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.

Wed, 7th Nov, 2018 Pastoral Station, 60km north of Sandstone, WA

Kept the van windows closed as it was still cool. 7.30am 17 degrees with a blustery cold wind. Clear sky.

I let out the chooks, only 1 egg. Cleaned out their home and gave them fresh hay. Steve fed the horses then headed towards Gidgee Mine to try his luck.

I did another horse poo run – always need more fertiliser.

Very gusty today – a big willy willy tore through the garden near the guest house but it was all closed up so that saved a clean up job. Our van is on the other side so it was protected and the windows are still closed from the cool night. I transplanted some little succulents into some other pots where plants had died or been eaten.

I put on The Lake House – one of my ‘favourites’ that I keep for special occasions and today felt like a nice day to just sit and enjoy it.

Pottered around the vegie gardens – propping up tomatoes etc and picked a few ripe ones.

Getting hotter – opened up the windows of the van again. 3pm 32 degrees.

Joy for Steve at last – one tiny nuglet but at least it is a start.

The flies are bad again as I watered the vegies.

Another beautiful sunset.

The wind has stopped at last. Warmer night, 7pm 28 degrees. Sky clear and full of stars.