Kate and Will's Farm Stay Commences

Highlights	Less of a highlight
Arriving to settle the ‘what ifs?’ - both	Not being with family members as they bury their loved ones – both
Catching up with friends - both	Rain in Queensland – both
New sights – both, esp Kate	Fighting with the computer to download photos - Kate
So many tractors - Will	Poor internet – Both esp Kate because there is enough to run the TV but nothing else LOL
Day out in Gatton at coffee shops and library - both
Spotting a red wren for the first time - Kate
Having peacocks wander by - both, esp Kate

(In the interest of other people’s privacy, I will refer to our hosts as Betty and Bob.)

We arrived at our farm stay 6 days ago. The final few hours were a little nerve wracking as we drove past homes littered with rubbish, years of accumulated treasures and other homes that were simply falling down. Oh, so many questions popped into my head that I could have asked – simple things really like, can we see a photo of the spot we’ll be popping our caravan? I could have had a look via google earth at the location but I did I think of any of that -no, I just jumped in head first pulling Will along with me. I really did start to wonder where this ‘inquisitive, she’ll be right attitude’ came from. Anyway, you know what, things are alright!!

The view from the back of the home paddock

Prickly Pears are an environmental problem - some are as tall as trees but not these two!

Red-backed Fairy Wren

We drove up to the home through a dry creek bed with a bit of a dip, but nothing the Ram couldn’t handle. We found a lovely old home nestled in a picturesque spot, just like we’d been told. Bob, Betty and Rudi (the big boxer) greeted us warmly. Well, perhaps Betty and Rudi a little more warmly. I think it took Bob a while to understand that we weren’t there because we saw them as needy but that we saw this as an opportunity to give us time away from home without Will becoming overly bored. Once I explained that to Bob, who said he’d be bored holidaying too, he came round to us ‘giving them a hand'.

I spent parts of Friday and Saturday cooking meals while Will gave Bob a hand outside. Will has fixed some farm gates and replaced some iron on an old shed. I’ve did some pottering with the plants as we made the most of the outdoors on Monday before the rain arrived. Tuesday was quite damp, so I did some cleaning indoors and prepared some more meals while Will and Bob checked on a tractor tyre being repaired and sorted out a minor leak under the house. We took the afternoon off to attend Mrs Kips funeral via livestream (my sister-in-law’s Mum). My brother married Kerry 40 years ago so to not be around for their important days is difficult but we know each time we head off that we will miss significant family events.

Pecan nut on tree

Today is also wet, we’ve had just under an inch since it started raining Sunday evening so we’ve given ourselves a day out in Gatton. We breakfasted at a local café before checking out the op shops and tip shop. No bicycle wheel found yet! We are now sitting in the library accessing the wifi as it is particularly poor in the caravan today. Betty said that happens when it’s cloudy and rainy.

The farmers may start picking pumpkins either Saturday or early next week. William will be helping on a tractor as soon as that happens so we are taking the opportunity for a day out while we can. Sundays are always a day off, so we caught up with mates who we met in Alice Springs, Jim and Louise. They are in the area for a month or so while they avoid the cold of South Australia. We headed to Warwick and an historic homestead – Glengallon Homestead and Heritage Centre. We chatted over a lazy lunch before looking through the home. I really could image the life of the pioneers as we stood amongst the furniture looking out the high windows.

In between helping around the home, Bob took me down to his brother’s farm where he has a set of 3 bee hives. I suited up and watched as he gave bees some protein mix for winter. No smoke was needed as we weren’t robbing the hives but the bees did get a little active once Bob opened up the hive lids. It was a little disconcerting to have bees buzzing right in front of your face but once a few did that without getting through I relaxed and enjoyed the experience. I could see the honeycomb the bees had capped. Bob won’t rob the hive again until September.

We have eaten home grown pecan nuts. Our hosts were surprised by my interest in the nuts but I explained we’ve picked walnuts and cracked them on each other to open them like he did with the pecan, but pecans don’t grown near home. I think Bob and Betty are enjoying my enthusiasm for things they take for granted each day. We are also eating plenty of pumpkin soup – maybe too much for Will’s liking already. Oh well, there are worse things in life! Speaking of eating, we're heading off now to find something for lunch in the mighty town of Gatton. Who knows - maybe we'll stop in at the truck museum ajoined to the library, but as we have been before maybe we'll skip it today.