Tues, 27th Nov, 2018 Lake Mason, 50km NE of Sandstone, WA

7.30am 22 degrees, clear sky and very windy.

Watched our ‘2 years ago’ photos while we had breakfast and at last we have now caught up to today 2 years past. We were in Cairns visiting family and celebrating Jodie’s 21^st.

Made up some lunch etc and headed out for a day detecting. Two emus wandered by me while I detected. Only a couple of hot rocks for me and a ring pull for Steve! The wind stopped at lunch time making it a lot hotter.

Back to the van by 4.30 and it was 36 degrees in the van with the windows closed. I opened up the van and the temp dropped only a degree.

Collected some firewood so we can cook dinner on the fire tonight. Haven’t done this for a month or so.

Mr Bull is back mooing in the distance. Lots of little mozzies have come out while we were having drinks around the fire.

I looked back on my blog to when we were first here as Steve recalls a couple and little girl coming for a look at the old homestead and they mentioned they had just bought a station nearby so it was probably Joy and Lance but I didn’t have anything in my blog about it. Also we had good phone reception back then here but there is nothing now. Might be because Gidgee Mine is no longer operational, just in caretaker mode.

Enjoyed our dinner though ate inside as the mozzie was terrible – very little ones with a big ‘whine’ as they were trying to get into the van.

Had our shower later as it was still quite warm and the donkey makes a great hot shower.

The wind picked up again about 8pm from the SE which was very pleasant.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Mon, 26th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone to Lake Mason, 50km NE of Sandstone, WA

7am 20 degrees, clear sky and still windy.

Last day letting out the chickens and they didn’t have any eggs for me!!

No online school for Kayla this morning so we played Snap and Fish.

The boys concreted the other side of the BBQ area.

Lance thought there was another chick as he spotted a broken egg in the cage but when we checked there was still only 2 chicks and she was shuffling 2 eggs around her nest while another egg was discarded to the side. So hopefully the last 2 will be the big chooks as I had put their eggs under her a couple of days after she started sitting.

Packed up the van then had one last tea party with Kayla and her friends to celebrate ‘Puppy’ birthday.

Hooked up the van and drove around the fence to the front to say our farewells. Will keep in touch and I asked Kayla to send me pictures of the chicks when they hatch and as they grow up.

Not going too far today. 26km south towards Sandstone then we turn off onto the road to Lake Mason where we have camped and detected before. Steve wanted to go over our area one more time.

Parked beside the cook’s quarters and set up camp.

Went back to our spot and Steve was rewarded with two little bits. Nothing for me. Nice cool day with a good breeze.

Back to the van it was 31 degrees with the windows closed but it felt a lot cooler.

Steve got the donkey going in the shower shed and we enjoyed a lovely hot shower.

Drinks around the fire which was nice to do again and it is quite cool now so the fire is nice and warm. There are still cattle around as we can hear them mooing.

Spotted to kangaroos slowly working their way towards us. The big one seems to be lifting the little ones tail to move it along. Then we realised it was probably the female and he was getting interested but she wasn’t.

The wind picked up after dinner so we had to close the windows as it was quite cool.

Movie – scary one with Daniel Ratcliffe (Harry Potter) in it – was ok except it was scary which I normally don’t watch.

Sun, 25th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

7.30am 25 degrees, clear sky and lovely breeze.

Let the chickens out and checked on Mummy hen. The two chicks were out so I got photos of them. They are so cute. The white one is still getting her balance – well we hope they are girls because if they are roosters it mightn’t be a long life they have!! Still 4 eggs to go.

Settled in to watch the last race of the Supercars for this year and it is a close finish for Scotty and Shane who are fighting to win the championship. Last night they were only 2 points apart but overnight it was deemed that Shane’s team failed in his last pit stop to keep the car up while refuelling so he received a 25 second penalty putting him back in 5^th place after winning the race yesterday so the gap now is bigger.

It was a great race with lots of tributes to Craig Lowndes too as he is retiring from full-time driving. In the end Scotty won and would have won even without the penalty against Shane so the Ford fans are rejoicing.

Lance brought the hen and chicks’ cage into the shadehouse beside the house to protect the chicks from more visits for the Bungarra. They are chirping all the time.

