Im Back..... So Whats been Happening?

I just received a comment asking me why i had been absent from posting for 12 days.  Goodness, has it really been that long?  I've been busy, what more can i say.   Ive still been a devoted reader and left comments on my favourite blogs but life seems to be rushing by at the moment.

I would like to stop, really i would and i have plans but there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in a day at the moment.  There is of course work, which at this time of the year is well beyond the normal 9-5.  So what's new because that sure isn't.   Well, Ive been scoring big browny points and going for Mother of the Year and teaching my son (16) to drive.   It has been two weeks now and in that time we have been out every day, or should i say night since I'm not home till dark.   So there goes my "Me" time each night and hence no posts.

Tom only has to do 10 hrs of night driving in the 120 hr total he must do but already he has 7 hrs of night driving included in the total of 16 hrs and 44 minutes as of today.  He has been out in storms with pelting rain at night and it hasn't fazed him a bit.    I'm finding that his being Aspie has its perks as he doesn't seem to be nervous at all and in fact he has a air of confidence that enables him to do well.  On the weekend we try new stuff.  Last weekend he went on the freeway and we drove to see Jessie in Ballan (rabidlittlehippy) for milk coffee (cooked on a wood stove to Tom's amazement). This was her first introduction to my Man Child.   With only two weeks driving experience he was doing 110 km an hour on the freeway.  My heart was beating so fast especially when it became dark and it started raining on the way home.   Remember, this is a manual not an automatic gearbox and to make it even more difficult it is a very old 4WD (17yrs) with a clunky gearbox that he has now mastered. He had never sat in a drivers seat until two weeks ago.  Proud Mama.

Today was a trip to Gisborne to the 12 acre property owned by my firm.  I am desperate to get him out of the house and breathing air so we turned up to help with the weekend woodcutting.   Their home is heated by two wood heaters and they chew through the wood but with 12 acres of nothing but trees they just have to go outside and cut what has fallen down.

You know how its all the rage to build hulgelkultur beds with wood under the soil that breaks down over time providing rich organic material in the soil?  Well here i don't have to wait.  There are many trees that are rotting where they stand and you just take a shovel and fill a bag.  I got two big bags to add to my compost and to dig into beds.  Its like black gold.

I didn't get a picture but I also raided their wood heaters ash pile and using a big sieve, Tom and i got another bag of fine ash to add to my little girls (bantams) dust baths and to spread in the straw in their coop.  This helps keep any parasites or bugs off them.  I'm certainly a demanding guest, taking their rotting wood and fire ash.

Of course, none of this comes for free.  We were helping to clean up by picking up lots of smaller fallen branches and building a bomb fire.   All good stuff for teenage boys who spend way too much time on their own playing games and watching YouTube.   He certainly looks like he's having fun.

Later Tom cooked us some sausages and put on a billy of hot water for coffee.  Did i mention that this property is in the hills not far from Mt Macedon and it was so cold that we were breathing steam.  Hard work certainly makes you hungry.

Of course there was a perfectly good two story home less than 50m away with wood heaters, kettles and probably a nice lunch with cake but where is the fun in that.  Nope, Tom and I, and we wrestled Henry into it as well) sat outside in the cold and cooked our own lunch on a fire pit.  More fun than a circus i reckon!

OK, this is where i blow my own bugle.  See that big tree Henry is cutting up a few photos up.  While Tom was off having fun driving around the trees, i rolled those big logs over to the fire and put them on it.  See that one up top, i literally picked it up.  They must have been super sausages because i only had one.  Being extra strong is probably the only advantage of being a big person.

You know i have a great video of this but i have no idea how to insert it.  I can see the clapboard and i get to the point of having this blue box in the post but you cannot click on it and make it go.  OK Blogger experts, help me out.  

As you can see he was having plenty of fun driving around. I had to close my eyes a couple of times as he got a bit close to a few of those trees.  I know who would have fared worst if contact had been made and it would have come out of my pocket to fix.

So there you have it.  This is what has been keeping me busy over the last few weeks.  All my ME time has evaporated.   Tom fell asleep as soon as he arrived home (so much concentration) and I'm already starting to feel the aches all over so I'm popping a pill and taking Tom's lead at 9.30pm.  

Oh and since no one is going to give me one.

Thanks for visiting Living In The Land of Oz