A Day in My Life

At the end of yesterday I was reflecting on the day I'd had and it occurred to me that, although it was pretty normal for me, it might be quite interesting from an onlooker's point of view to get a glimpse into my outback life.

I nearly always start the day with watering; putting sprinklers on, starting the veggie garden trickle, watering pot plants and, every 3 or 4 days depending on the weather, watering the orchard. The peaches are almost ready by the way.

While on my rounds I came across a pretty big brown mulga snake....he slid off into the jungle of date palms. I'm pretty sure it was the same one that almost gave me a heart attack a couple of days earlier when we scared the daylights out of each other. I didn't see him on my pathway between garden beds until he 'jumped' in fright and took off in the opposite direction.

The day before yesterday I'd made two loaves of spelt sourdough in the afternoon/evening which I shaped and put in the proving  baskets before covering and putting in the fridge overnight, ready to bake the next day. After letting the dough warm up at room temperature for an hour or so I baked them, just in time to have fresh bread with Vegemite for morning smoko!

After finishing the morning chores I sat down to do a final edit of the Isolated Children's Parents' Association (a volunteer organisation that lobbies for access to appropriate education for rural students) newsletter that I put together and emailed it off to the printers. Big sigh of relief!

During that I had an hour long phone call with a fellow shire councillor -solving the problems of the world. Actually, I think the problems of the world just got a whole lot bigger with the election of Mr Trump but we won't go there!

With a tummy full on a scrumptious lunch of grilled asparagus on fresh sourdough drizzled with olive oil, I started writing an article for another ICPA magazine about a fundraising garden day that my branch put on a few weeks ago.

My husband Rossco, who is away contracting for a few days, rang and we exchanged sweet nothings and important messages. I helped Julia (son Tom's partner) load and unload a few big concrete plant pots that she's planning to plant in at the cottage and then headed off in the ute with the dogs on the back to check on some windmills and clean the troughs.

Unfortunately I hit an emu that ran straight in front of me while I was driving along the Rabbit Proof Fence and had to stop and put it out of its misery. I saw lots of happy sheep drinking at the waters and was pleased not to see any wild dog tracks along the way.

As I pulled up to a gate I spotted a  roo which I shot, skinned and took home for dog food. On the way home I saw a daddy emu on one side of a fence and about 8 chicks on the other, all trying to squeeze through the gaps. I stopped and waited while they all got through then continued on to home, letting the dogs run for the last 2 kilometres.

As I went to tie the dogs up at their kennels for the night I spotted a tiny, bald finch chick on the ground immediately below the nest he'd fallen out of. I carefully popped him in my shirt pocket and walked back to the house to get a ladder in order to reach the nest. After a little pep talk to myself (I'm not too good at heights) I climbed up and poked the chick in through the little hole of the nest, while the parent finch was going mental nearby.

As dark approached I picked some lovely silverbeet and baby beetroot from the garden for my dinner...which was pretty simple with no blokes here...silverbeet sautéed with garlic and sprinkled with parmesan and steamed beetroot!

And that, dear readers, was my day on November 10th 2016.

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