3pm 35 degrees in the van with gusty NE winds but it is comfortable.

5pm the wind changed to SW and is quite strong. We rolled in the awning as the wind is giving it a workout and we are heading off tomorrow after the boys finishing the next section of concreting. We are ‘house sitting’ for Joy’s friend in Sandstone on Wednesday and Steve wanted to check out Lake Mason one last time so we decided to head off early.

Walked to the gate and back with Carol chatting about family histories. Joined the others for drinks then dinner as Joy had cooked a big stew for our farewell. We chatted about the station we are going to look after soon and it turns out the chap who owned it was a friend of Lance’s.

8pm the wind has settled, 27 degrees in van with a lovely clear sky and millions of stars.

9pm the wind was back so we had close up the van again.

Sat, 24th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

7am 17 degrees, clear sky and cool breeze.

Let out the chickens then settled into the Guest Quarters to watch the 2^nd last race of the Supercar season at Newcastle, NSW. Sent messages to Brian, Louis and Ian to see who they thought was going to win. Only 14 points difference between 1^st and 2^nd with Ford (McLaughlin) leading the Holdens (Van Gizbergen). We are backing the Fords.

Lance said he spotted a chick when he went into the chicken pen so I rushed with Kayla to see. Mummy was sitting on it but I think we saw something under mummy’s feathers.

We were watching some of the other races when we heard a scream from Kayla. She had gone to check on the chick and a goanna, called Bungarra over here, had climbed in when he heard the chick chirping. He has been walking past all this time but the sound of the chick got him excited. Carol grabbed the pitchfork, Joy had the rake and I grabbed a broom. Joy got him outside and we shooed him onwards though he wasn’t in any rush. We locked the door so the chickens had to stay in till Lance comes back from the bore run.

Steve stayed watching TV as he thought Kayla had just been nipped by the hen trying while she was trying to see the chick. The girls saved the day.

Great race with a bit of controversy but in the end Ford are still leading by 2 points. Last race tomorrow.

I went back to the chickens with my camera and got some photos of not one but two chicks. One is brown and one white – they were so cute. There are 4 more eggs to hatch.

No wind in the afternoon so it got a bit warmer. Steve went for a detect – well exercise actually.

Joined the others for drinks then watered the plants.

Watched our 2016 photos – nearly up-to-date. Dinner then movies. Nice cool breeze as we got ready for bed.

Fri, 23rd Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

Strong cold wind started up early from the west so I was up closing windows and vents. BOM was a bit out with their forecast.

7.30am 17.5 degrees, clear sky with clouds on the horizon in the west. Wind blowing hard.

I let the chooks out after giving them their scraps.

Did some school work with Kayla.

Lance lent me a hard drive of movies and TV series so I copied them onto my hard drive so that will keep us occupied for a while.

The wind is keeping us cool today – only got to 29 degrees. Put on 4x4 DVD to pass the time over lunch.

Steve pottered about finishing off cleaning out one of the rooms in the shed for Lance.

Had a cuppa and played 3 games of Skipbo – 2 to him and 1 to me. Kayla brought down her teddy ‘puppy’ to stay the night in our van!! Got all the rules from her about eating, brushing teeth etc.

Cool day so the windows to the west stayed closed all day. The wind settled down after sun set but we were comfortable so didn’t need to open the windows.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Thurs, 22nd Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

7.15 am 23.5 degrees, clear sky and a gusty NE wind. BOM says winds to increase to 45kph after lunch from the SW so we rolled in the awning and put things away.

Fed the chickens then did school work with Kayla and her ‘friends’ – teddies etc.

Clouds coming over as the wind got stronger. Steve pulled off a power point in the van that wasn’t working well and found it full of dust. He investigated and figured the dust was coming down the wall from the outdoor speaker. He opened the speaker up and there was a hole letting the dust in. The speaker didn’t work well so he pulled it out and put a patch over the hole so hopefully that will solve that dust problem. As he was working outside a shower of rain fell but hardly enough to get him wet!!

Closed up the van as the wind was whipping up the dust and swirling it around the van.

Andrea posted on Facebook that Cairns to Rocky were going to have over 40 degrees temperatures over the weekend. That temp and humidity won’t be pleasant.

11am 32 degrees here.

Had lunch as the wind got stronger but so far everything around the place is ok.

