job in a local town. (20 mins away). He has quite unique job experience, and unless you know where he works this isn't going to make sense, but there aren't a lot of places in Australia that he can work so exactly in his field. We decided that since we had the chance to move to the country we would do it properly - as only we do. We have always dreamed of moving onto acreage, so we were actually on the lookout for 20 to 40 acres. Once we started looking, however we quickly discovered that the smallest acreages around are 100 acres (unless you want 5acs in town, but we didn't want to live in town), so we started looking at all the houses on "lifestyle blocks" (what they refer to for anything under about 500 acres). Consequently we found this place - sure it's bigger than the 40 acres (it's 240 acres) we were after, but it's lovely & we have great neighbours who put their sheep on for us, & since they do that they also look after us & guide us through pretty much everything that comes along. So Dave works full time at his job & then tries to do farm things in the evenings or weekends (yes he's really busy as he's also studying). For major things like planting, he takes annual leave.


Thank you for praying about rain. On Thurs we got 2 mls - not a lot, but enough to get us to this weekend where they have forecast quite a bit (although it's looking pretty sunny at the moment (please, please God send rain)). If the rain doesn't come, we'll cut our crop for hay early next week. Although it isn't really meant for hay, it's better than just letting thousands of dollars just sit there & go to waste. So we're trusting God on this one & if it doesn't rain we're praying that the hay will bring in enough so we can plant next year.

Anyway, I think this should have been at least 3 posts, so if you're still reading, thanks! I'll leave you with this cute pic - my daughter is very, very optimistic!!

Hope you have a great weekend!!

12 comments:

junglemama said...

How cute! I think we got the rain you were hoping for. Hope you have a great weekened.

Mum-me said...

I did pray for rain, and I'm sorry you didn't get enough (we only got a sprinkle) and I will pray God sends more rain this weekend. We need to have the faith of a child -like Ellie! So get your umbrella out.

We often imagine how nice it would be to live on an acreage.

debi9kids said...

I will keep praying you get more rain and that the locusts don't do too much damage to the crops.
Thanks for the background on your husband and why you moved. I really wish i could make a similar move and "start over"... we all can dream....

Peta said...

Hi Renata, Im praying you get the rain we did. It was a blessing as our water tank is now full again.
Good luck with the locusts and your crops.
My dishwasher crew is here now so I better put the kettle on.

Kimmie said...

Renata;

thanks so much for sharing this, now I feel like I know you even better.

Kimmie
mama to 6
one homemade and 5 adopted

Anonymous said...

Hey Narn,
luv your pic's, that first one is really beautiful. Still praying heaps for rain for you. We have a lot of wind here at the moment, and it has blown my tomatoe plants over. Cor and I had pizza capers tonight (yummmy). Anyway, night shift is taking its toll at present, so I shall stop waffling.
luv
princess sel (getting ready for being a princess at the concert ;-)

SF said...

Lovely to hear from you, Renata! I've been checking and checking for an update. Glad you got a bit of rain Thurs night, we got some here too so I was hoping you did! Everything is so dry.
I just love the photo of Ellie. Don't kids just keep you smiling through all the hard bits of life? Well done for keeping positive, it must be so tough for you guys right now but you're doing a great job. :) Keep trusting Him!!

Mummy McTavish said...

Thanks for filling in the blanks. How brave to make that move!

We are still praying for rain for you. AND WE HAVE THE SAME RAINCOAT! It is hard to share it between two boys but they manage, they just get soaked one at a time, it's not like it keeps out the water anyway when they ROLL in the puddles!

Bobbie-Jo said...

Praise God for even small answers. I'll keep praying for this weekend, too.

Your story of why you moved and the life you have chosen is amazing. Dave had no prior farming experience? You are so brave! I'm glad you shared, too. It's more than a peek into your life.

Keep on hoping, Ellie!

Frizzy said...

I'm with your daughter and hope the raincoat does the trick. Prayers too of course. Loved reading your update. I feel lucky to know what your hubby does thanks to the swap.

Kate said...

so sorry you've had such a hard week Nata :( wish I could pop in to make you a cuppa. Praying for you all...and the rain. Big hugs. xxoo

jazzy cat said...

Love that first shot on your post too! Gorgeous! So glad you got alittle rain and will pray again for more for you. Thanks for the insight into your life - such a huge move and you've done so well to keep going at it despite the tough times. Great neighbours, friends, family, God - they all make a huge difference!

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