Sun, 6th Aug, 2017 Bush camp, near Meekatharra, WA

7am 9.1 degrees, clear sky.

Steve did the spare scrape which unfortunately has a lot of dozer swarf. I continued on my new section that we cleared while Ross was away. Unfortunately there is still a lot of rubbish buried. We both had nothing by morning tea with Tom and Sandy. They are nearly finished their area too and said to go over their holes with my 2300 (I can hear the little ones better).

Steve walked back to camp to do some more plumbing. I found a nicer bit which I prompted walked over to show the others. Also I had twinged my back with all the bending and needed to stretch it out.

Back for lunch. Happy with my nugget so treated Steve to toasted sandwiches instead of the usual salad.

I headed back to the scrapes by myself as they had finished. I continued on and was rewarded for all my work. My biggest yet but I can’t say too much on here but it was very exciting!!

Lovely evening with the moon rising. Saw a falling star that took ages to fall but couldn’t think of a wish quick enough!!

Icecream for dessert tonight – that tells you I got a nice one.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Sat, 5th Aug, 2017 Bush camp, near Meekatharra, WA

7am 8.3 degrees, clear sky. Phil left early. Kev packed up and closed down his roof top camper once the sun had dried off the morning dew. Said our farewells – will catch up again in December.

We went back detecting. Lovely warm day 20 degrees. Maybe I won’t cope with Cairns’ summers anymore!!

Lovely afternoon – drinks around the fire. Kev texted that he had arrived home safely – such a good boy!!

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Fri, 4th Aug, 2017 Bush camp, near Meekatharra, WA

7am 9.5 degrees, clouds coming over from the west so no sun to warm us up this morning as we headed out detecting.

The sky cleared up by morning tea so all was good.

Kev went wandering with his detector and found a few little bits. He and Phil are leaving in the morning to we are having BBQ night tonight instead.

Great fun chatting around the fire pit at the camp.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Thurs, 3rd Aug, 2017 Bush camp, near Meekatharra, WA

Brrr – 7am only 5.1 degrees in the van so it is 1 or 2 degrees outside but we aren’t going out to find out!! Put the heater on and waited half hour before getting up and it had only got to 8 degrees then!! Lovely sunny day and the sky is so clear out here.

The strong wind has gone for a bit which is nice – I can handle the cold but not that horrible wind. Unfortunately we will have a bit of that throughout August and September.

Continued detecting.

Kev helped Lara and Ross put up the roller doors as walls. Unfortunately someone didn’t measure correctly when they were putting in the window to go over the sink as it ended up too low and Steve’s water pipes are now in front of the window. Oh well everything is adaptable around here and Steve is good a fixing things.

The others joined us for a drink to ‘wet’ the wall construction – of course.

Lovely dinner by the fire with Kev – looking for satellites. He always misses the ones I point out!!

Wed, 2nd Aug, 2017 Bush camp, near Meekatharra, WA

7am 7degrees in the van so only 3 degrees outside. Taking a while for the heater to get the van up to a reasonable temperature this morning!!

Kev was up trying to warm himself in the sun so we called him in to our nice warm van. Texted Linda to let her know how things were going. Three layers of clothes for today. Forecast for a top of 16 degrees today!! At least the sun is shining.

The wind was howling over our detecting area as it was coming from the other direction – should have put my leggings on too!!

Still have the awning rolled up so the sun has warmed the van up nicely when we came back for a nice warm lunch. 20 degrees in the van.

Went back detecting then Steve and Kev went off looking for bigger dead trees so Kev could cut them up with his chainsaw.

Mum rang to say Doc says she has a blockage in her arm and she needs to see a vascular surgeon next week.

The wind has settled so we can have a camp oven dinner. Another cold night predicted, 2 degrees then it is supposed to warm up again.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Tues, 1st Aug, 2017 Bush camp, near Meekatharra, WA

7am 10.5 degrees, clear sky and no wind – well so far.

As we had finished our areas Steve went over my area, only found two in the dump!! I went onto Tom & Sandy’s area to check their jack-hammered holes and found some little bits. I got a signal in one of their holes so Steve got the hammer and chisel and we got one bit out then another – it is amazing how many little bits can come out of one cap-rock area.

The wind came up so we didn’t get any layers of clothing off. Only 19 degrees in the van at lunchtime.

Steve did some more plumbing – slowly slowly he is getting it all sorted. Sandy and I played cards – 3 to King, good fun. The sun is coming in through the door and is just lovely if you are out of the wind.

Made Steve a cuppa then chatted with Lara for a bit. Back to the van to work on my blog.

At 5pm I headed over to see how Steve was going. He was getting Lara’s sink sorted so Kev and Ross can erect the west wall. They are using old roller doors. It’s amazing what you can make-do with in the bush.

The wind is biting cold, 13 degrees on Ross’ thermometer but it felt like 5 degrees. Forecast is for 2 degrees overnight!! Yeah!!

Stood around the fire for a bit while we had our drinks then headed inside to warm up with a new hot shower.

NO PHOTOS TODAY.

Mon, 31st July, 2017 Bush camp, near Meekatharra, WA

The thermometer has a flat battery so no temperature for today but it is cold enough for the heater!! Clear sky again – can handle anything as long as the sun is shining.

Steve headed over to the camp to help Kev and Ross with the next batch of concrete for the other half of the slab. I followed and took a few photos.

They are even going to pour ramps across to the dongas.

Cute little Abra.

10am and the wind is back – strong and gusty. I finished off detecting my new area – still lots of rubbish.

More photos after the concrete was poured. Lara thinks she is in heaven having a concrete floor but will be totally excited when the west wall goes up to stop this wind from howling through.

My Anzac cookies are very popular.

I worked on my blog for a while.

After lunch the wind got stronger so we decided to roll in the awning. Allows the sun to shine in the van so the van is a lot warmer which is good.

Rang Lou to see if he is keeping his site for Bathurst but he has let it go. We thought we might go again next year on our way back as the new generation cars will be ready, turbo V6s instead of the V8s.

I read some more of the book Linda left me – very good one, Bryce Courtney’s “The Persimmon Tree”.

Rang Mum to see how she went at the doctors – all good but she now has a funny arm. Maybe a pinched nerve or something.

She said my second cousin Linda had run to say her Mum had had a big stroke. So sad for all the family and Jim. Sent off some texts to them.

Steve and I went for a drive to collect firewood.

Wind is still howling so changed our dinner plans to leftovers as it is too windy for the bushcooker.

Had a drink with Tom, Sandy and Kev then into the van for dinner and a movie as the wind howled outside.