2pm the wind turned and was more northerly not the westerly like they predicted. Great walls of dust came hurtling down the track and past the guest quarters where we were all sitting having a cuppa while Carol continued sewing up the covers over the vegie gardens – big job.

I got out my book and read for the afternoon while Steve chatted with the guys. Joined the others for drinks then watered the fruit trees and put the chooks to bed after sun set.

The wind has settled so we were able to open up the van again.

7.30pm 32 degrees and a light breeze. Dinner then movie.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Wed, 21st Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA (Jodie’s birthday)

7am 19 degrees, clear sky and cool breeze from SW.

Sent Jodie a happy birthday message via Facebook.

Fed the chooks and let them out. Gave them a good talking to about laying more eggs.

Steve headed off detecting.

Helped Kayla with her schoolwork again. We did some ‘sewing’ – she had an old dress which we cut off the top and made a skirt for her – very basic sewing here!!

Quiet lunch watching a movie.

Steve came back with a little nuglet so he was happy. He had soaked the fob watch in some diesel and managed to get the back open. It had Acier Garanti engraved in it so I looked it up on Google. Not much info other than a forum where someone else was trying to get info about the same watch. The info I found out was that it was made 1860s and Acier Garanti means Guaranteed Steel in French as the case is made of gunmetal. The other watches had different initials etc on the back so I figure the gold crest was probably put on by the chap who bought it – maybe using gold he had found.

Chatted the afternoon away with the others then did our watering and put the chook to bed. My talk to the chooks only got me 4 eggs today!!

Beautiful sunset colours.

Tues, 20th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

7.30am 18.6 degrees, clear sky and strong gusty SW wind which is quite cool.

Steve headed off for a day detecting.

I fed the chooks then cleaned out their pen and gave them new hay. Mummy chook is still happily sitting on her eggs. I saw her get off the other day and there are 6 eggs. I thought there was 7, must have miscounted.

Spread the old chook poo/hay around the plants to help keep the moisture in.

More school work with Kayla and some friends – Puppy, Hatchimall etc. Lucky it is near the end of the school year!!

Ingrid sent me a message and photos of her darling little girl, Ava, who arrived yesterday. She is so cute and both Ingrid and Aidan look very happy. So pleased for them all. Sent off a text message to Rebecca and Clive to congratulate them on becoming grandparents. Will ring them when we have better phone reception. They will be heading over to NZ soon to see their little grandaughter.

Had lunch then watched Man from Snowy River. Love that movie. After a cuppa put on the sequel which I had copied but it only played the first half on the TV. Lucky I know the movie off my heart!!

Steve came back happy. Found a nice little nugget and an old fob watch. The hour hand is still there and the back cover but it is stuck so Steve will soak it to try and get it open. The gold bit on the front is unblemished so we are wondering if it is gold.

Drinks with the others then watered the fruit trees. Carol doing the vegie gardens.

Top Gear then a movie while we had dinner. Cool breeze blowing in so left the bedspread on tonight.

Mon, 19th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

7am 20 degrees, clear sky and cool gusty wind.

Fed the chooks – no eggs!

Steve and I finished the shadecloth around the fenceline for the guest quarters.

Helped Kayla with more school work. Checked the chooks and got 2 eggs – they seem to be laying them later each day.

Lunch with Steve then read while he continued pottering about in the shed.

The cucumbers have grown big so we all got one and some cherry tomatoes. The big tomatoes are starting to ripen too.

Lovely day – 30 degrees in van but there is a nice cool breeze.

Drink then dinner and a movie. So glad we have our hard drive full of movies though some have been so bad we just skip them and go onto the next one.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Sun, 18th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

7.30am 25 degrees, clear sky and light breeze – lovely.

Ingrid is due to have her baby soon so I sent her a message via Messenger. Looking forward to seeing her little bundle of joy.

Steve headed off to detect as it was ‘day off’ day. I continued with two more panels of shadecloth on the fence then my blister broke so that was the end of that.

Nice relaxing day reading my book.

Steve came back with a collection of old bottles, tins and other bits and pieces he found around the old ‘mining town site’. Lance has a collection which they have been hanging off the fence and two old car bodies.

Joined the others for drinks and lots of chatting.

Carol and I went for a walk to the gate again as the sun was setting. Beautiful view and lovely breeze.

Put the chooks to bed. Back to the van for dinner and movie.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Sat, 17th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

7am 26 degrees, clear sky and cool breeze.

Checked on the chickens – didn’t let them out as Lance is going to deal with 4 more browns who are no longer laying eggs and could also be eating the eggs.

Steve and I started putting the shadecloth around the fence of the Guest Quarters to protect the plants from the strong wind. 

Carol continued with her vegie garden covers.

Doug, Lance and Steve then got to work on concreting an area to put the spa on in the newly shadecloth enclosed area.

Joy’s friend rang asking if she was free to look after their property for a few days at the end of the month. Joy asked if we would like to do it as it fits in just before we head to Leonora and it is in Sandstone so it is on our way. We said yes so we will head there on the 28^th. Looking after chickens and watering (I can do that) and as it is an accommodation centre we might have to clean a room if needed and sort out any bookings which I should be fine with. Another thing to put on our resumes.

I made some pasta salad and pulled out sausages so I suggested to Joy that we have a BBQ night. As I have fresh lettuce etc I can do a tossed salad – the lettuces in the garden bed are nearly ready for salads. 

The sunflowers are beautiful.

11.30am 35 degrees in the van so I swapped over the freezer blocks to help our fridge out.

The boys continued with the concreting and got one side done ready for the spa pool.

The wind is now hot and gusty. 3pm 38 degrees! As Kayla was having a sleep I put on my togs and just got wet under the shower then sat under the awning reading my book. Very nice with the wind blowing on me.

Joined the others for our BBQ night and had a great time chatting.

9pm 30 degrees in the van but it feels cooler outside. Lovely clear sky with half a moon.

Fri, 16th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA (4yrs 3 mths on the road)

6.30am 27.8 degrees, clear sky with a cloud band around the horizon. Quite breezy.

Got the other’s shopping lists and we headed into Meekatharra. The Sandstone road crew have been doing a good job on the road. A lot of water still lying by the road from the recent rain. Into Meekatharra Shire and the road needs fixing. A lot of washed out sections needed retopping. Closer to Meeka we found the road crew working their way along. Continual job.

Topped up the fuel then had a cuppa in the park. Rang Kaylene for a chat – told her about my experience doing School of the Air!! Rick was busy fixing their retaining wall so will chat with him another time. We said to let him know that we are with Doug who Rick talks to on the Prospectors Forum.

Rang Mum and Dad and had a lovely chat. Val back in hospital again with fluid build-up and an infection – poor darling she has endured so much. Sent Lorraine a message to pass on our love.

Hot day here and you can see the clouds are building so we might get a storm today. Ordered our big burgers from the food van – amazing lady as she still remembers me and my ‘no cucumber’ order! Rang Margaret and Bob for a chat. Bob has been busy ‘renovating’ his boat.

Had to wait till after 12 for the grog shop to open for some rum for Steve. I still have a stash of wine under the bed. Grabbed the cold stuff – icecream of course then headed back.

Watched a storm cell to the west build and drop rain with fabulous flashes of lightning going from the top right down to the ground and so bright that we could see it in the daylight.

A few drops of rain fell on us as we neared home.

Got the groceries out and made a cuppa then the storm reached us and dropped a quick shower of rain with lots of thunder and lightning. Cooled things down quickly. Van went from 37 to 33 degrees in a matter of minutes. The thunder is still rumbling long after the rain has passed over us.

Chatted with the others watching the storm go around us. It has gone east and Lance reckons it looked like hail clouds.

Went back to the van to put away so more stuff when a huge gust of wind hurtled towards the house from the east. It picked up the trampoline and turned it over. Luckily Doug and Carol’s camper trailer was ok and we were protected by the guest quarters though a lot of dust came hurtling in as it swirled around us.

I had sent a message to Robert from New Horizon Group who we were going to homestead sit for originally at Milly Milly Station. He has another one at Leonora for 3 months minimum so that might suit us better as there are more prospects for detecting over there then at Milly. He rang the house phone and we chatted about it and he was happy to have us. I said we would finish up here at the end of the month which gives us time to finish off a few more things for Joy and Lance and also I want to see the chickens hatch.

The storm is still black and rumbling in the east and it is putting on a great lightning show for us. Luckily we didn’t get any hail this time.

6.45pm we just got back into the van to cook tea when the heavens opened again. Steve had set up the proper rain-catcher on the awning and it quickly filled the bucket. It was over quickly but there is still a lot of wind about.

The wind continued buffeting the awning but no more rain.

9pm the wind settled and it is a nice cool temperature again. The sky is clearing as we went to bed.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Thurs, 15th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

Had a good night’s sleep as it was just the perfect temperature.

7am 24 degrees, gusty breeze and clear sky.

Checked the chickens then helped Kayla with school. Steve went off detecting.

37 degrees in the van at lunch time. Getting a bit warm. No gold for Steve but he found an interesting jug. I googled it and it was a Bourne Denby jug with pouring spot, made in Denby, Derbyshire, England from 1850s onwards.

2pm 40 degrees!!! Time for a dip in the spa to cool off. Not a hot around the house because they have the big verandah all the way around it.

I have finally finished putting the photos of our last adventure, May to Oct, into the copy of my blog that I keep on my laptop which I use as a reference etc. Glad that it done.

Got wet again then sat on the verandah on the east side of the guest quarters and read my book.

Got the fridge and truck ready for our grocery day in Meekatharra tomorrow.

Drinks with the others then I went and checked the chickens. Saw the Rooster doing his thing with one of the hens – it was over quick too!

A storm is building in the north west. Flashes of lightning as the sun sets.

7.30pm 33 degreess.

10pm quite windy but the storm has moved around us.

Wed, 14th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

7.30am 23 degrees, clear sky and quite breezy.

Carol and Doug arrived so I did the online schooling with Kayla this morning.

Carol and Doug set up their camper trailer on the other side of the guest quarters – like us they are comfortable in their ‘home’.

Steve went to turn on the house bore pump then pottered about in the shed. I got more school work done with Kayla.

34 degrees in the van at lunch time and there is no breeze.

Steve checked Lance’s hot water system then he took Doug for a drive to detect as Lance didn’t have any jobs he needed done.

I decided to bake to use up the gas bottle so we can get it replaced on Friday when we head into Meekatharra. I made some Anzac and Crunchy Cornflake cookies. Kayla and Lance were baking too and Kayla brought me down a blueberry muffin and an invite for a dip in the spa. I was still baking so I said I would be up later. Got to 36 degrees in the van – just what I needed to do on a hot day!! Should have done this when it was raining and cold.

Took Kayla up some cookies but she was out of the spa. Lance was sitting on the edge soaking his feet so I joined him. Just the trick to cool us down.

Steve came back with a rattle in his jar – two more little nuglets.

Drinks and chatting then watered the fruit trees.

Carol asked if I wanted to go for a walk so I joined her for a walk down to the front gate and back just on twilight. The horses were heading that way too so they trotted along beside us.

I checked the chooks were all inside and locked the gate. The goannas wander by but I haven’t had to deal with one yet.

Lovely warm evening but quite comfortable with a fan on. No need to heat the shower water today.

Clear sky and so many stars.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Tues, 13th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

7am 20 degrees, clear sky and no wind.

Checked on the chickens. Cleaned out their drums as I realised the hay was rotting underneath from all the rain.

Helped Joy with some paperwork in the office then did some more school work with Kayla.

Very still day. Midday it had reached 31 degrees. Had lunch then played a game of Skipbo with Steve.

Steve and Lance started making a frame to put the mesh on to cover the vegie gardens as the bugs are starting to get to the vegies.

Nice afternoon watering the plants. Lovely colours at twilight. Spotted the Space Station zoom overhead – took a while to cross over the whole sky.

Quiet evening – no wind. 10pm 24 degrees – very nice.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Mon, 12th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

7.30 19 degrees, cool breeze. Sun out but lots of clouds around.

Checked on the chickens. Caught one old brown hen pecking and eating an egg so I let Lance know and he dealt with her as there are few old girls who aren’t producing eggs anymore and he said he should probably dispose of them since we might have 7 new chicks soon.

Helped Kayla with some school work.

Steve took out the auxillary fuel tank and Lance welded up the crack for him. All good again.

25 degrees at lunchtime so a very pleasant day. Jess rang to get some advice as she has been offered two jobs. We chatted about it and caught up on what has been happening in her world. So nice to know she feels she can ring me for a chat.

A willy willy roared in and around the van but as the ground was still quite moist it didn’t lift up and dirt. Other than that there has been no wind to speak of today and the clouds are covering the sun which is keeping it a cool day.

Another lovely sunset as I put the chooks to bed. They are so funny to watch.

Lovely evening.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Sun, 11th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA (hail storm)

7am 22 degrees, dark clouds and still rumbling thunder about.

Joy texted – Paynes Find had 50ml and hail so they wanted to know how we were. I checked the rain gauge and we had 10ml overnight.

Cool breeze. Van closed up still.

9.30am rain started again – quite a heavy downpour. Steve had just headed down to the house bore on the 4 wheeler so came back drenched.

Joy sent a video a friend had sent her of Cue streets covered in water, right up to the shop fronts.

11am checked the rain gauge again – 4 ml. I have opened up the van windows.

More black clouds heading our way and lots of thunder.

Midday. The thunder is constantly rumbling.

Some more rain with still the rumbling thunder.

Steve working in the shed while I worked on my blog. I heard a roar of wind coming from the north then the rain came down heavily. Managed to get the windows closed then realised there was another noise. Big thumps on the roof then I looked outside and saw little balls of hail. I went outside to take a photo when the wind changed direction and blew straight into the van. I was flat out trying to get the outer door closed as the rain and hail pelted in.

Steve found a big raincoat in the shed and came back to check the van and awning was ok. The storm lasted 15 minutes with water flowing down from the roof of the house and down the track which now looked like a river.

I found some hail just after the storm passed over.

Made a nice warm lunch as it was only 23 degrees in the van and the wind is cold.

Checked the rain gauge again and we had 10ml. Checked the vegie gardens etc – the bigger tomato bushes had a lean on and a shade frame for the passionfruit had fallen over but otherwise everything was ok.

The sun is out for a bit and the wind has gone but I can still hear the thunder rumbling and there is another dark cloud in the north.

Let Joy and Lance know who much rain we have had and about the hail as they are heading back home and have 60km of dirt to cover from Sandstone.

The next storm went away so we had a nice afternoon. Joy and Lance arrived at 5pm and said they had been through a few good storms and there was a lot of water on the road.

The sky is clearing as we chatted over drinks. Lovely cool evening.

Sat, 10th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

Drizzled rain through the night. The buckets are full of rainwater but the rain gauge only showed 5ml to 7.20am.

Black clouds still in the north.

More drizzle. I let out the chooks and found a very big egg – poor girl. For 17 hens we aren’t getting many eggs per day.

Steve crushed some grain for the horses and cattle while the generator was on to top up the house batteries since we aren’t getting much sunshine on the solar panels.

Rang Jon but got no answer. Then I rang Mum and Dad and Mum said Jon was in Port Douglas playing his golf competition. We had a lovely catch up. She said Val had had a fall and needed some stitches in her head so I gave her a call after I hung up and had a nice chat with her. Tried Daniel but no answer so left a message.

Thunder rumbling overhead. 9.30am 22 degrees and no wind. A heavy shower of rain fell and dropped 3ml in half an hour.

Jon returned my call. He and his mate had both won their games but unfortunately the other 3 guys didn’t so they didn’t get into the finals. He is loving golf which is great. Jess had to work so she didn’t go up with him. The other guys had rented a 5 bedroom place so he will stay the night with them so they can ‘drown’ their sorrows then head back to Jess tomorrow to spend the day with her. He said work has picked up too which was great.

Dark clouds still on horizon and I can still hear a few rumbles of thunder.

Steve went off on the 4wheeler to check the house pump then he fed the horses when he returned.

Daniel and Fran rang back. They had just set up their new portable spa pool and were about to try it out as it is quite hot there. Daniel is very busy at work. Fran has changed her shift so she has a Saturday off every second weekend so they can have time together.

Another big rumble of thunder overhead then the pitter patter of rain on the van roof. Sounds louder because we have the roof of the guest quarters beside us. Lazy day weather.

Had lunch then played a game of 3 to Kings – Steve won for the 1^st time in 6 games.

As the ground was moist Steve decided to drag the road ‘flattener’ around the house track and down the main track to the road to even out the lumps and bumps. I had seen some horse poo on the track so I grabbed my wheel barrow and collected it then rounded up some more to spread on another one of the vegie gardens. Light drizzle but you can work in that as the drops are far apart.

Had a cuppa then I worked on putting my photos into my blog while Steve checked out a movie from a trio movie DVD that Erica gave us. Raptor – really!! I wonder if these actors look back at the movies they did and cringe!

The dark clouds are moving around us and we can still here rumbling.

Cool afternoon, 5pm 24 degrees. After drinks Steve serviced the BBQ. I checked the rain gauge, another 1 ½ ml.

Thunder and lightning overhead – some big claps on top of us. More rain and it was so loud on the roof of the van that we couldn’t hear the TV.

Rain buckets full again. The rain eased but the thunder and lightning kept going into the evening.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Fri, 9th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

7am 28.3 degrees, cloudy and no breeze. Long rumbles of thunder had started about 5am but nothing has happened yet.

The wind came back up and there is a high thin cloud.

When I checked the chickens I noticed goanna tracks heading to the run then alongside the door and around the other side but I didn’t see it.

Pottered about the garden.

Played three games of Skipbo – Steve won 2 to 1 before we had lunch.

Had a dip in the cold spa as it is quite hot now, 35 degrees. Very refreshing after you break through the first cold dunking.

Cleaned out the 44 gallon drums that Lance and Steve had cut the ends off. Joy wanted them to go over the banana trees to protect them. We did that and realised with the heat on the drums from the sun the leaves would burn easily. We decided to use some of the off-cut shadecloth and 4 old star pickets and make a shade enclosure. Steve dug out around the two trees, there are new sucklings coming up, so we can drain our shower water between the two trees. Steve strung some wire between the poles which I rounded up some horse poo to put into the hole then we covered it in hay. Hopefully that should do the trick.

Dark clouds are circling us making it quite humid. Still 35 degrees at 4pm but the sun is behind the dark clouds now so it is comfortable.

Had our drinks and nibbles then I went and watered all the plants and vegie gardens. Takes a while but it is lovely outside, except for the annoying fly or two. Joy is planning on putting in a sprinkler system.

After the sun had set I went over to the chooks and they were all inside on their perches. Mummy is still sitting on her 7 eggs.

The storm went around us but we can still hear the rumbles of thunder and a few drops of rain fell.

7pm 31 degrees. I heard a strange sound and realised it was coming from the house. Oscar had pulled one of the cushions off the outside chairs and had torn it to pieces. Obviously he is missing his family. Steve put him in his kennel.

9pm a light shower of rain fell and kept going for quite a while. Steve put out a bucket to catch the rainwater off the awning so we can use it in our ‘fan cooler’.

Thurs, 8th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

7.30am 21 degrees, cloudy.

Did my normal chores – chooks and horse poo.

Steve started the generator so I could do my washing using Kylie’s front loader in the house as I wanted to do the sheets, towels etc. Gave the van a clean too.

Steve went off and checked the water points and put out some hay and grain for the cattle.

The sky has cleared and the wind is blowing well so the washing is drying quickly. Steve whizzed down on the 4wheeler to the house bore to turn on the pump to top up the house tank.

34 degrees in the van while we had lunch so got out the fan again. The cold snap is over!

Played a few games of Rummyking. Steve won 2 to 1.

Pottered about in the afternoon. Steve secured an old windlass that Kylie had hanging but one of the handles had pulled out and she was worried it might fall. He found old chain to keep the authentic look. They have heaps of old bits and pieces they have collected hanging off the fence and there is plenty more to hang up near the two old cars Lance collected from the old township of Barrambie near the mining area further north on the property.

Watered all the garden – takes a while.

Had drinks watching one of the many 4x4 DVDs that Daniel got for us from a school fete he and Fran attended. I enjoy watching them but glad not to do anything like their extreme 4 wheel driving!!

Warmer evening with lots of bugs and moths about so must be more rain coming. Steve hung a portable LED in the tree to draw them away from the van.

I said we should be sitting outside to enjoy the stars as we haven’t since we came back to the van. As I went up to put the portable phone on charge I spotted a satellite whiz across the sky.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.